Evan

Evan reached another milestone tonight. One that touches close to a mother's heart. Tonight my son said "I love you, Momma" for the very first time. I love you too, baby boy.

So little dude has been uncharacteristically grumpy for the last week or so, acting out and getting more than his fair share of timeouts. He has also taken to running when I call him. Hmmm, need to nip that in the bud! Anyway, I think I found the reason for the grumpiness this AM... he is cutting both lower two year old molars. OUCH!!

Poor Evan has his first major "little boy battle scar"! He and Sissy where playing twirling Dervish which, of course, ended in "we all fall down!"  Things were fine until Evan literally took a nose dive into the Ikea chair.  I didn't even know the chair has a corner on it!! But my boy (and his nose) found that wooden corner! I knew we were in trouble when I saw it happen... the screams and blood confirmed my fears.  

The first thought into my head was "Oh crap, my son has broken his nose and is going to need stitches!  WHAT am I going to do with Miriam?? It's NAP time!!" My second thought was "DOUBLE crap, I haven't taken a shower today and my hair looks like an oil slick." Isn't it good to know I have my priorities straight? :-)

Then as I'm running around the house... think up and down stairs with screaming, bleeding child in arms... frantically looking for a 4x4 or 2x2 or ANY kind of gauze, it hits me.  What is the point of being a nurse and working at a hospital if you can't remember to rip off some gauze before you quit!?!?!  It also hits me that as the mother of a boy (and to be fair a crazy girl) I really need a "cut-and-bleeding-profusely" emergency kit.

Anyway, I finally get the bleeding mostly stopped (without the help of gauze) and assess that the nose is not broken. Cleaning the wound reveals, that while nasty and likely to scar, it isn't deep enough for stitches. (Whew... that was close.  Mental note to self, take shower FIRST thing in AM instead of waiting until nap time!) This is where I sure wished I had ripped off some steri-strips or a few butterflies... Then the wonderful Aunt Jen both reminds me I can MAKE a butterfly bandaid out of a regular one AND offers to come over and help me get it on Evan. Whew.

So thirty minutes later a very tired Evan was sporting two butterflies holding his cut closed and a Curious George bandaid over it all.  The boy did great.  The momma did ok sans the cuss words (but at least they were just in my head!) And the nose... well, it may never be quite the same, especially since 2 year olds aren't known for leaving bandaids on!   

Poor Evan.  He learned his first lesson about female behavior today.

Miriam woke up today rather grumpy.  Evan had two books of hers and was running around with them.  I asked him to return them to her room where they belong.  As he was doing this, she called after him, "One book, Please!!"  He kept going and yelled "NO!!" over his shoulder.  Immediately, she turned on the tears... full out fake crying!  Poor Evan fell for it.  He came back and offered her both books. While she DID stop crying, she humphed and turned away refusing to take either book.  Evan offered each book in turn and each time she humphed and turned away.  Poor Evan. He looked at me with a look of complete confusion and exasperation.  Sorry dude... it just gets worse.  As your father said, "You're never going to understand and you're rarely going to win!" (Hummm... should I be offended by that???)

Because I'm a bad mother a bad blogger, I am just now writing the kids' 2 & 3 year updates or as the case really is 2.2 and 3.2 year update!

Evan at 2 (and 2 months): weight 33 pounds ( 94 percentile) and height 34.5 inches ( 46 percentile).  Evan is starting to talk more finally.  I really think he just has no need to talk with M always talking.  He is now saying two word phrases/ sentences on a regular basic and will repeat things for me now if he's in the mood (ex. tonight I got him to say "napkin please").  He understands about anything I say to him, and he is Momma's little helper!  He is in a whining stage which I will be very glad to get through!! He runs around like a crazy boy and LOVES to jump. He'll go anywhere Sissy goes. :)

Miriam at 3 (and 2 months): weight 34 pounds ( 75 percentile) and height 39.5 inches ( 88 percentile). This girl is nothing but TALK, TALK, TALK! She also has quite the imagination these days and loves to pretend things. She also likes to tell her brother what to do and even tell him what he is feeling! She is getting more and more independent.  She still loves to read and sing and now dance.

Well, after two chances to swim in a pool in two days, Mr Evan is showing off his stuff.  We had him in one of those float swimsuits with a pair of wings on.  He was nervous at first but soon begin to move away from us.  Within about 15 minutes, Brian had him "swimming" laps!  Brian would call him and move away and Evan used his arms and legs to follow and even turn! It was too cute! See video below.

So after recovering from the charlie horse from Hell (I could barely walk for 24 hours!), I decided it was time to take back my garden from 2 weeks worth of unchecked weed growth this morning.  So M & E and I headed out the door. Things were going well until I realized they were doing more then "just resting" under the apple tree. The little rascals had helped themselves to the green apples and had taken bites out of 3-4 each before settling on one that was not quite as sour and eating 1/3 of it! Sheeeeee.....

Yesterday we attended a church pool party with both kids.  It is the first time Miriam had been in a real pool that she could remember.

I have a new song: (sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It")

Oh I wish I could kill a mosquito
Oh I wish I could kill a mosquito
For their a bitty and a bitey over everybody's hidy
Oh I wish I could kill a mosquito

Evan has been having a rough transition to being two and to his Daddy (who hung the moon and stars in his mind) getting a new job.  It's been a rough two weeks as a result.  But I learned something new... Evan, who never much liked the sling, is a different little boy after just ten minutes of being strapped to Mommy in the Mei tai.  I think that says how far he has come attachment wise!  Being close to me centers him and calms him... that was once, even a few months ago, not true.  Since we're taking about slings, let me tell you how I came to have one. ;)

Let me count the ways! As some have been forced to hear before, potty training is hands down the WORST thing about parenting so far. I hate it. I HATE it. I hate IT! Unfortunately I also am tired of changing diapers... and washing them... and folding them... and changing them... and washing them... etc. I truly am at a loss to understand how a child as intelligent as my almost three year old can be so at lost as to what to do on a potty. La sigh.

So it was a beautiful spring day here with temps in the mid-70's. So of course I let the kids play outside most of the day. Then just before bedtime, I ruffled Evan's hair as I often do and felt *something*. I pulled him over to the light, messed around in his hair again, and found IT.

Wow.  Where did the year go?  Has it really been a year since that little dark headed boy joined our family?  In honor of your first year together here are 12 things I love about you, Evan! (In no particular order!)

Miriam is refusing to has no interest in potty training... other then getting a "mallow" (marshmallow) for sitting on the potty.  Once in a great while we get a little pee-pee in the potty, but that's rare.

The other day I heard loud crying coming from the other room. In runs Evan sobbing and rubbing his head, followed by Miriam.  After picking up Evan, I ask Miriam, "What did you do?"  Very sweetly she replied, "I hit my Evan on the head!"

We had a great Easter this year. We got the kids up and took them to sunrise service like we do every year... not that there was a sunrise that you could see this year! :) Then breakfast with everyone at church. Then home to get ready for the service.

Evan said his first sentence today.  "Banana all gone!"  Next thing we know he'll be keeping up with his sister!

Miriam and Evan created an interesting game tonight. Miriam would fall over and then call out "Evan, you get up." Evan would run over to her, grab her by the shoulders, and while saying "Up, up, up, up" would pull her to her feet. Miriam would then fall over again, and it all repeated. After about the 6th time of hauling his sister to her feet, Evan looked at me and heaved a loud sigh. It was all way too cute. And I still can't believe he actually was able to get pull her up!

Evan has managed a new developmental milestone tonight.  He has learned to jump with both feet off the ground!  Once he realized that jumping would cause his crazy parents to cheer there was no stopping the little guy.  He was having a wonderful time jumping all around.  It really is too cute watching his stubby little leg carry him up... sometime he tips just a little back, but he hasn't fallen yet. Go Evan go!!

Miriam was obviously right handed from day one.  No question. Her left hand never dominated anything.

Evan had his 18 month doctor's appointment today. He weighted in at 26 lbs 12 ounces ... just over the 50th percentile on the growth charts. Length was 33.5 inches... just under 75th percentile. Not bad... not bad at all! Actually I am surprised to find him so "high" on the height curve. Everyone always says he's such a huge kid, but he's really not. He just seems "stout" I guess.

Just so you understand a typical morning in the life of Evan's Mommy...

The Very Hungry Evan
(sung to the tune of the "Itty, Bitty Spider")

The very hungry Evan climbs up in his chair,
He whimpers and whines 'cause his oatmeal isn't there!
Along comes Mommy with a bowl of food,
And the very hungry Evan soon improves his mood!

It's finally official!  Evan is our legal son today!  We just got back from the court house and have the papers in hand.  His name is also now legally Evan.  Yea! Yea!

Happy Adoption Day, SON! :)

Incidentally, tomorrow is the two year anniversary of our finalizing Miriam's adoption and name change here in the US. 

So little dude is learning to talk and is actually starting to get a few words in over his sister these days.

As an aside, I think she's in trouble. A few days ago, she made him mad doing something and he tackled her and body slammed her to the floor. Yup, missy, lil' Bro can handle you now. So ya better watch it!

Heard from Evan....

Wow, hard to believe but Evan has been with us for almost six months!!
He is doing so well. Every few days he tries a new word... the word of the week is "climb!" And he does climb quite well. :) He also runs all over and follows his sister into everything.
Poor little guy is having a bit of a rough week however due to cutting four (!) teeth. Consequently Mommy is also having a rough week.

or not.
Well, Evan is finally sleeping through the night. *happy dance* *happy dance*
BUT... Miriam has decided to start waking up at 5 AM and needing Mommy to sleep the rest of the night.
I guess I should be happy it isn't both of them, right?

...or Where in Evan Becomes a Blood Sucker
It started out as a perfectly lovely day. We had just returned home from shopping and the park. I was starting lunch for the three of us, and the children where happily playing with each other.

Which is saying a lot considering how much little Miss Miriam talks these days!! Evan has a short list of words he can say. Hi, bye, hot, up, down, done, cup, cat, Dada, Mama, and cracker (which means ANY food). He will also try to say some words back to you in the moment when you are talking to him.

Evan is almost walking! He's been cruising like a pro for months now. The last week his balance has gotten MUST better. I see him all the time just standing somewhere not holding on to anything. On Sunday we tricked him into taking a step and then today he has taken one step on his own twice. It won't be long now!

Evan has been home for over 6 weeks now. He is adjusting well. He generally a happy little guy with a great smile and giggle! We are still working on sleep issues but they too are getting better... having four new teeth finally in may have helped that!

I though that I would share an amazing story about Evan's adoption. Before we adopted Evan our family was in the process to adopt from China. We had completed our homestudy which is why we were even contacted about adopting him. Our families knew our plans to adopt from China and I had even talked with my mother, Mimmi, about coming and staying with Miriam when we traveled to get our child. The day after we learned about Evan, the same day we asked to be considered to adopt him, I called my mother to tell her about Evan and that we were being considered to adopt him.

Well, Evan has been with us for three weeks now and is settling in nicely. He still wakes 2-3 times a night but usually goes right back to sleep after a bottle. Boy can this boy eat!! It's so weird to me after having a child that lives on air to have one that can eat 3 (!!) jars of baby food at a sitting.

Yup, that's right... Miss Miriam is a big sister!