Counting

Is he ready for Harvard yet? Evan's learning to count! (or repeat - but that's ok too.) While watching a counting dvd today, I was surprised to hear Evan repeating all the numbers as they were said. He did it over and over, and you could even recognize most of what he was saying. At one point he started saying the numbers BEFORE the video did - wow!

Summer Time

Summer weekends are for: reading the paper at the breakfast table, and eating popsicles!

Swimming's Cool!

That's the title of swim lessons at UVA's Athletic Fitness Center. Evan is just old enough to take lessons, and is officially part of the Goldfish class. There are three kids in the class, and mommies and daddies too. This week and next, we get to spend 45 minutes each evening in the warm kiddie pool, splashing, playing, and learning. The two other kids in the class are older, but Evan's the most brave! He loves going under, especially when he's jumping off the side. Kicking is going so-so, and scooping (arms) is a little too coordinated for our little guy, but he gives it a good try! Ring Around the Rosie, I'm a Little Teapot, and the Hokey Pokey in the pool are great fun though! At the end of every class, we close by playing basketball - after dunking the ball, we dunk the kiddos! That's by far Evan's favorite activity (in fact, he spends most of the class very loudly asking, "Ball? Up?" as he tries to convince us and his teachers that it's time to play basketball). He's going to be ready for pool season in no time!

UPDATE: At the last swim class, we took a big team photo. Here's the whole group - Evan only had 2 other kiddos in his level, but lots of other kiddos took lessons too. And daddy got in on the swim lesson fun for many of the lessons too. It was great preparation for the summer pool season, and we can't wait to take lessons again next Spring.

Garbage Watch

What's that sound outside? It's Garbage Day! Both of the boys were very interested in the big blue truck.

With some sadness, we also realized Evan is indeed taller than Ernie now. The little boy is growing fast!

Weekend Adventures

Evan spent a lot of quality time in the backyard this weekend with family. After playing some soccer with Auntie Angie, it was time to take a break with Grandma and learn the art of sitting on a basketball. (Update: 2 months later, it doesn't matter if it's a basketball or a golf ball - he's learned that balls make good chairs.) Then it was time for a quick photo with daddy and Grandpa. Thanks for a fun weekend!

PS: We're all waiting anxiously to assume our new family roles - as you can see, Angie is pregnant! Evan's ready to have a little cousin to play with, and mommy and daddy are excited to become an aunt and uncle soon. Best of luck, Angie & Curt & Griggs!

My First Golf Outing

The Florida grandparents came for a visit this weekend, and Grandpa Chuck brought Evan's first golf clubs! Here he's taking some of his first swings. He even made contact! We'll have to work on form later...

After that tough round, Evan hung out at his private beach with Grandma Mary and Auntie Angie. There's nothing like a little sand and water after a hard day on the links!

Lacrosse

We went to watch the 'Hoos host the first round of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament tonight. It was lots of fun! We ran around the grass and played, and the 'Hoos won by a mile. Evan was alternately enthralled with his snacks, his friends, and what was happening on the field. Mostly though, he focused on picking as many clover flowers out of the grass as he could and giving them to all the ladies. Sweet little man!

Banana!

Mmmm - Bananas! There's really no spelling to describe what Evan calls them. He asks for them at least twice a day, and that's just when he's home. Watch the video above to see this little monkey in action.

Batter Up!

"Ball! Ball! Ball!" Spring time is baseball time, and there's no time like the present to teach Evan. He ran to the shed the other day and, after surveying the selection, snatched up the softball and glove. It didn't take but a minute for him to try to put the glove on, though he couldn't quite get the fingers part - a glove's a heavy thing for a little hand! After a couple tries, he finally slipped the back slit over his wrist. He then proceeded to play catch with both of us for almost 5 minutes (which is a super long time in Toddler Time!). As you can see from the photo of him with Mike, his throwing stance is pretty darn good!

Click on the photos for larger close-ups. I love the faded image - his eyes are so focused! And in the shot where he's getting ready to field a fly ball, his little tongue is out in deep concentration.

Eating with a Spoon

Mr. Independent sure is showing off his skills lately. Evan's beginning to venture into the land of fully feeding himself like the big people do. It's a little messy (especially when yogurt or applesauce are on the menu), but very rewarding to see him be more self-sufficient. All mommy's allowed to do is hold the yogurt cup - and I don't think it will be long before I'm not allowed to do that any more either! In this video, Evan makes a couple pretty successful attempts to put peas on his spoon and get them into his mouth. The scooping part of using the spoon continues to be a work in progress, but he'll get there in no time!

Outside?

There's nothing like the backyard in Springtime. From the second the car pulls into the driveway until he's sleeping in bed, Evan seems to be constantly wanting to play outside. Most of the time, we're happy to oblige, especially since the weather's not too hot and muggy and not buggy (yet). Here's a few minutes of him begging to go out as we're finishing dinner. How can one resist?

Driving the Truck

Evan's been driving his firetruck for a while, but has never been quite coordinated enough to figure out how the feet work. He couldn't get that you have to put your feed out front, plant them, then drag them backwards... to propel yourself forwards. There were a good couple weeks where he traveled all around the house backwards, but he generally asks to be pushed. We were so surprised today to see him hop on the truck and go - perfectly forward and backward! That's one coordinated 18month old! Way to go, kiddo!

The Art Report

"Colough? Colough?" Evan frequently asks to color, especially when he sees a crayon or marker. He's learned at school how much fun it can be to create art. We've done painting since early on, and recently moved into crayons and markers. Here are some samples of his recent work. A Picasso in the making? Perhaps!

Daddy's Shoes

"I want to be just like Daddy!"

I Want To Be Like You, Daddy!