Wednesday, November 30, 2011
See This...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Trials & Tribulations
Evan is definitely on the go constantly. While we were gone on our cruise, we had to leave Evan with my cousin, his sitter, then Linda's mom for a few days since we were gone a total of 8 days. (Getting someone to commit to watching an active 17 month old for that long is near impossible!) And lemme tell you, he wasn't happy with us for a whole week after we got back. He did great staying with everyone, but was not happy with us and was a total hellion. His epic temper tantrums have reached their zenith, and I hope the start declining.
For a week straight after our cruise, he was prone to outburst. He has a habit of head-butting different objects, depending on why he's angry - the door if one of us leaves; the floor if we tell him no; the coffee table if we scold him; etc. Linda had had Evan into see his pediatrician awhile back and explained this to him. His pediatrician said it's completely normal and that he himself had 4 sons, and one of them was a head-butter. Evan was upset at this doctor's visit, and demonstrated his head-butting abilities for him. It's a phase that will pass, hopefully sooner rather than later. He also has gotten into the habit of hitting and throwing his toys when he's upset. We're working on getting him to stop that altogether, and we've implemented a time-out program for him.
In our living room, we have a ten-paned glass door that leads out to our porch. The hell-week after we got back from our cruise, Evan was in a mood one day. I went to close the door, and for some reason that pissed him off. He promptly ran over to it and put his head through one of the bottom panes of glass. It happened so quickly, before I really knew what happened, I heard glass breaking. I ran over there, snatched him up, looked him over and thankfully no cuts on him. He did get a couple shards of glass in his hair that did cause a few tiny cuts, and I rushed him to the kitchen sink, bent him over backwards, turned on the sprayer, and rinsed out his hair. Needless to say, he didn't like that... And I didn't even wait for the water to warm up. So, I'm sure that was shock to get sprayed off with cool water. Since then, his head-butting tantrums have subsided. Later that week, he started playing and being silly again...and it was so nice to have our son 'back'.
Evan had his 18 month checkup a few weeks ago, and he's still growing and on track with everything. He amazes me everyday with the things he is learning. He points to something and I'll tell him what it is, and he'll try to say it. I really noticed that awhile ago. I was loading groceries into the car and a yellow car had pulled in. One of Evan's most favorite things in the world are cars. He pointed at this yellow car and exclaimed "caaa! caaa!". I told him that was correct and it was a yellow car. He studied it for a second and said "yah-yoo". Just yesterday we were at the grocery store and he pointed to the cantaloupes. He loves cantaloupe, but always calls them "baas" (for balls). I told him that was a cantaloupe, and he tried to say it, "caah-ooop". One of the funniest things he says - when he sees Frank (our cat), he'll say "catttt" (he enunciates the T very matter-of-factly). When I ask him what the cat says, he says "cowww", which is his way of saying "meow". He did bust out a full sentence last week. He likes to hide his toys in the end table and coffee table drawers... He would close the door and say what sounded like "Where did it go?", and came out kinda like "weer-iid-tt-ooo". We also play the body parts game, and we'll ask him where his nose, eyes, ears, mouth, head, hair, knees, toes, foot, tummy, butt, hands and fingers are, and he'll correctly point to each - then sometimes do the same on us!
Evan loves gadgets, just like his mom & dad. We had downloaded a few learning apps to the iPad, one of which was pretty cool. It's an interactive alphabet and Evan quickly got the hang of it, knowing what to press and how to go to the next screen. Also, to quell his temper tantrums, we downloaded a few movies onto the iPad for him... We created a monster with the iPad though. We have to hide it now. It was getting to the point that the first thing he'd do in the morning was go look for the iPad and demanded to play with it or watch a movie on it. It's now out of sight, out of mind.
As I mentioned earlier, he loves cars...and his favorite movie happens to be "Cars". Surprise, huh? If he's throwing a fit and we can't get him to chill out, we'll start that up. I'm afraid to admit I know practically every word to that movie now. He also loves "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2".
I've been trying to get Evan out and about more often, besides runs to the grocery store or the pet store, and to the park more often, and more socially stimulated. At first when I started taking him to the park, he was shy and didn't really know how to interact with other toddlers. But now, it still takes him some time to get warmed up, but soon though, he's up there in the action and making new friends.
Crazy how fast time does fly though. It's hard to believe in less than 6 short months, he'll be two years old.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Learning how to be a kid again
It's amazing to me when I look back at Evan's pictures from when we first brought him home just a short 17 months ago and the boy he has grown into today. The worst part about Evan growing up is the snuggle time gets shorter by the day. The best part, though is watching him learn and watching him play.
When we grow up, start families, our careers, etc., it seems that life can suck the fun right out of you. Even worse, its like you forget how to be a kid and just have fun with whatever is in front of you. Evan is teaching me how to be goofy again. Whether it's jumping on the bed - which is his personal playground - or playing the "I'm gonna get you game" where we run up and down the hall, it's nice to come home from a long day of seriousness and, for a short amount of time before he goes to bed, be a kid again.
As adults, when else can you play with stuffed animals, throw the ball in the house, read Dr. Seuss or just squeal in delight, than when you are with a little toddler? It's a great atmosphere to come home to, which sounds crazy coming from me, knowing how I felt about the idea of having kids just a few years ago.
Evan's favorite thing now is doing a little dance that Brian and I call the "Evan Irish Jig." He just starts moving his feet up and down SO FAST and just howling with amusement of his own imagination. He also has discovered the phenomenon of dizziness. He'll spin around and then just crash into things. He loves it and finds it funny. I find him very funny and a fantastic dance party.
I recently put up one of those digital picture frames in my cube at work, filled with photos of Evan just being himself - from his first week until now. When I am having a long day, it reminds me of our goofy times together with Brian, and what I can look forward to when I get home. It's also a good reminder not to take myself so stinkin' seriously and just relax and have fun!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
So Much To Say...
Sunday, June 5, 2011
The art of the fall
It was Saturday morning and I was rushing around. Friday night when I put Evan to bed, I shut his drapes. Apparently, complete and total darkness helps ensure Evan sleeps until 7:30ish or later. He had been waking up at 6 am without fail for two weeks straight. This one little change changed the sleep pattern. Normally, Evan sleeping in is a good thing. It wasn't on Saturday. I needed to drive up to Excelsior and drop him off at my brother and sister-in-law's house, then head to Overland Park to get ready for a wedding, pick the bride up, make sure she was ready and make sure to get her to the place on time.
Evan slept in and we rushed. When I had him up, fed, dressed and myself showered, dressed and somewhat put together, I loaded up the car. Then I grabbed Evan and all of his stuff. His stuff accounted for a full diaper bag, a grocery bag full of some baby food and other snacky snacks and toys. I also had my purse and a newly filled travel mug filled with piping hot coffee.
I grabbed Evan and all of the remaining stuff and headed out the door. I dropped the keys, which meant I had to put Evan down, grab them, lock the door then scoop him back up and head out.
There are four steps from our back gate down to the driveway. I think I missed them all. Suddenly laying on the ground, my first thought - fear, actually - was that I just killed or severely injured Evan. Nope. He was sitting on me. Just looking around. Not crying. No blood. No broken bones. No third-degree burns from spilled coffee. Not a worry in the world.
Thank God!
I was not in as good of shape. I really don't know what happened or how, but here is my best guess.
Based on how I landed and the blood and bruises (through JEANS no less), my knees took the worst of the fall and then I twisted to the side so Evan landed on me, instead of me on Evan. I think I must have thrown my coffee mug during the fall because it was half-way down the parking lot. The tops of my feet - right where foot meets leg - must have slammed down on the corner of the last step because both are bruised to this day.
My left elbow hurt worse than anything. After my knees hit, I must have caught myself with my elbow. I was convinced it was broken when we first hit, but amazingly there isn't even a scratch on it. Weird. Maybe the diaper bag helped break my fall.
After I knew Evan was okay came the difficult task of getting up. I wasn't sure if I could. Like I said, my knees took the worst and I was certain my elbow was broken. I didn't know if I could stand. But, I composed myself and slowly got up, gathered everything up, and kept moving. Aside from some pretty nasty bruises and a skinned up knee, I didn't have any injuries that a good dose of Advil couldn't handle.
Fast forward two days to Monday. Brian and I were both off of work and the Royals were just starting a home stand. We thought it would be the perfect day to take him to his first baseball game - and it was. We bought tickets down the third base line to ensure we would be in the shade. Before heading to the game, we hit Rally House to get him his first KC baseball hat. We've mentioned several times before that baby boy has a HUGE HEAD. His head was far too big for baby/toddler hats and we had to go straight to the Youth-size hats. It was a litte big, but much better than the skull-crushing baby sizes.
We went to the game and Evan did great. He ate a whole hot dog, tried some nachos, got a ball from someone on the Angel's training staff (third base is the visitor's dugout) and a certificate stating that May 30 Evan became an official Royal's fan by attending his first baseball game. He also got his first scraped up knee. Brian took up to the fan area in the outfield to walk around since he was getting restless in the seats. He fell but didn't cry. Brian said he wasn't phased by it at all.
It was as close to the perfect day as anyone could ever have. That evening, Brian and I had so much just playing with Evan and watch him chase Truman around the living room. It was getting close to bed time when Evan started fake falling. He would dance around and then collapse to the ground. He thought this was really funny and his laughter was contagious... until he fake falled head-first into the coffee table.
That brought us back to reality. Brian and I raced over to him. Brian got him first. He had an instant HUGE bruise down the middle of his forehead where he caught the corner. He cried and cried, but we eventually got him calmed down and put to bed.
All my friends and family with boys said to get use to the bruises and scraped knees as there will be many. They are right.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Auntie Em, Auntie Em
So, here we are in the middle of the month of May, and another springtime in Kansas City. Being in the Midwest, and growing up here, supercell thunderstorms and tornados are just a part of life.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Happy Mother's Day...to me?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
A Glimpse Into Being a Single Father
Linda left for a business trip to Colorado Springs and Denver this past Sunday...and she will return later this evening. This isn't her first business trip since Evan was born, but it's definitely the longest in more ways than one.
Exhausted and hungry, I finally fixed a frozen pizza for myself at about 7:30. And go figure...as soon as 7:30 rolled around last night, he was a happy camper...and demanded bites of my pizza. He ate maybe a third of my slice (with the onions, pepperoni, sausage, and peppers picked off). He then played happily in the living room, toddling all over the house, laughing and in a great mood. I stretched him out 45 minutes past his usual bedtime and he went to sleep with no problem. After Evan was sleeping peacefully, I searched in vain for an adult beverage. I took inventory of our liquor cabinet - two bottles of vodka, two bottles of rum, two bottles of scotch, a bottle of whisky, half a bottle of Cointreau, an unopened 4 year old bottle of Jägermeister, an even older opened bottle of port wine, a half gone bottle of Margarita mix, no red wine, a half drank bottle of some gross white wine in the fridge...then finally I scored! One lonely bottle of Bud Light in the back of the fridge. I promptly popped the cap off and guzzled it down. I think I deserved it!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
13 months (almost)
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