Springtime Stroll

Evie is thisclose to walking on her own these days, and I'm so excited! Here she is in our driveway, showing off with the walker that Nana and Grandpa got for her. 

Evelyn Clara: 11 months

Well guys.... this photo is the best I could do. :/ We're 11 months old after all- who has time to sit still for a photo!?!?! Evie is ALL OVER THE PLACE these days, so photos in general are not her favorite thing. She rarely sits still, and even bribery with cheese didn't really do the trick. Oh well!
So Evie's 11th month was certainly an eventful one. We bought a new house and moved in, Evie got her first and second tooth, and she took her first steps!! Yes, Evie took her first (what I consider to be real) steps just two days ago on Friday evening, walking in between Eric and I. She's been cruising the furniture for months now, and is getting really quick. She just started standing on her own regularly about a week ago, and now she's taking a couple steps at a time in between objects or people. I am very excited for her to start walking, although I might be eating my words once she actually does.
Evie's doing great in the new house, she seems to have adjusted really well. We're still having some wake-ups at night, but they're very random and I'm struggling to figure out what's causing them. But there is plenty of space for her to play and I love seeing her feel at home.
Evie's favorite foods these days include peaches, bananas, graham crackers, and yogurt. She got a bad stomach bug about a week ago, and since then she has been turning her nose up at ALL vegetables, even the veggie muffins that she used to love. :( I'm working on coming up with some creative ways to get veggies in her since I plan to wean from breastfeeding over the next 1-2 months, so she needs to be eating a balanced diet on her own. But she definitely knows what she wants and she is stubborn!
Evie likes to play with her shape sorter, activity table, walker from Nana and Grandpa, Raggedy Anne doll from Grandpa Vic, and her new quiet book made by all of our mommy friends. :) I might do a seperate blog post about that with photos of the book- it turned out really cute!!
I've been super behind on blogging because Time Warner is dragging their feet on installing cable and internet at our new place, so forgive me for being behind here and on Evie's 365 blog. I'm doing my best to catch up at my parents and on my phone when I can. Hopefully this week we'll have internet, because I have some really cute videos I want to put up! :)

First (and second) tooth!!

Evie finally popped a tooth- yay!!! :) Well, the teething process has been anything but yay- Evie has a wicked runny nose and a bit of a rash, and she's generally not her happy easygoing self. I've been able to see that the gum was opening for a few days now, and just this morning I can feel a little point of a tooth. It's the front bottom right, and I can see that the front bottom left won't be far behind. Hopefully they come up quickly so that my poor girl isn't in pain much longer. But I know she'll love having teeth, because she loves food and she's always trying to "bite" pieces off with her gums. :) I'm excited, but a little sad too because this means she's really growing up.
No photo of the tooth yet, she won't let me near it, so here's a pic from last week while we were at one of Evie's favorite places- Wegmans!! She loves to look around and wave and smile at everyone. :)

Evelyn Clara: 10 months

Evie's tenth month has definitely been a busy one- for her and for mommy and daddy! We have a lot of big things going on, and it's all very exciting. :) Evie is doing very well, she's such an easy-going baby. She is so friendly and warms up to people very fast, she is a pleasure to be around.
Some new things Evie's been working on: standing on her own- she does this more and more, and for longer periods of time. It's funny because she'll stand there no problem... until she realizes that she's not holding onto anything, then she gets down. :) We think she'll be taking steps very soon! Also, Evie has learned to clap, and does it on her own at the funniest times. Most often when she's eating, which is one of her favorite activities these days. ;) She also claps when music comes on, which is super cute. Speaking of music, Evie has also started "dancing" to music- she bops her head back and forth, and if she's standing up she'll bounce up and down. This is her favorite song right now, sometimes we play it ten times in a row! I got a little bit of a video of her bopping around, but I'm working on capturing the clapping.
It's getting harder for me to take photos of Evie these days because she doesn't stay still long enough!! She is ALWAYS on the move, crawling and cruising everywhere. She also is anti-looking at the camera right now, which is funny because a couple months ago she was such a ham looking right at it for me. Oh well, I'm sure it's a phase- there are too many other interesting things to do and see right now!
Some favorite toys include her wooden shape sorter cube and her Fisher Price activity table. She also has really gotten attached to her "lovey" (little pink blanket), so I'm thinking I need to buy a backup now! She also, as I mentioned, loves food, especially peaches, pears, bread, and pasta with red sauce (for evidence, see here).
I mentioned big things going on.... we bought a house!! It's just about 5 minutes away from where we currently live, but we can't wait to be homeowners again. It has 4 bedrooms and a nice big family room (plus a huge garage for Eric), so we're very excited. We plan to move the second weekend in March, so this will be a big change in Evie's life. I mentioned she's very easy-going, so overall I think she'll adjust well. The one thing I'm worried about is sleeping- because she's a little picky when it comes to that. She will really only nap in her crib these days, which is SO nice when we're home, because I can put her in there and she talks for a few minutes and then goes to sleep. But if we're anywhere but home, she pretty much never naps. SOMETIMES, if she's super exhausted, I get 20-30 minutes in my arms, if I nursed her to sleep. Otherwise, she won't nap till we're home. But she's sleeping through the night and taking great naps, so I hope we don't lose that when she goes to her new room. I'm sure it'll be okay, it will be the same crib afterall! :)
I will keep you posted if/when Evie takes her first steps- so exciting!!

P.S. It took me 25 minutes to get the photo above, so yea- you should appreciate it. ;)

Explore 'N More

This morning we went to Explore N More, the children's museum in East Aurora, and the kids had a blast! And since Evie's all tired out and taking a nice nap, I can share the photos with you right away. Enjoy! :)

Getting a photo where all four of them were looking at the camera?? Yea right, what were us mamas thinking. And I don't even want to admit how much of that rice Evie got in her mouth *shudder*

"Aaron J. Saul I am." ~ a direct quote from Aaron. Love it!

Lunchtime Dance Party

Evie's doing so well with table food, she eats pretty much everything we give her and seems to enjoy it all. Today for lunch she had pasta with marinara sauce, some Cheerios, cheddar cheese (which I think is her current favorite food), and some pureed spinach. Who doesn't love a photo of a baby with red sauce all over their face?

 I am obsessed with Edy's Fruit Bars- they began as a pregnancy craving for popsicles, and I just never stopped buying them. Evie loves to share with me, so sometimes I let her suck on these a little- mostly because the face she makes after every bite is HILARIOUS. She seems to like them, but I don't know if it's the slight tartness of the fruit or the cold that makes her scrunch her face up like this as soon as I take it out of her mouth. But then she's back asking for more! :)

I play music a lot when we're home alone for background noise, and Uncle Matt made an "Evie Mix" for us so I was playing that today and dancing. She started dancing too and it was so cute with her bobbing her head I had to get it on video! Well.... Evie had other plans. Of course the camera always makes her stop whatever she's doing, but her reaction to my question is pretty spot on. ;) (Sorry the camera's kind of bobbing around, I was dancing trying to get her to dance too)

Evelyn Clara: 9 months old

This is how Evie sits all the time now- she kneels and then puts her feet on either side of her bum. I think it is just the cutest. :) I can't believe she's 9 months old already!! She has officially been out in the world longer than she was in my belly.
Evie is still the happiest, friendliest little girl. She smiles all the time and even though she pretends to be shy with people sometimes, she warms up to everyone she meets. She loves to play with books, as well as her new pal "Dolly", a baby doll from Grandma Roy. Evie also loves to play in the kitchen while I'm cooking or cleaning- she especially likes our stainless bowls and the metal measuring spoons, she loves to make noise! It seems that Evie has more musical talent at 9 months than I do now, because she also loves to play with her musical instrument set from Aunt June and Uncle Pat. Shaking the maracas and banging on the tambourine are her favorite. :)
At her 9 month doctor's appointment yesterday, Evie was 16 lbs. 3 oz. and 27.25 inches tall. She is developing right on track and everything looks great. She got her first cold about 2 weeks ago- it lasted about a week, and I think it was worse for me than for her! She was very congested and didn't nurse for 8 days, but we kept her fluids up with bottles and sippy cups, and thankfully were able to return to nursing without a hitch.
We're transitioning Evie to more and more table food as we phase out purees, and she's doing great. Her favorite things to eat right now are bread, pears, Cheerios, and yogurt. She really REALLY likes bread- just like her daddy. ;)
Other things Evie has learned this month: how to open the kitchen cupboard doors and how to climb the stairs. Yay for mom and dad right? ;) Also, she has stood on her own for 5-10 seconds a couple times over the last month, so I'm expecting her to get better and better at standing!
We are so blessed to have such an easy-going, happy baby girl! Make sure you check out Evie's 365 blog to see another 9 month shot from this morning. :)