The 3rd Day

I think this day was so hard on Evan. He did not want to leave me for a second. He kept saying, "Mama don't leave me. I love you". It was heartwrenching and so difficult for me to see him struggling. He cried so much and really struggled when I encouraged him to leave me and go see what his "new friends" were doing. At the end of the day, he told me on his way home that he didn't like his teachers. I asked him why and he told me he didn't like the way they sing. He also announced that he didn't like the kids. Yikes. What else is there for the boy to like? I hope this starts going better soon. This is a tough transition.

Today. The 1st Day of Preschool

Today was huge. Evan took right to going the school. I watched him get overwhelmed by it all but he followed all the other kids as they left "the yellow room" and went to the "purple room" for music and back again to their classroom (the yellow room). E is a "Coyote". The school is amazing and do so much with the kids. I am thrilled to be a part of it but it is so hard to see your baby stepping into this stage of life. He was exhausted once we hit the car but didn't take a nap. Steven is off all week so we get to have some nice time as family as we are all adjusting to our new early schedule and the fact that our little guy is going out of the house for the first time.

Tomorrow-1st Day of Preschool

E starts preschool tomorrow. I have had a bit of mixed emotions the past few days. It has been three years since E was born? I still can't believe how fast this time has flown. I miss our days together walking and adventuring. I wouldn't give up that time with him for anything. I feel very lucky that I had the first 2.5 years with him pretty exclusively and then for the past 8 months to of had M to have E spend his few mornings with her. She has been amazing with him and I hope we keep in touch with her in the years to come. This past week I have had doubts and have thought that maybe I should of waited to start E until next Fall. He would be almost 4 instead of now when he is just 3. I also keep thinking I wish it was a 3 day program and not a 5 day. It just seems like so much for a little guy being the first time away from home. My mind races with should haves and maybes. I just always want to do the right thing by him. He is a treasure and I value his education and his first view of the world so much. I do think I have found a place that is wonderful. A place that shares our vision for learning and freedom. Freedom of life and freedom of thought. A place where I hope that the beginnings of a love for learning with ignite within my little boy and a place where he can build the beginning of an inner strength and confidence that is all his own. I hope for him that he finds great friends and love here and the experiences will bring him great joy.

I love that I can bring him each and everyday and he is only a few doorsteps away from me. Tonight I was talking to E about tomorrow and all that it will bring. I told him that when we wake up in the morning we will get dressed and take him to school. As I was starting to explain more, he stopped me and said, "Go to school now?!". I think he is excited more than I imagined. He is ready. The more I see he is ready and is excited it gives me such peace that this is the right thing for him.

Pee Pee on the Toilet! Night Two

He went twice tonight after bath. All by himself and again was super proud of himself. As he should be!!

Pee Pee on the Toilet!

Tonight Evan went on his toilet for the first time. He was so excited after wards that he ran all around the house. It was adorable. I was thrilled to be there when he did it. As soon as he was finished he said, "Do it again! Do it again, Mama?!" He really gets it. It was on his little face as soon as he looked inside his potty and saw the pee. You could read that he really understood. It was a rewarding night seeing my little baby becoming a big boy.

Cookies

Dada and I are both cookie monsters. We cannot EVER get enough cookies. We will pass up everything else but if cookies are on the table, we know how to eat them. Lastnight, you had eaten a good dinner. I was thrilled to see all of the Brussels sprouts and fish that you pooped into your mouth. I decided to make cookies. You came around the corner and asked what I was doing...I told you I was making us a treat. You jumped up and down and smiled from ear to ear and said, "I want sum!". I showed you the cookies and you were so excited it cracked me up. Later as the three of us sat with a plate full of cookies in front of us, you explained which cookie was for who. Baby's, Mama's and Dada's. Dada was surprised when you ate not one cookie but two cookies. He was use to Mama and Dad getting the majority but no....you know exactly how many cookies you get and you ate them both!!

New Words

Some big new words have entered into our world. Evan started saying "Mine" this week. Today he said "Ball" instead of "Ah-da" which has been his word for ball for almost a year. It was one of his first words. His language is really starting to take off. He has a new word or two each day now.

Imagination

Lastnight we went to dinner with Rachel and Isabel. We had the best day. We went to the piglet costume party in the morning and then took the afternoon to spend at a farm North of the city. We picked raspberries, climbed hay pyramids, took E's first pony ride and played with MANY pumpkins. On the way home we stopped for dinner. While we were waiting for food I noticed Evan playing with his straw and making his sound effects that he makes when he plays with his crane at home. I realized that he was pretending that his straw was a crane. It was the first time I have ever seen him imagine an object is something he is creating in his head. I was thrilled and proud to see play in this new way.

"Boo Boo"

Evan has become very aware when he has an "owie" or a "boo boo". He makes sure that both Dada and Mama know what has happened and where it has happened. Tonight I was clipping E's nails and one of his nails started to bleed. (I felt HORRIBLE!) He didn't cry and it didn't even seem to phase him. He was silent for a moment and then held up his thumb and said, "Boo Boo". I placed his first band-aid on his thumb and he would just look at it and hold that thumb up in the air the rest of the night. I watched him playing with his toys and he never used that hand. He jsut held it to protect it. Now that we have hit the band-aid phase I need to pick up some fun ones for us to use. Poor little guy.

Bulldozer the Book

Lastnight I was not feeling well. I had a pretty bad cold. Evan is just getting over it and I was just getting it. Evan wanted his Mommy's attention and I was barely moving. We were laying down reading books. Evan would run from my room to his and pick out a new book each time we needed one. Towards the end, I was feeling really tired and I said to him, "Evan why don't you read the next story to Mommy?". He picked up his "Bulldozer" book and started to read it. He pointed to the trucks and made crashing truck noises and called them by name, "Ahhhhhh TRUCK".....AHHHHHH TRUCK!!" Then he pointed to the smoke stack of the bulldozer and made that cute noise that only Evan can make, "Puff".

Backwards and Forward

Today Evan and I were outside playing. This seems to be our day now. If we aren't outside Evan is asking for us to go. I was in the kitchen and he came to me, grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door, placing my hand on the door knob. I think he made is message to me pretty clear!

I have been teaching Evan to jump and run and to hop. I realized that I had not taught him to walk backwards. I was playing around and started to run backwards and laugh. Evan saw me do it and laughed to and before I knew it he was walking backwards too.

E's New Things

It is so much fun to see him do new things. We are working on colors now.

Evan has started to nod "yes".

I remember when I first started explaining and using color as a description I was thinking to myself, "Wow. So much my little guy needs to know". I didn't want to overwhelm him as he might not even know the name of the object let alone the color of it. It is so much fun now because he know the name of so many objects that if I say, "an orange balloon" I know he understand that the word "orange" is not the name of the object itself but a description of that object. He is such a little sponge. He amazes me daily with his new understanding or words and concepts.

When E walks, he now will walk with his hands and arms pulled towards his back. I love seeing his small hands and feet do such adult or big people gestures like crossing you legs or folding your hands.

We have a dinner plate for for E. It has separate compartments for items on it. Evan will eat out of each one as I separate the different foods for him. At lunch today I give him one raspberry at a time as he got choked for eating too many at a time. I placed one berry in a compartment and then he would ask me for more right away. So I placed one berry where I had been placing them and another in the larger department. He took the one from the larger compartment and put it with the other one where we always put the berries!

Evan has velcro straps for his shoes. I can ask him to do the straps and he will pull them to close them.

He will go to his highchair when I ask him too and start to get into it ant dinner.

Eggs

Evan and I walked into the kitchen this morning. Steven was cooking up breakfast for us. He had the griddle going with eggs being scrambled. Evan points up to the griddle and looks up at me and says perfectly, "Eggs!".

New Shoes

Now that Evan is walking we have to take the shoe thing more seriously. Darn...we have to buy him a new pair of shoes? OK. Twist my arm. Let's go!

I took this picture while we were trying on shoes. I realized that it was Evan's first shoe fitting and our first time shopping for shoes for him together. We bought him his first walking shoes and we couldn't leave without a pair of Black and White converse high-tops. I think they make him walk faster!

p.s. Pic with Evan in his new high-tops coming soon. These are his new everyday walking shoes!

Mr. Back Tooth

Tonight Steven discovered E's first back tooth is cutting through. It has been a rough couple of weeks in the sleeping department. This week has been especially tough. Now we know why! He now has 9 teeth.

Evan Walks

Spaghetti Dinner

Tonight Evan ate his first spaghetti dinner and had his first glass of milk at dinner. I have been giving him milk the last week during lunch and he seems to like it. I give him a glass of water and a glass of milk. I tell him which one is and remind him before he takes a drink. He will drink out of both glasses and always goes back to the milk! Yea! He doesn't seem to be having any reactions to it too. That is a relief as he did have a reaction when I first tried it a couple of months ago. The doctor told me to wait a month and try it again. Tonight I was having some milk with my spaghetti and I thought Evan would like some too! He did.

I'm Walking!

Well-today at 13-1/2 months I can say Evan is really walking....I decided that the day I saw him walk more than crawl would be the big day. Today was it! He is so proud! I tell him, "Wow! Look at you!" and he giggles in delight. Everything needs to be put up a little higher these days as Evan can reach things now that I never thought possible. He is growing up so fast.

So this is the front seat...

We turned Evan's carseat around today. He is seeing the world face on now. This morning he was pointing out the front window at at bus.

The Ultimate First!

Today Evan and I went to our afternoon park visit. It was a beautiful day there on the bluff. Evan was busy trying to eat rocks and sticks. This is his favorite new thing to do. I try to substitute real food for the rocks and he eats it and then goes back to the rocks.

Evan was pushing his walking truck around and exploring the bluff. There is so much to see and my little man wants to take everything in and see what it is all about. He was pushing his truck and stopped to look over at me. When he looked at me I kneeled down and held out my hands and asked for him to come to me. HE WALKED FOUR STEPS RIGHT INTO MY ARMS! I threw him up in the air and hugged him. When I looked at his little face he was clapping and smiling. He had such pride in what he had done. He knew what an amazing thing he had just done. His reaction was so precious! Our lives are about to change in such a big way. I can't imagine him walking all over the place.