April become May

And here's another big posting of mostly-belated news & photos, as we're well past April and mostly through May!

A major highlight of April was a visit from the Wheaton grandcritters. We appreciated spending quality time together, even if our gazes rarely strayed away from Evelyn. Her Babcia could hardly set her down! We enjoyed jaunts to the Portland Farmer's Market and the ever-popular Saturday market. Mike also served up some delightful dishes to extended family.

At Evelyn's six month birthday, we were excited to get her some new big toys. She dived in right away. I mean, wow, balls! She's been getting more sophisticated in her interactions all the time, and now she can flip light switches and press buttons for fun. Plus, as Mike mentioned, she started crawling about a week before her seven-month birthday and started pulling up on everything three days after that. She's unstoppable!!

Over the past two months, solid food has become a regular part of Evelyn's day (although she's still breastfeeding, too). She gets some cereal in the morning, and a variety of veggies at lunch & dinner. She's been a champion eater, liking everything we've served her so far except for avocado. And after just the first couple feedings, there was no stopping her from taking the spoon from us...we're amazed at how much control she has over it now! She rarely misses her mouth and cleans it right off...she also enjoys holding one end in her mouth and tapping the other end on the high-chair tray!

We had a grand time at the Portland Zoo, which is small but well maintained and well designed. We also had a long-overdue visit with our friends Steve & Karin, who have two boys: Jack, six and Finn, two. Jack declared himself smitten with Evelyn and says we're free to come over anytime as long as we bring her along!

And this picture is almost a month old, but I just love Evelyn's expression...

We've gotten a big ol' batch of fresh May pix up to Flickr, too, so check 'em out. Life carries on, and our best wishes go out to all our family & friends.

--Liz

Never bet against The Bean

Hey there hi there ho there!


Too too long since our last post but I hope you can forgive us. We've been...busy. I'm writing this during a break at RailsConf, which has been going on since Thursday here in town. I don't have any specific topic to cover but I do have a stash of pictures I've taken with my phone over the last few months and I'm going to share a few of my favorites.

This picture was taken at about 4 months. It shows Evelyn's serious side. I absolutely adore this one.

Our little girl -- currently nicknamed Bean (she outgrew Ducky) -- is quite a handful...and we couldn't be more proud. We have a new slogan around the house: "Never bet against The Bean." It's a surefire way to lose your money.

In semi-random order (and I'm sure I'm forgetting some) here are the things she's mastered since we last posted: creeping, crawling, pulling herself to a stand, standing on her own (holding on to something), eating solid food, feeding herself with a spoon, drinking from a sippy cup on her own, sleeping through the night.

Here's The Bean at seven months, enjoying her first ride on the swings at the local park:

The sleeping issue was a tough one. We'd been relying on the bottle to get her down for naps and at bedtime. We asked our pediatrician about it at her six month checkup and he said we had a "parenting problem" not a sleep problem and that whenever we were ready we could get her to sleep through the night by using the progressive withdrawal technique advocated by Ferber -- often and incorrectly referred to as the "Cry It Out" approach.

Shortly after the visit to the doctor we had a few episodes where the bottle failed to work its magic and we decided we'd better bite the bullet. It was pretty rough for about a week but now Evelyn sleeps from 8:30 to 6 or 7 in the morning and goes down happily for her two naps. She has a favorite blankie that she likes to hold. It's been really great for everyone, including her. She's a lot less cranky in the evenings now.



These were taken when we went out for brunch to celebrate Sophie's birthday. Evelyn is five months old in these shots.















These next two were taken at 6 months. The mirror in the crib was a big hit, but we had to remove it (along with all the other toys) to encourage her to go back to sleep on her own when she wakes during the night.






























Here are two more of my personal favorites. Mom and daughter waking from an afternoon nap together.





























And here's a bonus napping picture:
















We took Evelyn for her first zoo visit a few weekends back. I'm pretty sure she enjoyed looking at all the other kids more than the animals.















It's so not the kind of thing we do but while we were shopping at Babies R Us I was seized by the notion that it would be cute to pose Evelyn in some baby-sized sunglasses. Liz was my reluctant accomplice and I think the pics speak for themselves as far as Evelyn's feelings about the operation.





























Lately Bean has been helping daddy with the grocery shopping. She really enjoys riding in the cart.










































Finally, we all want to send a "hearty" shout-out (hearty har har) to Grandpa Doug, who came though his heart surgery with flying colors. I snapped this picture a few minutes after he was moved out of the ICU (about 26 hours after coming out of surgery!)
















-- Mike