Evelyn gives back

I think we just hit a major mental milestone. A couple of days ago, Evelyn gave me something! Granted, it was her sock, but it was something. She was very satisfied with herself, having just pulled her sock off her foot, and was probably feeling particularly benevolent. I stuck out my hand and said "Give it to Mama" and she put the sock in my hand and let go. I said "Thank you!" and she responded by grabbing the front of her diaper with both hands and making a loud grunting/growling sound, while bowing her head between her legs, all with a big excited smile on her face. We gave the sock to each other back and forth many many times, each time punctuated by my "Thank you!" and her loud grunting/bowing response.

Then yesterday, while John was watching Evelyn play with our new wooden blocks, she held out a block for him to take, without any prompting from him. He wasn't really paying attention, so she eventually dropped it, but then he realized what she was trying to do, and they started giving the block to each other the way she and I did the day before.

Today she did it again. It's funny though, she still does the grunt/bow after giving the item, but it's not as loud or emphatic as the first time. Maybe she's realizing it's not exactly the most gracious way to give gifts.

Look who's talking

It's hard to believe that I didn't blog it the second it happened, and even harder to believe that it's been a couple of months since it happened, but Evelyn is talking. OK, she's not really talking in the traditional sense of stringing multiple words together in a meaningful fashion... but she has said a few key words, "Mama" being the first and most important one of all! I think she'd been babbling "mama" indiscriminately and randomly since she was about 7 months old, and started to say it more intentionally to me at around 8-9 months (it's unbelievable how fuzzy my memory is these days!). But nowadays, she definitely knows she's calling me when she says it.

Sometimes it is so sweet and endearing, like when she clamors up my legs, murmuring "Mama Mama" with her arms stretched out for me to pick her up. At other times it is absolutely heartbreaking, like this morning when I had to hand her over to Po Po so I could leave for work, and she was clutching my shirt and crying "Mama Mama" through her tears. During moments like those, it takes all of my will power to pull away and walk out the front door, when all I want to do is take her back in my arms and forget about work.

She's also said "Da da" quite a lot, again starting with the random babbling and occasionally (but not totally consistently yet) saying it with apparent intention to John. The funny thing about saying "Da da" is that she often does it with this high-pitched sing-songy tone, and this from a girl whose voice has always been kind of deep, even as a newborn. I guess she knows how to charm her Papa!

A while back, a favorite game of ours was rolling/throwing a ball back and forth to each other -- she's not so interested in doing that these days now that she's crawling and no longer my captive audience. We've gotten her to say "ball" a couple of times, repeating after us. Even Po Po independently confirmed it, so I know I'm not imagining things! She's said "Mow mow" (Cantonese for "cat") a couple of times, once astonishingly clearly, after we asked her "Where's Mow Mow?" Our jaws literally dropped when she did it (but she hasn't done it since). Another Chinese word is the one for milk - she says it sometimes when she's hungry (I think) for either milk or regular solid food. She even occasionally does the sign for milk that her Po Po's been teaching her if we say the word. (Sadly, her Po Po has been way better than me at teaching her baby sign language, in that she does it at all and I hardly ever remember... bad mommy....)

Other than that, there's still plenty of grunting, screaming, yelling, hollering, whatever you want to call it. And of course, random babbling of other consonants. She's a loud one, that Evelyn, especially when she's excited. You can imagine the sounds she makes when she's on the swing.

Devilin' Evelyn and Rhea of Sunshine

My new nicknames for the girls. One of Paula and Bert's Christmas presents to Evelyn last year was this cool little T-shirt that says Devil Baby on it, and for some reason (gee I don't know why :), the name stuck. At least it did for me and John, the people who spend the most time with her aside from Po Po.

The reason for my nickname for Rhea is pretty obvious if you've met her... she probably has the sweetest disposition of any baby I know. Granted, I don't see her 24/7 but when I do see her, she's usually full of smiles and sweetness. And even when she's upset, it's more like a cute little whimper, with lower lip stuck out and all, rather than full-on screaming and crying (though I'm sure her parents can tell us differently).

The 3.5 month gap between them seems significant right now, as Rhea delights in watching Evelyn act like a little Tazmanian devil from her perch, and Evelyn occasionally stops long enough to try to grab Rhea's face (and vice versa), or stick her fingers in Rhea's mouth (and vice versa), or slobber all over Rhea (and vice versa)... But in no time, they're both going to be running around and keeping us parents on our toes, even more than now.

It'll be interesting watching these two girls grow up together, and seeing their already apparent personalities emerge and evolve and blossom. All things point to them being the best of friends, and I imagine that they'll love each other, share secrets and crushes, have huge arguments, and make up, just like sisters might.

But for now, I just love watching the two of them interact (or not interact, as is the case most of the time). One of my favorite Evelyn and Rhea moments happened just a couple of days ago, on the 4th of July, hanging out inside the shady poolside tent at Catherine's house in Mill Valley. It was a scorching hot day, and having just had a swim with Evelyn, we retreated into the tent with Paula and Rhea to get a bit of respite from the sun and give the girls a chance to crawl around a bit. Rhea was busy working on her crawling skills while Evelyn was busy alternately trying to get out of the tent, chasing some bugs inside the tent, and trying to put stuff in her mouth. At one point, while Rhea innocently and unsuspectingly smiled at the camera for her Papa, Evelyn "Bulldozer" Emery (as Paula dubbed her) came rolling over like a bowling ball barreling towards some pins. This series of photos (which I had to steal from Paula and Bert since my camera wasn't handy at the time) makes me laugh every time I see or think of it.

Kid stuff

I am super behind on my blogging (so far only 3 entries in the entire month of June, which is rapidly coming to a close!). I have a queue of entries in mind, including and especially ones about our recent 3-day weekend up in Mendocino to celebrate our wedding anniversary (Evelyn's first overnight trip) and the summer solstice baby blessing at Catherine's. I'll have to play catch-up when I have a "free moment" from work.

But before time and memory slip away too much, I feel the need to chronicle a few recent Evelyn developments. Evelyn is getting to be more and more like a kid every day. It's hard to believe that she's already 10 months old (as of June 23!).

At 10 months of age, I think the world of mobility is really starting to open up for her. Evelyn continues to insist on walking a lot, hanging onto our hands or carefully cruising along the furniture, and every once in a while tries to let one hand go to see how she fares. (Still not too well.) A couple of times, she has let go completely and hovered for a couple of cliffhanging seconds before grabbing hold again or falling. She pulls herself up alarmingly easily, sometimes with surprisingly little to hold onto as she stands up (for example, a pane of glass, my pants).

Sometimes when I'm at the sink washing dishes after breakfast, and John's playing with Evelyn before Po Po arrives, I hear Evelyn padding into the kitchen with her commando crawl and eventually I feel the tug of her little hands on the back of my pajama pants. It still makes me nervous, standing there with hands full of soapy dishes while she precariously grips what is a very unstable anchor and makes her way up to standing. Usually, she uses her head as an additional anchor point, lodging it against my thighs (or hamstrings, as the case may be) -- she's tall! (and admittedly, I am short :) -- to gain additional support while she straightens out her legs. But then she's up, and I turn to look down at her round little moon face beaming up at me, pleased as can be. These are among my favorite moments lately.

Evelyn's commando crawl is evolving. We started letting her roam naked in the house on warm days, and noticed that she crawls differently with no clothes on. She gets up on her knees a lot more, and does this crazy crab crawl: hands and right knee on the floor and left foot walking forward. It is both hilarious and bizarre, but I think she finds the elevation and speed refreshing. Nowadays, even when fully clothed, she tends to crawl on her knees more than with her legs splayed out behind her. The quintessential baby crawl - it's a throwback to the classics.

Cruisin' for a bruisin'

Suddenly, all Evelyn wants to do is stand and walk around the house (assisted by an increasingly sore-backed Mama (or Grandma, as the case may be)). Nowadays I just provide slight support with my fingers, whereas I think it was just 1 week ago that she needed a whole lot more support from me. It really is true what they say, that once they start crawling, their development really accelerates. I don't think it's coincidence either that just this past weekend, at my 30th birthday party (pictures still pending!), Evelyn watched Milo and Chloe running around and very clearly wanted to join them. Before, standing and walking took a distant second to commando crawling, but suddenly it's of the utmost importance.

And as the saying goes... the bigger the baby, the harder they fall...



(John thinks I should have taped more of the aftermath of the fall, but what kind of mother continues taping instead of comforting her child?!)

Later that same afternoon, Evelyn was standing in the living room, holding onto the couch, when all of a sudden, she let both hands go and took a step away. It all happened so quickly, and I was even sitting nearby watching, but I was just a split second too late. Luckily she somehow pivoted on her legs right before she fell, so she ended up flat on her back instead of face planting into the rug. Nevertheless, her screams were unbridled and heartwrenching.

I know that these experiences are ultimately good for her, as she learns about balance and the basic laws of gravity. But still, I think watching her learn how to walk is going to shave at least a few months off my life. Already, though, she is learning, and after that fall, she's been a lot more careful about hanging on and keeping her balance. It does make me smile, imagining that she was so sure of herself that she could just let go and start walking. I'm trying very very hard not to hover and protect her too much, and diminish the confidence and spirit behind these herculean efforts.

Yesterday, she officially "cruised" for the first time I think. She inched over from one ottoman to the other (adjacent) one in a tiny little coordinated movement of her hands and feet. Today, she took a couple more tiny steps along the coffee table.... Tomorrow, she's going to rule the playground.

No means no

Unless you're Evelyn that is! Here's proof positive that she actually understands what the word "No" means, but whether or not she listens is a whole other story... So far I think she thinks we say it for her complete amusement.



Remember how John used to play that head-shaking game with Evelyn? Where he would shake his head while making monkey sounds (for some inexplicable reason), and then Evelyn would shake her head in response. Well, now when John makes even the slightest monkey sound, without any head shaking, Evelyn shakes her head immediately. I wonder if we can get on Letterman's Stupid Human Tricks with that one.

In other "No" developments, Evelyn pretty much shakes her head whenever she hears "no" used in a word or sentence, such as when I say "No more!" after she's done eating. I guess we should probably teach her how to nod and respond to "Yes" too, or she might think the world is just a very negative place...

Itsy bitsy genius

OK, I know everyone thinks their baby is a genius, but maybe ours actually is! Today, during a break from work, I was playing with Evelyn in her room. She has this little toy that plays "Itsy Bitsy Spider" if you press the buttons, and while she loves that thing, she hasn't played with it in a while. She's been learning to whistle lately (didn't I say she's a genius?) and so I started whistling to her, and it occurred to me to whistle a tune that she already knows. So I whistled Itsy Bitsy Spider (badly, I might add), and she watched me intently for a while, and then crawled straight over to the Itsy Bitsy Spider toy and started the song! I am not exaggerating here (not that I ever exaggerate...).

After a little while, she got tired of the toy, put it down, and started crawling out of the room. I whistled the song again, and she stopped, turned and looked at me, and then crawled back to the toy and pressed the buttons again. Need I say more?