Makeshift Walker

Yesterday Evan and I met up with our friends Megan and her 1 year old son Brennan at the library for Baby Storytime, and then went to the nearby mall to get some lunch. After our Chick-fil-A feast, Brennan figured out that he could use his high chair like a walker and started pushing it all over the food court. Evan watched him intently and when I got him out of his high chair, he decided to give it a try, too.

Eating With A Plate

Here's Evan eating with a plate, which isn't exactly the same thing as eating from a plate.

Jump!!

Practicing His Table Manners

Eating With A Spoon

Evan has recently started grabbing at the spoon and bowl when I feed him, and from everything I've read, this indicates an interest in learning how to self-feed. So yesterday during his oatmeal, I handed him a spoon and let him give it a try. Needless to say, he's going to need a lot more practice, and I'm going to need a lot more cleaning supplies!

The Ice Bucket

Evan hasn't fully mastered the art of destroying my kitchen gracefully, because he often gets items trapped in his walker frame and doesn't know what to do about it. Here he is with his foot caught in an ice bucket...

Little Tornado

One of Evan's new favorite pastimes is to open up the unlocked cabinets in the kitchen from his walker and toss everything he can reach onto the floor. He doesn't stop until he's thrown out every non-breakable item he can get to, and when he's finished, it looks like a storm has just blown through and left a major path of destruction!! I wonder if it's possible to get him interested in putting things back IN the cabinets?

Phew!

On July 4th, we learned from Evan's daycare provider that she and another baby she keeps both tested positive for the swine flu. Therefore, our holiday weekend and the next few days were filled with anxiety and worry as we waited to see if Evan was going to get sick as well. Thankfully, he didn't!!! PHEW!!

My office has generously allowed me to work from home while watching him this week as the sitter can't keep any children for seven days and we wouldn't risk further exposing him anyway. It's been kind of crazy trying to keep on top of my work while keeping Evan well fed, diapered and happily occupied at the same time but I've also really enjoyed having all of this extra time with him.

Here he is doing some self-entertaining while I worked from my laptop at the kitchen table.

New Walker Toy

Evan got this new toy from my parents for his birthday. It's designed to help with walking, and once he has that mastered, we can covert it to a little ride-on scooter. Since he hasn't gotten the hang of bearing full weight on those chubby little legs yet, he figured out another way to move that sucker across the floor. Clever boy!!

The Cake

Happy Birthday To You!

The Big Birthday Bash

We had Evan's party on Sunday and had 29 people jammed into our little place! It was chaotic, but lots of fun! Evan had a blast and seemed to really enjoy all of the attention. And when we placed his own personal birthday cake in front of him, he knew just what to do! (His cake, by the way, was supposed to be a 4 X 4 square, but when I picked it and the big cake up from the bakery, I was given this big ole 5 x 7 rectangle as the 'little cake.' Hmm.) He immediately grabbed a big fistful of it and crammed it in his mouth. Tom and I agreed to take it away from him after a few minutes because we didn't want him to get sick from his first sugar overload!

The only thing Evan didn't seem to like about his party was his Birthday Boy hat!

Birthday Lunch

After Evan's doctor's appointment, my parents, Evan and I went to Red Robin for lunch. Evan got to wear his 'My First Birthday' bib while eating his pureed carrots and fruit. Then my Mom gave him a little taste of her hamburger and unleashed his inner carnivore! We ended up giving him several little pieces, which we lined up on the table and let him pick up himself. I guess french fries are next!

One Year Stats

Evan actually had to go to the doctor on his birthday for his one year check-up and his routine vaccination shots. (What a lousy present, huh!) From the look on his face in the first photo (sitting on my mom's lap in the waiting room), it seems like he knew what was coming next!

Everything checked out great, though, and he now weighs 24 lbs, 1 ounce and is 30 and 1/2 inches long. This means he has gained over 18 pounds since the day we brought him home from the hospital, and he's grown over 11 inches taller! What a big, healthy boy!