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.

Grandma and Grandpa's

I realized recently that I have a serious lack of photos of Eva with my parents and brother. I never think to bring my camera there because we go on a whim for dinner so often. So, I made special note to take my camera with me when Uncle Eric came home for a wedding. We came and hung out on Thursday night before he had to take off on Friday for Chicago for the rehearsal dinner.
Eva loves so many things about Grandma and Grandpa's house. She loves to run around in the new addition, since it's just a big open space right now. She loves to get pushed around in her little orange car, as her legs are still too short to move it forwards. She loves to run around and examine the rocks in the driveway and bring them to each of us individually as if they are well-thought of presents. She loves to eat Grandma's mashed potatoes and gravy, ride Grandpa's "horsey" leg, play with Ernie and Elmo in the bathtub, and convince Grandpa to take her up and down the stairs.

Reading Sesame Street books with Grandma
Wrestling with Uncle Eric
Teaching Grandpa the finer points of cooking
Making a mess for Grandma
Digging in the pan cupboard
... and the spice cupboard
Playing with Daddy in the garage
Running around like a crazy person with Grandpa in his new basement
Getting ready to go for a ride
It was nearly impossible to catch a picture of her in this basement, and she just runs and runs from one end to the other.

Does Chef Boyardee need a spokeschild?

Despite what these pictures may suggest, Evalee has been getting better with feeding herself. We have found better feeding equipment, including the dishwasher pocket bib she's wearing and the suction lipped plate she's eating out of. As long as she keeps using her fork, she has started doing pretty well. If we walk away and stop encouraging her or if she has too many fruitless attempts, she gives up and feeds herself this way. How does the saying go? One step forward...

Showin' Daddy around our stompin' grounds

We decided to take Daddy to the museum to show him around one Sunday afternoon. Eva fell asleep on the way there so it took her about 10-15 minutes to realize where she was, but then she had a great time. It was a hot day outside, so we decided to check out the outdoor water activities too!She thought it best to play the xylophone this way.

Concentrating at the water spicket
Wanting very much to carry her pail of water around like the bigger kids



Talking on the phone with Daddy.


In true toddler form, trying to see if it was a game she could play all by herself
She just didn't understand why that landline phone couldn't travel with her through the kitchen

"I'll do it myself, thank you."

Eva is so grown up now she can change her own diapers... or at least she thinks so. I caught her red-headed putting a new diaper in her dirty diaper pail one day and discovered a new game she enjoys: diapering herself. Here's the process:
1. Getting a new diaper out of the dresser. This involves tippy-toes, grunting, and blindly fishing for the prize.
2. Opening said diaper and running around the room with it. To freshen it up? This is a step invented all on her own.
3. Attempt to get the diaper attached to her body. This may be around her neck, like a necklance, around her waist like a belt, or stuffed in her pants.
4. Take off the diaper and throw it away. Now that I've caught wind of the game we lock the pail, so she has to settle for a half throw away.