Good Bye Palm Springs..

We go home tomorrow. In tribute to our time here in PS, I wanted to post some of my favorite photos from the past two weeks.

By The Pool

Dear Evan-19 Months Old

Dear Evan-
Here we are another month has gone by and you are 19 months old now. I can't believe it. We have had a nice July. We have been staying in a house in Palm Springs while some construction was being completed at our own house. You love it here. There is everything you love and more. Our day starts with breakfast and the sprinklers going off. We then go and have a morning swim and play with rocks. After that we have our mid-morning snack of a fruit smoothie and some more play outside before it gets too hot. Naptime and then after we play inside for a while and then play in your small pool until the sun is lower and we can go into the larger pool.

There is so much you have done this month and are learning to do. You love to knock on doors now. If someone closes a door and is inside, you will go to the door and knock upon it twice. You don't understand why someone wouldn't open the door for you and will knock again until you receive a response. You are into playing hide n'seek now. You like for us to hide and you come and find us. You really want to be where everything is taking place or where the action is...you don't understand why Mommy is at the sink and wants to be up there too. You have started this thing where you will hand me something and label who the item belongs to. If you find my cell phone you will hold it and then hand it to me and say "mama". You are learning so many more hand gestures. You love to move your fingers and pat things and have people mimic you. Grandpa was here the last few days and he played this with you. You loved it. You want to eat everything we eat. If you see Mommy sneaking a cookie or Daddy drinking something you want to taste it. You respond to so many requests. I ask you just about anything now as you respond to so many things you always keep me on my toes of what you will do next. This week I handed you a towel and asked for you to wipe up the floor where you had spilled something. You did it!

These past two weeks have been a special time for us as a family. You have started some new habits. One is that when you are ready for bed you come to me and say "night-night". And you mean it. You do it for bedtime and naps. It is really amazing. You are sleeping much better at night now. It may be because there are no more noisy neighbors like at our house or that you have played so hard nothing will wake you. I think it is nice that no more teeth are giving you trouble for now. You have all of them except your two year molars.

You are so physical. You love to be upside down whether Daddy or I hang you that way or if you simply bend over and look at the world between your legs. You love the feeling of seeing everything differently. You know pretty much all of your body parts now. Your new ones are "elbow", "ankle" and "hair".

You have many new words. It is always difficult to remember them but I will do my best: elbow, lawnmower, tow truck, ice, you nod your head for "yes and for "no", noodle, leaves,Grandpa "Ba Pa", night night, yellow, blue, red...

You know the concept of color now and counting. You will point at similar things and make the same sound as you point to the same object next to it. I can ask you where the red truck is and you will point to one. Or the yellow bird, etc. I think you pretty much know yellow, blue, green and red.

You are in love with your Mama. You say my name so many times a day. You will repeat my name over and over until I look at you in the backseat of the car. When I look at you, you will just smile.

You are a joy and a wonderful boy. I love you very much.

Mama

If the shoes fit...

Night Night

This week Evan has started to tell me when it is time for him to go to sleep. It can be nap time or bedtime and he will walk up to me and say "night night". He will then walk into the bed room and lay his head on the bed. If I am not right there he will call out to me for me to come. This has been an unbelieveable new thing for us. He goes to sleep within minutes because he knows he is tired and wants to go to bed. I thought that it was amazing at night time but he does this for naps now too.

Tonight another first happened. Evan told me it was night-night and we walked into the bedroom. I asked him if he wanted to give Daddy a kiss goodnight. He smiled and walked out of the room only to circle back so I would come with him. We walked into the living room and he kissed Daddy. I carried Evan out of the room back towards the bedroom and Evan waved to his Daddy over my shoulder and said "Dada".

The Rock Collectors

We are having so much fun in Palm Springs. I can't imagine what it will be like not to have a house anymore....Evan has everything he loves here. Water, Rocks, Cats, Sprinklers, Smoothies and today his friend Isabel. Our friends were on their way back to LA from Phoenix and stopped by to say hello. Evan got to share his rock supply with Isabel.

Dog Tired

It's all of that swimming and rock play....

Evan Adores His Fans

Day One-Palm Springs

How can I say this? Being here is better than best. We are having the best time. It is exactly what we needed as a family. Who would of thought that just renting a house and have a nicely stocked fridge is all three people would need but you know what? It is perfect. Evan from the moment we arrived has been running through the house giggling with pure delight. He has more rocks than one boy can play with in a day. He gets to swim multiple times a day and when he is not swimming he is playing with his wagon and cups and pouring water or rocks into them. 6pm arrives and it is sprinkler time. Those sprinklers turn on and Evan makes water noises and gestures from all of his excitement. It is unbelievable. We are grilling and making good food. We are enjoying life and just being a family. I will cherish these memories for years to come.

Talking in the Car

Evan and I were driving home tonight from visiting friends in Hermosa Beach. At one point someone pulled out in front of me and I sarcastically said,"Nice".

Then, I hear a small voice from the backseat, "Nice" he said, repeated in the same inflection.

Classes

This summer Evan and I are taking another Music Together class. We have been taking them since he was 6 months old. It has been a year this summer in are participation with these classes. It is amazing to see how much Evan has learned and it learning doing this class each week. He loves the drums and the musical instruments the best. This week the teacher said it was time to bring out the drums and Evan shrieked in excitement as he ran over to get to the drum bins. He will take out the sticks and surround himself with drums and just drum! He walks over to the other kids and beats on their drums too. When the session is over and it is time to put the drums away he does it without a fuss. This is huge. He use to cry each time we had to clean up the instruments. He does it with pride too. He will lay the instrument back in the bin or offer it back to the teacher and clap with a smile.

We are also doing a gym class. It is amazing. Evan loves it and it is such a great class for his age. He gets to climb and jump and spread his wings physically in a safe environment of padding and cushion. The gym sets up different equipment each week for the kids to enjoy and explore. He gets to go on a trampoline and slides down slides and even gets to jump into a ball pit. He loves it. He has made a new friend there named "Vy". Vy is one of the teachers. Vy will greet Evan and Evan will run off with him to play. It is neat to see him enjoying himself so much and meeting new friends.