Happy New Year

Dave and I have been so blessed this year!  The birth of our son, Evan, was a miracle.  Each day is filled with new surprises and milestones.  We cannot imagine our life without him.  We are also so grateful for our family and friends.  We are hoping next year brings as much happiness as last.  We wish you all, our family and friends, a happy and healthy 2010!!!  Cheers!

Christmas

Ahhhh...we are pooped!  All the excitement and travel goes way to quickly!  So sad that it's all over :-(  Dave, Evan and I had a wonderful visit with both of our families.  Along with all the hussle and bussle of the holiday, E got thrown off schedule Thursday and Friday night, but well worth it.  He slept 13 hours last so one would think he is caught up, right?!?!  One tired little man.  He LOVES his new toys!   Especially the ones that he can walk with and the black truck from his cousin, Madison.  Oh, and we don't want to forget, he LOVED the attention he got, particularly on Christmas Day!  I've never seen so many smiles and laughs from our little man in is such a short period of time...should have made from some very sweet dreams :-)

Yesterday was our day to relax and regain energy after all the whimsical and fun chaos of the holidays.   Thanks to all our family for making Evan's First Christmas a memorable one!!!

Very Excited!

I cannot wait!  Christmas is almost here!  Tonight we are heading South to spend the afternoon with Dave's family.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up, eating lots of food and engaging in our traditional Secret Santa festivities.  Tomorrow we are going to my sister and her husband's home to celebrate Christmas with my family.  Can't wait to watch and treasure every moment of Evan with family and opening his gifts :0)

Since this is E's first Christmas I want to document as much as I can through pictures, videos and blogs.  This surely will be a Christmas to remember!!!!

Despite how commercialized Christmas has become and how we selfishly embark our time in the gifts and glamour of the holiday season, it's important to take a moment to embrace the real meaning of this holiday season...Christ our Lord!

Hmm...Thoughts on Christmas

After our experience with Santa this year, it got me thinking...what is so bad about wishing people "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas". Both greetings are warm and wish us all well. Is it because some persons are angry at those that don't celebrate Christmas? Is it that some don't understand why there are people that don't celebrate Christmas? or maybe, is it because some people have a difficult time embracing diversity?

Although I am currently not teaching, I recall in the eight years I did teach, our student population had evolved. More and more of my students were not celebrating Christmas because they or their family, immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, South Africa, India, and else where. Instead of focusing on our American traditions, I adopted Holiday's Around the World and taught it as a unit in my classroom. I felt it important not to place particular emphasis on one holiday because I was afraid of offending a student, actually, more so their family ;0) I didn't want to get the dreaded phone call from an upset parent asking me why we are celebrating Christmas in our classroom and then persisting on telling me it's not appropriate to celebrate Christmas in our classroom because their family celebrates Kwanzaa, or they are Jehovah Witness (for example). A couple of times in years past, I had received a letter from a student's parents informing me that their child wasn't able to participate in our holiday festivities. Mind you, the festivities we were celebrating in our class were multi-cultural based and were used as a learning opportunity for the students to better understand various occasions celebrated around the traditional American Christmas holiday. Despite all the "politically correct" holiday greetings, I wish you all a "Merry Christmas" and a "Blessed New Year"!!!

Santa!

Evan visited Santa for the first time!!! Dave, Evan and I went down town to Michigan Avenue and made our way to the 900 North Shops to meet Santa. We grabbed some hot beverages and waited about 45 minutes to see the 'not-so-jolly' old man dressed in red. Despite his 'real' white beard and round belly that shook when he laughed, Santa insisted on conversing with us while a line of 30+ people, mainly eager children waiting to share their wish list with the man. It's no wonder it took us 45 minutes to reach the front of the line! Jeez! After wishing Santa a "Happy Holidays" as opposed to the traditional "Merry Christmas", Santa looked at me like I had two heads. I told him that I'm teacher and that we are encouraged to wish our students a "Happy Holiday" or "Season's Greetings" because of the evolution of our student population. I could see and hear the anger he held inside him as he quickly said with a sneer in his eye, "Screw Happy Holidays, we're in America. We celebrate Christmas!" and continued to share with me his knowledge of the only two Christmas songs that don't have a Christmas relation, Frosty the Snowman and Jingle Bells. It got me thinking, are there any other so-called Christmas songs that have lyrics without a Christmas affiliation?!?!

Putting my tainted view of Santa aside, I wished him a "Merry Christmas" as he gave Evan a cute beige stuffed bear. So thankful that Ev liked him and didn't hear a word come out of 'Dear Santa's' mouth :0)

We made it!

Daddy was traveling this week in the sunny parts of Florida while Ev and I froze our butts of in the windy city...ha! Thankfully Evan was really good and kept me entertained by doing new things almost everyday. He started using a walker (well his make shift walker) by pushing the bar stool along the floor. He is also pushing his toys along the floor whether they have wheels or not :0) He's also is studying objects more. He will spend about 5-10 minutes inspecting it. I think he's figuring out the function of each object he finds. I gave him a small Crystal light opened box that has individual packets in it while I was cleaning the house and E played with it for 30 minutes. Never knew a box was such fun! Apparently I've been missing out...lol. E also found the soup can in the pantry and had a ball rolling it along the floor and chasing after it. Now he's rolling or throwing anything he can get his hands on across the floor so he can chase after it...it's entertaining to watch. We went to a couple of cookie exchanges and a play date each day of the week. Our last Aquababies class was Wednesday and E was kicking and splashing A LOT. By far the most he has ever kicked and splashed since the first class 2 months ago. Ev tried some new foods this week. Yogurt, pasta, black beans, pretzel sticks, cheerios, and cajun turkey. He loved all of it! He is now eating finger foods, except for the yogurt and cereal in the morning. He much prefer the finger foods so he can do it himself, so stubborn when it comes to that. Wonder where he gets that from ;0)

Yesterday we had our gift exchange with our "city friends" play group. WHAT FUN!!! The kids were sooo cute! Our attempt to get them to all sit, not move, while smiling, was a trip! What were we thinking?!?! We got a few pics of them, but of course, no one was looking at the camera, one was looking away, one down, one crawling, the others were screaming their lungs out, while another one was shoving a toy in their mouth! I can only imagine what us moms looked liked as we were trying to grab and/or sustain their attention towards the cameras...ha ha haha!

Completely forgot

Evan started waving over the weekend!!! He particularly likes waving at Dexter! Go figure, the only one in the house who could care less...lol

How quickly time passes

It's amazing how quickly time passes! Two more of Evan's teeth have erupted since this morning! His top and bottom right are showing face. Can't believe it! Just a week ago he was toothless. Grinning from ear to ear with a gummy smile. Today he's sporting little mounds of pearly whites across the top and bottom line of his gums. This explains why he was very irritable today and not his usual smiley, independent self. Luckily today was our Big City Babies cookie exchange so we got out of the house, despite the cold, and got to meet up with our play group friends and eat some deliciously yummy cookies. I am soooo done eating cookies.......until tomorrow...lol :) CBS news also came to interview a few members from our play group on the recent recall on blinds. Hope to see us on there at 5!

Aside from E's new teeth, he is also taking steps, assisted of course, along the couch, rubbermaid bin, and his excersaucer. He has also stood up, without assistance, for about 5 seconds yesterday. Wonder how soon he will figure out how to walk. No rush, please!! He's also eating all finger foods. No more purees. He let us know he's done with those "baby" foods ;0) He refuses to eat them. About every other day I can sneak in some oatmeal mixed with applesauce, peaches, or bananas if I'm lucky. I guess he's too cool to have mom or dad feed him. He much rather do it himself. Silly me! Where's my little baby gone? A munchkin has taken over :0)

Volunteer

Starting Evan out early by teaching him about giving back to the community :) Although he may be too small still, I believe it's never too early. On Wednesday we went to the March of Dimes office in the loop to bring donated items that I received from the moms in my Big City Babies group. In total, the moms donated 10 large shopping bags of items that will be given to the families of premies at local hospitals in Chicago. While we were at the March of Dimes office, we wrapped the donated items and sent along a letter to those receiving them this holiday season. E had more fun crawling around the office checking out the outlets, power cords, and chairs. Far more fun than wrapping gifts I guess. Later that afternoon Ev and I had our Aquababies class. E started kicking and splashing more than he has in the last 6 classes. Improvement! Too bad our last class is next week :(

Yesterday we finished up the rest of our Christmas shopping. Now we just need to wrap them...ugh!!! No little elves here, at least not yet! Maybe in a couple years Evan will be able to help me out...lol Maybe I can dress him as an elf and convince him that he is one so he'll help with the holiday decorating and wrapping....or....maybe by then, after I have instilled a volunteering value within him, he will, out of the goodness of his heart, want to help me ;0)

Today was fun! We met Nicole and William at Family Grounds Cafe to hang out. Both E and William had lots of fun (as always) which made for the most lovely long afternoon nap.

Looking forward to a super busy weekend, yet again! Baking cookies, pilates, running, Holiday Party, Cookie Exchange #2, and visiting with Evan's grandparents! Not looking forward to Dave leaving for Florida Sunday morning though. He'll be gone for the week :( Actually, I am more not looking forward to him getting to be in a warmer, sunnier climate while we freeze are butts off!

First Tooth

Lots of first this week...oh my! First snow, first taste of dog food, first walks along the couch, first TOOTH!!! SO funny because it's not his lower front tooth...it's his top left tooth! Weird or what?!?! Never heard of that until now. I guess it's pretty common. His pediatrician confirmed it. She also felt his two lower ones coming up and possibly the top right one too! Bring it on! I do admit as excited as I am for it, I will miss E's toothless grin.

I hadn't blogged about this yet because so much was happening this weekend, but Ev also started using the couch to walk assisted from one end to the other, and then from the couch to his musical standing toy :) Trying to capture it on video has been difficult, but will hopefully be captured soon.

This past weekend I got the cold...BAD! Luckily it is seeing it's way out the door and we are praying that Ev and Dave don't get it. E's already had his share of 3 colds in his short life :( Saturday was E's day with Daddy while I baked cookies, got a mani, did some house chores, and pilates. Had my first of 3 cookie exchanges of the holiday season. Let me tell, not so fun when you cannot breathe and taste anything :( Luckily every one else was healthy and enjoyed them! On Sunday, we got up early, baked a casserole and headed out to our friend's for our 2nd annual Kids Gift Exchange. SO MUCH FUN!!! Love seeing the kiddos open their gifts :) Even more fun with one of our own participating in the festivities. We are so blessed to have our little man in our lives. Looking forward to this Christmas for sure! E got a push and go truck and Fisher Price building blocks from his newbie friend Jack.

Yesterday Evan had his 9 month check up at the pediatrician. He is still a healthy little specimen. He is in the 75th percentile for his weight and head. But in the 50th percentile for his height. He's a short fat little man :) When he was there they tested his blood for lead, gave him a TB test and the H1N1 booster shot. He's meeting all the developmental milestones so far. He won't go back until he's 1 year old. Hard to believe that is only 3 months away :( Where did the time go?!?!

Oh the joys of learning new things!

Recently Evan has discovered how to stand in the dishwasher, eat dog food, throw his toys into the bathtub (mind you he's not in the bathtub, rather he's standing outside the tub throwing them in...at least he knows where they belong :0) and pound on the china cabinet glass doors (sigh). I wonder what's in store for today?!?!

First Snow

One of the most peaceful moments with my little bear was today as we were waiting for the El on our way home from the pedi's office. Evan and I stood cuddled together as the large graceful snowflakes floated in the air all around us. I was in heaven for the moment. Watching E take in his first snow was truly an experience. All the joys of experiencing the 'firsts' are more meaningful than anything in my world. I guess that's because he is now my world :0)

On a completely different note...E has a terrible diaper rash and diarrhea. It started a couple nights ago. He woke up crying at 3 in the morning. He had pooped in his diaper and that's when I found the diarrhea and rash. He was raw red. I called in to the pedi's office and they suggested using a combination of neosporin, cornstarch, and desitin. She also suggested following the B.R.A.T. diet, bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast in addition to changing his formula from a milk based to a lactose free or soy based formula. We followed their suggestions but this morning the rash appeared worse, so we hit up the ped's office to have them check it out. It turns out he has a fungal rash and we will have to use lotrimin (sp?) and desitin with A&D. Hoping this will go away in 3-5 days like they said. If not, we'll be in the office on Monday for E's 9 month check up and shots. I feel so bad for the little guy, but it explains why he was becoming fussy early this week and why he still is. Praying it goes away fast!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with our families! On Thursday we went to my grandparents house for dinner. E got a new toy...that he absolutely LOVES! It lights up, plays music and rolls. He ate his first Thanksgiving dinner... turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots and stuffing. He sure was stuffed after eating all that and his milk. I think his bib said it best "I'm Stuffed". The poor boy barely could move but it sure did make for a good nights sleep!

On Friday, we went to Wauwautosa to visit with Dave's family. We had a great time with them. The girls played and entertained E with music, legos and a sit-and-spin that lights up and plays music. We sure missed out on that feature when we were little...darn it. He also got lots of love from his Grandma and Aunt. Jackson did not leave a dry cheek on Ev either :) He had plenty of love to go around.

Today we were glad to be back at home and chill out. We went to Family Grounds Cafe so Dave could check out our local hang out during the week. It was fun for Daddy to see Evan in his element! We built some towers, crawled all around the play space, bounced on some bouncy animal pillows, and played with the train set and cars. Later this morning we went to Best Buy to buy a new camera. LOVE IT!!! Still playing around with it, but boy have I been missing out. The picture quality is fantastic on the new one. After Ev's afternoon nap, we went to the park to snap a few shots of E in the leaves, on the swing and as Daddy did "tossers" with E. I posted some pics to the left. Hope to learn more ways to add depth to the photos and use different angles to achieve a higher quality picture. Can't wait :)

Overcoming food issues

Well what I once thought may be a problem is no longer a lingering one...phew! At one point in E's short life, he was refusing solid foods and when he didn't refuse foods, he'd only eat about an ounce of it, if that. It was terribly worrisome for me because all his friends were eating 3-4 ounces at one sitting, and wanting more! Luckily Ev has come around and is now eating just about everything. He is not a fan of turkey though. If it's ground, forget it. If it's in little pieces, he will suck on it and then swallow what's left of it. Aside from not liking turkey, he has added carrots, cauliflower, blueberries, peaches, bread, goldfish crackers, and shredded cheese. I made the mistake of giving him mandarin oranges before reading that it is a forbidden food...oops! Now I see why! When I took him out of the carseat the same day I fed the oranges to him, he was soaked!! His digestive system must not have been made to handle it yet, it came out as orange water...lol...at least he smelled sweet :0) Hoping to try some cottage cheese and yogurt next week!

On the road to recovery :)

Slowly... Evan is getting past his nasty cold!! He spiked a fever Thursday night and it lasted into Saturday morning. Poor little guy was on fire! You could cook bacon on him he was that HOT! On Saturday went to get E a swine flu shot, the first of two that he will get, and then we visited Aunt Callie. Callie was resting up from her surgery she had the day before and we were looking to bring her some company. We were happy to see her smiling despite the discomfort she was in. The cats were a bit unsure of Evan. He wanted to pet them, like he does with Dexter, but they didn't want anything to do with that. We were sad to have had to postpone our visit to our friend's, the Teschner's, but didn't want to chance spreading our germs to them and their new 2 week old little girl. Although we have missed out on a lot of fun things the end of last week and this past weekend, we are happy to say that we are back in full swing again with hope that we remain healthy for the rest of the winter...ha!

Another Cold

Poor little guy! It looks like he is on cold number 3. Hope this one is short and the worst day...today, is behind us :0)

Despite Ev's cold, Evan spent some time with his grandparents on Saturday while mommy was out with the girls and daddy was golfing. They went for a walk and played with his toys. He started getting some seperation anxiety and was crying for a good part of the visit. I hope this too shall pass!

E's a cruising machine these days. He's been finding lots of stuff like the door stopper-boinger thingy, Dex's bowls (yuck), and the toilet bowl (double yuck). All of our floor standing decorations in the house have been moved into the office closed off to our little Curious George :)

He now has a friend that he wrestles with. William and Evan give it back to each other at our play dates. It hysterical!! I should catch it on video sometime. I can only imagine what's to come as they get older..ahhh

Learning More

Well the nap schedule is back to where we used to be. Three naps a day... 8am, 12, and 3pm. Go figure! I thought we were finally getting down to just two longer ones. Oh well! Can't complain too much since he is a good sleeper :)

Today was a busy day!! We went to get Ev's 8 month pictures taken at Picture People. Won't have the pics for a couple of days, there printer was down...seriously?!?! And the internet system to send the pics to us via email was down...double whammy! We also went to our Aquababies class this afternoon. Evan learned how to sit on the side of the pool and lean into the pool as I caught him. He seemed to like it because he kept smiling as I counted one...two...three and he dipped into the pool!

Poor Daddy has been at a conference all week and is exhausted! We are looking forward to spending time with him this weekend. Yay for Daddy time!

Tomorrow we are having our friends over for a play date and book talk. Babies will be showing off their most recent accomplishments and the mommies will be discussing the book Love & Logic. Great book that I highly recommend!

Grrr...nap transitions

Well it's not due to the time change, but that didn't necessarily help matters, but E's naps are a changing :( Not too sure about it yet. Usually he takes three naps, 8, 12, and 3. Now, he is sleeping in later and going for his first nap around 9/9:30am. The second one isn't until 1pm. Hmm...I hope he and I get this figured out soon...ha! Hate being such a routine person, sure doesn't mix well with parenting ;0)

Trick-or-Treating

On Halloween Day, Dave, Evan, Dex and I carved Ev's very first pumpkin. He appeared to enjoy it! He wasn't too sure at first, probably wondering why we were letting play with his food when I am usually busy cleaning him up as he is eating and making a mess :0) But needless to say, he got into playing with the gooey slimey seeds and wasn't too happy when I took the bowl of seeds away so I could clean up the mess.

Around 4pm we headed out to trick-or-treat...lol...well sort of. Dave, Evan and I met up with some of our friends to walk up and down Greenview between Irving Park and Montrose while we talked and observed all the kiddos dressed in costume and the homes that were decorated. We had a lot of fun. Wishing we had known about this neighborhood's tradition in years past. Very festive! I think we will be laying low today since the last week has been so action packed. Need to refuel for this week...Gymboree class, Mama get-together, swim class, book and babes at our house, , hobbitland, mom's day & night out!

Halloween Party #2

Evan and I went to the library for our friend's Halloween Party! So many cute costumes. Being that it was unusually warm today, Evan was only able to keep his little monster costume on for about an hour before he became flushed and cranky. He probably also hated the fact that he can barely find his hands in the costume let alone see out of it. The teeth of the little monster hood kept falling into his eyes. After I took it off he was MUCH better. Crawling and playing with his friends and toys. Love our little monster!

Ev tried prunes today and scarfed them down. I think this may be his fave thus far...go figure! That is probably the sweetest fruit he's tried yet and he ate 2 ounces of it. I guess my theory of him not liking fruit is out the window...ha! Meat's on the menu for next week.

Our last Halloween party (for this year) is tomorrow night! It's a trick-or-treat type block party thing. Geared more for the parents than the kiddos. Hopefully we'll get some more "treats" than "tricks" from our little ones ;0) More pics to come!

Aquababies Day 2

So today was even more fun than our first class. Evan was like an old pro in the water. He knew exactly what to do. It was cute! Right after he got in the water with me, he was dunking his face in the water. Then as soon as our swim instructor started class, I held E in the front hold and he let his legs float back while he kicked his legs behind him. He also tried splashing the water which is something he wasn't too sure of at his first swim class last week. Grandma also came to watch and take lots of pictures. I will post one as soon as I can.

Headed to the Shedd

Evan and I went with some friends to the Shedd. A FUN day all around! I realized that it has taken me to have a child to see what great things Chicago has to offer...ha! We watched the diving show at the coral reef tank. While Evan was watching the fish he fell asleep :0) Very soothing & tranquil place for a nap. When he woke up, Jen, Tyler, Evan and I went for a walk around the exhibits. We saw Eels, baby sharks, and LOTS of colorful fish! We'll definitely be going back this winter.

Halloween Party #1

Today Evan, Dave, and I went to our first of 3 Halloween Parties at our friend's house. We all dressed up the kiddos in their oh-so cute halloween costumes (see pics aside) while we mingled and ate lots of food :0) Boy are they gonna hate us someday when they get a hold of these pics...HA!

After our halloween party, Grandpa and Aunt Callie came over to watch Evan for a few hours so Dave and I could catch a movie. It felt great to get out by ourselves while E spent some quality time with our little monster. They went on a walk and to the park with Dex. Ev showed off his crawling, pulling up moves, babbling, and how he eats his puffs. Quite the little character these days...that's for sure!

Ba ba blah blah ba

These are Evan's latest words. He also has been saying "ga ga da ga..." and "ma ba ma". Basically any combination of the vowel consonant sounds. Love seeing his latest and greatest accomplishments!

Musical Magic, Music Playhouse, & Aquababies classes

On Tuesday, Evan and I went with our play group to a trial music class. We are taking trial classes at various places to see which one we want to sign up for for the winter session. E didn't seem to sure of it. Although...I really really enjoyed it :0) Oh well!

On Wednesday morning we tried the Music Playhouse class through the park district. Super close but aside from a great location, it's hard to compare a this class that is hosted by the park district to a private, independently owned music class. Luckily E didn't seem to care for this one either. He much prefers listening to Daddy play and sing with the guitar. Thankfully there is one musician in the family! Phew!! After class we headed over to Julius Meinl for a cup of coffee and snacks with our friends before heading home for Evan's nap.

Later in the afternoon once E was well rested, we headed over to Galter Life Center for our first Aquababies swim class! Lots of fun! This one we registered for every Wednesday for eight weeks. Our friends, Nicole and William, are taking the class with us. E seemed to really enjoy it! He was smiling a lot once we were in the water for about 5 minutes. He learned how to splash, kick, and "sort of" float. He accidently put his face in the water, and of course, came up gasping for air with a not so happy look on his face. Funny thing...about two minutes later, he did it again, and then did it again and again. By the time he dunked his face in the water 3 times, he was laughing when his face resurfaced.

Rainy day today so we're heading to Family Grounds cafe with our play group this afternoon.

Juniper Park

Today Evan and I went to Juniper Park for a play date. Hopefully this was not our last one of the season. The weather was perfect and the company, as always, great! Evan found a few leaves that he thought would be a yummy addition to his diet...ha! Didn't taste all as good as it looked...I guess?!?!

Later in the afternoon, Evan's friend, Mia, came for a visit. Mia chased Dexter around while Evan watched in amazement.

E tried Butternut Squash for the first time today and liked it! I think we are going to try cauliflower in a couple of days.

Hobbit Land

Today we went to our favorite Friday hang out...Hobbit Land! E and I have been going with our friends for the past month. It's a play place for kids with TONS of toys, free coffee, and good conversation.

E's eating solid foods again, in fact he has been eating them for the past 3 days. He went for a couple weeks without eating any...actually refusing to eat any. He's eating about 3 tbsp a day and just this week added peas to his diet.

We started baby proofing this week...Oh My!!! He's moving quite quickly now and pulling himself on just about anything he can grab onto...hopefully he won't be walking anytime soon :0)

Visiting Family & Friends

Yesterday we went to visit Evan's Great Grandparents (my Grandparents :). We had a FUN time! Evan played pat-a-cake and cuddled a lot with Great Grandma and I got to see Evan's new Lionel train that Great Grandpa is passing onto him as soon as he polishes it all up. Aunt Callie also stopped by for a bit. After our visit with our Grandparents we went to Hoffman to visit my collleagues. E even got to see some of my students. He crawled to them and on them...a few even held him. It was cute!

Pumpkin Farm

Sunday we went to the pumpkin farm. E's first time!!! A bit cold but we had a good time. We went to the animal zoo and E got to see lots of the farm animals. He even saw some black pot bellied pigs that looked like Dexter. We found a big pumpkin that we hope to carve this weekend.

Long Overdue

Countless times I have thought about creating a family blog but never got around to creating one. As easy as it is to get one started, I knew it would be just one more thing to do...to update, upload pics, you know how that goes. And, although each days events and thoughts drove me to put it off for this long, I have FINALLY decided that there is no time like the PRESENT to create our family blog. So here it is. I hope you enjoy following it as much as I enjoy sharing it!