Jumping Monkeys Concert

Yesterday we brought Evelina to her first concert, Vanessa Trien and the Jumping Monkeys at the Center for Arts in Natick.  We all had such a fun time!!  In true Evelina fashion, she was a little unsure at first but once her favorite songs were being sung, she was up and about "dancing" in the aisles.  Cuteness at its best.  

It was dark, but here is a little clip of the string bean.  


We will definitely be taking her to another Jumping Monkeys concert soon.  There were kids of all ages there and everyone looked like they were having a blast.  

Evelina's next show, Sesame Street Live in April!!  

Happy Mardi Gras!

Evelina celebrating Mardi Gras.  The little lady loves her some beads!! 

20 Months!!

Dear Evelina,

You are 20 months old!! The big 2-0….where has the time gone? In just 4 months from now, we will be celebrating your 2nd birthday with your family and your little friends. I need to start planning something, STAT!!

So, what’s been happening this month?

• Your verbal language and sign language continue to develop. You add a new sign or two to your repertoire almost weekly and new verbal words almost daily. We are always impressed when you attempt to say the longest words. “Mortimer”, “Alligator”, “Crocodile”, “Jessica”. Those are tough!! But, you continue to avoid the simplest words, like “Cat”.
• The amount of joy you find in jumping like a Kangaroo, “hop hop”, and walking like a penguin is immeasurable. It is truly one of your favorite activities of all time. I think another trip to the New England Aquarium may be in order to see the penguins again. I think you may go crazy!!
• You love spinning around and marching, especially when your crazy mom does it too.
• Whenever you play with your play kitchen you will always take some of your play food to your baby and feed her. She must be one hungry little baby!! You also love inviting her to tea parties or to actual meals and feeding her your real food. Once you are through, you burp her like every good Mommy should.
• Your color recognition has improved over the past month. You have made improvements at returning a toy of the correct color or pointing to the correct color, but you still get confused.  Your favorite color is the color blue. If we ask you to tell us the color of something, you will always say it is “bue” even if you know it isn’t (because you just brought us the orange object we asked for!!). When we say the actual color, you will say “NOOoooo”. What a know-it-all you think you are.
• The number two is your preferred number. How appropriate since you will be turning 2 this year!! You can hold up one finger when asked and we are working on holding up 2 fingers. For a toddler, it is quite tough for you to isolate 2 fingers. When you have 2 objects in your hands, you will exclaim, “TWO”. Last week, you had “Two Gigi” in your hands, you were seriously in heaven.
• You can draw a circle or trace a circle with your hand.
• Along with colors, numbers and shapes, you are also able to sounds out most letters and their sounds (B, C, D, E, F, G, K, P, S, etc.) and recognize others. You still LOVE your letter/animal flash cards and AlphaBooks and we go through them many times a day, while you say the letter, name the animal or animal sound, or sign the animal.
• You have started to tell us when you are going or have gone poop. You will hold onto your diaper and say “poo-poo, poo-poo” and sometimes start heading upstairs for a diaper change. The funny thing is that if we try to confirm with you that you have in fact gone poo-poo, you will say “no” even though you know you have since you just told us!! You are a tricky one.
• Two of your favorite words continue to be “No” and “Mine”. You are extremely opinionated and want what you want, when you want it. Oh boy.
• You are determined to become more and more independent. Attempting to take off your own coat, put on your own socks, shoes, mittens and hat.  You practice, practice, practice and improve daily. You are a pro with your mittens and hat, and are soooo close with your shoes.
• You like to fake sneeze. "Ah two!!"
• You are a little actress.  You will laugh, act happy, act sad, or fake sleep on demand.  it is quite hilarious.  
• You spent your first evening since birth with a non-related babysitter and you did wonderfully. You infant room teacher, Jessica, came over so your Papa and I could have a date night. You were very well-behaved and cooperative. Phew!!
• Your favorite music without a doubt is from the Carnival Day CD. You LOVE (with a passion for life), Owl Hootenanny, Driving in my Car, Five Little Monkeys, and Wake up the Barn. A car ride doesn’t go by without playing these tunes while you jam out in your car seat.
• A few of your favorite books this month are: Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose, But Not the Hippopotamus, The Big Red Barn, Where is the Green Sheep?

Your Papa and I can’t wait to see what you will learn this month. You are such a little sponge and you still amaze us everyday. We love you Chica Banana!!

You are the sunshine of my life,

Mommy

The Face

Who knew looking at Mommy's belly button could be so hilarious?