QT (Quality Time) with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bang-Bang

My parents' whirlwind visit came and went and too bad that Evan and I were sick AND it snowed! They still had a good time with Lil' E and here are some pictures.

Snow Day

All of us at Salish Lodge

Funny story on how Evan came up with the name, "Grandpa Bang-Bang." When we visited them in Hawaii when Evan was almost 1, my dad had to nail down the carpet. Evan watched him and said, "Bang! Bang!" Whenever we visit, my dad always ends up nailing the carpet or doing something else with a hammer. So he became Grandpa Bang-Bang. When we talk about Grandpa, we ask Evan, "What does Grandpa Bang-Bang have?" Evan replies, "A hammer!" Dad worked on some projects around the house, and of course, the hammer came out once again!

March 28 Evanisms

My parents came to town and are having the pleasure of experiencing all that is Evan. Here are some conversations we've had together.

* Evan regularly looks through toy catalogs with his other grandma to decide what toys they will get. Today, sitting with my mom, Evan pointed to a toy and said, "Grandma get this for Evan?"

*My dad jumped into the conversation and said, "I don't think so... you were a little fussy after nap..." Without missing a beat, Evan replied, "I'm not fussy, I'm GOOD!"

* I explained to them that Evan regularly sits with his other grandma and looks at toys. My mom said, "And Evan, what does Grandma say to that?" Evan replied, "'Okay!'" Simple as that!

* You know those Bill Martin/Eric Carle books, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? Evan likes to recite some of the lines from the books at random times. Today was the first time he made some up and it was classic. It went a little something like this: "Boa Constrictor, Boa Constrictor, what do you hear? I hear Poppa snoring in my ear!"

Grouchy Piko

A little background on our cats. Piko is a brown tabby boy. Poki is a Halloween black girl. Both are about 8 years old. Poki is well adjusted and is the kind of cat that will jump into any stranger's lap to get a few loving pets. And Piko (AKA: Brownie), well, he's not as well adjusted. He hates strangers (strangers = anyone that is not me, Pops, or Evan... well, I guess he is still undecided about Evan). So he's a high strung, anti-social, neurotic kitty. Don't get me wrong, when it's just the immediate family, Piko is the most loving, affectionate, neurotic kitty around. :)

When he feels threatened, Piko hisses, growls and occasionally bats at my ankle to let me know how unhappy he is. He mostly takes it out on me and sometimes on Pops. Well, last night, he took it out on Evan for the first time, much to our surprise. I did not witness it, but overheard the scoldings he got! Naughty Piko! Evan came up just to tell me that "Piko hit Evan."

This morning everything must be patched up because Piko seemed to be taking more abuse from Evan than normal. Usually, if Evan starts approaching him, he runs in the other direction. Today, he hung around and let Evan do some shenanigans (see previous post). After the shell incident, Piko even started dozing off. Evan said, "Piko sleeping." I told him, "Yes, it's important that Piko gets his sleep. Like you. You guys need to get good rest." Evan replied, "So he's not grouchy... And he doesn't hit Evan." So true.

Piko eventually moved away from Evan and Evan crouched down to his level and said, "Piko, you all done sleeping? You not grouchy anymore?" I get such a kick out of watching Evan talk to the cats. No matter what, he loves his furry friends.

How Piko Got His Shell

One of the stories that we read to Evan is "How the Turtle Got His Shell." It has a few legends and one of them says that the Creator ran out of 'special stuff' by the time the shell-less turtle got there. So he turned over his empty soup bowl and placed it on the back of the turtle.

Evan talks about his stories and things he sees on TV at random times, so we have to be quick to catch on to his meaning. (One time Evan kept repeating a phrase over and over and we couldn't understand what he was saying... Finally, Pops figured out he was saying a quote from one of his Halloween books: 'Who says boo all light and airy?' To this day, Evan repeats the phrase and then adds in, "Poppa got it.")

Today, we found Piko napping on the ottoman. Evan was carrying around his miniature pillow and started talking to Piko. He placed the pillow on top of Piko (Piko must have loved this) and told me, "Evan give Piko a turtle shell. It's an empty soup bowl!"

Easter Egg Hunt, Part 3

Evan went down for his nap and woke up to a lovely surprise... the Easter Bunny visited and left him a trail of eggs which led to his Easter basket! Evan followed the trail and found his basket hidden away. It was funny because even after finding the basket, he insisted on collecting all of the eggs before opening the basket up. Great cleaning up, Evan!

A big bummer was opening the radio controlled bulldozer and finding that it was defective. We'll have to return it and find something else instead. But Evan was a pretty good sport about it and had a jolly time beating me and Pops at Candyland - 2 games in a row (and no cheating, either! He tends to make up his own rules for Chutes and Ladders...)

March 23 Evanisms

* Evan loves going around and saying, "Happy Easter!" No matter who he is talking to, he sometimes adds in, "Happy Easter...... Mom!" which is a line from a Spot book he has.

* I was getting some grapes for his snack and because they were so big, I was using the kitchen shears to cut them in half. Evan was watching me and said, "Momma use scissors and the grapes say, 'OUCH!'"

* I was vacuuming and Evan came in the room to watch. He started cheering me on, saying, "Good job, Momma! Good job!"

* It was nap time and we told Evan the Easter Bunny would come only if he slept. Evan's new thing is to not only know what something is (a car, a pretzel, chicken, etc.), but WHAT KIND IS IT (a red car, a salty pretzel, yummy baked chicken). So Evan, of course, asked, "What kind of Easter Bunny?" At the same time, Pops replied "Furry Bunny" and I replied "White Bunny." So the Easter Bunny is a furry, white bunny - good thing our answers jived for the most part.

* When we told him to go to sleep so the Easter Bunny will visit, Evan thought about it for a second and then asked, "Does the Easter Bunny drive a car?"

* Evan is the master staller when it comes to saying good night. Tonight he brought out a new one and it was too cute. As we were getting our twentieth "one last hug" he asked "Is Momma Evan's friend?"

Easter Egg Hunt, Part 2

We went to a friend's house for brunch and an Easter egg hunt this morning. These are mostly friends that we've made through Poppa's work place and they have kids around Evan's age and a little older (up to 5 y.o.) So we tell Evan we're going to play with his "big boy friends." Unfortunately, we were rained in, so we had the egg hunt indoors. The kids waited in a bedroom while the eggs were hidden. Once that was done, the kids were let loose! Evan did a great job hunting for eggs and soon had a basketful of eggs! Many of the parents were impressed and I said, "We practice at home." They thought it was so funny. Seriously, we've been practicing for the last week. Evan loves it! He learned very quickly that he needs to wait patiently in the other room while we hide eggs in the play room and he comes over only after we tell him we're ready. I remember loving egg hunts as well - telling Mom to hide eggs over and over again; probably through May, long after Easter was over!

Evan was able to find many eggs on his own. There was even a tricky egg that he spotted by himself. He was standing in the living room and looked up. He pointed excitedly and we saw that an egg was "hidden" on the ceiling (attached with some tape.) Good eyes, buddy!

Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our newly-charged camera battery so no pictures this time. We will have another hunt at home when he wakes up from his nap, so will be sure to take pictures then! Stay tuned for Easter Egg Hunt, Part Trois!

Easter Egg Hunt, Part 1

Today we went to our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Evan had a lot of fun hunting for eggs, getting a tattoo on his cheek, meeting the Easter Bunny, and playing with bubbles.

So here's the deal with my son. He loves taking pictures and will automatically say "Cheese" over and over while we try to take the picture. However, saying "Cheese" does not really get him to smile. So most of our pictures turn out like this:

Well, today he had a blast playing with bubbles. He was so proud of himself when he blew them from his new bunny bubbles and I was finally able to capture that gorgeous smile of his. Yay!

Here are some "action shots" of his bubble blowing.

Tomorrow we go to a friend's house for Easter Egg Hunt, Part Deux. Fun times!

March 21 Evanisms

Some funny quotes to brighten your day...

* We bought our first pink onesie for Lil' Babe today. I brought it home and found that it had a few snaps in the back. I remember Evan didn't like that as a baby, so we may have to return it. I made the snap discovery with Evan and this was our conversation:

Momma: Oh look, there are snaps on the back. Lil' Babe might not like that.

Evan: Lil' Babe say, 'Ouchy Momma! I don't like it! Return it!'


* Evan asked to help me wash the dishes. I was a little hesitant so I tried to make up an excuse.

Momma: There are knives that need to get washed. It's ouchy.

Evan: Evan get cut up.

Momma: Yes, that will hurt. You don't want to get hurt!

Evan: I do! Then Momma has to put band aid on!


* We went shopping at Old Navy this morning. Evan said, "Evan get something for Lil' Babe. Some socks. And a shirt!" He ended up choosing a dog collar.


* Yesterday we were waiting to see the doctor and Evan started walking around a ledge, singing "Nothing as easy as falling off a log... Nothing as easy as falling off a log" over and over - one of the songs from the Backyardigans.


* Talking on the phone to Great Granny: "Hi Great Granny. Are you sleeping?!"

Fancy Eggs

I dug out our bag of plastic Easter eggs for our upcoming egg hunt this weekend. Here's another of those "when left to his own devices..." Evan told me he was making "fancy eggs". They sure are fancy, and check out the formation!

Feeding Snackies like the Diver Man

Every morning, Evan likes to feed the kitties snackies. He says he is like the Diver Man at the Aquarium, whom we have seen feed the fish. The fish would practically eat out of the Diver Man's hand, and Evan tries to reenact this with our cats.

I must say Piko and Poki have such shiny fur coats! :)

Piko is no fool. If the bag of snackies is left unattended, he dives right in.

Prove Momma WRONG!

Evan was in our bathroom playing with water and I was at the computer. He came running out saying, "It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing!" The first thing I thought was, Oh gawd, what are you doing in there?! Then I told him "Uh, I don't think so," it being the first day of spring and we were having rainy-sunny weather the last few days.

He ran to his room and looked out the window. I joined him and said, "No, Evan... It's raining. It's not snowing."

As soon as those words left my mouth, hail started falling on our roof. We were hit with a very brief, passing hail storm. Evan proved Momma wrong on that one!!! Who would have thunk, "snow" falling in late March?!

Big Brother = Big Helper

Today was "nesting" day and Evan and I both had a lot of fun. We stayed in all morning because we had the "TV Man" come by. We started our day be emptying Evan's closet and going through crates and bags of old clothes, blankets, and stuffed animal friends. We were in search of items that could be given to Lil' Babe.

First, the clothes. Surprisingly, I was able to come up with a crate full of clothes that would span about a year's growth... There are some items that are unisex, some items that are blue, but still a little feminine (what were we thinking, Evan?) and some that are pretty rough and tumble. It's mostly our Maui Built and Baltimore Ravens stuff. Lil' Babe is gonna be one tough chicka in those outfits (what we would call 'titas' growing up in HI.) Pops brought up this one shirt in particular the other day. When we found out we were having a girl, he said, "She's still going to wear that Monster Truck shirt from Local Motion." That got a good chuckle. When I was pregnant with Evan, we went home (back then we were still calling Hawaii "home", even though we had lived in WA for over 7 years) and did some baby clothes shopping. We did not know if we were having a boy or girl yet, but we still bought this monster truck shirt. We decided even if we had a girl, she would wear it. Evan wore it a few times and now we will be passing it on to Lil' Miss. Should be a cute picture...

Next, the stuffed animals. I pulled a bunch of stuffed animals that Evan had not touched in over a year. I decided Lil' Babe could have them in her room. While I was going through the clothes, Evan decided to help me with the stuffed animals. First, he ix-nayed a handful of "friends" and said that he would not be sharing them. Then, he started taking the rest of the friends to what will become Lil' Babe's room. This room is not yet set up in the least - we have my parents visiting next week and then my brother right after, so it's going to stay a guest room for a couple more weeks. We have the crib crammed in the corner with a full size mattress and down comforter stuffed in it. When I went to check on Evan's progress, I found that he attempted to place all of Lil' Babe's friends in the crib, which essentially meant that it landed on top of the comforter or around the crib. What a big helper!

Lastly, the blankets. I decided that we'll be using most of Evan's blankets for Lil' Babe. We were so blessed to have received a lot of wonderful, mostly handmade blankets for Evan, so I would like to put them to good use for Lil' Babe.

It's nice that we aren't starting from scratch, even though we are now having a girl. It will still be a lot of fun shopping with Mom next week at the Outlet Mall at Tulalip!!!

Evan's Letter to His Baby Sister

Our ultrasound doctor suggested writing a letter to the little one, so I had Evan tell me what he wanted to say to Lil' Babe. It is too precious.

Dear Little Sister,

Here are all the fun things I will do with you:

* Play basketball
* Play naked soccer
* Kick soccer balls to you
* Show you how to feed Piko & Poki snackies like a diver man
* Show you how to make art like me. We will have painting time. I will paint and Lil' Babe has to dry it.
(Can you walk, Lil' Babe?)
* I will share Momma with you.
* Play with water outside... not inside
* Show you how to put mail in the mailbox, but I need to take all of my toys out first.

I can't wait to meet you. I will be a big helper.

Love,
Evan

We're Having a...

GIRL!

She looks healthy, and is perhaps a little camera-shy. It took a few tries to get her in a good position to see her face. We are all very excited and can't wait to meet Lil' Miss.

Coloring Easter Eggs

We colored Easter eggs this weekend and Evan had a wonderful time! The nice thing is that we eat hard boiled eggs for breakfast during the week, so I don't think twice about boiling up 20 eggs at a time. My husband and I remember growing up and Easter time always meant egg salad sandwiches for days! But for Evan, we boil eggs every week, so he may get to color eggs long after Easter is over.

Grandma Time

During the week, Evan usually sees his grandparents around the dinner hour... And this is not always his friendliest time of day. He can be cranky, clingy to me, HUNGRY, sassy-boy... you name it, it's sometimes just not pleasant. So last night, we were absolutely tickled to see Evan bonding with his Grandma.

After finishing dinner, Evan asked Grandma to play with his new stamps and colors. They went off to the playroom while everyone else did their own thing. I could overhear them chatting away and working really hard on their art. Grandpa went over to check on them and found them sitting together on the stairs, chatting away some more. Grandpa asked if Grandma was ready to go. Without missing a beat, Evan replied, "Grandma not ready to go yet." Pops took this adorable picture of the two of them.

When it was time to leave, Evan gave Grandma endless hugs and kept chasing her down for more, saying, "I forgot to give one last hug... I forgot to give one last hug!"

Baseball Video

We had baseball day at Gymboree where Evan got to pretend to play baseball, go to a baseball game, and visit the concession stand. Ever since then, Evan has been asking to go to a real baseball game and see the "hot dog man." We will be taking Evan to his first Mariners game next month with friends and family - should be a fun time!

Here's a video clip of Evan singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" posted on YouTube.

Little Carnivore

Tonight we had steak for dinner, and there's nothing Evan loves more than chewing on the bone.

We are so fortunate that he's such a good eater. I dug up this old picture from when Evan turned one, and even then, he loved to eat off the bone - in this case, chicken bone.

Oh, and how could I forget this picture from our summer BBQ with the Mommy Group. Evan was so hungry, he helped himself to some ribs before all the food was ready!

Making Pizzaaaaaaaah!

We have discovered that making pizza is a real treat for Evan. He loves helping to make the pizza, as well as helping himself to all of the yummy toppings!

When Left to His Own Devices...

Today I was doing my warm-up run at home before heading to the gym. Evan usually hangs out with me and does some puzzles. Today he had something else in mind... After 10 minutes of quiet time, I went to check on him. This is how I found him:


He brought his Xbox controller upstairs and decided he needed to put batteries in them. While he was at it, he might as well fix Pablo, who also had dead batteries. Evan dug out the batteries and also got Poppa's screwdriver. Here he is attempting to take Pablo apart to replace the batteries. I'm not exactly sure how the hole puncher would fit into his plan. :) I'm constantly amazed at how Evan sees the world and figures out how to fix his problems! Such a resourceful dude!

Cheese & Crackers with Pops

When I saw my two boys sitting on the bench eating cheese and crackers, I couldn't resist taking this picture. I can't wait til it warms up even more and we can spend more time outside together!

Movin' and A-Groovin'

I've mentioned before that I've been feeling Lil' Babe's kicks for a few weeks now. Tonight was the first time that I could SEE the kicks!

I was lying down watching tv and my stomach was making a lot of gurgling noises. I guess Lil' Babe really liked or didn't like those sounds because he (can't wait til next week and I can say he or she for certain!) started moving. I glanced down and could see the movement on my belly! I ran downstairs to show Pops. He was playing Xbox and we were waiting for more kicks. Nothing for a while. Then, Pops started talking to Lil' Babe and we both got to see the kicks. So exciting!

Butterfly House

We visited the Pacific Science Center today (Evan had been asking to go all weekend.) They have a great butterfly house - much better than Woodland Park Zoo. Here's an old pic of Evan taken back in October with a butterfly friend.

Here are pictures taken from today. Little dude is growing up so fast!

Our First Accident On the Road

So Evan has been pretty good about staying dry in his BVDs. When we go out and about (today we went into Seattle and he did great!) he will pee before we leave the house, pee while we're out and pee when we get home.

This afternoon we did a quick errand to Target. Evan refused to pee before we left the house. We were in Target for maybe 10 minutes at the most. Then it's a 10 minute car ride home. Super short! We get home and Evan starts walking in the house. This is our conversation:

Evan: "My BVDs are wet."

Momma: "Why are they wet?!"

Evan: "Be-cauuuusse I waited too long."

Sure enough, his jeans were soaked through and he needed to get cleaned up. I'm surprised it's been this long for him to have an accident in the car. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later, but I was still shocked.

More of Evan's 'Grown Up' Sayings

Evan has started using a few new words/phrases that makes him sound like such a grown up.

* "Be-caauuuuse..." He likes to stretch out the last syllable to where it's cute, but not too sassy. Example: "Evan wants a sip of milk... be-caauuuuse I'm thirsty." This one will appear in my next post. Suspense!

* "Kaayyy?" This is short for "Okay?" and he also stretches out the syllable. Example: "Evan going to play with bowling now, kaaayyy?"

* "That's the deal." I remember talking to Evan and saying this to him once. He picked up on it and uses it now. Too funny. Example: "Evan going to watch Backyardigans now. Then, Momma read book. Kaaayy? That's the deal."

"Phone Conversation" with Uncle Stu

Today we were at "school." It's a parent ed. program run through BCC, where we get together once a week. There are many stations for Evan to explore and different things to play with. Every other week, I and half of the other parents meet and discuss a topic related to raising a toddler. Evan checks on me from time to time during class, but mostly plays on his own without me. This was our goal for the class - for Evan to have some separation from me to prepare him for preschool.

Today Evan had a play cell phone. I asked who he was talking to. He said, "Uncle Stu." Here's the one sided conversation I overheard:

"Hello. Hi Uncle Stu... Where are you? You at home? You in Hawaii? I'm at school... I'M AT SCHOOL! (said as if he couldn't be heard.) I'll be home later... I'LL BE HOME LATER! (must be a bad connection.) Ok, good bye."

Evan went through this same conversation a few times. It was too funny.

Forever & Ever

This morning Poppa was cooking breakfast. Evan was getting hungry and this is what he told me:

"I'm hungry. Where's my breakfast? Poppa is taking forever and ever!"

Little Faker

Evan can be such a faker when it comes to ouchies. I remember when he first started walking, he insisted that his legs hurt. He refused to walk, so he would drag himself across the ground in a seated position. Very "Trading Places" - Eddie Murphy singing 'I have no legs, I have no legs'.

Today we were outside playing T-ball. He hit the ball and it was within walking distance. He said, "Momma, pick up ball." I told him, "No, you can do it yourself." He said, "I can't. I have ouchie ankle."

I walked away and said, "If you have ouchie ankle, I guess you can't play T-ball anymore!"

He quickly bent over, picked up the ball and said, "My ankle isn't ouchie anymore."

Uncle Stu

My brother, Stu, came to visit last week and Evan had a blast with him. Stu will be moving up to Seattle at the end of the month and got all his ducks lined up on this trip - place to live, place to work, and places to hang out. This guy can go into any room and start a conversation with anyone. We've been here for over 10 years and don't have the contacts Stu made in a week's time. :)

Here is a picture of Uncle Stu and Evan bonding over some bowling.

And here's a picture of Evan singing "Happy Birthday to You" to Uncle Stu, and then clapping for himself.

Watching TV

Warning - this will make most of you feel pretty old. :)

Evan found an old VHS tape mixed in with the DVDs. He brought it out and asked what it was. I told him it was a tape. It was what we watched before DVDs.

He carried it around and then set it up like this:

He said, "Evan watching old tv!"

There is a Difference

Evan woke up early today, had a busy morning and was hungry for lunch - a recipe for disaster!

After some initial grouchiness, Evan got into a plucky mood and here's what he told me:

"I'm not naughty, I'm just grouchy."

"I'm not naughty, I'm only joking."

Evan, OBGYN

Here's what Evan had to say about the birthing process...

Momma: Where's Lil' Babe?

Evan: (Points to my chest first, then to my belly.) Right there. I want to see him. (Lifts up my shirt and sticks his finger in my belly button.) I want to touch Lil' Babe. I want to pull him out.

Momma: Lil' Babe isn't ready to come out yet. It's going to be a little while before he's ready.

Evan: Lil' Babe is playing with lots of toys in there! I want to pull him out when he's ready. Pull, pull, pull (and makes the pulling motion.) Are you ready? Then Lil' Babe says, 'Ready!' Then Evan pull Lil' Babe out.

It's Potty Time!

Today we met up with our Mommy group friends. The cutest thing happened - all the kids wanted to use the potty. While one went, the others waited outside the bathroom door for their turn.

The Car Wash

Evan is infatuated with the car wash. He is really afraid of going into an automated car wash, but is interested in everything about a car wash. He has gone through a car wash a couple times and doesn't like it. He says it's dark and noisy and refuses to go through them again.

However, his favorite toy at the gym play area is a car wash toy. At one visit, he had a huge meltdown because a big boy tried to take the car wash toy away from him. Now, any toy that has tassels or streamers is like the car wash. Anything that looks like a brush or broom is like the car wash. On every car ride, he asks that I point out the car wash to him as we drive. He uses his water color paint brush to wash his garbage truck, a sponge to polish it, and his broom to scrub the tires.

Now that it's slowly warming up, we will be able to wash the car at home more often. Last week, I told Evan that we could wash the car after his nap. He woke up asking to wash the car. I asked if he wanted to watch his Backyardigans on tv first (since that is what he does every other day) and he said no. So we went straight outside to wash the car. He helped me scrub the tires and soap up the car.

"That's What Piggie Says"

This weekend we went to Kelsey Creek Park in Bellevue. It's a really nice park with a children's play area, as well as farm animals to view and pet. Evan got to see goats, chickens, bunnies, cows, a goose and even pet a horse. But he continues to talk about the pig.

The pig was sleeping in his barn. We stood outside and called out, "Piggie, come out and visit us!" Although the pig was sleeping, he snuffled and snorted when we talked to him. Now Evan will put his fingers up his nose and make a snorting sound. Then he says, "'Evan, come over here and look at me!' That's what Piggie says!"

Evan and Poki - Sitting in a Tree

Evan has really bonded with one of our kitties. Here are more snuggle pictures of Evan and Poki.