Easter photo of the family
Mommy and her kids
Mommy and her "big boy"
Easter Egg hunt at home
NEW BIKE! Nice boots.
Cute Nathan
Bunk bed!
Climbing the ladder for the first time
Daddy (and Pop Pop not pictured) assembling bunkbed
Ellie flowers
Blowing out the candles
Birthday boy!
Birthday boy, with his new dinosaur towel, loving his musical birthday card
Superman cake, made by GG with love
Ellie flowers 2
Bowling
Nate bowling Sigh. Haven't posted since December! Where does the time go? It is a beautiful sunny spring day and I am sitting outside amongst the azaleas working and listening to birds chirp. The snow from my last post seems like an eternity ago....
Lots has happened since the last post, in the Evans household. Ellie is now 19 months old, Nathan is 4, spring has sprung, work is crazy, and life is generally hectic and good. Life was so hectic as a matter of fact, that I totally forgot Ellie's 15 month check-up. When I made the appointment for 18 month they said "oh, she didn't have her 15 month shots..." WOOPS. Not that Ellie was too upset about it, but still....so she got 4 shots at her 18 month which did NOT make her happy. The worst part about it (besides having to hold her down) was that she really loved going to the doctor until that happened and two days later I had to take her back because she had croup (one of the WORST experiences ever, may I say) and she was so freaked out seeing the nurse that gave her the shots again that she was literally trying to crawl into my clothes and hide. I felt so bad...typically you don't have to see these people two days after they stab you....Needless to say that winter for poor Ellie went by in a blur of being sick all the time. If there is such a thing as a frequent patient card for the doctor, we would have earned significant points. Poor thing just seemed to catch every bug that came in the house, most that her brother brought home. I have been vomited on now more than I care to recall (seems our Ellie has a sensitive stomach...in 4 years Nathan has vomited twice) and been up all night rocking a coughing, feverish baby girl more times than I can count. The croup, however, really was the worst. Her breathing got so bad that I laid on the floor next to her bed so I could make sure she was still breathing (not very comfortable by the way). That cough took a while to get over! Thank goodness and knock on wood that she is well now and I think being outside away from all the germy indoor playgrounds has really helped. I am a big believer in fresh air.
In terms of development, Ellie is talking a lot - saying sentences, many words, counting, alphabet, singing. She is quite bossy. For example, the other night when I was putting her to bed she said "rock," so I sat in her rocking chair, then "sing dance me" (dance with me is her favorite song right now), then when that was done "sunshine"(you are my sunshine)....it is funny. I am happy that she can express herself and is easily understood by all, but constantly amazed at her level of intelligence and ability to communicate. According to the pediatrician at her 18 month appt., her verbal ability is that of a 2 year old at this point. Now if we can just get rid of the pacifier and bottle....
Also good news is that we got Ellie into Nathan's preschool beginning January 2011. She will be in the 2 1/2 year old program (a little early given that she'll be 2 years 4 months) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think it will be fun for her to go to school with her big brother and she'll get a kick out of it. In assessing whether she was ready or not, the pediatrician joked that "of course she is ready" but she might get frustrated because she is more advanced than the other kids in the class....I guess we'll see!
We are really enjoying our little girl and can't believe how much she has grown and changed.
Nathan, at 4, is doing great too! He got into school 4 days a week in the mornings next year which will be a challenge for his non-morning person mommy to get organized and out the door, but I think he'll benefit from the transition which will prepare him for kindergarten. He also, as a morning student, gets to stay for "lunch bunch" which is an extra hour with kids to play and interact.
At Nathan's 4 year old checkup, he also got 4 shots (poor kid). He was so brave and rationalizing everything (again, my very smart and mature 4 year old who coincidentally loves the doctor) about how "it will hurt a little bit but then I be all better." The nurse took advantage of his maturity and after giving him the first two shots took WAY TOO LONG before giving him the last two and gave him too much time to think about it and as a result panic. So Scott had to hold him down and he was hysterical. At his checkup he weighed 42 pounds and was 43 inches, maintaining his place in the 90th percentile for height and weight. He is doing so well with speech and occupational therapy and has really advanced. It is likely he will discontinue the occupational therapy and reduce the amount of speech therapy next year - again, we feel so blessed to have found this school and the wonderful impact it has had on Nathan. He is just blossoming. He had a fantastic birthday (a little over the top in retrospect)...got a new bicycle (16 inch, much to my panic), and a new bunkbed! He really loves both - currently he wants to ride bicycles all day long and loves sleeping in the top bunk of his bed. His new phrase is "I can do it mommy, I 4" For example, he can now brush his teeth by himself, get dressed by himself, etc. You will see from the birthday pics that his favorite shoes are boots of any sort, I think because he can put them on so easily. He is so much fun to be around now, goes to sleep most of the time without argument, and is still a happy, energetic kid.
We had GG and Pop Pop up for Nathan's actual birthday and Easter which was fun and then had a party for his classmates and neighbors the following weekend (April 10th). Rented another moonbounce which seems to be a hit for the kids - the party was for four hours and people were still here afterward....Nathan was a real trooper though he did have moments where he said "we done yet?" I think it was friend overload. The "theme" was transformers, though I put that in quotes because he didn't really know what a transformer was, but just liked the invitations at Target. He picked out Tinkerbell invitations too, rationalizing that the girls would like Tinkerbell invitations and the boys would like Transformer....that's my boy! Sensitive. Bad news about Easter, birthday, and a birthday party was now any time a box comes in the house, Nathan says "that for me?" and promptly cries if it is not....how do you train your kids to not be so selfish? We need some help with that one. Hard not to spoil them, though, but I want both of them to recognize that not everyone has all they have.
Life is good here in suburbia. Scott has started up again with yard work when he is not working. He is also coaching Arlington Youth lacrosse again, which he loves. My work has gotten more hectic than I would like and it is interfering with my kids time...hoping to find a better balance with that soon. Nathan is currently taking gymnastics and tennis as well as two music classes and swimming lessons on Saturdays with our neighbor Alexander. We got into the local swim and tennis club, Chesterbrook, so will start going there this summer. I am really excited to be able to go to the pool with the kids and hang out with the neighbors, who all belong there too. I remember many good times at my club when I was younger....
In a couple of weeks we head to Atlanta for vacation to see Grandma and Grandpa Wilson. Very excited - haven't been there since last May since we hosted the holidays here. Uncle David and Aunt Lauren just left after a short visit and we had a blast - my brother really embraced being an uncle and was so good with the kids. Hopefully they'll send me some of their pictures so I can post them.
Life is good, can't complain, esp. as I sit here outside on a sunny day with two healthy happy kids and a great husband. Now if I could just be more diligent about updating this blog....
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