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!