Eva at 15 months

Evalee had her 15 month check up on her 15 month birthday last week. She weighed in at 21.8 lbs (pretty much the same as 12 months) and 30 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. She cried as soon as Dr. Moen walked in -- she knows what's what with him now. So, I had to pin her down as he gave her her exam, as per usual. Everything checked out great! We talked for a bit about her decreasing interest in meals and he suggested offering her a little less to drink. I've sort of taken this advice, but I just switched to water more often. I don't feel comfortable depriving her of drink when so often she chugs half the cup the minute I give it to her. He also gave her the green light to use a pillow, as long as it is pretty flat. Then she got two more shots, which she hated (see previous entry) more than she ever has, and then we were off!

My baby (and I can't even really call her my baby anymore!) has grown up so much this summer! She loves to listen to books still, but is very careful to pick just the one she's in the mood for before bringing it to you to read. She has really started to dance anytime she hears music or gets one of her toys singing, but her dancing is very white man style. She LOVES applause -- as soon she as she hears applause she starts grinning from ear to ear, assuming always that it's for her even if it's on the radio, and almost always joins in applauding herself. Sometimes, she'll finish something and give herself a hand and look to you expectantly, as if to say, "Hey don't you see that I stacked three bowls inside one another here?! I'm waiting!!" She has started to get more and more attached to her bears, but she is careful to rotate the love every so often between 3 of them each time she gets tired so you never know who she'll cuddle with each night. Her love for the kitties has yet to dwindle, despite not having successfully pet one for more than 10 seconds at a time her entire life. The cats go on full alert now as soon as they hear her say "kitty!" because they know she's on her way. She loves to watch a few cartoons on PBS -- Super Why is currently her favorite, as she usually isn't up in time to watch Sesame Street these days. She also likes to watch The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That and Curious George. These shows come in super handy when I am trying to make breakfast or dinner. She likes to close the door as soon as she enters a room, so you have to be fast if you're following her somewhere. She also likes to empty closets or cupboards and hide in them. She is constantly testing her limits, getting on kicks where she goes from one thing she's not allowed to do to the next until she's heard us say "No" enough to get bored. She likes to put shapes in shape sorters, but often gets too frustrated to get all the shapes in once a shape doesn't fit enough times. She likes to try to dress herself for fun, trying to get shoes on her feet, headbands on her head (but never to stay!!), and necklaces around her neck. If we let her, she would never wear pants.

But perhaps the biggest change in our lives lately has been the change in Daddy's work schedule. Over the course of the last few weeks, the station has been switching Travis to day shifts. This has been my biggest wish for the last 3 years and words cannot express how excited and thankful I was to find out we would get to see him at night. He's been working a little crazy hours lately with the John Deere Classic and holiday shiftings and whatnot, but hopefully now things will start to get regularly ironed out. Initially he was told he would work day shifts Monday-Wednesday, but so far it's been changed to the full five days each week. I realize it'll take away a few advantages during the school year -- daycare will cost a little more and she will spend less time at home than she did last year. But money cannot buy those first few minutes after he gets home and Evalee runs to meet him at the top of the stairs. There is no better sound in the world than the breathless laughs and shrieks of excitement I hear from the kitchen as she runs around with her Daddy. We both get to kiss her goodnight. It's like the missing puzzle piece has finally snapped in and we get to be us full time now. All this time of communicating via dry erase board and text messaging and counting the days down to the weekend where we can sit on the couch together has been a challenge at best and a struggle at worst. But the entire time we were doing it I knew one thing was definitely true: that time would make me fully and relentlessly appreciate it when our time finally did come. I will always humbly thank the Lord for giving our family the gift of time.

Family Picture Day

With the foreboding wall space coming with my parents' tremendous addition onto their house, my brother and I decided to gift my mom and dad some contributions towards some professional family photos to hang in the new giant room. (or as it's known right now: Evalee's running space) Outfits were purchased. The yard was manicured. Plans were made. Evalee had a doctor's appointment. Oh hell.

Shots have never bothered her before. Occasionally she might get a little irritable, but one dose of Tylenol and she was brand new. Not this time. This time, she woke up from her nap after her 15 month check as if she had been dropped from her crib. Eric was on his way home early, so we had plans to have dinner and play cards at Mom and Dad's. We went, and Eva clung to her paci and her bear the entire way there with the world's most pathetic face on. She continued to not feel well for a good chunk of the night, but by bathtime she seemed to feel better. I hoped and prayed it was all behind us.

Saturday morning came and with it came whatever it was that was bothering her. She just wasn't herself -- very cautious, lethargic, clingy. Not exactly picture friendly. She wouldn't even let Grandma or Grandpa hold her for pictures with them, which is pretty crazy. Still, I remind myself of her birthday shoot, which was also teamed up with a sick baby, and those turned out great. So, we are hoping for the best! I had a lot of lofty goals involving lots of wardrobe changes, but, as I continue to learn and relearn, things do not go as planned quite often in the parenting world.

4th of July weekend

4th of July weekend was nice and busy! Tom and Stacey came to visit Saturday night, which was lots of fun. We got to play board games, drink some beverages, and provide our own commentary for the incredibly genius and complex show Boy Meets World. Eva enjoyed playing with Stacey's hair and giving them select blocks and Sesame Street characters to hold.
Then Sunday Travis and I had a little date afternoon -- we did a little shopping, saw Larry Crowne, and had dinner at Outback Steakhouse while Eva played with Grandma and Grandpa. We met up with them at Aunt Billie's annual party. She wasn't planning on having her party this year, which was devastating to the masses -- I've spent every July 3rd of my life there -- because Matherville was having lots of 100th anniversary festivities. People showed up anyway, though, and so the party carried on as usual. Aunt Billie joked all night that it was the best non-party she's thrown. The fireworks started past Evalee's bedtime, so she was a little too tired to truly appreciate them. She did watch them for about 10 minutes or so before passing out on Grandma's shoulder.
Daddy was trying to get a shot of the two of them lit up by fireworks, but things were just not cooperating.


Staying awake by petting Stacey's hair...
... passing out and still petting Stacey's hair.

Playin' in the park

Travis and I decided to take Eva to play at the park for a little while on Travis's day off for the 4th. It's always fun to see what she decides to play with and what she enjoys most, as it changes every time! We went on the swings, down some slides, and did lots of climbing! It wore her out -- she fell asleep an hour early that night!

Lions, Tigers, Bears, Parakeets...

Yesterday Grandma had the day off, so we took advantage by packing up and heading to the zoo for the morning. Evalee enjoyed herself again this time, taking an interest in a few different animals this time. We went into the parakeet area -- I was more brave this time -- and Eva got to tell all the birds stories. She was excited to be able to get so close to them, but I was relieved to go through the exit. Birds truly freak me out. She liked seeing the giraffes, the lions, and the monkeys. We took a ride on the carousel again this time, although Mom picked a bad animal to ride. It shuddered as we went down every time, which made Eva a little mad. But she still had fun riding and waving to Grandma as we passed her by with each rotation. We rode the train last, and it put Eva in total relaxation mode. I think we were in the car for about 15 seconds when she fell asleep! All in all, great morning! Thanks Grandma!"So when's the train gonna start, Mom?"
Clapping her hands in excitement to be riding the train!
Cooling off with a little mist fan action
"And what animal am I riding again?"
No fear when it comes to the carousel
Saying hi to the biiiig kitties
Hanging with Grandma at the zebras
Watching the giraffes have some lunch
Giving the parakeets directions to our house
"Just take a left at the light. It's super easy."
Giggling over those darn elephants

Evalee the parrot

Eva has started imitating Travis and I to a very amusing extent. It started with our phones. Instead of taking them to chew on, as she has in the past, she now takes them to hold them to her ear and walk around the house babbling into it. Then she started carrying Travis's keys around as she talked. After that, she started taking my coffee cup in the morning, carrying it to her little Princess couch, and "sipping" away at it while she watches her morning cartoons.

But my favorite imitation of all so far happened a couple of days ago. I was making her oatmeal for breakfast and accidentally microwaved it for about 10 seconds too long, which translated to way-too-hot oatmeal that needed to cool before we could dig in. This upset Evalee to no end. So, we sat at the table and I carefully blew on each spoonful before giving it to her. She, of course, would only take 3 or 4 bites from me before insisting on feeding herself. She took the spoon and I immediately jumped to, thinking she would shovel the oatmeal in and burn her mouth. But no, instead she scooped up a spoonful, blew on it with a concentrated precision, and slowly stuck it in her mouth. I laughed until I cried as she continued to blow on every bite, her brow furrowed, and a smile filled with pride spread across her face after each successful spoonful.

with a cough cough here...

I have been looking forward to spending the summer with Evalee since, well, last September. Last summer was so hard with adjusting to our new lives as parents, dealing with the colic, learning breastfeeding, etc. so I envisioned a summer filled with learning and day trips and guilt free playing. And for the first two weeks, that's exactly what we did.

And then I got sick. Now, I had had a cough for weeks -- just an annoyance that I just couldn't shake, even with a trip to the doctor and a prescription. But then one morning I woke up and couldn't get out of bed. My throat was so, so sore, my stomach was queasy, my head was pounding, my whole body couldn't stop shivering, and the cough. Oh boy the cough. Needless to say, I was a mess. This is where the guilt set in. I spent all day on the couch watching daytime television and moaning while Evalee attempted to entertain herself. I could barely sit upright without my head pounding so hard I would get dizzy, so she was really on her own. I considered taking her to daycare, but I didn't think I was up for the drive. I couldn't have been more relieved when I heard that garage door opening, signaling that Travis was finally home from work. The following days were a bit easier than the first, but I still didn't have much energy for playing and being that mom I had envisioned throughout the whole school year. And I felt so, so guilty. Here I was, wasting away the sunlight in the living room on the couch, watching hours of PBS with my daughter, despite my goal of limiting her television time each day. I felt so selfish, as we often do when we are sick. I wanted it to be all about ME and how I wanted/needed a nap or a 7Up or whatever. And of course, it can't be all about you when you are taking care of a toddler, nor should it be. You have to wait to nap until she naps. You have to wait to get a 7Up when you get the chance to go downstairs and get one. You have to keep making your child your priority. And as awful as it sounds, that's really hard when you feel as crappy as I did.

One by one the symptoms went away until I could at least stack blocks and read books and do most of the normal things, but that darn cough just wouldn't go away. I coughed so often and so hard that I was running to the bathroom in fear of throwing up constantly. So, I finally gave in and went to the doctor, again, and got a prescription, again.

And finally this week, I am back on track to being the super mom I wanted to be. I think those couple weeks of "blah" were a good thing, in the end. Evalee learned how to play by herself and make her own fun, even if it wasn't the "ideal" fun I hoped for. I learned that you can't always be supermom, even if you have the best of intentions. Sometimes you just have to give in and settle for just making it from breakfast to bath time alive. It has also renewed my sense of purpose in making the most out of every single day I get to spend with my daughter until it's time to go back to work. This is the only summer where she'll be a crazy babbling one year old filled with wonder, energy, and more energy. I won't let it pass me by.