Bling-Bling

If you are a fan of Evy's adventures than you are probably wondering what she has been up to recently. Well...

Let me start by saying Evelyn is jealous of the computer, or at least my time on it. Every time I sit down to pay bills, check email, update the bog or play World of Warcraft she drops what she is doing and stands next to me whining and grabbing at my hands. Actually, she is here right now. I try to let her peck at the keyboard but while typing she reeks havoc with the keyboard shortcuts and messes what I have typed. But it isn't my time blogging she is jealous of. It is my addiction to battling player verses player on World of Warcraft. My characters are known for the long strings of numbers I shout out during a battle. As I am busy pointing, clicking, and pecking out killing blows Evelyn stands at my leg and with control of the number pad creating text bubbles over my avatar. Once I was asked how I could type and fight at the same time. I said I had a third hand. Now this little struggle of ours has spread to all my time spent at the computer. As killing Night Elfs keeps me sane, paying bills keeps me secure, and addressing emails keeps me social, it is the blog that has suffered. Sorry!

Okay, just so you don't think I am the worst mom in the world due to a PVP addiction let me confess I usually only play now during nap time. Evelyn insists. So what else are we up to.

Evelyn has a music class she goes to on Friday mornings. Great time. She is usually the only girl, and the only non-walker. But don't fear, she has had the whole class crawling around a time or two. She already has a way with the boys. Poor Daddy.

Also, we go swimming twice a week. No class, we just play. Actually I exercise while she is in the daycare for an hour then I get her and we hit the pool. It is really fun and she might just learn to swim in the process.

Lastly, we go to the zoo a lot, about once a week. She really likes the small animals like the golden monkey's . She does not want to look at the really big ones like the elephants and giraffes. But her faves are the dogs and cats. We look high and low for the wolves every time we go. Once found she exclaims, "HI!". Last visit we went we stopped by the gift shop and picked up a toy. She chose a pink plastic snake. We named it Bling-Bling as she wears it around her neck with her other beads and bobbles. She loves it. When we leave the house we say, "Where is Bling-Bling?" "We cannot forget Bling-Bling!" Grandma hates the snake. She will not touch it. She fears Evy will bring a live snakes home. She might, but I think her fascination with the snake, and the beads, and the strings she loves goes back to her time spent in the NICU. She spent four months attached to tubes, wires, and lines. Some of which were literally shoved down her throat. She survived because on some level she grew comfortable with these things. Maybe even attached, emotionally, to them. Now they are gone but she has all these new things, toys, that resemble them. I think Bling-Bling is a pink plastic ventilator tube that Evy can manipulate and control. I think Bling-Bling is helping her heal emotionally. So Bling-Bling is here to stay.

Up, up and away.

Evelyn is keeping me very busy. Too busy to blog. But something has happened that need to be shouted from the rooftops. Evelyn has taken her first steps.

Last night Nate, Evelyn, and I played a game like so many times in the past. Nate and I sat close facing each other and Evy walks between us always holding on. But then she lets go. One step here, another step there. We watched in silence, afraid to speak. Then I dared break it by suggesting we get the camera. Watch the video below and you will share in our moment. Enjoy.

In her own time

I sit and watch my baby play. She is 19 months going on 2 years. She is a tornado. But there are a few things she needs to wrap up before moving on. She would like to figure out what the remote control is all about. She wants to run in the grass and eat more ice cream. I have a list too, it includes Evy's hands. Do not get me wrong. She can use both hand equally well. She can pick up a speck of fluff, inspect it, and then eat it with each. Right now she is scooping 3 inch disks out of her toy CD player. She is using both hands to scoop. One disk with her right, one disk with her left.

And yet I worry. I worry because she is not using both hands to scoop out one disk. Evy is smart enough to discover that one hand stabilizing the CD player and one hand scooping is a faster way to get the disks. She is smart enough and yet she does not do this. Why? She lacks the coordination to control the process. Even her scoops are thick-handed. My poor little one. I fear when we hit these hurdles that she will not clear them. Yet she always does. And so I will wait. And worry a little.

I can do it myself! By Evelyn Forrester

When I wake up in the morning my mommy gets me dressed. Then we go upstairs to eat breakfast. She tries to carry me up the stairs. I kick and cry as if to say, "Put me down. I can do it myself!"



For breakfast mommy makes me my favorite food, cheesy waffle. She cooks it and cuts it and tries to feed me. I push her hand away. No thanks mom, I can feed myself!



After eating we go in the living room to play. Mommy tries to show me how to sit and play on my new chair. I quickly stand up. I will play with it myself!



I smile at mommy. She smiles back. She looks tired and it is not even nap time. Boy oh boy mom is lucky she has me to help her out. After all, I can do it myself!

Cute post

Ok I admit it. I am a computer dummy. Our old computer, the one with all the pics on its hard drive, has died. Of course I have taken lots more pics recently but I have not been trained on how to upload them to this new computer (yes I need training, hence the dummy comment). So I have no pics to attach to this post. Too bad because there are good ones.

There are some super cute pics of Evy and her NICU buddy Edna. Edna is a 27 weeker born one week after Evelyn. This is Edna's first Christmas out of the hospital. In celebration we dressed the girls up in matching BFF shirts and took their picture sitting amongst the presents under the Christmas tree. They are truly precious gifts. Truly cute.

Another great gift is chocolate and there is a yummy picture of Evy helping mommy make peanut clusters for the family Christmas party. Evy was not sure she liked dipping chocolate when I put a dallop of it on her high chair tray. It was sticky and she tried to shake it off her fingers. But then she tasted it and... the picture says it all. Super cute.

Well I will end this post by not describing more pics but by inviting you to watch the funny video Nate posted. In it Evy chases her own image around the room. Very cute.

Lastly, to all the followers of Extreme Evy. We wish you blessed with health and happiness, as we have been. Merry Christmas.

Leading the pack

As you can see from the pic, Evy lives in a house with four dogs, also one cat (not pictured). She calls all the dogs iggie, and the cat kia.

A typical morning starts with her sucking loudly on her thumb. Then comes, "mom...mom...mom...". I get her from the crib and she looks around for the shepard whom has taken Nate's spot on the bed. She waves her hands and says, "Hi Iggie, Hi Iggie!". We go out to the living room where she finds the husky and kitty, usually sleeping side by side. She waves her hands and says, "Hi Iggie, Hi Kia. Hi Kia, Hi Iggie". Then we go into the kitchen for breakfast. She see the rottie, "Hi Iggie, Hi Iggie!". Evy drops food as she eats. With each piece she stares at the floor. Soon the wienie dog comes to clean up. "Hi Iggie, Hi Iggie!" she says waving her hands about. Grandma appears. Evy may give her a smile between bites, but not always. When Evy and the wienie dog have finished her breakfast she will bang on her try and say "mom...mom...mom...". This is a typical start to the day.



Evy loves her pets. She looks for them in every room. She is always excited to see them. They have been her motivation, her passion, her muse. Because of them she has learned how to lick, crawl, stand, share, and how to pet, not pull, soft fur. The dogs know that she is the boss. But they are always free to leave when they tire of her attention. This has led to another lesson. Evelyn has not quit figured why the dogs sometimes flee in mass when she crawls in their direction. She turns to me with a long face as if to say, "Why?". I shrug and tell her that they will come around when they want their ears pulled. And indeed they do. By not pushing the relationships, just letting them develop (with supervision and rules) each and every pet comes to Evy to get their needs met. The wienie dog relies on the food she drops. The shepard knows she is always interested in playing with his ball. The husky and cat each know Evy will always pay attention, and the good ol' rottie is full of kisses to share. Evy never turns them away.

So this Thanksgiving I am giving thanks to my pack. To the big grumpy one I send to work with a sandwich and a handful of nicotine gum. To the littlest one; whom calls me mom. To the wise ones; who give me help and advise. And especially to the furry ones; the devoted ones. Thank You.

What a weekend...what a year.

Boy what a crappy weekend for the sports teams we root for. The Utes were trounced by TCU. Also, the Arizona Wildcats, Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and New England Patriots all had a chance to win but lost their games over the weekend. It is the kind of time you'd like to forget. But this weekend will be remembered. This weekend was our anniversary, not the wedding anniversary, but our family anniversary. One year ago Sunday we brought Evelyn home from the hospital. And what a year it has been. Evelyn has grown from not-quit-a-newborn into not-quit-a toddler. Nate has stopped smoking. The dogs and cat have survived with all their tails and ears intact. And I, well I am loving being a mom. Below are some pics from the previous year. Enjoy.

Let's hope year #2 is as grand.