Smartie

This seems to happen to me all the time. I think of something I want to write about regarding Eva's development and then once I finally sit down to write about it I can't remember what it was. That happened yesterday. This morning I remembered what I really wanted to write about.



I am very biased when it comes to the intellectual evaluation of my daughter. I have not researched developmental progress and where she falls with respect to her peers however, I think she is brilliant. :) Parents out there, I know you know what I'm talking about. Lately Eva has begun to express herself more and more and prove to us that she knows what's going on around her. When we're feeding her she points at the food she wants to eat. For example, we line up her oatmeal, banana and drink and she indicates what she'd like next. This has eliminated a considerable amount of whining and frustration for both parties involved. She's also starting to learn where her facial features are. She can successfully locate her ears and sometimes her nose. The knowledge seems to be transferable because she can also locate Mommy and Daddy's ears as well. The other night I was getting her ready for bed and we were having some play time in her room. I said if she'd like to read a book she could bring one to me and I'd read it to her. She promptly crawled over to her stack of books, chose one, handed it to me and then crawled into my lap. I was stunned. Once we finished reading I asked her if she'd like to read another one. I thought she might just grab the book we'd been reading and try to get me to read it again but she didn't. She crawled out of my lap over to her stack of books, grabbed a different book and brought it to me. We did this three or four times and I was just so proud of my bright little one. I am constantly amazed at the recognition she exhibits.



For the record, I don't intend for any of this to come off as bragging. So I'm sorry if that's how it seems. Like I said, I'm not really sure if Eva's peers are doing the same thing or not. I am just so amazed at her development and thankful that I see her learning every day. God is so good to have given Eddie and I a healthy, intelligent daughter.

Teeth are mysterious


Teeth are very mysterious things. I could have sworn to you almost 8 months ago that Eva was getting teeth. Nope. Then several months after that...surely! Wrong again. There have been several times when this has happened and the past couple months have been no different. Last month she had a day where there was a 'present' in every diaper, I kid you not. As a result she got the worst diaper rash ever and the poor girl was in quite a bit of pain. As tortured as the girl was I secretly thought 'this is it!' Of course the agony of my babe didn't result in a pearly reward. Now, yet again, Eva had some terrible diaper rash and a day of 'presents'. We'll see what happens but I'm starting to be more and more convinced that this little girl will usher in her first birthday with a toothless smile.


Mom and Dad L. came for a visit a few weekends ago. Thinking the timing would be great for a reprieve from the cold NY weather they headed down here. There was promise of a gorgeous weekend complete with sunshine and some father/son golfing. Wouldn't you know it that the weekend they were here we had a dip in our temps and upstate NY was unusually warm? Nonetheless we had a great time visiting and spending time together. We got to go to Chipotle (YUM!). Mom L's tongue was singed by the super spicy chicken but she was a trooper. Eva loved spending time with her grandparents and is looking forward to seeing them again for her birthday.

OH! Drum roll please.... We successfully purchased AND installed a baby gate. Hurray! It was a team effort. I went and bought the gate and Eddie installed it in record time. So far so good. It is fully functional and there is no railing interference. Sweeeeeet. Eva likes to stand at it and look down the stairs. Thanks for the offer to help
Uncle Paul! We are so blessed to have family in the area to care for us.

Just wanted to share a picture of my shopping trainee. Yes, she's checking the price!! YAY, bargain shopper in the making.

Almost one and other ramblings

The time is almost here for my sweet little baby girl to turn one. I love her more today than I ever have and I'm so incredibly thankful that God saw fit to bless Eddie and I with such a gift. More and more of her personality is beginning to show each day. She loves making people smile and laugh. Kisses are freely distributed to almost everyone (she doesn't care much for a stubbly cheek). I never realized that the feeling of a soft baby draped on my shoulder would bring so much joy and warmth to my heart. Each day I am reminded anew what a blessing Eva is. I pray that as time whizzes by I will be able to cling to each passing moment and cherish them with all my heart.

Ok, enough mushy stuff. On with the stats. Eva started clapping her hands the day after I last posted, February 21st I guess. Any time she does something that she knows we approve of, such as putting food in her mouth and not on the floor, she breaks into a huge smile an claps her hands. Around that time she also started to imitate our laughter. If Eddie and I are having a conversation and one of us laughs she breaks into a really fake but incredibly adorable "AH-ha-ha-ha-ha." Of course that just makes us laugh more and the cycle of laughter continues. I love that we are a lighthearted family (for the most part) that loves to laugh and smile. Some have observed that Eva has also developed a snort. I guess there's no denying that she's my daughter now! Just this week she started climbing stairs and has become quite proficient at it. When she goes up for naps or bedtime we let her climb up herself. I trying to decide whether to get a gate for upstairs or not.

For those of you who were concerned about us having a gate for the stairs going to the basement I would like to report that we actually purchased one within the time I committed to. Unfortunately, there's not one installed right now. Hmmm, are you confused? Well we went to the sweltering BabiesRUs store and got a gate in record time. It was nice! Extra tall for our string bean girl, three panels to use for wider spaces if need be, single hand opening mechanism, it seemed good. We got it home and managed to hold off installing it for a couple days; there's that procrastination again. After we had drilled holes in our railing and mounted everything except the catch to secure the gate we realized that the hand rail going into the basement was going to interfere with mounting the catch. We are fairly intelligent people and tried to come up with some kind of solution that would not involve us taking the whole gate down and returning it to the store. We could not do that. Sooooooo we took the gate down and Eddie braved the tropical weather at the store to return it. Geepers. Back to square one. My guess is that we won't ever successfully get a gate and have it installed. Hopefully my prediction is incorrect. Only time will tell.

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Eddie's job situation. Things are still pretty slow but according to Eddie there have been some good jobs available lately. This coming Monday he has an interview and there's the promise of another one that was supposed to be scheduled for the end of this week (obviously not) or the beginning of next week. We're still optimistic and are confident that the Lord will provide. In the mean time I've been working and trying to figure out how to balance this working from home thing and everything else. Balance has been a struggle for me but I know that God will help me to work things out. I just need to rely on Him and not my own strength which for me seems so much easier said than done.