This week was Evelyn's first time going to church. Having a little girl and being able to dress her up is just too much fun. Evy did great at church. It was stake conference so it was only two hours long, but she slept practically the entire time. Hopefully she does that good every week!
On the first day of spring we got snow. So when life gives you snow, you build a snowman. Nathan loves watching the movie "The Snowman" and he was so excited to have his very own "snownan." He would smile and talk to him while we were playing in the snow. Too bad spring showed up the next day and melted away our snowman.
I've really, really, really wanted to go to the Orchid Festival at Longwood. It started a few days before I was due with Evelyn, but it's too far of a drive while I was that far along. And then Evy's been too little to go out in public. Finally this last week, I thought I might have this parenting-two-kids-thing down enough that I could venture a trip. I had my friend Shawna and her daughter Aubrey come with us. It was a great day to go and see the festival. Orchids are one of my favorite flowers and it's so amazing to see the creative ways Longwood has them on display. Thanks for going with us Shawna and Aubrey!
There is a 5 part licensing examination to become a dentist over the course of a couple of years. Some of the exams are science tests and others are practicals. Brad had his last part, the practicals a few weeks ago and they are probably the most stressful part. If you don't have the right cavity, you fail. If you don't have your x-rays done properly, you fail. If your patient doesn't have enough calculus, you fail. If your patient doesn't show up, you fail. There's a lot that can wrong. And if you fail, you get to fly you and your patients to another dental school to try again. Needless to say, we were all a little worried about these exams. Well, Brad passed all of his board exams on the first go! Now Brad just has to get all of his points to graduate and send in his paperwork once we're in Colorado to be licensed dentist. I'm really proud of my hardworking, smart, dedicated, and talented husband for doing so well!
- She's a very different baby from her brother.
- She is growing so much! At her pediatrician visit today (5 weeks) Evy was 12 lbs (93rd percentile), 23 inches long (97th percentile), and 39 cm head circumference (95th percentile.)
- With all the growing she's been doing she moved out of newborn clothes and diapers.
- We have a mirror right behind Evy's changing mat and she loves to look at herself.
- She's pretty temperamental about how she wants to be held. Or even if she wants to be held at all. She'll sqwak until you find exactly how she wants to be.
- Hates wet diapers.
- Likes bath time, especially when her hair gets washed.
- Likes to be carried around in the baby wrap. It's a sanity saver since she usually falls asleep while she's in there.
- Doesn't like tummy time.
- Most of her little noises are like little squeaks. It's pretty cute.
- Evelyn sleeps great at night, 6+ hours. I usually only have to get up once in the night.
- Doesn't sleep so great during the day.
- Evelyn is a night owl. She is so wide awake and ready to hang out during the evening hours.
- She'll take a bottle and a binkie! Hallelujah!
- Not a huge fan of the swing, but she does pretty good in the bouncer.
- She has the longest fingers.
- We think she is just about the cutest thing. We're so glad she's joined our family.
- Nathan is talking so much! It makes me so happy to see him getting to the point where he can express himself more. He's starting to pick on verbs and emotions which helps a lot with his communication.
- I am so proud of him for learning to say the word "want." Usually he just labels the object he wants. But he is now using the word "want" to express that he actually wants something instead of just labeling it.
- We went to this awesome indoor playground and Nathan loved it. He had so much fun sliding, climbing, and swinging. It was nice after being cooped up from the snow.
- When he rides his bike, he has to wear his sunglasses.
- Breakfast time. We're sitting down eating French toast and bacon, both foods that Nathan likes. Nathan had finished his portion of bacon and was asking for more. I told him to take a bite of French toast and I'd give him more bacon. He immediately put in a piece of French toast in his mouth so I gave him the bacon. He then spits out the French toast and says, "Ooo, too hot." He eats the bacon instead. My son had just said his first lie in pursuit of more bacon.
- He loves being a big helper in the kitchen.
- He FINALLY figured out how to jump. We have tried teaching him for months and months. We got him a trampoline to help with some sensory issues, but he wouldn't jump on it. Run on it, make it into a racetrack, play with toys on it, or use it as a place to take a nap? Sure. Jump on it? No way. We also thought he'd figure out jumping at his tumbling class. Nope. What finally made him decide to jump? I have no clue. He just hoped on the tramp one day and decided it was time.
- Nathan can sing his ABCs. We also got him a new alphabets book to help him learn some of his letters. He loves it!
- Nathan has a little dinosaur puzzle where the puzzle pieces are big wooden dinosaur cutouts. One day, Nathan set up the dinosaur pieces and said, "It's scary! Ahh!"
- Naptime is pretty much gone these days. On rare occasions I can get him to go take a nap, but usually we just have quiet time, aka. Mom needs a nap time.
- Nathan's been a lot more cuddly lately. We often find him climbing up to wherever we are for a snuggle.
- He's decided that ice cream is yummy. He's had such a sensory aversion to it before that he usually spits it out immediately. Grandma let him try some while she was here and he loved it!
- Getting better at saying yes and no. One of his therapists showed him a little video about yes and no and now he mimics it. Everything now is "Yes, I do," or "No, no, don't."
- Nathan likes going outside to play with the snow. It's so funny to see him moving around as best he can in his snow gear. He loves to stomp in the snow.
- This kid loves his bus and putting the little people in and out of it. I had Evelyn with me on the couch and Nathan came over and tried to pick her up saying, "Evy bus," meaning he wanted to put his baby sister in the bus.
- He is not one for staying in his pajamas all day. He will grab the clothes he wants to wear out of his drawer and have me help him put them on.
- He loves building with his blocks. He makes the greatest buildings.
- Recently Nathan discovered flashlights. He loves playing with them. Now if only he wouldn't shine the flashlight in his eyes. Or his sisters.
- Don't let this smile fool you, Nathan HATES bath time. He was just happy to be done. It breaks my heart to see him screaming when we say he has to have a bath, but he has to be cleaned sometime.
- He likes building forts with chairs and blankets.
- We've been trying to get Nathan to do thumbs up as one of his targets for ABA therapy. He wasn't able to figure it out so we decided to try it later. Well, Brad asked Nathan to do a thumbs up and he did it right away! Anything to please dad.
- Everything now ends with, "One more time?"
- He has a few books he is "reading." And by reading I mean, he's memorized. I'm pretty impressed with his little memory. He can read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?", "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," and several other stories.
- Nathan will come up to us and lead us to sit down. Then he plops down between mommy and daddy. He gets the biggest smile when he has both of us by him.
- He still thinks he is incredibly funny. And we think he's been funny too. Love that cute boy.
We were very blessed to have both of our moms come help us with Evelyn. My mom came for a week and a half and Janet came for a week and a half. Nathan loved having some much time with grandma! They are both so wonderful for coming to help us and make the transition to two kids easier. We love you!
