Bobby's Sunday Summary

This was quite the week. I have had the entire week off from work. If you have been reading the blog then you have already seen some nice pictures of our Christmas. It was a very relaxing Christmas, and it was nice to see Alice have a good time as well. I thought I should follow up on the previous post I made with the big green ball and show Alice’s reaction to it.

[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/ChristmasBall.flv[/flv]

On Thursday we went to the temple. It was a really nice to get out of the house but as we just passed the halfway point Susan asked me something about Alice’s lunch and I realized that I had left all of our lunches in the fridge. We were able to find a grocery store fairly close to the temple so while I was in doing a session Susan took Alice and bought us a lunch. Then Susan got a turn to go through.

On Saturday we took Alice to the library. The library here in Urbana has a really nice children’s section with all kinds of games and toys. One part is kind of like a mini amphitheater but all carpeted. There Susan got the idea to teach Alice to climb stairs, we don’t have any stairs in our house. It did not take very long for her to have climbed up six small steps all they way to the top row.

That night we went to a progressive dinner at the church, although it was more of a potluck lottery then a progressive dinner. We were put together with three other couples and each of us brought part of dinner. It was supposed to be a get to know new people type of thing, but we ended up at the same table as Bill, my brother and Kristin his wife. It was still a lot of fun.

Christmas Photos

This was an amazing Christmas! My favorite so far. Even if the kidlet cared nothing for the holiday itself, she certainly enjoyed time with the family---her cousin Will in particular.

Christmas Eve, Bobby's brother's family (Bill, Kristin, and Will) joined us for dinner and a little impromptu "program" of sorts. They've posted some pictures of the evening on their blog. Alice followed Will around all night. She wanted to play with whatever he was touching at the moment. She laughed at all his funny noises, she rammed into him with big squealy hugs, and she just couldn't stop pestering that poor child. Will handled her affection expertly and gently. When Alice would catch up to him, he'd screw up his face a little, then slip away quietly. He even shared his toys half the time. Sweet boy. I managed to get the two of them to pause for this photo.

Christmas morning was sweet and perfect. There's nothing like sharing that time with a kidlet, even if the kidlet doesn't care what day it is. She loved the orange in the toe of her stocking (an Evans family tradition). She also enjoyed much wrapping paper and crinkling bags of various treats Bobby and I had given each other. We have since switched out all of her old toys with the new ones she received for Christmas. Alice hasn't had much time to play with her new toys, though, since Bobby and I love them so much. Little People play sets are the coolest!

The frog toy was a gift from her Grandma and Grandpa Evans and the red coat was a gift from Grandma Poulson.

Merry Christmas

What a day! It couldn't have been more sweet. Pictures will come later. Right now, I just wanted to share how happy I feel. I'm beaming it at you right now. Nnngggh. Did you get it?

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Seeing how we wrote almost every day this week in the blog this will probably not add too much that is new. As you all saw Alice is mobile. A two hands one leg crawl is her preferred mode of transport when she is by herself. Although even as I write this she just crawled out of the room with an almost normal crawl, so we will have to see how she changes over time. She is very happy to walk, either holding on to one of our fingers, or if she sees something she really likes or if Mom or Dad are next to it she will walk there on her own. When playing with other kids she seems to forget herself and walk a lot more.

The rest of the week has mostly been work, which at least for me is not really something that needs writing about. Tuesday night we went out to a movie and got a baby sitter. It was a lot of fun to have just me and Susan to be by ourselves for a change. “The Golden Compass” was probably not the best pick. We both thought that the plot was incredibly weak, and that there was way too much violence. Even though all of it was CG violence it did not make it any better because on the upside the CG was very good.

Friday night we had friends over for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We had some adult conversations, and played some board games. I think this in part is what inspired Susan to write her, “Alice needs an older sibling“ post. Our friends have two little girls one is about two and the other is about five. They both really like to play with Alice and she loves to play with them too.

We also started to realize yesterday that I am going to have a whole week off for Christmas, and the only things we could come up with to do over the break was to watch movies and take Alice to different places to play. So in an effort to improve our vacation I really would love any ideas any of you have for things to do over the break either with Alice or things we can do after she has gone to bed. Suggestions for good movies both recent and old are also appreciated. Just add them to the comments link below.

Alice Walking Movies

Here are the movies we promised. The first one is Alice crawling. The second one was taken the day after the first one.

[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/AliceCrawls.flv[/flv]

[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/AliceWalks.flv[/flv]

Wanted: Older Sibling

Position available immediately. No experience necessary. Both genders encouraged to apply. Must be slow enough for a wobbly walker/crawler to pursue, overtake, and maul ad nauseum. Must make noise when approached, the more the better. Must sit firmly for frequent mountain climbing adventures. Long, pullable hair is preferred, but loose-fitting wardrobe will also be accepted. Extra consideration will be given to applicants who sing, dance, giggle, and perform other amazing feats. Will pay in Cheerios. Please send video resume ASAP. You know you want to work for me. Look what I can do!

It's official: She's MOBILE!

I finally got a video of the babe crawling and then she decides THE NEXT DAY to start walking. Eeek! She walks across the living room to throw herself into her Daddy's arms or play with her toy shelf. I thought I would cry the first time I saw her walk. I always cry when I see my friends' babies walking for the first time. There's just something about that wobbly vulnerability and the look on the kid's face that makes it one of the most amazing moments to witness...in someone else's child. With Alice, I was excited for her and happy that she could do this on her own, but I felt no warm and fuzzy "milestone" feelings. In some ways I was scared for her. Or for me? It's hard to tell. The moment I first saw her crawl, I had to call up Bobby and my mom and let them know this amazing news. Now that she's walking, I'm actually nervous and a little tense. There are mixed feelings. When a kid is on all fours, they don't trip and smack their head into pointy furniture or stone walls. They don't lose their balance and end up going FASTER because of it. Or backwards. So, perhaps I'm having trouble being excited about all the painful learning she has yet to do.

Drums good, drumstick better

I finally figured out how to reformat our movies so they play well on the blog. I even managed to remember some of my Intro to Unix course as an undergrad (it was a Pass/Fail course and I managed to fail it). Bobby's just happy he finally got me to use Terminal. Woo! So here's a movie of Alice rocking on her new drum set...

[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/BowlDrumscaled.flv[/flv]

...though she often finds the drumstick more exciting.

[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/LickSpoonscaled.flv[/flv]

Yahoo! Holiday Party

So, Bobby and I attended our first work-related holiday party ever last weekend. Bobby described bits of it in his Sunday Summary. I thought it was pretty fun even though I'm terrible at small talk and not any good at mingling with strangers. We got there for the pre-dinner reception and I instantly moved into "social hermit" mode (i.e. avoid eye contact, pretend no one else is there).

Speaking of which, did I ever tell you what the Christian Science personality test said about me when Erin and I stopped by their little shop in LA? Socially backward. Ha! Okay, maybe not too far from the truth.

Anyway, we ended up running into some friends from church there. When we learned that there was no room at their table, I accepted the idea that we would have to socialize with new people and decided to be "okay" with that. We found a table with only one person at it...I think Bobby was trying to break me into this mingling thing slowly...and we sat down. Then we immediately stood up again to get appetizers and drinks. Again, I had to consciously pretend that I was used to walking up to a bartender and asking for water. Ha! I did it, though. I survived the chit chat and actually started to warm up to the people at our table when someone announced that we would now be moving to the banquet hall for dinner. D'oh! We filed out of the reception hall into a fancy-pants dining hall. This time, however, our church buddies did have room at their table for us. I felt a little conflicted. I was just getting used to the idea that I might be able to have fun getting to know new people, but there was also a big part of me that wanted to socialize with these wonderful people I already knew. Argh!

We decided to sit with our friends and I had a delightful time the rest of the evening. We talked about all sorts of things. One of the people at our table was the photographer for the evening, too, and he took this picture.

At the end of the meal, I couldn't believe I had just spent an hour and a half eating and socializing. Whoa! Yes, the dance floor was a little disappointing, but Bobby and I had a slow dance in our living room before going to bed that night. I had such a great day that I told Bobby it would count as our anniversary this year. He was okay with that.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

The first part of his week started out like just about any other. Nothing special happened at work and Susan and Alice seemed to be having a good time at home. Alice has been perfecting some of her walking skills and is now quite comfortable walking with just one finger. We are fairly sure she could walk on her own if she just had the confidence to do it.

Saturday was a very busy day. It started out with a little bit of snow. The weather report had been saying that it would snow all day and all night. It had only dropped a little bit of snow so far so I went Christmas shopping in the morning. I would tell you about the wonderful gifts that I found for Susan, but she reads this too so I cannot. But I did find something that I think Alice will love. Alice really likes to use her pincher grasp. She loves to run her fingers through hair or grab small tassels. I found her this.

But about 6 inches in diameter.

Also Saturday morning Alice was acting very clingy. When I got back from shopping we took her temperature and she had a slight fever. She has been sick with a lot of coughing and sneezing. In fact I am home from church right now writing this while Alice is taking a nap. Poor little thing.

Saturday evening was the Yahoo holiday party. We dropped Alice off at the baby sitter and went. It was a lot of fun. They had appetizers, dinner, and dancing. We stayed for dinner but it was still snowing fairly hard so we went to go dancing right after dinner and no one was on the dance floor. You know us we are rather reserved people so we decided to skip the dancing there and come home. When we got home we put Alice in her crib and had a little dance ourselves. Then went to bed because it was past our bedtime.

Christmas Preparations Underway

We're getting our first good snowstorm today with lots of classic Illinois wind. Bobby is braving the weather and the retail stores as he finishes a little Christmas shopping for us. Good luck, man.

Last night, I was driving through the curvy streets of one of the subdivisions in Savoy. I was gawking at the elaborate holiday lighting displays, when I suddenly came upon a stunning (almost horrifying) brilliance of light, color, and motion. I was so disoriented, I almost drove up on the curb. Right where I almost biffed it, there was a smashed up mailbox. Apparently I'm not the only one who became disoriented with the holiday spirit.

We have yet to decorate our tree, but it's easy to spread holiday cheer when Alice responds so gleefully to a "blowfish" (Bobby calls them "raspberries").

Last Fun Pics for a While

OK, I know you have probably had enough of my meddling with family pictures, but I found one new tool that I wanted to play around with.[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/MosaicTransitions.flv[/flv]

I know it is very difficult to see all of the details so I have included a copy of the last mosaic image below. If you want a copy of the picture or a better look at it just click on it to get the picture.

Alice Meets Santa

Alice had her first close encounter with Santa last weekend at our ward's Christmas party. She didn't seem to mind him much. She was more interested in the horde of small children waiting in line after her and that fascinating gym floor (see photo). She spent most of the evening finger-running all over the gym, chasing little kids, and squealing with delight at the sheer amount of space to run in.

Alice scored serious cool points for her Heavy Metal Shop onesie and purple paisley leg warmers that night. Thanks to her Aunt and Uncle Bennett and Aunt Erin, respectively, for those gifts. By the way, those leg warmers have been a life saver! Alice is learning to be mobile right now and it's just too frustrating to work around pants or a skirt. It's too cold for shorts, so I dress her these days in a long-sleeved onesie and a stylin' pair of leg warmers. She gets around just fine and stays warm at the same time. Yay!

Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has been a long one, at least for me. I spent most of the week in California. It is kind of interesting at work right now. We are finishing up some projects that we have been working on since I was hired. However, we don’t totally know what we are going to be working on next, and the man who is going to decide will be on vacation for the next three weeks.

Susan did not suffer too much while I was gone. She had a good time with Alice, who has been learning all kinds of new tricks. Slowly, very slowly, she is improving her locomotion. While I was gone, Susan was on the computer and Alice was playing on the floor. Susan looked away for what seemed like just a moment and then she heard Alice make a happy squeal. When Susan looked up again Alice was standing alone, holding on to the bookshelf about 5 feet away from where she had been playing. We have also seen her back up so she is on all fours, like she is trying to stand up, and then she will fall. Sorry no pictures of it right now.

Our Brangelina Baby?

A coworker of mine said Alice reminds her of Shiloh, the offspring of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Ha! Judge for yourself, but Bobby and I think Alice is much cuter than any of them.

More Fun Family Pictures

My mother (Loretta) mentioned that Alice would probably not be too happy about the funny pictures of her when she gets older so I decided to give everyone in the family equal treatment. I am happy to "improve" your family pictures as well.

[flv width="400" height="300"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/My_Family.flv[/flv]

[flv width="400" height="532"]http://evansfamily.powweb.com/movies/2007/Big_Eyes.flv[/flv]

New Games!

Okay, so I was doing a little research on how to play with a 9-month-old baby. I didn't realize it was as easy as watching what they like to do and giving them more opportunities to do it. Duh. So, instead of rolling my eyes and thinking of my aching back when Alice grabs my fingers for a walk, I think of it as a game and a learning opportunity. I talk to her about the rooms we're visiting and we explore all the crazy things that catch her eye.

She likes to bang sticks on things, too, especially if it makes lots of noise. So now Alice has a drum set in the living room (bowls and spoons). It didn't take her long to catch on to THAT game. I took a little video, but I'm not sure how to convert it into Flash to post here. That will have to wait for Bobby to return from California.

Alice is also an expert at taking things out of boxes and baskets--toys, laundry, recycling--anything put in its "proper" place is attractive to her. She'll shove both hands in and huck whatever she grabs to the side. So, now I put away Alice's toys more often during the day just so she can pull them all out again.

I introduced Alice to the spinning chair in our living room. She's learned that when I ask "More spin?" she should clutch my chest and lay her head down. She's even started making little "wheeeeeee" sounds with me. This kid cracks me up.

Finally, Alice is a little mountain climber. She's not brave enough to climb furniture, but she'll grab a hold of my shirt or pants and pull herself up into a standing position. Now we have a game where I lie or sit on the floor next to her with my limbs in different arrangements. She finds a way to stand up every time, and I think she actually takes pride in it!

Today, with all these entertainments, there was no frustration or screaming. It doesn't hurt that I also started paying attention to her in a different way. She needs me in different ways than she used to. I need to look for Alice's own new and different ways of communicating.

Mommy Milestone

This week, Alice's needs and desires have suddenly matured beyond her capability to communicate them effectively. In other words, I can't always tell what she wants anymore. That has led to quite a lot of frustration on both sides. Perhaps I should count myself lucky that this didn't happen until 8.5 months of age. All her worries and fussing used to be managed with food, snuggling, a diaper change, or putting a toy within reach. That only works about half the time these days. It's a struggle to figure out what she wants the other half of the time...which makes me think she might not know, either. This is a new frontier for me. I know I can and will eventually find a way through it, but nothing comes to mind right now...

She's also realizing her independence and dependence at the same time, which is confusing for everyone. She wants to move around and discover the house, but (so far) she must use Bobby or me to get there through finger walking or carrying.

This is the first time since Alice's arrival that I'm starting to doubt my ability as a parent. Of course, now that I've put that feeling in words it seems silly. I know I can handle this...I'm just out of ideas right now.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has been a busy one, or at least it felt like a busy one. The beginning of the week was fairly normal. I am finishing up a project at work so it was actually a little bit more laid back then normal. On Thursday Susan went to her conference. Got up at 4:45 to drop her off at her rides house. I tried to work from home that day, and I did get some things accomplished, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. I guess a lot of the time that Alice is playing on the floor in the middle of the day Susan will play with her. She was not too happy to sit on the floor and not have someone play with her. I gave up about half way through and spent most of my time concentrated on Alice.

On Friday I finally got the computer that I had requested when I was hired at Yahoo!. It is one of the MacBooks and we got some lovely pictures of Alice with the built in camera.

Local Food Conference

I went to the TriState Fresh/Local Sustainable Conference on Thursday. Wow! I've never been so excited to start my own organic farm before! There's a lot of excitement on the supply end to bring locally-grown products to the public, but there are also a number of significant barriers. This whole "localvore" revolution feels like we're using a 30 "mouse-power "engine to drive a trailer cross country. There's just SO MUCH to do to make this mainstream!

The good news is, local food is a hot topic in the media. Have you heard of the 100 Mile Diet? We got to hear from Alisa Smith and JB Mackinnon, co-authors of "Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally" (check out their blog at 100milediet.org). This couple decided to eat only "local" food (i.e. anything produced within 100 miles of their home) for a year. They grew some of their own, but what an adventure! What a treat! One author said they've heard a lot of crazy foodsystem stories since publishing their experiences. For example, a carrot farmer in northern Ontario said he could never find his own carrots in any of the grocery stores around his home. All the carrots he could buy came from South Carolina. One summer, he was traveling in South Carolina and he went to the grocery store for carrots. He was amazed to find his own carrots! Not one carrot in that store had been grown in South Carolina. That story brings to mind two semi trailers passing each other in the night, each carrying fresh, refrigerated carrots to a far distant place. Some parts of this system can be improved, I think.

You'll have to ask Bobby how his day went with Alice :)

Hypnosuit

Alice and I had to walk to a friend's house yesterday through the bitter cold wind that so lovingly graces our midwestern landscape every winter. To prepare Alice for the bone-chilling onslaught, I wrestled her into a little pink snowsuit. Little did I know that the suit had magical powers. In seconds, my squealy, wiggly, flailing and writhing infant was transformed into a docile lump of babyness. She stared off into the distance, content to wait in the stroller while I finished gathering my things. Once we arrived at our friend's house and removed the suit, Alice was her wiggly and squealy self again. The same transformation took place when we traveled home. What happened?! Is it the swaddling phenomenon?