Evelyn swimming at Chico!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am8jktNY1Uo

look at those legs!!!

Oh man it's been a long time....

Apologies to all for not writing anything for so long. we'll try and do better in the future..

Evelyn is almost 10 months and has grown so much it's difficult to believe. Lately she's showing herself to be quite the animal lover. We still are without a dog, but Evelyn goes crazy each time she sees one. Heather and I took her to the dog park yesterday and let her meet some nice pups. She pumps her arms and legs and makes a guttural sound that is almost exclusively used when encountering animals. She also does this when we visit with the bunnies that frequent our back yard/alley/parkinglot. Yesterday we discovered that she also gets excited when we treat a realistic stuffed animal like a real animal. I picked up a stuffed puppy and petted it like a real puppy, and she went crazy. We tried it again at bedtime with a stuffed piggy (thanks, aunt Vicky!) and she loved it also. Fun fun!

It's a very exciting time....

Evelyn Cracking up today

Watch it on Youtube for even better quality!

Heather was making faces, directing her eyes all around the room. Evelyn loved it!

Sleepy Baby Video

We wanted to keep Evelyn awake so perhaps she'd sleep well for the drive from Missoula to Great Falls. Cruel, I suppose.

It looks better if you watch it on youtube...

Pictures from Thad

A fire-breathing baby?
Saying Hello to Ian.
Role reversal?

Thad's getting quite creative with the photoshop.... fantastic!

lately

Evelyn is doing great- she's holding herself up in a sitting position like it's nothing. She enjoys sticking her tongue out and blowing(thereby creating perhaps the cutest sound in the world). She has been experimenting with different kinds of food and so far likes everything; rice cereal, barley cereal, sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, squash, prunes and more to come! She loves going for walks in the park. This summer promises to be a great one..

Some Easter Pics

Here are some pictures we took on or around Easter:

Daffodils are in bloom. An older lady stopped us and said "two of my favorite things; Daffodils in bloom and daddies with their babies..."
Family shot on Easter
flower girl
Evelyn and Ian wishing each other a Happy Easter.
Playing with her new ball. The ball that promptly popped later this day. neat picture, though.

bathtime

Unintentionally I added too much soap and it turned into a bubble bath. Yay!

Rice Cereal!!

Wanted to share some pictures of Evelyn's first time eating rice cereal! She loved it! Lovely seeing those of you we got to see on our visit! Thanks for making our quick trip such a meaningful one.

Playing

Here's Evelyn reaching for her Chinese tiger, playing with the octopus that I made, and knocking her blocks to the floor.

train trip

So we made it back on Amtrak from Oregon, where we spent a long weekend with our dear friends, Anne and Amit. Was a splendid trip, and Evelyn continues to amaze us with her wonderfulness. 17+ hours on the train to get there and the return trip turned out taking even longer because our train ran into a pickup. Evelyn got to see the ocean near Florence and shrieked with delight as she ran across the sand in the sling with Heather. We came across Evelyn's name carved into the rock and couldn't believe it-- we were convinced that Anne and Amit had been there before and done it... Enjoyed hanging out in Eugene; the Saturday market, some used kids' stuff stores, fondue made by Anne and Amit, REI, the Hideaway bakery, some truly wonderful time in Anne and Amit's apartment, and many more great moments.

Evelyn is more active each day- rolling this way and that. She seems immensely pleased with herself and her surroundings. She really seems to take everything in as she gazes around and reaches for whatever is near. Recently she has taken a huge liking to her feet. It's so neat to watch her grow and see her develop into a lovely little person. She is so great!

pictures from today

She's pretty sweet! After she rolled over on the 18th, she was motivated to switch it up and on the 19th, she rolled from her belly to her back! Needless to say, we're thrilled.

Four Months!

Evelyn decided to make her four month birthday a day full of milestones! She rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time (after a lot of hard work!) yesterday afternoon. It was quite exciting for both heather and I (and our friend Kelly-- who is due to bring another friend for Evelyn any day now!) were beyond ourselves with excitement and pride in our little butternut. She also demonstrated a definite increase in coordination with thumbsucking yesterday. Previously it had been a lot of fingers jammed all cattywampus into her mouth. And last night Heather put her in the crib without having her swaddled and she slept that way for 3-4 hours! She'd been sleeping wrapped up like a burrito- like she needed to have her arms immobilized in order to relax enough to sleep.

It was a big day for her.

she's doing great. we're going to attend a powwow later today. and then perhaps she'll help me get some of my sub plans ready for next week.

Evelyn Laughing

3 and 1/2 months of loveliness. Heather first heard the giggle last week while blowing raspberries into the belly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNx1GerkNAg

mustache

rolling over

Evelyn's working hard to roll onto her side. she's done it quite a few times, and really seems partial to roll to the right. Pretty darn exciting! She's certainly captured our hearts....

Evelyn cooing - 12 weeks

Video of Evelyn from yesterday... she's a talker!

back to work

Evelyn and I spent one of our last days together today, as I wrap up my maternity leave and head back to work at the hospital this Mon. It's a real shame I've not written on this here blog...there are so many details I would have loved to share. I had high hopes and every intention of telling it all, of painting a picture of the life of our tiny Evelyn. We've managed to take lots of photos and of this I'm proud, but I suppose I thought I'd have more time for getting it all down.

I've found myself writing it all out in my head throughout the day. Writing to family, to friends, to anyone who might stumble upon our little blog. There's been so much to tell and I was so excited to tell it all. I suppose I don't regret a single moment spent with the computer and phone off...Evelyn in my arms. We both feel pretty strongly about not living our real lives for our digital lives (our friend Amit articulates this idea much better). I have written some special things from time to time - milestones I never want to forget, sweet little things I've witnessed, epiphanies regarding parenting, marriage, and all things baby. I have found I'm just not gifted in the art of quick one-handed typing, though.

A rushed and sappy summary: this time has been beautiful, full of so many smiles (both hers and ours), long sunny walks along the Missouri, visits with friends, reading, dancing, baths, introducing her to toys and music, snuggling, rocking, telling her stories of all the people and places I am eager for her to know. I have hardly put her down and do not really care if this is bad parenting. We've really had a lovely time getting to know each other. She has my heart, that's for certain. For me, there has never in the history of the world been a prettier face, a sweeter voice. She loves baths and especially enjoys swimming around, kicking off with her legs in the big bath with her mama. Her little eyes seem to be especially sensitive to the sun, but she otherwise loves loves loves her walks outdoors in the sling. She sleeps best in our arms, but has somehow managed to be quite the night time sleeper as long as she is in the swing beside our bed. Evelyn loves dancing to the Decemberists and falling asleep to African lullaby and recorded sounds of ocean waves. She has just started teething and bathes me in drool. She has a smile that'd make the sun jealous (I think BB King said this) and she seems to be eager to talk, with so much cooing and exclaiming. She hates for things to be placed over her head and scolds us for dressing her. She loves to eat and has been a great eater from the start. She continues to stare in awe of the wall tapestry I brought home from Kenya...it calms her and the contrast seems to distract her from all of lifes woes (ie. wearing clothes). She now has a strong grasp of her toys and actually seems to enjoy them, her current favorites being the little green frog which was cousin Nora's and this whacky toy from Atticus. Evelyn loves looking in the mirror and smiling at herself. She has this perfect, kind little expression I noticed today. This look of eagerness to know all about the people around her. I had to stop her from eavesdropping this morning at the coffee shop. Her big blue eyes were popping out and staring while these two women were chatting. Seems like she cannot wait to hear the stories of all these people. Clearly I am projecting, but oh well :) She has perfect round toes (like Todd) and a very interesting double jointed set of thumbs (also like Todd). She wakes up happy and has turned me back into the morning person I used to be. She seems to really enjoy the contrast of our many quilts and is warming up to tummy time.

There is so much to tell. It was tough for me today. Going back to work feels right (though there were certainly times during my leave when I considered not). I love my job and have worked hard to grow into the nurse that I am. I miss my co-workers and look forward to adult discussion (though I gather I'll be a little rusty at it for a while). All this and still I wept today. I ache at the thought of being away from Evelyn and hope I'm doing the right thing. Fortunately I work nights and will seldom be away for her waking hours, right? Todd will be here and who could be better, right? I imagine this will just be hard for a while...being away from the lovely Evelyn Naya.

Time to join Todd & Evelyn who are now fast asleep. I'll try to be better at blogging, though this is not bloody likely since I'll be heading back to work! Ha!

Big Girl

She's growing up so fast! I think she looks so mature in this picture! It's another cold spell here in Great Falls. 18 below on the way to work this morning. Evelyn is spending a lot of cozy time at home.

Intermittent Leave

Yippee! the school district here approved my request for 'intermittent leave' through FMLA. Essentially this means that I'll be off when Heather's working and on when she's off. This way, one of us will always be hanging out with her. I'm thrilled to have the additional time for bonding with her. I think it's going to be incredible and doubtless will make the transition to Heather working so much easier. I gather that this is the first time a father has done this here in Great Falls, and I'm pretty proud to be blazing the trail. (though they included in the letter a statement that 'this decision does not set a precedent and each case will need to be approved individually...)

Evelyn is doing great. We suspect that she's teething. She also is a big talker lately (we're working on getting some video that we can post online). She is doing a lot of grabbing things with her hands and loves hearing our voices and talking back with us. Heather's taken her for a bunch of walks in the park when it's been a bit warmer, and Evelyn sleeps sweetly in the sling. Heather tries to show her some of the beautiful things all around, but Evelyn mostly wants to snooze in the cozy little nest... she's so perfect. And this is all so amazing. Can't wait for every new day with her!

She also loves crossword puzzles and has proved a valuable teammate in helping us out with our puzzle-solving!

Evelyn's 52 weeks

We've started a Flickr set to document Evelyn's growth. We'll select one photo from each week of her life and add it to this set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bingo_todd/sets/72157625615424842/

We were inspired by our friends Ian and Michelle in this idea.

Little Evelyn is doing great! Two months today! She's quite a talker, it seems like every day brings more and more interesting vocalizations.