Evie - 1 Year! (1.5 Months Late)

 

Sweet, Evie!  How is it that you're already 1 year old!?  I feel like it was just yesterday that we were scurrying to get to the hospital and praying that Dr. Cawley would get there in time to catch you!  And then, after about 3 hours of labor, 38 minutes at the hospital and 2 pushes, you were out and we got to hear your first little cry!  I was quickly asking for confirmation that you were a girl because I hadn't gotten to see you yet.  I wanted to know that this precious little baby was my "Evie".  Born at 2:08 a.m., you were 8lb 0oz and 21in. of pure blessing!!  

You learned to wave "night night" on June 1.  For awhile, when you waved “bye bye” or “night night”, you would wave both hands—one that was seen and the other that was wrapped behind my back as I held you.  Despite my sporadic attempts at teaching you sign language, you actually learned to sign "all done" on May 30.  It was pretty cute because when I looked at our video monitor after your nap one day, I saw you standing on your tip toes in your crib, looking toward the door and signing "all done"!  You also learned to say, “Uh oh” on 6/16, which is so precious!  You experimented with all sorts of other adorable sounds with your mouth this month too.

Your top left tooth came in on 6/10, and your top right tooth came in on 6/19, which brings you to a grand total of 4!  It's a little funny to me because so many of your little friends have so many more teeth than you do!

You've done this for a month of two, but you'll often spit food out right after you put it in your mouth and then immediately put it back in your mouth.  You are a GREAT eater!  You'll eat anything I put in front of you and usually a lot of it.  In fact, it's not uncommon for you to eat more than your brother.

You've only been drinking out of a bottle for a month and a half, and I just LOVE watching you do it.  You actually stick your tongue out of your mouth a little bit as you drink.  How fun it is to see that little tongue out as you suck!

This month, you discovered how to pull clothes out of the hamper, put them on your head and walk around the house like that.  You always seem so proud of yourself for it, too!  I've said before that you have a happy walk, and I love that you waddle just a bit when you walk.  How I love the pitter patter of your little feet!

You have 2 fuzzy blankets that are the same style but are different colors.  This month, you learned how to reach your hand between the crib slats and pull out your blanket.  I usually keep your other blanket in your car seat in my closet, so you'll often walk around the house carrying both fuzzy blankets.  You still have this devious growling-type laugh whenever you see or get your blanket...even asking you where it is can prompt that cute laugh.

You really like to dig in the trash and also like to put stuff into the trash (like Caleb’s toys or your bottle).  I'm hoping I haven't thrown away too many toys by accident!
 

You love sitting in our laps.  If your daddy or I am sitting on the floor, you'll come running over to sit in our laps.  You usually "back into" our laps, which I think is adorable!  You'll even try to do the same with Caleb, though he doesn't think it's nearly as much fun.

I think your favorite person is your big brother.  At least, he's the only one you'll regularly give kisses too.  It's kind of funny because you were so big about giving kisses since you were two months old, and then a couple months ago, you stopped unless it was Caleb.  I will say that though I miss getting your open mouth kisses so freely, it's possible that it makes those times when you do initiate giving me them so much sweeter!

You still take 2 naps a day and will fall asleep wherever we are when necessary.  In these pictures, you fell asleep while riding a golf cart at a friend's ranch.

You finally outgrew your Size 3-6 Month shoes this month.  It reminds me that Dr. Cawley commented during one of your ultrasounds that you had little feet.  :)  You're now wearing Size 3 diapers, and your clothes range anywhere from Size 6-12 Months.  At your 12 Month checkup, you weighed 20lb 13oz (45.02%), were 29.75in. long (71.15%) and had a head circumference of 17.5" (30.97%).
 

You are an extremely happy little girl who loves to laugh and is determined to get whatever it is that you've set your sights on, and your love for soft things (blankets, stuffed animals, etc.) is as strong as ever!  You're definitely still a mommy's girl, which is to be expected since I get to spend all my days with you.

Though you've grown and changed so much over the last year, you're still a pure blessing to us!  We adore you, sweet Evangeline and praise the Lord for giving you to us!

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Evie - 11 Months!

Precious Evie!  I can't believe you're 11 months old!  One year is just around the corner, and yet I feel like we just got home from the hospital!  You have become so much more independent this month--walking (never crawling), insisting on feeding yourself, being willing and even excited to drink out of a bottle and also holding it yourself (I know this one may seem silly, but it's HUGE for you!).

You took 5 steps on your 10 Month birthday, 11 steps on May 3 and 21 steps on May 4;  I don't think you've crawled once since that day.  Watching you walk around the house makes me so happy--not because you're walking, but because I think you have such a happy walk.  You also usually have a huge smile on your face as you wander about.  I so love the pitter patter of your tiny little feet.  Speaking of, you wear Size 3 or Size 3-6 Month shoes.  It was a little tricky figuring out a solution for you when wearing your pajamas because none of yours have the rubber gripping on the bottom of the feet to keep you from slipping on our wood floors, but you seem to have gotten the hang of walking in them much better.


You wear Size 3 diapers and either 6 Month, 6-12 Month or 9 Month clothes.  You now take just 2 naps a day--one from about 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and one from 2:30-4:30 p.m.  You've also learned how to chew on your crib rail when you're not sleeping.  Thankfully, those are now covered up so you can't do it anymore.




I would say the one thing that characterizes you most this month is that you LOVE soft things!!  You like to pick up an article of clothing (Caleb's shirt, your pajamas, etc.) and carry it around the house.  Frequently, you'll pull down the dish towels that hang in our kitchen and leave one on the floor, while you carry the other around the house.  You also LOVE stuffed animals!  You get so excited when you see one and will let out these devious sounding giggles, give it a big open mouth kiss, bury your head in it and squeeze it in your arms.  You'll often walk into your room by yourself just to get either your lamb off your rocking chair or your giraffe or bunny off your table.  You walk back out of your room looking so proud with your stuffed animal in your arms.

You still get crazy excited over your blanket.  If you're crying because I put you in your car seat, you will immediately start laughing instead if I give you your blanket.

This month you started doing this really adorable cry.  When you get really upset and are crying, your bottom lip will quiver, which you can hear as you cry.  It sounds so pitiful and yet is so incredibly precious!

For a month or two now,  you've absolutely loved to eat shoes.  Definitely not the most sanitary habit, but if there is a shoe on the ground anywhere in the house, it will quickly find its way into your mouth.

For the most part, you will only initiate kissing Caleb and Wally (our dog).  They get the full on, open mouth kisses.  Everyone else is lucky to steal a kiss from you before you turn your head away, smiling.  It's kind of ironic to think back to how much you wanted kisses so early on (even as early as 2 months).


You LOVE to eat, but you definitely prefer to feed yourself (though you don't seem to mind as much if Caleb is the one feeding you), which has essentially eliminated jarred baby food from your diet.  I'm still trying to think of a good way to incorporate the jars we still have into your solid foods so they're not just sitting on our pantry shelf.  The foods that you've especially loved this month are Cheerios, green bean casserole, spaghetti, sliced turkey, cheese and bread.

You got sick at the end of last month/beginning of this month and had your first ear infection (left ear).  You were a little more clingy than normal but not really fussy.

I started weaning you this month, and you dropped your third nap at the beginning of the month as you adjusted to the weaning process.  In the beginning of weaning you essentially refused to take a bottle which meant you were skipping your last feeding of the day and going to bed a little earlier.  Thankfully that only lasted about a week, and you've since become a champ at taking a bottle and even drinking out of it by yourself.  It's so funny to me how crazy excited you get when you see your bottles now, when less than a month ago you wanted nothing to do with them.

You went through a spell of not saying "Ma Ma" this month, which made me sad, but you started saying it again at the end of the month.  Sometimes you'll hold your mouth in this really cute position--it looks like you just finished saying the word "oh" and then you keep holding your lips in that semi-pursed/open position.

You went swimming for the first time this month.  We didn't have a swimsuit for you yet, so you just wore your brother's old hat and t-shirt.  Seeing you in that hat, especially, reminded me all the more how much you resemble one another.  You loved the water and didn't seem to mind at all that it was a little chilly.



I think this picture shows your personality so well--so joyful and carefree.  We adore you, sweet Evie, and praise God for blessing us with you!

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Evie - 10 Months!

Sweet Evie, this was another big month of firsts.  You had your first ear infection (left ear), took your first step, went to your first rodeo, experienced your first time around farm animals and went on your first big road trip.

When we went to the doctor for your first ear infection (left ear) right when you turned 10 months old, you weighed 18lb 12oz (40%) and were 28.25" long (55.21%).

You continue to be such an active little girl!  You took your first step on 4/7/12 (at 9.5 months) and then took 5 steps in a row on your 10 Month birthday.  You also really love to swing.  Your legs often kick nonstop in excitement.

You LOVE animals.  On a recent trip to a farm, you wouldn't quit kicking your legs in delight at the sight of them.  I can't praise you (and Caleb) enough for doing such a great job on our road trip to and from Louisville.  You were so good and slept most of the way and then played quietly while you were awake.

You still just have your bottom 2 teeth, but that hasn't really limited what you'll eat.  You LOVE Cheerios.  You will eat most anything, but sometimes I have to try harder to get you to eat vegetables than fruits.  Caleb was the opposite and seemed to prefer vegetables at your age.  This month you have become much more independent in eating and now prefer to feed yourself.

For a couple months now, you have to have something to play with while you drink your milk.  Like I had to do with Caleb, I keep a stash of random items near me when I feed you so that I can hand you something else when you get bored with what you're currently holding.  In the morning, though, you'll usually close your eyes and play with your hair while you eat.

This month you definitely seem to have learned who "Da Da" and will call him that.  I love that you seem to have learned how to mimic the inflection in my voice when i say "Hi".  You'll sometimes crawl/cruise around the house making a clicking sound with your tongue.  Whenever I start doing it too, you get a huge grin as you look up at me and then continue to do it.
You now randomly make Motorboat sounds and will blow raspberries.

You love stuffed animals and will giggle with delight when I give you one.  You also still LOVE your blanket and will laugh when I give it to you, even if you had previously been crying.  Your blanket laugh is more of a growl laugh, though.

You'll regularly pull the dish towels off the stove and dishwasher doors and will drop them on the floor.  You also like to pull stuff out of the dishwasher and tupperware cabinet.

You have become much more stingy with your kisses and will usually only let Caleb kiss you on your mouth.  You love your brother so much, and man, can he really make you laugh!

So far, you are definitely a mommy's girl but also love to be around other people.  People are always commenting on how happy and smiley you are.  Caleb was an extremely happy baby too, but I'm guessing that you're going to be more of a social butterfly than he will be.  I may be remembering incorrectly, but it seems like Caleb was a little more laid back, whereas you're more squirmy and ready to be in the middle of the action.  We'll see, though.

Baby girl, we adore you!  You bring so much joy to our lives, and we're so thankful you're ours!!



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Evie - 9 Months!

Sweet Evangeline! Oh, how we love you, precious baby girl! You bring us so much joy!

At your 9 Month checkup, you weighed 18lb 10oz (45.5%), were 28" long (64.82%) and had a head circumference of 17.25" (44.14%).

You started this month by getting your second tooth (your bottom middle left) on 2/27, just a few days after your first one. You've also started to really enjoy trying to drink out of cups or CamelBak water bottles.

Toward the end of this month, you became much more interested in our food. Whenever you see us eating, you now seem to think that you need to have some of it too. You're so cute trying to feed yourself! You will shovel pieces of food in your mouth as quickly as you can, but very little actually makes it into your mouth. Speaking of putting stuff in your mouth, food may not always successfully make it, but it sure seems that every little piece of trash, grass, etc. on the floor ends up in your mouth.

I was shocked when you stood by yourself for the first time on 3/22--surely this wasn't supposed to happen for a couple more months! You're adorable standing, though, and often look so pleased with yourself when you keep your balance for awhile.

You love sticking out your tongue and will often do it while you smile. You've also learned to sniff in and out of your nose quickly and seem to think that it's funny, especially when I mimic you.

You really enjoy going to the park, and especially swinging. You kick your legs pretty much constantly as you swing.

Evie, you LOVE your brother! You love being around Caleb and get so excited when he actually plays with you. As you both get older, I pray that you will have a close relationship and that you will love and care for each other well.

Nothing has really changed regarding naps (you still take 3 a day), sizes of diapers and clothes, etc. You still absolutely LOVE your fuzzy blanket! Anytime you see it, you start laughing and kicking your legs in excitement. The other day, I put you in your car seat, gave you your blanket, and you immediately started laughing in delight. A few minutes later, I was in the other room getting our stuff together to go, and you were still laughing about your blanket. It's hard to say for sure because your hair isn't overly long yet, but it seems like it might be starting to curl at the bottom in the back. We'll have to wait and see if you have your daddy's straight hair or your mommy's (and brother's) curls.

What a sweet, happy baby you are, Evie! Thank you for constantly brightening our days!!

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Evie - 8 Months!

(This is a couple weeks late!)


Precious Evie! I can't believe you're already 8 months old! This last month seemed like a blur and was such a HUGE month for you!! Crawling (now on all fours), pulling up, cruising and your first tooth...my, you've been busy!!

You started out the month army crawling, but then crawled a foot or two on all fours on 1/26. You still resorted mainly to army crawling until a couple weeks later.

You started pulling up on 1/31--just a week after you turned 7 months old. This is a picture of that first time that you pulled yourself up. With your increased mobility has come more bumps and bruises, but it's also resulted in you and Caleb playing together more, which is so fun to see. For the first week or so after you began to pull up, you were fine sitting back down, though you would often bump your head on the way down. Then, for a few days to a week, you would let out these short pitiful whines whenever you were tired of standing because you wanted us to help you sit down again. (I guess the bumping your head thing got old.) Now you get up and down like a champ.

Your first tooth (bottom middle right) came in on 2/23. You were fussing at dinner that night, which isn't like you. I couldn't figure out why you were upset until I finally stuck my finger in your mouth and discovered that sharp tooth poking through your lower gums.

You started cruising on 2/11. We were all sitting in Caleb's room playing, and I was telling your daddy that I thought you would start cruising any day. About one minute later, I looked over, and you were cruising!

For several months now, you will often make this growling sound. It makes me laugh because it's just not a sound that you would expect from a little baby girl! You and Caleb both sometimes have these funny, mischievous-sounding laughs that y'all do back and forth. You're really laughing, but it sounds kind of fake. My, oh my, do you LOVE your brother!!

You now say, "Muh Muh," which is definitely one of my favorite things you do. I LOVE hearing you crawling toward me saying, "Muh Muh Muh". I don't know if you understand that I am "Muh Muh," but I have no doubt that you know when you say that to me that you usually get what you want--almost always either being picked up or fed. You mainly just do this when you're tired. Speaking of being tired, you are a noisy (chatty) little girl when you're tired. You don't usually cry--just talk constantly until you fall asleep.

You will often "sing" when I do, which consists of you making the same noise for a long time, breathing and then doing it again.

For the last couple months, I've stood in your room singing the song, "Doxology", to you before I lay you down to sleep, and sometimes I feel like you know when the song is about to end because as the end draws near, you'll often lift your head up off my shoulder and turn around toward your crib. You still often suck your left thumb and wrap your right arm around your blanket as soon as I lay you down to go to sleep too.

You LOVE your blanket!! When we leave the house on cold days, I'll put you in your car seat and then cover you with your fuzzy blanket (we have a pink and a green one). As soon as you see that blanket, you start laughing and kicking your legs excitedly.

You still nurse 4 times a day and take 3 naps a day and have transitioned to napping in Daddy's office at church during the service on Sunday mornings, instead of sleeping on me in your sling.


At this point, there isn't anything you won't eat, but I think peas and green beans are your least favorite foods. You went through a few days where you didn't seem to like much of anything, but thankfully you got past that pretty quickly. I discovered this month that you eat more food and more quickly if I alternate different types of food for each bite. So, you'll get one bite of a fruit, then one vegetable and then back to fruit. I'm praising the Lord for 2 kids (thus far) who are great eaters!

You started clapping on 2/19 before church. You seemed to think this was a fun trick for a week or so then lost interest in it.

You ended the month with your last Size 2 diapers and are wearing 6 Month, 6-9 Month and 9 Month clothes. You still get little patches of eczema above your right elbow, below your left elbow and under your right jawbone. They are definitely smaller and less common than they used to be, though.

Your favorite toys right now are your activity table, crawl ball, dinosaur with bouncing balls, and basically anything that you can fit in your mouth because that's where everything seems to go. You've also developed a fascination with the dishwasher and love to come pull spoons out of the silverware basket when it's open.

I would say that there are 2 characteristics that best define you right now. The first one is one that I would have used to describe you every month thus far...joy. You have a smile that warms hearts and are usually very happy. A new characteristic this month, though, would be determination. Maybe you get the determination from being around your brother who doesn't always share as well as he should. If there is something you want, you will patiently keep going after it until you either get it or are picked up and distracted from it. Sweet Evie, you are such a precious gift from the Lord, and we're so thankful that you're ours!!

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Evie - 7 Months!

Oh my goodness, sweet Evie, you are growing up too fast!! I feel like this month you became much more independent. This is largely because you started army crawling on 12/28--just 4 days after you turned 6 months old! You now roll and army crawl everywhere! Your army crawl consists of you putting your left forearm on the ground perpendicular to your body and pulling your body as you use your right hand and right foot to push off as well. You'll occasionally get a little frustrated when you can't keep up with your brother.

It amazes me how quickly you can crawl across the house, even though you don't do it on all fours! You often will come play with my feet while I'm in the kitchen cooking or cleaning and will still sometimes manage to get yourself stuck under the bed.

This month, you started eating green beans (Initially you didn't like them, but you seemed to love them the third time you ate them.), squash, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots and bananas. I think your least favorite food at this point is peas; you'll still eat them--just not as quickly as the others. You're so cute when you are eating because you're constantly kicking your feet. You still won't drink out of a bottle or a sippy cup, but I'm hoping you will soon. For the last month or two, you've gotten in the habit of drinking your milk for 10 minutes, and then you want to take a 20-30 minute break before you finish eating.

A new habit you started this month is often sucking your left thumb as soon as I lay you down to sleep. Your thumb doesn't stay in your mouth very long, but it's pretty cute! You often also let out this short, excited giggle as I cover you with your blanket. Your right hand usually reaches out from under the blanket and grabs the side of it.

We loved our first Christmas with you! You enjoyed eating the wrapping paper as you helped open your first presents.

This month, we also went on your first vacation--to Branson. We didn't do much of anything while we were there except to spend time together as a family.

You now say, "ba ba ba", "da da da" and "ruh ruh ruh". You are getting much noisier as you experiment with your voice. I sometimes wonder if you're loud just because your brother is loud too.








Your favorite toys right now are your dinosaur with the bouncing balls, blue octopus, pink puppy, monkey, rattle ball, butterfly teether, teething ring with balls all around it and your bird that hangs from your car seat. Everything goes in your mouth these days, but you still don't have any teeth. More than any of your toys, though, you love to play with Caleb. It's so sweet how much you love your brother and how quickly he can make you laugh.

You still nap 3 times a day--the first two are 1.5-2 hours each, and the last one is around 45 minutes. You wear 6 Month clothes and Size 2 diapers.


I love how you have started sticking out your tongue when you smile more. Words can't describe how much your smile warms our hearts, precious Evangeline! I'm so thankful for your joyful spirit and pray that your joy is rooted in the Lord one day soon!

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Ruidoso

This is super late, but we were so incredibly blessed by some dear friends who allowed us to stay for free in their house in Ruidoso last March/April. The time we spent together as a family--relaxing and being out in God's creation was priceless! Click here for pictures of our precious getaway.

Evie - 6 Months!

Sweet Evie, my, oh my was this a big month for you! It started out when you rolled over from your back to your tummy (while swaddled) on November 27. From that night on, you have slept on your tummy. You rolled from your back to your tummy unswaddled on December 9.

You have been rolling all over the place and scooting. It's amazing how much you can move around the room without actually crawling--maybe you're just trying to keep up with your brother! A couple of times you've even scooted your whole body (except your head) under the pack 'n play or under our bed.

You're now sitting up on your own pretty well.

With all your developmental growth this month, we're no longer able to use your Bumbo seat or bouncer because you can fall out of them. You still enjoy your jumperoo, but not quite as much now that you're more mobile.


When you're upset, you'll get up on all fours and rock back and forth. Sometimes you'll also make a motorboat sound when you're upset.

When you get really excited, you get a huge smile and breath in and out through your nose really fast.

You're ticklish on your tummy, and especially on the sides of your neck under each cheek.


You wear Size 2 diapers and mostly 6 Month clothes.

You wouldn't take the only bottle I offered you this month, so I'm guessing we'll just bypass bottles and move straight to sippy cups.

You usually eat around 8am, 12:00pm, 4:30pm and 8:30pm with a 1.5-2 hour nap in the morning and afternoon and a 30-45 minute nap before your last feeding. When I feed you, you often grab at my face--at my chin, at my nose, but most commonly, you'll hang your hand from my lower teeth. Caleb did the exact same thing!

At your 6 Month checkup today, you weighed 16lb 11oz (58.28%), were 26.75" long (78.66%) and your head circumference was 16.5" (28.47%).

You're such a content and joyful little girl! And, man, do you love to show affection! Though you've initiated kisses in the past, this month it's gotten really sweet. When I'm holding you, and you're facing away from me or when you're sitting in my lap with your back toward me, you'll turn your head up and around toward my face and hold your mouth open until I give you kisses. You'll often reach up and hold onto my cheek with your right hand too. I LOVE THIS!!

You usually get excited whenever someone looks at you or starts talking to you. You'll get a huge grin and kick your legs a bunch.

Oh, precious Evie, your daddy and I adore you!


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