Stories

I have not posted in a long time. Ryan has been good to stick up some pictures for me.

I feel like I have to write about some of the cute little things from our recent life so I won't forget them. This will be a text-filled entry. I can't promise pictures ;-)

Where to start... Ethan likes to blow raspberries. Not quite as much as Evelyn did at that age, but enough. We were driving home from church on Sunday, and Ethan was looking at Evelyn and blowing away. Now, Evelyn was very offended by this and told Ethan "NO! EeFee stop!" then proceeded to cry like he had hurt her. I want to remember this because it is one of the first times they have 'fought' in the car.

We brought our kite out last week and Ryan was showing Evelyn how to fly it. The neighbours large puppy "Pudgy" came over to play too. Evelyn and Pudgy have a love/hate relationship. She screamed when he bounded over and licked her, then tried to engage him in a game. They play well for a few minutes, then, she gets mad at him and afraid of him for no apparent reason. Anyway, she and Pudgy go off exploring together and Evelyn finds some little black round balls that she offers to Pudgy saying "Here you go, Raspberries!, Here you go, Raspberries!" "What are you holding?" I ask as I get close enough to examine the little things. You may have already guessed the identity - Deer poop. "NO! those are NOT Raspberries! Those are poop from the Deer. Do NOT touch that!" She put it down and wiped her hand on her pants "Yucky". So far, she has left the turds alone.

A little later, Pudgy came over to Ethan (who was sitting in the stroller) and gave him a few licks and basically said hello. My back was turned, but Evelyn saw Pudgy with Ethan "NO! Budgie Stop! No EeFee!" Awh! thought Ryan and I. She actually wants to protect her brother. We have such a good and caring little girl.

About 10 min later, Ethan returned the favour by starting to squak and scream when he saw Pudgy barrel towards Evelyn when her back was turned. They were not his delighted noises, so I think he was trying to warn her. How cute is that!?

Evelyn has been my ever-ready helper of late. She loves to put the groceries on the conveyor belt when we pay, she will carry things for me when we are out, she likes to put away the silverware when I unload the dishwasher, she likes to load the laundry into the washer and dryer. She has even tried to set the table a few times. I should take a picture of her efforts on that front. She puts her dirty clothes in her laundry basket, and she helped me pick up the trash that had blown into our yard over the winter. Oh she also helped me thread the plumbing snake down the bathtub drain to try to clear a clot. She also loves to help me bake cookies. This means she stands beside me while I form the dough and she eats one of the cookies while I put the others on the cookie sheet. Nothing is quite as good as cookie dough! If she keeps this up, she will be ready to move out in, say, 5 years? (kidding, but she will be well prepared to care for her own home when the time comes).

Ethan had his second round of vaccinations last week. He is just a hair over 27" long and weighed 16 lb, 10 oz. This means he is in the 80+% for height and about the 45% for weight. He is the same height Evelyn was when she was 9 months old. He is eating 3 solid meals a day and nursing 4-5 times a day. He is doing so well with eating. I trained him to not touch the spoon and leave his hands in his lap. I am still working on the 'no raspberries when you are at the table' rule, but, he is good about it 80% of the time. Evelyn is no help here. She will blow raspberries at him - to get him to do it - so he will get in trouble. What an Imp!

We learned about a Mom and Tot playgroup in Boyle when we had Ethan vaccinated. Today, we went for the first time. Evelyn seemed to have a good time. I think we will become regulars in the fall (they break for the summer). Next week, we are going to visit one of the participants homes. They have baby chickens and a few other animals. I think she will enjoy that. Ethan even found a playmate in a little girl who is a month older than him. They were both sitting up - unassisted - and looking at each other. The little girl was trying to grab Ethan and was swatting at him, but he took it like a gentleman. I think he was just focusing on staying upright. Today was by far the best he has sat up yet.

I have to take a second to praise Evelyn for her exceptional behavior while we were out today. She obeyed me the whole time. She did not have a single melt-down, she even left the playgroup without a fuss. She helped me hold things, she held onto the stroller while we walked, she stopped when I told her to. I am very impressed.

That is about all. I am glad I could get that all out of my brain and onto 'paper'.