Too Big For Her Britches

Another great weekend! Jared and I attended a Bulls game in Chicago with his co-workers after a dinner at Connie's Pizza. Besides the rowdy bachelor party in the row in front of us which resulted in the 'bachelor' filling up a garbage bag with vomit and being drug away by First Aide, it was ultimately and amazing trip! The Bulls won, we got coupons for a free Big Mac and more importantly Jared and I really had a great time together. Thanks Oberweis!


Evelyn had a great weekend, too. She got to spend the night with Great Aunt Lor Lor and Great Uncle John. Thanks again!! She had a great time and drank her bottles down like nothing. I have to explain here that she has began weaning from the boober to formula and is doing amazing! She basically only drinks about 2oz of milk a day, the rest formula which is a huge transition from a month ago when she wouldn't give formula a chance. But we've been having issues in the morning with her taking forEVER! to drink a bottle. So we decided to break out the sippy cup again. When we first introduced the sippy she did drink juice from it a time or two. Now she has decided it is a teether and uses it soley to chew on. So we bought a different brand and she loves it! She'll chug a bottle down in no time and enjoys being a big girl. This is great for me because 1) I don't have to spend an hour trying to get her to drink 2) She now has tasted cold formula in the cup due to her impatience and drank it fine and 3) Now she is drinking her sippy cup of formula before bed and putting herself to sleep. This transition is awesome! She will totally be fine weaning to cold cow's milk and doesn't need to drink herself to sleep with a bottle. She is so easy-going! And such a big girl all of a sudden.

New!

I have so many things to report since my last blog. Evelyn has began weaning, she now has 8 teeth, and no longer crawls...like at all. Many other things but of course since I decided to blog my mind has gone blank! So here are a few recent pics.

Jared and I ice-skating in Millennium Park (Chicago) on Valentine's Day. (This was a motion picture!).


Evelyn's first time playing in the snow...she preferred to walk down the sidewalk not actually touching the snow.


Her favorite thing EVER!! Sometimes I will be cleaning and turn around and don't see her. I'll frantically look around and there she is watching TV in her rocking chair.

Stinker

Evelyn seems to be learning a new word everyday. Todays was quite interesting. Whenever I change a poopy diaper or read her book about animals and get to the skunk I say "Pee uuu!" while waving my hand in front of my nose as if something stinks. So this afternoon when I laid her on the changing table and opened her diaper I said, "Stinky." And she waved her hand in front her face and said "Pee uuu!". I couldn't believe how funny she looked. It's amazing how she associates words with what's going on without being taught. She's so smart. So, later on in the night we saw the Hefty garbage bag commercial where they say "Stinky! Stinky! Stinky!" and Evelyn repeatedly shouted, "Pee uuu!". My little stinker has some personality and it just keeps getting better.

Better Already

Evelyn has made a huge improvement the past 2 days. The cool mist humidifier has made a world of difference. She has slept through the past 2 nights with no coughing fits and no trips to the steamy bathroom. She remains a tad congested and has a touch of a loose, flemmy cough. But overall she is back to her mischievous, disobeying self. Her appetite is back and I'm no longer forcing bottles upon her and she's definitely caught up on sleep. She fell asleep in her carseat and because of the upright design I thought it best for her to spend the remainder of her nap in the seat. I carefully took her out and laid a blanket down in it for her to lay on and placed her back in the seat with a blanket and her lovie while I went to put some things away. When I came back in 5minutes she was in this position that she slept in for 2hours.



Other exciting sleep news-Evelyn has her first pair of two-piece pjs, a hand-me-down from little Ne Ne.

Mischievous Places

Evevlyn has not only learned the meaning of no, but learned how to ignore it. For instance, if she's standing up directly in front of the TV and I tell her 'no' she will look back and give me a big ol' smile and a wave. Once repeated she will slowly lower to the ground and scoot back about an inch to wait for me to turn my head so she can get up again. She knows the forbidden zones of our house-the bathroom where she was caught flushing toys down the toilet, under the desk (that's missing a chair that I sat on and broke) and in the nooks and crannies of the kitchen. But clearly, she tests the limits here.

Sick Baby Needs Chocolate

I've spent the past few night sleeping in Evelyn's rocking chair holding her upright to breathe. But last night was the worst. This terrible night included several nasal sprays, loads of discomfort, two trips outside to sit in the cold air and three trips to the bathroom that was filled with hot, steamy air. But somehow, we made it through the coughing attacks and through the night. This morning her condition took a turn for the worse. After some frighteningly heavy breathing I decided to rush her to the ER. After two x-rays and an unnerving wait she was diagnosed with Pneumonia. Scary at only 10 months! Even with this heavy diagnosis, Evelyn is still her wild self. The nurses explained that most children are scared of the neb treatment and don't like it blowing in their face. But not Evelyn! She popped that baby right in her mouth and breathed in the mist with a smile on her face. They were fully impressed.

Once we were home she took a much needed three hour nap and woke up happy as can be. She downed her steroids, enjoyed her amoxicillin and happily sat through two rounds of her inhaler. We've been pushing fluids the past few days and she has been doing well drinking her daily quota plus a few extra bottles of Pedialyte. Overall, she is doing much better. There were immediate results from the neb treatment and the nap was just what she needed. With the help of her new green frog cool mist humidifier she is in good shape tonight. Hopefully we fight her remaining cough these next few days but as far as tonight goes, so far so good. She was in good enough shape to lick the chocolate remains from our frozen chocolate bananas tonight-always a good sign.

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

Evelyn has always been mesmerized by my toothbrush. She loves to watch us brush our teeth. Now we can do it together.


I can't wait to do more things together this summer-swimming, nice walks, going to the park, picnics. It's going to be great! We're already somewhat prepared for summer what with outfits bought last year and our new swimsuit.



Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen? She is kissing her stuffed animals, her new favorite past time. Now that she is walking like a champ we let her wander around the house freely and often find her in her bedroom hugging and kissing her stuffed animals while saying "baby".

Gimme Gimme Gimme

Transitioning to table food is going to be no problem in this house! Evelyn will eat anything and everything. Most nights she will eat puffs while I get her dinner ready, a whole jar of stage 3 baby food and then a helping of whatever we have for dinner-last night this was grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes and sweet corn. And she will eat her fair share of the table food! It's funny how she just kind of lays back in her chair and eats so relaxed. She'll try any new food, too.


Here are the mangled remains of that dill pickle that she loved and chased after when I went to toss it.


Evelyn is as fond of bathtime as she is of anything edible. Here is my little circus monkey enjoying some bath time toys.

Too Good To Be True

Last night my girlfriend Sam and I had a craving for Buffalo Wild Wings and I had to return some things at Marshalls so we headed to Peru. Evelyn went down for a second nap at 2 so since it was 4pm I decided to transfer her to the carseat and head out. She woke up when I picked her up and told me about her dreams while I changed her diaper and put on her coat and hat. She happily played with her Elmo phone on the ride to Peru, not making a peep. We went into Marhsalls for a while then drove to Hobby Lobby real quick. She was happy to look at all the interesting things in the stores and talk to us while we walked around. At Buffalo Wild Wings we fed her dinner before we ate then threw her a little shredded cheese and some puffs to enjoy while we at dinner. She enjoyed the atmosphere, she almost broke her neck to look at the big screen, and made friends with a cute little baby boy who waved back and forth with her the whole night. At one point some little girls behind us became fussy and began screaming, they were about 5years old. Evelyn was rubber necking to see what was going on and finally yelled out, "Ahhhh!" She was just trying to fit in. It was pretty hilarious. Once we bundled her up and got into the car she was completely content holding her lovey and was silent the whole way home. Man, am I lucky. She is SO good!

My Baby Can Read!

You've seen proof! I posted a video a blog or two back. She will crawl over piles of toys to get to books and sit and look at them for hours. She is completely content independently playing. She'll go through her books one by one flipping the pages and babbling up a storm. If she notices you watching she will drag a book over to you and say "book" wanting you to read to her. I totally take advantage of it because it's a chance to cuddle her. And so do a few other people.


And here's a shot of my little princess, pinky finger fully extended. She is royalty, ya know.


One more that was too cute not to share!