Evelyn Clara: 13 months

Honestly, this month just flew by and the 25th snuck up on me! I looked at the calendar yesterday and couldn't believe that Evie would be 13 months old today. We've been keeping very busy, and I think it'll stay that way all summer long. :) I'm so happy for warm weather, and Evie is loving it!
Evie's walking 100% of the time now, she has great balance and is very steady on her feet. She's not full-blown running yet, but she's getting quicker for sure! She loves to chase us around the house, and when we bend down and put our arms out for a hug- she comes right in for one every time!! :) Hugs and snuggles are more frequent now than they ever have been, and I love it. She was never a snuggly baby, so it's nice that she's so affectionate now. We're working on teaching her to blow kisses- she cracks up every time I do it so we'll see.

Evie is also becoming a little imitator, which she never used to do. I will make silly faces or do things like stomp my feet, and then she does it too!! It's so cool to watch. Not a lot has changed in the talking department, she's still say woof pretty often, and we think she's saying "dada" occasionally, but that's about it. I know she'll start up soon though, because her babbling has gone through the roof the past week!! She's making noises constantly all day, "talking" to her stuffed animals, books, the play phone, her shoes- anything that will listen. ;)

Evie's still loves when I sing songs to her- her favorite these days is the "Wheels on the Bus". She loves to play with her quiet books, read picture books, carry random objects around the house (current favorites include purses, the pvc pipe we use to lock the sliding glass door, and cups), go for rides in the wagon. We did the sprinkler yesterday, and she was hesitant, but the girl loves water so I don't think it'll be long before she's going crazy in it. I have to find the kiddie pool, it's somewhere around here from moving.
We still have a little picky eater on our hands- veggies are a challenge and she's so unpredictable! She'll love something for a few days and gobble it up, then won't touch it with a 10 foot pole for a week. It's a little frustrating, but I just keep at it. We're still nursing, just once a day when she first wakes up. She seems to still really like it, sometimes we nurse for up to 45 min. I really don't mind it- I'm not a morning person, so it's kind of nice to just hang out in bed for half an hour and fully wake up, snuggle with Evie, and play games on my phone. :) I will miss it, I think I'll either let her decide when she wants to stop, or wean when we're ready to get pregnant again- whichever comes first.

I'm so excited for all of the things we have planned this summer- the week at the lake house, swimming lessons, first trip to the zoo (this weekend!!), lots of playdates, the convention, going to the Strong Museum, first trip to the beach.... it's going to be a great summer!

And she talks too!!

Evie said two new words today! It took me completely off guard, because up until now Evie's done a lot of babbling, but not much actual talking. She's said 'mama' just a couple times, and we've also heard a clear 'no' a couple times. But that's been it so far.
But today while we were playing outside, Evie added two new words to her "official vocabulary list." And they're kind of funny ones. :) Nana bought Evie bubbles a couple weeks ago, and it's been so nice outside that we've been blowing bubbles everyday for about the last week. So of course I've been saying "bubble" a ton. Well we were sitting in the driveway blowing bubbles, and I asked Evie what is that? And she said "buh-buh"!!! She only said it once, but I'm pretty darn sure she knew what she was saying. :)
Then a bit later, we heard a neighbor's dog start to bark. Evie LOVES dogs, she gets super excited whenever she sees or hears one. And of course we do all of the animal sounds, but she's never repeated any of them. But when she heard the dog start to bark, she looked in the direction it came from and said "oof oof! oof oof!" She said it like 10 times, pointing towards the dog- I was so proud!!! :) I couldn't believe she did it completely unprovoked, on her own. And I think it's hilarious that she would say "woof" before so many other words, when we don't even own a dog!! But, she really does like them.
And just another funny thing that Evie is saying these days (although not really a word)- her new favorite sound to make is "weeee". So she walks around the house saying "wee wee wee" and Eric always replies "all the way home." She's our little piglet! ;)

Baby Friends

We are so blessed that Evie will grow up with so many little friends all around her age. She will never run out of kids to play with!! Here are some pictures of fun times we've had recently.

Playdate at Jameson's

Our new friend Noah- it's a walking competition! ;)

Hanging out at Wegmans for a break during service- so many babies! :)

She Walks!

If you haven't seen Evie in action yet, here's a short video of her walking in our driveway a few days ago. Please forgive the binky in her mouth- it had been a rough day and we went outside to try and distract her from fussing. It worked thankfully. :) Also, it's a phone video, which is why it's so skinny. AND, she's carrying a bucket, and the tag from the bucket that she ripped off. Okay, now you can watch it!

Evelyn Clara: 12 months

Our baby girl is one year old. It seems impossible, but it's really been a whole year. She is the most amazing little person, I feel so blessed to be able to be her mom and spend every day with her. She makes me laugh and she is so much fun- she is really growing up and becoming a little toddler. There have been some rough times for sure (especially in the middle of the night!), but to be honest you forget all about them the next day- the good memories overshadow the hard ones every time.

Some fun facts about Evie: she knows the word "no" now, and has said it clear as a bell. I'm going to save my sanity and tell you that "mama" was her first word, but honestly she's only said that a couple times for sure. But twice now in the last couple of weeks, we've asked Evie to do something, and she shakes her head and very clearly says "No!" She knows what she wants, that's for sure. ;)
Her favorite game right now is putting everything on her head and pretending it's a hat. Cups, bowls, bibs, blankets, clothes, books- anything. She puts them on her head and the grins at me and waits for me to say "hat?" and then she laughs. Other things that make Evie laugh include us putting random things on our heads, and crazy ticklefests with Daddy. She's also learning to point at different people and body parts- right now she knows "where's mama?" (point at me), "where's Evie?" (point to herself), and sometimes we succeed at "where's your nose?" (point to nose).

Evie actually sits and lets us read her books now, which is really fun and I love it. Sometimes she gets impatient and turns the pages quick, but usually she'll let you read her a whole story cover to cover now. Her favorite books right now include The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Monster at the End of This Book, and a series of Baby's Day Out books we have. I can read her longer books while she's playing with toys too, she likes If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Evie has loved music for a while now, and now I sing kids songs with her and I'm starting to teach her the hand motions. She LOVES Itsy Bitsy Spider, and I hold her hands and do the actions. While we were taking these photos I was singing it to her, and she even started trying to do the motions herself!! :) We also do Patty Cake a lot, and I sing Wheels on the Bus- are there hand motions that go with that? I feel like there are... maybe I should look them up. :) She still dances everytime she hears music, which is adorable! As far as non-baby music goes- Evie has shown an affinity for Britney Spears (don't tell Aunt Allison!!), and she really likes this song.

 

 Evie is walking pretty much full-time now, it seems like it happened overnight!! She took her first steps about a month ago (March 23rd to be exact), and just within the last week has started walking all the time now. She has great balance, is able to bend down and pick things up without falling, and she often carries things around the house while walking. It's so fun to hear "the pitter patter of little feet", as corny as that sounds. :) It seems like she's been working hard on motor skills for a bit now, so I'm looking out for her verbal skills to pick up now that she's mastered walking. And she's burning the calories to prove it- she's our little peanut at 18 lbs. right now!

All in all, Eric and I are so blessed to have Evie in our lives, and we can't wait to see what this next year with her brings. We have so many exciting things planned- it's going to be a really fun summer!! I'm still going to continue with monthly posts for Evie (although thank goodness I won't have to battle with stickers anymore!! As you can see the 12 month one only made a brief appearance), and I'll keep doing random posts in between. I have a couple videos of Evie walking and such, but I don't know how to get them from my iPhone to the computer without them being sideways.... I'm going to attempt using YouTube, so stay tuned for those. :) Love to all!!

Evie's First Bonfire

We had our first bonfire at the new place, and Evie seemed to enjoy it. :) Obviously the more mobile she gets, the more we have to be careful with having fires in the backyard, but both Eric and I grew up with parents who loved wood fires, and we're the same, so we intend to just teach Evie from an early age how to play safely. Plus it helps to have lots of extra eyes and arms around to keep her occupied and at a safe distance.
Evie didn't nap super great (too busy out shopping with Aunt Tammy!), so I gave her a bath and put her jammies on before everyone came over, figuring I'd let her stay out until she got cranky and then just put her to bed. She did so great playing with everyone until about 8:30. :) Here are some pics!

Hanging out with Uncle Matt

Mama and a flying super baby ;)

Evie loves Aunt Ally!!

Evie getting into the stash.... we laughed and then promptly hid the alcohol ;)

Good fire Dada!

Playing with Carly's dog Bella, Evie laughed so hard at this silly puppy!

Teeth Photoshoot

In an attempt to get a good shot of Evie's two new teeth to put in her baby book, I got up close and personal with Evie and the camera this morning. It resulted in a really hilarious string of photos.....

Flash is too bright- sorry baby!

Here is the debut of a new "face"- everytime I said "smile!" she gave me this scrunched up cuteness :)

Teeth!!!! I will probably crop this and use it in the baby book 

She had me laughing so hard with this face!!! Love her so much