Standing

Today while I was teaching I sat Evelynd in her playpen.  When I looked back, she had pulled herself up into a standing position and was leaning over the side.  Luckily, I caught her before she could dive out, but I clearly need to take out the top part so it's lower.  Too many new skills!  Also, she fell asleep tonight at 6:45, so I didn't get a chance to get pictures.  Sorry.

Goodbye, Students. (Sad face.)

Last week I sent out an email telling my students that I need to cut back and see if there were any people willing to find a new teacher or others who weren't really committed to lessons.  Today was my last lesson with one of those students: Jaylene Vanderhoff.  I have taught Jaylene and her sister Abby for about six years now.  I've enjoyed watching them learn and grow.  I love hearing about their lives.  I love their family.  I will miss getting to catch up with them every week, getting the homemade goodies, and all the blessings they've brought to our lives.  They were being nice, though, to help me be more of a mother to Evelynd.  I'll miss you, Vanderhoffs.

Evelynd was fabulous today.  She had a lot of car seat time and no one to sit in the back with her.  We were gone for over ten hours and she only got fussy for about 15 minutes of it.  I couldn't have asked for a better baby since Dassow Daddy couldn't be there to help.  The pictures are from GG'ma and GG'pa's house on our lunch break (Evie was having duck).

NW Kids Club

I don't have a lot of free time coming up in the next couple weeks, so I wanted to do something fun with Evelynd this morning.  While she was napping, I googled fun things to do with kids in Salem and found the NW Kids Club just a mile away from us.  I thought that might be a fun thing to try out, but Evie kept sleeping.  And sleeping.  She took a 2 1/2 hour morning nap and didn't wake up until noon!  After some quick lunch, we headed out.  Turns out, she loved the club and I'm considering a membership.

The club is a huge room with a lot of stuff for bigger kids, but it also has an infants only area and different theme rooms.  We could stay there all day -- especially when it's cold and wet outside.

One of the boys who kept finding new toys for Evie to play with.

The dress-up castle, the market, and train station rooms.

I think we'll be back.

Evelynd's First Christmas Gift Exchange

We mostly got caught up on work, got ready for Christmas, and played for the rest of Thanksgiving weekend.  We got to visit all the Schneiders on Friday night and Evie really loved playing with the kids.  On Saturday, Ev and Dassow Mommy went to the Jippings to exchange Christmas gifts as we probably won't get a chance to do that again until 2012.  Evelynd's first Christmas present (out of the womb, that is) was a stacker and a shape sorter.  She immediately tasted them and they were yummy.

Thalia and Sylvia reading together.

When we got home, Dassow Daddy made Evelynd laugh.  A lot.

Evelynd's First Thanksgiving

We got to have two dinners today -- how lucky are we???
Our first stop was GG'ma and GG'pa's house.  Uncle Jon had brought over dinner of roast beef, ham, and all the fixings.  Evelynd enjoyed her new ride the most, though.

She also enjoyed showing off her walking skills.

We had our second dinner at Cousin Maddy's with Alfonso, Isa, Ally, and Aunt Mare.
It was a delicious traditional turkey meal.  We also played games, danced to Toddler Tunes (the only TV Evie's allowed to watch), and had good conversation.  Ev did pretty well on only a 40 minute nap.  I think it was a pretty good first Thanksgiving.

This year I am very thankful for our jobs, our sweet dogs, all the thoughtful family, friends, and neighbors we have in our lives, and our health.  Most of all, I am so thankful for the chance to be a mother to such a beautiful, sweet, happy little girl.  I love getting to know her and spend time with her.  I think Dassow Daddy and I still sometimes can't believe we are parents, but we think it was the best thing that ever happened to us.

Thanksgiving Eve

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year because I love days off and being with family and Dassow Daddy is really excited for the Packers game.  Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures, but I'll share what I have.

Not a lot to report here, but we got a nice surprise pumpkin pie from the Greaves family yesterday.  We're looking forward to having some.  Thanks Rebecca!

Harry Potter At Last!

Peter and I had seen every Harry Potter movie in theaters except the last one!  With Evelynd only nursing and being somewhat unpredictable in her sleep when it was in theaters, we never got a chance to go.  But tonight, we lit a fire, have some cider and peach cobbler ready to go, and the movie is about to begin!  Baby E is in bed, but here are some pictures of her from today:

Girls Day and More Firsts

Evie and I joined the Jipping girls today for a shopping trip.  We got some holiday gifts and clothes and went out to lunch.  It was a fun day and Sylvia and Evelynd really like each other.  (Thalia really likes soap.)

Melanie gave Evelynd her first fig newton and Evie sure liked it.  It also got all over her.  Oh well.  What fun is food if you can't get it on your face, in your hair, on you clothes, and on your stroller?

We had a fun time with the Jipping girls, but had to leave after lunch to go to some more of my students' Syllabus exams.  They all passed and the adjudicator thought Chris Lane-Massee was amazing!  She told me that he should practice two hours a day to become a professional.  He was pretty happy when I told him that (although not about the two hours of daily practice).  Evelynd clapped for the first time without my assistance and on purpose.  Fun!

When we got home, Ev tried some spinach and had her first tooth brushing.  Uncle Chris thought we should have been brushing her gums, but oh well.  She now has teeth so we will now brush them.  And that should be good enough.  (P.S. Uncle Chris -- yes, I saw your Trojans beat my Ducks tonight.  Congrats.)

8 Month Questionnaire

I had to fill out a questionnaire on Evelynd's development within two days of her 8-month birthday.  So I did that tonight.

The first section dealt with "Communication."  The only part where she got partial credit was in repeating back sounds when I copy her.  She does it sometimes rather than always.  It's probably because she giggles after I copy her too much.

Next was "Gross Motor."  She failed the question about getting into a crawling position.  She got partial credit on standing without leaning on something and only using her arms for support.  She's a star sitter and likes walking with help, though, so she passed everything else.

Perfect score for "Fine Motor."  My little musician is coming along!

"Problem Solving" also got a perfect score.  I didn't know that all the banging on things she does was a big development milestone, but now I do.

The final section was "Personal-Social."  They didn't have any questions about being a big flirt or she would have passed that one, too.  It was interesting that two questions here dealt with eating her feet.  She does.  And so she got a perfect score on this section.

I think this means that she's awesome -- no matter what her scores were.

So, after two nights of less Evelynd being ready to go by 4 am, I'm exhausted.  I've also had to do everything myself the past few days as Dassow Daddy started a new job on Wednesday and isn't home as much.  I barely made it through lessons today and Evie went to bed at 6:15.  Maybe she's tired enough to sleep a long time tonight.  We need it.

I had three students take their piano Syllabus today and they all passed!  Ev was great through all exams and loved playing with Cousin Ally's sparkly shoes.

Lame

For those of you who only visit for the baby pictures, my apologies.  Tonight I only have a Dassow Dinner post. It had been a while since I posted one and this was a new invention of mine that turned out pretty yummy: Spinach Pear Gorgonzola Melts:

Also, Portland has bumper stickers all over that say: Keep Portland Weird.  Salem has one that I would actually put on my car and agree with: Keep Salem Lame.

Happy Eight Month Birthday, Baby Girl!

Yes, Evelynd is eight months old.  And yes, she threw up on me today.  Poor baby.  Not a good way to start the month.  I had her dressed up in a cute new dress (as I always do on these posts), but it got covered in vomit before I got a picture in.  She had seemed better, so maybe it was just what she ate.  She seemed better tonight and must have known it was a special day because she stayed up until 9:30.

So, what's new?  Evelynd knocks on doors when we walk up to them.  She's getting more consistent at waving back when you wave at her.  She's a professional sitter and an amateur stander (as long as she has something to hold onto, I don't have to support her); although she can't put herself in either of those positions, she's pretty good about staying there.  She's showing no interest in crawling, but loves to have us walk her around.  Her favorite syllables to practice saying are "Ma Ma Ma!"  (I like that.)  She is not much of a snuggler -- she likes to slide off my lap to work on standing instead.  Her favorite book is "Baby Peekaboo" (thank you, Katey and Kayla).  As for her schedule, she sleeps about ten hours at night (with one stretch of at least six hours) and then one or two hours of naps.  Since she's still a little sick, she's been sleeping more than usual this week.  She has her two bottom teeth.

Side note: Yesterday we visited GG'pa and GG'ma.  Evie was full of smiles and GG'pa said to her, "Just seeing you makes me feel better."  I feel the same.

I've put Evelynd in this cute dress from Nana and Papa Dassow a couple of times and never have gotten a picture of her in it.  (It's navy corduroy with pink dots and so cute on Ev.)  Maddy got one last night and I'm glad because Evie is starting to get too tall for her 9-month clothes.

Long Overdue

Tuesday last week was a normal work day.  Evelynd likes all the houses with carpet that we get to visit -- it's a lot more fun to roll around there than on our wood floors.

On Wednesday, Evelynd had a little cough, slight fever, and drippy nose.  She wasn't sleeping well and was waking for hours at night.  Dassow Mommy and Daddy were pretty exhausted.  Thursday was more of the same, but she was able to show up and flirt with my students.

Friday was supposed to be a post dedicated to my harp.  11/11/11 was my harp's 100th birthday!  I got to play for a wedding at St. Louis Catholic Church in St. Louis, Oregon, with my friend Nelly.  The church was built in 1880 and was beautiful.  I wanted to get a picture of my harp there on it's birthday, but the people blowing out the candles were too fast, so no pictures.  You'll have to settle for two different ones (me playing with the Salem Youth Symphony in the early 1990's and a concert at First Christian Church a couple years ago).

When I got home, Dassow Daddy told me that Evie had thrown up everything he had given her to eat.  She had also thrown up the mango I gave her that morning.  Well, at least she was keeping her milk down, right?  Wrong.  I fed her and she projectile vomited all over me and her and her clothes and the boppy and the rocking chair.  I had to call the after hours nurse at the pediatrician's and she said to bring Evie in first thing in the morning.  Poor baby.  

So Saturday morning was Evie's first unscheduled doctor visit.  Luckily she was staying hydrated and does not have any infections.  "It's just a virus" -- one of my favorite, useless phrases.  So Evie took it easy (no more vomiting) and played with her doggy friends.  (Carolyn Fu hosted our harp ensemble rehearsal and had made a cake in honor of my harp's 100 years + 1 day birthday.  What a nice surprise!)

Sunday was pretty warm, so we got to go for a walk, but mainly we still worked on recovering.  Evie was pretty fussy (for her anyway).  It has been the perfect storm of the vomiting, fever, cold, cough, and teething all at the same time, so I can't really blame her for being upset. 

The good news?  She slept an eight hour stretch last night and seems to be on the mend.  Here's to a better week.

Lots of News

We woke up at 4:40 a.m. on Saturday to pack up and drive to Seattle for a weekend getaway.  We were staying with our friends, the Warrens, who were getting to meet Evelynd for the first time.  While we were there, guess who's first tooth popped out????  Yes, nursing is a little more painful, but we're getting the hang of it.  We can't get a picture yet, but hope to soon.

Wearing Dassow Daddy's hat

Our hosts, Kristy and Audrey (who is starting to be a toddler)

It was cold on Saturday, but sunny, so we went for a long walk.  Kristy made us some delicious meals and the rest of the time we just chatted.  Both Warren kids were under the weather, so we took it easy.  Late in the day, Peter got an invitation from a friend to join him at the final game at Husky Stadium (Oregon v. Washington -- Ducks crushed those Dogs!), so lucky guy got to go to the game and meet his friend's new twins.

On Sunday, Evie and I got to go meet the twins, but they were sleeping, so no play time.  Other than that, we hung out with the Warrens and just got to catch up.

This morning was a fun surprise because we got to have cousin time!  We didn't know it when we planned our weekend, but Aunt Paige and Cousin Fox were also in Seattle.  Fun!  We met them for breakfast and got to witness Fox's awesome walking skills.

Evelynd wore her favorite coat (from Aunt Paige)

We then went back to the Warrens to pack up and say goodbye.

It's blurry, but we want to document the beginning of the lifelong friendship of Audrey and Evelynd.

'Bye Warren family.  Thanks for the great weekend!

When we got home we were glad to see the doggies.  Leta had left a funny four-page letter (from Sam) detailing their doggy weekend.  Thanks for the dogsitting, Leta; they had fun with you.

P.S. Other notes: Evelynd had her first grapes, green beans, and cell phone.  Dassow Daddy had to get a new one since the drool ruined his old one.  Now Ev has her own phone and she's only 7 months old!