Hug Me

Eva received a toy dog for her birthday from Travis and Jessica Thomson.  The dog talks, sings and makes all kinds of noises.  Eva loves this toy.  She will sing along to "head and shoulders knees and toes"  in her baby talk and to all the songs.  The cutest thing is when the dog says, "Hug me."  She leans on the dog as if to hug it!  So cute.  She was reading a book and sat on the dog... "hug me."  So she hugged her book!

Just two days ago Jesika Priest was over and Eva gave her a hug, then gave me a hug!  Plus yesterday she gave me a kiss!  Its wonderful having her initiate affection.

She loves to lean into me now and cuddle up to me.  I love feeling like she wants to be close to me. 

Tapping

Often times when Eva is sitting in her high chair anticipating her next bite or savoring the flavor she will lean back, spread out her arms and rest them on the edges of her tray and tap her hands gently and rhythmically.  Its so precious.

What I love

One of my favorite things that Eva is doing right now is willingly she takes my finger to walk next to me.  I love the feeling of her next to me holding my finger.  

I love the feeling I physically feel in my heart when she lays her head on my shoulder and sucks her left them and plays with my hair with her right.

I love the way I leave a room shes in for 10 seconds and she is coming to find me, hard on my heels.  I love feeling like she wants to be with me.

I love the way she is so ready to laugh.  She loves to be chased and snatched up in my arms.

I love her so much.  She is the perfect baby.

Grahpa

Affection

Eva has not been an overly affectionate person so far.  She initiated kisses maybe 4 times ever.  Two times with me and two times with Janice, my dad's girlfriend...

I shower her with kisses and hugs and snuggles.  Because thats what I love to do!  Just recently she has been more into it.  Sunday night she was at the grocery store with me and while sitting in the cart she just looked up at me and stared with her mouth closed and so I kissed her.  She didn't pull away or avoid it!  To me that means she wanted it!  YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!  Yesterday I felt like she was giving me a hug too.

Now that she is walking and on the move it is a wonderful feeling to be busy doing something and then feel her little hands lean on my leg, her dive at me and giggle, attack my chest for want of milk.  I love it so much.  It is the best feeling!  

I love the Avril Lavigne song Innocence.  I always think of Eva and these special times.  Here are the lyrics:

Waking up I see that everything is ok
The first time in my life and now it's so great! 
Slowing down I look around and I am so amazed
I think about the little things that make life great
I wouldn't change a thing about it
This is the best feeling

This innocence is brilliant, I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect, please don't go away, I need you now
And I'll hold on to it, don't you let it pass you by

I found a place so safe, not a single tear
The first time in my life and now it's so clear
Feel calm I belong, I'm so happy here
It's so strong and now I let myself be sincere
I wouldn't change a thing about it
This is the best feeling

This innocence is brilliant, I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect, please don't go away, I need you now
And I'll hold on to it, don't you let it pass you by

It's the state of bliss you think you're dreaming
It's the happiness inside that you're feeling
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry

It's the state of bliss you think you're dreaming
It's the happiness inside that you're feeling
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry

It's so beautiful it makes you want to cry

This innocence is brilliant, it makes you want to cry
This innocence is brilliant, please don't go away
'Cause I need you now
And I'll hold on to it, don't you let it pass you by

This innocence is brilliant, I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect, please don't go away, I need you now
And I'll hold on to it, don't you let it pass you by

Hair Accessories

Eva intently watched me put a clip in my hair, then took another clip and put it to her head repeatedly as if she was trying to put it on.  So cute!

Sweetness

Getting ready in the bathroom this morning, I had Eva in the bumbo next to me as I put my makeup on.  She smiled at herself in the mirror and leaned her head on my arm as I put on my mascara.  Oh, it was wonderful.  She kept doing that for the rest of the time she was in the bumbo.

Identifying Colors

In the bathroom we have a frame with 3 photos.  Its the same photo, but in three different colors.  Eva loves this.  Tonight Justin was showing her the frame by taking her forever pointed finger and pointing at each photo telling her the colors.  Then he asked her, "which one's blue? Which one's yellow?  Which one's green?" Each time she pointed correctly.   Then the curve ball.  Justin asked, "Which one is orange?"  She hesitated, and did not point.  "Which one is yellow?"  And she pointed correctly.  What a smarty!

Biting

She did not bite me at all today and was nursing with confidence!  Yay!

ROAR!

Lately I have been playing the lion with Eva.  As she is crawling I will snatch her up and tickle her as I roar and give her rasberries.  Its so cute to hear her laugh.  I release her and let her crawl away, but then I just repeat!  Well today I was sitting in the glider with her on my lap getting ready to nurse her.  She started to shake her head and bounce a little bit and then attacked the milk source!  It was so cute, it was as if she was imitating me with her.

Dancing

Eva has been dancing a lot.  She loves music.  She makes jumping movements and shakes her head.  She has pretty good rhythm too :).   Sometimes she even tries to sing along a bit.

Belly Button

She has been playing with my belly button for a couple of months now.  Eva found her belly button today.  I had her playing naked in her room so that I could see when she peed to take her to the actual potty (she never did pee) and her shirt was filthy from lunch.   She sat poking her little finger into her button, then looked at the mirror to watch herself touch it.  She would play and then check it out again.  She also was trying to touch her peepee, but I just distracted her.

Potty Training - Toilet Paper

When Eva was very tiny I use to take her to the potty and have her pee on the toilet.  Even though it was infrequently, the times I was consistent she would pee on command.  It got to be too much for me personally.  I still wanted her to be familar with the concept of going to the bathroom, so frequently I take her with me and sit her on my lap when I go.  I explain to her the different steps involved and then we wash our hands together.

Today I took her with me and sat her on my lap as usual.  This time she saw the toilet paper, grabbed a piece, wiped her "peepee" and dropped it into the toilet!  So cute!  I praised her excitedly and she repeated it several times!  Even later tonight she did it for Daddy all on her own initiative :).  She is so precious and so smart.  She amazes me.

Seahorse

For Christmas Aunt Jesika gave Eva a seahorse that plays songs and makes womb sounds to help them sleep.  I don't give it to her every time I lay her down so that she won't become dependant but I do often.  Today I gave it to her, but she didn't seem to be napping.  So I went to check on her.  She was standing in the corner of her crib facing the door with a pleasant look on her face, "now that you're here..."  her head was resting on her hands and was quietly talking to herself.   When she saw me she started to walkd to the far side of her crib as if to show me something.  She peered over the crib rail and pointed to the floor, where she had dropped her seahorse :).

Hair Brush

I had Eva in her bumbo while I was trying to clip her toe nails.  I suddenly feel a bonk on the head.  I look up to see my beautiful girl happily "brushing" my hair.  She repeated the action to attempt to stroke my hair.  She looked happy to be able to do it on her own.

Biting

Eva only bit me once or twice today and was nursing with more confidence!

Lion Country Safari

We went to Lion Country Safari with Jamie and Preston Coggeshall.  Eva was so excited to see the animals through the window.  She and Preston sat in the front with me for 95% of the ride.  She was standing, hitting the window and talking.  

We rode some kiddie rides - the carousel, a ride similar to that of Disney's dumbo and the Fairiswheel.  We fed the goats and the giraffes!  She initially tried to eat the goat good, then dropped it :).  She did feed one of the goats directly from her hand, ewe!  The giraffe got a couple crackers from her, but that was it.  Though she wasn't scared or overjoyed, she just seemed uninterested in putting food on the giraffe's huge tongue.  It was really cool.  I really enjoyed that time with her.

Biting

Last week Eva bit me for the first time while nursing.  Well today she bit me 4or 5 times.  She would do it after she was drinking for a while or right when she would latch on.  When she bit me I would pull her off and say something like, "Eva no, no, no" (sometimes with the third no when it really hurt).  I wasn't angry or aggressive but I was stern in my tone because I wanted to communicate that it was a negative action.  Well you'd think I had spanked her!  As she typically does when she is hurt emotionally or physically she pauses and really thinks about what has just happened for a good 2 or 3 seconds (which I think is a sign of intelligence) and then reacts.  But she was sobbing, her feelings were so hurt.  I can't imagine if I were angry or upset :(.  All I could do was console her and try to reassure her.

If she calmed down quickly I would try to continue nursing her but say, "drink your milk" avoiding words like "eat".  But she was either so cautious that she probably wasn't getting much milk or she would not want to nurse at all.  By the afternoon I started to cry, not ready to stop nursing Eva Mae.  I talked to her and told her I wasn't ready to stop these special times and that I didn't think that she was either (I would like to nurse her til she is two).  So I just kept trying. 

Lights

For quite some time Eva has been able to turn the lights off using her perfect, little index finger.  Tonight she turned the light switch off and on!  Daddy is such a good teacher.

"I love you, too"

Eva was sitting on the floor playing with her kitchen set when Justin said, "I love you Eva" to which she replied, "I love you too"!

Clap

Clapped Daddy's face

Blow

Eva blew air through her mouth for the first time.  She repeated it several times.  Too bad I couldn't get her to do it for her candle :).

Mama!

The number one word that Eva says is "mama".  I love it!  She talks in her own tongue the most though. 

First Shower

I stupidly laid Eva down for a nap in a cloth diaper and let her try to fall asleep for her afternoon nap.  Well after a little while I thought maybe she pooped.  I probably waited longer than I should have and I did apologize to her.  Well, I went in and there was a poopy explosion.  In each hand near the corners of her mouth, on her legs, her bumper - everywhere.  I wasn't mad at all.  I just picked her up and we took a shower together.  It was her first shower :).  I am going to start doing the shower thing everyday and reserve bath times for once a week I think.

Roll a Ball

Eva was playing with a ball and as it would get away from her I would roll it back to her.  At one point she grabbed the ball swang her arm back and forth as if to gain momentum and then... RELEASE!  She would let go and roll the ball a foot or two!  So cute, she repeated it several times.  Sometimes she will do something and not do it again.  More and more she does a new thing and repeats it.

Apple

Eva went to the grocery store with Justin tonight.  While he was picking up some apples she said, "apple" while looking at them!  How exciting!  She says a lot of her new words with Justin.

Uh-oh

Eva says it when she drops a toy, some food or just randomly.  Mostly she says it when she hears me say it, then says it over and over.  I love her sweet voice, it makes me feel warm inside.

Clipping Nails

Eva let me clip all ten nails in one sitting without having a meltdown!  I think that it really helped having her in the bumbo playing with the nasal aspirator :).  Also I think I have previously made her uncomfortable with the pointed edge of the clippers, so I tried to be extra careful this time.  Yay!  Now if I could only figure out a way to make it work for sucking snot out.