Evangeline Lucille's Greatest Hits

I got Kaia and Evie Lu off to the airport and Kaia called me from her seat on the plane. They still have four more hours of travelling to do as of the writing of this post, so I'm still on pins and needles.

I thought I'd post a few pictures showing how much my little girl has grown. As I looked through the old photos I was blown away. Was she ever that small? Can she really be that big now? By the time Kaia and Evie Lu get back the two top teeth that have been causing trouble might be all the way in. Wow, she's growing up fast.

Only one week old


Six and a half months old


To go from having no personality to the Evie Lu I know and love and to go from being our orange jaundiced baby to being as pale as Kaia and I is ridiculous. You could almost argue that I'd taken pictures of two different babies. I'll keep my favorites coming this week while I miss my wife, the love of my life, and the little girl who has me wrapped around her finger.

They're Leaving On A Jet Plane

Kaia and Evie Lu are flying out in just a couple of hours and I'm already a wreck. What will I do without them? I'll keep you posted on Evie Lu news from this front, but you'll have to wait until Kaia gets back for the full meal deal. Sigh.

A New Routine

Oh, it is over now! I see you and I see that you see me and me seeing you see me means it is play time!

All last week Kaia, Evie Lu, and I were out the door and into the day an hour to an hour and a half earlier than our usual schedule. Our darling daughter responded well to the the change by getting sleepy earlier, but we now have a problem. She isn't shifting back to the old schedule. In fact she seems to be wanting to get up earlier by about fifteen minutes.

Thankfully Evangeline is a happy baby and will coo at her mobile or her hands. I'm hoping and praying she doesn't take to Minnesota time this week. A 5:45 am baby is one thing, but a 3:45 am baby would be too much for me. If we keep on this trajectory, our little family will be completely nocturnal by February.

You can turn me back over, but I'm waving goodbye to your night of sleep.

Catching Up

They say time flies when you're having fun, but it also flies when you are ridiculously busy. Evie Lu managed to survive her first Vacation Bible School experience at the church. She didn't participate so much as hang out with me while I was the designated song leader for the week. Evie Lu also handled being the center of attention quite well. I was afraid she'd freak out as wave after wave of kids and adults came up to see her, but Evangeline took it all in stride.

I've tried not to think about it too much, but Kaia and Evie Lu leave for Minnesota on Wednesday morning and I'm staying home. What am I going to do without the bright shining faces of the women I love and need to see everyday? If there were an Old Chicago out here I might be able to take solace in a Double Deckeroni, but oh well.

The picture below is from our first try at giving Evie Lu peas. Do you think she likes them?

Birthday Month Or Bi-Annual Birthday

I brought my drink, where's yours?

For years now I've been celebrating Bithday Month. For me it starts July 19 and concludes August 19. It is fantastic and I've been trying to spread the word about Birthday Month to anyone who will listen, but I've got a dilemma when it comes to little Evie Lu.

Being a New Years Eve baby do we celebrate from December 31 to January 31 or do we give her the option of having a family birthday party in the winter and a summer invite all your friends over birthday party? If I were Evie Lu I'd go with the twice a year birthday. I'd make it part of my Birthday Month and at least for a few years it would be a great Father/Daughter time of fun. (After a while she'd want Kaia and I to be as far away from her parties as possible.)

Rings & Things With Mom

Oh, is that how you do it?

Now that Evie Lu is sitting up it is a lot of fun to place things in front of her and watch her go to town. The stacking rings toy, which was an Easter basket gift, has been a constant source of entertainment. Although, I'm anticipating the day she grabs the base and uses it like a hammer.

Hey, that's not fair I only have two teeth!


Kaia and Evie Lu spent quite a while playing with the rings. It was remarkable to watch Evie Lu copy Kaia and seemlingly try to communicate. What was she communicating? I haven't the foggiest, but it was really important to little miss Evie Lu.

Mom, you crack me up!


Evie Lu has lots of toys and no matter how advanced toys get there are classics that will never go away. Rings and blocks are the coolest if you ask me. I can't wait to catch Evie Lu pretending to have tea or building some great structure that exists only in her imagination.

Mom, the yellow one tastes like drool, what does yours taste like?

I Eat Everything

On Sunday Kaia was diligently studying and Evie Lu was playing with her toys. Kaia had a stack of papers on the floor next to her and everything was going swimmingly well. Kaia took a very quick trip to the bathroom and upon her return found the picture you see above.

Evie Lu had left her toys and moved to investigate Kaia's work. Apparently scientific research papers taste great. The picture gives you a small sense of how mobile our little girl is now. She started out in the center of that pink blanket behind her. She has figured out the continuous roll, the scoot back, the military belly crawl, and a funny concentric circle move. Nothing is safe anymore. Well nothing on the floor anyway.

Maybe That Didn't Work

Below this post should be a post with a video embedded in it, but for some reason I'm not seeing it at the moment. Lest you think we'd let you go without a bit of Evie Lu goodness here are some super cute bath pictures from last night.


Mom, I love it when you let me wear the hodded towel!


What? You're looking at little old me?


Post-bath workout starts with the toe grab and pull.


Wait, these aren't going on the blog are they?

A Smile

Evie Lu felt like sharing a little sunshine today.

Sing along!

We're gonna win Twins! We're gonna score! We're gonna win Twins! Watch that baseball soar. Crack out a home run! Shout a hip-hooray! Cheer for the Minnesota Twins today!

While we were in Billings I spent a day checking every possible retail location for a Chicago Cubs or Minnesota Twins floppy hat for Evie Lu to wear at her first professional baseball game. I thought floppy hats were everywhere. Wasn't every frat boy wearing one a couple of years ago? In any case I struck out swinging.

I did however find this little Twins outfit. There was no Cubs outfit to be found, but since Evie Lu is the child of a mixed marriage (National League and American League fans can get along!) I figured it was a good move to get the onesie and shorts for her. Doesn't she look adorable? Fit to cheer for the Nathanest of Joes, Chairman Mauer, and The Tiniest Super Hero: Little Nicky Punto.

Redneck Riviera

A rare glimpse of the Northwest Migrating Squeaky Duck

Living in the great Pacific Northwest it is not very often that it gets really hot. This week we had one of those really hot (for us) spells. Our place has great big windows that face south and west and on warm days it can get pretty stifling inside.

On Wednesday Evie Lu's room was 95 degrees by 3pm. So we decided to fill up her little kiddie pool. Oh, by the way we don't really have a yard. For a sense of perspective look at your kitchen table and there you've basically got our yard. It was so hot we didn't care if our neighbors thought we were funny looking.

Mom, put me back in!


It was a great time, but I should have thought a little bit ahead. You see when I emptied the pool last night I failed to realize everything is downhill from our postage stamp yard and I sent a whole bunch of soil down to the sidewalk. Live and learn. At least we cooled off.

Ah, the scenic vista

New Food Week - Carrots: Part Two

And the winner of the caption contest is . . .

He thinks it's funny now? Just wait until he sees the carrot I give HIM! Mwa hah hah haaahhhhh!


We had four excellent suggestions for the caption and I did laugh at all of them. I think Olivia's dad would have won it, but then I changed Evie Lu's diaper today. Let's just say Brady's might be funny because it is true. (The first rule of comedy by the way.)

Evangeline was not the only one partaking in new food week as curiousity got the best of my lovely wife. Kaia said I should try it too, but I've eaten in far too many cafeterias and gone to way too many church potlucks. I like my vegetables this side of massacred thank you very much.

Kaia really did put that spoon in her mouth.

New Food Week - Carrots

New Food Week is like Shark Week, but fewer days and messier.

Mmm, carrots taste . . . good?

Enough time had passed since introducing oatmeal that Kaia said we could try something else. I voted for carrots. Evie Lu really took to them, but she was distracted by the constant flash of the camera and my hysterical laughter. This was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

A word on Evie Lu's eating style. Apparently she takes after her mother who as a baby ate with her arms up in the air. Most of the time she is not grabbing for the spoon, but instead is signaling that the field goal is good. In between bites Evie Lu likes to savor the last spoonful by sticking her thumb in her mouth which only serves to spread what didn't make it into her mouth all over.

Whoa, I'm done. But are there breadsticks or cheddar biscuits over there?


Evie Lu's reaction to the carrots was priceless as well. She'd open her mouth wide for a bit, but almost immediately after swallowing Evie Lu would make these amazing faces. The one below is a perfect example. Not exactly happy is it? I have made this picture the background for my computer because it makes me laugh every time I see it.
So, here is your challenge for the day: what is Evangeline thinking? You post it in a comment and the one that makes me laugh the hardest will be the new caption.

Alright people, you write the caption!

New Food Week - Oatmeal

Isn't the spoon supposed to hold something?

A week ago Dr. Ann gave us the go ahead to introduce all sorts of new foods. Me being me, I wanted to line up a dozen different options and see what Evangeline liked the best. My smarter, better half kept Evie Lu's digestive system in mind and proposed one new food a week. Our first new food was oatmeal and Evie Lu loved it.

Please sir, may I have some more?


I imagine after the boring three weeks of rice cereal oatmeal must have been like a fried chichen dinner after nothing but dry white toast. Of course she doesn't eat a whole lot. It isn't like she needs the calories, but it is a great time to introduce new things. I know Kaia and I are far more excited about the process than Evie Lu is, but someday I'll teach her the joys of Gumbo and shrimp po' boys. Laissez les bon temps roullez!

See I can do it!

Seriously Funny

You start with a zerbert

There are things you dream about as you wait for your first child to be born. For me one of those things was blowing zerberts on my child's belly. There is a connection between Evie Lu's squeals of joy and my mental health. Are you feeling low? Then come on over and get some quality Evangeline time.

You get the big laugh


Another trick that gets a great response from Evangeline is the burst of air to the face. She doesn't know quite what to do and it is hilarious. Mostly she tries to eat your face and grab you with her drool soaked hands. Also great for the mental health.

Then air bursts to the face

Happy Sunday

Evie Lu was a cranky pants for Kaia today in church. You can completely excuse her because of the teething progress. I'd be cranky too. The sooner we can teach her sermons are made for napping the better.

So why you ask is there a picture of Will and some little boy we don't know? I want you to look past me and back toward the kitchen. If you look closely you'll see Kaia. This picture was taken at Thanksgiving. I have a hard time believing Kaia was that pregnant. I hope that makes you smile and below is just a cute picture of Evie Lu outside the womb after a busy day.

All dressed up to nap

Wait One Minute! (An Update)

(If you haven't already, read this morning's post before this one.)
I should have described to you the long process of trying to take a picture of the inside of Evie Lu's mouth. I tried bargaining with her, I tried bribery, I tried silly faces all to no avail. This evening I was playing with Evie Lu and Kaia started snapping pictures. After one shot Kaia said, "I think I got a tooth." So, there you have it. Never send a boy to do a woman's job.

Granted you have to click on the picture and look really closely, but you can see one tooth slightly out of focus. Her finger is covering a tooth and pointing to her other one. How cool is that?

Look right here

I Tried

Hey dad, what if I point to the teeth?

Let me start by admitting I am "that guy." I always promised myself I would not be the kind of dad (if I even had kids) who followed the children around with a camera documenting every little thing. My name is Will S. and I'm a babyholic. (You say, "Hi Will.") All of you who read the blog already know this to be a fact.

This is as wide as I open. Do you see them?


I managed to stay in a state of denial until today. All the warning signs of being "that guy" I rationalized by saying I needed to keep family and friends in the loop. I was doing it all for you!

This brings us to this morning. I decided to tell about Evie Lu's two teeth that are coming in and how she is doing well coping with teething. (She's doing really well although her fuse is a little shorter than it used to be.) What better picture to accompany this post than an actual image of the two tiny little white specks in Evie Lu's mouth? That picture is impossible to capture. Believe me, I tried.

Hmm, they're still there. Are you sure you can't see them?


The good news is I'm happy to be "that guy." As long as you still enjoy seeing our little girl grow up I'll keep taking pictures.

A New Person & Older Persons

A week ago I was asked to be the guest speaker at our XYZ seniors group. (XYZ stands for eXtra Youthful & Zesty.) I told the organizer that I would be there, but that Evie Lu would be coming as well. She was thrilled and responded, "Well, we were hoping she'd come." It turns out I was not the featured guest. Evangeline was the main attraction and the star of the show. This was the easiest church forum I've ever led. Instead of church politics I was fielding questions about height and weight and crawling progress. Not too shabby.

I think from now on I'll just need to have Evie Lu with me at every church gathering. It is really tough to yell at your pastor when his adorable daughter is right there.

Happy Birthday USA!

Sunblock feels awesome!


Technically today was a day off for Kaia, Evie Lu, and me, but Kaia's got a big lab presentation on Friday so we had a mini fourth of July celebration this morning. Kaia worked away while I went to Target to get little swimmers, a bathing suit, and sunglasses for miss Evie Lu.

Matthews Beach, looking at Lake Washington


We headed to Mathews Beach with a cooler full of goodness (including Kaia's awesome homemade potato salad) and everything you could want for a day at the beach. Evie Lu experienced sunblock for the first time and wore her own little bathing suit.

On a side note, my daughter is six months old and as I was choosing what to buy for my little girl to wear at the beach I realized there was no way I would buy a two piece suit. Is it indecent for children to wear two piece suits? Absolutely not, but I had visions of a sixteen year old Evie Lu pointing to a baby picture saying, "You let me wear a tiny two piece then, why can't I now?" And since I couldn't find the Amish bathing suit section at Target, we went with what you see below.

Made in the shades


In the two pictures below you see Evie Lu's first dip into Lake Washington. We tried it twice. Both experiences were characterized by initial hesitation then full on rejection of the experiment. You can see her little feet moving frantically in the bottom picture.

Lake Washington might be okay for my feet



Not cool dad, not cool!


We had a nice picnic lunch and then Evie Lu let us know she was finished with beach time. All in all you could not have designed a more perfect day. We'll keep acclimating Evie Lu to the water and I'm sure she'll be swimming before we know it. Let's hear it for freedom.

Yup, She's Healthy

Cousin Parker looks on as Evie Lu studies her butterfly

I promised more pictures from our Billings trip and so I have provided photographic proof that Aunt Becky and Evie Lu have actually been in the same place at the same time. And everybody is happy!


Two happy ladies


Evie Lu had her six month check up today and in case you were wondering, she is thriving. Evie Lu is officially 20lbs and 3oz, her head is something like 40cm around and she is 26.5 inches long. That puts her in the 97th percentile for weight and head size and the 75th percentile for length.

We also got the go ahead from Dr. Ann to try some summer fruit with Evie Lu. Our friends Trevor and Alyssa have been giving baby Olivia pickles and although Kaia won't let Evie Lu have a pickle, we can try nectarines and cantaloupes. I was really hoping for the cheerios go ahead, but we'll have to wait a little bit longer.

It must be a cousin thing

Baby yoga

Evie is growing by leaps and bounds. Or, should I say, by teeth and crawls. She has two pearly whites making their way now, and she isn't too upset about them. She just needs to have something in her mouth at all times. Washcloth, teether, fingers, Mom's shirt, books...they all work. Along with getting her teeth out, she is getting her butt up. Once she figures out how to get both her head and her bottom up at the same time, watch out world! We'll have a creeper on our hands (and at our feet and in our cupboards). Her 6 month appointment is tomorrow, but we already know we have a healthy and happy infant on our hands.

Can It Be?

Two days old

Our tiny baby girl is six months old! (And she's not so tiny these days.) We've had a very busy last few days and you will get a full update tomorrow. Six months old! I can't believe it.