May Update

Ugh I wrote a post a few weeks ago but deleted it!!
Some Evan updates…the man is on the MOVE. He started walking around 11 months but it took him about 5 weeks to become a pro. Now we are approaching full-fledged running. It still scares us to have him upstairs on the hardwoods/tile, mainly because of a step we have between our dining room and living room. Evan continues to be SUPER curious but isn’t into everything (yet). He is more of a pointer/observer.
We not only hit the walking milestone but we are also talking talking talking. Evan did say mamamama a few months ago but it has somehow vanished from his vernacular. Instead, he says: dada, outside (sssside), cah (Cotter), uh ohhhh, bah (ball) and I’m sure I’m forgetting some things.
I absolutely LOVE the interaction at this age and watching him learn right and wrong. Evan’s bathtub has a build-in soap tray that he eyes whenever he gets in the bath. To be consistent with Maria at daycare, when he is not suppose to touch something, we wave our finger at it and with a slightly higher tone say “ahh uhhh!”. So, at each bath, Evan looks at the soap tray, waves his finger back and forth, and says “ah uh” and leaves it be.
Sleeping has been an ongoing battle. We have a long string of good days followed by a killer bad one. I think it is a combination of teething (up to 7 teeth) and separation anxiety. Last night in particular, he sat in his crib wailing, no tears, for about 30 minutes starting at 2:30. He was FINE when I held him, fell back asleep instantly in my arms. I put him back in his crib after 10 mintutes of rocking only to start the nonsense all over. Jeff went and got him after 15 minutes of round 2, and he wouldn’t have it. I took him again and instantly, he stopped. This is a difficult stage and I’ve read SO MANY controversial books. Some say to give into it and squash their separation fears and they will eventually “forget” that you aren’t always there and no longer fear you’ll never return. Others say to let them cry cry cry. This separation cry is distinct and unlike others, so for now, I’ve been giving in. Ugh. I forgot to ask for the parenting manual for my Mother’s Day gift!
Speaking of Mother’s Day, it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO fun. The 3 of us went to brunch in Baltimore followed by the National Aquarium. I always love being around anything water-related, and I could spend the whole day there! Evan was absolutely fantastic too, he is becoming quite the outgoing flirt. I love it.
As far as his scar goes, we still try to massage it but sitting a toddler down, exhausted, before bed…never a good combo. I think it would be much easier if he was easily distracted but with a 8 second attention span, we don’t get very far. Hopefully it gets better with time, and for now, we are doing the best we can.
Evan also got his first haircut (NOT A FAN), which unfortunately was after his 13-month weight check. He had ANOTHER stitch removed (we had one at his 1-year appt too) and that was just horrifying. This stitch was half in/half out of his head but not connected to anything (if that makes any sense), and the doctor was concerned about tearing it while attempting to pull it out, so she just shaved it down. She said “hopefully” it will come out over time but ugh. He is still in the 7th percentile for weight and 70th for height. He was 7th at his 1-year checkup so at least he has gained weight (about 13 oz). Between the stitch and the haircut, we felt so bad for the little guy so we went to the local froyo place for a treat.
Besides that, we are fine. Evan has become less and less fond of being in his carseat. I’ve watched too many horrifying videos of families who have kids that break their neck at 15 months because they switch them to front-facing, so for now and the near future, he is staying rear-facing.
We have a VERY busy summer - OBX, weddings, ending in VEGAS…and hopefully lots of pool time with Evan in between!!

Evan turns ONE!!

Holy moly!!

March Update

I’m not sure if anyone reads this or follows us anymore but that certainly won’t stop me from picture overload J We are a little more than 3 months post-op and I think Evan is continuing to heal nicely. We asked our daycare provider, Maria, to help us with scar massage and she does it whenever she can. It is hard to put an 11.5 month old on a changing table, let alone have him sit still to massage his forehead. I’d love to trade places with him!! Anyway, not much else to update. Evan has had a bad runny nose now for almost two weeks, ever since his first flight, so I blame the recycled air. Or the fact that it is 39 degrees in late-March, 10 days after we were in the 80s in Florida. No fever, so I have made it almost 365 days without having to stay home from work to tend to a sick baby. I’ll take it (and continue to knock on wood!). We got up to 18 steps last night so I’ll give him a few more weeks until we both become mini marathon runners from chasing his cuteness around the house. Enjoy the pics!

February Update

Wow…I cannot believe we are TWO MONTHS post surgery. Time is flying by and it makes me sad (and happy, of course) to watch “baby” Evan turn into such a little toddler! He is gaining more confidence as the days go by and brushes off the mishaps (falling while attempting to walk) that he used to cry over. He has taken anywhere from 2-5 steps over the last few weeks and we feel as though he is definitely ready to walk! Between crawling and walking, he can get from point A to the opposite side of the room point B in 30 seconds or less.

Evan is healing nicely, which Jeff associates to the fact that he is still exclusively nursing. I can’t believe we’ve made it this far without ever purchasing formula! I never had any intention on keeping it up…but for the past MONTH (yes, ONE MONTH), Evan has refused his bottle at daycare. We are up to about 2-3 ounces that he’ll take, but the rest he gets spoon fed!! How ridiculous is that? We have tried a bajillion types of bottles, one of which was $15! But no such luck. We thought, ok, let’s try a sippy cup, maybe he is yearning to enter toddlerhood but nope. Therefore, it looks like we will have to keep with this for a big longer.

Anyway, not much else to update. We still give Evan a scar massage one time a day for about 5 minutes. Doctor instructions call for 3 times a day for a total of 15 minutes but we are finding it hard to find the time to do it, and after 5 minutes Evan gets extremely antsy and is usually exhausted. His daycare lady has other kids to watch, so I can imagine it would be a task-and-a-half to ask her to help. I also thought scar massage would only last a year, but based on our friends’ experiences in the Facebook group, they keep up with it beyond that point. Evan still continues to amaze us with his explorative nature and quizzical attentiveness to his surroundings. I have never seen a kid SO interested by the one million strangers at Costco, or watch every single person walk by him while dining out. I think he will be social, and he is also the sweetest and cuddliest…ok time to stop, this makes me miss the little man!