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.