Curious
It's fun to watch her entertain herself, playing with her toys, practicing her crawling, making funny faces.
She's a very curious little girl, that's for sure.
Evie at Eight Months
Evelyn Mae you are eight months today, and quite a challenge to photograph in a chair! I knew this was going to be an issue this month since you are super-mobile. Actually, I'm impressed we got what we did. I kept lunging forward every time you moved, afraid you were going to dive head-first off the rocker. Needless to say this was the shortest monthly shoot we've had and I suspect it's only going to get worse from here on out. Just look at how proud you are that you're standing up on your knees, right on the edge of the rocker, of course. Such a daredevil!
Measurements -
weight - 21 lbs - 90% again, according to online growth charts
length - tall!
head - growing lots of pretty blonde hair!
Clothes - You're wearing both your 6-12 month and 12-18 month outfits.
Diapers - holding steady at a size three
Feedings - You're now eating about four or five times a day for a total of about thirty-five minutes a day. You eat around 4, 10, 2, 6, and 10 or 11. Once or twice a day you eat cereal and/or fruit. This month you finished your apples, pears, carrots and sweet potatoes, along with rice cereal and oatmeal.
Sleeping - You're still taking a morning nap and an afternoon nap, and often you take a third nap right before dinner. I bet next month we'll drop down to two naps a day.
And just as I suspected, you started crawling this month, July 6th to be exact. And you pulled up this month for the first time,
on the same day
to be exact! You pulled up to the windowsill in Gram and Pops' room. You wanted to look out at the trees! You've been pulling yourself up to the couch, the chairs and our windows over and over ever since. And you are crawling fast now, following Sam wherever he goes.
You checked a couple more fun firsts off your list this month - you went to the zoo for the first time and to get there we took the DART train. You
loved
the train! We went to Granny Nell's for the 4th of July and you swam in the big pool for the first time. It was a little cold at first, which made you fuss. Then Mommy put you in your raft, which made you fuss some more. Then Wayne came over and talked to you about noodles and you became very relaxed and hung out in your baby floatie for a long, long time. You went with Daddy and Sam and I to Addison airport and watched the planes take off and land, one of which was a noisy jet that didn't seem to bother you a bit.
You also started babbling this past month. Sam used to say "buh-buh-buh". You like to say "rah-rah-rah". You love to wave hi and bye-bye now, too. At first it was just to Daddy, but now you wave to Mommy, too. It's more of a one-armed flap than a wave with your wrist, but we know what you're trying to do. Right before you turned eight months you pulled yourself up in your crib and now that's how I find you each time I come in to get you in the morning or after a nap. You always grab on to the bars and cry, hoping I'll rescue you from baby jail!
I love this photo of you. You bite your bottom lip all the time and it just makes your cheeks poofier.
You are simply adorable.
Your official eight month chair photo.
Look at you grow, pretty girl!
And here's Brother's eight month chair photo:
Such a Lady
Evie has the most ladylike sitting pose. She very rarely sits with both legs in front of her. The minute I put her down she snaps her legs to one side, they way we girls do when we're sitting on the floor in a skirt or something. It doesn't look comfortable to me, but she'll sit and play like this for long stretches at a time.
Addison It Was
It was Friday and Brian had the day off. Knowing a couple weeks in advance that he wouldn't have to work this day we had planned a Family Fun Day. Brian's last day at PIC was the day before and he wasn't supposed to start his new job at FlexJet until Monday. That meant one day off, so Family Fun Day was officially on the calendar.
When we woke up that morning the plan was to head out to Lake Ray Roberts for some sand and sun, then over to downtown Denton for some lunch. After looking at the forecasted temps for the day we decided to scrap the beach and go the opposite direction - down to Addison Airport to check out the Cavanaugh Flight Museum. Brian had a couple of passes and it seemed like a great day to try it out. It took some convincing to get Sam out of beach-mode and into airplane-mode, but eventually he was on board - so Addison it was!
The museum was great and Sam really enjoyed looking at all the cool airplanes. Of course we had a most-knowledgable tour guide which made it even more fun! There were lots of airplanes to look at and a helicopter that Sam could crawl around in. We just strolled from hangar to hangar looking high and low at all the planes on display. We even got to see a yellow bi-plane taxi to the runway!
Brian had a great surprise for Sam after the museum - he parked the car at the end of the runway and Sam had a (Sonic) picnic lunch in the back of the car while watching the planes take off and land. Brian and I ordered something from Sonic, too, but we didn't eat much of our lunch. While we were in the museum, Brian got a phone call from PlaneSmart, a company right there at Addison Airport that he had interviewed with a couple weeks prior and really,
really
liked. So he spent his lunchtime talking on the phone and I spent my lunchtime pacing back and forth, trying to figure out what they were talking about by watching Brian (from far away - totally pointless). By the time he was off the phone and filled me in on what was going on - an offer from PlaneSmart! - we were too hyped-up to eat much lunch or watch the airplanes so we headed home to plan an immediate, child-free celebration dinner-date.
And on Monday, Brian started work at his
new
, new job - and Addison it was!
Beach Babies
We met up last week with some of our Lens Baby friends for a day at the "beach". If our California family had been with us they might have felt "beach" was a bit of a misnomer. It's more like a small stretch of sand, or a large sandbox if you will, alongside Lake Lewisville. But having not yet seen the real-deal, this little pseudo-beach was plenty exciting for my two! It's pretty nice to have something like this smack-dab in the middle of North Texas, about twenty minutes from our house in fact!
We decided to meet here to let the kids play in the sand and water while we practiced shooting full sun, mid-day, when the sun's light is overhead and at its harshest. As it turned out, the weather was partly-cloudy, but that was good too, as it kept us cooler (or less miserable) than we would have been otherwise.
This was Sam's first time swimming here. He took a minute to scope it all out, then jumped right in with the rest of the kids. It was the perfect little spot for him to swim on his own and I was able to watch him from the shore.
This one loved the beach, too! I wasn't sure how she'd do in the sand, but it didn't seem to faze her a bit. I plopped her down and she played and played. Finding this red bucket was pretty neat, too.
Evie's made her first friend, another little baby in our playgroup named Evie (pronounced Eee-vie), who is just a couple months older than she is. She smiles whenever she sees her new friend which just cracks me up. They had a great time at the beach, both of them watching the big kids swim while they stuffed fistfuls of sand in their mouths. I promise my baby's not sunburned, despite her looking like a sweaty, pink Easter ham that's just been pulled from the oven. It appears she's going to flush just as easily as her brother. Boo.
Oh my, look at those rolls! Is there anything cuter? She had a great time exploring the wet sand, dry sand and rocks on the beach. I was impressed with how well she handled all these new textures.
Eventually we had to head home for a nap, but we'll definitely go back someday this summer. Just waiting for the forecasted highs to dip below 100!
Practice on Perfect
Evie and I left the boys at home the other night so we could go out with some photographer friends and practice shooting at sunset with backlighting. I love shooting backlit, but it's challenging. My shots that night weren't perfect, but my model sure was! It was fun going out at night, just the two of us. Thanks to Daddy for doing the dirty work at home, getting a crabby big brother fed and in bed. The Straka girls had a good time out with our friends. :)
Daddy
As busy as Daddy is, working hard for our family, he always has time for us. We love you!
So Close
Evie's been working so hard on her crawling. She's so close now, she can taste it! She gets up on her knees and takes a few "steps", then falls on her tummy and army-crawls the rest of the way. It's only a matter of time now, I just know it.
She found her way over to me, too. I think she wanted to look inside the camera lens.
Yay, Evie! You got it! Such a hard worker - you'll be on the move in no time!
Evie at Seven Months
Evelyn Mae you are seven months today! This was a great month for you. Your personality is really starting to show. You are laid-back yet determined, smart and silly, and still the smiliest girl around!
Your biggest accomplishment this month was learning how to sit up all by yourself. It just clicked for you one day, and you've been a good sitter-upper ever since. Within a week of figuring out how to sit up, you started army-crawling and you're all over the place. I know your seventh month will be the month you start crawling on all fours. I was glad to be able to photograph you sitting up in your crib this month. Looks like Daddy will have to lower the mattress now!
Here you are reading "The Runaway Bunny". I was surprised you liked it so much because your favorite books so far seem to be the ones with photographs instead of illustrations. You're so good at playing by yourself with your toys, especially in the morning after you first wake up.
As I suspected, this month's chair photos were a bit of a challenge to take because you are so mobile now. Not only were you wiggly, you were expressive as well. I've added below some of the photos that showed your funny faces!
Measurements -
weight - 20 lbs - 90% according to online growth charts
length - tall!
head - still perfectly round and your hair is really starting to grow!
Clothes - You're wearing both your 6-12 month and 12-18 month outfits.
Diapers - still a size three, but Mommy has a package of fours on-hand just in case
Feedings - You're now eating five times a day for a total of about forty minutes a day. You eat around 5, 10, 2, 6, and 10 or 11.
Sleeping - You do great during naps, and you do great on your first stretch of sleep from about 8:30 until your last feeding. After that it's iffy until about 1 or 2, then iffy again around 4 or 5. So, no, we're not getting lots of sleep around here. You still get in bed with Mommy after your early morning feeding, right about the time Daddy gets up for work. You kick, flail your arms and pull my hair for about 30 minutes, then fall back asleep. What a way to start the day!
We kept busy this month, going new places and trying new things. You ate solid food for the first time this month and you are starting to enjoy it more and more. So far you've tried apples, pears, sweet potatoes and carrots, and of course, oatmeal and rice cereal. You and Mommy enjoyed a few hours alone while Sam was in VBS for a week and we all went to Jack Carter Pool for a playdate. We've been taking family walks a few nights a week while the weather is still decent and you love to watch Sam ride his bike back and forth on the sidewalk. He's your favorite Straka!
Look at you, getting bigger! And below is Sam's seven month chair photo. You two look to be about the same size, but you don't look too much alike in any other way!
Light From Above
There was the coolest light coming from one of the windows high-up at Gram and Pops' house when we were there last weekend. We had just put Evie in a new little stroller they bought for their house and it turned out to be the perfect size for her. She loved her walk and I loved how the late afternoon sun spotlighted my little girl just perfectly.
All of a Sudden
I had tried just this morning, as I do several times a day, to get her to sit up while I got ready to leave the house. As usual, she fell right over and seemed no closer to sitting up than any other time I'd tried before. That same evening, I tried again and voila! She can sit. All of a sudden.
Papa and Grandma
I'm so happy to be able to show off these special people on our blog. As our family website's biggest fans, Papa Emil and Grandma Jan have loved and appreciated every photo, video, and story about their children and grandchildren over the last four years. I'm glad they get a turn to be on the other side and we're so thankful for the wonderful time we spent together last week!
They arrived at our house Thursday to meet Evelyn and spend some time with her before going with me to pick Sam up at school. He gave them a little tour, showing them the incubator of chick eggs and their indoor recess spot known as "the play tubes". Friday we had a nice lunch at Market Street, explored Heritage Farmstead, played in Haggard Park and finished our busy day enjoying some awesome pizza at Urban Crust.
Papa and Grandma made it back out bright and early the next morning to see our Kansas City Royals play ball. After the game the boys went fishing at the pond while Jan and Evie and I had girl talk at home, and in the evening we had a nice dinner (and lots of Trader Joe's Pub Cheese) at Gram and Pops' house. Sunday was a relaxing day with more beautiful weather and we were able to chat, play with the kids, and enjoy another meal together.
We hopped on over to the park for a quick pic before they left Sunday evening. No matter what we were doing - talking on the porch or exploring the city - we enjoyed every minute of our time together. It was hard to see them go, but we so appreciate them making the trip to Texas and we're looking forward to the day when we can take the kiddos to California to see what's known around here as "Papa and Grandma's beach"!
Thank you for visiting, Jan and Emil. We love you!
Over She Goes
Evelyn first rolled on Easter Sunday, in her crib at about four in the morning. She'd been rolling onto her side for a few days, clearly working really hard to roll all the way over. Such a determined little girl! As soon as she made it onto her tummy, she cried for someone to help her. I think she got there and didn't know what to do next! It was strange to go in her room and see her in her crib on her tummy as she'd only ever slept on her back up to this point. Now she sleeps on her side or her tummy all the time at night. She looks so cute when we go in to check on her.
It wasn't as easy getting this series of images as I thought it would be. I had to empty out her room of all the furniture that isn't bolted to the wall, and lay on the floor on my stomach and wait. And wait and wait and wait. I felt like a wildlife photographer, hiding in the bushes, waiting to catch an image of little Evie in her natural habitat. We had already taken a bunch of photos right before we tried the rolling shots, and she was definitely running low on energy. She kept rolling on her left side, getting red in the face trying to push over, then falling again onto her back like a frustrated turtle. You can see her red, fussy face in her mid-roll photos, and her happy, proud face in the last two! Finally! We did it!
Our Girl
Just some photos of our girl, having fun playing in her room...
Sweet, chubby baby hands, chewing on Giraffe
She's so into her knee today.
Every time I look at her she's checking it out - like she just discovered she has one
and thinks it's the coolest thing. Silly girl.
Upside-down Evie, her gaze following Brother all around the room.
Our girl.
Evelyn and Me
This took
forever.
Evelyn kept wanting to look outside. We had to ask Sam to stand behind the tripod so that she would look in the right direction. Oh well, at least I made it into a picture. I exist! I exist!
Easter Sunday
Sam and Evie and I spent Easter Sunday with Gram and Pops. Gram fixed a nice breakfast and even though it was rainy and gloomy outside for most of the day, everyone had a good time. Hopefully next year we can have an egg hunt outside again!
Evie's basket of pretty spring dresses
Sam's basket of favorite characters, Pocoyo and Thumper, with a new movie to try - Toy Story!
The Easter Tree, with Grandma T's handmade Easter eggs at the bottom that Mommy helped her make years and years ago
Gram made a delicious Easter breakfast - eggs, sausage and cinnamon rolls
Sam on his indoor egg hunt - it was too muddy outside again this year.
Happy Easter!
What Do Babies Need?
He got in big trouble right before this picture was taken. I don't remember what for; probably his mouth. Then all of a sudden he decided to sit down and "read" Evelyn one of his favorite books,
Sammy the Seal
. I creeped army-style across the kitchen floor to catch a pic before the moment was lost. Turned out they both stayed a while, even after hearing my shutter click. I got lucky.
I suggested Sam read one of Evelyn's favorite books to her, a book called
Babies
which happened to be one of Sam's favorites, too. The first page has a picture of a baby making a funny face and the first sentence is, "What do babies need?". Evie laughs at that page every time, just like Sam did.
Evie at Four Months
Evelyn Mae you are four months today! I don't know if it's because I posted your last month's update a week late or what, but this four-month post snuck up on me. This month went by fast! You are growing like a weed and are full of personality.
You were so good at the doctor's office today. You cooed and squealed so loud while we were waiting for Dr. G. and then talked to him throughout your check-up. He commented right away on your big beautiful eyes and you gave him the first of several big grins. I think he was a bit smitten with you this visit! How could he not be? You are the sweetest, smiliest little girl we've ever known.
Measurements -
weight - 15 lb, 11 oz -- 80%
length - 25.3 in
-- 85%
head - 16.8 in
-- 95%
(the nurse told you she wanted to measure your head for your princess crown!)
Clothes - You're still in 3-6 month clothing and while most outfits fit perfectly, some are a little on the snug or short-side, so I wouldn't be surprised if you can wear your 6-9 months clothes a little sooner than we thought.
Diapers - You're still in a size 2 but they're getting tight!
Feedings - You're still eating around 5 times a day, for a total of about an hour a day. You eat around 8, 11, 3, 7 and 11.
Sleeping - You're still a great sleeper. Most of the time you sleep with your arms over your head, but this past week I've also seen you sleeping on your side. You look so cute when you do that. You take several naps a day, the most predictable one being about an hour or two after waking up in the morning. You get sleepy in the late afternoon, too, which leaves you waking up just in time for Mommy to sit down to dinner. We need to adjust that naptime!
This month you've become quite a bit stronger. Tummy time is lasting longer and upsetting you less and less. Dr. G. was impressed with your strength, too. You started rolling over from your tummy to your back, so I have to keep repositioning you during tummy time. I suspect it's partly a gravity issue - all you have to do is tilt your 95th percentile-head a little to one side and over you go! You surprised Mommy last week by rolling from your back to your side while you we're playing in your gym. Good job - that takes some work! I was happy for you, but a little sad for me because I knew that likely meant you and I would be getting up in the middle of the night for a while, as I would have to stop swaddling you in case you rolled over in the night. Turns out I was right - once I started putting you to sleep with your arms out of your swaddle you broke your sleeping-through-the-night streak, just shy of two months. You only wake up once or twice a night though, and once I give you binky back you usually fall back asleep. You never wake me up by crying, either. You just squawk or fake-cough and when I come in to check on you you're grinning ear-to-ear!
You and Sam are still whooped over each other. He coos and baby-talks to you constantly - "Motherese" I think it's called. It's very sweet and I'm glad he's got such a nurturing streak, but good golly, sometimes his little four-year-old voice goes up so high when he's talking to you I'm afraid he's going to shatter glass. It doesn't seem to bother you, though! A couple of times this month you both woke up before me and I found Sam in your nursery talking and reading to you while you lay in your crib. You two have lovely chats!
You tried the Bumbo for the first time this month. You like it okay and I hope you'll like it a little better once your head gets a bit stronger. You also still love to be held and walked around or "standing" on our laps. You are chewing on your fingers a lot and drooling some, too, so we suspect you've got some teeth wiggling their way up. I bet we'll see them in a couple of months. You hold toys for a little while once you get a grip on them and often try to chew on them. You prefer trying to stuff your hand in your mouth, though!
Just like Brother, you love Elizabeth Mitchell's music. Sam's favorite album was Little Bird, while yours seems to be Blue Clouds. When you're upset I can play or sing "Hop Up My Ladies" or "Arm in Arm" and you instantly stop crying and listen. Works like a charm every time. And, just like Brother, the TV seems to catch your attention every once in a while. Uh-oh, not yet little one!
Happy four months Evie - We love you!
Growing Girl!
Your official four-month chair photo
And...Sam's four-month chair photo!
With Daddy
Watching Sam's t-ball practice with Daddy.
Lots to see from way up here...