Garden of Eden

Hallie was no more than a few bites into her McIntosh than Evvie showed interest. Temptation!

We're more than happy to give her the fruit. What's that old adage about an apple a day?

Evvie's been standing all over the place after pulling herself up. She stands in her crib, on the couch, next to the coffee table and braced against daddy's guitar (poor accoustics this way).

Lately she's been perfecting sitting back down after she gets to her feet. She's become pretty independent, although a bit battered in the process. Occasionally her feet aren't as secure as she thinks and her forehead or cheek pay the price. I hope when it comes time to start walking there's plenty of soft snow on the ground!

Super Evvie

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane!

It's Super Evvie!

(and mommy's hands).

The Rocker

...she likes her lullabies cranked, her strollers fast, and her milk straight from the bottle.

Shore 'nuff

Down at the 5 Island Lobster Company's wharf there's the best Lobster Rolls in the state.

Or so I'm told.

We've passed Labor Day and now they're only open weekends, and this summer has yet to feed me any Lobster. Not to worry, I got this cute picture, and the continuing dream of a succulent Lobster roll...

Grandpa, the Walk, Tough Times & Music

Last weekend Evvie got to see her Maine Grandparents again, and wore her new peach sweatshirt on a walk. The stroller was fine, but she seemed to want to go a little bit faster than normal ground speed...perhaps strollerblading is making her a thrill-seeker?

This week she's having a pretty tough time. She's got a cold, her top gums are about to give way to some new teeth, and a rash just erupted on her bum. The eating fussiness is back, although she manages to get a lot of food in, she's never really that excited about it. She's being a trooper, though and still finds time to laugh or squeal with delight.

She enjoys standing and bouncing quite a bit. Daddy's guitar neck makes a great support, although the music sounds pretty plunky when she grabs onto the strings. She recognizes a lot of the songs daddy plays (when there's so few, they tend to get repetitive!) and has favorite parts to each one. She especially likes his high-pitched Violent Femmes shriek and will often shriek along.

They're a tuneless but happy pair.

StrollerBlading

Throughout the summer Jay has been excercising for Evvie's afternoon nap in the form of "StrollerBlading". It's a great workout for dad, and baby gets some fresh air, too. The bicycle path along the Androscoggin River in Brunswick is a perfect place to cruise and dad is up to 11 miles per outing!

On this particular day, mama came along with the camera and snapped this "action shot"!

Dontcha Just Love Me?

Eating Blueberries

Evvie's found a new favorite finger-food. We tried feeding her blueberries unsuccessfully a month or two ago, but now she devours them! She's funny about them- she'll take them fed to her when they're frozen, but only pick them up and drop them herself. Then, as they thaw out, she begins feeding herself with vigor!

It's good to have another finger food besides the puffed vegetables she's been eating. The blueberries have more substance to them and this snack has helped eliminate a bottle feeding during the day. We're trying to hone down on the bottle and give her most of her breastmilk from a cup (or straight from the tap).

First Day of Daycare...

...And Sooooo Happy to be Home!

Evvie started this Monday on a two-day-per-week daycare plan. It was so difficult to relinquish some of our moments with her, but the bank account is hungry, and Hallie's career is calling.

It went...well, it went. Audrey, her daycare provider said she was good for the first hour or so- playing on the floor with the other kids. During breakfast, though, another child was dropped off whos dad bore a resemblence to me. Audrey thinks Evvie may have thought he was me and got pretty upset from that point in the day onward. She only napped for 1/2 hour and stayed pretty upset most of the day.

Audrey said it's pretty typical and it won't be long before she's comfortable there.

She was super happy to be home, and the whole family had fun playing and dancing. It was even a big day for Ruby, who hadn't been left home while we worked since before Evvie was born. She was equally excited for us all to be a family.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, the second day of daycare and all of our fingers are crossed...

Growth Spurt!

Another checkup with the pediatrition today. She got her last Hepatitis B vaccination! Yayyy! (Of course there's still many others coming down the road, but don't discourage Evvie with such talk).

Here are her new stats:

Weight: 16 lbs. 12 oz
9%

Length: 28 1/2"
70%

Head: 17 1/4"
56%

She's gained 3 1/4 inches in length and is showing her Smith genes! Her head barely grew, whch is fine, and her weight seems a little light- although to look at her you'd never say that. She's not overly fat, but her rolls are still there and those cheeks resemble the backyard critters that have begun storing away nuts for winter.

Dr. Tracy said she is doing very well, and went on and on about what a great baby she is. Her gums seem to be bulging, which goes along with our observations that she seems to be teething. Soon "Chopper" and "Slasher" will have some new friends on top in her mouth.

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We've been spending a lot of time checking out daycare facilities, as Hallie is going to work full-time during the days starting next week. Evvie will be at daycare two days a week, which we feel is a good compromise between us wanting her to have some social time with other kids, and us wanting to be with her all the time. Jay will work on those two days and stay home with her the other three. We've pretty much got it narrowed down to the one we want, but deciding means letting go a little bit...

She's been crawling all over the house lately and she's so fun to watch, as behind every corner lies a new discovery to be made. We're also getting plenty of excercise following her around looking for non-babyproofed areas!