Evan's Secret

Evan has a secret to tell you - he's going to be a Big Brother!  We're super excited to add to our little family, with a new baby due on 05-05-11.  Everything is going great so far - I'm feeling well and the doctor says all is going as it should.  We're going to leave it a surprise to us all if the baby's a boy or girl, though Evan continues to say he'd like a sister.  (He also says he's a girl sometimes, so his real intent is up for debate.)  It's true that for the second child your belly pops immediately - after only 10 weeks I had to go and practically buy out the maternity store for winter clothes.  We are very happy and lucky to be going on this adventure again, and even more excited to be sharing it with Evan this time around. He's going to be a great big brother! 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evan!

Dear Evan, Happy 2nd Birthday!  You're such a big boy now, it's amazing how time has flown by.  You have an excellent grasp on language and are very good about asking (ok, sometimes demanding) for whatever it is you want.  I love the way you say, "Thank you mommy" almost all the time, and "Please" almost as frequently.  You love to be independent, but are never embarrassed to ask for a hug. The new scar on your forehead is a testament to how much you love to run and move - you can climb on almost anything!  School is very fun for you - you love your teacher and friends, even though sometimes you don't want us to leave. You are a great cuddle buddy on the couch, though it's getting hard for us both to fit in the chair together!  You have learned many rules of the house: shoes off on the couch, hang up your jacket, hold the railing on the stairs, turn off the lights; and love helping with chores like feeding Ernie and cleaning up your toys.  My favorite phrase of yours is "I luss you mommy/daddy!" - it just melts my heart!  You love talking on the hello, singing your ABC's (almost 100% correctly!), and shopping - what a guy.  We can't wait to see what this next year brings.  We luss you, Evan!
Love, Mommy & Daddy & Ernie


We had Evan's 2nd Birthday party last weekend, and many of his friends came over.  We were blessed with a great weather day, and put up tables and chairs outside.  Daddy grilled, we all had burgers and hot dogs for lunch, and a yummy cake and ice cream for dessert.  It was tons of fun to see Evan's friends and their parents - thank goodness for the fenced in yard!  All the kiddos just ran and ran and ran.  Each time a new friend would come in the door, Evan would let out a shriek and do a little happy dance before running over to say hi - he was clearly super excited to have so many of his favorite people in one place.  After cake we opened many awesome presents before it was time for everyone (parents included) to crash for a nap.  Thank you to everyone for coming and helping make Evan's birthday extra-special!

 

On the 28th we celebrated Evan's actual birthday, but a little more low-key.  After school we had his favorite dinner: chicken nuggets, applesauce, and tater tots, and finished off the cake.  The grandparents all called and sang "Happy Birthday" on the hello - Evan loved it!  Then we opened the generous presents that family had sent, including an art easel, a bike, a laptop, and a backpack.  It was a great celebration for a great kid. 

 

Breakfast with George

...And speaking of Curious George - he's a great breakfast buddy!  Evan brought him down this morning to have breakfast with us, and made sure he had his own helping of Cheerios and a glass of milk.

Halloween Test

Evan's been very excited to try on his Halloween costume - a fabulous fuzzy monkey complete with banana in hand.  We finally tried it on tonight, and it was a total and complete disaster.  There were rough fabric edges on the inside which he said hurt (he was right!), and once I got those cleaned up, he was terrified to put it on again.  He finally agreed to "just one more", but burst into tears again the moment it was zipped up.  Sadly, he went to school for the Halloween party in a shirt that had a monkey on it - that was as close as he would get to the costume.

However - peer pressure reigned at school!  When he arrived and saw all his friends in costume (and his buddy in a monkey costume too), he pondered for a moment before asking daddy to get out the costume.  He somberly (though not quite happily) put it on and marched out of the room with everyone else for a trick-or-treat parade down the hall.  Now I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the costume ended up only being on him for 10 minutes or less before he once again decided he'd had enough.

On Halloween itself, daddy and Evan came up to DC to hang out with Auntie Chrissy and Uncle Jeff and stay in the hotel while mommy was working at a conference.  Daddy had a great Man With the Yellow Hat costume to go along with Evan's monkey - they'd make an awesome Curious George pair!  However, Evan had been traumatized enough and was having none of it. He was perfectly happy, however, to put on the big yellow hat himself and carry his Curious George doll around.  I think daddy was secretly pleased too...

Octopus

I laugh harder every time I see this.

I swear - he said it out of the blue when he saw the McDonald's bag - no coaching or anything at all!  It took me a full minute of him asking to determine what he was talking about, and when I did, I ran for the camera.  I'm not even sure how he knows to identify an octopus - we have one that's a bath toy, but he rarely plays with it.  And an octopus isn't your everyday conversation piece or something we quiz him on in books.  Hysterical. 

Field Trip! The Pumpkin Patch

Evan's class has been talking and reading and painting about pumpkins for weeks, and it was all leading up to a school field trip to the Pumpkin Patch!  About 15 kids, their parents, and teachers all went to a farmfield for a morning of fun.  This Patch is geared toward toddlers, with a fenced in play area full of small slides, tricycles, a play house, and a cornbox (a sandbox, but filled with dry corn).  Evan loved the playhouse, but also loved the horse-on-a-stick and tried feeding it corn from the cornbox!  Everyone pulled each other around in wagons and wheelbarrows - great teamwork.  We took a nice long hayride around the field and visited the animals: pigs, sheep, chickens, donkey, horse, goats, and huge fluffy bunnies.  After lunch and lots more playtime, all the kids got to pick out a pumpkin to take home.  Everyone got along super well - no meltdowns or fights or anything. You can tell they all have fun at school and their teachers are doing a great job!  The trip back to school though was a tough one - Evan desperately wanted to sleep, but we sang songs super loud so he wouldn't fall asleep until he got on his mat in class, where he immediately crashed.  What a fun day out with friends!

Evan & Melina

Pulling Alex across the field

In the pumpkins with Lance

We have our pumpkins!  In a wagon with Sharif & Lance

On the hayride with Mary Alice and Ella

Football fun

We had a blast at football this weekend!  Gramma and Grampa were here, and the weather was beautiful, even by their Florida standards.  It was a late night game, so we got some good tailgating time with our Hunt friends.  Chris was very pleased to have Evan around, and proudly told me, "I think he likes me!  He keeps following me around - it's fun!"  CavMan came over to our tailgate to say hi, but Evan didn't want to see him.  He was ok from a distance, but said a very polite, "no thank you" when asked if he wanted to give him a high five or say hello.  Even seeing his friends taking pictures with CavMan didn't budge his decision.  So he decided to get in the car and "drive to football game" instead.  He loves sitting in the front seat, and hopefully he didn't reprogram the radio or anything on accident... When we got to the game, Evan was thrilled that his buddy Mason (9mo) was there.  They "chatted" about the game almost the whole night! 

At the tailgate with Chris

"Driving" to the game

With girlfriends Katelin, Kelsey & Shelby

Buddy Mason

Morning Mini Eats

What's for breakfast, Evan?  "Mini Eats!"  His favorite cereal lately is Mini Wheats, especially the new little bites kind that's the perfect size for little mouths.  Evan was thrilled to discover that the cereal is on the bottom shelf of the cabinet - perfect for him to get it out himself. 

No cereal is complete without the milk - and Evan wants every last drop. Some time ago at school he picked up the talent of drinking the milk out of the bowl after the cereal is all gone. He is very careful not to spill... We couldn't contain ourselves from laughing the first time we saw and heard him slurping from the bowl! 

The Big Boo Boo

I got a call from school at 4:30 today - Evan has tripped and hit his head against the table. You should come in and get him - he needs to see the doctor.  I raced to school and sure enough, he had cracked his head open.  He didn't seem the worse for wear for the moment - in fact, he was enjoying being the king of the class as he sat with a teacher, held ice to his forehead, and proudly slurped on a popsicle.  As soon as he saw me, he jumped out of the teacher's lap and happily recounted the whole tale.  He pointed to the carpet edge that was upturned, said "Mommy, running," pointed to the table and said, "hit head table," then gingerly touched his forehead and said, "booboo hurt."  Poor little guy.

The cut was vertical and pretty deep.  We took him to the urgent care doctor, who confirmed what we feared - the cut was too big to use glue, so stitches it was.  Evan was a trooper for the most part - until we had to hold him down on the table and the doctor shot the numbing medicine in his forehead.  That wasn't pleasant for anyone. It got worse when they had to cover his eyes with the surgical drape.  Both Mike and I were holding his hands and legs so he wouldn't squirm and trying to tell him it would all be over soon.  There was a lot of screaming, but three stitches later, Evan stood up and said, "Thank you doctor."  How sweet!  He got loaded up with stickers and a lollipop, and we went out for ice cream.  It didn't take but minutes for him to seemingly forget about the experience and enjoy the treat.

He's been keeping a bandage on his injury all day during school, and it appears to be healing nicely.  Stitches come out in 5 days.

Apple Picking 2010

We took our annual trip to Carter's Mountain Orchard a little earlier this year, and good thing!  There were more varieties of apples to choose from, and the weather was much better than last year when it was quite blustery up on top of the mountain!  Today was a beautiful sunny day to be out running through the apple trees and enjoying fresh snacks. 

The problem was Evan wanted to eat every apple he picked.  He had no interest whatsoever in picking them and putting them in the bag - every one he touched went to his lips.  He tried four or five different varieties, but JonaGold was the clear winner - for all of us.  Even with his thievery, we picked more apples than we need, but that just means more pies!  Yum.  We also enjoyed apple donuts and fresh cider.  What a great way to start Fall!

 

Football Saturdays

Evan was super excited to start football (sut-bah) again this year. He asks daily if we're going to see Cavman play. 

He wants to be just like daddy when he works - Evan wears one of Mike's old access passes around the house constantly.  He calls it his ticket.  Below he's also sporting daddy's shoes.  During the game, there's nothing better than a pompom to help cheer on the Cavs.  He's pretty good about not whacking people in the head with it, but much to Ernie's happiness, the pompom goes back in the closet as soon as we get home from the game. 

Last week Evan spent halftime with his friend Caleb.  The two are over a year apart, but great friends.  They played hide and seek around the bleachers, and Caleb took the time to proudly explain the finer points of football to Evan.  They're definitely the sons of athletic department staff, and sports nuts!