Big Girl!

Evie is such a big girl all of a sudden. She pulled herself from sitting to standing for the first time for us last week (well, first time to stay upright anyway) and now she's done it like a million times and is a super pro! Even cooler than this in my opinion though is that she can sit up on her own--she has done it a few times from laying down on her back and is really good at doing it from laying on her stomach position. This is really nice because when she does slowly veer over or fall down she can fix it herself:) She is also pretty comfortable with sitting down on her own from standing although her technique could use some work--she hits her tush pretty hard when she just lets go and bends her knees!

Evie also met Santa for the first time. Merry Moppet has a parent dress up as Santa every year and one of the daddies from her class was Santa Claus on Friday. Grandpa went in and took pictures for us and I think he had lots of fun--Evie's teachers said he was very cool and can come back any time! The pictures are cute--Evie just looks puzzled to be sitting on Santa's lap and then she had quite a field day pulling on his wig. Crazy baby! Evie also went to her first zoo lights with Nana and Grandpa...mommy and daddy went too but had been before a few times. She managed to stay awake the entire time and melted down after we had been there for about 2 hours, which was really pretty good. Then Saturday, she got her first doll house from grandma and went to the Melting Pot with the Trebonis to celebrate their 34 wedding anniversary. She did ok with the Melting Pot but was a bit fussy, horrifying daddy. She also made a huge mess of fallen puffs which she kept knocking on the floor:(. Sunday, we took her to the park again to swing--she LOVES to swing and how many days in December can you go to the park--I mean really, this weather is strange!She's still not sure about the slide, even when daddy goes down with her!

We mailed out Evie's holiday greetings last week so hopefully yours will come soon...enjoy!

Evie is 8 Months Young Today!

It is Evie's 8 month birthday! What this means is:

• she is taller and weighs more--she is over 17 pounds and just a bit over 27 inches long
• she is cuter and more huggable than ever
• she eats all sorts of crazy foods--and has learned to feed herself puffs (which were formerly too small for her to grab--look at those fine motor skills maturing!)
• we have another 'deck of cards' photo for you
  
• we are 2/3 of the way there to her first birthday!

What she's still holding out on:

• she still has no toothers
• she prefers commando crawl and rolling to getting up on all fours and using the more regularly 'approved' method
• walking, well duh, right?

But for the first time ever this weekend for her parents she:
Pulled herself from sitting to standing all by herself AND was able to remain standing (before she has slowly toppled over the other direction after pulling herself up)!Here she is on her 'learn-around' playground which she loves. As her daddy says, she is the standin'-est girl!

And here are her card photos. I can't decide on a favorite because they are all fun--although the one on the right almost doesn't even look like her to me (she looks like a doll or something I guess). Unfortunately her mobile status precludes us from getting a great shot of the cards on her chest for growth comparison, but I think these are a still fun--and of course the left-hand photo says--I'm gonna get you sucka!

Evie's First Christmas Tree

As a special present, Nana and Grandpa got us a real Christmas tree. It is Evie's first one ever, and mommy's first one since she was about 5-6 years old! Very exciting stuff and it is BEAUTIFUL!
It looks evern better in person and our house smells pine-licious, which is a new one for me! Pasquale and Emma aren't 100% sold on the tree, but they have enjoyed a few taste-tests so far!

On Monday Evie got sick at school once again, probably because she doesn't like plain meats for a meal--she prefers the mixed meals. She also broke out in hives Monday night which was a little freaky--grandma came over and helped mommy keep an eye on her and they went away after a few hours. We're trying to track those to make sure she isn't allergic or sensitive to anything but are a little concerned that this happened 24 hours after she tried yogurt (last time with yogurt she threw up 24 hours later too). I am thinking we will not be doing yogurt for a while!

Yesterday Evie was a food thief--for some reason daycare gave her some other kids jar of fruits instead of feeding her the jar of sweet potatoes we had left there. Mommy was pretty darn upset and followed up with everyone there today--not sure I am completely satisfied but you can't just switch daycares on a whim. Overall, I know they love the Juner, but especially with her hives and being sick we need to know what is going into her little tummy. Shouldn't happen again, so please keep your fingers crossed that everything goes back to normal there--Evie loves her teachers and it would be easier all around if this was a weird one-time thing.

In other news, daddy and grandpa came back from their Cleveland trip to see the Browns--I think they were good luck charms for the dog pound since the Browns beat the Chiefs in overtime! Made for a great game for them and I am glad they had time to go off and be men together--it has been a while since they had the chance to do that! Next up=Sci Fi Marathon in the Spring:)

We're working on getting the 'perfect' picture of Ms Evie-thing in her special Christmas outfit to send out to everyone...until then no peeking!

Swimmin' with the fishes!

We went to the pool with Evie and lots of Fishes! Allison, Audry, Sarah, Carrie and Chris were all there and we had so much fun! We're all doing lessons together in the Winter too--and baby Katie, Glenn and Abby are joining in on the fun and Jack might come too! Basically it's like every baby friend Evie has will be there--too cool!

Evie picked out her own swimsuit--I think she enjoyed the shiny!

Evie wasn't sure at first, but then she had a ball. Allison had been before and loves the pool but Audry had only been once before I think and it had been a long time for her--she had fun too!

She really enjoyed when daddy tugged her along behind him!

Evie's First...

...OSU-Michigan Game: Go Bucks!

...Visit from Great-grandma Judy...
...trip out of state...
So we went to North Carolina to visit family for the entire week of Thanksgiving. Evie did great on the car trips and we were able to make the 10-11 hour trip in 2 days both ways--usually doing the bulk the first day until uber baby melt-down and then just about 3 hours or so on day two. She is awesome!

Here she is as we headed out last Monday morning:
...hotel stay...
She did better sleeping on the way back but during our hotel stay on the way to NC she did not sleep hardly at all--woke up at least every two hours!
...walk in mommy's shirt...

...THANKSGIVING...
Which included her first mashed potatoes and turkey with sweet potatoes (baby style). She wore her super snazzy black dress from grandma and played with her pretty bracelet from the Spencers:

...and her first real swing on a swing set and slide down a slide!
She preferred the swing to the slide (BY FAR). Daddy and cousin Kate pushed her on the swing and she had loads of fun!