First snow of the winter

Evie gives a us a little tour of our backyard after the first snow, and we talk about some animal tracks.

Evie Talks

Evie has been chatting up a storm lately, just within the last month we've seen a huge surge of words and phrases from her. She's getting better at her consonant endings, and 2 and 3 syllable words are commonplace now. She's also using sentences so much more, and has picked up a lot of hilarious phrases that she uses regularly. Here are some cute things Evie's saying these days...

• "Look at me!" although she says it "Yook at me!" which is even more cute.
• "How bout...?" she uses this when she's trying to bargain with me about getting something she wants. Like I will tell her no shows right now, and she'll say "How bout... Bubble Guppies?"
• "Follow me!" and "Come on!"
• "Right back"- I love this one because it shows how much she's grown. She used to say "Baa" with a finger up, which was her version of "be right back". Now she has two out of three words and I love it!
• "One sec" This is a new one, but she uses it correctly when she wants me to wait for her to finish something, it cracks me up :)

She's also getting great with people's names, and her dance class has really helped expand her vocabulary. She loves dance so much that she talks about it constantly, asking when we're going to dance class, tell me she's practicing and putting on a "ballet show". She also has learned a few of the ballet terms, like shasay and pirourette, and uses them correctly. And here's a little video of her saying my favorite word of hers. ;)

Mommy and Me Dance Class

In September we started a dance class at a local studio here in town. It's just 45 minutes once a week, a mommy and me class that teaches some basic tap and ballet moves, along with basic rhythm and coordination. I thought it would be fun since Evie loves music and I always wanted to take dance when I was little, so I'm so glad that we're able to do this for Evie.

Well, I had no idea how much Evie would LOVE her dance class. :) It makes me so happy to hear her excited squeals when I tell her today is dance class day! She asks all the time when is dance class, when we drive by the studio (which we do often) she recognizes it immediately and wants to go. At home, she talks about "ballet" all the time, telling me she's practicing and putting on a ballet show. She wears tutus more days than not, and has picked up a lot of the ballet terms Miss Jen is teaching the girls. To hear my little girl- who just six months ago only had about 20 words- use words like "shasay" and "pirouette" makes me grin everytime! 

I think she prefers the ballet moves and style because she talks about it more, but she definitely loves to wear her tap shoes. ;) She's getting really good and following directions from Miss Jen, and I'm so impressed at her coordination. The school has the little ones perform in one of the recitals at the end of the year (with mommies!), and I'm already looking forward to it. I think dance class will be a part of our routine for a few more years at least. :) 

Fall Fun

 It has been a rare mild autumn here in WNY- usually we're pulling out the sweaters by late September, but we're still enjoying 70+ degree days well into October now. It's been a nice change of pace, and allowed us to be out enjoying the leaves changing a lot more!

Showing off the creek, one of her favorite places to explore. And here's a little video I took of a (very) brief interview with Evie at age 2.5. She didn't last long, but I want to remember to document where she is verbally at different ages.

Evie's Favorite Things

Since I stopped doing the monthly updates for Evie, I have kind of slacked on mentioning some of Evie's favorite toys and activities, and I like to document this stuff. So here's what Evie is into these days, at age 2 years and 4.5 months.

Favorite color: Purple. Hands down, she chooses purple everytime. Ask her what color shirt she wants to wear, which bowl she wants to eat out of, what color crayon she wants to use- it's purple. :)

Favorite foods: This is a tough one, because she's pretty finnicky these days. Some weeks she'll be obsessed with a food (like applesauce), and then one day she hates it and won't touch it for a month. She won't eat meat right now at all- the only way I can get any in her is in soup and it's because she doesn't realize there's meat. She does love soup, so I guess that's on the list. Particularly tomato soup. She also likes yogurt, crackers, cheese, grapes, and bread. But probably her favorite food of all time is baby carrots. This is why I try not to complain about the meat thing- Evie loves her veggies. She eats carrots, broccoli, edamame, beans, and peas happily with no coaxing. I hope this never changes!

Favorite books: These haven't changed much, she still loves Green Eggs and Ham, The Circus Ship, First Words, and The Seashore. We've added in a book called Duck Soup that's pretty amusing, she used to not sit through the whole thing, but now that she's older I think she gets that it's funny so she likes it.

Favorite toys/activities: Evie is REALLY into her play kitchen now. She plays with it daily, cooking us meals (pancakes and sandwiches are her favorite things to prepare), feeding her dolls and stuffed animals, and stocking the kitchen with her play food. We got her a little shopping cart as a potty training present and she loves that as well. She often gets dressed up, packs a baby doll into the cart, gets one (or more) purses on her shoulder, and says "Bye mommy! I shopping!" and pushes the cart out of the room. It is adorable everytime. :)
She's very into purses and bags right now, she's usually dragging two or three with her around the house and they're packed with the most random things.  She also really likes her tool set- a gift from Aunt Ally and Uncle Matt- and pulls it out to pretend to fix all sorts of things, like her toy cars, trucks, the doll highchair, her trampoline, etc. We think it's so fun to see that she enjoys "girl" toys and "boy" toys equally.
A favorite activity these days is visiting friends' houses- every day she's asking to go to someone's house to play. We'll be in the middle of doing something and she'll randomly ask "Emma's house? Vivi's house? Eli's house?" As fun as our home is, I think she really likes to be around other people, so we go out and have playdates as much as we can.

Favorite shows: You're not going to believe this one- I don't think it's Fresh Beat Band anymore!! I know, they have been her love for over a year now, but she rarely asks for them anymore... it makes me a little sad. She watches more of a variety now, and mostly older stuff on Amazon or Netflix rather than what's actually on TV. She enjoys Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doc McStuffins, Gullah Gullah Island (a really old one from when I was younger!), and Big Comfy Couch (another old one, and so weird but she likes it). But her new favorite is Bubble Guppies. If you've never seen it, watch this video- they're kind of hilariously weird. :)

 

Herschell Carousel Museum and Kiddieland

If you've never been to this place and you have small children, you should go!! It's so fun, and just right for the little crowd (I'd say ages 7 and under). They've always had a big and little carousel inside the museum (which is always interesting to check out), but just this month they added 4 vintage kiddie rides outside that are really nice and so fun. All rides are one token, tokens are 50 cents. It was the perfect little amusement park for a morning with Evie, so we went with Nana, Aunt Tammy, and Evan to check it out. They also have a well stocked indoor playroom for kids with tons of old toys, coloring, crafts, and activities. We highly recommend a trip up to North Tonawanda to visit the carousel museum.

The boat ride was definitely Evie's favorite- it had real water in it!

Evie the Fish

So last summer we took swim lessons at a local pool, and Evie got pretty comfortable in the water. She's never seemed upset about having water in her face, and she's never nervous in water. Well this summer I'm pretty sure she's turned part fish! We've been swimming in big pools a few times, and within the last month she's insisted on being on her own in the pool.
We started out with bigger flotation devices, but she wanted to swim, so we tried arm floaties. Evie now swims on her own in the pool with just arm floaties, it's crazy!! She kicks her feet and can swim with purpose and direction all over the pool. Obviously we watch her and stay close so we can grab her if we need to, but she's very confident and unafraid which is fun to see. The funny part is I'm not that great of a swimmer myself, so I think she'll surpass me soon. :) We're working on blowing air out when her face is in the water, but even now she's pretty good at not breathing in underwater. It's amazing to see her do all this at such a young age!

Summertime Catch Up

I have been slacking on posting photos of our summertime fun- I blame Instagram! Having a smart phone makes me use my nice camera less, and having Instagram makes me feel like I'm sharing photos of Evie with our friends, so I neglect the blog. But I haven't forgotten about you blog!! I'm here to share some pics :)

Pool party fun at the Bus' house- Evie is a fish! Video to come

Playground antics- we have an elementary school right down the street, last year most of it was too big for her, but this year she's all over the place climbing everything. Of course her favorite is still the swings: "High! Fast!" she demands ;)

Our seventh wedding anniversary was 8/13 and we always get gifts for Evie too- this year Eric and I got her a dollhouse, but Uncle Matt and Aunt Ally's gifts of a drumset and tool kit were the real hits.

The beginning of Evie's love affair with horses- her first pony ride at Eric's company picnic. She loves horses like crazy now and asks to ride them constantly.

Erie County Fair- yay for yearly traditions!! This year was the first year Evie could go on rides, she loved it and now we're doomed for life to spend a ridiculous amount of money on rides at the fair every year ;)

And some general cuteness and fun with friends- lots of kiddie pools, parks, playgrounds, ice cream outings, splash pads, hikes, etc. The usual summertime fun- it's been a good summer. :)

Big Girl News

Evie has some big girl news to share- she is officially potty trained! :) I don't mean to brag, but she did AMAZING and had the whole thing mastered in like 3 days. Not to say she'll never have an accident, I'm sure she will down the line, but she knows what she's doing and she's great at it! I won't give all the potty details, but she's honestly a pro already and we couldn't be prouder. She's comfortable using potties away from home and with people other than me. And she loves her big girl undies! Here she is displaying her finished potty chart, we just did a sticker reward system and that was enough. By the last row of stickers she didn't even really care about doing them anymore, which is great. Go Evie- mommy and daddy are so proud of you!!

2013 District Convention

I'm a little behind on blogging because well, it's summer, and summer is busy. :) In mid-July we had our annual convention in Rochester, and it was wonderful as usual. Evie behaved really well despite sitting for long periods and not getting her usual sleep. She did nap for a bit everyday which made me really happy. Here are a few photos, mostly so I can document the cute dresses Evie wore every day. ;)

And Daddy took Evie swimming so that was pretty fun for her too. :)

Boston Bound

We spent the past 4 days visiting our friends Rick and Julie in Boston, Mass. and had a blast! Evie was a dream, she was so well behaved and had so much fun- despite getting way less sleep than usual. We went to the beach, the science center, and toured all over Boston. It was great to catch up with Rick and Julie (and their puppy Cogan, who Evie nicknamed "Dogdog" and is still asking about!), and to make new friends with the fun people in their hall. It was great little vacation and we'd love to visit again. :)

First time in the ocean with Julie- she LOVED it and was so brave!

Seacoast Science Center in New Hampshire- tons of hands on activities for little kids!

Touch tank was Evie's favorite, she kept going back for more! She held sea stars, sea urchins, mussels, and periwinkles

The ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) was Eric's favorite part  ;)

Julie and Evie hanging out at Harvard

Rick driving the DUKW Boat, and our tour guide, Captain Obvious

Make Way For Ducklings in Boston Commons

Rick, Julie, Evie, and Cogan- we miss you guys already!

Letchworth in the Spring

We spent the afternoon at Letchworth with our friends Rob, Jen, and Declan last Saturday, and we had a great time! We usually visit Letchworth in the fall since the foliage is so pretty, but it was fun to go during another season and enjoy the park in warm weather. The kids had a blast running around, and Eric and I decided that we want to camp at the park sometime this summer.