Octopus

Sometimes, cute words just have to be recorded.  Octopus is one of those words.  "Ah-pa-kus" :-) 

The Hard Way

What is needed to successfully get up onto a slippery leather chair?  Determination and gracefulness....and eventually Mommy's help. 

Flashcards

Lina just LOVES them. She will sit with us as we go through each letter, while asking her to tell us what the animal is or animal sound is (if she knows it), and we will ask her to repeat the sound of the letter to us.  Multiple times a day we will find her going through the cards on her own and then scattering them across the floor.  I don't know what she likes better, the fun colorful pictures or the act of taking each card out of the box.  Her favorite card...the "G" for "Gigi". 

For Realz

There is something super easy about having an artificial Christmas tree.  No stray needles, no watering required, pre-strung lights.  Even so, nothing beats a real beauty.  The process of selecting the perfect tree with family, the aroma of pine filling the house, the endless trips around the tree stringing lights while humming Christmas carols.  

Last year Evelina was cutting her first tooth as we put up our tree, this year she eagerly reached for ornaments, pointing to her favorites ("Gigi" - all the way from Africa and "Doggie" - Violet's picture), pulling on or trying to eat others. She enjoys pointing at the tree and sometimes saying "tee"...she can't quite manage the "tr" sound yet.  Christmas is already more fun compared to last year!!  

I love our first real Christmas tree as a family!!  A little top heavy with ornaments but you gotta do what you gotta do when you have lots of breakables and a grabby one. 

What to do next, fill up underneath the tree with pretty packages :-)

Fall 2011 School Picture

School picture day this season was a toughie. Evelina started running a fever a couple of days before the big day (teething? virus?) so we decided to keep her home for a couple of days. Even though she was feeling a bit better when school picture day arrived, she was still not herself. So we decided I would bring her in for a quick photo but not leave her at school for the day. Little did I know it would be the school picture photo shoot from hell. She was miserable and so clingy that I couldn't even leave her in front of the back drop for a moment (she is sitting on my legs in this photo). I recruited a couple of her favorite teachers to help...no success. I'm surprised this sad shot even came out. Poor Evelina. Almost as hilarious as her picture with Santa.

A trip down memory lane:  

Spring 2011

First School Photo - Fall 2010

18 Month Stats

Mommy, do I really need to go in there?

Today was Evelina's 18 month well-baby visit. 

Ooohhh weeeee....what a tough visit for our little one.  She was not happy with the nurses, not happy with her pediatrician, just down right unhappy.  Completely normal 18 month behavior since stranger anxiety can be out in full force. Her pediatrician said that the 18 month visit is typically the toughest and it proved to be for Evelina Bambina.  Thank goodness Gigi was there for support.  This was the first visit that we had to fill out an Autism screening questionnaire (they do them at 18 and 24 months now).  All looks good for our beanette.   

Evelina's Stats...
For some reason, Evelina's pediatrician charted her growth on a birth-24 month chart instead of 0-36 month chart like he has in the past.  The %iles are very different.     

Weight: 23.3lbs (57th %ile) - Up 2lbs+ since 15 month visit.  She feels like 30lbs when we hold her!!  Evelina is above average in weight on the 0-24 month chart.  We're not used to seeing that!!    

Length: 32" (57th %ile). Evelina growth is starting to slow down.  She only grew 1/2" since her 15 month visit.  

Head Circumference: 18.5" (70th %ile).  Similar to length, Evelina's head is growing at a slower rate as well.  No big deal since it is big as it is!!  It only grew 1/4" since her 15 month visit.      

Next appointment is at 24 months.  No more shots until 4 years old!! Well, except for the annual flu shot.  

Tidbits from Half Birthday

Everyday Evelina learns something new or does something so incredibly adorable. It all happens without her even knowing it.  Simple things that most people wouldn't even notice (well, except for 1st time parents) but when we see or hear about them,our hearts melt and she makes us more proud of her than we already were minutes earlier.  

When I read Evelina's daily report from school yesterday, I saw this:  

"Evelina was so gentle and kind to our baby dolls today.  She rubbed their backs to sleep!! Awww..."  

Seriously, how cute!?  I can just imagine how sweet she was being to the baby dolls.  Even giving them hugs and kisses.  Don't get me wrong, the child knows how to chuck her baby faster than you can say gentle but she is learning.  

 

Then, last night, before bed, Evelina picked up one of her favorite books, "Time for Bed".  As she turned each page and saw the animal that was going to sleep she would either say the animal sound, sign the animal, or say the name of the animal, without even being prompted.  I looked over my shoulder and she was signing "Fish" (I didn't even know she knew how!!), she turned the page and said "Baa" for the sheep, and said "Bee" when she saw the Bumble Bee, and so on.  So amazing to me that she can flip between sign language and verbal language and sometimes use both at once.  Her brain actually knows when she only knows the sign and vice versa.  Pretty cool!! 

18 Months!!

Dear Evelina,

You are 18 months old!! 1 ½ years old!! In only 6 months we will be celebrating your 2nd birthday. It is so hard to believe. You learn and grow by the day and it has been so fun to watch you discover new things, add new words to your vocabulary, and increase your level of understanding related to everything around you. Toddlerhood is an amazing time.

So what’s been going on this month?

• You are obsessed with attempting to put on your shoes and you are soooo close many times. You enjoy signing shoe as you barrel toward your shoes, pick up a pair and sit on the stairs…in hopes of going outside.
• Speaking of outside…it is definitely your favorite place. You could stay outside for hours, running around, driving your car, playing with sidewalk chalk. You just love it. Whenever you want to go outside you will sign hat, sign and verbalize coat and walk over to the door. It is quite adorable. What I don’t understand is when we try to put your coat on, you run away in laughter. Everything is a game isn’t it?
• Getting chased is one of your favorite activities. You love getting me to chase you and you laugh so hard you can barely breathe. You run to Dada for him to save you but then initiate another game in seconds. It is a lot of fun.
• Your passive vocabulary is expanding and you can point to an increased number of objects in books, as well as most body parts. You also follow instructions beautifully. Your active vocabulary also boomed this month which is exciting. You can say about 40-50 words and that doesn’t include the 25 or so signs you know. You also have been using 2 word sentences quite frequently. Your favorite being “Bye Bye, Dada”.
• You love looking at the animal pictures on the wall in your playroom as we practice saying their names in Italian. You will say “Mucca” for cow and if we ask you what a “Mucca” says, you will “Moo”.
• You love the Peek-a-boo Barn app on my phone and if I let you, you would play with it for hours. You have named my phone “Boo” because of this app. When you want to play with it you will search for my phone, point to it and say “Boo”.
• You love sitting on your potty when me or Dada have to go. We always give you a square of toilet paper and you wipe the floor with it. If we ask you if you need to potty, you will walk/run over to your potty and sit down. With or without clothes on. You would much rather sit there, laugh, and read than actually go potty though.
• You will blow on your food when we tell you it is hot.
• If we ask you to smile, you will smile. Too bad it doesn’t work when we try to take your picture.
• You have started to say some of your teacher’s and friend’s names at school. We’ve heard, “Hendrick”, “Aadit” and “Anne”. You are always pointing to your friends so that your teachers will say their name.
• If we ask you to say your name, you will pronounce it as “Nana”, point to yourself and/or put your hands up to your eyes to start a game of peek-a-boo.
• We’ve been attempting to teach you colors and letters but you would much rather be running around than focusing on an organized activity. Although, you love looking through your alphabet flash cards and if you’re in the right frame of mind and we ask you to point to a color, you will point to the correct one.
• Meal times have taken a turn for the better!! Yahoo!! You will eat most of what we give you, within reason. Sometimes I wonder how your stomach can hold it all!? After meal times it looks like you could topple over with your big belly hanging over your diaper.
• You’ve enjoyed waking up before 6 for the past few weeks. Luckily, you can chill out happily in your crib for an hour or so, but you should really just sleep in. One day, you won’t be able to, so take advantage of it now!!
• Standing at the bathroom sink and brushing your teeth. The.Most.Fun.Ever!! You LOVE it. You will even go to great lengths to carry the stool from our bedroom closet all the way into your bathroom so you can “brush”.
• Bath time has gotten MUCH better but you still don’t want to sit down in the tub. You much prefer standing. We will take what we can get!! As long as you aren’t screaming and trying to claw your way out of the tub, we are happy.
• If you are tired and ready to nap, you will head over to the stairs, and start going up while calling for Gigi. You even went to your mat at school one day this month all on your own and went to sleep without your teacher's help.
• Tantrums occur on the daily and include stomping your feet on the floor, sitting on the floor becoming dead weight with noodle arms and/or arching your back while throwing your head back and screaming. Typically, tantrums are a result of us taking something away from you that we don’t want you to play with, taking you out of your car outside, or bringing you in from outside. We try to give you forewarning and sometimes it works, but tantrums are apart of toddlerhood so we just take them in stride.
• You are experiencing another phase of stranger anxiety and are extremely clingy to me and you’re Dada. We know it is most likely just a phase and will pass, but it doesn’t prevent us from wanting you to be more comfortable with others, especially family. You have such a bright, cheerful, fun personality and we want you to share it with everyone!!
• Night-time wake-ups have been common over the past month or so. Ever since your canines came in. It is typically only once a night and we only need to tend to you for a short time, but it is still a wake-up and we can’t bring ourselves to let you cry it out. In addition to stranger anxiety, you’ve been suffering from some separation anxiety too, so perhaps you miss us in the night time and just need a quick check-in.
• I’m sure I’ve forgotten a bunch of things. Either way, we love you to pieces and are proud of all of your accomplishments!!

We are excited to celebrate your 2nd Christmas this month, spend time with your family and see what Santa brings for you. Even though you have naughty moments, you are most definitely on the nice list.

You are the sunshine of my life,

Mommy

Father Christmas :: 2011

Evelina may have been making her signature "baboun" face when she sat with Santa yesterday, but at least she wasn't screaming bloody murder.  I sat with her next to Santa most of the time, but then gave her to Santa for a few frames.  I was actually surprised this picture came out as good as it did since she was trying desperately to get to us with arms stretched out. 

Last year's photo with Santa.  She hated that headband!!  Maybe next year she will crack a smile? 

She is going to thank me one day for these pictures, I just know it.  

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a very low-key Thanksgiving this year.  Mimi and Poppy were in Kentucky visiting family but Grandpa and Auntie KK were able to spend the holiday with us.  It was a day filled with watching the Thanksgiving Day parade, coloring, cooking, eating and relaxing...and of course cleaning up, the least fun activity of the day.  

One of our goals for Thanksgiving Day weekend?  Getting Evelina to say "Auntie KK" and "Grandpa".  She will say her version of "Auntie" and "KK" separately, and also "Pa". We still need to work on Miss Lina being more comfortable with Grandpa.  She is going through another phase of stranger anxiety and it definitely applies to family as well. She will get there.

Some pictures of the day.....

Checking out the turkey; the bird, before and after

Partaking in some Thanksgiving Day reading

Auntie KK and Evelina; Granpa and Evelina complete with her pouty face and side glance; Peek-a-boo on the new learning tower; Evelina sitting down for dinner; Delish devil eggs (my Grandma's recipe)

Fun time coloring

Mealtime Strategy

Evelina enjoying an ice cream treat in honor of her Mommy's birthday

Our Miss Evelina likes to flip flop between being a great eater and a very picky eater, and from what I've heard this is completely normal toddler behavior. She has enjoyed food since we introduced solids at 6 months, but we've had many frustrating meals due to teething, developmental leaps, or just plain pickiness.

Each day we learn more about our string bean, and this is what we've learned when it comes to mealtimes: 

• She will try anything once. This doesn’t always mean she will try it again.
• The child LOVES fruit. I think one day she may turn into a blueberry, raisin, banana or pear.
• She would prefer to eat fruit by holding and biting the entire piece of fruit. She has been known to get quite mad when we cut up a pear instead of giving her the entire piece.
• She goes though spurts of eating certain vegetables. One week she will like carrots, the next week she won’t. It can be hit or miss so we must always have options.
• She adores milk.
• Mushy food is never well-received. This includes foods such as oatmeal, scrambled eggs, or mashed potatoes.
• Protein (other than dairy-based) isn’t on the top of her favorite foods list. Well, except for turkey dogs.
• When we eat with her, she always wants what we are eating, even if it is the same as what is on her plate.
• Just because she doesn’t eat something we give her immediately doesn’t mean she won’t eat it. Many times, we will give her something, she will disregard it or toss it away, but after a little while, she will end up eating all of it.
• She is very coordinated when using a spoon or fork, but after awhile, just aborts and uses her hands.
• She uses both her right and left hands when using utensils.
• She prefers to eat food out of bowls instead of plates. It makes it easier to scoop.
• She has started to pick up her bowl and place it close to her mouth so when she scoops she doesn’t have as far to go with her spoon. This also reduces messes…I like that.
• Dipping is fun and encourages eating foods that may be tossed to the floor if they couldn’t be dipped.
• Providing too many options at mealtimes is overwhelming and results in an unsuccessful meal.
• She still wears a bib at mealtime. If she sees it on the counter she will attempt to put it on herself which is very adorable. She doesn’t try to rip it off and is known to play peek-a-boo with it often. If something falls in the trap, she will find it and eat it.
• She eats GREAT at school and her teachers often tell us they wish all of her “friends” ate as well as she did. It certainly gives me one less thing to worry about when I know she is eating a balanced diet and getting the nutrients she needs…at school.
• When she is all done or not hungry, she will play with her food, throw food on the floor, swipe the counter, and sometimes sign “all done”.
• When all else fails, fruit, Snackimals (our favorite animal crackers), or saltines save the day.

A few strategies we use to encourage a successful meal are:

1. We know Evelina loves milk but we don’t want her to fill up on it so we always try to offer milk after she has eaten some of her food. Sometimes we bend the rules if she requests milk at non-food times or seems starving during meal preparation.
2. Meals are served in courses. We’ve learned that if we give Evelina a plate with a protein, vegetables and fruit, she will eat the fruit and keep requesting more fruit. She will not touch the protein and vegetables. To avoid this we’ve started to feed her in courses. For example, the other night I gave her a fish stick with some ketchup for dipping. She was hesitant at first but ended up eating the entire fish stick and asked for more. Once she was finished, I gave her carrots, which she polished off no problem, and then her dessert, blueberries and raspberries. The strategy has been working well. It also prevents her from getting overwhelmed with too much food in front of her.
3. On occasion we have even employed her baby or Cookie Monster to help us out at mealtime. I will “feed” the baby or Cookie Monster what is on Evelina’s plate and many times she will give into peer pressure and eat it herself. HA!!

Mealtime is definitely challenging. It is ever-changing and always requires new tactics for it to be successful…along with lots and lots of creativity and patience. I’m excited for the stage where Evelina gets excited about sandwiches in the shape of flowers or smiley faces made out of vegetables. Fun times ahead.