What have we learned today?

If the baby goes to sleep an hour early, she wants to get up two hours early.

She loves the taste of raw egg whites.

A balloon on a rubber band is exciting!

Memorial Day Weekend

Whew, we had a big weekend. Saturday morning Mom, Dad, and Aunt Bunny (aka "Hop Hop") took Evelyn to the Museum of Transportation. There we rode a bus, a train, and a trolley. We saw cars and trucks and a boat and many trains. She had a very good time. Afterward, she took a good long nap. Later on Saturday, Great Aunt Cheri and cousin Liz arrived. Hurray!

On Sunday, there was church, and then lunch at a restaurant, and then a long drive to Hannibal. There Evelyn saw her Paw-Paw and Nana Cat and Uncle Seth and Bean. ("Dog. Woof woof woof. Dog.") She followed her Paw-Paw around most of the visit. He cooked some baked beans that Evelyn looooved. "Beans. More beans. Eat."

On Monday, we all went to the newly improved Hannibal Community Pool. Evelyn played in the wading pools and in squirty fountains. She was a little scared ("cold, wet") at first, but she had a good time. When the rain started, the exhausted baby and her family headed home. On the way back from Hannibal, we stopped at Chesterfield Mall. There Evelyn rode the big carousel, and cried angrily when we made her leave it. Home at last, she found Daddy "Da-eee!" and ran the other direction. That is what she does when she is happy to see someone. Cheri took her outside after dark to see the fireflies. "Fly!"

Overall, we had a fantastic weekend, but whew, I'm exhausted. Time to go to work and rest.

Evelyn at 15 Months

Big weekend coming up, and other minor updates

Tonight, Eric goes to pick up Aunt Bunny. Evelyn doesn't know it yet, but she'll be excited to see Aunt Bunny tomorrow.

Nana leaves for her trip tonight, and Evelyn will miss her a lot. This morning, Evelyn called her "Naa-naa-naa-naaaaneee!" many times. She loves her Nana.

On Saturday, Great Aunt Cheri comes to visit! and Liz! They will be very impressed with Evelyn. Last time they saw her, she was just starting to walk. Now she is running and climbing and starting to talk.

The other day at dinner she decided her toast was a hat. Because she dipped it in carrot soup first, it stuck to her hair and stayed on her head nicely. She enjoyed that.

Last night Nana bought her a new book. It is the ultimate book for her: a pop-up book about trucks that makes "vroom vroom" and "woowooo" and "honk honk" noises. We read it for about half an hour before bed.

Spicy

Last night Evelyn, Nana, and I ate at Hacienda, the trendy Mexican restaurant near our house. We had a great time. Evelyn liked the chips and salsa, even though the salsa was pretty spicy. She dipped her chips and licked the salsa off, then made a slight face like "Hmm, what's this?" Later, she picked up my spoon and scooped a whole spoonful of salsa into her mouth. She didn't like that so much. The "too spicy" face has her mouth open, saying "aa aa aa," with raised eyebrows indicating minor distress. Fortunately, her dinner arrived just then, with a nice little tub of ketchup to dilute the spiciness of the salsa. She didn't care about the chicken tenders, but she liked the ketchup. And a tortilla.

Of course Evelyn drew many smiles. She and I wore our matching green and pink shirts. She waved hi to people, smiled at babies, and ran up and down, up and down the ramp on the way out. She saw a motorcycle in the parking lot. Vroom, vroom, vroom! I considered the trip a success because I drank a margarita without sharing any with Evelyn.

Trucks

Last night Eric, Evelyn and I went for a walk. He carried her in the Ergo backpack. We saw girls playing softball, and she liked the ball and the cheering. We saw a big yellow digger sitting in a construction site, and she thought that was pretty cool. Lately the only thing cooler than a big truck is a helicopter.

This morning the trash truck arrived as I was leaving for work. As soon as she heard the distant beep-beep-beep of the truck backing up, she got excited. It's the highlight of her day to watch the huge blue garbage truck as it moves along our street.

Favorite Character

Evelyn has officially recognized, named, and asked for a television character. She likes Big Bird. She has a toy with a picture of Big Bird's head. When she sees it, she points and says "Buh-buh." Then she runs to the bottom of the stairs and starts mooing, meaning, "I want to go upstairs and watch a Big Bird movie." She has one where Big Bird teaches the alphabet, and one where Big Bird sings silly party songs.

We're just happy she didn't choose Barney or Elmo. Big Bird is the least annoying character she could have chosen. Ask me in a year whether I still think that.

Continued puking

Miss Evelyn threw up again this morning. For breakfast, she put eggs in her mouth and then took them out again. Other than that, she seems to be in good health. Nana reports that she smeared ravioli all over her belly at lunch, then refused to bathe.

My morning was very good. It is a beautiful day. We had an off-site meeting this morning, and then Jorge let me drive his Mazdaspeed Miata back to the office. That was a blast! It was like playing Mario Kart, only better.

Mothers Day Weekend, ugh

The whole family was sick this weekend. Evelyn started the pukefest on Friday around 10:30 pm, and continued to puke occasionally through Sunday evening. Nana came down with it early Saturday morning. Eric and I both got sick yesterday. He is still home sick. The rest of us are better now, eating crackers and up and about.

Even when she is sick, she is a very good baby. The first puking part freaked her out and she cried for a long time. After that, she took it in stride, fussing only when her tummy really hurt. She even learned to puke in a bowl. (She can say "bowl.") She munched and drank water in between, keeping herself hydrated. She wouldn't eat the pedialyte popsicle, but I thought it was pretty tasty. It was a snuggle-with-mama weekend, which was sweet.

Eric did get us pretty flowers and a present. He didn't manage to mow the lawn, which is what his mom asked for. I missed the wedding and reception that I really wanted to go to. I almost went to the wedding, got all dressed and ready, but she wouldn't let go. She needed her mama.

Seal in Training

This morning Evelyn came downstairs and turned on the DVD player. Eric's Navy Seal Training video was in there. She likes it. She watches the people do their exercises and imitates them a little, squatting and standing and waving her arms. I grabbed the video camera. Then she wrestled Nana down to the ground and sat on her face. Victory!

Also this morning she sat on the potty for a few seconds, hopped up, turned around, squatted down, and pooped on the bathroom rug. Then she stepped in it and tracked it around the room. Gross! We won't miss that part when she's all grown up.

Jump

Yesterday Evelyn walked across the street to see Arty again. Arty is the neighbor's dog. He and Evelyn are great friends. Last night she found the box of doggy biscuits. She fed Arty several doggy biscuits, one at a time, and finally tried them herself. Not as good as lotion, she decided.

While we were across the street, Eric came out of our house with his jump rope. He jumps to warm up for his walk with Evelyn. Well, Evelyn thought his jumping was just great. When he stopped, she said "More." She jumped too - she can get herself off the ground now. She jumped a whole lot and didn't fall down. Her balance is impressive for fifteen months old. More jumping, Daddy! More jumping.

Hey - hey - hey!

When Evelyn is frustrated with me, she says "hey - hey - hey," just like I say to her when she is too squirmy. I didn't realize how often I say "hey - hey" until she started saying it back to me.

In the morning she wakes up and says "Da-ee." She finds Eric in the bed and climbs on top and bounces on his bladder. Hee hee.

Yesterday Eric pulled her sheep pants down to change her diaper. She thought he was taking her pants off and got all upset - "No! Baaaaaaa. Baaaaa." She loves her Ba-a-a-a pants.

Fifteen Months

Yesterday Evelyn turned fifteen months old. It seems like she was fourteen months old forever. She has learned so many things this last month! She weighed in at 24.3 lb, and she is about 31.25" tall. She hasn't gained any weight since she learned to walk, pretty much. She is growing taller and smarter and stronger.

Sunday morning I woke up early and went downstairs. When Evelyn woke up, I heard her and headed up. While I walked up the stairs, she emerged from the bedroom carrying her blankee. "Good morning, good morning, it's time to rise and shine!" I sang. She shook her head miserably and said "Doe" (no). No, momma, it is not a good morning until I've had my munch.

The other day we were reading a book about Jesus. At each picture of Jesus, Evelyn patted her chest and said "Paw." This is her sign for Paw-paw (Kent). Later I told Nana about how she thought Jesus was Paw-paw, and she signed "More." She wants to see more of her Paw-paw! She loves him because he plays and plays and plays with her. Hopefully he'll be able to come down this month and see her (and fix our roof).

This morning she thought that 4:40 a.m. was a fine time to get up and play. Ugh. She crawled over me and ran off, then came back for a munch, then ran off again. Soon she came back for another munch, then rolled around on the bed for a while, then finally went back to sleep around 5:15. Ugh.

I really should put Evelyn's latest antics up somewhere, and this is as good a place as any.

Today we went to the park. She swang on the big kid swing. She holds on to the chains with both hands. She said "Mo Ween" (more swing) when she wanted to go higher and "up" (which means down) when she was done. It's a little harder to communicate while she is on the swing because she can't use her hands to sign.

Yesterday we went on the hash. She rode on my back in the Ergo baby carrier. She saw some big trucks ("Wow") and some cars rushing by on the highway ("rrrmmm rrrmm") and some planes taking off and landing ("Woooooooww. Mo!") She was very impressed. She also saw the moon ("Moo. Moo!") high in the sky. She has good eyes.

Blog? What Blog?

Maybe I should have a blog. I have thoughts to share every once in a while.

Last night we watched a video of my 23rd birthday, found while cleaning out the attic. It was less than six years ago, yet everything looked so different. I hadn't met my husband. My grandmother was alive and still nice and fat. My mother was thin, looking happy and beautiful. My sister was still a kid. Aunt Cheri and Uncle Steve lived in Hannibal. My brother had two legs, and slept all day. I didn't look much different, except that somehow I was sexier then. No complaints; now I'm happy instead, happy with my own little nuclear family.

I miss my Grandmarti. I miss my brother. Josh, if you're reading this, I love you. I wish I could see you more. Getting up to Hannibal is a lot more trouble with BabyTRON along. We'll get there one of these days.

Why am I here?

I don't really want a blog. I just want to comment on someone else's blog. But here it is.