MINE!!

At my nephew's birthday, and then again at Christmas, Evy demonstrated that she has no concept of sharing toys. In fact, she wants toys just so she can take them away from other kids. After her tantrums I got to wondering if this is considered bad behavior for a child her age or if she is too young to understand the concept. If it's bad behavior I want to try to correct it before it becomes habit. I was amazed to read that sharing is not a behavior that children "get" until around age 3. The experts recommend that you model sharing at this point but that you don't punish for not sharing. This toy stealing is just typical behavior for an active toddler. I'm glad to know we still have a few years to teach her how to be a generous friend. Whew! We haven't blown it yet!

Teacher's Pet

Evy's room at daycare has been closed for a few days for some maintenance work. In the interim, the kids in Evy's class are being split between the nursery and the older toddler room. Evy is the youngest in her class so it makes sense that she's been going to the nursery. Yesterday when I picked her up I was asking the nursery teachers how many other kids from Evy's class are in the nursery. The teacher replied, "Well, we request that Evy comes in here." I was confused, and asked why. The teacher said, "because she's nice to the babies and doesn't scream like the rest of the kids. She had her arm around one of the babies today." At first I wondered if she was actually talking about Evy or if perhaps she thought I was the mother of a different child, but then I decided to soak up the praise and have my first proud mother moment. The teachers said she is very motherly and they like having her in the room. My sweet little baby!

Christmas

Evy started celebrating Christmas on December 19 when she found a gift bag under the tree, decided to pull the tissue paper out and discovered a toy dog! She started grunting when she saw the dog so I didn't have the heart to take it away from her and make her wait. Her next celebration came on December 24 at Grandma and Grandpa S's. She dressed up like a little Santa to go see great-grandma Maxine and had fun playing with her cousin Jacob. Santa brought her a big girl chair and she's having a blast trying to nose dive off of it. Who thought chairs were for sitting? The morning of December 26 we had a quick gift opening at our house where Evy got a sled. She's hoping to try it out this weekend. Later that day we went to Grandma and Grandpa C's house. Evy had great fun playing with her cousin Kate who luckily is a good sharer. Kate had a doll that Evy really liked and Evy spent most of her time trying to take it away from Kate. Grammy taught Evy and Kate how to play the piano. This was an excellent time filler until Evy wanted to play the piano at 6 a..m. while the rest of the house was sleeping. At gma and gpa C's Evy got a stroller for her baby doll and LOVES pushing it around the house. Above, you can see the only attempt at a family photo. I don't know which family photo is better. The one above, or the one in the previous post with Santa?!?!

Not A Fan

Dear Santa,
From afar you look like a very nice guy. Up close, you scare the hell out of me. Please leave my presents under the tree and then quickly head back up the chimney. Tell Rudolph hi.

Love,
Evy








P.S. Evy was very happy while we were in line for Santa. Then, Scott handed her to Santa and she freaked. The reason Scott and I are in the photo is because the photographer thought maybe Evy would sit by Santa if I was holding her. WRONG!

Christmas Accomplished

Since this is the only weekend we are home in December I was on a major mission to get all of our Christmas prep done. Final presents bought, 20 gifts wrapped, 6 dozen cookies baked, 2 bags of pretzels dipped and a partridge in a pear tree. If you think Evy was exhausted you should have seen me...

Another Year Older

I turned another year older this week. I took my birthday off and spent a few hours at the spa, can't imagine a better way to spend a birthday! On Saturday night we went across the street to spend a casual night with our neighbors and celebrate two December birthday girls!

Baby Einstein Makes Us All Happy!

Lately, we've been using the Baby Einstein DVD's a little bit more than I would like to admit. Evy hasn't been sleeping great and has been sick twice in 4 weeks so you know what they say...desperate times, call for desperate measures. I don't know why these videos are like crack for baby. I've tried getting Evy to watch Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Tom and Jerry, and Scooby Doo among other things but those shows only hold her attention for about 10 minutes. She will sit still for the entire Baby Einstein (BE) DVD. I understand BE is offering refunds to people because they lead people to believe the DVD's made their baby smart. I'm not trying to create a Baby Einstein here I'm just trying to get us all through the day. No refunds needed in this house!

All I DON'T Want for Christmas...

Is an ear infection. I took Evy to the doctor yesterday and she was put on antibiotics for an ear infection. This is her first ear infection since she had tubes put in in July. I am hoping it's a fluke because I do not want to go down this ear infection path again! If you'll remember she had ear infection after ear infection and they didn't respond to antibiotics which is why she got tubes. I am hoping for a speedy recovery! Please Santa!

We Love You Indy!

I got Scott tickets to the Broncos vs Colts game in Indianapolis for Christmas. It was an early gift as we headed to Indinapolis this weekend to enjoy the game. After sitting through Broncos games in Denver and Chicago where I froze my rear-end off Indianapolis was chosen for a reason...their stadium has a dome!! By kick-off I was sipping a margarita and not wearing a coat! The game also gave us an excuse to check out Indianapolis. We stayed downtown where everything is within walking distance...the stadium, fabulous restaurants, and great shopping. It was 35 degrees with no wind so the walking was great. Saturday night we ate at St. Elmo steak house, an Indy landmark. Our waiter clued us in that we missed Peyton Manning by one night...he usually comes in after games. Darn! Thanks to my Mom and Dad for watching Evy this weekend. We needed a little break from the madness and are happy to add Indy to our list of favorite midwestern cities.

The Bronco's lost (in case anyone is keeping track they have lost all 3 times we've gone to see them), Scott wore his Bronco's jersey and got out of Lucas Oil Stadium alive. My man, Dallas Clark, had 3 touchdowns but don't tell Scott I was cheering for the Colts.

Not Our Christmas Card

I took this picture after I already had our Christmas cards done. So, I'll call this my blog-card. Merry Christmas!

Blizzard

We've had blizzard weather the last 2 days. The University I work for canceled classes but that doesn't mean offices are closed. Nope, the students who mostly live in town don't have to venture out for class, but the staff who drives in from miles away all have to report to work or use vacation time. Doesn't really make sense to me, but I'm not the boss. I had a big meeting anyway so I wouldn't have been able to miss work, but the rationale just seems odd. I get that they can never close the hospital or the dorms, but really...is anyone going to die if they can't get admissions, career services, or financial aid questions answered for one day?  

Chug-A-Lug

Evy has done an awesome job weaning from the bottle! We are bottle free and have moved on to sippy cups. She has become quite the chugger, downing an entire cup of milk in minutes! This should come as no surprise to those of you who know Evy's dad. He is quite the chugger himself. I think they both have holes in their toes. Now, if we could just wean Dad from the bottle...

Pack, Unpack, Repeat

There are 8 weekends in November and December. We have been/will be out of town overnight for 5 of those weekends. As most of you know, traveling with a small child is not a task to take lightly. All of this fun is wearing me out! Since we're out of town on the weekends our weeks are jammed packed with catch up of household duties. I think I have 8 loads of laundry on my floor right now. Friends--we miss you and hope to catch up with you sometime in January! This crew is not going anywhere overnight after the first of the year!

Convert

I have never liked Kettle chips. I've always thought they were too crunchy (I know...that's the point). But now I am a convert. I LOVE these Lays Kettle chips. Darn! Wish I would have never discovered my love for the kettle chip. Just another thing to try to avoid.

Happy Monday!

Our alarm clock (Evy) went off at 4:58 this morning. Holy Crap! Happy Monday! Pass the coffee!

Hang on for Dear Life

I don't know what Evy thought was scarier; Grandpa's driving or Jacob poking her eyes out.

Thanksgiving in Review

Evy had a 102 fever on Thanksgiving day so she and I hung out at home while Scott went to dinner at his parents. By Friday night she was feeling better so we were able to keep our original plans of heading to my parents for the weekend. Evy and her cousin Jacob had a wishbone pulling contest, read books with Grandma and had the stuffing bathed off of them.

Oh, What a Night...

Poor baby. Last night at 9:30 I found Evy sleeping in her own vomit (TMI?). I can't believe she didn't wake up. After getting her cleaned up and put back to bed she proceded to throw up another 4 times through 2 a.m. Our washing machine couldn't keep up with Evy so Scott made a midnight run to Wal-Mart for backup supplies including crib sheets and PJ's. Good grief! Evy seems to be feeling better this morning. Scott is staying with her until noon and then I'm leaving work to take the afternoon shift. This Thanksgiving I am thankful that Evy doesn't throw up very often. YUCK!

Book Worm

Evy is really in to books right now. All she wants to do from the second she gets up to the time she goes to bed is sit in your lap and read books. We'll get part way through one and she gets up, goes over to her shelf and pulls down another one. The way she backs into your lap is hilarious. She'll walk towards you and then when she is about 3 feet away she'll turn around so her back is to you and then she walks backwards until she gets to your lap and sits down. "Peek-a-Zoo" from Scholastic is one of her favorites right now.

Apologize to Your Mother

I remember sitting in the car with my dad and my brother waiting on my mom. Always waiting on my mom. Whether it was a family gathering, BBQ or wedding we were going to my mom was always the last one in the car. When she would finally get into the car we would all let out various complaints "Whyyyyy do you take so long? We've been waiting on you for 10 minutes. Sheeeeeezzzzzz." Now, I know why my mom was always the last one in the car. Not only did she have to get herself ready to leave the house she had to get my dad, me and my brother ready (to varying degrees). She had to make sure the dish was prepared, the card was signed and the gift was wrapped. She had to make sure we had sunscreen, or bug spray or whatever array of junk was needed for that particular outing. I'm now always the last one in the car. If you remember this same scene from your childhood apologize to your mother. I apologized to mine today.

Big Laughs

Either I am hysterically funny, or Evy is. You choose.

Great Balls of Fire!

My curling iron literally spit a ball of fire at me this morning. It's fried. Anyone have a curling iron that they love? I'm now in the market for a new one.

Bye Bye Bottle

While we were on vacation Evy learned to drink from a straw! This is good news since we are starting to wean the bottle. Evy was taking 4- 4 oz bottles each day and as of yesterday we are down to one. She's not crazy about drinking her milk out of a cup and refuses it most times, but so far it hasn't been a huge deal. We are still giving her a bottle before going to bed, but that's more for our own benefit so she's not awake at 5 a.m. due to hunger.

Florida Road Trip

Scott's parents agreed to keep Evy overnight on Saturday (Woo Hoo 24 hour break!!!) so we jumped in the car and headed across Alligator Alley (I saw ALLIGATORS along the road!!!) to Palm Beach to visit our friends Jamie and Amy. After watching the Hawks lose we all decided to drown our sorrows. The guys drank away their sorrows at the Tiki Bar while Amy and I shopped our sorrows away at the mall. We had dinner at Vic and Angelo's...it was fabulous. What a great 24 hour mini-vacation!

Future Beach Bum?

Evy loved, loved, loved the beach! She thought the shells and the sand were the tastiest things she had ever experienced, putting them in her mouth every chance she got. She showed no fear, running into the water, sitting down and giggling when the waves hit her. Evy was a hit with all the grandparents in Florida... they all got a kick out of watching her play. She made lots of friends on the beach! She also found a bunch of birds who she befriended. The birds would have probably preferred for Evy to stick to entertaining grandparents and stop bothering them.

Good Plane Fun

The good news is there were no meltdowns. The bad news is there was no sleeping. When departing from Iowa chances are you're going to have a connecting flight. Our trip was no exception. We connected in Atlanta both ways for a total of 4 flights. Evy did not sleep for one single second on any of the flights. Flying must be way too much fun! She did O.K. but the meltdowns were kept at bay with constant distraction. Want some food? How about this book? Isn't this DVD great? Did I show you this toy yet? We only had to resort to running up and down the aisles on one flight. Not bad for a one year old insomniac. But, we're not ready to do it again any time soon.

We're Baa-aack!

Evy wanted to wear her sunhat to daycare today. She was in denial that we wouldn't be going to the beach. After 7 days in Naples, FL we have one day at home to regroup and then back to the real world! I hope to get vacation photos posted later today...if my computer and internet would cooperate!