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...)