Travelin' baby

There is a good reason why you haven't seen any new pictures in a while-- we've been traveling! Jason and I always said that any child born into our family would have to learn to love road trips, and Evan is definitely learning! The first three pictures are from our trip to Hilton Head where we showed Evan the ocean. A week later, we traveled down to Melbourne, FL to attend Jason's alumni weekend and visit friends. As you can see below, Evan enjoyed his first boat ride. He didn't get to wakeboard with the rest of us-- he was too busy sleeping from the motion of the boat. Other pictures show his first bath in a sink (thanks for letting us stay Chris & Misty!) and his first time in a high chair.

Evan is growing and changing at an incredible rate! His personality is really coming out. He smiles all the time-- at me, at Jason, at strangers in the grocery store. He has big belly laughs and has learned that he can squeal and that it's a fun noise to make. He's just starting to roll over, but not too often (thank goodness!). And of course, he continues to grow longer and gain weight. At his 4 month appt., he weighed in at 17.7 lbs. and measured 27 3/4 in. He is in the 90% for weight and off the charts for height. He is such a good baby, and Jason and I are having so much fun with him. I am, however, starting to realize that he's growing up too fast... can't he stay this little and cute forever?

Happy October... Evan is 4 months!

Evan turns 4 months old this Thursday... I can hardly believe it! He is growing and changing so quickly-- it's so exciting! Here are a few pictures to show off Evan's 4 month old personality.

Evan eats "real" food!

Big milestone-- we fed Evan rice cereal for the first time yesterday! Up until now, he's been exclusively nursing. We're going to start introducing solids at least once a day-- mommy will finally get a break, yay! Here are some pics showing the play-by-play of the big event. Not sure that he loved it, but he did eat a good amount!

football season...

Evan's learning to spend quality time with his father...

a "healthy" baby!

When out and about, I frequently am asked how old Evan is. When I tell people 3.5 months, they are shocked and say "Wow, that's a healthy baby!" At 17.4 lbs and 26 1/4 inches, no doubt Evan is growing quickly!! He is in the 95th percentile for height and weight, so he is proportioned... just big! Here are some new pics... the last two of which are Evan sitting in his Bumbo seat.

Goodbye Dear Brown Hound

We are so sad to have to tell you that yesterday afternoon, our beloved basset hound Brownie, died. Brownie had been sick for nearly six weeks and after a very poor prognosis from the vet, we made the unimaginably difficult decision to put Brownie to sleep. What made Brownie so sick is still a mystery. The vet did determine that he had a parasite (which we cleared up), but he also had what we think may have been a spinal disease, causing him difficulty to walk, go to the bathroom, severe weight loss and extreme pain. Brownie was 3 1/2 years old.

We adopted Brownie about two and a half years ago while we were living in Virginia. We wanted a playmate for Bullit and happened to find an almost identical match from a local basset hound rescue organization. From the moment we met him, Brownie was a ball of energy. When we took Bullit to meet him, the two chased each other and barked like they had been friends forever.

Brownie had a really sweet disposition. We called him our needy dog because he always wanted to be as close as possible to us when we were on the couch or in the bed. We joked that he would have climbed on our head if he could have! Brownie had a very distinct personality. He was quick, agile and crafty. Of our two bassets, Brownie was the only one able to jump onto our bed and surf the edges of our kitchen counters. On more than one occasion, we came home to find the trash knocked over and its contents pillaged. One time in particular, we had just cleaned out the leftovers from our fridge... Brownie looked like he had eaten Thanksgiving dinner! Brownie had his fair share of shoes, underwear, chicken breasts, tissues and other household delicacies. We are still apologizing to some friends of ours who watched Brownie for the weekend-- he ate a pair of wedding shoes and some expensive make-up. Brownie was also known for his sneakiness. When Bullit was chewing on a bone that Brownie wanted, he would create a distraction, such as barking at the front door, Bullit would abandon his bone and Brownie would swoop in for the retrieval. Bullit didn't even know what hit him. We always said that Brownie had the brains in that relationship!

We all will miss Brownie dearly. Bullit has lost a great friend, accomplice and playmate. Jason and I have lost a loving companion and sweet little hound dog who would have been great with Evan. We know that Brownie is in a far better place now-- he's fat and happy, and his tail is finally wagging again.

Evan's first trip to Hilton Head

Evan took his first trip to Hilton Head this past weekend. As you can see from the pics, he really enjoyed the pool! We bought him a pint-sized floatie and he loved it so much he fell asleep in it! The Terreri grandparents were delighted to see him... and we were delighted that they gave us a baby-free night out!

out of the picture...

I've come to realize how few pictures there are of Evan with his mommy (I'm usually the one behind the lens!). So when Uncle Shane sent a few pics of us together, I thought I'd post them! A couple of these are a few weeks old, but the other two are from last week.

Baby faces

Evan is developing quite a personality. He is smiling all the time, cooing and even laughing a little. While his temperament is mostly good, he tends to be a little impatient (can't imagine where he gets that from!). It's amazing to see the changes in him. I snapped a few of these pics during Evan's favorite time-- hanging out on his changing table. He'll lay on that table for the longest time, just smiling, staring at the ceiling and generally having a good time. He slept in his crib in his room for the first time earlier this week and all went well. It's a good thing for all of us! This coming Monday, Evan will be 11 weeks--where does the time go? Jason and I continue to be in awe of our sweet little boy.

Aunt Kim & Uncle Shane's visit

Despite what Shane might say, Evan was very excited to see his Aunt Kim this past weekend. She and Uncle Shane came down from NYC for a visit. It rained most of the weekend, but we had a nice, very low key time. And, Evan slept the longest yet at night-- a full 6 hours before waking for a feeding on Sunday night! Let's hope this keeps up!

Grandparents... third and final round!

Evan finally met his Grandpa Mark and Grandma Marilynn this past week. He also met his aunts Alex and Amanda, uncle Clint and his cousin Ethan! Everybody had a great time... despite a few minor issues. During the week our dog Brownie sprained his tail (how a dog sprains his tail, I'll never know!), Evan got his vaccinations (5 shots!), and I have had a mystery stomach bug nearly all week. Thankfully, we had several helping hands at the house! Marilynn and Amanda seemed to have the magic touch to soothe Evan when he was fussy. My dad and Clint were a huge help in cleaning up our yard. And Alex was really helpful in entertaining a crawling one-year-old, who just took his first steps this past week!

Here are some pics from the week!