Another day, another ...

lemon? Since long before we became 3, our weekend has included a leisurely bagel breakfast at a local cafe. It started merely as a way to get out of our water damaged and temporarily kitchen deficient house (you can only cook in a bathroom/kitchen combo so many times...) but it became a routine we look forward to throughout the week. Until August of last summer we would walk downtown (or drive if the weather was particularly nasty), peruse the local free papers and work on crossword puzzles while leisurely consuming our bagels and coffee. The routine is a bit different now; we pack up the stroller, portable high chair, sippy cup, cheerios, toys, books, extra outfit (yes, we've needed it) and so on. "Leisurely" now means "as long as the boy cooperates".

The staff at the coffee shop has been rather consistent over the years and they are all very friendly and surprisingly receptive to the presence of a small, fidgety, some times loud (and on one occasion extremely stinky) child. Today though, they outdid themselves.

We were sitting next to the kitchen area. Little E was starting to get restless. Lemons needed juicing.

The man juicing the lemons caught E's attention. E turned on the charm and the man returned the serve. Pretty soon they were talking to each other between pulses of the juicer. I'm not sure of the man's name; the Mav thinks it may be Dan. "Dan" told E all about the lemons; showing the before and after juicing lemon halves. Then he handed E one.

Of course, E was not a novice to lemon exploration. He happily poked his fingers into the lemon, sucked on it, and generally had a fine time trying to hold on to the slippery fruit. "Dan" took a few sympathy bites from his half lemon and nearly gagged but our little monkey barely winced as he distributed lemon pulp to all of his facial features.

Dear "Dan" commented to one of his coworkers that he's never had so much fun juicing the lemons before. We're happy to have returned a bit of the diversion they given us over the years.

Bon appetit

Little E continues to explore his world mouth first, no holds barred. Yesterday was our first "car-less Thursday", a new plan of mine for mitigating the increased traveling we're doing (the Mav to and from Chicago for business, E and I back and forth to daycare.) This is not actually a big deal, as (1) there really isn't much need to go anywhere anyway and (2) there are many fine establishments within easy walking distance. Since I spent the past x years (where x is a number larger than the normal number of years spent in graduate school) driving less than 2 miles a week I am very conscious of how much more we are driving now.

After a refreshing trip to the local library (central air!), the 3 of us stopped for lunch in the little Paris section of downtown. This consists of a pseudo-french-ish creperie but it's pretty exotic for this prairie town. Our waiter disdainfully informed us that we could now get a hamburger there, albeit wrapped in crepe, as the local citizenry simply would not tolerate a restaurant without a ground chuck option. We thanked him for the option but when in "little Paris" ...

Dining out was a last minute decision so we didn't have our full battery of baby tamers. All we had were some cheerios, a sippy cup, and a bib. Luckily the restaurant had a highchair (though with no restraint system--apparently the chair is for small but fully mature people not wiggly children). E quickly burned through the o's and informed us that if more food was not forthcoming there would be trouble. Luckily the bread arrived just then. I buttered some bread (his first taste of butter) and tried to hand it to him. He did not take it with his hand; he just leaned forward and sucked the butter off while I was holding it. He likes butter.

Lunch arrived and E shared my crepe with goat cheese and grilled chicken. He had a taste of the ham from his daddy's crepe. Then he had more butter. From his dad's fingertip. E really likes butter.

He's going to need to eat butter if he wants to be a linebacker. The way he pushed through the kids at the library, I can only assume that he's training for such a position. He's average sized for an almost 11 month old, maybe a bit on the light side. This did not stop him from trying to shove the big kids (3 and 4 year olds) out of his way. He continued his training by trying to climb the book racks and race-crawl through the aisles.

Our fearless near-toddler hones his physical skills at home too. Our dining room is his new obstacle course; under the table, around the chairs, up, down, crawling, cruising. He's still got some balance issues though. From standing at a chair, he attempted to pick up his hammer from the floor but lost his balance and stumbled. Never one to waste a second, he took his accidental repositioning as a good time to taste the chair.

E's first taste of lobster! Yummy plastic lobster. Needs more butter.

When life gives you lemons ...

eat them! We gave E a lemon slice today expecting to capture exquisite faces of disgust and surprise. The Mav and I were the ones who were surprised--little E enjoyed playing with, even sucking on, the lemon. He found it to be a nice ending for his dinner of chicken and asparagus.

Our small boy is learning things at an incredible rate (if I learned this fast I wouldn't be in school anymore...). He knows "head" and "nose" (thanks to singing that "head and shoulders, knees and toes" song). We've been singing the alphabet song to him while pointing at the letters that parade across a wall in his room. Now he points to the wall and "sings"! He purses his lips and goes "who", "who", "who" while bopping up and down. Given his parents' singing abilities, he'll probably carry a tune like a screech owl but for now his songs are the sweetest sounds.

He was happy to visit little Miss M again today. I learned they spent about an hour chasing each other around the dining room table. I'm afraid Mrs. M has her work cut out for her though as the kiddos are already ganging up on her. Miss M was abetting E's cheerios habit from her highchair by secretly handing him some when her mother was not looking. Its not like E was starving--he had just eaten a rather large lunch of peas, peaches and his own helping of cheerios.

Happy Monday - here's little video from the weekend.

Ease and effort

Dancing comes easy to little E. Rhythmic noise of any sort induces involuntary bouncing and undulating. He'll even dance to my attempts at singing, which do not fall in the category of rhythmic noise. The alphabet song is a new favorite. The squeal and squawk of our cranky refrigerator get him bopping. When the noise is actually music, especially if it's live and loud, there is no restraining the boy. He's quite serious about it though; not giggly or frivolous. Think Kevin Bacon in Footloose but with the dancing techniques of, say, the tin man from the wizard of OZ.

Yesterday E and I went to a nearby park which is home, this weekend, to a city fair of sorts. The main tent featured a New Orleans style band complete with a guy wearing a washboard. As soon as we got within earshot E began to wiggle. I stood him on a backward folding chair and the small boy danced for nearly 10 minutes straight. He didn't take his eyes off the stage. He just held on to that chair and bobbed up and down. The people nearby were very amused; pointing, smiling, and one man even recorded it on his cell phone. E was oblivious to all but the band.

Talking does not come as easily to little E as dancing does but he wants to just as badly. "Hi" and "up" are nearly effortless now and he uses them incessantly. Other than that though, you can hear the effort behind the words as he strains to makes the sounds he wants. "Duckie" is a new word for this week. He's got "cat" down pretty well; if you know that is what he is saying.

We went to the infant cognition lab this Thursday. E is a happy participant in their experiments which involve E watching "puppet shows" and the students observing his reactions. Thursday's show had a cat puppet. Actually, it was a box with a plastic cat head on top, but close enough. E spent most of the puppet show shrieking "CAT" and "HI CAT" (which we say whenever we see our own cat). The mother of the next subject heard him in the waiting room and commented on how he must have really enjoyed the show. I don't think he gave away the plot though because his utterances may seem like just happy baby noises to the untrained ear. I, however, know his exuberance was actually effort to communicate with the world, and the puppet, that he got it! That strange box thing was supposed to be a cat!

He also says "hat" though it sound a lot like "cat" (he's not big on leading consonants, dear duckie is really "uckie"). We'll have to pull out the Cat in the Hat and see if he can handle it.

As promised ... plus extra!

I promised pictures by the weekend and here they are. E went swimming this afternoon. It is late so I won't write much but we've had fun couple of days. The kid is dancing up a storm and picking up new "words" daily. More later ...
p.s. here is a movie!

A new friend

Each month, E's baby book asks me to tell it about his new friends. I'm not really sure what it's looking for; he's a baby. It's not like I can check out his speed dial to know who his "five" are. Does this silly book want me to write down which stuffed animals he's currently trying to maul? Maybe which neighborhood dogs elicit the loudest squeals? Probably it wants to know which children at playgroup he tries to take the toys from, but given that this is the extent of their interaction I hesitate to call them friends. This month I finally have something that will get that book off my back.

As of today, E goes to daycare part time so that I have dedicated time to work toward my degree. I had made some half-hearted attempts throughout the school year to find care for him but nothing panned out. The choices were far bleaker than I could have imagined and I was far more reluctant to leave him than I had expected. Recently and out of the blue, a perfect situation arose. An old friend of ours is now going to watch the little guy a few afternoons a week. She has a beautiful, happy, and sweet daughter about 6 months older than little E. She is his first non-family, non-pet, non-stuffed animal friend.

Apparently, they spent most of the afternoon chasing each other around. I got to see a bit of this before I left. It was adorable. It is amazing to see E interacting with another child; he was actually playing with her and not just trying to get whatever toy she had (well, not always). Another amazing thing is that at a mere 16 months little Miss M shares! She handed toys to E even when he wasn't trying to grab them from her.

The little ones were playing a sort of chase/peek-a-boo game when I tried to say good bye. E has some grasp of the phrase "bye-bye" but I don't think he even heard me. He took his hug and then scooted right back to his new friend. Mrs. M related that, about 20 minutes after I left, he realized I wasn't there and got a bit nervous. Nervous. Not bad, considering he used to scream bloody murder for our mother's helper when the Mav or I left the room.

When we picked him up he seemed happy to see us but in a "hey, glad you're here" sort of way and not a "I thought you had abandoned me" way. So that's good. If only I was the one who got to play with friends instead of facing the abyss that is my research project.

Sorry for such a long, picture-less post. I plan to spend the next few evenings working but I'll get a new picture up by the weekend.

And I shall call him mini-me

So said the father about the son. There is certainly no question that we took the right kid home from the hospital. Perfect strangers have commented on the similarity between father and son. Those deep blue eyes, perfect pout, and mile long eye lashes are direct from his daddy. He's got his father's strength (our sub 20 pounder can handle the 5 lb bocce balls) and his single minded intensity (though Evan fixates on light fixtures and balloons rather than computers). The main way he takes after me? He too adores the Mav.

E was a bit tired today. We had him out late last night (until 8:30!) at Street Fest. The kid had blast at his first live band experience (since his Uncle Rob and Aunt Lexie's wedding , though he was a mere 5 weeks old then). Unlike his parents, this kid is a dancer! The band was fun; they began with a zydeco version of the Grateful Dead's Frankin's Tower and had E dancing from the first notes. When he needed a break from dancing there were enough doggies around to entertain him. The Mav and I had a good time too; enjoying a fresh from the cask brew at our favorite pre-baby bar (sitting outdoors of course - no babies in the bar for this family). The late night, the excitement, and the activity meant I too got a present today: long naptimes.


Happy Father's Day!

One brave little cowboy

Our mall does not have a decent shoe store. Until recently we did not have any stores at all for non-farmers between the ages of 18 and 50. We do have a full-size carousel (merry-go-round) in our food court though. 7+ years I spent imagining how that space could have been a Crate and Barrel, or a Nine West, or perhaps Ann Taylor. Today though I would not have traded that carousel for the world's largest Pottery Barn.

The three of us decided we really needed quality family time enjoying some air conditioning and so we headed to the mall. Actually, I think the Mav* wanted to watch his little one squeal at the puppies in the pet shop but he claims he just needed to get out of our hot, humid house. The puppies were a big hit (again) by the way. The store itself is quite controversial in town but it sure makes the little one happy.

When E began to make it clear he was nearly DONE SHOPPING! we took him on the carousel. He was fascinated by it - until it was our turn to ride. I set him on a horse and the operator strapped him to it, winding the belt around him a few times. He was ok with that. Curious but happy and relaxed. Then we moved.

He is an expressive child. The terror and confusion he felt were written all over his face and jerky movements. He did not cry though. He did not take his eyes or arm off me but he never uttered a sound. Gradually he loosened up until he was only just a bit tentative. I wouldn't say he had fun but the stoic little man is stronger for the experience. The Mav and I had a blast though. The ride lasted only about 2 minutes but I ran through more emotions than evoked by a normal 2 hour movie. There was anguish over having caused the boy such distress. Pride at his overcoming his fear. Delight in his too-adorable sad face (probably shouldn't enjoy that, but it's too cute). Unfortunately, we did not have a camera with us. This is "sad face" from a few months ago:
Now you can see why we can't help but love sad-face.

*The Mav: my husband, the boy's father, son to some, brother to one, in-law to many, nephew, uncle, friend, etc... and he has nearly as many names as roles/relationships. To avoid the Bill/Bibi/Reece debate I have decided to refer to him as the Mav. Yes, this is also the cat's name (Maverick) but the cat was actually named after the man. An influential person in our lives once referred to the man as a "real maverick" so I started to call him "Maverick" to amuse/annoy him. Then we got a cat. We passed the name on to the cat. I lost a fun way to tease the man but at the same time dealt with the traditions in both families of passing names to the oldest male. And thus Evan is Evan and not William III.

One family, one dinner

E ate a very yummy dinner tonight. I know because I had the same thing. We all ate Pork Mango Picadillo (though we used turkey instead of pork). He seemed to enjoy it and his side of broccoli bits. Mostly E has had single ingredient foods but today we went all out. Turkey, mangoes, brown rice, salsa, green onions, garlic, cumin, coriander, cinnamon. I was just going to give him mango with his broccoli but while cooking I let him sample some of the spices and he couldn't get enough. He didn't even make his "what the heck is that?" face. This was probably not a smart move on my part as he has had many rashes lately, possibly allergy related. He's sleeping well so far - hopefully we'll get through the night. We were up to stay at 4:30am yesterday for some reason that he did not make clear as he was still very tired and thus rather fussy. Here's hoping we don't have a repeat performance in the morning. Good night.

Little E is sick

E has been quite out of sorts since yesterday morning. He ran a fever all day yesterday and was alternately mellow and cranky. We snuggled most of the day, which is very out of character for my little almost-toddler. He's always been a sweet baby, very into being held and hugged, but usually needs a lot of exploring time too. When I called the nurse with his symptoms she felt we should bring him in. So we did. The doctor and nurse immediately noticed that E was not his usual happy self. Even taking his clothes off did not cheer him up (the boy loves to be naked). Anyway, he probably has a virus so nothing much we can do. He is better this afternoon; fever broke, baby is smiling. 5 hours of nap today and counting! Unfortunately, if the doctor was correct in his diagnosis this thing takes a week to run its course so we're waiting to see what the next phase is. The hard thing about having an extremely happy, easy-going, and usually very healthy baby is that when he is not those things and is feeling bad it is heart-wrenching.

On a happier note, Evan is now bathing in the big bathtub. We got him a boat because a bathtub bath requires a boat. The boat and its accompanying sea-toys plus his original bath toys fill up the tub with just enough room left for a baby. The baby's favorite toy? The stopper. Maybe we should get one that doesn't have a cute little pig on it (it came with the house). When E is better we'll go pick out a nice boring stopper that he will probably love even more.

All Done?

Evan is starting to understand the idea that he can communicate his wishes to us. We've been using some simple signs with him. He has been using the sign for milk for a while but in response to seeing me use it, not on his own. Well, he now signs "all done" - see picture above. Only - he signs it after just about every bite. Since he's not been eating very well for the past few days (teething, shots, heat?) I'm not sure whether we should focus on reinforcing the message (i.e. take him out of the chair as soon as he indicates "all done") or continue giving him food until he stops eating.

This morning, he decided to make matters more interesting by actually repeating the phrase "all done". Verbally. We celebrated his achievement by listening to him.

Swimming and 10 month birthday

Evan loves being in the water and this is a very good thing as the weather has turned hot and humid. We filled his pool today for the first time and he had a good time splashing, blowing bubbles and trying to lick the eyes. Yes, lick the eyes. Evan "swims" in the belly of a giant inflatable frog. His love of standing up coupled with his love of eating led him naturally to attempted to eat the highest part of the pool - the eyes.

Evan turned 10 months old yesterday. Pictures were taken. I'm sure a Picasa Web Album will be coming out soon. Here is a sneak preview:



Evan's latest accomplishments:
He says "hi" and "up" rather clearly. He tries desperately to say balloon but fall short of the mark so far. He cannot contain his enthusiasm for helium filled mylar vessels - a recent trip to a Meijer (a super-Target like store for those not familiar with the midwest) resulted in Evan shrieking "ba", "ba", "ba" as loud as possible while pointing toward the sea of graduation balloons. Very cute but very loud. He is really starting to get the idea of communicating. Now we need to work on volume control.

Evan has started taking some independent steps from a table toward a person. He is at least as proud of himself as we are of him; he gets quite a grin before attempting his latest feat. He is still a ways off from being a toddler though; gravity gets the better of him after 1 or 2 steps.

A quick word about the title

"E Eats Everything" is the title of a They Might Be Giants song from "Here Comes the ABC's". It suits our little "E" to a "T". He will eat anything and everything. He does not even pause to see if he has actually picked up his target before trying to transfer the contents of his grasp to his mouth. For example, he often tries to pick up knots in the floor or furniture and attempts to eat them. No luck yet on that front but he is very good at eating dust, lint, hair, etc... Most of his endeavors seem to revolve around the pursuit of finding something new to put his mouth. He even eats real food, especially cream of mushroom soup.

and so it begins?

I didn't get a cell phone until 2 years ago and I still don't text so it's no surprise that this blogging thing has not been part of my life - as of yet. The problem is that my little guy is changing on what seems to be an hourly basis and, due to our remote location, our family and friends are not getting to witness this. Not being very good at staying in touch, nor having abundant spare time due to caring for said boy and trying to finish a PhD prevent me from sharing as much or often as people may wish. Being the little wunderkind's mother I am sure my perception of him as the most amazing and captivating thing ever is somewhat skewed, so emailing everyone I know en masse every time he does something "cute" would quickly fill people's in-boxes and probably not endear me to anyone but perhaps his grandparents. So, a blog it is. I'll give it a try, but no promises. Enjoy, or ignore. Please post comments or start a blog of your own as we miss you all and want to know what you are up to!