Fall Break

I needed a break, so I got a last minute ticket to Denver and Ev and I flew to visit the 'rents.  She was a dream on the plane, even though this was the first time we weren't able to have an extra seat by us.  We had a nice seat mate who had a 12-year-old daughter and loved playing with Evelynd.  Then, halfway through the flight Evelynd fell asleep and stayed asleep until we landed.  We met up with Nana Evans at the airport and Ev used the airport potty!  When we got to the house, we immediately had to see the horses.  Now, Dassow Mommy is hoping to get some rest and papers graded.

Rainbow

Evelynd saw her first real rainbow today.  We live in Oregon, so this may seem a bit surprising, but it was a lovely, large rainbow and Evie loved seeing it.



My students had their harp ensemble rehearsal today, which Ev enjoyed since Carolyn hosted and she has cats.  In the evening, we got to play with Mary and Bridget again.  The girls enjoyed jumping off the couch.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday was beautiful, so I had high hopes for today.  Alas, no such luck!  It was freezing and very wet, but we went to meet the Jippings at the pumpkin patch anyway.  We didn't even get a pumpkin since we were all too cold, but Evelynd climbed the hay stacks and we got some delicious apple cider doughnuts.  Plus, she enjoyed seeing the animals in the petting zoo.  So, not a total loss.

Evie's outfit was made by her great-grandmother Jeanie for her cousin Isa.  Maddy had saved it and let us borrow it.  It's warm, reversible, and very cute.  There are even matching mittens. 

Later that day, during a break in the weather, we got to meet up with Mary and Bridget at the park and then ended our Friday with a Country Fair.  Evelynd kept trying to copy the square dancers.  Dassow Daddy's working this weekend, so it's just us girls.

Using the Big Girl Potty

After we got home from lessons today, Evelynd again told me that she needed to go potty.  I again asked if she wanted to try to the toilet and this time she said, "Yes."  So I quickly ran down to the basement to get the Sesame Street toilet seat we had, put it on the toilet, and she went pee-pee!  Hooray!  Let's hope this is a real trend.

Two Funny Stories

1. Today Evelynd threw her plate on the floor and broke it.  I sternly said, "No."  She doesn't hear that word very often and so her lower lip started to quiver.  I started cleaning up and heard her saying, "Nana, Papa, Evie.  Jesus, Amen."  She had her head bowed and her hands folded.  Apparently, she was asking to go live with Nana and Papa instead of her mean mommy.  :)
2.  Later in the day I asked her if she was happy or sad.  She said, "No.  BOLD!"  Well, okay then!

Happy 19 Month Birthday, Baby Girl!

How lame am I?  I totally forgot and didn't get any pictures today!  The 16th just passed me by!  We were busy teaching in Portland so at least Evie got to play with Isa ("Isi") and Ally and visit GG'ma and GG'pa.

So, what's new?  She calls herself Evie quite regularly now, so most of our speech is in the third person.  I'm hoping for early potty training as often as she is telling me she's going poopy before she actually does.  She's counting and talking a lot.  She loves to sing and do finger plays -- especially if we do them "fast."  She's getting more imaginative, able to pretend and play with other kids her age.  Evelynd can even run a little better now, so we could finally pass our 18-month gross motor skills test.  She's a joy, pure and simple. 

Evelynd's New Best Friend

Cinderella!

At the Kids Club today, Evelynd found a Cinderella doll that was even bigger than her and she carried it everywhere.  Then, we saw a Cinderella book at the grocery store and she has Cinderella on a plate the Jippings gave her for her birthday.  Ev loves it and spent all day talking about "Erella."

Happy Birthday, Cousin Fox!

Today is Fox's 2nd birthday.  You can read about his party here.

Tea Time

A new tea shop opened up recently and we called the Jippings girls to come try it with us.  Unfortunately, they don't have the easiest hours to work with our schedules, but we were able to meet up today (although Thalia and Sylvia were unavailable after all).  Evelynd had fun and loved the cucumber and chicken sandwiches.  Afterwards, we had fun at the used bookstore next door.  Plus, it was raining, so it all felt very Notting Hill.

A New Hat?

At GG'ma and GG'pa's today, Evelynd found the basket that holds her toys and decided it would make a nice hat.  Well, it fit her perfectly and matched her outfit, so why not?

Dassow Desayuno

Even though it's supposed to be 80 degrees today, the mornings are cold, so I made pumpkin spice pancakes and cinnamon rolls for breakfast today.  It was yummy and a nice change from eggs and cold cereal.

We ended the day with a prayer -- for colors.  Evelynd would remind me to pray for "pink, orange, blue, purple."

Cheesehead/Packer Backer

Evelynd got to watch the Packers game today (although I don't think there was much watching at all) wearing her first Packers gear, courtesy of her Uncle Michael and Aunt Judy.  I'm sure with all the family influence, she will be a loyal, lifelong fan.

 

Bad Blogger

It's been very difficult for me to get back into the blogging swing of things.  I haven't had my camera in my hands as much either, but I want to get back into it.  I want Evelynd (and baby boy) to have a record of their childhoods.  So, here it is a week later.  Not much to report beyond our usual lessons, library story time, and lots of playing.  Today, though, we were reading "Bedtime Peekaboo," a present from Cousin Maddy, and Evelynd saw a girl with pigtails.  She wanted some.  So here is my quick first version of pigtails on Ev.

  

 

 Then, she took the camera and snapped a couple of pictures of her favorite things: her new boots and her beaky (used to be blanket, then "B," briefly "beak").

 P.S. A very happy birthday to Evelynd's Aunt Cami!

Bo's 5th Birthday

Our day started very early.  Evelynd went to bed at midnight, woke up briefly around 2, and then was up for good by 5.  Dassow Mommy and Daddy are so tired!  At least we got to have fun, though.  Our neighbor Bo had his 5th birthday party today.  His family made it a block party and invited all the kids in the neighborhood.  They had blocked off the street and had a bouncy castle.  There was lots of delicious food, fun games, and Evelynd didn't even take a nap (big surprise).  It went all day (I even took a break to get a hair cut) and was beautiful weather.  Happy Birthday, Bo!

 

The birthday boy

 Evelynd's outfit was a birthday present from my harp student, Mary, and her necklaces were part of the treasure chest loot from the party.

ABCs

Today at the Kids Club, Evelynd found a toy with the alphabet on it.  She started singing the ABCs  -- and finished them!  All by herself! 

Prayers

Evelynd has liked to pray -- a lot -- lately.  During Micaela's lesson today, she kept closing her eyes and bowing her head.  Then she'd look up at me and say, "Mommy?  Harp!"  I guess the lessons wasn't going so well since Evelynd kept thinking the harp needed extra prayers.  She always wants me to pray multiple times for Daisy, too.  I've tried less yelling and more petting so Evelynd won't think Daisy's in too much trouble.  Amen.

18-Month Checkup

                                    

Before the doctor's.  And at the doctor's:

We had our 18-month checkup (and final shots until she's 4) today, so here are the official stats:

Height: 32 1/4" (60th percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs. 5.5 oz. (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 46 1/2 cm (85th percentile)

BMI: 45th percentile

She impressed the doctor with her vocabulary and lack of sleep (that second part is not so impressive to Dassow Mommy), and failed her gross motor skills because she's not really running yet.

In other news, I talked to my doctor about my ultrasound today.  The good news: the baby looks great.  The not-so-good news: I have partial placenta previa with an umbilical chord coming in at a bad angle.  So, currently, I am classified as a high risk pregnancy.  We'll have another ultrasound in about six weeks and hopefully the placenta will have "migrated."

18-Week Ultrasound

We started today with the ultrasound ... and the verdict is...

IT'S A BOY!
I made the ultrasound tech laugh pretty hard because she asked if we wanted to know the sex.  I said, "Yes, but I already know it's a boy.  In our families, once the male releases his X chromosomes, there are no more left.  You only get one shot at a girl and we already have ours."  For some reason she didn't think it really worked that way, but I have no other explanation for it.
While we were at the ultrasound, Evelynd was at Elisabeth Thompson's and had fun dancing to a new CD we are borrowing and listening to a lot -- it has lots of fun rhythm practice.

Caveat: I got a call from my doctor soon after the ultrasound.  That's not a good sign.

Happy 18 Month Birthday, Baby Girl!

I can't believe it's been 1 1/2 years already!  She's getting so big and learning so much! 
We took the neighbor girls to the park with us to celebrate and Evelynd went down the big slide herself for the first time.  Hooray!

(Even though it wasn't cold out, she insisted on wearing her "Baa Baa" coat.)

So, what's new?  The biggest thing is her language, which is improving every day.  There are always new words and funny phrases.  She loves to sing, dance, do finger plays.  She has even started saying "Poopy" before she's goes.  I always ask if she wants to try the toilet and she always says no, but I can still hope this means that I won't have two in diapers.  Right?  She's still the joy of ours lives and so fun to hang out with everyday.  Love you, Ev!

Pietro's

Annie's family invited us to join them tonight at Pietro's for pizza.  I remember going there as a child and liking the pizza, balloons, and couple of arcades games (like the one where you squeeze the brass handle and the lights go up the tower to say how in love you are), but this Pietro's was a whole new ball of wax.  It has laser tag, mini golf, and about a million games.  Evelynd was having so much fun -- especially riding the boat ride -- that I didn't get any pictures, but I'm sure we'll have to be back.

Jumping Like Dogs

It's National Guard weekend already!  Dassow Daddy just got home and now he's gone again.  So, we spent this evening playing with Annie.  Ev decided to show her how fun it was to jump in the bed and then they both decided to be dogs as they jumped.  The photo didn't really turn out, but at least I got a video.

 

Dassow Daddy's Back to Work

Dassow Daddy got to hang out with us (and run a ton of errands) until today, when he had to return to his day job.  Evelynd and I went to library story time of course, and she tried playing with puppets for the first time.  Pretty fun.

 Unfortunately, she shook the puppet off as soon as I got my camera out.

A very happy birthday to Evelynd's Cousin Luke!

Dassow Daddy's First Weekend Home

Dassow Daddy got home about 2:30 a.m. yesterday.  Needless to say, after a day of traveling and a summer of basic training, he was pretty tired.  When Evelynd saw him for the first time, she just stared for a while like she was looking at a ghost, but then she hugged him and was happy to have her daddy back.  We mostly had to work/run errands on Friday, but we did go out for Korean food.  

On Saturday, I wanted to do something fun as a family and let Peter pick between a few activities.  He picked Enchanted Forest, so lucky Ev got to go twice in one week.

 Driving the boats (although we didn't put any money in, so she was really just moving the wheel around). 

I think there's a little girl who likes having her daddy back.

Single Motherhood Day #72

Dassow Daddy graduated today and is on a plane home.  He keeps getting delayed, though, so it sounds like he won't be home until early in the morning.  Evelynd and I spent most of the day getting ready for his return (she especially loved picking out the balloons).  Congrats on your graduation, Daddy!  We're excited to have you home!

Single Motherhood Day #71

No more summer vacation.  Today was back to my normal schedule and a full load of lessons.  We were able to start the day with library story time, though, which is always a favorite of Evelynd.  She is getting much more involved now and not so shy.  It's fun!

 Shaking her sillies out.

The other news is that Daisy got a haircut today.  She had a bunch of knots in her hair, so I had them shave her completely.  Here's hoping there's less shedding (and thus, less to clean up).  We spent the rest of the day getting ready for Dassow Daddy's imminent return. 

Single Motherhood Day #70

September came before I knew it and I hadn't gotten my Portland lessons figured out, so I got today off!  Evelynd and I spent the day at the Gilbert House and then got a new battery for my phone so people can call me again.

 Putting chocolate chips in the cookies.

 Making a quilt.

 Trying on the clothes in the China room.

 Sampling the carrots.

Enjoying the playground outside -- this girl loves swinging!

Single Motherhood Day #69

Since I only had one lesson to teach today, I decided to take Ev back to Enchanted Forest for an end of summer fun day.  It was tough going all by myself.  The park is built on a very steep hillside, so it's quite a workout on its own, but then when you're carting a baby in utero, a toddler, a stroller, etc., it's an exhausting undertaking.  We had lots of fun, though.

 Looking in Snow White's house (for a long time).

 Watching Cinderella (again).

 Driving the train.

 Playing the bells in Pinocchio's Playhouse.

Spending a lot of time watching "Hickory Dickory Dock."