New stroller

On Saturday we purchased this stroller:

We assembled it (just the single buggy, not the second seat yet) and Evelyn is in love. She describes the color as "blue, with clouds." She loves to climb in it and buckle herself. She loves to lay in the seat when it is fully reclined. She wants the hood up all the time, and plays peek-a-boo through the little sneak-peek window in the top.
Yesterday we pushed her for almost four miles, and then she was really ready to run. On this walk, she got to pee in a port-a-potty ("I want to pee in it again") and jump on a trampoline. It was great!

Where babies come from

The other day, Evelyn and I read a book about dinosaurs. It showed the little baby dinosaurs growing inside eggs.
Me: "Do we grow our babies inside eggs?"
Evelyn: "No."
Me: "Where do we grow our babies?"
Evelyn: "In our bellies."

Thank you very so much!

Last night a package arrived from Hanna Andersson (my favorite clothing store) containing new shoes and dress for Evelyn, and matching ones for Nora. She is thrilled with the shoes because they're purple and turquoise, her two favorite colors. They're her first pair of slip-ons. She wore them all evening, even when walking only a few feet. She said, "Thank you very so much!"

Lake trip

For Memorial Day weekend, we drove down to Table Rock Lake (near Branson, MO) and shared a cabin with Sydney and her parents. What great fun! Evelyn rode on a boat, threw rocks in the lake, and played. Throwing rocks in the lake was her favorite, although she enjoyed the boat ride and the playground. When we returned home, we missed Sydney. Having a playmate around makes it much easier for Evelyn to stay entertained.

When Evelyn is particularly happy with me or Daddy, she says, "You are my best big brudder."

Trains

Evelyn loves to play with her train set. I love to build new tracks for her. Mom's mural makes a great backdrop. The trains go up, down, under the traffic signal, stop at the water tower for a fillup, and into the little house. She likes Thomas Train the best, because he is her favorite color. She carries him around with her, and keeps losing him.

Best Friends

Evelyn and Nora are best friends. Today, Nora came over to Evelyn's house. Then they both rode bikes over to Nora's house, and then they walked back to Evelyn's house. They both cried when we made them part for dinner.

Daddy came home

Yesterday, Eric returned from yet another work trip. Evelyn is happy to have him back. In the middle of the night, she said, "He's snoring like elephant." Then, "And he is Eric. And he is Daddy. And I love him. And I love you." Aw, my sweet daughter!

Goose Egg

Evelyn fell and hit her forehead on a table leg last night. She got a big ol' bump. It didn't break the skin, thank goodness. She was running and playing again fifteen minutes later. This morning she's a little sluggish, and she says it still hurts, but she's okay. She has a colorful handkerchief tied around her head for a bandage.

More danger

Last night, on the walk...
Me: "You are too cute."
Evelyn: "No, I'm dangerous."

Be careful, Moon

Last night on the walk, Evelyn was happy to see the moon. It has not been visible much for the last few weeks. She admonished it, "Don't go behind clouds again, moon. It's too dangerous."

Count the Butterflies

One butterfly

Two butterflies

Fun and frolic

After a beautiful March of running around outside, the first two weeks of April were very cold, and Evelyn was unhappy. Now it is warm again, and we are all joyous. Yesterday I came home early from work, after a prenatal visit. Evelyn consented to wear a dress long enough to run to the playground. There she found Oscar, the three-year-old who lives down the street. They played and played, in wood chips and mud puddles and running up and down, up and down the sidewalk together. Evelyn showed Oscar how to pee in the grass and on the sidewalk. It was a great time. The only tragedy was that it had to end, because Oscar had to go eat his dinner.

What's that poop's name?

Evelyn loves to ask everyone's name these days. Yesterday while playing in the stream, she squatted down and took a poo, producing three turds. She pointed at one and asked Nana, "What's that poop's name?" Nana had to name them: poop #1, poop #2, and poop #3. Then Evelyn tried to pick them up. Then she went home and dug into Daddy's spaghetti with her bare hands. "She washed her hands, right?" he asked plaintively. "Well, yeah," Nana replied, "in the stream."

Panties

Two weeks ago, Evelyn started peeing in the potty regularly and refusing to wear diapers. She want to wear panties! And not just any panties. They must be either blue or printed with animals. Suddenly we do less laundry (no diapers), but more frequent loads (to get the blue panties through). Conveniently, she considers training pants to be "panties" too. Conveniently, training pants can be purchased individually, instead of in packs of multiple colors. We only need the blue ones.

Her favorite color among blues is turquoise. Her clothes are starting to coordinate more as they converge on this one color.

Do you like the new "baby on the way" widget on the left sidebar? The countdown part bugs me, because a due date is probably not the day a baby will arrive. I should just ask Cheri... Cheri, what's your guess for the next baby's arrival?

Spooky Cave

Potty Progress

Yesterday Evelyn peed and pooped in the potty all day! She wanted to wear panties, and so she did. She wore a diaper to church, but didn't pee in it. She waited to use her little potty at home. Several times without prompting she pulled down her panties, waddled to the potty, sat down, and made a deposit. Hurray! The only major problem occurred when the blue panties were dirty and she only wanted to wear the blue panties.

Last night for bed, Daddy tried to put a diaper on her. This did not go over well. We compromised and brought out the training pants. She likes these "animal panties" (they have a jungle animal print) very much.

Today she visited the doctor for her 2-yr-old well-baby visit. She is at the 75th percentile in height and 50th in weight. Her verbal skills are excellent. She was fairly cooperative with the doctor, and the doctor kindly let Evelyn push 8 on her keyboard several times. 8 is her favorite number to type.

Warm nights

Last night was the first night in months that it's been warm enough to take Evelyn for a walk after her bath. She wasn't excited about it until she saw Eric put on the back pack. Then she helped me put away her game and climbed right in, clutching Cute Lemur. On the walk, we saw a digger and many cars. The moon hid behind the clouds, occasionally peeking out. A few blocks into the walk, Evelyn announced, "This is awesome!" Later, she shouted, "There that silly moon!" She can spot a moon.

Teething Begins Anew

Evelyn was sick last week, with a high fever. Finally on Friday night the fever left, but the grouchy clingy baby remained. It looks like she's working on her two-year-old molars. Wow, is she ever a mama's girl when she doesn't feel good!

While she's sick, she watches more movies than usual. Little Einsteins is her favorite by far. She sings the songs and plays along with the little games. She talks about a spooky cave with bats and spiders, a little red train, and a caterpillar who turns into a butterfly. She sang a Little Einsteins song to a toy butterfly yesterday, a very sweet song.

Happy Birthday Evelyn

Evelyn is now 2! She had a big time yesterday on her birthday. Nana gave her a doll to take in the bath, and a new Little Einsteins DVD (which she has already ruined). I gave her a stuffed animal of the Cute Lemur from Madagascar. In the morning, she got to eat two vitamin bears instead of one. Ooooo. She danced and jumped around.
In the evening she went to Crestwood Mall and rode the Carousel. She climbed around in the play area, rode a fish and a train, put money in the candy machines and ate candy, rode around in a fire-engine car, watched Spongebob in the Family Lounge, and ran shreiking up and down the mall with her Cute Lemur. It was a good time. She slept well.

Height: 34 and a quarter inches
Weight: 28 lb, by measure-with-mom-and-subtract, since she stomped and jumped on the scale when we tried to weigh her individually.

For Daddy

This morning Evelyn woke up before Daddy did. After checking his bellybutton for fuzz, giving him a zerbert on his cheek, and pointing out many of his facial features, she climbed down off the bed. There she retrieved a small object. Next she climbed back into the bed, saying, "For Daddy! For you, Daddy!" She put the small object right in front of his face. "Daddy, for you!"
What was it? Why, it was a plastic letter D. D for Daddy! It is the only letter she recognizes.