2. The weather lately has been wonderful! It's been those typical sunny Colorado autumn/winter days where it warms up fairly nicely such that you can take a walk without bundling up too much, and enjoy being outside. This past weekend I took advantage of the nice weather by taking walks with the kids both days. And yesterday I even packed a picnic lunch, which Evan really liked too. I like getting outside to get some exercise, and it also is exciting for Evan since we usually walk to a park for him to play for a bit. I told him that it was nice that both him and Mommy got some exercise on these days, and now he likes to use that word a lot. He as running back and forth in the living room the other night and told me "I'm getting ex-er-cise Mommy" (he had to slowly sound out the word to say it...but he did it just fine!).
3. Speaking of Evan sounding out words, he is really working on saying things better. If he gets something jumbled up, he'll often start again and go slower, syllable by syllable. I've also noticed that he often repeats the last consonant sound of words under his breath after he's said them (if his last word ends in a 't', he'll say "tah tah tah" under his breath, if it's an 's' he'll say "sss sss sss"). I'm not sure if this is his way of practicing those sounds, or if it's some other form of stuttering maybe? It could just be a phase, but it's been happening much more regularly in this past week.
4. Evan currently loves several books sent to him by his Australian family: "There was an old lady who swallowed a mozzie" and "Snug as a hug" are on the "must read before nap or bedtime" circuit. I love how he helps read them now too...especially the "mozzie" book (he calls it either "mozzie" or "Aussie" to refer to it), because after it says "I don't know why she swallowed the mozzie" he helps me say (or will say it for me) "She's gotta be Aussie". :) It's so cute. He also has a few pages that he always says the same thing on...like he asks me what the rosella is, and then on the crocodile page he says "it's a crocodile!" even though the books just calls it a "croc". Each and every time we read it he'll say those things.
5. Emma is starting to track things vertically with her eyes now. I noticed this yesterday when I was moving Evan's shiny pinwheel in front of her. It certainly caught her eye and she would follow it up, down, or side-to-side very well. I also caught her watching her feet this past weekend. It was too cute. She was kicking her legs around while sitting in her rocking chair, just watching her feet move up and down and around. And she still checks out her hands on occasion too (see photo below).
Has a fist ever looked so interesting?
6. While we were out on our walks this past weekend, or up in Estes Park, Evan would tell us when he saw snow (there were only a few spots of it on our walks in our neighborhood though). After he pointed out the snow on our walk he said "it's wintertime". My boy is learning about the seasons already! :)
7. December is here! Time to finish getting ready for Christmas and for our trip to Australia! I need to get our travel documents in order, finish buying a few more presents, and finish packing. I can't believe that if we weren't going on our vacation that I'd have to go back to work in just 2 weeks! Maternity leave always goes by so fast.
8. Evan is such a great big brother. He still wants to hold Emma all the time, and check on her when she's crying, or snuggle her at bedtime (or at other times of day too). Yesterday when she was in her swing, she woke up and was crying. He went over to the swing, turned the music back on for her, and then started helping rock the swing for her too. It was incredibly sweet! He also held her yesterday with his arms around her. They kept looking at each other. I can see they are starting to really bond!
And the two most marvelous things to report on this Monday:
9. Emma smiles at me so much now. When she first makes eye contact with me, she will often give me a big open smile. I absolutely love it! I'm sure it won't be long before that smile turns into a giggle or laugh.
10. Evan said the most precious thing to me yesterday...something I will cherish forever. He was being a super sweet big brother (see #8 above) caring for Emma in her swing after she'd woken up crying, and it just made me want to give him a big hug. So I asked him if I could get a hug, from the cutest little boy I know, and he said okay and came and hugged me. He laid his head on my shoulder and I held him tight. He started pushing his weight into me more with his legs (he is a two-year-old boy who can't sit still after all), so I started using that to rock us forward and back. He told me how "we're rocking Mommy", all while keeping his head snuggly rested on my shoulder. It was pure bliss...but wait, it got better. When we finally let go of our long embrace, he looked me up close and in the eyes (I love to get a close in-the-eye look at him so I was already pleased) and said "I love you Mommy." (heart melt) I love my boy so much!
1 comment:
Evan is such a sweetie! And I'm jealous of your 9oz- I don't think I ever pumped close to that much!
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