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We're working on walking. We've got it down to where Ev just holds one of my hands as we walk through the house (or down the sidewalk, as he did last week when it was warm. Today it's snowing.) He can even take one or two steps by himself once I let go of his hands, but that's the extent of it. So we're working on it.
Today Mike took Evan out for a few hours so I could clean in peace. Evan is afraid of the vacuum cleaner, so having him out of the house when I use it is often the best thing. While I was cleaning our bedroom, I found this tape Cara made me when I turned 16 (yes, I have a ton of mix tapes from high school under my bed, I'm not ashamed). Anyway, I immediately popped it into the stereo and was in hysterics for the next half hour. The tape is half music, half her just talking to me, and it had me in tears. I was immediately 11 years younger--this thing is priceless. It made me smile.
I have kept a lot of stuff like that. I have a mess of tapes, old letters, postcards, all that stuff. I keep it all in a box under my bed or in my hope chest in the bedroom. I don't look at any of it very often, but it's all stuff I could never part with. There is a whole shoebox just for Mike, big bursting envelopes of notes from Cara and Lauren, bags of letters from Intercom and my trips to Kentucky, folders full of other cards and bits and pieces. I even have a tape of a radio show Mike and Henry did at Duquesne once (it was Mike and Eric's show, but Eric was gone that night I think) and at the end of another tape is a bunch of voicemail messages from my first year of college from Lauren and Mike. These are my little personal treasures.
The reason I'm telling you this is because I've started a box under Evan's bed of all the cards he's gotten since he was born--congratulatory cards for his birth, baptism cards, birthday cards, valentines. Just in case he's as sentimental as I am, I want him to have the chance someday to decide if he wants to keep all of this stuff or not. He probably won't, but better safe than sorry.
As soon as they got home this afternoon, Evan went down for his nap, so I should finish cleaning while he sleeps. I'll be careful not to throw out anything important.
I haven't felt much like posting this week. I'm not sure why really, I guess I'm just not sure what to write sometimes. I mean, there's a lot of things I've been thinking about, but I'm not sure this is really the place to share them. After all this is for Evan, not me.
The last few days have been pretty standard, normal days at home. We did have visitors yesterday and the day before, so that was pretty exciting. April came to visit with her new baby and her sister, Lisa and Cole came over for an afternoon, Tim has stopped by a few times this week, and last night my mom and Mike's uncle and grandpa just happened to all arrive at about the same time. It was a bit hectic but so nice to have company.
Evan has been doing something this week that has never happened before in his life--sleeping all night in his own bed. Some of you may be surprised at this statement, but for his entire infancy he has always slept at least part of the night (if not the whole night) with us. Now, I don't want to get e-mails on this subject about how I am a horrible mother for letting him sleep with me, that I could have suffocated him, that I'm spoiling him, whatever. I know that traditionally there's a lot of objection to the family bed. But I am a firm believer in attachment parenting. And so I have let Evan sleep with us, because that's what was right for our family--it allowed us to get more sleep, allowed me to breastfeed him without any trouble, and made Evan feel safe and secure.
But things have changed in recent weeks. As Ev got bigger and more mobile, he became more difficult to sleep next to. He moves around a great deal while he sleeps now, and is not as comfortable as he once was between Mommy and Daddy. So I've been making an effort to get him to sleep in his own crib, and when he wakes at night, to go in and comfort him but remain in his room and put him back in his crib. This approach never worked before (he used to scream bloody murder if I put him in his crib), but I think all three of us were ready for our own space this time.
So although I will miss that little baby face next to mine in the bed, we've moved on to new sleeping arrangements. It's just another step in Evan's growing independence, letting us know he's not a baby anymore.
I collected some photos we've taken this week and posted them. Sorry for the delay.
Our time in Cleveland was brief, but productive. We got there Friday evening for a tour of Grandma and Papa's new place, a test of the new couch (very comfy) and a relaxing visit. Saturday we were up early and did our best to help around the house--contact papering inside the kitchen cabinets, unpacking boxes, and moving some stuff around. We also took a long break for lunch and for Aunt Jo to open her birthday presents. We headed back home late last night and crashed.
Today we started off early with Logan's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. Evan was not a big fan, but he did pretty well anyway. He did not enjoy the rides (cried) or the music (screamed) or the big dancing Chuck E. (terrified--though I can't blame him for that). He did warm up after a little while, enough to play in the little toddler's playhouse for a bit and slide down the slide. I think he had a little fun, and Logan had a good time, so it was a success.
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at my dad's, as it seemed we've been running non-stop for the last two weeks. Now we're home, Ev's in his jammies, and we're hoping for an early bedtime.
Evan is 14 months old today. I almost forgot until I logged into Babycenter this morning and at the bottom it said, "Your 14 Month Old" (the page gives you daily facts/articles based on your child's age). Today's tip was about my child being a messy eater at this age. No kidding--have you seen my kitchen floor?
In other news, we're heading out tonight to get a look at Grandma and Papa's new house. They're doing most of the big moving today, so hopefully things will be somewhat settled by the time we arrive tonight. Ev is excited to have a new place to explore, I'm sure.
We'll be back tomorrow as we have a few other things planned for this weekend also. It's another busy one!
Evan surprised me today by getting down off of the bed properly. This may sound like no big deal to you, but for the past two weeks I have been trying to teach him that. He had been going head first (and me catching him) which doesn't work so well if I'm not right there. But today he got to the edge, scooted his little butt around, and lowered himself down feet first. What a good boy.
This is the stuff I never considered when making the decision to become a parent. I thought about what it would be like to take care of a little tiny baby, and I thought about all the fun things we would do when he got older, but I always seemed to gloss over this middle part. The part where we have to teach him to walk, to talk, to feed himself with utensils, to get on and off furniture without falling on the floor. We have to teach him everything--from brushing his teeth to wiping his butt (not at the same time, of course).
The whole thing is rather intimidating. I suppose all you can do is take it one thing at a time, one task at a time and hope for the best. It's exciting for him and for me. Every day is something new--realizing he doesn't know the oven is hot or that you can really hurt yourself if you try to stand up when you're under the coffee table. There is so much to learn.
Speaking of learning, I have decided to start a little project this weekend. I'm going to make a little "friends and family" poster for Evan. I'm going to spend some time this weekend taking pictures of us, and of Ev's grandparents and aunts and uncles and friends. Then I will mount each picture on a huge posterboard with the person's name underneath so that Evan can look at all the pictures and we can practice saying who they are. I think he'll really like that since he enjoys looking at his photo album so much. I'll try to put a picture up of the whole thing when I've finished.
Today it was warm again (well, reasonably warm--low 60's) so I opened the kitchen window and Evan and I went for a walk. The walk was nice, as there are many little neighborhoods around here with cute houses and well kept sidewalks. We headed home after about half an hour because it was rather windy despite the warm temperature.
After our walk, we stopped next door so Evan could visit his buddy Kaitlyn. She's 16 months old now and Ev really enjoyed playing with her. It's hard for me not to compare the two of them because they are only two months apart, but with Ev being so early the gap is more like four months. It's almost like having a little preview of what Evan will be doing next. Anyway, the two of them had fun and even got into a little trouble together--I can only imagine what the summer holds for these kids.
Tonight is a night in. I'm going to try to clean up the little messes Evan has left throughout the house, and maybe take a bath and relax. I want to finish a book I've been reading and I think that sounds like a good opportunity.
Happy first birthday to Evan's pal Logan! Ev is very excited for Logan's birthday party this weekend.
Things are settled in and back to normal around here. Mike is unpacked and back to work, and Ev and I are back to our usual routine. The one nice change is that the weather has improved for a few days, so I can have the windows open. That always makes me happy.
Evan is making great strides (pardon the pun) in his effort to begin walking. He's still using his little wheeled walker at times, though mostly he likes to cruise through the house using the furniture and walls. He's been standing on his own more and more--no support at all. But just as he looks like he might take a step, he gets nervous and sinks to his knees. Ev's all about safety.
My original hope was that Ev would be walking by his "adjusted" first birthday, which is this Sunday, but I'm not too sure that will happen now. My dad thinks that he will be walking by Easter, so maybe that's a safer bet. Either way it's fun to watch him become more steady on his feet.
So I ended up driving to Cleveland Thursday night to meet Mike at the airport. It had just been too long a week.
We spent a nice long weekend at his folks house, just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. Evan had fun also, helping Grandma and Papa pack (and unpack) things for their move this week.
Evan is getting his third tooth in--that makes 1 on the top, two on the bottom. They're just popping in, one after the other. Luckily, he hasn't been too upset about it the past few days, so maybe he's getting used to it.
Well, that's it for now, I'm beat. I'll write more tomorrow.
Perhaps I spoke too soon.
Mike's flight out of Burlington has been cancelled. If he's lucky, he'll be able to hop a flight to Chicago and then to Cleveland, arriving at like 8:30 tonight. And that's instead of arriving in Erie at 4:30 this afternoon. Ugh. He's asked me to drive out and meet him in Cleveland, but the weather isn't great here or in Cleveland right now, so I'm holding off on that.
And I thought this was going to be an easy day.
Day four is nearing the end, and we are still doing well. Today seemed a lot longer than the other days, because we didn't go out at all. We just stayed home, played, napped, ate--the usual stuff. I feel like I should be out as much as possible while I have the chance, but today I just didn't feel like making the effort. I wanted to run up to Target this evening, but so far even that doesn't look probable.
Ev's second tooth has broken through the gum, and now it's sharpness can be keenly felt. I'm so glad he's getting teeth, I just don't appreciate getting nibbled on with those little razor blades.
This week we've been working on getting Ev to feed himself with a spoon. It's going okay. He's got the idea down, but he needs a lot of practice. He'll pick up the spoon and get it to his mouth, but on the way he'll turn the spoon over and spill all the food down his front. It's funny to watch, but very messy, and he only ends up eating about half of his food this way. Oh well, we'll figure it out.
Right now, Ev is standing at the top of the stairs, yelling for Daddy. Can't wait for tomorrow.
Here we are at the end of day three--two more to go. Yesterday was a nice day all around, with lunch out and visiting, and then in the evening Evan and I took a ride and stopped to see Tim at work. Unfortunately, we had another night of trying to put Ev to bed for three hours, and him running the length of the house to look for Daddy. God, I really hope he doesn't do that tonight.
Today was very busy, and we're just getting home. In the morning, we stopped down at my old work for an hour or so to visit. Ev liked exploring the office. Then we headed over to Mikaele's for lunch with Aidan and Logan. It was nice to see Ev and Logan chatting to each other in baby talk, and also nice to see that they are about the same height. (Sorry--preemie mom alert--always checking stuff like that out!) After lunch it was up to the mall to walk around with Lisa and Cole. Ev slept most of that time in his stroller, as did Cole, so it was a nice quiet afternoon.
When we were done at the mall I stopped in at my Dad's for a while so Ev could stretch his legs and I could visit. Now we are home again and hopefully almost ready for bed. What a day! I think we're both pretty tired. Tomorrow is our last full day without Daddy, and I am glad. It's going to be the challenging day though because I have nothing planned. Maybe something exciting will happen.
Happy birthday to Aunt Cara! Can you believe she's 26 already?
Day one went off without a hitch, sort of. We kept busy all day, and that helped. Tim and Matt showed up around 11:30 to hang out and play video games, so that was nice. We headed up to my dad's around 3, and we had dinner (Evan loves spaghetti and meatballs) there. Ev and I came home about 8, and I chatted with Mike on the computer for a bit while Evan played.
We tried to go to bed starting at 9, but didn't end up falling asleep until well after 11. This is where the hitch came in. Every time Ev would start to doze off, he would sit up and say, "Dada!" and then proceed to comb the entire house looking for Mike. He would go to Mike's computer chair, then bang on the bathroom door, then down the hall to our bedroom to stand on Mike's side of the bed to pound on the mattress and look at me puzzled. He just couldn't figure out where Daddy was, and he wasn't about to rest until he did. Ev finally wore himself out with this routine, and we both got some sleep.
Now we're up and dressed on day two, and ready for an exciting day. We're headed out to have lunch with Aunt Louise and cousin Linda today, so that should make for a nice afternoon. I don't really have anything planned for later on, but I might go visit Tim at work if the weather isn't bad.
Evan is doing okay, but he's starting to get his second tooth in, and it's making for some extra crankiness. This one is coming in on the top, but it's just showing under the gums and looking sore--I'm hoping it won't be too long before it pokes through. I've been giving him baby Tylenol and letting him chew on everything in sight, so we're coping. Life with a child is nothing if not exciting.
You may have seen some March of Dimes campaign commercials on tv lately, featuring parents trying to figure out why their baby was born prematurely. Of course, these commercials make me cry like a baby. I believe that one of the statistics they cite on the commercial is that around 475,000 babies are born prematurely in the U.S. each year, and in over half of those cases there is no explanation why.
Because of their excellent research into premature births, I decided to donate to the yearly March of Dimes campaign. I created a virtual hospital band in honor of Evan--you can view that here. If you click on that link, you can see Evan's band and also donate to the March of Dimes in his name if you choose to do so. Please check it out!
I have just returned from dropping Mike at the airport for his trip to Vermont. It was an early morning, but everything went smoothly (aside from Mike eating it on some black ice in the parking lot--I admit that I laughed). Evan cried after he realized Daddy was not getting back in the car with us, but I made some stupid faces so he eventually got over it. So Mike's now winging his way to Burlington, and we're back home playing with toys.
Hopefully he'll have a good trip and bring us back presents. I asked for Ben & Jerry's but that doesn't travel very well. I'm hoping too that our week goes well and I don't go crazy. It just feels weird being alone with Ev--not that I don't do it every day, but it feels funny right now. I think it's really because in our 2 1/2 years of marriage we've only been apart for maybe five days total. But it's good to have time apart too--it makes you appreciate each other more. But enough about my theories on marriage blah blah blah.
So if anyone is bored this week, give us a call! We'd love company! I'll keep everybody updated on how things are going here too.
Yesterday afternoon Lisa and Cole stopped over for a visit and to show me some pictures taken last weekend. We swapped babies for a while so Lisa got to entertain Evan while I held Cole. It was nice, and I showed him the black and white pictures above our couch and actually got him to smile! So cute. I said to Lisa, "Yeah, Ev was about Cole's age when he really started to get interested in those pictures."
Saying that made me feel funny, because Cole is two months old. And though it was only a year ago, Evan being two months old seems like ancient history. It's amazing how much kids change in that first year. I went back just now and read a little bit of Evan's web page detailing those first few months. To my surprise, there were many events that I had forgotten already. This makes me so glad we wrote everything down because I want to be able to share my memories with Ev when he gets older, and it doesn't look good if I'm forgetting things only a year later!
That said, I don't really miss that time. It was special, and I love watching Evan grow and all that, but those first few months were so hard. We constantly felt like we didn't know what we were doing, we weren't getting any sleep, and Evan didn't interact with us much at all. Now is so much more fun. We are more confident (to the point that if we see pregnant women in stores doing their baby registries we look at each other and share an evil laugh). We get a lot more sleep (even though Ev still likes to be in bed with us for part of the night). And he's so much more fun--walking, talking, playing, showing us what he needs or wants. Parenting has definitely become more exciting and rewarding.
So I could tell Lisa with confidence, "Just wait, it gets to be so much easier and so much more fun." It really does.
It's been kind of a slow week here. At least it seems to be dragging. I am tired of the cold and dreading next week when Mike will be in Vermont. I'm afraid that we won't do well--which is silly because we will be fine, it's just that I won't have that break to look forward to at the end of the day, someone to be with and talk to and all that. But we will be okay, we'll figure it out.
In other exciting news, I am getting old. I have given up my subscription to Glamour magazine in favor of a subscription to Parents magazine. Somehow diaper brand comparisons and articles titled "10 fun craft projects to do with your toddler" seem so much more interesting to me than debates over long wearing lipsticks and "10 ways to tell if your boyfriend is cheating". Sometimes I can't believe it myself.
For your Tuesday, ten random facts about Evan:
1) Evan is now considered a toddler and, in true toddler fashion, has been known to toddle.
2) Evan had his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich yesterday, and loved it.
3) Evan's favorite time of day is bathtime. He's most cranky just after his nap.
4) Evan's hair is getting bushy and starting to make little flips in the back, but I am afraid to cut it again.
5) Evan loves babies and cats, but hates dogs (if they bark).
6) I still haven't decided what color Evan's eyes are.
7) If given a mirror (or sliding glass door or oven door) the first thing Evan will do is kiss his reflection.
8) If Evan sees someone put their coat on, he will get excited and start waving bye bye. However, when the person actually leaves the room, he begins to cry.
9) One thing I would love to find for Evan are the plaid shortalls my brothers used to wear when they were little, but I don't know if my folks kept those or gave them away.
10) Evan will graduate from college in the year 2024.
It seems that Ev's been around so long his baby registry at Amazon has expired! Sad, I know, he's getting so big so fast, but don't fret! We've moved him into a big boy Wish List!
Click here to view it, and get him fun, educational things, of course.
What a whirlwind of activity in the past few days! Elaine is in town from California for the week and there has been lots to do.
On Friday Elaine, Lisa and Cole came to visit. They brought lunch and we sat and talked. I think Elaine got a shock being exposed to both kids at once, but it was a nice time. They left when Evan's Early Intervention caseworker and therapist showed up for his one year evaluation. That went smoothly (even though there was new paperwork to get used to) and Evan tested at or above his adjusted age of 11 months in all areas. I really like the girls that work with him and think they are doing a great job--it's such a relief to have that support there for Evan if he needs it.
Friday night was a shopping trip with Daddy and some last minute errands. We got home pretty early and Evan went to bed, so Daddy watched a movie while I worked on Evan's scrapbooks. I got caught up through Christmas and can now start his new book with his first birthday. I'm really excited about that.
Saturday morning and afternoon were quiet. We got a slow start on the day and ended up napping for part of the afternoon. Daddy wasn't feeling all that great and Evan was pretty tired himself after a long week. I headed out in the late afternoon for Elaine's bridal shower, leaving Daddy and Evan to fend for themselves. It was a real bonding experience for them, and they did very well.
After I had a quick stop home, it was back out again for Elaine's bachelorette party. She's getting married in August in Colorado, so this was our best chance to take her out. We made her do all the traditional embarrassing things (wearing a veil, doing a scavenger hunt, etc.), but the night was a blast. I hope she had a good time, because I know I did. As much as I hate to be away from Ev, it was fun to have a night with the girls.
Today was busy as well, with Lisa's son Cole's baptism (Elaine is the godmother--that's one of the big reasons she came home this weekend). They had a lovely party after the ceremony. Evan wasn't too pleased to be there, but he did warm up after a while and then began tearing through the house and trying to go into all of the kitchen cabinets. He really made himself right at home.
Now we are all home and things are quieting down. This week should be a calm one after the craziness of the last couple of days. It was a lot of fun though, and I'll be sad to see Elaine head home on Tuesday.