Snapshot: Happy Halloween!

Empathy

Evelyn's sense of empathy has really developed this month. Since the late spring, she has shown concern for playmates or other children who cry or seem upset. After acknowledging that, yes, the boy or girl looked sad, I reassured her that they would be OK. We watched as the child's mother or father offered comfort. Lately though, Evie has become aware of the feelings of the characters in her books. Whether it is surprise, delight, or sadness, Evelyn takes note of the emotion. When we read this book (below), Evelyn insists that we return again and again to the page depicting the main character's heartbroken state. (The little gosling lost her favorite bright red boots).

Even though the character spots her missing boots on the very next page, Evelyn is practically obsessed with the tear coming from the little pencil and water color eye. She wanted to know what it was, and subsequently learned the words "tear" and "sad."

Eventually, Evelyn lets us move on to the happy ending (spoiler alert: the gosling makes a new friend in the would-be boot thief).

Sleepless Nights

Poor Evie has a cold. She is so congested that it's hard to breathe through her nose, let alone while laying down. So, my baby has been waking a lot at night for comfort. We cuddle, I sit up and prop her up against me so that she can breathe easier and drift back to sleep for, hopefully, more than thirty minutes before starting the cycle again. I cannot wait for this cold to pass. Even naps are impossibly short and so we are adding to our family sleep deficit.

Snapshot: Kisses!

Snapshot: Summer Memory-- Massachusetts Tractor Ride

Fifteen Months!

I recently composed a list of the new things Evelyn has been doing (late summer/ early fall). There isn't much room in our baby book for "new things" or for more than just her first words (and I think the tenth or thirtieth words or equally exciting!) so I've started a new system. I send myself a daily email of Evie's new words and discoveries. The downside, however, is that I now have dozens of little email documents rather than one readily available list. So, I am coming up with a new system. Until I figure that out, I thought I would try to pull together some of the highlights into a post.

Recent "accomplishments"/ discoveries:

high five

"I don't know" hands out pose

"tickle tickle"

holds drink for mommy/ likes to share straw, bites of food (one for evie, one for mommy)

twirls (one arm leads the way)

plays with dollhouse and kitchen set, plays tea party and feeds animal friends

pants like a dog and says "dog"

can do all of the motions for "pat-a-cake"

can find nose, eye, head, belly button, hand, foot, tongue, teeth, ear, elbow, knee, toes, eyelashes, cheeks

responds to simple commands without gestures (please put laundry into basket- from dryer) fun game!

uses fork/spoon

drinks from regular cup

enjoys stairs

goes down big slide alone (doesn't like to do it with mom)

can remove shirt

fits shapes into correct spot after one or two attempts

walks up and down steps- handrail or mom's hand-- sometimes alternates feet going up stairs

brushes her own teeth

rocks her arms and says "baby"

moves both feet independently/ taps feet while dancing (rather than just squatting or wiggling her hips)

twirls in a circle

runs in a circle - can play ring-around-the-rosie

hugs

gives actual kisses

New things Evie says:

apple, avocado ("ak"), sock ("ock"), shoe, elbow, pumpkin ("pumpk"), belly button, down, mouth, no, yeah, book, truck, car, beard, buckle ("buck"), done, ice, buck buck (as in "what does a chicken say?"), baaa (sheep), la la la (singing), banana (nanana), walk, poop, water, flower, airplane ("ap-ane"), grass ("grah"), chick, broccoli ("brok"), juice, boo!

I think I'll stop there. My point is that Evie's language, comprehension, and fine motor skills have been kicking into over-drive lately and it is really exciting to watch her "wheels turn" as she understands more and more of what is going on around her. She is also more fun than ever; she is great company!

Snapshot: Harvest