Evie

I thought I would create a blog entry just about Evie and all of the things she has been doing lately!  She continues to be the light of our lives and I can't say how many times Mike and I just watch her and smile at the things she is doing.  It is so fun to watch her learn, explore, and grow!  There are some days I worry if we are pushing her to be more independent because her little sister will be here soon.  But then I stop and realize she is really doing so much on her own and I know it's just her growing up on us!

She has adjusted so well to all the changes over the last several months!  We are just so proud of her.  We still talk about her Houston friends, look at pictures of them, and include them in our prayers every night.  I miss her having so many friends for playdates and the fun and learning she was doing at Walden school.  But we have been making connections here and finding new opportunities for her.  She and I go to story hour at our local library every Tuesday morning.  I met another mom there who has a daughter a couple months younger than Evie and is expecting a little boy a few months after me.  When the weather gets nicer we are planning to get the girls together at a park, but for now we enjoy seeing them every week at story hour.  We also started a class at The Little Gym.  Evie absolutely loves all the climbing and running......and seems to really enjoy playing with the bubbles and balls.  It's a small group of about six girls and two boys and seems to be a really good fit for her.  During exploring time she is more into climbing and walking on the balance beam (with support of course) instead of hanging from or holding onto any of the bars.  I'm sure that will come with time!  We also have cousin Jake who is less than an hour away and it's always fun to spend time with him.  Also, a girl I used to work with at The Parish school in Houston lives here and we went to visit her and her daughter (who is only a few months younger than Evie) a few weeks ago for a playdate with them and can't wait to see them again!

Of course being a preschool teacher/speech pathologist I try to add plenty of "art time," "center time," and "story time" into our day:0)  She really loves using my manipulatives for the stories:  brown bear, go away big green monster, and the very hungry caterpillar.  It's also fun that some her current favorite stories are some of mommy's classroom favorites, including, "Hi Pizza Man" and "My Truck is Stuck."
We have some built-in shelves near our living room and I love seeing her pulling the books off the shelf and reading them!

Teeth!  She has been such a trooper with getting new teeth!  In the beginning it seemed like forever before she finally got some teeth.....with the first starting to come through at 10 months and the next two around her 1st birthday.  It seems that since Christmas she had gotten new teeth every couple of weeks and is now up to 12 teeth (including two molars on the top and two on the bottom) and a few more on the bottom that are going to come through any day!  

Big Bed!  With the move and a new baby on the way, Mike and I decided we were going to buy a new twin bedroom set for Evie and put her in a big bed (with rails of course).  Since it took us a couple weeks to get the bedroom set once we moved she was sleeping in her pack n play in our bedroom.  So when the set finally arrived we let her play in her room and on the bed for several days before having her sleep in it!  Again we are so proud of her and how well she has done!

Big Sister!  We talk about baby sister a lot and Evie is so sweet to lay her head on my belly and kiss it!  We read a book about being a big sister......and yes, for all my speech path friends I'm working on a social story to read with her:0)  I know she isn't going to fully understand what is happening until the baby is here.  But we love to see her taking care of her baby dolls.....especially when she says "waaaa" then goes to get her baby a bottle!  And she is very into babies we see when we are out and about!  For as many times I look at her and think about how much her life is about to change......I smile and think about how amazing she will be as a big sister!

Other loves right now:

Her dog:  She picks on her all time and when Kavi is happily chewing on a bone, Evie love to go and pull her tail and have Kavi chase her!

corn on the cob!

coloring!

making brownies with mommy......and for those of you who know me.....yes, I let her lick the spoon!