Firsts

Firsts this summer that I want to remember include:

- first Father's Day present that she picked out by herself (fish wind chimes from 10,000 Villages)

- first church picnic (with LOTS of sunscreen, courtesy of Sanne)

- first time writing her own name (mostly; A is still hard; and the E has 4-5 horizontal lines)  :)


- first time on a roller coaster, and other kiddie rides (at Cedar Point)

- first paddleboat ride (at cabin) 

 - first trip to Seattle (visiting Bo and Megs with Grammy and Gramps for their 40th)

- first week going to VBS (at NPCC, Egypt and Joseph theme)

 

- first Lego sets (Winnie the Pooh fishing, and outdoor fruit market stand), first Trio set (Construction set with wrecking ball), and first princess doll (Ariel for the bath)   

 - first play (Rapunzel, that we saw with Kate, Izey and Ando)

 - first garden - for all three of us :) - including a plot at church and one in our backyard

 - and that reminds me... first backyard :)

 
- first ballet class

- first Cubs game at Wrigley (on an unseasonably cold and rainy night, with dad, Leah, Sanne and families.)
 

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Today we attended the Chicago Kid's Company production of "Rapunzel" along with a couple hundred screaming youngish and school-age kids. It was surprisingly good :) - by that I mean, for low-cost tickets and while playing to a kid audience, the cast did a great job of entertaining older and younger kids, and making me laugh a few times too! They were great actors, sang songs that engaged the kids, did several costume changes, used music and lighting to signal changes in scene and emotions, and the experience kept Eva's arms flapping most of the performance.

The five-member cast was also very sweet afterward and greeted the streams of kids who stopped by to meet them. Eva loved Rapunzel's hair, petted it a little, and then talked to the actress who played Rapunzel in order to explain to her (very seriously) that her hair did not grow as long as Rapunzel's did. :)

We went to the play with our family/friends who had seen this company perform before, and we got front row center seats in the auditorium. All three kids did great and seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. Our godson Isaac even developed a mini-crush on Rapunzel; here is his little-too-long hug with her after the show.

Eva wasn't too sure about going to a "concert," as she kept calling it before we went, and wondered if she would like having to be quiet or the lights going to dark between scenes. But - she loved this show. On the walk out she was already asking when we got to go see them perform again. During the show she waved her hand to volunteer information and sang along with the songs when asked, laughed repeatedly, and also jumped into my arms a few times when Nexus (witch/mean gardener figure) was on stage. What a fabulous memory of Eva's first time attending a play!  

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.                         

It's the Little Things

Little things that have reminded me that our two year old is rapidly growing up lately include:

- needing to dry her long and ever-thickening hair before going to bed at night, and hearing her say, "I have blond hair! It is called blond!"
- having her look at me with her intense lowered eyes face and say, "I am disappointed," when I tell her she can't climb over the couch.
- watching her at an adult birthday party tonight and seeing her introduce herself, ask about the Christmas tree, listen and have conversations with people of all ages, and mostly just blend right in! (well, along with entertaining people, spinning, and dancing during the singing)
- reading her longer and longer books and having them hold her attention
- hearing her remember things from up to a year ago that she recounts in great detail to me
- watching her connect with friends her age and kids a little older with absolute glee - she always goes for hand holding, playing chase together, and laughing while dancing. I can just see her doing this as she gets older!   
- hearing her call me "Mom" sometimes, along with the regular momma/mommy
- hearing her say, "I will do that myself." :)

Moving - and Finding Home...

Last weekend we made the official leap over to our new apartment, a few doors north of our previous one. With the help of some friends and cute short people running around underfoot, we hauled all of our big pieces and much of our small stuff up the road (thanks again helpers!!)  We had been moving over bookshelves/books, artwork, ktichen stuff, etc. before this weekend, but now - we really live in our new digs. As in, we sleep, shower, and have most of our life set up over here. And so far, we like it. We have plenty of work left, including continued cleaning and unpacking and moving in both spaces - but, its been pretty fun so far and our new apt is MUCH larger and fits our life really well.

Eva loves her new bedroom and has slept through the night without any trouble in her new big girl bed! woo hoo! She is, however, waking up a little earlier and starting her signature call for us; "Can you hear me?  Hello - can you hear me? I am awake! Let's play!" Her room is now definately a big girl room - no baby stuff, a full dresser full of big kid clothes, dresses hung up in her own closet, her cuddly toys in her own little bed - no dual space use in her room either. The only time I got nostalgic while making this move was when we started packing up her old bedroom, the office turned baby-space that we so carefully painted, hung up pcitures in, built her crib and stocked it with diapers, in. It kind of hit me that we brought her home to this empty room crafted so carefully and then she became part of our home/family after that. When we first brought her home it felt so foreign and like an experiment! Who is that bundle laying in that other room? Now, every move we make, she will make it with us and define a lot of where and how we set up home. Kind of crazy for me to think about.

Overall Eva's done great with all the moving transitions, but she did have one meltdown the day after all the excitement of the move that kind of broke my heart. She had been going back and forth between the two apartments while we moved for about two weeks now, and after her first night over here in the new space, was fighting a cold, a little whiney, and I think unsure of what else was going to change. She started crying at breakfast over nothing, and then said, "I want to go Home!" I said, "Babe, we are home, remember? This is our new home where mom and dad and Eva all live togeher." (For awhile ther was confusion about if we would all stick together for the move, so I thought I'd reinforce that again.) Then she said, "NO, no, no, I want to go HOME." And I said, "Where is home, babe?" To which she tearfully exclaimed, "I don't know where home is! I am just sad."  :(  Here is where I started to cry a little and both Peter and I did some hugging and holding and then played in her new playroom together for awhile. She recovered fine, but the poor girl reminded me that having everything change and feeling unsure about where you belong is a tricky thing. I can't imagine kids who have to move a lot, or never get to be grounded or steady somewhere - like in refugee camps, shelters, or even on base camps or on the road all the time. We all adapt in some ways to any kind of move, but in a fundemental sense, HOME is where we are safe, secure, connected and loved. And what surrounds us physically in whatever space we're in reinforces and helps define that sense of home. As we set up this new space called HOME I am reminded of that - and so grateful for this space that helps shape our home and the people that fill up our sense of home.

Ok, back to unpacking. :)        

Why I Did All This School

Today we had the rehearsal for my commencement from GETS that will take place this weekend. Walking into the historic and beautifully ornate chapel where the ceremony happens, taking our turns walking onto the massive wooden stage, and trying on my very own cap, gown and hood brought the reality of this whole educational experience to the forefront.

I am graduating. For real. I am done with my eight years of Ph.D. studies. I have completed the classes, language studies, papers, readings, discussions, proposals, exams, quizzes, etc. etc. – I even defended my dissertation. Well. I’ve TA’d in several graduate class, and have even taught an undergrad course twice now. I am – honestly and legitimately – fulfilling this stage of academic preparation, critique, and study. I did it, something that I considered doing and dreamed of doing for – well, a decade or so. Something that I honestly wasn’t sure I could do at various points along this journey.

If I sound incredulous about this milestone, it is because I am. I can’t really believe it most days. And between the mental tiredness post-dissertation, and the fuzziness of still being on the job hunt and having regular life rush by me, there are days I stop and wonder, did I really do this? Am I really – done? Which is often followed by – okay, even if this is for real, what do I do now?

It makes me think back to why I considered this degree in the first place. How I listened to wise people like Burton Nelson who explained that I would love this place, and learn a lot, and could contribute to ethics and to the church. How I jumped into my classes with so many ideas and opinions, was hungry to learn and discuss, had a lot of confidence in my positions and papers. How then I slowly adapted my opinions, integrated complexities and newness into my comfortable stances, and added healthy doses of uncertainty, worry, feeling overwhelmed and under-qualified. And how I was always, always, motivated and sustained in this academic land by my work in actual churches, by ministry in the city and with practitioners who also loved the church and loved God’s huge dreams for its purpose. I did all this school, ultimately, because I love the church, flaws and gaping holes and all, and I have found my home and my family in the church. I did all this school so that I can keep building and serving, and being served by, the church, and so that the rest of the world can see the church at its best and as God intends. I did all this school out of love, really. (And maybe an over-developed drive to achieve. :) ) Being done with this chapter of school in many ways does not change my drive to affect the church, my hopes for it to be at its best, my frustration at its failures, and my motivations for doing ministry. It does substantially change my time, and hopefully will also open up some new spaces and ways I can do ministry. But at some level, I did all this school, and will keep doing whatever I do, for the same simple reasons. Sometimes simple is better.

Eva (my two year old), is very excited about me being done with school. At least, as much as she understands what we are celebrating this Friday, she seems very excited. She came with me for the first time to campus two weeks ago while I had to pay my last tuition bill and drop off a copy of a paper. As I guided her down the marble hallway and explained that we were at momma’s school, she looked up at me with big eyes and asked if she should use her quiet voice in here. I smiled – yep, you guessed right girl. Tall ceilings and echoing halls and lots of adults means quiet voices for small children. We paid my bill while she charmed the cashier and got a piece of candy. I stopped by a professor’s office to drop off something and she repeated over and over that the guy wasn’t here, we had to leave the paper, would the paper be okay? Then I showed her the lake on the east side of the campus that I loved to walk by – we even spotted ducks and geese, to her glee – and we ended with my ritual walk through the Shakespeare and prayer gardens.

We were maybe on campus for one hour, total. Not only was Eva very sad when we had to leave this fun new destination, I was unprepared for how much it meant for me to walk around my campus with Eva in tow. While I was giving my kiddo the tour, it hit me that all the hours I spent here, all the days holed up in my favorite carrel in the library, all my walks around the gardens and along the lake path, the hours in the bookstore, sitting in well-visited classrooms with clanking heaters in the winter and humid sticky chairs in the summer – they had passed. These spaces did not boundary my life anymore, instead this little girl marks my days.

And it was so fitting, so good and fulfilling, to walk around my school with her and explain, using two-year-old logic, what I had done at that place for so many years. Why I went to school to learn more about God, and how Jesus loves us, and about the church. Why I loved the pretty windows with their stone arches, and why I visited the garden every time I was on campus. Why there was organ music floating down the hallway, and why there were books everywhere. Eva nodded as I explained my school, asking questions, repeating some things. I walked slower with her then I used to walk on my own. I noticed stairs, mud, fast bikes whizzing by and bird droppings all as potential hazards with my new mommy-vision. I explained where we were going, what to look forward to, and what happened on this campus with different language then I had ever even thought for myself before. Here is where we read books, here is where we eat, here is where teachers work and teach us in classes, this is the lake where you can take a break and learn while you’re outside. Explaining theology for a two year old is difficult, but also really fun, I’ve decided.

When I talked about how at school I learned about Jesus, and how much he loves us and the whole world. she started to sing. “Jesus Loves Me this I know…” came her sing-songy little girl voice. And that’s when I started to tear up. I think she understood why I went to school perfectly.

What I've Been Up To....

Number of totally edited, formatted, organized, super-citation filled pages that I just turned in to my PhD Advisor: 266 (not even counting the 15 "extra" pages!)

Number of hours I have slept in the last three days: 9

Number of showers I have taken in the last three days: 1

Number of cans of Diet Dr Pepper I drank last week: between 36-40

Number of (homeade by Peter!) sugar cookies with chocolate frosting that I ate for breakfast: 2

Number of days until my scheduled defense that I am pretty nervous about: 10

Number of days that I will probably not be online in the future so that I can sleep, see Eva, see Peter, eat, sleep, shower, go outside, clean up my office, sleep...... priceless

WOO HOO!!!!

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.

2 Year Old Photo Shoot!

This weekend we had a blast celebrating Eva's 2nd birthday (she is technically 2 March 25.) While I was enjoying family, friends, and getting food/my toddler together, I managed to take zero pictures of the actual party. :( But I do have some fab pics from the photo shoot that my brother did of Eva to mark her second year. A few of those are posted here... and I think I will get some shared birthday pictures later on to share as well.

Yeah for great family and friends who helped us celebrate our daughter - both those who were in town and those who sent great gifts and love from far away. What a lucky little girl!






(more fun photos all edited up are also on our photo site.. fyi, grandmas)

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. :)

Newborn to 15 months

Here is a composite photo of Eva from her newborn days to now - fifteen months old! If you've seen our Christmas cards or Eva photos shoots, you already know that I love the collage function in picasa and use it a lot - it especially works great to show the rapid changes that a little person goes through. When I look at her younger photos now I notice how little hair she had, how round her cheeks were, how she did have a slightly imbalanced noggen due to her torticollis, and how much older she already looks. Older and wiser - at 15 months - hee hee. :)