Finishing Touches

With the inside finished, we had an opportunity this weekend to put some Christmas decorations outside. We had some help.



The snowsuit might have been a little much, as it would have had a hard time snowing with temperatures nearing 50 degrees, but she looked cute anyway.



With the garland strung and the bows straightened, Evy is officially ready for her first Christmas. Only two more weeks to go!

Tree Trimming

The holiday season is officially upon us. Although grocery stores and malls have been playing Christmas music since October, we decided to wait until December to decorate. Evelyn was very curious to see what was in the bins that came down from the attic and took over her play area.



She was anxious to start putting decorations the tree. But first she had to take them out of their bags, bubblewrap, and boxes (yes, for some reason Steph keeps all of the Hallmark ornaments in their original packaging).



After all 1,463 ornaments were placed on the tree, it was time for our angel to put the angel on the top.



We only hope that she will have as much fun celebrating Christmas as she did getting ready for it.

Happy And She Knows It

Evelyn has recently learned how to clap her hands. And now she can't stop clapping. Our self esteem is skyrocketing because of her new skill.

Evy claps when we walk into the room. She claps when we put on our shoes. Even a sneeze brings a thunderous ovation from her little hands.

Maybe she'll clap for you just for clicking on the video.

Baby Rotisserie

Dear Pampers,

Don't get us wrong. We like your diapers. The Absorb Away Liner® is top-notch, the stretchy sides do move with the baby and the Sesame Street characters are cute. However, we have one suggestion as to how you can improve your product.

Please come up with a way to secure the diaper from any direction and at any angle. As you can see from the attached pictures there is no such thing as an easy diaper change of our "active" 8-month old. The moment Evelyn hits the changing table she begins what we call the "Baby Rotisserie" - a nonstop twisting and turning. You can imagine how difficult it is to unattach and reattach a diaper with this constant motion.





We try to distract her with a book or a toy.



But this works for only a few seconds and she is right back to spinning.



We feel a multi-latch system would greatly improve our lives. Should you need a field tester to demonstrate the product's feasibility in extreme diapering conditions, contact us about Evelyn's availability.

Thank you and good luck.

Sincerely,

Evy's parents

First Halloween

Evy got her first taste of Halloween tonight and we think she liked it. Well, at least she played along. She dressed up as a ladybug, complete with wings and antennae. And she kept her costume on from the start of trick-or-treating all the way until bedtime.

Normally we would be frightened by a 14 pound insect crawling around in our living room, but in this case it was pretty cute.



Then, she found the big bowl of candy. We didn't know ladybugs liked 100 Grand bars.



After enjoying some crunchy chocolate and soft, chewy caramel, we're not sure she'll ever go back to little jars of peas and sweet potatoes.

Happy Halloween!

The Pumpkin Patch

Evelyn took her first trip to Trax Farms today to pick out her pumpkin for Halloween. She had a few to choose from, and she climbed all over the pile to find the perfect one.



While she was there, Evy also had a chance to enjoy some of the other activities offered at the annual Fall Festival. She tried to drive the tractor around but could only reach the steering wheel and not the pedals.



Then, we got to see what she would look like as a pilgrim.

Until she pulled herself up on top of the cut-out and tried to bite it. We decided then that it was time to go. Overall we had a lot of fun, drank apple cider, picked out some nice pumpkins and took a few cute pictures. Sounds like the start of a family tradition.

Except for the biting.

Back To Basics

The Steelers finally got back on track with a win last week, and we think it was because of Evy's refresher course in football basics. Here's a recap of the the important skills she covered:

1. Stretching for the last yard to get to the goal line

2. Diving on a fumble (instead of trying to pick the ball up and run with it)



3. Becoming a media darling

4. Holding the ball for a field goal attempt



As for #4, if Jeff Reed actually tried to kick the ball we're pretty sure that Evy would pull it away at the last second (think Lucy as the holder for a Charlie Brown kick).

She's solid on the first three though.

Demolition

Evelyn really likes her blocks. Sometimes she likes to chew on them. Sometimes she likes to play with their storage case. But her favorite thing is to knock them down.



Maybe one day she'll build the towers and we'll get to do the demolition.

Climber

For her safety (and our sanity), we have already moved Evelyn's crib mattress to the lowest possible position. It didn't help.

She can still climb the slats and pull herself up. The problem is that she can't get back down.

It isn't just her crib, either. Evy will climb up anything or anyone within reach (the couch, her ExerSaucer, me), only to fall over when she realizes that she can't stand up on her own yet.

Until her balance is perfected, the safest thing to do would be to put her in a padded room. Or put us in one.

Forward Progress

Check out Evelyn's newest way to get around.