More Updates

Evan has changed so much the past few weeks. He really seems to understand what we are saying and is developing a great sense of humor. When we tell Evan "night night" he will lay down wherever he is and smile at us. If we ask Evan, "How big are you?" he'll hold up both his arms to show us "so big". He is also so close to walking. He has taken a few steps here and there but doesn't seem to trust himself enough yet and grabs on to whatever is closest to him.

Night Night Evan

Evan thinks it's so funny when he sticks his tongue out

Evan loves his toy remote control

Getting ready for a ride in the storage container - our "redneck" wagon

Evan after his 2nd haircut - he looks like such a big boy!

Teething Frenzy

Since Evan was a few months old, we thought for sure that he would pop a tooth at any moment with all of his excessive drooling and gnawing of the hands. Finally the week of Halloween the first tooth popped through on the bottom! Since then he has gotten 2 teeth on top and 3 on the bottom and is currently working on another one. I have to say he has done really well with it all. We had a few rough nights, but Baby Tylenol was definitely our friend during that time!

My horrible attempt at taking a picture of Evan's teeth

At the Big Top

The day after Thanksgiving we went to Barnum and Bailey's Circus with Alexis and Curtis and his family members that were in town for the holiday. Evan didn't really understand what he was watching, but he loved all of the lights and the music. He especially loved his first taste of cotton candy! He had 2 (VERY, VERY small) bites of it, and then experienced his first sugar high. He kept laughing, dancing, and sticking his tongue out at us. After awhile he crashed and was just sitting calmly on our laps. We weren't sure he would be able to sit through the almost 2 hour show, but he did great! Definitely something to do again when he's a little older.

Evan with Alexis and Dimitri

All the boys hangin out - Stefanos, Constantine, Evan and Dimitri

SO tired after a long, exciting day at the circus

Evan's First ThanksgivingS

Evan is one lucky boy. Not only did he have his first Thanksgiving, he also had his second. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we traveled down to Effingham to celebrate with Rick's grandparents and family. Evan feasted on mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and had his first (tiny) taste of pumpkin pie. He loved every bite! The weather was also beautiful that weekend, so we spent some time playing outside.

Grandpa feeding Evan mashed potatoes

Playing with a leaf he found on the ground - forget the toys surrounding him!

Playing his favorite airplane game with Uncle Brad

Posing with Aunt Lisa

On Thanksgiving Day, Rick and I played hosts to both of our families. It was a long day, but Evan ate up all the delicious food along with all the extra attention he was getting from everyone.

Enjoying his CHEERIOS at dinner time!

Over the summer I posted a blog about Evan posing for the camera. He is still doing that.... everytime he sees the light on the camera, he stops what he is doing, poses, and smiles. What a ham!

Too cool wearing Uncle Jeff's hat!

Happy Halloween!

Evan's first Halloween was very exciting! He looked very cute in his gingerbread costume that Aunt Alexis and Uncle Curtis gave him last Christmas (before he was born). The only problem is that the hat kept falling in his face, so we were only able to keep it on during pictures. Evan spent part of the morning with me at school while my students were in their Halloween parties. He also played with his friends, Carter and McKenzie, who looked adorable in their costumes! After school we visited YiaYia and Papou and went trick or treating at their neighbor's house. He was so tired he didn't put up a fight at bed time tonight!

Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread baby!

Posing with McKenzie (the bunny) and Carter (Nemo)

Get this hat off - NOW!

Happy to be at YiaYia and Papou's house

Shaggy to Sleek

Evan's hair has been looking extremely shaggy lately (we even started calling him "Scarecrow"), so we decided it was time for his first official haircut. I didn't trust myself to do it, so we took him to Cool Cuts 4 Kids. It was one of those places that specializes in children's cuts. I was really nervous about it, but Evan did great! We chose a video for him to watch, then they placed him in a little yellow car and he was so busy looking around that he didn't fuss once. He looks so grown up now!

The Before Pictures



The After Picture (at home since my picture at Cool Cuts didn't turn out)

9 months old

Evan had his 9 month old check-up yesterday and everything went great! Even after waiting for over an hour, he was still in a good mood and didn't fuss at all during his time with the nurse and the doctor. He now weighs 20 lbs 4 oz and is 28.5 inches long, which is right where he should be at this age.

Evan is now VERY mobile. He is crawling at full speed, pulling himself up on everything, and cruising around the furniture. All day long, he's up, down, up, down.....up, down... Here's a cute video I took of him this evening - make sure you turn up the volume because you can hear him chattering away.



I love this picture of Evan taken during one of his naps. If you look closely, one of his arms is completely out of the sleeve and his shirt is up by his neck.


We've been REALLY busy the past few weeks...

Evan had a play date with his friends Benjamin and McKenzie. We went to the park, and they shared their toys on a blanket and went on the swings. I can't believe how much they've all grown in such a short period of time.
A few weeks ago we went to Butler's Homecoming game. Evan met many of my college friends for the first time, and he enjoyed strolling around the beautiful campus. He even met Butler's mascot, Blue, a bulldog.

At the park with Daddy on a perfect fall day...

Summer Fun

Now that summer is officially over (how sad), I decided to post pictures of some of the fun things we did with Evan over the summer. Unfortunately it was extremely hot all summer, so we didn't get to do quite as much as I had hoped.

These are from a Friday morning we spent with my mom at the Little Red School house, which is a nature center and trails through the forest preserves. Unfortunately the house is closed on Fridays, so we weren't able to see any of the animals inside (usually reptiles, insects, etc.). But, Evan really enjoyed being pushed around in his stroller and looking all around him.

Rick and I brought Evan to Brookfield Zoo late in the summer. I thought he would really enjoy looking at all the animals, but most of them were too far away for him to really see them. He did like watching the rhinoceros - it was in a small cage that we could get really close to. He kept staring at it and we would have loved to know what Evan was thinking!

Evan and I spent a few hours at the Tinley Park pool. It was a cooler day and the water was pretty chilly. Any time any part of Evan's body touched the water, he would cry. So I kept him sitting on my lap and he was happy just looking at everything going on around him. Next summer I probably won't be able to get him out of the water!! Last time we were in Effingham I brought Evan to the park for the first time. He LOVED the swing!! We also went down the slide, but he didn't seem to care for it. He didn't fuss, but didn't smile either.

Posing

Evan hated having his picture taken (just like his daddy), until recently. The other day Evan was sitting on the floor next to his barnyard play gym, and he kept grabbing the side of it and tipping the whole thing over. I kept trying to take a picture since it was pretty funny, but every time he saw the little light on the camera he would drop the gym, turn and smile. This happened numerous times. Finally I moved to a different part of the room but could only get a picture of him holding onto the gym. I have also included some of my favorite recent pictures.

Crazy hair after sleeping the whole ride home from Effingham

Evan with his cousin Madison

Trying to crawl over mommy's leg

On the Move

Evan has gone through so many changes the past month! He is so close to crawling, I think it could happen any day now. For a long time he has been able to spin in circles when he's on his stomach. Now he is able to push himself backwards with his legs straight behind him. The problem is that he keeps ending up in places he can't get out of. He can also go from sitting up to all fours, but his one leg always gets stuck under him. He can't quite figure it out yet! He is also trying to pull up on furniture and can stand holding on to something if we help him up. It's time to start childproofing!

How did I get here? I'm stuck!Pulling up on his knees Hold on tight!