Evan's First Day of School

We registered Evan at the ELC (Early Learning Center) back in August. He is now starting to walk some and catches himself very well when he falls. We delayed his starting to school until he was more steady. So today was his big day! My mom gave him a good breakfast before taking him to school at 9am (first picture getting breakfast). I found out the night before from his teacher that it was also picture day. Good timing! We weren't sure how he would handle the other kids if they were crying, but he did great. He used his sign language for please and more during snack time. He ate two butter cookies and some puffs and drank his milk. He did not throw his sippy cup on the floor at all! (This is a miracle.) They said he told them the word for clock (his new favorite word when he sees a clock) and babbled a lot. When they went to the gym for play time, they said he crawled around like a madman and wore himself out. Mom took him home just before 11am and he promptly fell asleep for his nap. So he made it about 2 hours! The normal time is 3 hours, from 9am to 12pm. He went to the teacher, Mrs. Erika, and her two helpers just fine. They said he even stood up for one of his school pictures. I can't wait to see them.

Evan is sitting on the floor next to the blond boy playing in this last picture. Thanks to mom for getting some good first day pictures for me!

Evan is Walking!

Evan just turned 18 months old last week and decided this was a great time to start walking. He has been taking about 1 step and standing alone for the past month, but this past weekend he took lots of steps on his own. He is really doing great! He is so cute when he first lets go. He will stand for a minute and make sure he has good balance, then sets off very quickly to accomplish his mission. He's going to be running by next week.

20 Weeks Pregnant

On Friday, I hit the 20 week mark in my pregnancy with baby boy number 2. This is officially the 1/2 way point, although technically speaking, I won't go past 39 weeks. Vince and I got to see the baby for a long time on the ultrasound machine at the high risk doctor last week. The baby looked great! All the prenantal genetic testing and ultrasounds show this baby is happy and healthy. I have gained about 10 pounds total.

I took a picture of myself at 18 weeks, so not a big baby bump yet, but it's getting there! I'm feeling his little fluttering feet every now and then. According to the ultrasound, he is breach right now, which explains the flutters down low this time. Now we just have to come up with a name.

Evan at 17 Months Old

Evan is such a joy to be around. He is learning so much. He can say several words such as hat, bye bye, mama, dada, and hey. He can turn on all of his electronic toys. In fact, he usually shows us how they all work. He loves books, especially the kind that have sensory feel objects or mirrors in them.

And lately he really loves buckles (in his car seat, swing, etc.). He knows lots of signs to tell us what he wants in sign language. He knows hat, more (which usually also means eat), eat, milk, bye bye, please, hug, and more. He can point to his nose and hair on command. We are working on other body parts. He likes to say ooh ooh aah aah for the monkey sound. In fact, most animals he sees he says the monkey sound for them. He likes monkeys. He is so close to walking on his own. He has taken a few steps without holding on, but sits down quickly. He can stand and cruise easily. He will be running before we know it.

Georgetown, SC

This past weekend we took a quick trip down to Georgetown, SC to visit with Vince's family. Barbara's sister, Evelyn lives there and 4 out of 5 of her grown children (and some of their children) were there as well. We had a great mini family reunion. Evan and I both met lots of new relatives. He had a great time and performed for them all.

Evan at 16 Months Old

Evan went to his 15 month check up when he was 16 months old. He is doing so great. He is still small on the weight scale - still under 17 pounds, but he has grown about 3 inches. So he still gets to ride facing backwards in the car for now. He is on the 5% curve for weight and the 50 - 75% curve for height.

He eats all the time, but is burning off all of his calories. Evan is a boy on the move all the time now. He crawls, stands, cruises, and dances all day long. He is down to about one nap a day and loves eating all kinds of foods. We are working on the sippy cup, but still takes a bottle a lot of the time. He keeps us all on our toes (and knees)!

Ellijay GA

A few weekends ago, we went to Ellijay, GA to enjoy the mountain air and to just get away. It was nice to go to the apple barn and get some fried pies and peaches. They always have great food. Evan also got to visit with some cousins. He was the center of attention.

He also got a new t-shirt from his cousins. He liked it.