Evelyn is 11 months old--and walking!

One of Evey's favorite things to do at 11 months is to walk around pushing the airplane, shopping cart, big toy trucks, and anything else she can walk along with. She gets up to stand on her own all the time and can take one step before she falls down. She loves to be anywhere her brother is and will abandon the walking while pushing in favor of crawling to keep up with him. She is trying to eat with utensils and wants to drink out of a big cup (no matter what it is) but settles for her sippy and straw cups. She eats all regular people food and is nursing about 3-4 times a day. She normally still takes 2 naps, 30-60 minutes in the morning, and about 2 hours in the afternoon. She sleeps from about 7pm to 6 or 6:30am. She has taken to pointing and making a sound like "dis" (this) for us to tell her what something is or take her to see/touch it. This is especially true for anything she can push/pull like lightswitches, buttons on a radio, etc. She says "a-mee" for Sammie and "a-ix" for Alex. She adamantly shakes her head yes or waves her hands violently to say no (or I'm done). She loves to snack and will go into the pantry and point to what she wants.

Since this post is quite a ways after Evey actually turned 11 months (back on December 2nd), she has progressed since then, and is now officially a WALKER!! She took her first real steps (more than 1--3 to be exact) on December 13th and as of this posting, she has taken up to 13 continuous steps. She's managed to crawl up into Alex's bed by herself and even onto his stepstool. She is getting very adventurous and although she is still crawling into most of her mischief, it is funny to see her standing up on her own in a room when I come in or to think she is at my feet only to discover in a split second she has made it to the other end of the house.

Here are the pictures of Evey at 11 months.

Thanksgiving 2010

Our Thanksgiving was pretty quiet with just the four of us here at home. We did a lot of cooking (and eating) though and enjoyed having a few days with Andy and Alex off from school. Andy smoked a turkey (delicious as always!) and I made lots of sides including stuffing, sweet potato casserole, glazed carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes, yeast rolls, and cranberry sauce. I also made a pumpkin caramel cheesecake and a pecan pie with whipped cream. Needless to say, we didn't put much of a dent in the feast on Thanksgiving day, but we did have several friends over the next day to share the leftovers. The kids liked dinner, but they enjoyed dessert even more! We spent our family time watching football (Go Bears!), playing Guitar Hero and real guitars, and watching as the kids learn to play together (aka, Evey getting lessons on being tough!) We got our Christmas tree and decorated the house over the long weekend as well.
Here are the pictures from November 2010, including Thanksgiving.

Evelyn is 10 Months Old!

Our baby girl is in double digits!! She turned ten months old on November 2nd. She is crawling all over and very fast. She pulls up to stand and cruises around holding onto the furniture. Her favorite toys are anything that her brother is playing with and loves to look at her books with ducks and other animals. She finally has a second tooth coming in, the bottom left center, to keep the one that's been in there for three months company. Although the teething bothers her, she will be happy to have more chompers because she doesn't want to eat baby food--she doesn't even really want you to cut up her food. Mostly, she just wants to do everything herself and loves being able to get into things and explore all around the house. Her blonde hair is getting a little longer and thicker and her eyes are still blue. She always pulls off her socks and won't stay put for a diaper change or getting dressed and undressed. Her playing is getting more and more thoughtful as she will push a car back and forth on the floor and take out and put back items into a container. She is still a happy baby with lots of smiles and laughs. She is giving kisses and says mama and dada. She enjoyed her first Halloween and visits from Gram and Pop this past month and we are looking forward to a busy holiday season before she has her first birthday. Here are her pictures at ten months old.

And what is her brother doing these days...sometimes the bed isn't comfortable enough I guess!

Halloween 2010

This year Alex decided he wanted to dress as a fireman for Halloween, and since it is one of the few years I will get to do this, I wanted the kids to "match". So, Evey went as a girly dalmation (because I also REALLY wanted her to wear a tutu). We went trick or treating in our neighborhood with the kids in their firetruck wagon. Alex did great going to the doors, and saying "trick or treat", and "thank you." It's amazing how the promise of lots of candy makes such a good motivation! Evey enjoyed the ride but did not enjoy her dog ear headband. She picked most of the spots off of her costume and tried to get some candy herself, but Alex was very protective of his loot. They both looked so cute, but the busy weekend, late night, and sugar highs and crashes made for fiesty kids who did not want their pictures taken despite all our efforts. Anyway--here's the album of all the attempts and also pictures from the pumpkin patch trips.

Pumpkin Patches 2010

I love to go to pumpkin patches in the fall--even if it is hard to feel like fall in 80 degree weather! Alex enjoyed the patches even more this year than last, and actually got excited for picking out a pumpkin as well as the other games and activities like mazes, bouncies, and tractor rides. We went to the same two as last year, Grand Ole Pumpkin Patch in Clanton and Dream Fields Farm in Union Springs. We had a good time both places, but I would say the kids enjoyed Dream Fields even more because Gram and Pop were along.

Nags Head Trip October 2010

We left Andy in Montgomery, and the kids and I drove 12 1/2 hrs (that's really 15 hrs travel time) to spend some time in Nags Head, NC with Kelly and her family. The drive was not that fun but we made it and we had a great week! Alex loved, loved, loved playing at the beach.

The water wasn't warm enough to spend any time in, but standing (or really being held) in the surf and watching the waves was Alex's favorite part next to building sand castles. He and Kelly's son Gavin had a blast hanging out with each other and playing with Grandma Chrissy and Willie. We were actually staying in Kitty Hawk, so we got to visit the Wright Brothers Memorial Park. While there, we were entertained by a pair of Ospreys dropping in for a short formation hovering demonstration. Alex and Evey loved it (especially in contrast to just walking along the path of the Wright brothers' flights--exciting for mom, not so much for the rest of the crowd!). We also visited an aquarium where Alex got to pet a starfish. The highlight for the kids there however was the entertainment cube in the play area...go figure. Alex did a great job sleeping in the same room as Gavin--I wasn't really sure it was going to work at all, but since he took NO NAPS all week (too much going on and Gavin who is older isn't taking them anymore), I guess he was too worn out to protest!

Evey learned how to get into more mischief from Liam, who is about 2 1/2 months older and nearly walking. We enjoyed the great weather, beautiful area, good food, and wonderful friends who are really my second family. Hopefully we can do this again and next time will be closer and get to go with Andy too!

Here are the pictures from our trip!

These Crazy Kids

It is really fun to see the kids playing together and entertaining each other (and us)! Alex really likes to fun down the hall and sit at one end and tell Evey to crawl towards him, then turn around and do it again. Evey likes to chase after him wherever he goes...we'll see how long that lasts! They got used to taking baths at the same time with Evey in the little baby tub and Alex in the big tub while Andy was gone for a week, so Alex has been asking to take a bath now instead of a shower. They like to play right after their baths, so pardon the naked baby pictures...I censored the most embarrassing ones. They like to sing and dance to the music from this toy stage and that is what they are playing with here.

One of Evelyn's favorite things to play with is a cup: any cup, anywhere, full or not, with anything in it. She will lunge out of my arms trying to get my cup when I'm filling it up at the refrigerator door and go after any cup that is on the floor or table. We've had several big spills already because although she can tip the cup up and drink, her technique for getting the cup into the holding position is a little shaky (the grab and rake doesn't work so well here).

Andy and the kids came out to cheer for me at the Montgomery half marathon on October 2nd. It was a beautiful day and I felt great during the race. I made my post-baby PR of 1:50:48. It was great to see the family out there on the course and Alex enjoyed getting to see tractors and a fire truck. The firemen let him sit in the drivers seat!

Here are the pictures from late September and early October, including Evey's 9 month pictures.

Evelyn 9 months old

Evelyn turned 9 months old on October 2nd! She is full-up crawling now and pulling herself up to stand on furniture and toys (and in her crib) but hasn't figure out how to sit down yet (bad for the crib especially--she pretty much stands up every time we put her in there now and if we leave she just cries till you carry her to be sleepy enough to stay laying down). She can wave and clap and make lots of fun noises. She loves to play with her brother and she laughs at (with?) him all the time, which he likes. She also likes to play with his toys, which he doesn't like! Her 9 month checkup on the 4th went well with no shots. She is 17 lbs 10 oz (37%), 27 3/4 in (69%), and her head is 17 1/2 in (72%). She is always on the move and loves that she can get (and take) which toys she wants...so pictures are getting more difficult!