not a ball.

When your ball isn't a ball, but actually an advocado, you learn this the hard way when you take a bite out of it.

xoxox.

love/notlove

Am borrowing my format from my sisser today.
She's my sisser, she won't mind.
Plus, it means I'm blogging. So she doubly won't mind.

Things I love:
I love Ev opening his Easter basket. I know the bunny photo is blurry, but I love his face....
... I love that he is such a boy, though, that as soon as the truck was located in the basket, he was off. Pushing the truck, crashing into things. All with his crazy nutty bedhead. I like that it looks like he has a halo when he's in the sun like that.
I love handing Ev an advocado at Kathy's house out of sheer here-just-take-this-and-be-busy-for-five-minutes-so-I-can-finish-this-ness having him take it, hold it, look at me and say baaaaaaaaaaalll, and then proceed rolling it around the floor, throwing it for the dogs, and carrying it home with us. Everytime he sees it on the table he smiles and says-- ball.
I love our new nighttime routine of going to the park and swinging before bedtime.
I love how Ev is obsessed with squirrels and tries to call them over to him the way we call Max-- patting his leg and sort of whistling for them.
I love Ev's singing in the car.
I love having some very dear people back in my life. I am very apt to get caught up in the here and now-- in college, I had only college friends. In grad school, grad school friends. It is very rare for me to be good at keeping in touch, at being a good friend, at holding on. I feel so. incredibly. blessed to have the girls who really saved me back in my life. The girls who were my life my senior year, who are still my heart. Blessed. Lucky. Happy.
I love/hate Ev's new game. When we would walk around the dining room table, we'd always tell him-- "don't bump your head!"-- to which he'd respond by grabbing his head and going "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Now, however, he intentionally bumps his head into the wall, turns to us and grabs his head and says "ohhhhhhhh" and waits for us to say, "don't bump your head!" Hilarious, but probably resulting in some sort of head trauma, yes??
I love planning for spring/summer trips and knowing that we are going to see some people we very dearly miss very VERY soon.
I love e's blogging.

I do not love:
I do not love Ev's ongoing nonsleeping kick. I just pray that it is all due to that stinky last molar. But man... at 3:00 am, mama wants to be sleeping, baby boy.
I do not love that dinnertime's been a battle for the past 3 weeks or so. The boy who used to love to eat now just tosses everything overboard. Max doesn't help-- well, he does in that he keeps me from having to clean up too much-- but as soon as Ev sees him, the little head goes over the edge of the tray to his dawwwg, and he starts sending down the goods. He just likes... nothing lately. Any suggestions from Ev's adoring public?
Borrowing one directly from my sisser-- I do not love my crazy long hair. I am so not a long haired person. I like that I said that like it's a breed, like a cat. I am clearly not a Persian. I don't get what to DO with it.
I do not love a certain coworker's need to start off every Monday with a giant session of whining. It makes me crazy. It starts MY week off horribly. It makes me want to scream. But I don't. I listen and feel my stomach turning. But what do you do, right?
I do not love having to pay for the trips we're taking this summer. Hee.
I do not love that none of my clothes fit the same post-baby.
I really do not love dress shopping. It is the invention of the devil, as far as I am concerned. Yes, that fits there, but not there or there. Yes, that one makes me look pregnant. Yes, that one smashes my boobs down to my waist, which is awesome. Oh, you want me to resemble a beluga whale? Perfect. I've found about 18 that fit that request. HATE.
I do not love running. But would like someone to teach me how to love it.... because I just don't understand.

I think that's about enough for now, right?
Tee hee.
It's Wednesday. ALMOST the weekend. Hooray!
xoxoxo.

ev-ness.

Aunt Julie blogged for me... since I've been a big of an epic blog failure.

Thank you, Julie! You are the best...
But... now that she helped me get back on the wagon, I suppose I should continue here, yes? As usual... I should be doing nine million other things.
In lieu of those things....
Here are some fun facts about the monkey boy:

• Current favorite word: daawwwwg. Said just about constantly. Thankfully, when the weather is nice, there are many, many dawwwwwwwwwgs outside to be seen. Lucky boy.
• Current favorite food: nothing. That would imply that he enjoys eating these days. OK, he still loves guac.... but many a mealtime is a fight fight fight. Chicken? Yogurt? Potatoes in any form? He's recently decided he hates all of the above. On the plus side, I got to finish up some delightful whole milk yogurt on his behalf...
• Current obsessions: Max (that's kind of a given), the Tupperware cabinet, the toilet (awesome), shoes, and my curlers (which I don't actually use, but apparently make an excellent set of toys).
• Current pox on both our houses: his last molar. It is taunting us. Swollen, swollen, swollen. But won't pop through. So we just don't sleep. He's very cute. Which is lucky, since he mimics a baby piranha a lot of the time lately.
• Happiest: outside and/or pushing his walker.
• Least favorite question: is he walking yet? Um, no. I do promise to try to blog that momentous occasion.
• Current best-ness: him. Just being him. Jabbering. Singing. Dumping over Max's bowls, emptying the pantry, quitting his afternoon nap. Swinging. Giving out hugs. Just love that nut.

Happy Wednesday!
xoxoox.
g

Special Guest Blog

Hello, this is Auntie Julie live from North Carolina. I was so lucky to spend the weekend with Mike, Gabby, Ev, Max and a whole lot of sunshine. Before I head back to Chicago, I want to share some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

This is Ev very excited about his yogurt melts. I like them too!!!

Ev laughs any time someone burps. Burps are very funny to the little monkey.

Ev LOVES the park. So do his parents (except Gabby was more afraid of the slide than Ev).

Ev is very tech savvy. He is a big fan of the blackberry.

Thanks Mike and Gabby for such a wonderful weekend. I hope you all enjoy the pictures!

XOXOXO

Auntie Julie