Daycare

As of late February, I've found daycare for Evan. I started by looking at the centers but was dissuaded by waiting lists a year long - for those places that even take children under two. Then I tried family day care, where licensed caregivers operate daycare in their homes for a maximum of 5 or 6 kids. Well, the first place was a disaster, with lots of yelling, a limited area for kids, and a wide range of ages. While I interviewed the caregiver, a 5 year old kid came running through the house and knocked Evan flat. Not that Evan really minded (he's experienced at getting knocked down by the dog), but it was clearly not the right place. The second place I tried, which I learned of through an internet group for West LA parents, was much better. The caregiver has her entire house (save for her bedroom) dedicated to child care and she focuses on only younger children. After a test run, it was clear that Evan would fit right in, and I signed him up for M-W-F mornings. Here is a picture of Evan with his friend John:


The current daycare schedule works well since Evan naps from 12-3. This gives me basically 7 hours to work M-W-F and 3 on Tu and Th. That is more than enough time for me to complete the 16 weekly hours I am committed to.

Opa!

No, we're not about to drink a shot of Ouzo. Opa means Grandpa in German and my very German dad came to visit in late February to meet his grandson. As with the previous post, this post is being written from memory in an attempt to keep coninuity with the blog, which has been ignored for a few months. Evan and Opa got on famously. Here's a picture of them with Evan modeling an outfit I bought in Vietnam:

Evan and Lani

Here's a picture of Evan and Lani. Lani is finally, grudgingly, accepting the existence of Evan in the house. Generally, Lani will still get up and walk away when Evan approaches but Lani is conflicted as she also sees Evan as a source of dropped food.

Grandma and Auntie

Ok, I admit, I'm writing this post 2 months after it happened but I'm trying to get back into this blog and need to catch you up. My mom (Grandma) and sister (Auntie) visited at the same time and were here to celebrate Evan's birthday. Mom stayed a bit longer and was here to join the Luau.

Of course, they were smitten with Evan.

Here's a picture of my sister and Evan enjoying some man-made snow at a park in West Hollywood:


We also went to the beach for the first time. Evan LOVED playing with the sand, and he only tasted it once. Here he is with Grandma:


By the way, Evan adjusted just fine to whole milk. Did about a 2-week transition, phasing out the formula and all is well. What an easy kid!

Birthday and Stairs

Evan celebrated his first birthday on February 7th and had a big Luau (40 guests) last Saturday. Here's a picture of me helping Evan blow out the candles:


Here's a cake-eating picture from the Luau:


Evan got a pile of gifts despite strict instructions to the contrary, and many remain unopened (mainly because I want him to pace himself). Evan got to interact with some kids, who attended, and he really played well with Alexander, a boy one month younger. Looks like there are some play dates in the future. Evan also got to meet a 5 year-old who was also born in Vietnam.

Last night, at a friend's, Evan had a great time clomping around the wooden floor in his somewhat oversized sneakers. This was the first time he walked in hard soled shoes and I thought he would trip but he did not. In fact, he was wobbly in his soft soled shoes this morning. Anyway, he amazed me climbing up and especially down the stairs. He walked all the way down the stairs carefully holding the rail and taking one step at a time. I have no idea where Evan would have learned to walk down stairs. He seems to be skipping the whole stage of going down backwards.

Is it fair to feed a child poi?

Most adults retch at the throught of eating poi (Hawaiian taro - tastes like glue), but Evan loves it. It'll be interesting to see what he thinks of it when he gets older. Other favorite foods are cream of wheat cereal, saltines, goldfish crackers, and bread porridge (recipe from the Guatamalan maid). Soon will be the big adventure of seeing how Evan does with cow's milk...he's already OK with cottage cheese and yogurt.