Sunday

This morning was a little chilly, but by the afternoon it had warmed up enough to let Evelynd go to the park.  (Lately, every time we drive by, she points out the window and says, "That?")  She loved the swing when Dassow Daddy pushed her so high and always likes petting the cat statue and driving the car.  She's still a little sick (thankfully, she slept better last night), so we mostly took it easy today.

 At dinner tonight, she wanted to use her fork.  It wasn't working so well, so she sometimes used her fingers and once put a piece of pasta on her fork with her fingers and then laughed.

 Evelynd's cute dress today was a gift from Aunt Ami (and she's holding her favorite blanket -- a shower gift from the Seales).

 Dancing.

 Clapping.

Kicking her crazies out.

Saturday

Today started much too early.  Evelynd woke up after only sleeping two hours and was very congested.  She didn't go back to sleep for three hours, then woke up two hours later, then at 5 a.m. and didn't go back to sleep until around 7 and was up for good at 8.  Luckily, her cold doesn't seem to severe -- mainly just a runny nose.

I had Harp Festival in Silverton this morning and poor Dassow Daddy had almost two hours straight of a screaming baby.  Luckily, she was happy after her nap and we headed to the Oregon Ag Fest.  I had never been there before, but thought Evelynd would enjoy the animals.  She did.  She got to pet a donkey, cow, and see llamas for the first time.  She also got to play in a corn pool and she loved that.

When we got home, we walked (A LOT) outside and played (a little) inside.  Now she's asleep and we're hoping for a nice, long stretch.

P.S. Red Sox won again so they're now at .500.

Friday

I had a lot of lessons today (and by Friday, Evelynd is usually done hearing beginning piano for the week), so I made sure we had fun during the time I wasn't teaching.  We went to the Kids Club in the morning and the Carousel in the early evening (the carousel operator recognized Ev and was sad that his shift was over so he would miss seeing her kiss all the horses).

 She loves driving cars (both toy and real) and looked cute in my baby sweater -- thanks for saving it Nana Evans!

The Jippings gave Evelynd this magnetic drawer for her birthday and today she figured out how to get the pen to work.  Here is her first drawing.  Impressive, huh?

P.S. Red Sox beat the White Sox today.

My Buddy

Evelynd and I got to hang out and have lots of fun today.  We went to the Kids Club, Baja Fresh, a toy store, and had fun with the Tuggys.  Yes, I still had to teach, but she didn't seem to mind it today.

Evelynd always likes to try on my glasses, so the Tuggys had this pair, but it made her dizzy.  She's a bit like a mini-Harry Potter.

P.S. Red Sox are victorious over the White Sox. (Four in a row now!  I think they may be turning it around.)

Mama!

Evelynd finally said, "Mama!"  She's been able to say those syllables for a long time, but today was the first time she actually said them to me!  Yay!

1 Year, 1 Month, 1 Week, 1 Day

Evelynd's 1111 today!

We got to see GG'ma, GG'pa, and Uncle Jon, teach some lessons, and end the night with a celebration with Isa and Ally for the gold ribbons at the piano festival.  Evelynd got her first bowl of ice cream: Baskin Robbins' Oreo Cookies 'n Cream.  She liked it and then experienced a major sugar high and made us all run her around. (Maddy said, "The sugar went straight to her legs.")

11 Hours!

My baby who doesn't sleep slept last night.  For 11 hours.  Straight.  I didn't have to get out of bed at all, although I did wake up around 3 a.m. wondering where my little alarm clock was.  So, when she woke up at six, it wasn't too hard to get out of bed.  Thanks, Lindy!

Today was beautiful again.  We went to the Kids Club in the morning, then worked and walked over to Leta's to show her Ev in the cute outfit Leta had given her for her first birthday.  The rest of the day was lessons and then playing with Dassow Daddy and Dassow Doggy (Daisy) after dinner.

 As soon as she sees a laundry basket, she heads right for it and immediately pulls out all the clothes.  I don't know why.

The Sound of Music

As soon as Evelynd hears music (or even the mention that someone is going to play/sing), she starts singing (and sometimes dancing -- depending on the music).  I love it!  So, today I dressed her in a cute, new dress that reminds me of the "play clothes" the Fraulein Maria makes for the Von Trapp children out of the old drapes.

Evie was happy to see Dassow Daddy today -- he was drilling with the National Guard this weekend.

One other note: She woke up way too early today!  So, we went to the park and watched the birds and squirrels.  They took out the big slide and see-saw at our favorite playground -- bummer!

Tulip Festival

The Jippings invited us to the Woodburn Tulip Festival today.  I'd never been before, but it was fun and I think we'll have to make this an annual tradition.

It started out cold and cloudy, but by the end of our time there the sun had come out and it was warm.  There were games, bouncy houses, face painting, vendors, food, wooden shoe and cow train rides, rubber duck races, and, of course, lots of tulips.

Nana Evans calls Evie her pink tulip girl.

Thalia racing the rubber ducks.

There were a couple of old steam engines going around the farm.

Thalia and the Japanese girls the Jippings host from Tokyo International University.

Evie driving the wooden shoe car.

After the tulips, I taught a lesson and then we went shopping, got some Froyo, played with a cat at a pet store, walked around, made chicken burgers, and played.  Evelynd surprised me by talking so much more today.  She said harp (although she sounded like she was from New York: Hawp), ball, pig, stop, done.  She also started singing Skinamarinky Dinky Dink with the hand motions.  It was very cute.

It was a fun, beautiful Saturday.

Day Off (Mostly)

I only had to teach one hour, so Evelynd and I got to have some fun today.  We started the morning with library story time.  I'm not a huge fan of Fridays because there are SOOO many people there, but Evelynd enjoyed it.  After lessons, we went to the Carousel and played at Riverfront Park.  She was so excited, she squealed.  And she was happy to see Dassow Daddy when he came home.

 These next two pictures are blurry because we changed the batteries in her ball toy and they were blowing all over the place, so Ev was jumping up and down and laughing.

Some highlights from Festival:
A student didn't show up.  The judge said, "So, is she a no-show?"  When the teacher confirmed it, Evelynd said (loudly), "Uh-oh!" and the whole audience laughed.
Evelynd clapped after every piece (you're supposed to only clap after the second one).
She danced and sang to every piece.
She kissed most of my students and even patted another teacher's student on the back when she was done.
Evelynd livened up the atmosphere and made lots of people smile.