Tunnel vision

Evelyn and I have what you can call a very close relationship right now. To put it simply, she's obsessed with me. And I think it's safe to say that the feeling is mutual. When she's cuddling with me (which is often), it feels like we are the only ones around.


We joke that Evelyn is a Little John, but really, she's my Mini-Me -- she goes everywhere I go.

Evelyn was never really cuddly until she was about maybe 11 months old. Right around the time she started sucking her thumb, she started to have these long marathon cuddling sessions with me. I'd come home from work and she'd just settle in on my lap and lean against me, completely still but for the thumbsucking, for a very long time.

Now she's 15 months old, and the love affair (singular obsession) continues. And it's not just limited to the time after I get home. It's basically limited only to her waking hours and when I'm not in the bathroom or brushing my teeth or eating. But come to think of it, she's usually hovering, if not clambering, nearby during those times too.

When she forgets that I'm around, or somehow has had her fill of me, she's content playing and interacting with other people... that is, until I carelessly come back into view!

While I absolutely love being her favorite person in the world, sometimes I feel like we're in that episode of The Family Guy, and I'm the mom and Evelyn is Stewie:



Of course, I exaggerate just a bit here. It's not quite that bad, and most of the time it doesn't bother me one bit. She's been letting go a lot more during parties and gatherings, and wandering around and playing without me. And yet somehow she's probably the cuddliest and most Mama-crazy that she's ever been. But I'm not complaining -- I'll enjoy it while it lasts!

Water baby

Evelyn had her third swim class this week, and with each class she is having more and more fun in the water.

• Class 1: She stuck close to Mama and kept her thumb in her mouth half the time.
• Class 2: Less thumb sucking, less clinging.
• Class 3: She was clapping and yelling at the end of each song.
• (Class 100: Doing butterfly laps up and down the pool?)
  

Here are some pictures from the first class (can you spot Rhea and Paula?).


The class mostly consists of lots of singing with coordinated lifting, dunking, jumping, twisting, rolling, wiggling, jiggling, and even running. Sadly, this is my biggest cardio workout of the week. Even more sadly, it's exhausting!

Here's a video of us running around doing "motor boat" in the pool (as in "Motor boat, motor boat, go so slow. Motor boat, motor boat, go so fast. Motor boat, motor boat, STEP ON THE GAS!!). You can see Charlotte/Nicolas, Paula/Rhea, me/Evelyn, and Mary/Annie zipping by, then some random other people, then the big guy at the end, one of the instructors.



At one point during each class, Big Guy (sorry, I forget his name!) tries to take each little one on a "zoom zoom" with him around the pool. I think Rhea, Annie, and Evelyn are all a bit scared of him. This week, he approached Annie and the look of terror on her face said it all. Wisely, he moved on... to Evelyn. He asked her if she wanted to zoom zoom, and she just calmly but emphatically shook her head. Smart girl, I think.

Hello, holidays!

But before we officially say hello to the Holiday Season, let's say goodbye to Halloween. Evelyn went to her very first Halloween party in her very first Halloween costume on Wednesday. She went as a little schoolgirl, complete with Sue Mills blouse, jumper, and navy blue tights. I still find it rather disturbing that they even make school uniforms for toddlers!

The party was a success for Evelyn. Though it was in the early evening, encroaching on Evelyn's dinnertime, she did really well! Almost right away she was out of my arms and walking around, trying to hand things to various people and wandering around the house on her own. For once, I don't think she got into any toy power struggles with any other kids, and seemed to be just having a good time.

Case in point -- what exactly is she doing in this photo?


Here's a close-up -- it doesn't shed any light:


I had a chance to catch up with friends from my old mom's group, who I don't get to see much now that I'm back at work full time. We even finally got to see Sonia and Greyson -- we haven't seen him since he was about 6 months old!


Evelyn and Greyson have shared some pretty memorable moments early in their lives. Greyson, who is about a month older, holds the distinction of being the only baby near Evelyn's age who is actually bigger than her. I remember one of our first meetings when Evelyn was about 3 months old, and both babies just seemed so incongruously large compared to the other babies (and to their own moms!).



Maybe they recognized that in each other, because they seemed to have a camaraderie right from the beginning and even shared a mutual kiss during their last meeting! (Evelyn kissed first - so bold - and I was so shocked, I couldn't capture the moment when Greyson turned to her and returned the gesture.)


And now look at them, so grown up already... they grow too quickly!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everybody! This evening, John and I are taking Evelyn to her very first Halloween party with some moms and babies from my mom's group. I wasn't sure about going because of a big work deadline I have today, but it's looking like I'll be able to make it. Unfortunately, this means that we are pulling together a very last minute costume for Evelyn and I can't even hope that I will have a costume for myself in time for the party. John, naturally, doesn't care about having a costume for himself.

As I was trying to get the old creative juices flowing, I racked my brain for inspired costumes past and remembered this classic number from 2005. Our dear Mike (now so far away pursuing an MFA in Germany... boo hoo...) hosted a Halloweeen party in his apartment above the mortuary. And I mean really, how could you NOT have a Halloween party if you live above a mortuary? Anyway, I went as a Swedish meatball (get it?) -- meatball entirely constructed by Mike and me out of chicken wire, lots of masking tape, and a sloppy paint job -- and Mike went as Kim Jong Il, the North Korean dictator with suprisingly good rhythm. Good times.

Ponies and goats and pumpkins, oh my!

This past Sunday, three family trios (me/John/Evelyn, Paula/Bert/Rhea, and Naomi/Ken/Milo) descended upon the Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay for their amazing "Halloween on the farm" pumpkin patch. We hopped in the Pralinsky/Sawicki minivan and met Ken, Naomi, and Milo on the way.

Lemos Farm was awesome. I had no idea such places existed! They had ponies, goats, ducks, more ponies, a "spooky" train ride, and so much more.


Evelyn was all decked out in her Halloween gear (thanks to Grammy!). She liked looking at the ponies from a distance, thought the goats got too close for comfort, enjoyed watching the kids run around, and generally tested my tolerance for all things not-completely-sanitary by grabbing fistfuls of hay, wood chips, rocks, you name it. It took an ever vigilant eye to keep her from grabbing the goat droppings and offering it to strangers in her usual way.

When she got her fill of the "good bacteria" all around, Evelyn tried to sit on a choice selection of pumpkins. Sitting on things is one of her favorite activities of the past month, and she has a couple of different methods. Sometimes she'll approach the object (pumpkin, floor pillow, fireplace hearth, for example), turn around before she gets there, and then slowly lower herself in the hopes that she lands in the right spot. I think 75% of the time she does. Or, she'll climb over the object so that her butt is hovering over her target and she only needs to swing her leg around to complete the action. Once she's in place, she often likes to bounce, which works well with pillows but not so well with fireplace hearths and pumpkins (ouch!).

I mentioned the goats... Evelyn and Rhea definitely took to them in different ways. I watched as Paula and Rhea attracted the goats with their feed, Rhea squealing with delight. I turned at that moment to see John and Evelyn suddenly surrounded by goats themselves... Evelyn might say swarmed, or inundated, and she had a look on her face that said "Beat it, goats. Seriously."


After an eventful day, including a train ride (see the somewhat uneventful video at the end of this entry that only true Evelyn fans will appreciate) and lots of playing and going down slides, we called it a day. It felt like we'd been there all day, but we were back in the car by noon and heading out as the traffic heading in was backed up and slow going. The girls fell asleep within minutes (and so did I!). All in all a perfect way to celebrate Autumn and Halloween.


Here's a video of Evelyn getting acquainted with the pumpkins:



And here's the "spooky" train ride:

Swimming with the fishes

It's Tuesday! That means I get to leave work early to take Evelyn to her Cuttlefish swim class! Every Tuesday until the end of the year, I will work at home (as usual), stop my work day at 2pm to hang out with Evelyn, take her to swim class at 3:45pm, and play with her until bedtime. I am so happy to be able to do this, even if it means I have to work a couple of evenings a week to make up for it.

Last Tuesday was her first class, and of course the camera I took was on its last legs, so I managed to take only a couple of pre-swim shots before it died.


Not only do I get to spend more precious time with my girl, I get to introduce her to the world of swimming. I swam regularly until I was about 8 months pregnant, but now it's time for Evelyn to experience it outside of my uterus.

I learned to swim relatively late in life, and though I've come to love swimming over these last few years (and miss it quite a lot now that I can't go as easily), I am still not completely at ease in the water. Lap swimming in a pool (i.e. controlled) setting is great, and ocean swimming and snorkeling is exhilarating after I get over my initial fears.

So my wish for Evelyn is for her to be as comfortable in water as she is out, and to never have to hesitate before jumping into a lake or diving underneath some waves. She took her first class cautiously, and I'm looking forward to seeing her comfort level rise as we progress with these classes.

Molar bears

The teething monster has returned. Actually, considering that she is working on her molars this time, it's not as bad as I expected. Her first molar (lower left) appeared before we even realized she was teething. It's so weird to see such a big tooth in her mouth. When she's smiling really big (or crying), it looks like she's got a wad of chewing gum in there.

All of her other teeth so far have come in symmetrical pairs, and this time is no exception. These past few days we've been able to see molar #2 (lower right) rearing its big, irregularly shaped ugly head. This morning, she woke up exceptionally early - a sure sign of teething troubles. Instead of the usual 6:45/7am wakeup time (blessedly later than her previous 6am wakeup), she was awake and crying at 5:45am. Desperate to get some more sleep, we brought her to bed with us and just cuddled, albiet awake, for another 45 minutes (amazingly).

While waiting for her usual breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, Evelyn wanted only to be in my arms, forgoing the usual attempt to wreak havoc in the living room first. I sat on the kitchen stool by the ipod with Evelyn wrapped around me on my lap, head against my chest, thumb in its usual position in her mouth. We were listening to music while John prepared the oatmeal, when he noticed that her eyes were closed -- she'd fallen back asleep. She did this exact thing once before; not knowing that she'd fallen asleep, I took her shifting around to mean that she wanted to get down, and without looking at her, I put her on the cold kitchen floor where she remained lying, totally asleep. Both times, I put her back in her crib before she even had a chance to eat breakfast.

It must be a really weird feeling, having these giant things erupting in your mouth, and not being able to fully understand what's going on or communicate effectively about it. It's tough being a kid sometimes.... but at least she got to take a nap before starting her day!