Pushing boundaries

It's so amazing how much Evangeline has grown since her first birthday.  It's been an exponential growth, leaps and bounds.  This past week has been a challenging week though.  I think it's the first time I really questioned my ability to be a good parent.  I picked EV up on Tuesday after school like any other school day.  They said that she ate well, slept well, played well, and was in good spirits all day.  We got home and played a little before I started getting dinner ready.  Well, it was pretty much downhill after that.  EV just kept on having these hysterical meltdowns.  At first I thought it was because she was really hungry (even after eating two breakfasts, once at home and once at school, three snacks, and a full lunch) but it just continued until she went to bed.  I started off being firm with her and disciplining her but that only made it worse.  Then I tried ignoring her but that made it even worse than when I disciplined her.  I started feeling very frantic, is she sick, did I miss something, is it something I did?  In the end, all I could do was get her fed, washed up, clothed, and in bed (which was not an easy task since she was kicking and screaming most of the time).  After I put her in bed (which made her stop immediately), I sat down to reflect.  It made me realize how on most days, EV is a really easy baby.  It made me grateful for all the times we've had up until that day.  At the same time, I was really worried, is this how EV will behave from now on?  Unfortunately, it continued throughout the week but once I realized that she wasn't sick or in danger and that really she was just pushing her boundaries, it helped me to know how to pray, ask others for guidance, and pray some more.

Today was a good day.  We went to church, came home and had a short morning nap, ate lunch, and went to Barnes and Noble.  EV, you love little chairs.  You spent the whole time getting in and out of the chairs at the store.  You did this for nearly an hour!!  Afterwards, we came home, you took a longer afternoon nap, had dinner, and went down to bed.  You have been trying to figure out how to prolong your bedtime routine for a few weeks now.  Today, you were very funny.  I usually read you your books while you drink your milk.  Usually you drink your milk really fast, so I usually have time to read you 2-3 books.  Well, today, after about 20 mins of reading, I asked you if you were all done with your milk.  You were holding your cup so that I couldn't see the contents inside but I noticed that there was about 1/2 an ounce left.  So, I said we'll read until you finished your milk.  Well, it sounded like you were drinking but the milk wasn't disappearing.  That's when I realized that you were drinking and spitting the milk back in the cup to prolong the time.  So, I said, "EV it's time for bed, all done."  I picked you up, and you quickly finished the rest of your milk, and pointed to the bed (you used to put your head down on my shoulders and let me rock you for a little bit).  But lately, once you're done with your milk and your books, you don't want to cuddle, you just want to sleep.  So, I asked for a hug and a kiss, which you very sweetly gave me, and I put you in your crib.  Well, I am not ready to give up my cuddle time, so I tucked you in and continued to stroke your back.  At that point, you looked up at me, waved bye bye (telling me to leave) and put your head back down.  So, I gave you another kiss and left you to sleep.  You are already more independent than I am ready for you to be.  Oh how will your teenage years be?

Happy Anniversary!!

I cannot believe that I have been married for 6 years!  Time really does fly.  We've definitely have had our ups and our downs but God has really grown me through it all.  I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for all the joys and trials.  So, thank you for 6 wonderful years and I look forward to many many more!  We celebrated last night with dinner and a movie.  It's amazing how something so simple can be such a fun date.  It was nice to be able to have a conversation over dinner and relax watching a movie without worrying about a little toddler.  I feel so blessed to have my parents and my sister close by that they can babysit so that Jimmy and I can have some alone time.  It also reminded me that this is something we need to do more regularly.  Date nights are important we definitely can't take it for granted.  

Today we took EV to the park and played in a water fountain.  She was having sooooo much fun, she did not want to leave.  Here she is embracing the shooting water.

Mother's Day

Being a momma myself, it makes me realize how little I show my love and appreciation to my own momma on most days.  If EV treats me the way I treat my momma sometimes, I would be so hurt and upset.  It also humbles me and makes me want to be more like my momma.  It doesn't matter what I do (or don't do), how I say things (or don't say things), or what I think--my momma has always been there for me.  I hope I can be half as good a momma to EV as my momma was to me and my sister. 

Me and my momma

This mother's day, it also made me realize how great of a husband I have.  How supportive and loving he is and how blessed I am to have him here loving me and EV.   I know that I am not the perfect momma and I know I have quite a bit of growing to do, but it is encouraging to know that I have people around me that love me and are willing to be patient with me as I learn and grow. 
 
Evangeline, for this mother's day, you made me a placemat.  Your teacher was telling me that while other kids were trying to put as many flowers on the mat as possible, you would take your time and make sure each flower was on correctly before you moved on to placing another flower on the mat.  It just shows how at 13 months you are systematic and thorough.  I love how now you will just come grab my neck and give me big hugs, how you will blow kisses at me, and just be more affectionate then you've ever been.  You make being a momma totally worth it!  Thank you for being my beautiful daughter.  I love you more than you'll ever know.  

To the Capitol!

This past weekend we took a long drive up to see granmomma and granpoppa in Maryland.  Evangeline, you were so great on this trip.  So, as I woke up Thursday morning, I had a really bad fever, migraine, and my monthly friend had come to visit.  It felt like the opening to a really bad horror movie.  After being in bed all day, not having packed a single thing, Jimmy came home with EV after a successful Easter egg hunt at school and it was time to eat dinner, bathe, and get the car packed to drive 10 hours.  Oh my...

Well, EV you were great, the moment you got in the car you fell asleep and you slept until we arrived at granmomma's house at 5:30 am.  Poppa, you were great as well!  You drove straight there, made great time, and you seemed very excited to see your parents.  I didn't want to be the party pooper but I was feeling very very sick.  I pulled you out of the car, hoping you would sleep another hour but that was ridiculous of me.  Earlier in the car, I remember noticing green goo in your eyes and when you opened your eyes, they were crusted shut with goo.  I told poppa that we should try to find a pediatric urgent care in case you had conjunctivitis.  So, in the next few hours, we ate breakfast, found a pediatric office, went to the pediatric office (you had an ear infection and pink eye), ordered and picked up your prescriptions, and met with granmomma for lunch.  After lunch, we took a long nap and got ready for dinner with the family. This was a special dinner because you got to see your great granmomma.  You were such a little ham.  You really turned it up a notch after dinner.  You were standing on a chair near the middle of the table and you winked, blew kisses, did your animal sounds/motions, and everything else on demand.  You smiled and laughed and you made everyone at the table melt and fall in love with you.  We crashed that night, we were so tired from the drive and all the family interactions.

The second day was a little more low key.  We took the time to go to the National Zoo.  Oh, how nice is it to go to the zoo for free!  You were pointing to all the animals and making all your sounds and motions.  It was so fun to watch you see all your animals in real life.  After lunch and walking around the zoo for hours, you were so tired, you passed out in the car and slept for nearly 2 hours.

Sunday was Easter and we went to granmomma's church.  It was so sweet.  You sat next to granpoppa and just laid your head on his shoulders.  You just melted their hearts.  After church, we went to poppa's Aunt Laura's house, had dinner, and got ready to make our drive back home.  After a great dinner, we got ready for bed, and got back in the car for our long drive back home.  Again, EV you slept through the whole way, continued to sleep when we got home at 4:30am, and woke up at 6:30am at your usual time.  You've had a completely normal day as if you did not do any traveling all weekend.  I cannot say the same for poppa and myself.  We are tired, I am still sick, but very glad that we got time to spend with family.

April showers bring May flowers

I cannot believe that we are approaching the end of April already!  Wow, I have really neglected this blog, huh?  Okay, so where do we start....

Evangeline, you are now 13 months!  I absolutely cannot believe it, sometimes I feel like your 30 months old.  You can identify most of your body parts now (head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, hands, feet, belly button) and you can do many of the sounds/sign language I made up of the animals we've taught you (lion, seal, cow, fish, bee).  You love being outdoors, riding in the wagon, playing with a ball and a bat, and making new discoveries.  You help with putting lotion on yourself after a bath and you help put things away after you make a mess (although you take it all out after you put it all away).  Your favorite food is cheese.  You can eat cheese anytime, anyplace, all the time.  You clearly tell us what you like, don't like, want, and don't want.  Sleep is still very important to you--you are still taking two naps a day and sleeping close to 12 hours at night.  You are a very happy toddler, you make us smile everyday and we come home looking forward to seeing you.  I miss you when I'm not with you and I wish time would slow down when we are together.  I love you so much little one!!

You also have a very fun sense of humor.  You think it's funny when we cover your face with a shirt or your binkie and you run into things.  You laugh when poppa bear gets hurt (I guess we're going to have to teach you some empathy).  You also get very silly when you're really tired--at that point, you think everything is funny.  You are also very ticklish.

You had your very first Easter egg hunt at school today and you did so well.  You immediately understood the concept and picked up as many eggs as your basket could hold.  Although poppa bear was holding your basket, you knew to hand over your eggs so that he could put it in the basket and so that you could get more.  I promise I will try to be better at updating the blog more regularly.  In the meantime here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

You are so independent, you always want to do everything yourself:

We took a trip to West Palm Beach, Florida before your first birthday and it was so fun to see you discover the sand and the water.  Although it wasn't your first time there, it was definitely a new experience for you:

You love being outdoors:

These are your first school photos.  You obviously do not look very happy.  I asked your teacher if you look like this all the time.  She said no but she did say that you are on most days a serious baby.  Lately, you have been very excited to go to school.  We are grateful.

We put some bunny ears on you for fun and this is the face you gave us--always so expressive.  Love it!!

Milk Snob

Today is Tuesday and it feels like a Thursday.  We had a big conference at work the last two days that I helped organize, which means I was living, breathing, constantly thinking about this meeting.  During times like this, I am learning that I am not the best multi-tasker.  I am so consumed and focused on this meeting, I have no idea what else is going on around me.  I am still learning how to turn off work when I get home so that I can give my full, undivided attention to my family.  I'm definitely a work in progress.

So, this past weekend we started to transition EV to whole milk.  Since I am still planning on nursing her on days that I am home and since I absolutely hate pumping, we decided to give her whole milk with her meals over the weekend.  EV, you have only had breast milk and water your whole life; so unbeknownst to you, you grab your cup, sip from the straw, and make a confused look on your face as you pull the cup away from yourself.  Then I proceed to give you the milk again, and you politely push it away.  So, as stubborn and insistent as I am, I give you the milk again, and again you push it away, this time with a little more force.  So, I offer it again to you.  At this point, you are not having it, you take the cup and throw it on the floor.  Uh oh, momma does not like throwing.  So, now comes Monday and I have this meeting and you will be home with grandma all day.  I thought, okay, lets try giving you half breast milk and half whole milk.  After a long day at work, I come home anxious to know if you drank your milk, and I am told that you drank a total of 2.5 ounces all day.  That's no good.  I am tired and all I want to do is go to sleep.  Papa offers to bathe you and get you ready for bed.  As you are ready for bed and as I am nursing you, I attempt to push all the work thoughts out of my head and start to think about what we can do to get you to transition better to whole milk.  I remember a conversation with someone who said that sometimes it helps to try out different brands.  So, I thought, "okay, maybe EV just doesn't like Trader Joe's whole milk."  So, I ask papa to go buy some whole milk from Publix.  I started thinking what we should do when you go to school the next day.  So, I asked papa to make sure to take Publix milk and pumped milk to school.  After a long day of work today, I anxiously go to school to pick you up and to my surprise you drank all your milk.  EV, for some reason you do a lot of things at school that you normally don't do at home.  For example, you don't eat bananas at home but you eat it at school and you don't drink whole milk at home but you do at school.  At this point, I'm not sure if it was cause of peer pressure, the school environment, or the Publix brand of milk.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow.  That's all to say, you are an opinionated toddler (yes, you are definitely a toddler now).

Happy birthday, Evangeline!!

This time last year, I had been in labor with you for 15 hours and your heart rate was dropping with every contraction.  An hour and 15 mins later, you were born via cesarean section and we were in love.  You were ever more beautiful and precious than I could have ever imagined.

At 12 months, you are walking and understanding so much.  This morning after you had your morning milk, we went downstairs and you were banging on the fridge, the pantry, and then your high chair.  You were trying to tell us you were hungry.  The other day after your dol party, I said to you, if you want me to read you one of your new books, come bring it to me.  You looked at your pile of books, went over and picked one of the new ones, and brought it over.  I never pointed or made any gesture; you just understood.  You were for the longest time a very chill, laid back baby.  Nothing seemed to ever bother you, but in recent days you have become more expressive, you laugh more, whine more, and you are much more attached to us than ever before.  You love to take baths and splash water everywhere.  You love music and making music.  You enjoy being outdoors.  You hate shoes and get very upset when we put them on your feet.  You love love love cheese and you enjoy flavorful foods.

This past Saturday we had your dol and it was a special celebration.  Although there were many things that did not go according to plan, we had family and friends there to celebrate.  For the doljabee, you chose the guitar twice.  You were loved by many and that made it memorable.

Happy birthday, my beautiful daughter.  You are so special and amazing.  We thank God for you everyday.  We love you and look forward to many more blessed days.

In this picture:  You never ate the cake and you were barely playing with it, so I took your hand and smashed it in the cake.  It took awhile but you finally warmed up to playing with it but refused to even take a bite of it.