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