Something New To Try

You guys couldn't buy me the real thing?


I like round things.


I wonder if it would fit in my mouth.


They are awfully sticky.


Is there something on my face?

Reading To Evie Lu

I sure hope that little engine makes it.


It wasn't a decision we consciously made, but Kaia has become the unofficial story reader at our house. I sing the songs and Kaia reads the stories. I was working away and looked up to see what you see above. My heart almost burst. I don't know that I've ever seen anything sweeter.

Oh, I love this part.


The books Evie Lu likes the most are Barnyard Dance, The Little Engine That Could, The Hungry Little Caterpillar, Are You My Mother?, Goodnight Moon, and the Bible story book. Kaia has some books in reserve for when Evie Lu is a little older, like Make Way For Ducklings, since the pages are a little more fragile. What a gift to share stories!

Dad, go away I'm reading.

At The Zoo

Okay Mom, let's get moving!


On a gorgeous Saturday Jillian, Kaitlin, Kaia, Evie Lu and I headed out to the zoo with the rest of the city. (Or so it seemed as we tried to park.) We became members of the zoo so we can go back whenever we want and some of our friends get in free with us. (So come visit.)

My Aunt Kaitlin and I are spiders, can't you tell?


Evie Lu was incredibly fascinated with all the plants she could see. I thought she'd be impressed with big cats or the gorillas, but it was tough for Evie Lu to see the sleeping animals. We didn't get to see the whole zoo, so I don't know if there are flamingos or not. We'll have to look again next time.

I'm dangerous. Dangerously cute that is.


Of the animals Evie Lu really liked there were the Serow (which is a Japanese goat type animal) and the miniature donkey. Livestock seem to be what caught Evangeline's eye this trip.

Piggy back rides for everyone!


What is so great about our zoo is we are just a few minutes away. Zoo playdate anyone?

Dad, you're weird.

Going For A Drive

Hey, let's go somewhere today!


Our friend Jillian is in town, Aunt Kaitlin is free, and it is a nice day so let's go to the zoo. Evangeline has never been to the zoo and since she loves the animals she's seen so far we are excited for the day. Our friend Brady says flamingos are the best to keep little girls attentive, but I think Evie Lu will love the monkeys.

Don't worry, I can drive.

Happy Birthday Aunt Kaitlin! I'm 8 Months Old!

Evie Lu sends a big birthday shout out to her Aunt Kaitlin!

Don't look I'm hiding.


Look everyone it is a baby in a baby gift bag! As of today Evie Lu is 8 months old. I really can't believe the time has gone so fast. Last night Kaia was looking at some pictures from January and she was astounded at how small our great big baby was when we brought her home.

She's figured out that a really cool sound happens when she strums her lips and talks at the same time. She's figured out how to scoot from a seated position. She's got Kaia and I wrapped around her finger. Happy 8 months Evie Lu!

Look now! Here I Am!

Making A Point

Evie Lu phone home!

I'm not sure when it happened exactly, but Evie Lu has discovered her pointer finger. She uses it for all sorts of nifty things. If you point at her, she's likely to point back at you and want to touch fingers. If you place something that spins in front of her, she'll spin it for ages. It has been a hoot. Sometimes she'll stare at her own hand and extend the pointer finger and pull it back into the fist. Over and over Evie Lu does this and it is like her own magic trick. She's pleasantly surprised whenever the finger comes back!

And for those wondering about handedness, it is usually her right hand.

A Good Lutheran Baby

Actually I'm not crawling yet, but don't I look good?

Several months ago Debbie from Peace Lutheran sent an awesome onesie for Evie Lu. This onesie was from Old Lutheran the suppliers of inside and not so inside jokes in the form of Martin Luther bobblehead dolls and some pretty funny t-shirts. Evie Lu's onesie says on the front, "Here I Crawl (Because I can't stand yet)" a reference to Luther's famous quote, "Here I stand, I can do no other." Well, our little girl is not crawling yet, but the onesie fits and I thought wearing the outfit might just be the prompting she needed to get going.

The rear view


I took her to church to show off the onesie and Evangeline was a hit. One staff member even asked to borrow the onesie when she has kids. Thank you Debbie!

What? I'm not posing. Do I look like I'm posing?

Fashion Show At Lunch!

Should I keep this outfit?

We finally had to go buy a bunch of clothing for Evie Lu. We have been so well supplied (mostly from Minnesota) with super cute outfits that we haven't even given a thought to shopping for Evangeline. In fact, the office staff at the church have asked me if Evangeline ever wears the same thing twice.

So we headed to the mall and found some great sales and great outfits. It cracked me up to watch Kaia try different things on our daughter to make sure they fit. This is just the beginning. Just the beginning.

Ewe Are A Lamb

I love you! Let me eat your face!

Kaia, Evie Lu and I were at JCPenny and Kaia saw I was toting around this little lamb. "Are you getting that?" she asked. "Um, yeah. It is really cute and Evangeline likes it." I responded. Kaia then asked, "What are you going to do when she starts actually asking for toys in the store?"

These ears look pretty tasty too.

I Crawl . . . Backwards

Dad, I can't go any further.


Our darling little girl does move around quite a bit, but she's easy to contain as long as there is something behind her. When I took these pictures, we had only left her alone for a minute and found her in a predicament. Evangeline wanted to keep moving, but something was stopping her.

There's a what behind me?


Trust me, as I watched Evie Lu try to get my laptop cord I knew I was in no hurry for my daughter to discover forward momentum and at the same time it is so cool to watch her try to figure these things out for herself. Kaia asked me today what we could do to encourage Evie Lu to move forward and I could only guess that when she's ready it will happen.

Oh, I'm going the wrong way?!?

Flying!

We've discovered the quickest way to get a grin out of Evie Lu is to take her flying. Hold her up high and she squeals with delight. This is the perfect remedy for any bad day or worries you may be having. Just take Evie Lu flying!

Yoga Or Trying To Crawl?

Evie Lu teased us with almost rolling over for weeks and now she's pulling the same trick with crawling. Our newest game is to place the stack of rings in front of Evie Lu and watch her squirm and wiggle as she ties to get close to them. She mostly accomplishes pushing back, but she is getting close. See for yourself.

Floor Time With Mom

We start with a smile!

Evie Lu does not crawl just yet, but we think she is gearing up for it by pretending to swim. She flips onto her belly and frantically shakes her arms and legs. It is a riot.

Here Kaia is laughing so hard she's crying.


Kaia decided to join Evie Lu in this activity. The best part was watching Evangeline focus on Kaia and when Kaia would start to shake her arms and legs Evie Lu would too. I tried to get the picture the first time, but Kaia was so shocked by Evie Lu's mimicing that she broke down laughing.

Out of focus because they're moving so fast.


Kaia and Evie Lu did this little routine for about 15 minutes. I think it was funnier each time. Evie Lu would look over at Kaia as if to ask, "Are you ready to go again mom?" The best and cheapest entertainment I've seen.

Are we done baby? Yes mom, I think we are done.

A Good Look

Behold!


Out of curiosity Kaia stepped on a scale with Evie Lu in her arms this weekend. From this highly unofficial method we have guesstimated that Evie Lu is over 22 pounds now. My goodness. In the picture below you can see her rolls of stored energy just waiting to be tapped.
She amazes us everyday with new little things she does. She is now putting her toys into the bin where they are stored. Evie Lu doesn't know she's cleaning up, but she enjoys taking them out and then replacing them. (Well, not all of them.)
We went out to dinner Friday night and she spent a great deal of time looking at everyone around us. It makes me conscious that she is surrounded by a lot of white Lutherans all day, so I'll have to get her out a little more to know people are created in different shades, sizes, and speak in different ways.

If I could see over my belly I know there's a ring there.

Aunt Kaitlin Is Coming!!

She's too young to have this yet, but when Evie Lu is a little older she'll get that "I'm so excited!, I can't wait!, Are we there yet?" feeling. She should have it right now because in just three days her Aunt Kaitlin will be coming to live in the area for the next year. (And who knows if we can convince her to stay longer.)

The toughest thing about moving west was leaving family far behind. You know there are times when you just need to see the people you have played, fought, laughed, and cried with your whole life. So our little household is extremely excited to see the awesome Aunt Kaitlin. Can't you tell by their faces?

Bathtime Hairdo

Hello octopus comb.

Evie Lu's hair has been fun for us to play with over the last few months. There is still not a whole lot of it, but we are seeing the curl developing and the wicked cowlicks that are going to frustrate her if Evangeline decides to straighten her hair. My favorite hairstyle as always is the "shampoo unicorn" where you gather all the hair on the front of your head into a horn shape. Little Evie Lu does not have quite enough hair yet for this trick.

I think I'm going to like the new look.


The hairstyle we can rock is the Mohawk. I understand now why balding men sometimes opt to go with the Caesar haircut. Brush what you've got forward and it seems like more. It cracks me up when we spike Evie Lu's hair and see how little is actually there. The more I look at these pictures I realize Evie Lu could be modeling Bruce Willis' hairstyle from a few years ago. Maybe in a few years we'll see in theaters: Die Hard 5 - When Evangeline Strikes.

Look at me, I'm fierce!

Pony Girl

I don't know about this mom. How do I hang on?


Shortly after Evie Lu was born a nurse handed her to me and I looked at my little girl. I imagined what life would be like with a daughter and I knew I had to sing to her. The only song that came to mind was "Pony Boy." Of course I was holding a little girl, so I wasn't going to sing about a boy. Instead I sang, "Pony girl, pony girl, won't you be my pony girl. Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, whoa my pony girl." The actual song has many more words, but that was all I could think of at the time. I sang this song to Evie Lu over and over while doctors were taking care of Kaia.

Okay, this is pretty fun.


A funny thing was that as I sang to Evie Lu I imagined her riding on my shoulders. I wondered how long it would be until she'd ask for a piggy back ride. After she'd ask, I'd tell her, "You can have a ride, but we need to sing the song." Together we'd sing, "Pony girl, pony girl, won't you be my pony girl . . ."

Look at me! I'm tall!


I guess piggy back rides are here. Let's sing.

Millions Of Peaches, Peaches For Me

I'm going to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.


From the too much information department: our little girl has been constipated lately. It turns out I've been mixing her oatmeal and barley cereals with not enough water and that would stop up anybody. The nurse I talked to suggested peaches and so without delay I bought the peaches and Kaia cooked them, pureed them, and made them Evie Lu ready.

Finger lickin' good!


Our daughter loves peaches. We served a little bit of cereal along with the peaches, but the star of the meal was the fruit. This was our first experiment with making food for Evangeline and I would say it was a massive success. We used fresh peaches, but I've been told peaches come in a can, they were put there by a man in a factory downtown.

What, I'm not supposed to wear the peaches?


We've not seen much improvement in the frequency of Evie Lu poops, but it does crack me up that we've seen Dr. Ann largely for bowel movement related concerns. Is this the main focus of parenting?

So good, but Dad do you know what would be better? Ninjas!

Just Plain Cute

The pictures below are from Kaia and Evie Lu's trip to Minnesota. I heard from some folks who needed a cute fix tonight, so I hope this helps!

A Beautiful Quilt

Happy Monday!

A very good friend from Minnesota made the quilt you see just for Evie Lu. When Kaia and I were married we received a quilt from the quilting group at church and now Evangeline has her own Peace Lutheran member made quilt. Kaia said it was tough to keep Evie Lu still as she wanted to explore all the colors and the fabric. I wish I could remember the days when I was so easily entertained. A quilt, it is better than cable tv I tell you.