Weekend in the country

This weekend we went to a retreat for Friends of Missouri Midwives. It was in a state park in southwestern Missouri. The country was lovely. Evelyn loved the lake, with all its boats and its rim of rocks. She could throw rocks into the lake all day. She played with the other children. She saw a raccoon. She watched Bob the Builder all the way there and back. She liked the little babies.

In the little house where we stayed, there was a Murphy bed in the living room, where Nana slept. Evelyn loved it. Once she knew it was there, it had to be down the whole time.

On Sunday she played in the rain and splashed in mud puddles.

This morning when I left for work, she said, "Bye-bye" matter-of-factly. No fuss; she was happy to play with Nana.

Latest word: "Munch" with all sounds clearly enunciated
Favorite animal: whale
Latest body part: eyelash
Latest toy: Play-doh

Romance

Saturday night at a restaurant, Evelyn played peek-a-boo with a little boy about her age. He stuck his head over the top of his booth to peek at her as she sat between us. Oh, the excitement.
Before leaving, we walked Evelyn over to where the boy was sitting. When they saw each other, they squealed. He hugged her and kissed her. She wasn't sure how to react to this. They jumped up and down together. Then they took off. It's too early to run away together, guys!

Latests

I almost forgot...

Latest feat: splat!
Latest word: popsicle
Latest body part identification: hip
Latest toy: Little Tikes flintstone car

Splat

This weekend we stayed in town and visited with friends. Evelyn is talking more and more. She now attempts to call people by name. We visited Martin and Stacey this weekend, and Evelyn said, "Ma-in, 'mere. Splat." Meaning, "Martin, come here and splat in the beanbag." Everyone splatted in the big beanbag, especially Evelyn.

She has a new favorite song: "baa baa sheep." It's Raffi singing Baa Baa Black Sheep. We listen to it over and over and over in the car.

Yesterday, Drake ("ake") and Erin ("eh-in") came over. They're five and seven. Evelyn ran after them toward the playground, then fell and faceplanted on the sidewalk. Splat! Ouch. She busted her lip and scraped her face and knees. Now she has a fat lip, a bruise, and some new boo-boos. She recovered rapidly with some help from a "pah-uhl" (popsicle). This morning she remembered that popsicle and asked for another one.

The moral of the weekend is: Beanbags are better than sidewalks for splatting.

Back to normal

Evelyn had a blast for the last two weeks with her Aunt Bunny and Uncle Seth. Then last weekend Mama Cat and Pa-Pa visited, and she was even more excited. Then Nana came home too, and she was so thrilled that sleep was impossible.

Thank you to Kent for installing a ceiling fan in Nana's room! What a great surprise. It is soooo cooool and niiice in there now.

Latest feat: somersault
Latest word: arnica
Latest body part identification: nipple
Latest toy: baby doll highchair

More nudity

This morning around 4:30 a.m. Evelyn pulled the label off the water bottle, bit by bit. When the whole label was gone she held it up and said, "naked! naked naked naked." Then she had a drink.

Tricycle

Evelyn can ride her tricycle! She can pedal forwards and backwards. Seth took the trike to the playground yesterday, down to the big asphalt play area. She pedalled forwards and backwards. I was so proud!
She didn't have to steer in that big area. She'll probably have to work on steering.

Things you learn from the trash truck

Yesterday my sister and I took Evelyn to the grocery store. Evelyn pushed the cart around the frozen section, where there were convenient bumpers on each side of the aisle. She won't let anyone help steer; she knocks your hand away if you try. Eventually she started backing up, pulling the cart with her, and saying "beep beep beep." She knows to beep when she backs up. :)

Nekkid!

Evelyn's word of the week is "naked." She likes to run around the house naked, and screams when we put the diaper on her, "No, no diaper. Naked." It sounds more like "nekkid" when she says it. I tell her that if she pees in the potty, then she can run around naked. When she pees or poos on the floor, then she has to wear a diaper.

In other news, she can now count to two. "One cheek, two cheek!" she points to Aunt Bunny's cheeks.

My mom finally has an official name. We've been calling her "Nana Cat," but Evelyn now calls her "Mama Cat." Mama Cat - what an excellent name!

Toddler Life

Yesterday was a good day for the Evelator. She climbed a tree, after asking Nana for some help. She made Nana and all the neighbors jump with her. She hung from rings, bars, and Daddy's hands. She sang about horses in music class. She danced. She played in mud. She played peek-a-boo with Nana's knees and her own bellybutton. She tried to call Pa-Pa on the phone, but didn't respond when someone at his house answered, so they hung up. She enjoyed throwing the phone after listening to a few rings. She ran squealing from room to room. She dipped very sandy fingers into Nana's food, stealing some dinner for herself.

and best of all: she threw away her own trash. She finished her cereal bar, said "trash", pulled out the trash can, dropped her cereal bar wrapper in, pushed the trash can back into the cupboard, and closed the cupboard door. I almost cried, I was so proud.

Happy morning

Evelyn slept in today, and she was in a great mood for breakfast. She talked about eggs and oatmeal (which sounds like "email"). She hid her fork behind her head, getting eggs in her hair. After she ate, she announced, "wing. Mo' wing. ou-chai. mo' wing." while signing "swing." Translation: "Swing. More swinging. Outside. More swinging."

She now says "Bye mama. Bye da-ee," when we go to work, and "Hi!" with a little jump when we come home.

This morning she was talking about bunnies, hop hop hop. Next week her Aunt Bunny is coming to take care of her. She is looking forward to it already.

Cute hair

This weekend Evelyn visited Sydney. They got along splendidly. Evelyn called her "syd-syd," which sounds more like "tid-tid." They chased each other around houses and playgrounds and restaurants, squeaking. From Sydney, Evelyn learned about pigtails. This morning she even let me put pigtails in her hair. She grabs them and says, "Cute." Yes, Evelyn, those pigtails are super cute!

Daddy Work

Yesterday Eric returned from another work trip. Whoo, Evelyn was glad to see him. Nana reports that she tried to play nonchalant, but it was clear she was excited. She announced "all done" with her dinner and, once down on the floor, dropped into her fighting stance. Eric is teaching her to wrestle. She whoops him almost daily.

First sentence

Last night Evelyn peed on the floor, saying "ssss." I said, "aaaah! You peed on the floor!" She repeated "pee on f'oor. Aa pee on f'oor." Yes, Evelyn, you peed on the floor.

It doesn't really count as her first sentence because she only repeated it; she didn't make it up. Still, it'll be good for teasing her later. Right, Samantha?

Power Out

Last night we had a crazy windstorm. The power went out around 7:15 and stayed out until the slightly-wee hours of the morning. Evelyn didn't mind the dark much, but she did mind when the TV refused to play her Elmo movie. We read lots of books by flashlight. She enjoyed the circles on the ceiling when we point the flashlight upward. Her favorite shapes are Circle and Oval. "O-wa," she calls, when she is looking for the Oval piece to her shape puzzle.

No Fall

Yesterday Evelyn slid off her bed and landed on her face on the floor. Ow! After some cuddling and a munch, she ran back to her bed and climbed up again. "Be careful," I told her. "Don't fall." "No fall!" she yelled. "No fall! No fall! No fall!" (It sounds more like, "No paw.") She repeated that mantra for a long time, and she did not fall off the bed again that day.

She has also learned the word "Bonk." When she bonks her head, she tells us "Bonk head" (which sounds like "bah hea") and smacks herself on the head. Sometimes the smack hurts, and then she says "head" again and cries, and smacks herself again. We can stop the cycle by saying, "Oh, you bonked your head" and kissing it.

Laurenzilla

Last night Evelyn had a friend visiting. Lauren is a few weeks older than Evelyn. The two girls enjoyed playing together. Evelyn especially liked sticking stickers all over Lauren's chest and back.

There are a few new pictures up at Evelyn's picture page (gasp!).

The things you find in a baby's mouth

This morning Evelyn grabbed something off the floor and popped it into her mouth. I chased her down and dug it out, and it was... a tooth. Not one of her teeth - they're all accounted for. It is a small, yellowish molar, very worn down. Where did it come from? We don't know!

Trip to Kentucky

Over the 4th of July, we all went to Kentucky to visit family and friends. Evelyn liked Pa-Paw and Granddad, although she seems to call both of them Pa-Paw. She loooooved Pa-Paw's motorcycles. She played in a ditch and a creek and two pools. She met a mean dog ("me dah") and four nice dogs. She saw many trucks and planes. She rode the neighbor's concrete lawn animals. The porch duck tipped over when she tried to ride it.

She especially enjoyed visiting Robby and Lisa, where they had a just-right pool with water up to her chin, a swingset with a slide, four cooperative dogs including one Peanut, a basketball hoop, and Brandon. Brandon is nine years old, and Evelyn loved playing and swimming with him.

On the car trip, Evelyn enjoyed listening to Sesame Street classics and They Might Be Giants. In particular, she loved a 20-second segment of one of TMBG's songs. The lyrics go "Mop. Mop. Mop Mop. Mop Mop Mop Mop. Mo-o-o-o-o-op." Then we had to rewind it back to second 0:42 and listen to "Mo' mop." Repeat fifty times.

It was a lovely, low-key vacation. Evelyn explored two neighborhoods and a mall. We relaxed and chilled. We set off a few fireworks in the street. Evelyn liked the lights but not the noise, and she was fascinated by the smoke. ("'Mo. Hot 'mo. Bye hot 'mo.")

Dance

Evelyn does a dance that she learned from Sesame Street. She claps her hands, stomps her feet, turns around, touches her toes, pulls her ears, flaps her arms, stretches up high, and all falls down! "It's a very simple dance to do."