Cabin Fever!

Evy is a crazy ball of energy right now and wants to chase, hide, jump and run non-stop. By Sunday morning Scott and I were exhausted and looking for a way for Evy to burn some energy. At 10 a.m. Evy was jumping on our bed, going crazy and I looked and Scott and said, "Why don't you take her to the mall?" Off they went. Whew! None of the stores were open so it was a perfect (free) playground. They hit the play area, walked the entire length of the mall, and rode all of the quarter toys, without actually putting quarters in them. Any suggestions on other indoor activities for wild two year olds? We do the library and the children's museum often, but other suggestions would be much appreciated by these tired parents!

Tangled

Yesterday, we took Evy to her first movie! She was one of the youngest in the theatre but besides yelling out "Cindewewwa's Castle!" during the opening credits and "That's not nice!" during a fight scene she did wonderful. She is such a movie junkie she probably would have sat through 2 more showings.

New Schedule

I have been part-time for almost a month now. It has been amazing. I cannot tell you how awesome it has been to spend more than 3 hours per day with my child. The weekends have become enjoyable as we don't have to spend our two days off running a weeks worth of errands. The simple enjoyment of being able to do a load of laundry, unload the dish washer or run an errand while home during the week is incredible. I was worried how Evy would adjust to her new schedule of 3 days at school and 2 days at home. She has had a little bit of trouble but I can tell it's because she loves being home with me. She now gets sad when she has to go to school and drop-offs have been resulting in tears. When she went 5 days a week drop-offs were a piece of cake, like she didn't even know we were gone. I can tell she's a little confused about what she is supposed to do each day. This morning when I put her shoes on she said, "Where I going?" And when she wakes up in the morning she asks if she can keep her pajamas on. She knows that if she has to get dressed right away it means she is going to school. This has been a little hard, but it has just reaffirmed my decision as she obviously prefers to be at home. So do I.

Noah and Yoda

Evy got this Noah's Arc Little People set for Christmas. She was calling Noah, Santa so we corrected her and told her his name was Noah. "Yoda?" she asked. No. His name is Noah. No-Ah. "Yo-da." It's really funny, but also baffling because we know she has no problem saying the word no. Apparently, she just can't put it together with the sound "ah".

Merry Christmas!

[Grandma Joan and Papa Jake gave Evy this Piddy Dess]


[Evy obviously reads this book at school. She was able to read it to us from memory when she opened it.]


[Evy followed her cousin Kate around and copied her every move!]


[All the crazy cousins on Scott's side]

Christmas with a two year old is so much fun! We are lucky to live near all of our family, but that usually means we only get a 24-hour visit at each house as we make the rounds over the holidays. Things end up being pretty rushed, but we make sure those 24 hours with each family are jam-packed with fun! Scott is putting Evy to bed and she is exhausted! After she climbed the stairs to her room she stopped and sat down and said, "I just rest here." Hope your holidays were as exhaustingly fun!

Found!

A friend sent me this the other day. She found it on her phone. Obviously, it's from a much warmer time of year but I was thankful she sent it along. Very rarely do we get a photo that includes both Scott and me. Lets be honest, we're all much more interested in looking at photos of Evy!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

Evy loves to read books about you and watch you in movies. She waved at you at the mall this week, but tells us she is not interested in sitting on your lap. If you recall the incident from last year you probably aren't that disappointed by this. Evy would like to ask you for "dollies, popcorn and books. "She has been such a good little girl (for a 2-year old) and is having fun talking about everything related to Christmas. Her favorite Christmas songs are Jingle Bells and Rudolph and she picked out a Care Bear ornament to hang on our Christmas tree.

We're looking forward to your visit!