Our Thanksgiving weekend of sickness

This has definitely been the year of getting sick for me! I think I've had pretty much everything (except strep...knock on wood). It all started on Thanksgiving morning when Evan woke up with stridor and an occasional cough. I called the pedi on-call, and he suggested I take him to the ER. He ended up having croup, and they gave him a dose of steroids. Luckily, it was mild, but his breathing sounded horrible for a day or so.

Then on Sunday morning, I started feeling queasy (no, I'm not pregnant!)...and then progessively felt worse. At first I thought it was food poisoning, because when it hit, it hit me hard! I've never puked so much within a 4-hour period of time. Nate called our on-call family doctor, and she said there was a nasty and highly contagious stomach virus (gastroenteritis) going around. And then at midnight, I heard Nate puking downstairs. Ugghhh! Nate ended up losing 6 pounds, and I lost 5...not exactly the way we wanted to lose it! Though not fully recovered by any means, at least I was well enough to take care of Evan that day. We are so very grateful Evan didn't catch it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Evan can say our dog's name :)

It's so cute! It's his first real word other than mama or daddy. He says "Katie" and points to her...sometimes it's clear, and sometimes it sounds like "cat-tee". It's funny because he'll call our other dog (Rocco) that too.

1st Dentist Appointment

Evan had his first appointment with a pediatric dentist last week. I originally had planned to make his appointment after the 1st of the year when his dental insurance kicked in, but the receptionist said they offered free cleanings for kids under 18 months old. I figured this would be great opportunity to get him comfortable with going to the dentist. He did so well! Didn't even cry! He sat there so still as they checked out his mouth and cleaned his 6 teeth. His next appointment will be in 6 months...

One Year Stats

A little late on this, but Evan had a great 1 year check-up. Still so hard to believe he's 1 already! At this appointment, he received his varicella, flu (seasonal), and MMR vaccinations. He wasn't thrilled about them, but he was fine after 5 minutes. Poor little guy! We've started him on whole milk, and he's loving it. Just wish he would drink out of his sippy more consistently. He does fine with water and juice, but milk is a different story; although, in the past week he's been taking more and more milk from it.

Weight: 23 pounds, 12 ounces
Height: 29.5 inches
Head Circumference: 48cm (~19 inches)

Evan's 1st steps!

Evan took his first steps today! He was standing by himself with me near him...and then he walked a couple of steps on his own to our end table. He looked so proud and started to giggle.

Of course, he wouldn't repeat it, but he's been standing on his own a lot lately. He'll be walking and pushing his truck or other push toy, will stop and let go, stand on his own (usually looking at us so proud), and then continue to push his toy.

I feel bad Nate was at work and missed it, but he was the first one to see him roll over ;)

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Our little sweet pea is 1 year old today! As I'm typing this, at this moment last year, I was getting prepped for my C-Section. Evan was presenting face-down, and (which we would find out at his delivery) had the cord wrapped around his neck. He was born at 8:27pm. That was the most amazing moment...hearing his cry for the first time, seeing him as our OB held Evan up to us for the first time, and of course, holding him for the first time.





And today, we have an active little boy...crawling around our house, cruising around everything and anything, playing with his toys, and exploring everything around him.



We are so very blessed for our precious little man.

Evan's 11 Month...

One week from today is Evan's 1st Birthday!!! So hard to believe!

Here is what Evan has been up to:

What's new:
*Giving hugs with a snuggle, standing alone for a few seconds (without holding on to anything),

LOVES:
*eating big people food (mac & cheese, biscuits, mashed potatoes, pancakes, bananas to name a few), crawling, peek-a-boo, pulling on the tags of clothes in stores, bath time, talking, pulling on Katie's tail (and trying to pull her ears and poke her eyes), cruising around furniture, imitating daddy's Ray Liotta laugh, making "snarly" face

DISLIKES: shopping trips (too boring for him and hates being restrained in the cart), most of his baby food (except for fruit), getting his face wiped or cleaning boogers out of his nose, diaper changes

A Saturday at the pumpkin patch

We decided to go to Smith Family Farms and visit their pumpkin patch. What a fun time we had with everything: corn "maize", petting zoo, hay ride, and pumpkin patch. Evan seemed to enjoy it too :)

A rainy day

While we made a quick trip to Babies 'R Us, we spent most of the day inside playing with all of his toys. A fun day we had...just mommy and Evan (and Katie & Rocco).







Yes, Evan loves to attack our Kleenex (no, they're not used), as you can see!

Showing off some new teeth

It is almost impossible to catch a picture of Evan's new teeth (he has 4 new ones on top)...so I finally caught one. Such a funny face he's making for his mommy!

An afternoon at the apple orchard

It was a nice afternoon, and we were tired of being cooped up from the rain we had been having all week. We went to Stuckey Farm ...and what a nice time we had! It was our first time picking apples at the apple orchard and didn't know what to expect. We picked a bunch of Gala apples...and also bought apple cider, peach/apricot jam, and honey from their store. Those apples are so yummy and so crisp!

Happy 11 Months, Evan!

Hard to believe Nate and I met our son for the first time eleven months ago! Really, where does this time go? He is in constant motion, whether it's cruising our furniture, crawling around the house, or chasing our dogs' tails. We certainly get a work-out keeping up with him! He's learned to wave in the past month...so cute! He has two new teeth on top (a total of four now), with two more about to cut through on the top.

Poor little E is sick...

...with an ear infection :( His sleep schedule has been messed up big time this past week or two...boycotting naps, frequent wakings during the night, difficulty getting him back to sleep, etc. I was blaming it all on teething until a day or two ago...as one never knows since the symptoms are so similar.

Yesterday, I started to suspect a possible ear infection. Evan was just not himself...and it seemed to be more than teething. Teething sucks, but it has never lasted this long.

Then today, he felt warm to me, and his rectal temp read 100F. Not a high temp, but high enough for me to be convinced he really did have an ear infection. Luckily, his pediatrician's office has sick hours during the weekend, so we were able to go in for an appointment this morning.

Sure enough, little E has an ear infection. Hopefully, his antibiotics start to kick in soon so he is feeling better. I hate to seem him in pain and so miserable.

A Perfect Fall-like Day...

It was absolutely beautiful today. While I love summer, I am so excited for Fall! It was sunny and cool in the upper 60s. Nate and I took Evan for a stroller ride to the park. Evan really enjoyed the swing and was giggling non-stop!

We have a crawler!

These pictures are actually recent, but Evan started to officially crawl last Friday, August 21st :) He was 10 months, 2 days for this milestone which was about when Nate started when he was little (my mom said I crawled earlier, but I can't remember the age). For the first few days, he'd mix up his army crawl/scoot with the real crawl, but now he's crawling on his hands and knees all of the time now. And boy does he travel!

9 month pediatrician appointment

I was looking forward to this appointment as we've been curious to see how much little E has grown...and how there were no shots at this appointment (I know Evan appreciated that).

Evan is getting so big! His measurements are right on track, and Dr. H is very pleased with Evan's growth. Healthy boy!

9.5 month stats:
Weight: 21 pounds, 11 ounces (50th percentile)
Length: 28.5 inches (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 47 cm (75-80th percentile)...both of us have slightly bigger heads, so that's not too surprising to us ;)

Next pediatrician visit will be his 1 year appointment in October...and he will get a bunch of vaccinations, along with the regular and the H1N1 flu shots. That won't be a fun visit :(

Evan's 1st hair cut

It was time...his sides were well below the top of his ears, his bangs were so long and unruly, and his hair was all over the place. We didn't know what to expect, but Evan did so well! He was very squirmy yet patient...no crocodile tears.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 2 years to us!!! So hard to believe we were married two years ago! How I love to reminisce about that perfect day! And now we are able to celebrate it with our son Evan :)

What Evan has been up to...9 months

**Pulling himself up (by using our clothes...LOL) into a standing position

**Getting into a sitting position (from a crawling or supine position). Nate found him sitting in his crib one morning this week.

**Throwing his unwanted Cheerios (or other food) onto the floor while sitting in his high chair

**Cruising around his toy bin and Laugh & Learn table (with us there for support, in case he falls down)

**LOVES table foods we've offered him (mac & cheese, chicken, green beans, toast, Cheerios, rice, noodles)

**Grabbing his spoon while we feed him...this can get very messy!

Such a big boy!

Swim class

This was Evan's last swim class for this session, and what fun we had! Nate and I had been rotating every week, and this week it was my turn with Little E :) He's made great progress over the past 6 weeks, and is great at kicking in the water now!

Happy 9 Months, Evan!

Daddy and Evan

What a precious moment...

Dinner Time

We've been introducing more and more table foods since Evan has been on a non-fruit baby food strike. So far we've introduced noodles, mac & cheese, rice, hamburger, bananas, mashed potatoes...just to name a few. He's a smart cookie...he just spits out the baby food and wants our food. He still does like his Gerber bananas, mango, applesauce, pears, etc...but that's about it.

Ophthalmologist appointment

We made an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist, and Evan will see him at the end of August. He's had an issue with a clogged tear duct in his right eye since birth. I've tried massaging it, and no matter what kind of eye drops we have used, it is still there. He has this goopy yellow-green gunk coming out of his eye. Poor little guy. Hopefully, we're able to resolve this next month!

Yogurt is a hit! :)

I was kind of nervous offering yogurt to Evan as he's had some issues with formula (he's now on lactose-free formula). Thank goodness, he's been tolerating the yogurt and LOVES it! I tried the YoBaby organic yogurt by Stonyfield; it's a variety pack of vanilla and banana. His favorite is the vanilla :) Because it's cold, I think it feels great against those teething gums.

Bath time!

Evan LOVES bath time, especially playing with all of his fun bath toys. He is now in the "big boy" tub!








...and Daddy loves to follow bath time with a bedtime story! Reading Dr. Seuss...

Tooth update

I was finally able to get a picture...when he was crying. His first tooth cut through...lower middle right. And I think the left one is close to cutting through!

Happy Father's Day!

Evan's birth day...


and today...


We celebrated a relaxing Father's Day today. Nate had worked yesterday, so I had a nice breakfast of an cheesy egg, potato, and ham casserole and toast waiting for him when he came home. Nate enjoyed watching golf on TV, hanging out with Evan...and just relaxing. I made a dinner of manicotti and salad...and then we headed to our local downtown ice cream parlor.