Birthday trip to the zoo

We wanted to do something special to celebrate Evan's birthday on the actual day, so we decided long ago that we would take the day off and head to the MN Zoo. It ended up being a really nice day out and we all had a lot of fun! Evan loved seeing all the animals and would point and watch them intently. He's a very studious little boy!

We actually made it through the entire zoo. He was definitely ready to be done, but I'm surprised and glad he lasted as long as he did. I would have to say his favorites were the tide pool in Discovery Bay (the kid loves water!) and the farm.

Hopefully we'll be able to do something special as a family each year!

Checking out the monkeys with Dad. He would say "Ooh Ooh" when you asked what the monkey said.

The grizzly bears were both swimming around right by the glass. We stood and watched them for quite awhile. It was really cool to see them up so close.

There was a long line for the giraffe feeding, so we just stood and watched for a bit.

He did however do, and really enjoy, the goat feeding at the farm! I can't believe he did it, let alone LOVE it!! I for one did not want to participate - those things will rip your hand off to get those pellets (or at least they look like it)!!

Loving the water in the tide pool! Unfortunately the star fish and other things to feel were a little out of reach, but he loved splashing around!!

One whole year old

Walking, walking, walking!

 

It's extremely hard to believe that this post is about Evan turning one year old!! What a year it has been!

 

I get a few emails about what a baby's development should be at certain points in their life and his 12 month one included the following that I found interesting, and very true - In the last year, you've changed over 3,000 diapers, lost 350 hours of sleep, debated calling the doctor nine times and doubted your parenting decisions at least that amount as well.

 

We've definitely dealt with all of those points and much, much more over the last year. Some good (seeing the look on his face when you pick him up from daycare) and some bad (seeing him struggle with an ear infection or a fever after his shots), but that of course is what parenthood is all about! And we wouldn't change a thing...except maybe the lack of sleep part!

 

Back to Evan's 12th month. It's been a busy one! Not only did he get to have multiple birthday celebrations, he also has started walking!! For the first week or so, he would take about six steps max, but it quickly escalated to being able to move all around a room. He's still pretty unsteady and face plants often, but it's getting better and better each day.

 

Thankfully his four teeth that he's been struggling with are finally coming through. He's only got four out yet, so the extra help with his food will be appreciated, I'm sure.

 

He continues to lean toward vegetarianism (sort of like his momma!) and prefer veggies and fruit over meat. Though he eats all his meat at daycare, at home, he isn't a huge fan. He does love hot dogs, but he can take or leave most other meats that we give him. He loves rice, pasta, yogurt and of course, cheese, so he does get carbs and protein elsewhere.

 

He's also starting to say a lot more! His babbles have taken on new forms - more consonants and different sounds. He says "Hi," "Hey," "Buh Bye," "Bye" pretty well. He says "Woof Woof" when asked what a dog or puppy says. "Dada" is still his favorite thing to say and it encompasses much more than just Chris. He even says it when looking at pictures of himself! "Momma" is a little harder to come by and lately I've been getting a form of "Baba."

 

Other than that, he's still the sweet little boy who loves to play toys, go for walks and runs, swing and be outside in general. He gives out special snuggles and kisses.

 

We are beyond blessed to have had this little boy in our lives for the last year and we are so happy to be his parents! Bring on year two!!!!

Party party!

A special shirt for a special boy!

 

Even though Evan is still a little over week away from being one, we celebrated this weekend so that his Auntie/Godmother would be able to attend before she heads back to Arizona.

It was a great day! He loves monkeys, so it was monkey-themed. This included banana decorations, banana chips and pudding, monkey-shaped cupcakes and a special monkey cake just for Evan.

He had a wonderful time and especially loved all the attention :) He received many wonderful gifts that have already become favorites of his to play with.

He didn't get into the cake as much as we thought he might. He flung it around a bit, but since he had been in his highchair for dinner and then the cake, he was pretty sick of it, so the cake time ended in some tears. But it was still fun to see him smash it up!

The birthday celebrations will continue in a week with more cupcakes at school and a trip to the zoo with Mom and Dad on the actual day. We can't wait to celebrate more of this wonderful little boy's first year of life!

He loved all the balloons!!

Clapping along as everyone sang "Happy Birthday"! He of course was wanting the candle and the cake, so I had to restrain him a bit. :)

Mmmm, cake!

One foot in front of the other...

We knew this day was approaching fast. Evan has been walking with help so well lately and his grip has loosened more and more.

Tonight he took his first steps! And he did it multiple times!! It's still only a few at a time, but I'm sure in a week or so, he's going to be a pro.

Look out world!!

11 months

One of his favorite things to do...walk behind his toys!

 

 

Eleven months is pretty major. That means in a few short weeks we'll have a 1-year-old!! We've definitely been reminiscing a lot lately. It's been quite a year!

 

This month, Evan has continued to grow and grow. He is walking with help so well - steady and fast! He crawls extremely quickly too. Most of the time he's trying to get to places where he's not supposed to be. I suppose that's how it's going to be for quite some time! He always wants to be on the move.

 

His big thing now is pointing and saying "oooh" at things. He points at everything and wants to know what they are. It's both funny and great to know he's wanting to learn. He's even picking up on things. While it's not consistent, when we show him a picture of a cow, sheep or dog, he'll make its sound. (Again, this is a lot of the time, but not always - in case you come to our house and he doesn't perform :)

 

He finally has his top two teeth through and moved down enough to use them. It's pretty funny when we hear him actually crunch something. And if the crabbiness, gnawing on his fingers and drooling are any indication (they are!), he's getting some more in too.

 

Besides the animal noises, he's talking a lot! He says Mama and Dada a lot and associates them with us. He also has said "tuh-tuh" in response to the turtle picture in his room, what sounds like "dog" when he sees a picture of a dog and "uh oh" when something falls on the floor. He definitely repeats what you say, so we better start watching our language!!

 

He celebrated his first Fourth of July too, which included his first ever swim in a lake. He absolutely LOVED it! While he wasn't able to stay up long enough to enjoy any fireworks, thankfully he slept through them.

 

Overall, he's still our happy, smiley guy. We can't imagine our lives without him!!



 

We're busy getting things ready for his first birthday party, which is taking place in a week! I'm totally going overboard considering he's not going to remember any of it, but it's hard not to!

A totally belated 10 months

 The blocks have to stay pretty far away in order to not get messed with!

 

Considering that Evan is one week away from being 11 months, I should probably post something about his 10th month!

Evan has had major developmental changes in the last few months!

He's eating everything in sight. He still likes purees from time to time, but is most happy with what we are having to eat. Now that his top two teeth are through, he can really go to town!

He is so extremely active! He can crawl so fast - especially to the places where he's not supposed to be!! And of course, when we don't let him go to those places (wine rack, TV stand, fireplace), Mr. Attitude whines like he's a teenage girl! How quickly that comes!!

Of course the biggest thing is that he is walking (with help)! He does really well with holding your fingers and walking behind toys. He will walk around furniture and can hold on with just one hand. We know it won't be long before he lets go!

Speaking of Mr. Attitude, our happy guy is still that, but he definitely is developing his personality. He is quite the chatterbox and thankfully now says "MaMa." He also knows how to wave his little finger in the air! His teachers at daycare tell us he is the boss of the room! Oh boy, we are in trouble!!

He still loves, loves, loves to go outside. We go on a lot of walks here and play in the grass when Daddy is grilling. We also visit our local park. But at school, they spend a lot of time in the sandbox and on the playground, which he loves. We've also had some opportunities to be at Grandma and Grandpa's on the lake, which is a big sandbox! He loves it and even ventured into the water a bit over Father's Day weekend.

We are loving this stage in his life. He plays with us, laughs with us, talks to us and still gives plenty of hugs and kisses.

Now to start planning his first birthday party!!!

We are lucky enough to know a very talented photographer. She's our good friend's sister and we just so happened to be at that friend's daughter's birthday party with her. So she took some great shots of our guy. Here's a few highlights!

 

9 months

 

I know, I know, I've been slacking on my blog posts lately. But the last month is the busiest time for me at work all year, so nighttime has equaled rest and nothing else!

Thankfully, work life will slow down considerably now and extra thankfully, the weather is finely nice!!!

Well, enough about me...My baby boy is not 3/4 through his first year of life! I tell ya, this eighth month has been a doozy in terms of his development.

At the beginning of the month, he was still scooting around, doing his army crawling and sometimes going up on all fours. But now, all he does is cruise around on his hands and knees and man is he fast!

He also pulled himself up to his knees on pieces of furniture. Followed exactly a week later with pulling himself up to his feet. Now, he can't go very long without getting up on his feet. All he thinks he needs to do is stand. He also thinks he's able to let go...but he's not! He is good about just sitting down on his butt though. We know it's only a matter of time before he's walking along the furniture and then letting go and standing on his own!

His second bottom tooth is officially in and by the looks of his finger-gnawing, he might be working on one further back now.

He talks up a storm too! He has been saying "da da da" for a long time now, but is now relating it directly to Chris. Unfortunately no real "ma ma" yet, but I get a "rah rah" sometimes that seems like that's directed at me and a few others that sounds really close to it. He also knows how to scream and whine when he doesn't get his way (so crazy how fast that comes!) and laugh, giggle and smile! We prefer the latter of course. :)

He went in for his 9 month check-up and was given the thumbs up! He is doing everything he should be in terms of development and is even doing some stuff listed under 12 months!

He tipped the scales at 20 pounds, 13 ounces (70 percentile) and is 28 1/4 inches long (50 percentile).

He LOVES solid foods. He will still eat cereal and some purees from time to time, but the kiddo just wants to pick up stuff and feed himself. We can't help him either! By far his favorite thing is cheese!! While he can't have cow's milk yet, he can have whole milk yogurt and cheese. He will take down an entire cheese stick in one sitting!! He is eating a lot of what we have for dinner and still loves his puffs and Cheerios. Probably all contributing to Mr. 70-percentile-in-weight :)

He still loves a good cheer (us cheering for him), but now he joins in! He claps along with us when he does something good. He also now leans in and opens his mouth nice and wide when you pucker up for a kiss. And he can wave when you say both "hi" and "bye bye."

And again, thankfully the weather has gotten nicer. He loves being outside, both at home and school. They are outside on the playground and in the sandbox a ton at school and our notes always talk about how he loves it! We take him out for walks and to parks near us as well. We also just sit outside and blow bubbles a lot. Can't wait to do more and more out there!!

Our happy guy!!!

8 months

Now that he can sit so well, we thought we'd give this pose a try! We still had to give him a couple other blocks to keep him occupied and away from the other ones though!!

 

 

Eight whole months old!! Our little man is getting closer and closer to one year. I can't even imagine what that is going to feel like!

 

Evan continues to hit major milestones. He is still scooting around like a maniac and has the one tooth. But his other front, bottom tooth is right there under the surface just trying to come out! He is able to crawl (he crawls OVER stuff), but when it's going from place to place, he still scoots. He will go up on all fours and even move a tiny bit, but I think he just knows he already can get to where he wants to go and takes the easy way out. Oh well, I'm sure it will be no time before he is doing that, let alone walking!!

 

As I said, he can crawl over things, usually our legs as we're trying to block him from getting to places he's not supposed to be going (plant stands, entertainment centers, fireplace, etc.). He is one smart cookie to try and go over us instead of around. :)

 

Just in the last week or so, he has figured out how to pull himself up! He was pretty shaky at first, but now can get himself up to his knees in no time while holding onto something.

 

He also plays so well. He is still doing great at daycare and is now officially in the "Big Bear" room instead of the Baby Bear. He gets to go outside a lot now that it's getting nice out (finally!) and does art projects and has more advanced toys. We have his first conferences coming up!

 

We did have our illness bouts this month. His ear infection didn't clear up with his first medicine, so they gave him a stronger antibiotic. Unfortunately, this caused some tummy trouble and we were going through diapers pretty quickly! Through it all though, he continued to be a happy-go-lucky little man! The only major change was the lack of sleep, but that thankfully has gotten back to a more normal routine.

 

He is eating more and more solids, but we need some more teeth to move on to some of the bigger pieces of food! He loves vegetables, toast and puffs.

 

We're excited for the weather to warm up so we can spend a lot of time outside. We have a couple of really nice parks within walking distance. We go on walks through the neighborhood and he loves being in the stroller and looking around at what is going on out in the world!

 



Happy Easter!

Evan had a great first Easter! While he was getting over some tummy troubles (thanks antibiotics!) and his ear infection (what the antibiotics were for), he still was a happy guy all day and had lots of fun.

We spent the morning at home celebrating as a family. The Easter Bunny hid a basket for Evan in his "fort" aka the cardboard box that his new car seat came in. The bunny brought him some cars, a puzzle and some baby-friendly treats. He crawled right for it and dug through it like a pro.

Finding his first-ever Easter basket!!

 

We spent time with both our families as well and Evan got even more goodies. He even got a package in the mail the next day from his Auntie and to-be Uncle! Evan is one lucky boy to be loved (and spoiled!) by so many people.

At my parents, the kiddo did an egg hunt. Evan went for a few, but he had to be in close proximity before he even knew they were there. Our 5-year-old niece really cleaned up since the two boys weren't quite ready for the full-on finding. :) She'll have some competition in a few years though!!

One special tradition is that the kids (and us still actually) get an egg with $1 in it. This is something my Grandma Sell did for all of us grand kids and we loved it so much. We've kept the tradition alive since she passed away with the grand kids and now her great-grand kids!

Dressed in his Easter best!

Found an egg!

7 months

The little man is just to squirmy and interested in getting the blocks to do our usual poses, so Chris had this good idea!

 

 

Seven months old! Well, Evan is really 7 1/2 months old, because Momma is getting behind in blogging!! Chris has been traveling more for work lately which means that after Evan goes to bed I pretty much get everything ready for the next day and head to bed myself. It's really tiring taking care of him by myself! I seriously don't know how single parents do it!!

 

There have been a lot of milestones hit in the last month or so. Evan is scooting all over the place! He doesn't stick to the living room anymore (where his toys are). He explores into the dining room and kitchen now - and does it quickly too! We have baby-proofed a lot more of the house and installed the gate at the top of the stairs. We still have a little more to do, but it's all in places he hasn't found yet - yet being the key word!! He gets up on all fours and rocks a lot, sometimes moving his knees, but hasn't quite figured out the whole crawling thing yet - again, yet being the key word!

 

Evan is also the proud owner of a tooth! One of his bottom teeth popped out a few weeks ago and he's currently working on the other one. Thankfully it wasn't too much of a struggle. He is a little fussy at times and doesn't like to eat off of a spoon when his gums are sore, but mostly he just loves to chomp on things and drool.

 

He's still doing well with food, trying new things and eating things with a little more consistency now that the tooth is there to help chew! He loves to pick up and eat his puffs and he's also managed to feed himself some banana, carrots, bread and sweet potatoes.

 

Overall, he is still our happy little guy! He loves, loves, LOVES to play toys and read books. He has started talking, even saying "da da da," but we're not sure if he is associating it with Chris or not. We get lots and lots of smiles, snuggles and even some kisses. What more could parents want!!

My new tricks

Evan is really doing some amazing things!

He is army crawling all over the place. He is getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth but no movement yet. We officially need to make sure everything is baby-proofed because he has already gone after outlets (they are already covered), air vents and our TV audio/speaker system.

Check out his skills! I took this on my phone last weekend. Our entertainment for the weekend was making him crawl after things. Yes that may sound mean, but hey, we let him get it in the end and he thought it was fun! We're only helping him improve his skills :)

He also can eat some foods by himself! He likes to try to eat with a spoon, but he usually ends up banging it around and knocking all the food off before he gets to his mouth. He is learning the concept though! The really awesome and impressive (to us at least!) thing he can do is pick up some items and eat them. We have some puffs that he is really good at getting into his mouth.

Check out his skills!

6 months

This is what happens when you try to take a picture with an active 6-month-old! We might be done with the block pictures!!

 

 

Some very big things have happened this month as Evan turned a whole half-year old! We cannot believe it's been that long, though it also feels like he has always been in our lives.

Major accomplishments this month - sitting on his own (the length of time he can do this is increasing but he is still a little wobbly with it), eating three meals a day of solids and...crawling/scooting!!

The last one took place for the first time last weekend. He's really been trying to do it for awhile now, but he pulled himself to get a toy last Saturday. He was pretty slow at first, but even in just a week, he can now move pretty quick. Let the baby proofing begin!

It has been so fun to play with him recently. He is so engaged and active. He goes after toys he wants and bangs things around. He grabs well and passes things between his hands. He is just so much more aware that it is a blast.

I think his accomplishment for next month will be his first teeth. While we have felt like he has been showing the signs for awhile, I think his gums have a different feel to them these days. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Being that he is 6-months-old, we also paid a visit to the doctor this weekend. He got an "A+" from her for all aspects of his health and development. He tipped the scales at 18 pounds and measured up at 27 inches. He is in the 65 percentile for height, weight and head circumfrance. Mr. Proportionate!!

He also got some shots (his last for a little bit!) and did well with them. There was crying after he got poked of course, but after a quick hug from Mom, he even gave the nurses a smile as they walked out of the room. One said, "We never get smiles after it's done! How cute!" And other than being a little extra tired, he showed no other side effects from the vaccines.

Mom played photographer again to get some 6-month portraits. As with the blocks, it's hard to keep him still, but I managed to get a few good ones.

Here are my two favorites!

 

What a ham!

Back in action!

Sorry for the absence! With work, a baby and all three of us battling colds recently, there hasn't been much time for blogging.

But I did do a little digging and found out why my photo uploader wasn't working - I had hit my 1G limit! My very nice camera has a downside - very large file sizes for photos. So I worked on shrinking down the existing photos and also purged a few too. Don't worry, there's still plenty of Evan on here, just maybe not quite as much.

And here's a few more! Even though he's one week away from being 6 months, here are his 5 month photos!!

5 months

** I apologize for the lack of pictures (I know that's why everyone comes on here!), but the blogger site is not cooperating! I've been trying for a few days with no luck. I promise the next set of block pictures will be up whenever it gets working again.**


Our sweet little boy isn't so little anymore! He's almost a whole half-year old!!

Not only did this last month include his first Christmas, Evan also had some major milestones. He of course has started eating solids and is now up to three meals a day (fruit in the morning, rice or oatmeal cereal at lunch and a vegetable at dinner). He has liked everything we've given him, except avocado and zucchini. We plan to try them again this week to see if we can get his palate on board with those flavors.

He also is rolling all over the place! This weekend he rolled from the middle of our living room to the wall within seconds. I know this because it occured as I quickly ran into the next room to get a cup of coffee. Thankfully flopping around on the wood floors didn't seem to phase him!

Thanks to the solids he's sleeping a lot better. We're not through the night quite yet, but he usually goes at least 8 hours and has done up to 10 1/2.

He starting to be even more vocal. He has found the "high-pitched" part of his vocal range. That's a fun noise!

He does really well playing. He grabs things well, transfers toys between hands, love to be read books (and hold them). He loves to bounce and jump. He can also roll to get toys that he wants. We haven't seen any scooting or crawling yet, but he looks like he's trying to figure out how to do it.

He continues to grow and grow, especially now that he's eating solids. He starting wearing 6-9 month clothes already, mostly for the length, but a little bit for the tummy area too. :)

Tickle Monster

We're not really sure if Evan is ticklish anywhere. Sometimes he laughs when we tickle his feet (like his Dad) and sometimes it's more in his stomach.

Today, Chris was tickling his tummy and got him really going. Of course, with everything, it was short-lived and Evan was over it. But I still managed to capture some of his super-cute giggles on camera!