Faces of Evie in March

 Trying to eat the band-aid I put on the cut on her nose

Yelling for me to get her down off the rocking chair

 Noshing on the Brussels sprout; notice the green drool dripping down her chin

This is usually how she tells me she wants to go down stairs. She puts her head against the rails and then screams. I think she looks so sad only because the flash on my camera was so bright and I took this photo this morning soon after she woke up.

Talking with Evie

Almost as soon as Evie had tubes put in her ears, she started to babble and chatter more. She's also become much more demanding lately. I'm not sure if that's because she's starting to realize that the sounds out of her mouth can get a reaction or if it's just part of the age. It's not too uncommon for me to hear her yelling loudly as if she's hurt and then to discover that she's just mad because she climbed in the toy basket and can't get out.

This morning when I went I got home from the gym at 7 a.m., I could hear her babbling. When I went in to get her, I laid her down to take her out of her sleep sack and she quickly rolled over and started pointing and yelling at her little stuffed sheep that had fallen on the floor. As soon as I picked it up and gave it to her, she gave me a big smile and her sheepy, a big hug. I thought to myself, I've got to do a better job of writing this stuff down because it's so fun to see her personality.

A few moments later she later she started yelling at me from the other room. When I went out, she had her face pressed up against the railing, looking down the stairs. Evie LOVES playing on the stairs and gets very upset at me if I go downstairs without lifting her up over the gate and letting her come with me. So I thought that was what she wanted, but then when I looked down the stairs I could see one of her shoes. So, we headed down the stairs and she brought her shoe to me. She brought the same shoes to me yesterday and I think she's decided that good things, i.e., going outside, happen when she's got her shoes on. I didn't have time to take her outside yesterday afternoon because I was trying to make dinner and frost a cake for Relief Society, but I put her shoes on and let her toddle about the house in her shirt, diaper, and shoes. She was just thrilled to have her shoes on and didn't seem to mind that we never went outside or the fact that she had no pants on. This morning she was pretty insistent, so I put her shoes on over her blanket sleeper.

Evie is definitely the better eater of my two children. I think part of that is because I'm doing a better job of giving her veggies and new things to eat. She loves broccoli and cauliflower most of the time, as well as raw carrots, peaches, apples, and bananas. Since we're still working on potty training with Anna, I've noticed that she doesn't drink much, but Evie loves to carry around her sippy cup and is even good about drinking her milk these days. She also knows when I'm eating a treat and she will come across the house to cling to my legs and whine. I'll admit that I've given her candy much earlier than I gave it to Anna.

I think she actually said "no" the other day, but it might also have been "Na" for Anna. She's become quite active lately and it seems like she's always trying to get into a cupboard or drawer and pull everything out. And she moves quickly. Whenever I open the freezer, she immediately starts grabbing out bags of veggies. Yesterday she grabbed the bag of Brussels sprouts and the spilled all over the floor. While I was picking them up, she grabbed one and shoved it in her mouth. She chewed on it for at least twenty minutes and then decided it was too much to swallow. She was kind enough to spit it out in my hand instead of on the floor.

So I've started saying no and "uh-uh" today. Today we were at a friend's house and when Evie started to tug on one of the leaves of her house plant, I called, "Evie, uh-uh." She startled a bit, like she knew she was caught. Then this afternoon while I was rocking her to sleep, she started digging her nails into my neck. No matter how short I keep her nails, they are always sharp and lately she's started pinching too. I know she's just experimenting, but it can really hurt. This afternoon I held her hand and said, "that hurts Momma." She started to cry like I had broken her heart, but maybe that was also because she was way past her nap time and really tired.

Evie has finally started sleeping a bit better at night. She had her ears checked a week after her surgery and they were healthy and her hearing was perfect. We had to do a little sleep training and sometimes she's still up at night, probably working on getting a new tooth, but she's finally letting me sleep through the night most nights. Sometimes when I rock her and sing to her before her nap, she'll join in with sing-song babbles.

Evie's changing so much and so quickly and I always think I'll remember the fun things she does and write them down, but then two weeks pass and I know there was something I wanted to write down, but I can't dig it up from my mind.

February 2011

Anna and Evie today

Since Evie's birthday: 

We have visited the Living Seas Aquarium almost once a week (at least it feels like that).

Evie started growling, a lot, probably because she had hearing loss from fluid in her ears.

Evie had tubes put in her ears.

Evie still didn't sleep through the night because her molars started coming in.

I made a good effort in the spring cleaning department, cleaning blinds, baseboards, and fridge and finally mopping the floor after two months.

Evie started walking better and babbling more although she still growls when she really likes something.

We met up with Heather at the aquarium (we love the penguins).

I made bakclava for the first and last time.

Dan's parents came to visit.

Anna turned three and had a princess castle cake for her birthday party. 

I finished piecing a rag quilt for Anna (I bought the fabric almost two years ago).

Anna has started saying, "That makes me so sad" to me on a daily basis.

This past Friday she stuck two raisins up her nose requiring a trip to Kid Care to get them both out.

Saturday night she called me into her room and when I got there said, "I've got poop on my fingers," and indeed she did.

Today Evie fell while sucking on markers and sliced her nose.

Someday photos for many of these events might be posted here. Someday . . .

Do a Little Dance

My mom has told me that I have a lower pain threshold than my sisters. I think she says this in large part because of how I reacted to getting my wisdom teeth out as opposed to how my sisters reacted. Apparently I was more of a wimp than they were. My mom also theorizes that my lower pain tolerance is because I'm the oldest and so whenever I fell down, I got a reaction. My sisters didn't get the same sort of attention and now they are tougher than me. I like to think that I really did experience more pain when I got my wisdom teeth out rather than believe that I am more of a wimp.

But ideas sink in and so with Anna, whenever she fell, we would cheer for her, and we taught her to say, "I'm a tough girl!" We didn't do so well with Evie. Most of her early pain came from her sister, like when Anna would deliberately smack her to get our attention. Horrified by Anna's behavior, we would always focus on Evie and try to comfort her. Now, Evie can take several hard falls and not bat an eye, but if Anna touches her and Evie sees a sympathetic look on my face than she bursts into tears. Evie's temperament might also be such that she's a little more sensitive to injustice, but I wonder if we've also warped her a bit with all our attention (not that I regret trying to sooth her after one of Anna's attacks).

On top of all this abuse, Evie also gets lots of things ripped out of her hands. If Evie has it, Anna wants it even if I gave Evie a toy to distract her from the toy Anna was pushing Evie away from. I've noticed recently that Evie has developed a little dance for whenever Anna takes something from her. She turns in a circle, lays down on the ground, and throws her arms up over her head while letting out a howl. Her moves remind me of the stereotypical fit being thrown by a small child, although I can't blame her for feeling frustrated. Soon enough I'm sure Evie will be big enough to take toys from Anna herself. I have to admit that I'm not really looking forward to that day, but at least things won't seem quite so unfair for Evie.

Happy Birthday Evie!

Evie turned one last Thursday. At her well-baby check up, she is now in the 61% for weight and the 37% for height. I guess she's due for a growth spurt any day now. Now that she can walk, she is perfectly happy to just toddle about the house, which is a good thing since Anna has taken possession of most of Evie's birthday presents. Twice last week I caught Evie sticking one of Anna's cast off shirts on her head and walking around with it like it was a hat. Every now and then it would slip down in front of her eyes and she'd be blinded. Evie has also started climbing. I often find her standing on Anna's little rocking chair or trying to climb the step ladder or anything else she can get up on to. She's got this great little Ernie laugh--a soft, throaty hiss. Whenever I read Sandra Boynton's book Blue Hat, Green Hat, she always laughs when I say "oops!" She also loves to play peek-a-boo with us, holding a blanket or whatever in front of her face until we say, "peek-a-boo."When she hears music, she's just now starting to bounce while standing, but most of the time she prefers to sit and rock back and forth to the music while bouncing her knees. She's decided that she likes to eat raw carrots, but her favorite food is definitely applesauce and she gets excited whenever she sees us get it out.

On the day of her birthday, we let Evie open her gifts from us and from Dan's parents.

 As usual, Evie likes the bows and ribbons the most.

 Anna had a really hard time not opening Evie's presents for her, especially when Evie didn't seem all that concerned about actually unwrapping them.

Getting Dressed

Lately it's been a fight almost every morning to get Anna dressed. I'm sure part of the problem is that there are many days when I leave her in her pjs until after lunch. Evie is still waking up most nights, whether it's an ear infection or teething, so we're back to slow mornings as I try to sleep as long as possible.

Last week I wanted to run some errands and Anna refused to let me put her clothes on her. I was exhausted from a bad cold and too many three a.m. parties with Evie, so after trying to persuade her for several minutes, I decided that I'd rather just go lock myself in my room than sit on her and force her into her clothes. I'm not sure that was a better parenting decision since it was, in a sense, manipulative, even if at the time, I did it more for her own protection. Once Anna talked me into coming out, she did let me put her clothes on.

A few weeks ago as we were having this discussion about why she couldn't wear her pajamas to Costco, I told her that it's not acceptable in our society to wear pjs to the store. I told her that people would laugh at us if she wore her pjs to the store. I don't think that actually convinced her, and I forgot about the conversation.

Then last Tuesday I had to take Anna and Evie with me to the Church. Dan was going to meet us there and take the kids home for me. Evie had just had another leaky diaper, so rather than put her in a new outfit, I figured I'd just dress her in her pajamas. Anna looked at her and said, "People laugh at Evie, huh Mama." She said it so matter-of-factly, and at first, I didn't know what she was talking about.

I guess it was an instance of my own words coming back to haunt me because I don't want Anna to grow up afraid of people laughing at her. I want her to be herself and feel free to experiment (within some limits, of course). But maybe I really shouldn't worry, because I don't think she's that worried about people laughing at her or Evie or me, for that matter. I think in her world that's just something that happens if you wear pjs in public and maybe we'll all have a good laugh together.

So I've decided to take the modesty and self-respect angle now when we revisit this discussion and I'm sure it's just as abstract to her, but these days I'm not sure I could really say anything she'd find convincing.

Walking!

With Evie, it feels like we can watch her figure out new skills. She is persistent, diligent and focused, and it’s easy to see her progress.

Almost as soon as Evie mastered crawling, she began pulling herself up and by early October she was using furniture or a wall to support her while she cruised about the house. She reminded me of someone learning to roller skate for the first time, who hugs the wall constantly. She also started pushing her high chair or our kitchen table chairs around to support her while she walked. She’s strong!

 Last Wednesday (Jan. 5) she stood up all by herself and took her first tentative step. Then she started playing a game where she would stand up holding a stuffed animal or a toy, throw it on the floor and pick it up. Only, she’d usually end up diving towards the object rather than bending down. She might take a few steps before sliding into first, but usually she ended up on the ground and had to stand up all over again.

Since then she’s been adding a few more steps, and yesterday I noticed her standing up, taking a few steps, and then falling down. Sometimes she belly flops and sometimes she sits down. Every day she adds a few more steps. Of course, I get so excited to see her walking and Anna, my little mimic, often says to Evie “Look at you walking!” She’s not ready for a 5K yet, but she’s certainly on her way.