Into the Double Digits

Our little one is 10 months old!

The last month was filled with fun trips to PA to see her grandparents.  Evie went to Springfield for the first time to her Grandmom's house.  This adventure was filled with quick visits from Grandmom's friends that have been anxious to meet her.  Evie showed off her stranger anxiety phase very well.  Grandmom graciously bought lots of baby stuff for her out of town grand babies.  Todd, Lisa, and Luke joined us for dinner at Bertucci's one night.  Our wine drinking and adult conversation dinners are now a marathon of feeding kiddos and trying to find time to eat our dinners.  We are really parents now! 

We crashed G's Spring Break by taking over her house with daughters, grandchildren, and grand dog.  It was a crazy few days, but so much fun at the same time.  Evie took many trips to the nearby park, visited with her mommy's college friend, Jessie, and loved sleeping in G's closet extra room.  As Hannah would say, it was a great bacation at G and Poppop's house ("v" is tough for her :) )

The biggest milestone this month- Evie cut her first tooth!  She is doing well with it, but I can tell she is uncomfortable.  I think it helps that she is older and keeps busy with crawling and exploring all day.

I LOVE THIS AGE.  Evie's personality is coming through and she keeps us laughing with her expressive eyebrows.  She carefully studies her toys.  She plays well independently.  Evie is a speed crawling and is more graceful on her landings whether it is from standing or crawling over legs.  She claps her hands when I start singing "If you are happy and know it.." and she will dance (shake her butt) on command.  She is growing up so fast.  I want to push the pause button.

10 Months

I'll Have What She's Having

Now that Evie has figured out how to pick up her food, she wants finger foods all the time.  Goodbye baby purees, hello table foods!  This girl is ready to chew!

Last night, for the first time, we fed Evie solely our dinner in small bite size pieces.  (No food processor or mashing)  By her open mouth and kicking legs, I think she was wondering why it took us so long to feed her mama's home cookin'.  She enjoyed orzo with mushrooms and chicken and asparagus. 

Welcome to the wonderful world of good food, Evie!  (not that her home made purees were crap...)

On the Road Again

We made our second trip to NC with Evie this past weekend to meet the newest addition to our family, Luke.  Evie and her 2 boy cousins all share 2011 birthdays!  I wish she had a girl cousin her same age, but she is blessed with a big cousin who loves her dearly.

Aunt Jen and Uncle Matt welcomed Luke on December 22nd.  I think Evie and Luke look more alike than Evie and her Hettinger cousins.  Luke is a perfect combination of his parents, which naturally makes me cute :)  Even  though he is solidly in the 10-11 pound range, he seemed so tiny compared to our giant 9 month old.  For once Evie was not the little pip squeak in the house!  Evie liked to hold Luke's hand and look at him.

Evie quickly warmed up to her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin pup.  She tested Luke's standing/walking toys for him and rated them A+.  She loved crawling through their first floor with no steps- a welcomed break for her Mommy and Daddy.

We had a lovely time in sunny, warm Raleigh.  We took walks, went to the playground, danced, and watched Evie explore new surroundings.  Our 5 hour car ride was the limit for Ev.  She did well and enjoyed our hour stop for lunch, but any longer might have caused a meltdown.  Thank you DC traffic for flowing for us!

NC Visit

Popping Puffs like Candy

I introduced Evie to finger foods around 8 months, I think.  (This is why I need this blog because I can't remember anything!)  Anyhoo, Evie gladly tried anything I put in her mouth, she didn't know how to put it in her mouth. 

Evie can pick up a piece of dirt off the floor.  I know she can pick up stuff.  The problem is Evie doesn't love to eat.  I was starting to panic that we would need to spend another 100K and 3 months in KKI trying to get her to self feed.

After a phone call to Kristen last week, I was reassured that it won't happen overnight.  Maybe even weeks before she would get the hang of picking up food and eating it.  So I relaxed a little.

And guess who ate most of her puffs today?!

Evski figured out to get the puffs from her hand to her mouth.  When she was successful she gave me a big smile and put her hands in the air (the "so big" move).  She did it about 10 times.

I grabbed the camera to document her new trick, but the memory card was downstairs.  I'll try to get some action shots tomorrow, so check back.

I'm so proud of my baby!  Evie, show those doctors you won't have long term feeding issues!

Blast in the Bath

Baths were not a fun activity for Evie in the first half of her life.

Luckily we are in the second half of her life and baths are cool.  (Lukewarm to hot)

Evie now kicks her legs in the air and pants with delight when we start the water for her almost nightly bubble bath.  She likes to put her hand under the spout as the water fills her tub.  Splashing and sucking on bath toys round out her bathing experience.

So far Evie has tried out 4 bath tubs between different houses. The blow up one at Grandmom's house is stocked with a pillow and cup holders for a cold beverage. 



Her own mini hot tub!

 The blue bath tub you all know from BRU is on loan from her cousins for our house. 

Daddy having some fun of his own. 

I've looked into swim lessons for my water baby.  If I didn't have to wear a bathing suit, I think I would be more willing to do it now.  Definitely a Daddy and Evie class :)