Evan is in such a sweet, fun stage as far as little lives go and I keep lamenting that I'm not recording it in words as I should. Or as I have done with Eli especially (and somewhat with Annalee). And I was about to start a Word document for all this but I know I did do some on this here neglected blog. Eventually I ought to figure out how to get it off here but as it stands, there is a lot of us on the internet for all the crazies to find (but also for me to find if we have a fire and lose our laptop and external hard drive and all that). So here goes some serious mother-only-loved recording tidbits of Evan and hopefully I can get Eli and Annalee written up too because as they say, the days are long but the years are short.
EVAN, 22 months plus 10 days ;)
- Sweet boy is learning to talk. He started out with us for first words (mama, dada, eli) and that as blossomed into a very clear Daddy, Mommy, Eli. Awhile back I realized that he never says Annalee, he would just call her Eli too, but occasionally now he tries and when asked he'll repeat Annie somewhat. He has been saying "what Chewbacca says" for months now and that's hilarious. Other often used words include: Puppy, WaWa (water), Ball, Book, More (Maa), Eat, Up, Off, NO, Yes, Bye Bye, Hi, Cheese, Bus (last week we were driving and he saw a bus and said BUS to me, I didn't have to point it out or say it)... man, lots more. His babble has turned into actual words more of the time. This last week he has started saying Bruce and Jodi, our next door neighbors, and oh dear is that cute. He says lots of other words on command "Evan can you say ____" and half the time you can hear the right word.
- He's still so short so when he runs it's like a somewhat really fast waddle move.
- Evan has a good arm. Throws a ball quite well for his age and LOVES all balls. Just loves throwing and kicking a ball.
- He likes duplo legos and building things. He also plays well with the magnet magformers. He sometimes puts tiny legos in his mouth but rarely. He likes to point a nerf gun already and spent a few weeks awhile back bringing me one to ready for him to shoot. The last few weeks he's really been into matchbox cars, lining them up and making them go.
- Evan loves bath time. He stomps around in the water, plays with the fake bugs and other bath toys and generally has a great time in there.
- Evan doesn't like to miss out. Tuesdays and Fridays Annalee has school and half the time Daddy brings her after bringing Eli meaning we are left alone together and HE SCREAMS SO LOUD to want to go with them. Another word he says often lately is "Side" meaning "Outside!!!!".
- He doesn't get much TV time (it goes in spurts, currently we are on a hasn't seen TV in a week or so) but sometimes I'll turn it on. He's gotten opinionated though so if he doesn't like the show, he'll just look at me and say "No" and except a change. He does better with no TV time. He will whine at me to watch it and look at the remote or grab it for me and say "Teee" over and over. He likes Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street and Clifford and the snippets from church I sometimes play. Since I just turn on PBS mostly, he doesn't get many options.
- This boy has great facial expressions! He can frown and pout and contimplate and scowl with the best of them. It's hilarious. His browline has something to do with it all probably. He can also do THE BEST "Surprise" face where he puts his mouth in an "o" - y'all really ought to see that.
- He's wearing 12-18 month pants, a few 24 months but they are probably too long. And 18-24 months/2T shirts. He's darn adorable. He loves his Crocs I got him in AZ because he can put them on himself.
- Today at the park he said "Hi!" to some people, no prompting from me. I see him a bit more wild and extroverted than the other two but still somewhat cautious. He still tries to push the limits a bit more but is not all insanity.
- Evan has started loving books probably since Christmas or so. He will flip through them and "read" and do this for long stretches. He started with the photo books, just loves those, but now it's other books. We're Going On A Bear Hunt was a big one in February. Dr. Suess was big for awhile too. Now it's Star Wars books because he moved on a bit from board books. CARS and random tiny books he loves too.
- Bedtime is 7:45ish these days. He'll get jammies, brush teeth (which he hates and it's us forcing it for as long as we can endure), stories and then blankie and a stuffed animal with him on his pillow still in his crib. Blankie "bbbaa" is his comfort for sure. He "eats" it more than the other kids ever did so that'll probably be a habit to break. He has been sleeping through the night mostly since the fall and wakes up 7:15-8:15. His parents just love this schedule.
- He sleeps on his stomach most often, with his bum in the air sometimes. Also side sleeps with blankie tucked in there. For naps I get to see his little sleep positions and often it makes this mama heart flip and do "awww". He still naps around 1ish until we go get Eli. Some days he takes longer to get to sleep and others he sleeps longer but it's still a norm thankfully.
- Eating habits: he's probably the worst eater of the three and I'm probably more lenient. He doesn't like many veggies and he's terrible at spitting out what he doesn't want. He likes carbs. He really likes sausage. For awhile there Grandma had to make double link sausage at brunch. He likes some fruits but like with veggies, a bit of a texture thing. He loves his cereal in the morning (true Kasowski) and will eat many bowls of Crispix, his absolute favorite. Slowly branching out here.
- Evan is not a snuggler. He will maybe give a hug in the morning or post nap for a bit but rarely snuggles up to us for any length of time. He does if we happen to rock him to sleep or hold him in the middle of the night though.
- He's been quite healthy. A few snotty noses, a few fevers, a cough occasionally this last year but nothing worrisome, praise be.
- He picks out green bowls if given a choice. Annalee maybe convinced him that's his favorite color and willed it so.
- He totally copies his siblings.
- He is learning to share. He'll scream SO loud but often gives one of his siblings whatever they are fighting over.
- On our trip driving up to SC from FL a few weeks ago, he learned to scream so dang loud, he would ball up his fists and yell. Dear me, it was terrible. He has also done this a few times since then. He doesn't love his car seat very much. Sometimes picking up Eli requires my full weight against his plank and refusal.
- He enjoys Grandpa maybe a bit more than Grandma, though the love of driving up to their house is evident. He runs in and grins and recently has figured out exactly where the snacks are...
- Evan whines at least five times a day for snack and he also figured out where our snack drawer is and will grab granola bars out of there and bring them to me wherever I am and POUT like no other. This invariably happens at 4:50 every day. I don't give in and I ought to hide them.
- He loves dogs. If he sees one, he will most likely go very close to it and if it's friendly, will try pet it. Puppeeee!!! I don't really get it but it's fun and cute and now I point out dogs to him as something to do.
- Gratefully, he goes to nursery at church or mops usually really well and if he fusses, only for a few minutes. Seems well adjusted that way.
- Evan would watch videos on my phone all day if I let him. He's always trying to "See" if he hears me watching something. And in the rare chance, I'll get him on Snapchat and he won't let anyone else near the phone.
- My favorite moments are going to get him when he wakes up and I say "Eveeee" and he's in a great mood and ready to be lifted out of his crib. This morning he talked to himself for a really long time before I went in there. The only word I could make out was Eli and I'm sure it was an epic story.
- Evie is his nickname more than any other. But we mostly call him Evan. Rarely the Evan Bevan comes back. Eli will make up words for him still like "baby goo". Annalee likes bossing him around as a fake name she changes every day.
- One "game" we play in the car is "Did we forget anybody?" so we call out each person. Evan caught on so now he'll point and say "Dad-dee? Mom-mee? Elyi? Elyi (or maybe Ann-nee)?" and then he points to himself and says "Me" which often sounds like "Nee" - all with a bit of a goofy grin.
- He can tell me sometimes poop if I don't happen to smell it or if I ask. He's quite regular. And dare I say he can potty train before three?? Not getting my hopes up and I do appreciate the other two doing it so quickly and easily since they were so ready.
- Evan dancing is legs wide, a swaying type motion, that is so darn hilariously cute, you have to see it.
- Since the other two color often, Evan has gotten more into marker messes than the other two ever did. He will sometimes color himself (awhile back we had a stretch of eating markers) but that is happening less and less and he is more and more just coloring paper, which is a win.
- Uncle Chris bought him a little orange bug rider thing. He'll sit on it and push his legs and really go quite fast around the kitchen island, to the front door. He loves that.
Pretty soon this sweetheart will be two. I'm really enjoying this stage now, as he's really opening up to all he can do. It's not without it's moments, but overall we find so much JOY in this dear boy.
-Evan's Mom
