Evelyn's first Easter egg hunt

This morning we went to an Easter egg hunt at the Piney Branch Elementary School in Takoma Park. Evelyn's FIRST Easter egg hunt! We staked out a spot on the field with four plastic Easter eggs and Evelyn surveyed the area, sat down, mouthed the eggs, put some eggs in her basket, took some out and was delighted at the new experience. She wore her bunny ears we found at the store yesterday and got her photo taken for the newspaper--hopefully it will make it into the article and I'll be posting a link to the photo! In the meantime, I've posted an album at Picasa for you to see Evelyn bunny at the egg hunt.

Directly after the egg hunt we headed over to Rockville for Ben Cavanaugh's first birthday party. Evelyn loved the pumpkin muffin/cake, asking for more, moRE, MORE! Luckily we got two muffins to take home with us and the recipe. She also got into the present process, playing with Ben's toys right alongside him, smiling, waving and truly enjoying it all. She took 4 steps in a row on her own, a new personal record, toward one of Ben's relatives. I stood by in awe as my baby took steps so confidently and quickly that she was really walking. The past 3 weeks I've been considering her steps as cute antics not entirely connected to walking, but seeing her today made me realize that walking is not so far off for her. And what a whole new world it will be for Evelyn when she can walk--or should I say run? We had such fun at Ben's party and seeing Evelyn play with Ben's presents gave me some ideas for her birthday. Bongo drums, for instance, were a big hit today and I like the sound they make. The fisher price Barn was another hit, although I prefer the old school ones that say, "Moo!" when the doors open (the doors don't even open on the new one!).

What an exciting day! Of course, there are photos of Ben's party in the Picasa album with the Easter egg hunt photos.

Photos from our January trip to Kansas

Back in January when we were visiting the Lerners in Lawrence, Kansas, they hosted a very nice party. I took some photos and have finally posted them at Picasa HERE with a few other photos fro our trip to Kansas, including photos of Rachel and Dean with Evelyn.

At the party, Evelyn wore a lovely dress in which she looked like a snowflake (to me), little tights and black patent leather shoes. Many of you may be astounded at my attention to Evelyn's clothes, especially those of you who are familiar with my own style in clothing (or lack thereof). Dressing a beautiful baby girl is just so incredibly fun. I love it. One of my favorite things each morning is picking out an outfit for Evelyn. And on the weekends I love to go shopping for baby clothes. erm...toddler clothes...?

Kerplunk!

Evelyn's latest game is called Kerplunk! She sits up, catches your eye and then slowly lets herself fall over while you say "Kerplunk!" Then she rolls over, sits up and does it again. Usually she does this on the bed, which is where she developed the game with Nana while skyping with Grandpa. But lately she has also decided to Kerplunk in the bathtub. She has no fear. She doesn't mind the water washing over her, she just rolls herself over and sits up, albeit sometimes spluttering. I, on the other hand, feel my pulse racing and tremble while I try to keep that happy fun smile on my face. This is so scary, but so great that she likes the bath and doesn't mind going under water! Swimming lessons this summer would be fantastic!

Baby steps

For about two weeks Evelyn has been taking single steps to get to me, Michael or Nana or to go from the footstool to the window ledge. The past two days she has taken 2 steps in a row. She is still wobbly, but making progress. The moms at the play group last week were calling her a toddler. My breath caught in my throat at that. My baby could be a toddler soon?! How can nearly a year have gone by so quickly?

Dairy update #3: major progress

We have made incredible strides on the dairy front. I am afraid to talk about the amazing strides for fear that I will jinx the whole thing. I am regularly eating yogurt and cheese and I have eaten 1.5 pieces of Pops's cheesecake. YUM! and some banana bread with butter in it. I can't bring myself to put butter on my food or drink a glass of milk yet, but maybe soon...I don't even know what to cook these days, everything tastes SO GOOD with cheese on it. Tonight I ate some leftover black beans with CHEESE and avocado. A random meal, but SO GOOD. Almost anything could be a meal when you add cheese!

But the best part: Evelyn has been eating yogurt every day this week. She bangs her hands together to tell me the sign for MORE! MORE! MORE! when I get the yogurt out. And she has had cheese twice without incident. And, some banana bread made with butter (more enthusiastic banging of her hands!). A whole new world is opening up before her. In less than 3 weeks Pops will be here and I believe cheesecake will be on little Evie's menu:)