Sleigh Bells Ring

Over the last week, we have had three opportunities to see the big man in red himself, Santa. I knew that Drake would do great because he was pretty comfortable last year but imagined that it would not be smooth sailing with Evie. Santa made a cameo appearance at the school Holiday Review last Friday and when I walked up to him with Evie, she started shaking.

Give the Santa experience of the previous day, I was not expecting much in terms of Evie's corporation when it was time to sit on his lap at Breakfast with Santa. Drake was ready and had his list ready:

• A belt to keep his jeans up (he is very practical)
• A red lightsaber
• A kitchen
• Toy food for the kitchen

Drake sat right on his lap and then had a great conversation. Evie was already crying (from a girl that rarely cries) so we needed that obligatory Santa picture so here is the result...

Last night was our final Santa opportunity. Each year the basketball team hosts an event called Winter Wonderland. This is an opportunity for the players to interact with deserving children in the community creating crafts, eating dinner, and receiving gifts from Santa. We love attending this event and once again had the opportunity to visit Santa. Different setting, same result...

Once we got Evie away from Santa, she had a great time at both events. Drake was able to create some Christmas themed crafts, which he really enjoyed doing.

Three and a Half

My little buddy Drake turned three and a half years old on Monday, August 11th. He is such a funny little ball of energy. He can be a little shy when he is in a new environment but will warm up quickly. He especially loves to be around older kids and thinks that he is able to do anything that they can do. Drake is one of the sweetest boys that I have ever met and really loves his little sister.

Try as we might, we rarely have found a way to burn his energy resources. He attends gymnastics once a week and will continue to do that into the fall. He is very strong and has amazing body control for someone his age. It often scares me to death because he can scale rocks and will do a flip over any bar he is able to reach (he especially tried my nerves when doing this over concrete). We have been trying to swim a few times a week this summer and he has made huge strides. At the beginning of the summer he did not want to get his head wet. Now he is able to jump into the pool, blow bubbles, go under water, and do basic swimming motions. He still is dependent on his water wings, but we are really happy with what he was able to do this summer.

Drake is in the 3 year old room and his main teacher is a woman named Ms. Robbie. They do a great job of letting the kids learn through creative play in addition to circle time where they read, learn numbers, and letters. Drake has started to form friendships with some of his classmates. His best little buddy is a boy named Marcos and he also really likes Marcos' brother Elijah (who is in the 4 year old class). Drake constantly talks about Marcos and Elijah and based on what their parents have told us, the feelings are mutual. 

We are starting to see that Drake has an amazing memory (I think it is going to be even better than mine). He is able to tell us things that he saw or did months or even years ago. A couple months ago we were driving by the elementary school and he said, "That's where I saw Santa". He was exactly right, we went to breakfast with Santa there...in 2012! It is comments like that which is is constantly making and they always seem to surprise us. He also is a creature of habit and can direct us almost anywhere in town and does not like when we stray from his regular routes.

Drake still loves to go to zoos and has really enjoyed the children's museums that we have gone to lately. He has started to get into superheros (Superman, Batman, and Justice League) but Wild Kratts and Go Diego Go are still his top preference for TV shows. He also really loves books and would love for us to read him a dozen a night if we would let him...which could also be a stalling technique. This past week when we were visiting his older cousins, he started playing with Lego's and fell in love. He is not really able to follow the directions yet to make the design, but he likes watching us do it while he works on a side project.

10 Months

Evie turned 10 months on Saturday, August 2 and I have been very tardy in writing her monthly update. She continues to grow and change on a daily basis and it really is amazing to watch how she absorbs information.

Some of the highlights of Evie's development right now:

• She is completely mobile now with her crawling. When possible though, she does prefer to stand. She is able to walk when holding fingers and cruises around the furniture. She is now able to hold a standing position for 15 to 20 seconds without assistance but does need to push herself up with something to get into her standing position (started on July 22).
  
• Evie is very independent. She enjoys playing with toys that she has in the living room and when she tires of those, she will just crawl down the hall into her room to play with different toys. She likes to have people around her but is also happy playing by herself when she needs to. Right now she is especially fond of playing near the fireplaces, more specifically, on the hearths. The brick hearths are about three inches off the ground and she just gets herself up there and sits, very proudly. 
• Evie is a great eater. She does a lot of self feeding as well as some purees. We have not really met a food item that she does not like yet but, just like her brother, she really enjoys yogurt. She has had beef, chicken, and pork along with pretty much every fruit and vegetable. She LOVES garden vegetable puffs and could easily eat the whole canister in one sitting if I would allow her to. 

  

  Do I have something on my face (blueberries)?

• Evie has gotten her third tooth! The top left tooth made its appearance through the gum line on July 29th. It has been very slow to come through but it is making its way. I would imagine that the right top will not be far behind. 
• As she has been since birth, Evie is infatuated with Drake. She always wants to play with  him, climb on him, watch him, laugh at him, and have everything to do with him. Drake really is a great sport and always wants to know where she is as well. He does not really like her playing with his toys, but then again, he also does not really want her playing with her toys either.
  
• Evie is starting to intimidate what she sees. If Drake is dancing, she will start dancing. If you bang on a table, she will bang on the table. 
• Sleeping is still an area that we continue to work on. Many nights she will sleep from 8:00 to 5:30 or 6:00 but there are also many nights when she wakes up in the middle of the night (just like Drake did). Also just like Drake, we slip her into bed with us and she immediately fall asleep...somehow taking up about half of the bed.
• Evie is generally one of the happiest babies that I have ever seen. We always thought that Drake was so laid back and easy, but Evie has trumped his ways. Now is the time that she is really starting to develop her personality and really is so much fun.