Good News, Bad News - it's all mostly good

The past week or so has been a whirlwind at our household. We've had visits with two grandmas - one bringing homeade dollie clothes (see picture), one bringing a suitcase that Eva likes to sit in! (see second picture) We've also taken some steps toward becoming first time home buyers (yikes!) and I (Liz) found out that a job I was really hoping would pan out for this fall did NOT work out (boo). Peter's work has ramped up as school starts again on campus, and I am newly job hunting, working on my dissertation writing, and learning a little more about historic Chicago bungalows and lawyer fees! We have a trip to Thailand to see my bro and sis in October to look forward to (yeah!) and of course Eva is changing every day. She is now into climbing onto everything, saying her 'alphabet' constantly (sounds something like "a, eee, ahh, yo, bee"), and being outside as much as possible. Whew - when I write it all out no wonder it seems like a lot. Some good, some hard - all of it seemingly "normal" these days.

I am grateful for all the good that is mixed in with the hard, and am trying to intentionally look at all of it lately. Peter and I have both been aware of how much we really do have, and how much there is to be grateful for, even in the middle of the unknown and the crazy parts! I wonder if this is more what this phase of adult life is going to feel like? Sort of catching up with what we can, adjusting expectations around each turn, mixing ordinary and extraordinary in the same breath, and reaching for balance each day? Like having fun at the dog beach Sunday afternoon and then coming home to do dishes and job hunt, or watching the sun brighten up Eva's little curls as she snuggles in my arms on the deck and realizing I am truly happy in that instant - and then the next instant having to wrangle her into her jammies while she's crabby and getting frustrated at all the loud street noise outside her bedroom window that is keeping her up at night. Huh - maybe this is real life now, maybe this is normal; kind of a wild, strange, unexpected and beautiful sense of normal - but I will take it.

Oh - one other thing - this Wednesday, my mom got tickets for us to go to a taping of Oprah! Good news! :) Summer is wrapping up a little crazy at our house - but yeah, there really is lots of good.

Summer Lovin' ... Part 2

(a few more fun things to remember from our summer...)

Favorite sweet moments:

- Watching Eva dress, feed, kiss and push around her dolls, stuffed animals and toys
- When I ask for a kiss and Eva gives me a big "mmmm-ah" and kiss; and then keeps kissing me!
- When Peter askes for a kiss and Eva gives him with a big "mmmm-ah," and then he melts and doesn't leave for work on time, just in case he might get more kisses! :)
- Reading, cuddling, singing and rocking in her chair at night together; Eva often wants me to kiss her lambie for her, kiss her forehead, and hold her hand/cheeks while falling asleep at night, which I truly love doing.
- Having her lean back on me while in my lap, or lay on/lean on me/Peter while we snuggle in bed together in the mornings.

Favorite funny moments:

- Dancing - while standing, sitting, at the table, in the car, in her crib, in her diaper, naked, in the tub.... you get the idea
- Twirling and twirling, around and around, to any music that is on - for so long that she gets dizzy, or tips over, or falls down laughing!
- Watching her try on things (hats, long bead necklaces, my shoes, Peter's shoes, sunglasses, our glasses, ...)
- Hearing her wake up in the morning (through the baby monitor), which usually sounds something like this: scuffling sounds, a few yelps, a dull thud from her lambie being thrown on the floor, a sharp snap from her paci being thrown on the floor, her music from her crib player thingy getting turned on, and then her cute little voice starts chatting/singing along with the music.
- Eva learning to whisper. She does it most often in the mornings when one of us gets up with her and the other one is sleeping (and by 'other one' I mean me.) When she wants to come into our bedroom to get the other parent up, she holds her finger up to her mouth and says, "shhhh," and then slowly pushes open the door and tiptoes over to our bed. Truly funny to watch.

Summer Lovin,' Had Me a Blast

It seems like summer is flying by lately - August always seems to do that. We've had a lot of fun these warm months with our newly walking, chatting, happy toddler. And I've learned that as a parent, I definitely enjoy this age more than the newborn stage! It feels like we have this real little girl now - a changing, evolving, learning, responsive, facinating little person that shares every part of life with us. I am slow to adapt to change sometimes (this is funny in its understatement, if you know me well!), but I am grateful that I now feel like I am in a place where I can fully embrace that I am a mom, that I even like being a mom, and most importantly, I LOVE being a mom to Eva and I LOVE seeing Peter be her dad. :) Ah, growth.

I want to remember some of fun things that have shaped our summer and the ways that Eva is changing, so I am compiling some "summer favorites" lists/pics. Here are the first few....

Favorite "firsts" this summer:

- Dance Class ("Everybody Move" infant and toddler sibling class in Evanston), where Eva learned to twirl, sing the rain/thunder/lightening song, and chase her older friend Lily

- morning visits to the library (Budlong Woods) where she was more interested in the other kids than she was in the books

- swimming in a kiddie pool with friends (Izey) and at the cabin

- visiting the playground and learning how to slide down the short slide on her own; watching her love the swings and swinging alongside mommy or daddy

Favorite "everyday moments" from our urban summer life:

- Eva playing out on the deck and entertaining herself (inside her tent, playing hide and seek with mom, watching the puppy and two girls in the yard next door)

- Eva yelling back (loudly) at the ambulance sirens as they drive by outside

- Pointing at the many airplanes that fly overhead (our apartment is located under three routes for planes landing at O'Hare)

- Watching Sesame Street.org video clips when we're inside (Elmo, Destiny's Child, Fiest, and the LaLaLa Song are favorites)

Stylin' Shades part 2 - or, "The Realistic Side"

This second, short little video of her with her new sunglasses shows another side of our little girl. It's not really about the sunglasses - instead, this clip captures a sweet, priceless everyday moment of cherubic little girl; namely, her predisposition to say "no, no, no, no," and repeat it over and over. :) I have trouble not laughing at her because I think the way she says it is so cute. Although Peter reminds me that over time, hearing a repetitive "no" will probably NOT be cute.

So to balance out all the cute little girl moments, here is our girl being - you know - a little 16 mos old girl. :)

Stylin' Shades

Thanks to a package from Auntie Alicia and Dave, Eva now has a toddler-size pair of sunglasses!

She spent quite some time trying her new accessory on in front of the mirror, laughing at herself when they were not put on just right, and showing them to me and to Peter - over and over and over. This kid cracks me up! And she is pretty cute in the glasses :).









This video is some classic Eva silly behavior; she walked around the apartment all night doing this, making herself laugh. (And PS, I cleaned that mirror today! Wow.)

For Liz's Birthday....

...We hit one of my favorite places on earth - Lincoln Park Zoo - where we saw a good friend and her toddler/hubby in the dairy barn there, ate lunch outside under the umbrellas, and explored all the best animal exhibits.

Later that night I also celebrated with the ladies out at Ravinia, but I was too relaxed drinking my wine and listening to Rachmaninoff to get out my camera and document that part! Woo hoo for turning 32.

Cabin 2009

Our last big trip this summer was to a cabin in Wisconsin with my parents for the week. Eva was there last year, but didn't fully appreciate the wide outdoors, boat rides and new house to explore at just three months old. This year she LOVED our vacay up north; especially all the time with Grammy Lou and Gramps, kissing all the pretend animals in the yard, and standing with her face in the wind at the front of the pontoon boat. Even though we had some cooler than normal temps (so yes, that is a fleece jacket that Eva is wearing in several of the pictures), she got to swim, ride and help drive the pontoon boat, "fish" with dad, take walks, blow bubbles, and have lots of fun inside the cabin too.

Peter and I also had an amazing week - a big break from "normal" life thanks to our two almost full-time grandparent babysitters. We loved sleeping in/getting up to run when we wanted, taking walks into town for coffee and email breaks, going out for a movie date at night, and having more time to enjoy Eva along with help from more hands around to do all the other day to day demands that life brings. Having family and friends excited to help out with a baby/toddler is something that I never understood until I experienced it as a (relatively) new parent; there are few things more supportive and meaningful at this stage in our lives. And there is nothing quite as sweet as watching your child be loved unconditionally by others who love her too - we're lucky.