20 months

Remember this itty-bitty, sweet baby girl?? Where has she gone?? This is one of my favorite pictures of Evelyn, enjoying a little chiropractic massage from her daddy. She LOVED it!

How about this sweet, pouty, tongue sucking cutey-patooty? She loved her bouncer. And those teeny-tiny mittens were so adorable. Hard to believe that so much has changed and in such a short time. Let me ask you, how have you changed in twenty months? Me, well I had a newborn and she's now older, I'm older, moved a business, joined a few more clubs. That's about it. Evie has learned to: hold her head, sit, crawl, walk, talk, grasp, eat, drink, giggle, laugh, stack, toss a ball, run, clap, dance, blow her nose, blow a bubble, peek-a-boo...you get the picture. Amazing how much she has accomplished in so short a time. No wonder she needs a 2 hour nap everyday and still goes to bed a 9pm!

In the last month Evie has amazed us by learning to blow her nose. She loves to "wipe" her nose, try to keep Kleenex's out of reach. She'll go through 100 if you let her. She loves her babies, especially my Cabbage Patch, her baby doll, and of course kitty. She "mothers" them quite well. She reads to them daily in between her hugs and rocking. She continues to love her rocking chair. Grandpa and Grandma V. are having a rocking horse built for her and I think that it is definitely something that she is going to go crazy over. Evie loves to lead you places. She takes your finger in her precious little hand and then pulls you to her bedroom or just on a general house tour. She likes to have an audience. Today I inputed insurance in several rooms and locations in our house because she wanted me to be nearby. I'd say that spending time with her is a definite love language. She must get it from me, I love it when Shawn watches tv with me. Just being together. Evie is definitely going to be a nature lover like Shawn. Before it turned cold again we were able to take a few trips to the park and she loved it. When it was time to go inside she got very upset. Even tried to climb back into the stroller. She will try to put on her shoes and then drag us to the front door, as if to say "let's go play." Eating is sporadic for her. She has her definite favorites such as: hot dogs with ketchup, ketchup, soy yogurt, pretzels, snacks, peas, beans, popcorn, ice cream bars, chocolate, bananas, raisins, eggs, cereal bars and rice cereal. These are definitely our go-to foods. Evie is speaking some now, but it is really hard to distinguish because she continues to be a regular chatter. Talks on the phone, reads to us, and just holds general non-sensical conversations. A few of her more recognizable words are: uh-oh, me, da-da, mama, mor, meow and hi! Each are special in their own Evie way. We especially love how Evie makes a "give me" hand motion when she says "me." It's adorable. Most nights Evie sleeps like a champ. Shawn gets up once or so to find a pacifier for her but there are a lot of nights when our sleep isn't disturbed at all. Evie is into everything, like most toddlers. I can hardly keep up. Most of you who really know her, know that she is outgoing. Within minutes with her grandparents and she's running around shrieking. In public, however, she doesn't say a word. And in most situations where we leave here with church or Y nurseries, she spends the whole time on an adults lap. Quiet as a mouse. I know, you have to see it to believe it. The best thing about Evie is her delight in everyone and life. You've never seen pure joy until you've watched a child. Bubbles are magic. Daddy crawling on the floor making animal sounds are hysterical. Mama's neck kisses are a delight. Sliding is never boring, not even after the 20th go. Some of baby Evie still lingers: the "tongue sucking" motion when the pacifier falls out, the dirty diapers (I'm ready for this to go away), the soft skin, the sweetness. Most of the time though, she is this on-the-go little girl, my angel. It's been the best 20 months of my life!