A big catch up

So much has happened since my last post! Some great, some not so great. We had to say goodbye to my last remaining grandparent a couple weeks ago, which made it a hard week to get through. I knew it was celebration -- she lived a long and love-filled love and was no longer enjoying her days in the nursing home, but it's hard to let go no matter what the situation. I will choose to remember the smiles that day, as Evalee's unfailing one lifted everyone's spirits even in the most somber of moments. She was such a good girl all through the visitation and the funeral, and I was very proud of her.

Playing with the gorilla Grandpa gave her from Great-Grandma's nursing home room. She would have been so happy to see how much it made Eva giggle to stick her finger in the gorilla's belly button.

I could tell, however, that something just simply seemed off about her, so I decided to call the doctor's office (or rather, have Travis call for me because it's hard to reach them after school) and we found out we could call the next morning for a first come/first serve type of appointment on Saturday. So, that's what we did. We were of course running exactly on time and slightly late, depending on the stoplights, when we realized that we had left the diaper bag sitting in the garage next to the empty hole where the car had been. It was also around that time that we began to smell a full diaper. This is when we knew things would get interesting. After lots of brainstorming aloud and a little freaking out on my part, we decided that Travis would drop Eva and I off at the doctor and run home to get the bag, as we had a few more errands to run after her appointment. I was expecting to hear she had some sort of respiratory infection, as her cough has just been brutal for weeks. However, she instead had her first round of ear infections - one in each ear. One ear was so full of wax Dr. Moen had to use a little tool to clean it before he could even see inside (let me tell you, that scream was one for the books). After a day's worth of doses of medicine, you could already tell she was starting to feel more like herself.

We also got a bit of happy news from the Dr. on our visit. Since we won't see him (God willing) until after Eva's birthday, I asked him his opinion on turning her carseat around once she turns 1. He asked me a couple of questions about her weight and abilities and then told me, "She sounds ready to turn around anytime." And I said, "Anytime? Like, now?" and he said, "Sure! Anytime." She was ecstatic on that first ride turned forward. She is in such better spirits being able to see us and what is going on now!






Uncle Eric and I fetched my old wooden rocking chair out from Grandpa's shed when he was home, and she has really enjoyed playing with that. She doesn't understand how dangerous it is to stand on the seat of the chair, so it does bring about a certain amount of tantrums when I don't let her use it as a stepping stool to see out the living room window. Perhaps a stool should be in order for her soon.




We have to watch her closer than ever these days. She's getting too smart for her own good. She likes to use her teeth (she has EIGHT of them now!) to get the lids off of canisters and explore them, so things like the can of cashews she found (insert panic attack!) and the hot chocolate she snuck out of the cabinet are no longer safe. Nothing is safe in our house anymore.


Caught in the act -- she had gotten to the hot chocolate and was going for the Crystal Light when she was busted.

We've been expanding her culinary horizons lately as well, letting her try some of the Gerber toddler foods we thought she could handle. So far, she seems to like spaghetti rings and meatballs the most. I let her try to feed them to herself one night and the spoon was abandoned and exchanged for some eager and orange stained fingers.




We also took a trip down to watch the Orion Chargers boys basketball team play at Super Sectionals. The game was a true heartbreaker, as the boys lost in overtime after having a 9 point lead in the 4th quarter. Evalee was in her element at the game -- a large, loud gym filled with hundreds and hundreds of people to smile at. She was wound up, for sure.

Sporting her new Orion Charger hoodie for the game!

The following week Evalee really started to make some impressive progress and gave me a lot of hearty laughs. One night she pulled her socks off, as usual, but instead of hiding them she decided to try to get them back on. She attempted time and time again, getting the top stretched just right but just not being able to get that darn foot to cooperate. Finally, her solution was to carefully place the socks on the tops of her feet and not move, as if she were wearing them. She looked up at me when she was finished with a look on her face that said to me, "Ta da! You may applaud me now!"



Feeling optimistic about the task ahead. Maybe even slightly big-headed about it.
Realizing just how delicate of a process this really is...
Getting distracted because let's face it, socks taste delicious.
The final solution.




She has also started showing an interest in walking and making an effort to attempt fairly often. She has no interest whatsoever in walking to people, so you can't prompt to walk even if you try your hardest. She is only interested in walking toward whatever toy she is interested in, calculating her trip from the coffee table to the chair with a studied, serious look and a furrowed eyebrow before taking one or two steps and landing safely at her destination. The most steps I have seen her take on her own was 3, but she can usually only make it two before she leans over in her excitement toward her target and tumbles to the ground. I think she realizes she will be able to travel faster if she walks, so I think she'll be pitter-pattering around this house very soon.