Learning So Much

Oh, how our Evalie is growing and learning! At *almost* one year old, she is walking and "talking" and doing so much. Some fun things she has learned recently:

1. How to shake her head "no." I don't think she knows what it means, but she does it all the time. And then she smiles like she has done something grand.

2. How to open and close her fists. I really wish this was sign language for her, but I it's not. She is fascinated when she does it, though. She stares at her hands with her eyes really wide.

3. Filling and emptying containers. Evalie loves to put leaves, puzzle pieces, small toys, anything really, into containers. Then she empties the container and repeats.
Evie is especially fond of these pods that grow on our tree out back. They fall to the ground, and there are a ton on the ground right now. She collects them like they are going to all blow away. It takes us a very long time to walk down the sidewalk because she has to stop and pick up everyone she sees. She is a collector, that's for sure!

Those are just a few things that I can think of right now. Our little noodle is quickly becoming a big noodle. It is such a joy to watch her learn and grow!

Birthday Party

The Big Birthday Bash went off without a hitch. We all had a great time with our family and friends. I will update with pictures as soon as I get them. Speaking of which...if you were at the party and have pictures, I would love you forever if you would send some to me!!!

What Evalie Is "Saying"

As Evalie has gotten older, it has been amazing to watch her learn and develop. One area that I find fascinating is her language. It has changed twice in the past few months. I'll tell you what I mean:

At first Evalie was "saying" singsongy types of "words" like
Ahhhhh
Aaaaaah
Ohhhhh
Oooooh
and mostly just vowel sounds.

A couple of months ago, she broke out with the consonants
Mamamamama (my favorite!!!!)
Papapapapapap
Bababababab
Pupupupupu
but no dadadadada much to Daddy's dismay.

Well, Saturday her language changed again. In one day she added a few more consonants
sh
gaga
and putting them together
shuga

Of course none of these are actual words, although Evalie thinks she is saying something very important!

On Saturday, Alex and I were discussing this second language change. Evalie felt the need to be a part of the conversation and began adding her two cents worth. She said a "word" that sounded like it could have been dada.

Alex got very excited and said, "Evalie, you said Dada! Did you say Dada?"

Evalie looked over her shoulder at Alex, and very audibly said,

"No!"

Shhhhh!~

The baby is sleeping! (I just took this with the webcam!)

VBS Pictures

We had such a great time at our Vacation Bible School a couple of weeks ago. And despite our camera disaster we have VBS pictures! Thanks to a wonderful lady at church who took hundreds of pictures and, at the end of the week, handed me a disc of pics of our family!

The VBS was Cosmic City, and had an outerspace theme, complete with aliens!

Addy and Evie, and all the kids, had a "blast" at Cosmic City!

Evie's Daddy played a slightly nerdy professor who invented a robot and did crazy experiments that did wacky things to his hair.

Evie had to try on his safety goggles! It might be just me, but she looks sooooo much like her daddy in this picture!
I got to lead music! Teaching the kiddos the songs is so much fun. Evalie spent a lot of time with a fabulous teen from our church. She also spent some time in the mei tai on my back! It was a trying week as we have our VBS in the evenings and get home VERY late, but Evalie was a trooper.
We were experimenting with her hair that week as well! Her first pony tail!

And her first pig-tails! The cutest!

Our Week Off-line

I fully intended to post last week, but we decided to take a break from the internet. And the TV!

It was quite refreshing to just enjoy our family and relax, not to mention get the house clean! We are back on-line now, and obsessing over the Olympics and Michael Phelps' gold metals! Go USA!