Today is brought to you by the numbers 6, 3 and 6. I'm going to ignore what I said about trying to play catch up on the blog (ie: all of spring) and just move forward for now. In the last three weeks, our family has celebrated several big milestones. Sam had his 6 month birthday on June 20, Evelyn celebrated her 3rd birthday on June 25 and Joe and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on July 8. God is good!
You may or may not be interested in hearing about all Sam can do now that he's 6 months old... I'll tell you anyway, just so I can remember on down the road! ;)
- Sam had his 6 month well-check on June 26 and weighed in at a whopping (for our family) 16lbs., 12.5oz. He measured 26" long.
- Sam has been rocking on his hands and knees since June 5th. By June 28th, Sam was on the move (more or less). He would reach both arms out and drag the rest of his body behind him. Sometimes he'd get his knees up behind him too and move one forward, ever so slightly. For those of you familiar with the plank pose in strength training or the downward dog position in yoga... Sam does both, with crazy decent form!
modified downward dog 
look out world
- Sam went from sitting for a few moments by himself at the beginning of June to sitting for upwards of 10 minutes by the end of the month. Now he never sits more than 10 minutes because he's so busy trying to crawl somewhere else!
playing with his favorite soft book... The Itsy Bitsy Spider 
favorite toys: Sophie le Giraffe and the cow 
sitting out at the campsite
- He started solid foods on June 10th and began with rice cereal; he hated it with a passion. We started sweet potatoes on June 20th (6mo. bday) and Sam was psyched! He was able to eat butternut squash on June 26th. On July 1st, we saw the first sign of Sam's right bottom tooth poking through, by July 6th, it was noticeably above the gum line. In the week that followed, Sam started avocado, banana and green beans.
Newsflash: My baby girl is 3 years old! Where does the time go?! Evelyn turned 3 on June 25th and the world hasn't been the same since. Sure, we still witness the occasional tantrum (some days they're more frequent than not... but I guess that's par for the course), but most days she's too interested in dancing, laughing, swimming and helping Sam to remember to throw a fit (plus, the potty training ordeal is behind us... more on that later)!
- Evelyn weighed in at... wait for it... 27lbs., 9.6oz at her 3 year check up. She was 37.5 inches tall. Not surprising that Sam is only 10 pounds behind. Thinking Evelyn better be extra kind to her baby brother because Sam's going to be her equal very soon. :)
gluten free, dairy free beach cake...sandcastle's a little sloppy 
celebrating with the b-day girl 
goodie bags for E's beach themed b-day bash 
- Evelyn loves playing with Sam, most days. Her favorite big sister torture is giving Sam a "fishy face,"... yes, just as it sounds, she squishes his cheeks together with her hands and laughs... Sam generally laughs and is a good sport.
fun at mealtime 
4th of July 
reading to Sam - Evelyn loves to swim! She has really come along way this summer in our pool. She asked for goggles for her birthday and loves going underwater. She can hold her breath for 7 seconds and doesn't hold her nose. She likes to touch the bottom of the pool with her feet. Evelyn still needs adult support but she has really come close to "swimming" on her own. She has a strong kick and is getting better at reaching and pulling with her arms.
showing off her new goggles 
camping at Lincoln Rock State Park in WA - Evelyn is fully potty trained! It seems we introduced the idea when she was about 15 months and then put off official training because she seemed at odds with the concept (or flat out refused... lots of tears on her part and my part). Memorial Day weekend we were around the house and decided to dive back in... especially since her third birthday was fast approaching. We had almost immediate success (she was just finally ready). She's now all but ditched her little potty for the adult toilet and loves her big girl underwear.
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| Cinderella |
- Evelyn started ballet. It's amazing how many fun things you can do when you use the potty! She's taking a summer creative movement course with the Tacoma City Ballet. The class is for three and four year olds. She absolutely loved the first class. If she continues to like it, I think we'll sign her up for the fall! We borrowed this leotard from one of Evelyn's friends. It's a 6x, so bigger than what Evelyn needed but worked perfectly in a pinch! So grateful to have friends come to our rescue so that E was properly attired for class. We did go out and purchase the correct size the day after Evelyn's first class (I'll post pictures soon of E wearing her new leotard). The store didn't have the right size in stock before E's class began.
- Evelyn is absolutely taken with Disney princesses. She can name all the princesses, even though she's not really seen any of the movies. She has a princess sleeping bag, umbrella and a Cinderella costume. Her favorite items of clothing are Disney princess hand-me-down outfits and pajamas her cousin gave her!
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| Apparently, princess umbrellas can be opened inside |
- Evelyn loves to take pictures. I credit my wonderful father with her innate passion for photography. She's actually fairly decent at capturing a moment, that is, when she can steady the heavy SLR camera by herself!
Evelyn captured this photo of Sam - I think that Evelyn is slowly phasing out her afternoon nap. Some days she takes one and other days she just rests. In my opinion, she still needs a nap every day... but that's just me! On the days she does nap, I occasionally find her on her bedroom floor, apparently carpet is more comfortable! Today, I found her in her bed, but sitting straight up. :)
"Mama, I'm not sleepy." - Evelyn is showing an interest in practicing her letters. Any chance she gets, she'll make letters out of Lincoln Logs, blocks, sleeping bags and any other medium she finds. She loves to write with her markers and crayons. She can write her name by herself and generally puts the letters in the correct order.
working on vowels
However, I am so thankful for every day we've had together and so blessed to have such an amazing husband who works tirelessly to strengthen our marriage. We are eternally grateful for all of the special couples in our lives who have helped to prepare us for married life and who continue to support us. Our marriage will always be a work in progress but it has been a joyful journey with many blessings from God along the way. Here's to many, many more years of marital bliss.
