Eva seems older lately when...

- She gives girl hugs, where her arms reach all the way around my neck and she pulls me in :) LOVE IT.
- I realized that she outgrew her first set of underwear - she has already grown another size and a half!
- She has little hair on her arms and legs now!
- She has for real little girl tan lines
- She breaks into serious dance numbers whenever she hears songs on the radio, in the car, at home, etc. - but her moves don't seem very baby-like; they seem, in fact, quite coordinated and fit the music well!
- She continues to ask to be a ballet or dance class (see above bullet point)
- She has new bruises, scratches, scabs and bumps almost every day
- She likes trying to write her name (with a pen especially), but insists on drawing 4 horizontal lines on her capital "E" instead of three 

Celebrating Eva at Three Years Old!

It is amazing to me that it was three year ago that Eva came into this world! The root word behind her name means "life," and many times over this past year I've thought about how much life she carries everywhere she goes, and how much life she brought to me in so many ways. As she turns three, I think about the things that make her who she is, the things I want to celebrate and cultivate and remember - and smile over....
Eva is fundamentally an emotional, creative, and exuberant personality. She's quick to learn and pretend, is creative and musical, loves the trampolene and playing tag, is pretty extroverted and talkative with others, and has kept her on-going love affair with puppies and dogs of all forms as she gets older. She loves the Sound of Music, reading, kiwi, her sandbox, swimming/baths, chocolate, being goofy and silly, playing with her dollhouse, being with friends, dancing, her trains, dress-up, cuddling with her mom, coloring, and cooking with her dad.   

Eva has grown up a lot this past year; she often makes these colossal jumps forward and I feel like we catch up afterward. Oh, now you wear size 4T and 5T and you have three new inches of hair somehow!  Oh, now you want to do that all on your own, are strong enough for that, and won't eat that. Thanks for letting me know. :) She's made amazing leaps in her capacity for learning, talking, listening, remembering, being creative, and in relationships with others. She explained "echo-location" and how bats squeak to find things while on a car ride the other day, easily remembers the words to songs she hears more then a couple times, and can whack her t-ball across the yard without hesitation. She surprised me by starting to write the first two letters of her name lately, and has long been able to spell her name and also M-O-M. Her logic seems to grow daily, as she strings together how food goes in your tummy and then turns into poop, how seeds need water and sun and then they grow into plants, how if she listens well she gets a sticker and then she gets a new toy (we think she gets this one - we'll see!). She tenderly cares for and dresses her baby dolls, makes up animal sounds and names routinely, and loves pretending of all kinds - with her doll house people, baby dolls, animals, puppets, book characters, little people, etc. She's also still crafty, loving paint/draw/color/cut and glue/sticker time, and pretend reads to herself often.  

Opening birthday presents last week

Eva is also still very expressive, and I watch with interest as her emotions continue to develop. She still flaps her arms when excited (which is often), and exuberantly welcomes people when she sees them with big hugs and exclamations of, "I am so glad that you're here!"  She loves time with our friends who come over, family out of town who visit, friends her age at church, and folks she sees all the time - like the grocery store guy who gives her chocolate, or the teacher at gymnastics. She also feels and names new feelings lately, like being proud, guilty, or feeling shy. It is cool to watch Peter help her understand her feelings when they overwhelm her (and sometimes me!), as the two of them talk through what she feels or what he intuitively understands she feels when she isn't able to express it herself. He is such a great dad in many, many ways, but it's a God-given gift that he can help her process and feel her wide range of emotions in certain settings, since he is wired more that way himself. I, on the other hand, tend to help her talk about her feelings and her thoughts, and provide the verbal affirmation that she is safe and connected and loved, based on my wiring. Eva sometimes seems to ask each of us for this emotional affirmation, that she is solid, she is secure, safe and connected. It could be reaching out to hold my hand in the car, or snuggling up at night, or taking my cheeks in her hands; maybe its jumping on her dad to tickle with him or chasing him while brushing her teeth - she's just a fabulously affectionate little person. 

Ta-da! New ballerina leotard!

Eva is also a bit of a performer already and loves to make up songs, dance in her ballerina leotard, dress up, try on clothes/hats/shoes in front of her mirror, and see pictures/videos of herself. She laughs at herself and us easily, and has a giggle that lights up the room!  Her common phrases include, "Oh dear," "That's cool," "Maybe I will....," and "Here's the deal...." She has started throwing in surprising vocab words too, like "actually," "definitely," and "recently" - although she says, "last year" for any unit of time previous to the present. She still easily picks some basic spanish from tv shows and a few books, and loves hearing her french books read to her too.   

We've also continued to see what Eva doesn't do so well. She's not great at goodbyes, or with not knowing that something is happening ahead of time - especially a big transition. She is also perfecting the art of making discipline of all varieties into a power-struggle. She doesn't do veggies right now, doesn't listen super well if she's distracted or playing on her own, and gets pretty cranky if she watches too much tv (obviously more of a parent lesson here :) !) She can be bossy and is also what is sometimes called a strong-willed kid, or a strong personality in many ways - she quickly shares her opinions, feelings, wants, and needs (sometimes this is a good ting, sometimes it's a challenge.) I wonder if she'll struggle with her wide ranging emotions as she gets older, and I think about how much her emotional sensitivity to tone and discipline shape how we as parents can love and guide her. I also marvel at how in touch she is with what she is feeling, how full of excitement she is, how she can mischievously growl at and then compassionately hug her toys a second later. 

Even though I think the power-struggle days have just begun, I can't wait to see all that this next year brings with it for our little Eva Margaret. She's so full of potential and life, and I keep being amazed by her each day! Happy birthday to Eva M - aka, baby puppy, little bird - you're truly a gift.                         

Check out the memory on this kid!

I have been stunned at Eva's capacity to remember details, stories, and events lately. She regularly recounts things to me that have happened months, or even a year, before with specifics, accuracy, and certain details that stuck out to her at the time - and that seem to still help her recall the tale now. This morning seems to have triggered a bunch of her specific tales, because in the last two hours she has recounted the following stories/details for me:

 - (While sitting in the dining room next to some Christmas decorations:) Look at the carved Santa momma, its carved, its wooden, its made of wood. Do you know who carved it? Jed did! And Santa is holding a birdie, he is not waving, he is holding a birdie. And he is made of wood. (This story is completed by details I gave her about a month ago when we got out our Christmas decorations, and she randomly brings it up every few days or so, almost exactly in this same order.)

- Look at baby Jesus momma, he is sleeping, but he is not inside his house, he is outside, he is in a manger. He is by the other guys, those guys rode camels. Did you know those guys rode camels? They rode camels for a long time to visit baby Jesus, they rode camels a long time. And Jesus was inside his mommy's tummy and she rode a donkey, and then he was outside her tummy, and he was born! (She pulled these facts together from various stories, books, and times looking at the nativity - today was the first telling of this particular tale.)

- Did you know we want to a museum, and there was a scary statue, and we didn't go up the stairs, and Izey didn't want to go up the stairs, and then we went on the alelater (elevator) and we saw colors and books and hats? (Recalling our trip to the Swedish American Museum about a week ago with Izey and family - she remembers him not liking a scary statue and has told many people about this, kind of with the tone of, "So don't try to go by that statue ok? Bad idea.")     

- (Walking through the dining room while we are playing something else, she says:) One time we were at a museum and it was dark, and we had to be really quiet - and look, I was there! (Here I figure out what she is talking about, as she's pointing at our Ravinia poster on the dining room wall that shows a night scape scene of an outdoor concert there.) We were really quiet, and then we heard music, and it was Peter and the Wolf music (I think this translates as classical music in her brain!), and then we sat down, and it was dark, and I was really quiet and there were stars.

- (After talking to Grammy on the phone, the story I heard was:) When Grammy and Gramps come I can ride in their van, and we can all get groceries, and Gramps can sit in the back, and momma can drive, and Grammy and daddy can sit in the back, and we can all ride in the van together, and I wear my seat belt and then I don't fall out of the van and then I don't fall and get hurt, and then I can get to make cookies and ride in the van!

- (In the office, she looks up at the bookshelf and sees my camera and says:) Momma that's your camera, and one time Josh was sleeping and I was with Izey. (I was stumped here so asked a question or two, to which she replied:) I was with Izey and Ando and we heard Josh snoring, you know, big Josh? He was sleeping and snoring and we didn't wake him up, but we were playing and you had your camera and I was at Izey's house! (This was an actual accurate story of her view of a birthday party - either Ando's or Izey's, probably at least one year ago, could have been earlier even, when we were hanging out at Danielsons and Josh snoozed on the couch a little. I was a little floored at this one!)

- And my all time most amazed memory example from this kid happened a month or two ago, when she and I drove out to a suburb to the JCPenney photo studio, which we only do once a year to get her picture taken. We drove into the parking lot, and got out of the car, and she started to ask, "Where is Kara?" (that is her Aunt in Minneapolis,) and I was confused and said something like how Kara isn't here, she lives in Minnesota remember? But we can skype her if you want later, etc. But the girl keeps asking for Kara, and says Kara is here, Kara is here, where is she? And then I remember - Kara came with us, one year ago, to pick up our portraits at this same store. We had not been there since then, and somehow, even though it was hazy in my own head, Eva connected the parking lot of this mall store to who we came with last time. Unreal to me! She also asked for Meghan once we got into the studio inside - her Auntie who came with to help her smile for the photos the past two years when she was in town. So the parking lot is associated with someone, the studio is associated with someone else, and somehow being in those surroundings pricks her memory from a year ago. Crazy!     

What I Love About Eva at Two Years Old....

Our little girl just celebrated her second birthday! Two years ago we brought this tiny little bundle home - and now she is tearing up and down the hallway and making up stories for us and her dolls. Time does keep flying by…



I wanted to document what I love about Eva at this age, and the cute and funny things that make her Eva Margaret. At two years old, I would describe Miss Eva as spunky, giggly, sweet, cuddly, outgoing, sensitive, extroverted, smart, funny, fearless, and active. She loves being on the move, being around other kids and adults, and trying out new stuff. She has many little personality traits that keep developing – she laughs at herself and us easily, sometimes even being silly or playing tricks on us; she almost always loves reading to herself or being read to; she picks up words and emotions from people around her pretty quickly; she’s fairly adaptable and flexible, but also thrives on some structure and having things explained to her ahead of time (which Peter thinks might be her mom’s influence!) She’s definitely had her bad weeks/phases (where nursery at church was hard, babysitters couldn’t put her to bed, or she got really whiney and crabby for no real reason) – as all toddlers do. But in general, she’s a pretty easy going, vocal, sweet and smart little girl who I daily marvel at. Also, I think she is about the most adorable kid I’ve ever seen but – that is just me.

So – Happy Birthday Eva M! Your mommy and daddy love you so much and so do a lot of other people. I can’t wait to keep seeing the little girl that you grow into and keep learning how to be your mommy. Cheers!

I love…
- watching her cook “wuffahs” (waffles) in the morning with her daddy
- when she bonks my glass with her sippy cup and says, “chaizz” (cheers)
- reading the Ladybug Book and the Counting Kisses book at night while cuddling
- having her ask me to sing Baby Mine and hold her at night while cuddling
- how she scrunches up her nose to make her ‘cute face’
- how anytime she hears music she likes she dances, swinging her bum and shoulders back and forth, and often asks me to dance too
- seeing her excitement over so many things; walking up and down the stairs, playing peek a boo, Pooh, Elmo, going to the park, getting in the car, when her favorite songs begin, taking a bath, swimming, going outside, taking a walk, having her favorite sitters come over, having friends come over, when she can hear one of us coming up the stairs to come home, etc. When she’s excited she still wildly flaps her arms up and down and opens her mouth like a little birdie, like she has since she was tiny!
- watching her tuck in, feed, and take care of her baby dolls
- when she spontaneously breaks into singing the alphabet at the top of her lungs
- when she counts to thirteen (“firteen”) but almost always forgets “4”
- when she says, “be right back,” or “wait just a mitten” (minute), ‘cause she hears us say that; or “bit of elmo” to watch a video on the computer, “I hung-ee” when she’s hungry, or “crib, up ‘n down sky” to get in our bed and be lifted up high and dropped down by her dad
- how she always picks up on when people/characters in a book or on tv feel sad, even often crying or making sad sounds along with them (“aww, baby sad”)
- how she carefully sets up and runs her train on the tracks and over the bridge, over and over and over..
- how great she is at puzzles, especially the shapes and animals (with the missing fish) ones
- how often she says “okay – okay – okay,” “again, again,” and “yesss.”
- how she likes to go into a room, closet or bathroom by herself (even in the dark), close the door, and giggle until we open the door to “surprise” her; then she says “Stay! Go!” indiscriminately (she confuses those words.)
- that she likes to watch and ‘play’ Zuma  - she calls it the ‘froggie game, ball game’
- how she will talk to herself while laying in her crib, often going over the day she just finished at night or remembering stuff in the morning, like talking about a random event that stuck in her mind from earlier in the week (i.e., “Izey sick, mommy daddy home soon, swing park, abcs….”)
- that she usually obeys/responds when we explain something and reinforce it once or twice (so far!)
- that she likes to help “keen” (clean) with her broom, and by taking baby wipes around the house and cleaning her chalkboard and the mirrors, etc.
- how she plays with her hippos/duckies/turtles/dollie in the bathtub, often making up conversations between them all as they ‘climb’ around the tub
- snuggling in the morning with her and Peter in our bed; including having her tell us to ‘seep, seep’ and ‘awake, wake up’ while we pretend to be asleep or awake, and including Peter’s many flip and twirl and flying games in our bed
- hearing her uproarious giggle – when she gets tickled (especially under the chin), chased, when we play catch or kick the ball up and down the hall, and when she looks over the shoulder of one of us on the stairway and sees the other person behind her on the stairs
- that she loves to go fast on the road (while I am driving) and spots buses, trucks, cars, and stop signs from the backseat with great enthusiasm
- that she knows when we are getting close to certain routine destinations just based on the roads, like the ‘him, him’ (gym) where she plays ‘base-bull’ (basketball) in the playroom, or ‘Izey’s house’ (where she hangs out on Fridays.) We can be several blocks away from where we’re headed and she will recognize where we are heading – which amazes me!
- how she closes her fists and puts them under her chin when we pray, and loudly says “Ah-mein” when we are done
- how she sings along with songs like Winnie the Pooh, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Frosty, ABC’s, Jesus Loves Me, Sesame Street, Elmo’s World, Rock A Bye Baby, Baby Mine, Sing a Song, and my favorite, Halo (from Glee.)
- that she wants both her crib rainforest music player AND her CD player on a the same time while going to sleep
- seeing her dress up (in her hats, in her sunglasses, in our shoes, in empty boxes, with her necklaces, with her purses, with my bracelets, in my hats, etc.)
- how after we tuck her into bed, she pulls the covers up to her chin, snuggles with lambie, and waves to us while saying “bye, bye.”
- that when I come home after being gone she runs up to me, gives me a huge hug, and yells “Mommy! Mommy! You home! I yuv you, I yuv you, I yuv you too.”  That is the best.

What did you just say?

I have been pretty surprised at several phrases coming out of my little girl's mouth this week. I don't know if it's her super smart babysitter, my amazing mothering skills, or the influence of Sesame Street kicking in, but I have been wondering -when did she learn to talk like this?

- This morning she greeted me with, "Hi Mommy! I love you! Time to play - come with me."

- After her nap, she yelled, "I have poopy diaper. Change now."

- At lunch, she made up a song (that she sang at the top of her lungs) that included the phrases, "me and you play together," and "puppy and goose and goat play in the park. Goat and goose eat outside." (Recently she loves seeing the geese peck around for food in the snow in the park, and she's always loved puppies - and I don't know where the goat came from, probably from one of her fave puzles?)

- Before leaving the house with her dad for a walk (wearing her adorable sunglasses and pink mittens), she confided in me, "I walk with daddy now. Daddy stand on feet. Eva walk too."

????

Complex ideas and sentences, made up several phrases, made up of a bunch of words? What is going on?

Yep, I love it. Can't wait to communicate with my girl even more.

A 23 month old....

...now lives at our house! Eva has become a funny, talkative, opinionated but easy-going, cute and smart little person. Each day I realize more and more how much of an independent personality we now have in our toddler. Her latest favorite activities include playing with her fisher price toys, in her tent, talking with Elmo, reading (by herself or to her animals), rocking her babies, and pretending to do anything along with me/Peter. She's also developed a definite goofy side - she will tickle us, surprise us under the covers, and cover her face in a smirk pretty often. She also sings along to a handful of songs, including Halo and I Could Have Danced All Night (from Glee), and old faves like Frosty, Jingle Bells, Baby Mine, the Alphabet, and Jesus Loves Me.





I am often surprised by how many words she knows, including concepts, feelings, and memories about people or events. She is especially into animals, shapes, the snow, music, dancing, moving and tumbling, and chicken nuggets lately :). Not bad for an almost two year old!

Funny Phrases From a 20(ish) Month Old

- Eva routinely stands up, points both hands outward in a wide gesture, and exclaims, "Ta-da!" This can happen when she wakes up from a nap, when she puts together a toy, when she gets all dressed up in her winter wear - really anything she is proud of or just done with. It's awesome.

- When Eva is upset about something that is going to happen, like us leaving her or turning off Sesame Street, she know states emphatically ahead of time, "I cry, I cry" - which sounds like, "I kai, I kai."  Then she half fake, half for real starts to cry - with her hands up on her cheeks. Except for the part where she is really truly sad, it's pretty funny. :)

- When Eva is done with an activity, or done being with a certain person (could be a babysitter, one of us parents, a grandparent, etc.) she turns to that person/activity and loudly says, "Bye-bye." Even if you are mid-way through an activity, or in the middle of holding her, or still hugging her good-bye, if she is done, she declares "bye,bye" - several times, while waving bye to you - and that is that.

- Eva has discovered the fine art of tickling, which anyone who knows her dad will not be surprised at. She has helped tickle other people for awhile now (by 'tickling' I mean sort of scratching, sort of wiggling her fingers generally in the direction of someone else.) Recently she added tickling herself to her repertoir - so her routine goes something like this: yell, "Tick! Tick!" then wiggle fingers at mom, wiggle fingers at dad, tickle self in the tummy while falling over backwards on the couch, repeat.  

- Her current counting usually goes something like this: : "1, 2, 8, 9... TEN!"

- Her current alphabet singing goes something like this: "a, b, Ceeeeee, d, eh, eh, Geeee.... eh, eh, eh, eh, l, m, oh, oh, Peeeee.... eh... Veeeee, ....Zeeee... eh, eh, eh, eh, a, b, Ceeees, ...... Meeeeeee." 

Fave Books List

Grandma V suggested once that we write down Eva's favorite books before we forgot what they were, and I thought that was a good idea! Parents everywhere will know what I mean when I say that just typing in each book title reminds me of exactly which page, which sentence, and which picture made/makes Eva squeal with glee. And yes, I can recite from memory most of these books... not sure if that is something to be proud of or not? :) But I am proud of how much Eva and both of us parents love reading together - and do want to remember these titles in the future.

First/Early Favorite Books:

- Where is Baby's Belly Button? (flip book)
- Tails (touch and flip bk)
- Alphabet Books (Baby Einstein in a Box Series)
- Goodnight Gorilla
- Where is Baby? (flip book)
- Baby's First Words (fish on front)
- Touch and Feel Farm Animals
- Are You My Mother? (soft bk with plush bird)
- Global Babies

One Year Old Favorites:

- Duck Ellington Plays Jazz
- Ella Elephant Sings Scat
- God Loves You Just As You Are
- Baby's First Nursery Rhymes (peek through bk)
- Baby's First Bible (peek through bk)
- Baby's Praise Songs (peek through bk)
- On Noah's Ark
- Snuggle Puppy
- A Baby's First Year (Eva's Birthday Book!)

18 month old Favorites:

- Go Dog, Go
- 4 Pups and a Worm
- Counting Kisses
- Dr. Suess's Alphabet Book
- Corduroy BIG Book
- Elmo and the Schoolhouse
- Green Eggs and Ham

Pigtails!

Yesterday, for the first time, I put little pigtails in Eva's hair!

This was due to two mini-miracles taking place: 1) I finally found little bands small enough to go in her baby-fine hair, and 2) she sat still for a total of 45 seconds while I put them in. :)

 

Ah-May (Amen)

Eva is steadily learning when and how to pray. Before meals that include both Peter and I (usually supper), she will stop us when we both sit down by saying "ah-may, ah-may" (amen), while nodding her head. Then she points to one of us, usually me, to signify that I should start to pray. She holds her hands together under her chin, and watches us intently, sometimes whispering along while we pray. When we say "Amen," she says "ah-may" again, and about half the time, gets upset and points to the other person to indicate that she wants someone to keep on praying.

Once we went back and forth between Peter and I praying before our meal about three times each, because Eva was so upset each time one of us ended our prayer and stopped praying. That particular instance, I was having one of those days where I didn't feel like praying at all - much less over and over as an example for my kiddo. I remember that I started to get a little teary eyed as my 1 1/2 year old kept clearly telling her mom, then her dad - then her mom, then her dad - to keep praying. She listened and engaged with us during each prayer; she was not playing or distracted by something else. Who knows what she actually got out of the content of our prayers, but I sure noticed my own content. Slowly, throughout our mini-prayer-marathon, I moved from my beginning prayers of, "thank you for our food and our day and for our daughter," to praying things like, "Thank you that you listen to us all day even when the days are hard; help me to remember to pray more God; I need you more then I realize."

It felt very profound to me to be pushed to pray by Eva, and to be praying both for her, and for me, in a more genuine way before that meal. I realized that I don't always really pray from my heart like that when I pause for a cursory prayer before a meal; heck, we don't even always pause before every meal to pray. Except now, when we're with Eva, gathered as a little family with her pointing at us, whispering along and solemnly folding her hands, smiling and watching us, listening to our every word as we talk to God and talk to her - it makes me want to do it more.

One and a Half?

We crossed another milestone last week; Eva is now 1 1/2. To me that sounds old somehow - which I think is more due to the fact that our little girl is fully a toddler and seems to have lept ahead in several kinds of growth spurts recently, all of which remind me how fast she's growing up.

Personality at 18 months:
- Eva knows what she wants and is more adept at telling us what that is. She yells often and speaks loudly to command our attention - but then easily adapts if you listen to her or talk with her enough so that she feels hears. She still yells back at honking horns or loud animals - maybe she will always be a fiesty "right back at you" kind of verbalizer. :) That would be kind of fun.

- Evy also does her fair amount of falling apart into tantrums for now real discernable reason - but is usually distracted into being happy again by stickers, songs (especially Old MacDonald Had a Farm,) or fun fruits. These are magic bullets people!
- Eva has intense looks! Strangers in stores will point out how cute she is, AND how cold and steely her glare is. She does the glare for lots of reasons, I can't always figure out the why - but it does communicate volumes! Her looks now tend to match her feelings and gestures/words much more.

- Eva will take a bath, jump in a pool, play with water or in water, splash with a bowl full of water - do just about anything with water for as long as we will let her. HOURS in a pool and this girl loves it. Dumping water by little spoonfuls (and large bucket-fuls) over the side of the deck - never gets old.
- Eva is much stronger lately, pulling herself onto chairs, shelves, couches, beds, up and down her nightstand and window ledge- whatever she can manage to get access too. She is also more sturdy on her feet when she does climb up and down, and is also almost always excited to be chased, swung, twirled, danced with, thrown around, etc.

- Eva likes being tickled! (Which is good news for her tickle-happy dad.) If you start to tickle her, say rubbing the bottomof her foot, when you stop, she will lift her foot up in front of you and say, "go, go, go" until you tickle her again.

- Eva understands my basic discipline and limits I tell her; not that she always obeys, but I can tell she knows at least 90% of what I tell her and she follows complex directions or requests easily. She wanders away when we are out together, but looks back to check for me. Sometimes she will run farther then I told her she could, and then stop to see me come get her and tell her no.

- Eva is genuinely delighted to see us (me and Pedro) lately. She will wake up in the am/after naps or come home/see one of us return back home and literally pump her arms with full force, or squeal in delight, or run over and forcefully give us a leg hug, or smile super wide and jump into our arms for a squeeze, usually all while chattering and talking Eva-speak to us. It is amazing to me how cool this reaction feels as a mom; such genuine feedback and connection from this little girl! Love it.

No doubt about it, she's getting to be her old regular little person!

Language Development*

Favorite new phrases:

- mow, lee (more, please)

- go, go, go, go, go (when she wants to go - mainly leave the house for the park or car)

- noo-ow (no way)

- yum-um, yum-um (yummy, or I am hungry)

New words:

- uh - uhp, uh - uhp (up, up)

- ow... ow-tuh (out, out)

- caw (car)

- coh (cow)

- moo (moon)

- wah-ow (wow)

- stick (stickers)

- ah-boo (apple)

- choch (clock)

- chram (grammie-grandma)

- doe (door)

- bah-bah-bah (lamb)

- yee-a (yeah)

- poo, poo-uhl (pool)

- bah/buh-boo (bath - keeps adding words for this one!)

- ah -may (amen)

- ah-do (all done)

* I could write a whole chapter surrounding just this area of 'language development;' it would include emails I should not read from 'linguistic specialists' who scare moms of toddlers, emails I should not read from moms who try to compete with the universe through their kids' early language skills, and my own surprise at being affected by Eva's quirks in her timeline for this developmental area. But, suffice it say, I've been happy to hear her reading, talking, pointing, and listening to more and more words each week. I think she is probably soaking in a lot about her world right now, as she should be, and will not be destined to remain in special ed her whole life, despite not speaking in short sentences by 12 months (as one of the aforementioned emails enticed me to believe.) Sigh. :) Being a mom is nuts sometimes, nuts!

I have lately returned to being able to notice and encourage her word acquisition and growing comprehension, but chill out about the speed and accuracy with which she connects it all together. So now it's fun to reflect on how she says words and which words are common in our house, because already her vocab is so different then it was a few months ago.

It feels good to stop and reflect/remember who she is lately, and who she seems to be becoming. I now understand why parents always say 'they grow up so quickly' - I think time is forever different when you nurture a little person literally from their entrance into the world into becoming a walking, talking, hugging, school-attending, school-graduating, home-leaving person of their own. I never got that before Eva! Ah, I have a one-and-a-half-year old. :)

Proud Owners of a New and Improved.....Toddler

I think it's official; we have a toddler in the house. Here are a few snippets of our last week and why Eva has me convinced that she is truly fulfilling the age-appropriate stereotype:

Cute thing she did all morning: said "Wow!" over and over when she saw something she liked.
Not as cute thing she did the same morning: threw her hat in the toilet.

New skill she has mastered: climbing stairs
Skill she has regressed on: walking (she now prefers that mom and dad swing her along in between us while she sings and squeals)

Her new words that she says accurately: mo (more), Ah-do (Ando - for little Anders Danielson), bay-bee (baby), may-ow (meow, when she sees a kitty), dat (dad - in addition to the previously learned "daddy") and goh-goh-goh-goh (for go)
Her new words that she often confuses: ah-doh (all done) and a-may (amen)

Sweet thing she now does: cuddles much more & gives us hugs/kisses un-asked for - and often!
Not so sweet thing she now does: smears yogurt/hummus/'insert-food-product' here, all over her arms/legs/face/ 'insert-body-part-she-can-reach-while-in-her-high-chair' here.

Ah, Eva - she is a funny kid. :)

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)

For the Love of Reading

Eva has a very cute habit of "reading" books to herself. It started around 11 or 12 months, and she began to do her reading routine regularly at about 13 months old. She will open her books, turn the pages, point to characters and letters on the page, and chatter away as if she can read the story outloud to herself. She doesn't always turn every page, and often she will get almost to the end of a book and then flip through the pages backwards and start reading again somehere near the front, but she really does almost have the hang of how to read! (Oh, yeah, minus the ability to actually talk, read, or translate letters into words - minor details, really.)

I used to have to catch her in the act of reading outloud, or she would stop if she saw me, so this first video is her reading in her room with me around the corner in the hallway filming her - it's from maybe two weeks ago. I can often hear her little voice in her room when she is on her own, reading and entertaining herself, just like this video clip shows:



Now she is more comfortable reading outloud to herself even with me around, so the second video is us out on the deck together and I am sitting next to her, and was taken just a couple of days ago. She is a little sick in this video, so near the end you will see her, um, mood swing. :)



It has definitely been cool to see her enjoy being read to a she gets older, and now to see her reading on her own like this! I hope that her interest keeps developing into a true love of reading as she gets older and can, you know, actually read!

Use Your Words...

Eva has started talking! Here are some of her first words, roughly in order of when she learned them.

These first words started awhile ago, probably around 7/8 months old:

momma/dadda

hi

pup (dog/puppy)

yum-mmm (meaning more food or I'm hungry)

These words are more recent, most of them started around 13 months old:

meh-mo (Elmo)

no (notice how quickly that one developed?)

buh-bo (bubble)

baby

I-zee (Izey, name of her "godbrother")

ot-tah (hot, as in "hot eggs")

bye-bye

nigh-nigh (good night)

poo-ee (yep, that means poop)