Fire Truck

Ok, one last thing from the weekend. I took Evan to a safety kids day at the park, where they had a fire truck to see. When Evan saw it, all he could say was wowwww...... wowwwww...... wowwww. In fact, he was so excited he got weak in the knees an had to sit down. It must be nice to be able to get so excited about something so simple. Here's a picture of us:

More Weekend Events

Another interesting thing thing happened this weekend. Evan loves to play in the pantry, stacking cans, dropping things on the floor, and using his teeth as a can opener. On Saturday morning, as I was working in the kitchen, Evan pulled out a selection of things form the pantry and arranged them on the floor. He looked so cute sitting among them that I took a picture. Only later, when looking at the picture, did I realize that there was something more going on:

Do you remember the scene in Superman where boy Superman uses his toys to build a model of the universe or something, much to the shock of his adoptive parents? Maybe there was not a scene like that but there should have been.

Anyway, I later realized that Evan had laid out the cans carefully on various flat packets of seasoning mix or whatever, with the stacked items aligned nicely and organized by type. I'm sure it is insignificant, but I think it means Evan is capable of a very high level of thinking for his age. On the other hand, he may just be growing up to be as anal retentive as me.

Self Awareness

On Friday, during dinner, I pointed out to Evan that his fork had his name printed on it and that it was his. Evan sat and stared at his fork for a while, deep in thought. For a few weeks, he had already exhibited great interest in the "Evan" that is over his bed in big wooden letters.

On Saturday, Evan looked at his fork, pointed to his name, and said his name. Sounds more like "Ow-wa" than Evan but it was clearly what he meant. I guess it took 24 hours to process but now Evan has proved that he knows he has a name that uniquely identifies him, he knows his name can be represented in a permanent way, he knows how to say his name, and he knows that things can belong to him. That seems like a big step to me.

Learning Language

As you can see on the left side of the page, Evan is learning more and more words. Of course he understands probably a hundred words or more and can follow directions like "can you please put this outside?" I'm also trying to put words to bodily functions in preparation for potty training. It's clear that he is hearing everything that is being said because he'll pick out words he knows from hundreds in a conversation. Suddenly he'll start saying car and I only realize I've said the word in the midst of a conversation or it's been said on the TV. Still, Evan does have a hard time telling some sounds apart. I was talking to him the other day about tongs (he LOVES playing with cooking tongs) and he kept sticking his tongue out at me.

Next week is going to be a big trip...I'm taking Evan back to Colorado, where I'm hosting a memorial celebration for my mother, who passed away in July. Hopefully, we'll get to spend some time with Evan's buddy, Jackson.

On Huggies and Haggis

Here's a completely random thought. I am often amused by the words that a spell checker will suggest. It's especially fun when a suggestion for somebody's name really suits them. Well, I was sending somebody an e-mail about Huggies diapers and "Haggis" was suggested as an alternative. There are days when Evan's Huggies do resemble a Haggis.

Stood Up!

No, Evan did not just stand up - he's been doing that for a long time now. We got stood up - for a date...a playdate. Not only that but this was my, er, Evan's first playdate. It was traumatic, to say the least.

I had cleaned up the house, made sure there was a variety of snacks for the kids, set out the martini glasses for the adults, and dressed Evan in his best playdate outfit. We then went out front to wait. We watered the maple trees and waited some more. We watered the front flower bed and waited some more. We watered the grass. Finally, 15 minutes into the one-hour date, I figured C & L (names withheld) were past the normal grace period I would give any busy parent. A phone call confirmed my fear that we had been stood up. Dejected, Evan and I wandered to the back yard, drained the pool, deflated the play castle, and sent the entertainers home. It was really going to be great but I guess we'll never know.

Here's a recent picture of Evan, who likes to climb into the cubicle shelves in his room:

Maybe I'm figuring it out

Though I had my doubts, I think I may finally be getting this parenting thing figured out. It seems I'm actually learning how to be a parent and get things done without going crazy. Case in point is this evening, when I looked at the clock and reflected on all I had done between 3:45, when Evan woke up from his nap, and 8:00, the then current time. Here's the list:

- Got Evan up
- Fed Evan a snack and a few drinks
- Saw out the full drama of the potato chip clip and the pinched finger
- Cooked (not merely heated) dinner for Evan and myself
- Walked the dog
- Watered the garden/lawn
- Washed the car
- Changed two diapers
- Ate dinner with Evan and gave Evan seconds and thirds and fourths
- Did and put away breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes (all handwashed)
- Made/received a few calls
- Did a bit of work and checked e-mail
- Horsed around with Evan
- Videotaped Evan trying to shoot baskets while wearing flip flops 9 sizes to big

In the ensuing 45 minutes, I
- Took a 15 minute call with relative
- Gave Evan a bath
- Took a shower
- Gave Evan his milk
- Helped Evan brush his teeth
- Put Evan to bed

Yes, parenting keeps one busy but it seems that it does get better with practice. It used to take me an hour just to get us ready to leave the house.