Resemblance

There's no question that Evan looks a lot like Jason, but I was curious to see how much he looked like me as a child. I dug up an old photo and was surprised to see that Evan looks a lot like me when I was his age. Although it's not a great quality photo, I've posted it for you to see.

More of the little red car

Like I mentioned, the car was Evan's favorite Christmas gift. Until today, he's been taking it on short trips inside the house, climbing in and out, discovering the ignition, the horn, the gas cap, and getting stuck on quite a few occasions (very funny-- we run to grab the camera, then help him get out). This afternoon, we took him out on the golf cart path and let him take his new wheels for a spin.

Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas at home, just the three of us. I cooked dinner for us on Christmas eve, with plenty for leftovers to pick at all day on Christmas. Before bed, Evan was allowed to open one gift, per the tradition. Some good friends of ours stopped by on later that evening to say hello (they live in Alaska and were back visiting family), play some dominos and help us put together Evan's toys. Considering the picture below, I'm amazed there weren't any leftover parts. While everyone else enjoyed a cocktail, I got to open my stocking early to enjoy some virgin peach bubbly. Good, but just not the same.











Christmas morning, Evan woke up at 6am-- it was like he knew! Typically he doesn't get up until 7:30. We had a few unwrapped/Santa presents sitting out for him and when we brought him out to the living room to see, he had a huge grin on his face. He ran right over and started playing with what would be his favorite toy all day long-- the Cozy Coupe car. This was a present from Uncle DJ & Aunt Heather, and by far, it was the gift that trumped all others. Evan also loved his new racetrack and new set of fridge magnets that sings an annoying song for each new letter ("Every letter makes a sound, and B says 'buh'"-- yes, I already know all of the words). He still wasn't too into actually unwrapping gifts this year, but loved playing with all of the new toys. He stayed busy all day long playing with each and every toy-- it was great! It was nice because we opened a few gifts, took a break to have breakfast, and then opened some more. This will be the last year that we're able to do that!



Waffles and whip cream, yum!

Go Colts!

Not surprisingly, Evan just loves Elmo. He was very happy with the giant Elmo he got for Christmas.

Belly pic-- at 23 weeks (almost 6 months). Extreme lower back pain, sore feet and tiredness have all come on recently. And still 17 weeks to go-- yikes!

Christmas was tiring for this basset hound.

New/old traditions

At my dad's house every year, my step-mom and sisters decorate Christmas sugar cookies with different colored icing. During the years that I visited them for Christmas, I always had so much fun doing this, so I thought it would be neat to start the tradition with Evan. While he didn't really "decorate" a cookie, he did have fun licking icing off a spoon and eating the cookies. I'm not sure all the sugar was such a great idea, but it can't hurt every once in while, right? Oh yeah, I roped Jason into the activity too. His decorating skills were... interesting.

My latest project...

I've been on a hunt lately to find Evan a set of table and chairs. I found one this past week at a kid's consignment shop. It needed a new coat of paint and new chair cushion covers, but at $20, it was a great deal. I fixed it up yesterday and Evan tried it out today. He loves it!

Pre-Christmas fun

Lots of pre-Christmas fun to be had around our house.

Bullit and dog-friend Belle enjoy some presents (yes, they were meant for the dogs).








Evan's favorite new activity: sticking Christmas bows on his forehead.












Awww.... brothers!












Our own little drummer boy (this picture is for Nancy). The drum, by the way, was from some of our close friends. Thanks, guys.

Winter training

This past week, Jason took Evan out on his first winter night run. We bundled Evan up (two layers of everything!), Jason wore his headlamp and off they went! Evan seemed to enjoy all of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

Surprise!

Last weekend, I took a surprise trip to Indiana for my Dad's 50th birthday. My step-sister, Amanda, and I planned the trip to surprise both my dad and step-mom, Marilynn. We planned it in conjunction with a surprise party that they had planned for him that weekend. His actual birthday isn't until Christmas day (yeah, lucky him), so the plan was to have the party earlier so he wouldn't suspect anything. Not only did he not suspect a party, but he was stunned to see me there! The reactions were great. Coincidentally, the weekend turned out to be the biggest snowfall they've had all season. Thankfully, it didn't interfere with any of my travel plans.

Oh, Christmas tree!

We purchased our tree on Dec. 2, started putting lights on it on Dec. 5, finished lights and put up ornaments on Dec. 10. It's been tough trying to get things accomplished on time this year!

Anyway, here's the final product (pictures taken with our new camera!). Surprisingly, Evan has not bothered anything on the tree. When he first saw the lights, he was mesmerized, tried to touch a couple and then left it alone. When he saw the ornaments, he went up and touched one and has left it alone ever since. Whew!

Family photo outtakes

In an attempt to capture the perfect photo for our Christmas card this year, we had several goofy shots. I thought I'd share some with you.

Early Christmas

Since we're spending Christmas at home this year, Jason's parents came to visit this past weekend for an early Christmas celebration. The weather was beautiful and Evan was a charmer and a performer all weekend long. I've never seen him with so much energy! We discovered his love for music when we went into a music store and he entertained us all by playing the keyboard and singing along. It was so cute! He is such a character these days, and is learning so much. He's now 18 months and it's so hard to believe that just a year and a half ago, he was a squinty-eyed little newborn. And it's even harder to believe that in just 4 and a half months, there'll be another little newborn in the house!

More on the swingset

Some more great pics of Evan on his swingset and with Bullit, taken by G&G Terreri who visited this past weekend.

Swingset!

After multiple illnesses (both Evan's and mine), I have finally finished putting his swingset together! With only a few minor casualties-- a smashed finger (not serious), a splinter (the swingset isn't even wood!) and some sore muscles-- I consider this a success! Ok, so I put two of the components together in the wrong direction, had to completely disassemble them and then reassemble them, but I blame that on the directions-- or lack thereof.

Evan already loves it! He used the slide all by himself and when I put him on the swing, he held on tight to the chains and picked his feet up-- a natural! He really liked the swing. I thought I would have to buy a kiddie bucket, but he seems to do just fine on the regular swings. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa Terreri!! (this swingset was Evan's first birthday present)