These Are The Days: Eva in May

Evalee had lots of excitement and growth in the last month. It was the last month of school for me, which meant lots of obligations with the senior class, last minute grading, and stressin'. Some of all of that went away when I'd get home and Eva and I would go out and play outside. She loves to run around in our backyard, swing in her swing, and pick grass.
She cut two more teeth, one molar on each side on the bottom, bringing her total teeth to 10. This week, she also started cutting a molar on the top. She did very well with this round of teething, except for her need to bite whatever was closest. This meant the occasional biting of an arm or chin of a loved one. Not cool.
She has also taken a liking to new foods. Her favorite breakfast right now is Daddy's french toast. She also goes crazy for banana yogurt and any squeezable fruit pouch. When we go to Grandma's for dinner, she will also eat some asparagus, which was pretty alarming for me to see.
Another big change going on right now is she is falling asleep all on her own for both naps and bedtime. I admit, this was a big weakness of mine. I love rocking her to sleep and cuddling up in our big chair after her bath so much that I personally didn't want to give it up. But, I knew it needed to happen. I tried a couple of months ago to start letting her cry herself to sleep, and it was distressing for both of us. She would cry for over an hour, and I would physically ache from it. Then she got sick so often I put it on the back burner and promised myself we'd try again when she was healthy. Once summer started, I started laying her down awake for naps. She would whimper for a minute or so, and then settle down and sleep. No fights, no fuss. The last couple of nights we tried this at bedtime and she did the same thing! I am so proud of our big girl and am now convinced that I did the right thing. The only drawback is that she has been waking up in the night crying now, needing some love. Hopefully that'll settle down in a couple nights.
We have been working on saying a few words, and she is getting better every day at communicating. She says "outside" and does the sign for outside when she wants to go out to play, kitty is getting more and more clear, and she can also say Mama and Daddy pretty well. She can also identify more animals in the bathtub. She's getting so smart! :)

I've been trying to hit up the yard sales this season, and I have had a blast doing so. I saved up all of our change and random loose cash throughout the year, and pooled in together for some "guilt free" shopping at yard sales. We have found a lot of great things that Evalee loves -- Sesame Street guys, lots of books, a plastic picnic table, lots of outfits and shoes for the coming year, a booster chair to replace her high chair, and lots of other little things.