First Play Date With Cousin Ruby

Ruby came to play at her cousins' house for the first time today.  Actually, Natalie was just trying to keep Ruby from taking too long of an afternoon nap, and I told her she certainly came to the right place!

Spencer is now an old pro at welcoming babies to our house.  And he was happy Ruby was here and eager to show her the ropes.  Unfortunately, Ruby is still a bit young to see the ropes.

But, he helped me take a few pictures, and he pretended he was Dr. Spencer, so he needed to check her out for us.  She, apparently, looked good.

Evelyn has had a harder time adjusting to "the new baby" than I ever dreamed a thirteen month old could.  At least when Natalie held Ruby, Evelyn didn't scream and throw a full on temper tantrum like she has done previously when her Gigi holds Ruby.  While Nat held Ruby, Evelyn continually attempted to get Natalie to play with her instead.

After about an hour, Evelyn "settled in" a bit, and was almost content to sit on the sofa next to Natalie and Ruby and occasionally force Natalie to give her a little side hug or cuddle.  Evelyn Rose is crackin' us up with this seemingly precocious reaction to no longer being "the baby" of the (extended) family.  Were we just naive to think she'd probably just play happily in her own little world, at least until Ruby can crawl around and get into "her" toys?

Evelyn's little hand-wringing and peculiar, nervous, jealous, but all the while lady-like posturing kept us giggling.  She did extend the ultimate right hand of fellowship and offer the baby her bottle, and one of her passies.  So, Ruby, no worries, you're in.  Evelyn just needs a little more time to adjust to seeing all of the people in her life holding a new, precious little lady.

Evie's First Baby Shower This Side of Things

Evelyn, you attended your first baby shower in September.  It was for your Aunt Natalie and your cousin Ruby.  

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At the very beginning you weren't exactly sure what you thought about it all.  It was nap time, and you fell asleep in the car on the way there.  But once your Gigi held you for a bit, you were ready to party.  

So many people love your Aunt Natalie, and I hear she received lots of fun gifts for Ruby Clare.  Unfortunately for me, you were not really into sitting around watching Natalie open her gifts. 

 It was in a large room with plenty of places to explore and people with which to socialize, so it was a perfect set up for your purposes.

Almost everyone commented on how shockingly small you looked to be walking so well.  You were fascinated by two babies who were sleeping in baby carrier car seats, which was really sweet.  You then proceeded to find and fixate on the big, open stairway, which was not nearly as sweet.  You practiced on those stairs for the majority of the shower.  Not even the bribery of eating cake out of a tea cup kept you away for more than a couple of bites.

First Christian Preschool's 2012 Fall Festival

Both kids had a blast at First Christian Preschool's Fall Festival.  It's an annual fundraiser, and it was hoppin'!  My favorite touch was the band who has volunteered some-odd consecutive years to play the live music, even though all of their children are too old to attend the preschool.  They weren't too loud, but you knew they were there.  Evelyn, I, and I'm sure many others loved the ambience the music brought to the event.  

We got there a little early, which was a good thing for Evelyn.  She got to bounce when it was very calm, and she loved it.  

I remember when Spencer went down one of these huge slides for the first time.  It was about 100 degrees.  He loved it then and he still likes it now.

He can climb up all by himself now (truth be told, he probably could have climbed up all by himself then too, but it's age appropriate and socially acceptable now).  

Evelyn watched him happily from the stroller for about two minutes.  Then she realized she was missing out.  And she was outa there.

I love this picture.  But I sincerely hope it is not a glimpse into our future.  God help us if she can outrun her brother.

Evie loved the bounce house.  She loved falling, crawling, and jumping.  

I wish I could have taken this picture from the other side.  You can tell by her profile that she has a huge smile on her face.  She loved bouncing, but not more than her pacifier.  

Spencer is having a blast in the background.

Don't worry, she was still smilin' when she got back up.

Group shots are difficult these days, but I love how Evelyn looks like she is strikin' a pose.

Here, Spencer is admiring his prizes from all the games.  Conquering the cake walk was his mail goal after Jenny Powell told him all about it in speech therapy.  It took him many, many tries, but I was so proud of his perseverance.  The junior high girls running the cake walk were pulling for his number to be called.  Once he won, he picked a pan of six, heavily iced cupcakes with leaf rings on top.  They were delicious.

I couldn't help but compare my kids to their pictures this time last year.  In the top left picture, Evelyn isa little over a month old at our church's fall festival in 2011 and next to that she looks much more than a year older to me in October 2012.  And to see Spencer at the pumpkin patch in 2011 compared to a picture of him at First Christian's Fall Festival in 2012 it feels like so much has changed, and at the same time, nothing has changed at all.  Time is a remarkable thing.  It is surreal to watch your babies grow, but it is always fascinating to me how similar they are to their little newborn selves, year after year after year.

In a more artistic vein, I enjoyed managing to find two shots where Evelyn is waving with her right hand and two shots where you see the right side of Spencer's profile.  I love symmetry almost as much as I love them.

Evelyn Rose Is One Year Old

Evie, at twelve months old you give long, tight hugs and wide open mouth kisses.  You love rough housing with your brother, but you have an adorable, feminine affect that brings a welcomed balance to our household.  You walk with a baby-lady demi-waddle, and you have turned out to be quite a climber.  You certainly keep us on our toes.

You love to get up and go somewhere in the morning.  If you think someone is going somewhere without you, you are not at all happy about it.  You take one nap a day and wake up about once a night, take a bottle, and go back to sleep.  You were sick off and on your eleventh month, thanks to all of the back to school germs and your busy social schedule.

You love to chatter and you like to practice your sounds, especially when you hear me helping Spencer with his sounds.  You love to "sing" with us and dance along to the music.  You gracefully move your hips and shoulders side to side.  It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen.  The people at library story time think it's pretty precious too.  You can also throw a pretty respectable temper tantrum when the situation calls for it.  It's the only time you look anything like your mother.

You love for me to brush your teeth.  You used to cry and cry while I brushed his teeth, and I finally realized you had gotten teeth months ago and that I should probably get you a toothbrush of your own.  Two of your top teeth have come in, but they are not the front ones (they're the lateral incisors).  Dr. Martin told me she can see your two front middle teeth (central incisors) working their way in, so I've stopped worrying that you might not have them.  Ha!  You also love to play in the toilet.  You were dunking two different passies in it today.  Ugh.  So gross.  I'm so sorry I continue to let you do that.

You have started doing this precious new little social gesture.  When you see someone you are excited to see, you duck your head down about 3/4 of the way while standing still and then you quickly walk towards that person while holding your head down and holding your arms down to your side.  You have this earnest little almost-frown on your face when you do it.  It's like you're showing obeisance to the person.  Once you get to them you expect to be picked up and hugged and greeted.  You did it for the first time when your aunt Hillary came home for a family wedding and your birthday party.  You've done it a few times since then.  I hope I never forget how precious and unique you are at this age.

You pant like a dog when you hear one or see one.  You were looking at the penguins on your jammies tonight and started panting at me and saying "daw, daw, daw, daw."  I tried to tell you they are penguins, but you would hear nothing of the sort.  You have been going to bed a little bit better this month (excluding the days you have a yucky cold), so I'm hopeful that you're getting into a night time acceptance pattern.  Hope springs eternal.

You're still an amazing screamer.  And you have been eating better, both milk and solids (again, when you're not unspeakably congested).  You love baths.  You hear us start running the water, and you race to the bathroom and start fussing and trying to climb in.  You've still yet to give yourself a bottle, but you're happy to scarf down some pizza, avocado, or cracker.  You say "mamamama" when you want something, although you know it's my name too.  And, I think you're calling Spencer "sssssss," but I'm not sure.  If anything, you enjoy making that sound.

At twelve months you weighed 19 lbs. 6 oz. (22nd percentile), were 28.8" tall (40th percentile) and had a head circumference of 17.75" (50th percentile).

Evelyn Turns One

Beautifully Pictured By Jenny Stricklin Photography