Thanksgiving and the National Dog Show

This year we stayed in town for Thanksgiving and went over to my aunt and uncle's house for the afternoon on Thanksgiving.  It was really nice to not spend 5+ hours in the car with the kids, and I am pretty sure that they appreciated it too.

Thanksgiving morning we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and then left the TV on when the National Dog Show started.  Evan was the most excited I have ever seen him about something on TV- he loved the dogs!  I got a video of him watching the dog show and saying "Aubrey..."  although we have tried to convince him that all dogs are not Aubrey, that doesn't really seem to have sunk in at this point.

It was a really nice and relaxing day, and we are really thankful for the opportunity to spend time with family and each other for a long weekend.

Costume Cuteness

Halloween has come and gone, but we didn't get many pictures of the kids in their costumes on Halloween this year because Madelyn was sick with a pretty high fever and taking pictures got pushed down pretty low on the priority list.  However, on the Saturday after Halloween I dressed the kids up and brought them into my work at Madelyn's request since she missed out on her Halloween activities.

This year we tried to work with what we had for costumes.  Madelyn had an adorable dress from when she was a flower girl in the spring that seemed ideal for a fairy princess costume, and Evan had the bear suit that Madelyn had worn at his age to keep warm in the winter.  With a little accessorizing they made a cute fairy princess and teddy bear.

13 Months Old and Walking!

About little over a week ago Evan turned 13 months old and he thought it would be a good idea to mark the occasion by taking his first steps.  I did get a video of his second and third attempts at taking a few steps, the first ones I was not prepared for!  When I shared the video with Justin he said he thought Evan looked a little like a zombie.  I'll give him the stiff legs and the arms held straight out in front of him, but the giggles seem to belie any real zombie resemblance.

It was evening in Minnesota in November, which meant it was a little dark.  I tried to lighten the video a little, but it is probably not going to win any film awards :)

In the last week and a half Evan has grown a little more confident with walking, but still generally chooses to get around by cruising or crawling.  It is fun to watch him develop new skills.  Who knows what will be next!

Happy First Birthday Evan!

Today our baby boy turned one.  To celebrate we spent the afternoon at Sever's corn maze in Shakopee, MN.  We all enjoyed the day! 

It has been amazing to watch Evan grow and change and we are excited to see what the next year brings.  Happy First Birthday Baby Boy!

Ready for the day's adventures

hanging out with Aunt Jackie

Madelyn was showing Evan how to work the tractor

MMMM....cake!

Evan Updates

The summer has come and gone and Evan has gotten so much bigger!  He will be one on Saturday and it seems like time has just flown by.

In July we did a family photo shoot with the Vogel side of the family.  This picture captures Evan pretty well!

Evan is now crawling and cruising around the house.  It is getting difficult to keep track of him since he is moving with some impressive speed.  He is also working on climbing which was not on my list of skills I was hoping for him to accomplish early.  However, he is pleased with his mobility and his ability to make progress in going directions that he is interested in going.  This video is from shortly after Evan started crawling - he is quite a bit more speedy now :)

We got his first haircut about a month ago since his hair was getting ridiculously long, but it was still hard to see him go from the baby look to a more "little boy" look.  However, now Madelyn no longer suggests we help keep Evan's hair out of his eyes with barrettes or ponytails.

What is going on here?

Look at how long his hair was!

You know, this is kind of fun :)

Big Boy Haircut!

Evan also spends most of his awake time babbling and saying the few words that he can.  His repertoire includes "mama," "dada," "poppop,"something along the lines of "papa" for Grandpa, and "es" for yes, and his current favorite words of "uh-oh" which frequently follows the throwing of his pacifier and is accompanied by a huge grin, and "all done" or "ah-dah."  We are pretty sure that he has determined that he is not going to let his sister speak for him, so he is working on his vocabulary.

He really loves his sister and likes to play with her.  He also now follows her around the house if she leaves the room that they are playing in together.  Most of the time they play pretty well together, but Evan has definitely not mastered the art of sharing and Madelyn still has some room for improvement in that area as well.

pre-haircut :)

hard to read the 11 month old sign - Evan wanted to hold it

We took a couple of trips in August.  First Evan flew to Michigan with me and my sister to go to my cousin Sarah's wedding, and then right after that we went up to Breezy Point, MN with Mommom and Grandpa and Grandma for a week of family vacation time.  We spent some time at the resort and also went to Paul Bunyan Land as well as Itasca State Park.

At Breezy Point Resort

Hanging out with Aunt Becci at the Flint, MI airport

Hiking to the fire tower

Headwaters of the Mississippi

Overall it was a pretty busy summer (which is somewhat responsible for my lack of blogging) and Evan is changing from a baby to a toddler before our eyes!

9 Months Old!

On Friday, Evan was 9 months old.  He is very smiley and interactive - he gets excited any time someone is paying attention to him.  Because he wants to be on the move, unless he is sleeping he is always moving: arms, legs, hands...something.  He is getting better about not flinging himself backward all the time, but is still in danger of it at times.   Crawling has not yet happened, and he doesn't seem very interested in exploring that mode of movement.  Instead, he is working on pulling himself up and has had limited success with help to do it, and he focuses on trying to figure out how to move standing up.

Evan is very enthusiastic about food.  Frequently, the only time of day when he starts to be upset is during mealtimes when he isn't getting the food that everyone else is eating.  He likes puffs, he likes rice rusks, but really he wants what everyone else is eating.  He has finally met a food that he doesn't like - potatoes.  Although he likes french fries (yes, we gave him some) when I gave him cooked unflavored potatoes he did not think that was really something he wanted to eat.  He is getting better at mushing up table foods in his mouth, so we are increasingly letting him sample some of what we are eating.  On the flip side of that, he is being increasing difficult about taking bottles and it is frequently a battle to get him to take more than 4 oz at a time.  He does the best in a quiet room when he is eating laying down and not being held, but that is not always possible or practical.

Evan finally has had a bath time in the big tub, and he has also had a bath with his sister.  Although we generally still give him a bath in the baby tub.  He really enjoys bath time and is very good at making big splashes.

This month Evan also got his third tooth, the top front left.  He really likes to bite things, including anything anyone gets near his mouth, so we are all remembering to keep fingers and other appendages away from his mouth.

Sleep has finally taken a turn for the better.  Evan and Madelyn are now generally sleeping in the same room and they both seem to like sleeping in the same room better.   Evan goes to sleep more quietly than he did when he was sleeping in our room and Madelyn complains less often of being lonely.  He is usually also eating only once a night now, which is definitely an improvement.

All in all it has been an exciting month and we are all glad it is summer, even if it brings the necessity of sunscreen and the nuisance of mosquitoes.

Evan's 8 Month Updates

While we were in New York, Evan turned 8 months old!  It hardly seems possible that he is already 8 months, but the calendar does not lie :)

Evan is sitting up much more reliably on his own now, although he is still very prone to throw himself backwards or sideways without any warning, so for now he still needs someone close by and something soft surrounding him.  He has also started scooting forward (just a little) while sitting in order to get to things that he wants.  He really likes anything that crinkles, like paper or toys with the crinkly plastic in them.  Sometimes when we give him something that just rattles but doesn't crinkle he looks at us as if he were saying "What is this? I want crinkles!"

He has continued to be a very social baby, although he prefers people in small groups and quieter settings.  He can get overwhelmed when there are a lot of people or it is very noisy.  He also continues to babble almost continuously when he is awake, although now he seems to be trying to form words.  He watches our mouths closely when we say things and sometimes tries to mimic the sounds that we make.  He did say his first word while we were visiting Mommom and Poppop in New York.  He clearly said "Poppop" and was delighted with the reaction that he got every time he said it.

We have now tried with some success to have Evan and Madelyn sleeping in the same room at night.  Evan is waking up less frequently and now going back to sleep once he eats.  He is also putting himself to sleep more easily and seems to enjoy being in the room with his sister while he is trying to go to sleep.  Sometimes Madelyn talks to him after we put them to bed and this seems to have the desired effect of helping him go to sleep instead of keeping him awake.  Time will tell if this has just been a few random good nights, or if the kids are actually heading in the direction of sharing a room.

It has crazy to see how fast Evan is changing and I am sure the next month will bring more changes as well.

Better Late Than Never - Evan's 6 (and 7) month updates

Justin and I finally got our laptop fixed (woo-hoo) so now it doesn't take me 20 minutes to open a web browser.  I am hoping that this will make me more likely to blog...we'll see :)

6 Month Stats:
Weight: 16 lbs 1 oz (25-50%)
Height: 27 inches (50-75%)
Head Circumference: 16.5 inches (10-25%)

Evan is already 7 months old!  His personality is really starting to show.  He is still very affectionate and loves attention, particularly from his big sister.  Although he loves his jumper and likes his bouncy seat, he would still prefer to be held above all else.

Evan's hand/eye coordination is getting much better.  He can consistently put things in his mouth, and even exchange things between hands.  He is also reaching for things, and people, much more consistently.  Although he still prefers to stand, Evan is starting to take an interest in the sitting position, and will sit independently for sometimes minutes at a time, but he is still very likely to fling himself forwards, backwards, or sideways, so he definitely needs someone very close by.

Evan started his voyage to eating solid foods after Madelyn's birthday party on March 30, and he was an instant fan.  We have not yet found anything he flat out refuses to eat, although green vegetables do take more coaxing.  He has had cereal, bananas, peaches, apples, pears, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, and prunes.  He is very enthusiastic any time he can have solid foods :)

first cereal

Faster Mommy!

Another first - after what has seemed like forever, one of Evan's bottom front teeth has finally broken through this week.  Maybe sleep filled nights are in his future?

On the sleeping front, things have not been going all that well still, although I am hoping that the current trend towards sleeping longer stretches is going to continue.  Evan is still up several times at night, and usually wants to eat although can sometimes be pacified back to sleep without being fed.

Evan pretty much constantly makes noise of some kind or another, and usually at a high volume.  When he is sleeping the house seems very quiet, which is saying something since there is still usually an awake 3 year old making noise.

Evan has brought a lot of joy to our lives (if not a lot of sleep) and we are looking forward to seeing what the next weeks and months hold for us!

Evan's Baby Dedication

Yesterday Justin and I dedicated Evan at church along with 3 other families and their babies.  We really appreciated having my parents and my aunt Linda there with us, but we also wanted to share the information from the dedication with all of our family who weren't able to be there in person.

Here are a few pictures from the dedication:

Pastor telling us how children are like arrows

Pastor praying a blessing on Evan

Pastor telling us the meanings of Evan's names

 Pastor Gerald began by comparing the children to arrows (and he gave us each an arrow at the end of the dedication). Some of his points were that our children, like arrows, go places that we can not go, they reach further than we well, and they go in the direction that we point them.  He then asked us all to make the following comittments:

• Do you profess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and that you purpose to glorify Him in your life? 
• Do you solemnly recommit yourselves to your mate and to nurture your relationship? 
• Do you solemnly promise before God and these witnesses that with God's help and guidance you will undertake to bring your little one to come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and serve him as Lord, making use of all the helps God has given you in the family and in the church? 

 Then he took each of the children and talked about them, the meaning of their names, and gave each of them a blessing.  For Evan, he also commented on his spiffy attire!

We received a certificate of dedication along with a card that has the meanings of Evan's name, along with the arrow.

Evan
Literal meaning: God is gracious
Suggested character quality or Godly characteristic: God's gift
Suggested Lifetime Verse: Isaiah 43:10  "You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen in order that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He.  Before me no God was formed, nor shall there be after Me."

Mark
Literal meaning: Warlike One
Suggested character quality or Godly characteristic: Mighty Warrior
Suggested Lifetime Verse: Psalm 29:1 "Give to the Lord. O you sons of the mighty, give to the Lord glory and strength."

Afterward we had lunch and a surprise birthday party at my parent's house for my aunt Linda.  More of my extended family was able to make to celebrate in the afternoon.  Evan though it wasn't his birthday, Evan still managed to make himself the center of much attention :)

Evan with Aunt Eileen

Evan, Aunt Eileen, and Evan's Great Great Grandmother :)

Pictures!