A little guy can never have too many pacis

Evan LOVES his pacis. We are working very hard to make sure that he only has access to them at nap and bedtime, and I'm pretending that time when we aim to drop the habit all together will be a breeze. I also know I live in a fantasy world because this kid LOVES his paci, and he can never have enough! No big deal...I'm sure he'll drop the habit by high school ; ).

Mummy Evan. Our typically after bath routine...he loves being wrapped up to get warm after getting out of the bath.Tillie is such a trooper. She is game to be the horse for Evan's current favorite toy - his monkey. And listen closely at the end when he must realize he took out his paci....

Belly Shots - 16 wks compare

I thought I was smaller this time around. This is a comparison between 16 weeks pregnant with Evan (left) and 16 weeks this time around (right). Seeing them side by side, I'm not really sure I am smaller! Looks about like the same belly. One thing I do know is that neither picture is flattering : ). Only 26 days until I know if it is a girl or a boy making my belly huge!

Buddies

Evan got to spend a little more time hanging out with one of his daycare buddies yesterday, and spent most of the time zipping from one toy to the next as he gave Owen the tour of his playroom. He is so great with little kids that I'm cautiously optimistic that he will ease smoothly into being a big brother!

Practice makes perfect

Evan is big into doing what the big kids are doing. Probably why he ditched his high chair at around 12 months, and ditched his booster seat by 18 months in order to sit in a "regular" chair. If only he had the same kind of urgency with potty training!! So, its not a surprise that a few weeks ago when he saw Daddy and Uncle Phil in a snowball fight, he quickly got down to business learning how to make snowballs.

Dolphin time at the Zoo

Since we are now proud owners of a Zoo membership thanks to Grammy and Grandpa Wayne, we decided to go on Saturday morning to catch the dolphin show. Since in the winter we were one of 30 some odd people that had the same idea, the show was a little different. They let the dolphins out while the kids got to stand right next to the tank and watch them swim. Then, the trainers brought all (seriously had to be at least 8 dolphins) up to the tank, introduced them and talked a little bit about each. They wrapped up with the really cool dolphin jumps, and we headed home. We can't wait to go again especially when it gets warmer. Evan is a HUGE fan of all the animals.

Our little monkey

Nothing is too high for Evan to climb these days. Apparently his motivation for scaling his changing table was to get some Tylenol.

He's very particular

I'm confident that we are jumping head first into the dreaded "terrible twos". We didn't really wake up one day and say "hi little person that throws tantrums left and right...where did you put or sweet, loving, easy-going guy?". It is a gradual progression. Slowly, Evan is becoming more and more particular about EXACTLY what he wants, and he is getting less and less easy going when he doesn't get it. Take a diaper change one morning. He had to have his pillow pet, his reindeer, and two blankets before he would let me put him down to change his diaper.

REALLY??

On other notes...he is obsessed with his Daddy right now and not particular attached to his Mommy which is really upsetting sometimes EXCEPT at 1am when he only cries for Daddy. Oh yeah...we are also cutting some more molars which is the reason for the 1am wake-up call yesterday. He may be a little bit more on the tantrum throwing side these days, BUT he still gives you kisses and bear hugs : ).

Pink Eye? Again????

I'm pretty sure we just got over pink eye. But, no, pink eye loves our family, and came back for round two on Friday. This round was ickier (if that is even a word). I was oblivious when I walked in his bedroom on Friday morning...even when Evan put his hands on his eyes and said "eyes". THEN, I turned on the light. He was a mess with bright red instead of white eyes, puffy eyelids and gunk all over. YUCK. I will admit that I would rather change 4 blowout poopy diapers than put drops in his eyes 4 times in one day. But, we made it through, and managed to have a relatively pleasant day because other than at drop time, his eyes didn't really change is mood. I guess in a way I was ok with pink eye because it gave me a great excuse to work from home and spend a lot of time with Evan who is getting too big too fast.

poor baby....

but in black and white you can't tell!
Grandma G gave Evan the Tag Jr. for Christmas, and it came in handy when Evan needed to occupy himself while Mommy was making dinner.

Tag Jr. is so smart that it can even read upside down!

New Years/Christmas with Bret's family

We spent New Year's Eve weekend with Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Pam. Evan loved washing the dishes with them at their low sink. He also was a very big help with all the meals.

Helping Grandpa Jeff with dinner...

It was big news that I was awake to 12:01am on New Years UNTIL Evan went poop on the potty the next day!!! It took some time and re-reading a few books, but he was right, he did have to go poop! And, yes my hair is clean, I just clearly was not interested in brushing, blow drying or a flat iron that day.
On Sunday, we were able to spend some time with Grandma G, Grandpa Marc, and Aunt Mal. Evan was again spoiled rotten with more presents. Hopefully he doesn't think every place we stop has presents in surplus for him : ). Several were huge hits, but the Singing things (no idea what they called) were a big favorite all around! This is Evan laying on them saying MINE so that I don't try to take any of them away (there are four total)

Christmas Time with the family

Evan's horsey. Every time he bounces on it, he says NEIGH, HORSEY, NEIGH. LOVE IT. waiting patiently for Daddy and Uncle Phil to let him play with the cars
Zoe to Me : Whoa Aunt Nats, it is WAY to early in the morning for the flash

I purchased this pad thinking that it would last him some time. NOPE. It is a one weekend only pad of 30 pages....and that was stretching it. What every two year old needs. Power tools

Surprisingly efficient with his power drill. Also figured out how to reverse the direction of the drill before Mommy. Bad that I fail at are you smarter than a two year old?

Loving his bear (or horsey depending his mood). He has become quite attached to this pillow pet. Daddy and I are cool with it because by attached I mean he demands to have it in his bed and then demands to go to bed. No soothing, no rocking, just put him in the bed and he is good to go as long as he has his pillow.

Unfortunately, with a 21 month old, 16 month old and a 5 month old, this passes for a really great picture. Everyone is tear free, focusing on remotely the same direction and close enough to be in the same picture. All have blue eyes, so red eye is nearly unavoidable.

Snowballs and Sledding with Uncle Phil (FiFi) and Daddy

Note to self: It has been a bit too long between posting and pictures when the pictures have snow in them and there is no snow outside.

Having Uncle Phil pull him and his ball around on the sled.

Such a big boy!
Whose having more fun?

Faster Uncle Phil! Faster!

Practicing making snowballs