O the Christmas Tree!

We went shopping tonight. Two tree lots and $13 later... we walked out with our beauty. We decided to get a smaller tree to fit atop Evie's play table in the dining room. One, we have a very tight house and two, we thought a tree on the floor may be too tempting for little fingers.
Yeah! Christmas is just around the corner! Time to bake cookies next...

Bumps and Scrapes

Well, if its going to happen, then its going to happen while dressed up (dress and tights) ready to go to a birthday party.
Murphy's Law.
Evie eagerly raced outside while dad & mom got themselves together to attend D's 2-year-old party today. I assisted her down the steps and out to the sidewalk where she proceeded to crawl up the next-door neighbor's cement steps. We all have sidewalks that lead up to our houses and almost all of them on my block have 2 steps. Evie is used to this feat but not in a dress. I think her leg caught the hemline and well, that coupled with mom talking to a neighbor,... resulted in a tumble that was AUDIBLE 2 houses down (where the neighbor was).
*sigh*
Poor Evie's noggin hit the ground and was a scraped up bloody mess right away.
Tears ensued and a prompt clean-up was in order.
I felt terrible. It did happen on my watch, after all.
I just want to apologize to her like I maybe could have grabbed her in the first 3 of the 5 seconds it took for her to actually hit the ground.
A variety of grandmas asking me if I contacted a doctor hasn't helped me relax any. I'm considering setting the alarm for 3 AM to check if she is still breathing.
She did bounce back rather quick this afternoon and played/ate just fine. I'm sure she is OK.
But, man, the endless circles of "What if...? What if this...? What if that...?"
Parenthood can waste energy you aren't expending physically.

She kissed her pajamas good-night

Yes, a Walmart buy for $9

Bath night

So, like I have stated before... YOU. HATE. BATHS.
After a diaper change I decided to take advantage of your near nakedness and throw you in the bathtub. I carried you down the hall naked while dad drew a bath. You whimpered and sobbed the whole time either knowing your pending doom or just cranky since it was near bedtime (and when its near bedtime you tend to fuss over nakedness, clothing, diaper changes, toys, blankets, sippy cups, TV shows and books... OK, everything sets you off. We tune you out these days).
I had dad plunk you down in the bath tub while I swirl the new hot water in with the cooler water.
You howled.
You sat up on your knees.
I poured water over you as if to let you know it was going to happen regardless of your disapproval.
You actually began to settle in this time. Perhaps you recalled the bath from 2 nights ago where the second half was less scrubbing and more downtime with toys? Perhaps you are returning to what used to be "fun" bath time?
One could only hope.
Coaxing you to bathe has really grown tiresome this last month especially after I have had a long day myself and want nothing more THAN a nice bath...
So, here you are tonight. In your bath. Discovering the awesome powers of water and how it can create a vacuum seal in a plastic cup turned upside down. You giggle and reach for your rubber Ernie toy.
Ernie gets stuffed into the cup.
You then lean forward and blow on Ernie.
I ask, "You kissing Ernie?"
You blow again.
I repeat, "Huh? You giving Ernie kisses?"
You stop what you are doing. Stand up. Take a step to my face and kiss me on the lips. And then sit down again.

Damned you are sweet.

Leaps and Bounds

While da-da was away on his all boys/ all sports weekend get-away... Evie has seemingly hit new high marks in her development.
She said "shoes" (well, not only said it but comprehended it, too).
She also began stacking her rings (she's expressed no interest in them until just this weekend). She didn't really get the order at first but really began responded to my cheering on, "Blue! Green! Yellow!" before deciding to do whatever she wanted again. This kid isn't stupid but stubborn as hell. She tends to get frustrated and pissy if you try and show her things resulting in delayed learning. She won't do it until she can actually do it (whatever "it" may be). She isn't one to try, try again.
She really got into dumping out all her legos and blocks... throwing out the contents of the boxes is more like it. She'd giggle wildly and then try and pick up all the scattered pieces. One by one. She'd walk halfway across the room for a block, walk over to the box, drop, and walk all the way out to another piece. She did finally multi-task and grab 2 at a time but this pick-up & dump-out game was fascinating to watch. This kept her entertained for up to 45minutes at a time.
She really does know to stand at the fridge and yell, 'uh! uh! uh!" for when she wants you to get her her milk. She knows how to nicely pat Puck when he walks by and that he is a "dawg." She knows when the phone rings where it is located. She will hold the phone next to her ear and listen but still doesn't say anything. She will lean into you when you ask for a hug and is beginning to press her lips against you when you ask for a kiss.
This past week she has begun mimicking more behaviors... from her TV shows. On Yo Gabba Gabba! there's a section where a girl teaches a very simple dance, "arm up! arm up! bend your knees! now twirly-whirly (she spins in a circle)!" Rob called me at work to tell me that Evie raised her arms when told and then spun in a circle. Now I had also recently told her how to twirl in a circle so she must have caught on FAST! Its amazing when she does this - its like another light goes on in her head. Its fascinating to see her learn... and rewarding after her long bouts of frustration when you could tell she's been trying to learn new things internally.
Bad behaviors are running rampent now, too. She tries to stand up on her purple, plastic scooter. She crawls atop her little plastic activity table. She stands up on her chairs and tries to stand in her hanging high chair. NOTHING WORKS. We have tried everything from yelling, "no!" to wagging fingers to even a time out. She simply giggles. *sigh*. I'm scared for when this escalates to tantrums and meltdowns in a public place. How do you counter defiance at such a young age that doesn't "get it" and can't quite communicate yet?

Schews.

In preparation of getting Evie out-the-door, I walked through the house, "We gotta get your shoes, Evie. Time to put on your shoes so we can go. Let's get your shoes. Evie. Let's find your shoes." I absent mindedly repeat things like this to either fill dead air, calm her down while I run around getting us ready (she tends to get upset when we prepare to go places. It stresses her out wondering if she will be left behind or not), and to, of course, reinforce new words.
Instead of actually doing what I was saying, I marched straight into the bathroom before getting us together to leave.
From down the hall, "Schews? Schews. {pause}. Schews."
I had no idea what she was saying or doing until I heard her in the bathroom doorway.
"Schews."
Two pink converses are placed on my lap.
"Schews."
Holy schitt. She said "shoes."

In an additional note of irony (or is it coincidence?). Evie shares the same birthdate of Imelda Marcos. Something tells me Evie's passion for shoes must be controlled from this point on.

Home Alone

Today your father leaves for his weekend away, with B, for a sports-event holiday in Pittsburgh. He will enjoy male bonding at Mellon arena in tonite's Penguins game and then follow it up with more bonding at the Steelers game in Hines Field. He won't be back until we are both at the sitters & work on Monday.
I want you to take notice that mommy left you for 32hrs. Dad is leaving you for nearly 55hrs.
That's all.

;-)

So, you are napping for a shockingly long time now and even tough this is great (I love the break and have managed to get a few odds & ends done), I'm also getting anxious realizing this will mean no afternoon nap... when I need one. *sigh*

Its gorgeous outside today. Very windy and very balmy... around 70˚! I don't think we'll enjoy the day outside playing (you'll get terribly muddy and I honestly shudder at the thought of then having to clean you up with sans da-da. You still hate baths and I would welcome the assistant). (Readers: This reminds me. Have I mentioned that Evie now HATES baths? Its all my fault, really. I thought she'd eventually learn to stop looking up at the water when I rinsed her hair and she never did. So, she is so horrified at the thought of soapy water in her eyes that she cries throughout her baths now. Fun. Smart, mommy, smart.)

Well, I'm off to grab a sandwich while I can and maybe I'll watch crappy TV to relax before you wake up.

Weekend Got-Away

This past Saturday night was the FIRST NIGHT I HAVE SPENT AWAY FROM EVIE. Yes, that's right. You heard me. I have never left Evie for this long. Ever.
I haven't a clue why I haven't left her for an overnight sooner. Honestly, I am not one of those weepy cannot-be-separated-from-my-offspring type of moms. Somehow, time magically swept away and suddenly here she is 16 months old and here I am in DESPERATE NEED TO GET AWAY!
I scooted out of the house at 9:30AM en route to DC to spend my first night away with Miss A. I was in such a flurry to escape the house that I completely forgot to pack underwear. Oh well. Who needs it anyway, right A? Inside joke, anyhoo, back to my weekend.
I got there in a record 2 hours, in time to enjoy lunch at Capitol City Brew with A, friends and her family. I was thrilled to discover that this is the place that microbrews Amber Waves Ale... a beer I happened upon years ago at a beerfest.
We then scooted on over to the Capitol for a new tour. The visitor center is recently built & the tour was free... so we went. I'm unhappy to report the the tour wasn't nearly as in-depth as the one I got YEARS ago by A's father (he works within the government in some capacity) but I am thrilled to report he got us into a few places not on the tour, wink. Pulling connection, puling connections.

A and I then headed to the Green Festival at the Convention Center because we weren't quite exhausted enough yet. A few hours there did the trick.
We decided to do a pick-up dinner. I got the crab cakes and mashed potatoes - DELISH! We gabbed until 11PM and then lights went out.
Saturday morning included coffee, facials and a walk to The Heights for their morning brunch. An egg, swiss & bacon croissant later, I was en route home again (around noon).
I pass by IKEA on my way home so I HAD TO STOP IN. I kept myself under control and under $100 (both a rarity inside IKEA). A BARNSLIG for D's baby shower. A DUKTIG for Evie's table + chairs set in the next year or two. A FABLER MAUS, a moose and lion hand puppet, a litle red bag in which to tote her collectables, and more KALAS. I've decided to get multiple cheap things for Evie this Christmas because, frankly, she doesn't care what she gets and may have more fun in the paper tearing alone. ;-)
I also bought this cool TRIVSAM bowl for my mom for Christmas... yeah, getting things done is such a nice thing.
After 2 hours at IKEA, I scooted home and arrived during a late day naptime. I put everything away and finished in time to get things together for D's babyshower (which I took Evie too with me. After not seeing her all weekend long, I just had to!). We stayed later than planned and Evie went to bed an hour late. She was a champ - no fussiness at all despite the staying up late!
Pajamie-time a half hour later and my weekend was complete. Success and fun had all around!

Blog Cheating

Is it cheating if one back dates a post?

A Sunny Fall Day

Halloween(ie)

Evie ended up having such a severe ear infection (Rob recently told me the infection may have ruptured her ear drum?!. Ah, men never ask doctors enough questions!) that she required both an oral medication and drops for her sore ear. Halloween was the day she went to the doc and by nightfall - she was having NOTHING TO DO WITH TRICK-OR-TREATING! No sirree! I tried to get her into her costume ( a fairy ladybug) but she was over it all after I velcroed the wings in place.
Oh well.
It hurt mom more than Evie. She doesn't know what she is missing - but I do!
Next year.
Dressed for action. Moo-cow in hand and pacifier in mouth aren't good signs that this camper will venture outdoors...

No pictures! Forget it, she's down for the count.

Trip to Ohio (Why-o, why-o, why-o)

Before a trip to Ohio, we think its going to be great to catch up with family, friends and all the junk-food places in which Rob loves to dine. Halfway up, we quickly begin to talk down the trip and end up already sick of the entire idea of travel by the time we reach our destination.
Each time we leave, we are sad to go and a little piece of us wishes we could take back the things we love about Ohio.
The weather is never one of these things (*wink*). Although, the weather was pretty awesome while we were there this time!

We drove up Wednesday night after a full day of working. We arrived at 2:30AM after much fussing from Evie the second leg of the trip. It was rather hard.
Thursday we hung-out and recooped while getting ready to attend the PEnguins game in Pittsburgh. The game was great (we won!) despite arriving a little late. We left to discover I left my cell phone in the arena. After running around loose inside (can you believe no security guards assisted me throughout the empty arena?) I found my cell nestled between our used napkins and nacho cheese tub. Phew!
Friday we again relaxed with family and prepared for a large family dinner.
Saturday we gathered the troops for a 9:30AM family portrait at the photo studio. Eesh, this was my idea. Although it all turned out OK, I don't know how great this idea was. Evie was a bear the whole time and only happy when we rewarded with the opportunity to sit in a little red chair off to the side. She's turning into a bit of a defiant turd these days. ;-). The rest of Saturday was spent at The Geldhof's for an afternoon of kid playtime followed by the pre-Halloween party at Crookston's for the Kent area bash. We did walk around Kent to gaggle at the college kids dressed in all kinds of outlandish (and some rather uninspiring) costumes but we only stayed for about an hour before realizing it was much more fun catching up at the party (where we talked until 2AM! this trip is nothing but late nights!)
Sunday we packed up Evie is a red dress & tights to go visit her Great-Grandmother in Toledo for the afternoon. Unfortunately, Great-Grandma was so excited at us coming that day that she fell, which, resulted in her getting rushed to ER for a cut to her head. It all ended well after visiting her in the hospital, taking a break for lunch with my brother & his wife and later returning to see Great-Grandma one last time in her nursing home room. We didn't stay long (the excitement was too much for her and was making her blood pressure sky rocket) so we headed back home to Rob's folks' place for an early night to bed.
Monday we ran errands and shopped (Gabriel Brothers!) and then hopped in the car at 6:30PM for another night of driving... home.




Evie's Uncle A. Her red hair matches. *wink*








Yes, I have a brother. Well, sort of. R is from my dad's former marriage and we were never raised together. But hey, a brother is a brother, right?

Richmond's First Folk Festival

After 3 years of hosting the National Folk Festival, this year was Richmond's own festival. And I am thrilled to report, we had more fun than last year, the weather was GORGEOUS and it was the best attended folk festival for us... yet! Yippee! I can hardly wait until next year...

When at the folk festival, its important to blend. Grab yer straw to chew on...


This troop played flutes atop a 90ft pole before "falling off" and unwinding downward - cool!



Dad replicates spinning in the air


Yeah! There's nothing like a picnic (and with the Gill-Gordon's, too!)


Evie, wait up! Where are we going?


Signs that Evie is winding down



OK, all that's left is Texas-style polka. Sign that its time to head home

Richmond Zine Fest

Evie attends her first comic show. Correction, first of MANY shows...
poor thing.... she never even had a chance.

Picnic with mom: Bryan Park

We are fortunate to live, literally, across the street from a park. Bryan Park was one of those WPA projects so it contains some nice stonework and features beautiful azaleas. A nice park to job, dog walk or... picnic.

Evie and I strolled on down while dad attended the Richmond 'Zine Fest. A gorgeous upper 70's fall day was best played outside.
We shared a PB & strawberry jam sandwich, gold fish (of course), crackers, grapes, an apple juicebox and carrot sticks. Well, Evie took off with all the carrot sticks but we shared everything else.

Evie dives right in to the sandwich squares.
Would you like a goldfish?
I'm sure that piece of sandwich was meant for me, I'll just lean over and eat it right out of your hand. Thanks!
I just love goldfish, don't you?
Mmmm, this cracker is good but what I'd really like are some more goldfish.
OK, I just want goldfish! They are so darned good. Don't you just love them?!.
Alright, here's my belly button. Why do you keep asking me to show you?
Hey, these carrot sticks ain't half bad either...
Mom, you should bring some carrots for yourself next time. I got 3 sticks here, where are yours?

pumpkins

Hello? Grandma? Come visit me, right away!

Yes, that's right. The first two ARE phones... the last pic is Evie shouting into the TV remote. Brilliant.

Treasures

Evie is into collecting things BIG TIME.
Her newfound hobby is cute and not at all troublesome except she's begun collecting "like" objects. I don't know if I should rejoice that she is this smart and particular about what she grabs. Or, should I be freaking out and researching autism?
Evie started actually collecting things in the last few weeks (more than just picking up oddities and shoving them in her mouth, she would pick something up and carry it around with her). She started by picking up one of my round rocks out front. She carried it around the side of the house and back again. This went on for a good while. The average person would have lost interest after carrying the rock to its new home but she carted this thing back and forth a few times (ok, a near dozen) before I put it away for fear it would drop and break a toe.
Then she started picking up sticks. At first, any stick was fascinating. Very recently I noticed all the sticks were about the same size. She carried them in a tight fist (her right, which is worth noting because I swear she is right-handed) while gathering more with her left hand. She will carry things like this until we wrestle them away and distract her with other objects. She does, typicaly, return to gathering what she began collecting moments before.
At our picnic, she took all 4 carrot sticks and carried them around while munching away.
At home, she will carry multiple objects that are small and unsimilar (since she doesn't have multiples of anything) like a Mr. PotatoHead arm, one light-up bouncey ball, a tupperware lid and, of course, moo-cow. She will carry these things off and on throughout the day. We put them on the table while she eats and then she grunts to have them back when she is done.
While downtown on Brown's Island, she gathered rocks. She would also gather long grass blades and switch between the two passions. She kept one rock nearby throughout the entire day before losing it to the river (I showed her how to throw rocks in the water and she mistakingly chose her prized rock. Lesson learned: throw things in the river and they will not come back).
One girl at the Richmond 'Zine Fest recommended that I get her a bag to carry all her prizes in.
I'm actually considering it.
I'm getting a little concerned though when she noticed she had 2 of the same pink bath toys. She played with these two and wanted to carry them around the house when we were done. She's smart - she knows what matches. But, is this good?
Is this a milestone or is my kid just a nerd?

Feed me, Seymour!

I'm out of ideas. What can we feed this kid? Tonite's dinner was half of Saturday night's pizza slice, some cooked carrot slices (I think she ate one whole slice), some corn bread hand-outs and a couple of blue-corn tortilla chips. I should be locked in jail, I know.
Evie is fussy about things served on spoons (we can't really give her things like applesauce, yogurt, rice or beans). Then again, she loves things like succotash and will eat a good portion of it off a fork. I can't figure her out.
Breakfast is no problem: cereals, bananas, toasted waffles, organic cereal bars, toast with jam... got it.
Lunch is half-baked: PB&J, ham and cheese slices, mac & cheese, green beans, hot dog... the list runs a bit dry then.
Dinner? No ideas here. I am more than happy to feed her stuff we eat: pasta with spegetti sauce, chicken, broccoli, etc. But, she eats dinner at 5:30PM and I don't have time to prepare decent meals in 10 minutes. And, a lot of what we eat is spicy... or hot, even.
*sigh*
Any other "fast" dinner ideas out there?
Suggestions welcomed.
I looked online - it looks like we've hit many items on the toddler "hot lists."

Other dinnertime hits include: black beans, fish sticks, garden burgers, Vienna sausages (we lovingly refer to this as "low grade meat"), eggs (she isn't too into eggs), and hand-outs from our own plates.

Crazy levels

Evie's love for Moo-Cow is at immeasureable levels.
Last night, while giving her a bath, she glanced out the tub and around the wall. Part of Moo-Cow was visable. Crumpled on the floor in a mix of the day's clothes. He sat there. Waiting. Waiting for her to once again hold him. The thought of this turned her into an immediate wreck and she was inconsolable. Tears and everything. She wanted him in the tub with her.
We quickly exited the tub (I had just begun sudsing up her hair and had to dump cupfuls of water on her head to hasten the pace).
I threw a towel on her and gave her Moo-Cow while she was still wet.
*sniffle* Sniffle* *sigh* Calm...
Wow.

I have the right to party

Evie was running a 100.9 fever (most likely due to the many shots she received late day Thursday) and I am currently on a Z-Pack (fighting something I contracted from being rundown due to allergies and stress). So, the conditions were not ripe for attending Tyler's 1-year-old-birthday-party but we needed to get out of this house. The gorgeous 77-degree day was calling us, too.
Evie and I attended for just an hour-and-a-half (if you have ever attended a kids birthday party, anything over 3 hours is insane).
Evie did GREAT. She hung out on my lap mostly (which is rare when we are out. She generally likes to explore). She played in the ice bucket a little and tried to eat some decorations.
Evie then ate one whole hotdog (no bun), a handful of potato chips, one of those small plastic individual servings of vanilla ice cream, half a piece of cake (the kind with the sugary icing you can feel the grit of sugar in, yum!) and half of a Capri Sun.
Holy crap. I had the other half of the cake. My kid's a tank!
She then got in the car and slumped over. Asleep.
I have one photo to post later.

I'm Gonna Getcha

Evie loves to be chased by daddy. I typically become "home base" during these games.
She has also taken some affinity to wiggling her tongue side-to-side. No idea where she got this but the video opens with it after I asked her to show me her tongue.
Enjoy!