Saturday, July 29, 2006

going, going, gone

This morning Miss Eva took 20 steps. Thankfully, we figured out the other day that she likes the mats on the floor and walks much more when they are out. She is all over the place and getting much more stable!

Communicating

Eva has been talking / signing up a storm lately. This morning, all four of us were in bed just trying to plan out the morning and talking. After we had a bit of a plan in place, I looked at Eva and asked her if she was hungry and wanted to go out and get bagels. She kept signing yes until I finally understood what she was saying - I just didn't expect her to answer me! Then she looked at us and signed diaper chance almost as if to say, wait, we can't eat until you change me. Just fascinating.

Yesterday, at her 12 month appointment, she showed the doctor a nice range of signs. As he was talking to her, she kept signing 'cow' for some reason, which of course, had Mickey cracking up. Not sure if she was calling him a cow or what she was doing, but she clearly wanted to indicate 'cow' every time he talked.

When it was time for him to examine her, she continuously signed 'Daddy'. This was the first doctor's appointment that Todd has missed, so I have to think she wanted him there and was trying to ask where he was. She did the same thing that evening. I put her in bed and she signed 'Daddy' a couple of times as if to ask for him. By the time he got back from Oregon, she was sound asleep.

'More' is another one of her new consistent signs. She'll let you know when she wants more and most of the time, what she wants more of.

We are also noticing just how much she understands. You can tell her to do something and she will very likely do it. We were playing on the floor in her room when I told her to go get her purple ball which was behind her. She turned around, went straight to the ball and brought it to me. Last night in the bathtub, I told her to put the fish in the pelicans mouth and then to shut it. She did both things that I told her and just smiled (probably because I was so excited)!

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

He's back!

What a big week...Mickey came home on Tuesday with Grandma and Grandpa Ward. Eva was so excited to see everyone, especially Mickey. She was even more excited when she woke up the next morning and realized that they were all still at the house! Mickey pulled Eva in her birthday wagon for hours. He strapped her in, wrapped a blanket around her, put a scarf around her neck and pulled her around like a princess. She absolutely loved it.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Eva's current status

With the crash of my PC a few weeks ago, I am a little behind in keeping everyone updated...so here it goes!

Eva is now walking! She has been taking steps as of 7.15, but only when someone holds their hands out and calls her. On Wednesday, she decided to walk across the office (8 steps) to rummage through a bag of stuffed animals. Yesterday, she discovered that she can walk from toy to toy across the great room. I'd say she is now on her feet 50% of the time and crawling the other 50%.

Current words:
Momm(a/y), Daddy, kitty, baby, hi, doggy, bubble, and balloon (no longer bubbloo!). Oh, she can also quack and moo.

Current signs:
duck, milk, fan, light, more, eat, come here, diaper change, dog, kitty, horse, cow, daddy, mommy

She has been signing away lately. It seems like everything is falling into place. Even though she doesn't sign every word that I have been teaching her, she clearly understands them. There have been times that I have signed to her without speaking and she follows the command - fascinating!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Certified Bubblologist

You guessed it. Eva's most recent achievement. She is now a certified bubblologist through Raleigh Parks and Recreation. Tonight we explored the world of bubbles through various bubble stations and activities. She was excited to see all of the bubbles and the balloons, but nothing was as exciting as the parachute. It was a full-sized rainbow colored parachute which they called the big bubble. Eva sat near the edge as we all lifted it up and let it sail back down to the floor. She squealed in excitement and thought that this was just the coolest thing ever. Needless to say, we stayed at this station the longest!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Wilmington Trip

This weekend, we went to Wilmington, NC. We left early Saturday morning and drove during Eva's nap time. Todd obeyed the speed limit the entire way so it was a longer drive than I had remembered! We thought we would be spontaneous and find a nice bed and breakfast once we got there, but they were all full. Ironically, we ended up at the Wilmingtonian again, which was the place where the cleaning crew decided to steal a few of our things! Thankfully, nothing was stolen this time and we had a nice stay.

Eva thought the place was great! She explored the room from waist-high to bottom. I think she loved and appreciated the carpet as well - especially on her knees! There was a fish pond outside with some huge carp that caught her attention too. We had to make sure that we stopped by there every time we left the room.

We decided this time to try the restaurant 'Deluxe'. They had an awesome winelist and what looked like an amazing menu. We decided that Mickey would have loved the decor - it was trendy with some really neat surfboards all over the walls. The food was good, nothing memorable, but the wine was excellent! The funny part about this restaurant was that Eva, despite how tired she was, let us enjoy our meal and wine with no hassle. We had brought dinner for her and fed her before our meal was served. She snacked on some goldfish and played with her cow while we were eating. Toward the end, she kept trying to make herself comfortable to fall asleep at the table. She would put her head to the left, then the right and kept repeating the process. She did this with a smile on her face the entire time - not even one cry :)

Sunday, we decided to head to beach before leaving town. We didn't change into our suits because it was noon and about 95 degrees. We figured we weren't going to stay too long. The beach was extremely crowded, but we managed to find parking on a side street and laid our sheet down in the sand. Eva only tasted it twice before deciding that it wasn't as good as her snack. We put her feet in the ocean and she loved it! She kept trying to sit in the water and when we wouldn't let her do that, she tried to walk in deeper. Clearly we need to make another beach trip soon...one where we actually go in the water!

After the beach, we headed back downtown to grab some lunch. Eva had passed out by this time, so I had to wrap her in my mei tai. Talk about hot - 95 degrees with a sweaty baby strapped to me! We woke her up just before the food arrived and sat her in a high chair. She was in such a great mood. She pointed to a painting of some dogs on the wall and signed 'dog'. Then she pointed to a tapestry of a rocking horse and signed 'horse'. We were pretty amazed as were the people behind us!

To end the trip, we decided to stop for ice cream. I figured that since we never gave Eva ice cream at her birthday, today would be a good day to give her a little. I ordered a strawberry cone and Todd ordered a peach cone. Great ice cream shop - all homemade. Once Eva got a taste of the ice cream, she simply sat with her mouth open waiting for more! She has never done that with anything else, so I'm going to have to say that she liked it!