More!!

Okay, so get yourself a cup of coffee and settle down for another marathon blog!

We've been practicing signing with Evelyn and yesterday she started signing back! When I'm feeding her, before I go to give her another bite, I say "more" two times while doing the sign with her hands. When we were having dinner she signed more in between bites. At first I thought it was a fluke, so I tested her by pausing longer in between bites. Each time she repeated the sign! She is clearly a genius : )

Speaking of dinner, it's so fun now cause she is really eating a lot of different kinds of food. She had turkey for the first time yesterday, getting ready for her Thanksgiving of course! She is eating lots of finger foods-cheerios, bananas, corn bread, and rice cakes. She also has had some rice and baked potatoes and loved it. It's really nice because now we can start giving her some of what we're eating for dinner, which makes mealtimes more fun and family oriented. Still no signs of teeth but she gums her food just fine!

Another new development is that she is standing holding on to furniture or her crib now. She started this last month, not pulling herself up yet, but she is able to balance there without my help. She still doesn't seem to have much interest in crawling-the average age babies start is about 8-9 months, so we'll see. . .

A big change in our daily routine is Bard's new job. Many of you know that after five years at World Vision, Bard just began a new job for a local company called Noteworld. We're hoping that this is a good move both for Bard professionally-as he returns to finances and market research (his second love, behind me and the baby!) and good for us as a family because it means less travel. However, it also means he is no longer working from home three days a week. That means no quick trips to Target for me while Evelyn is taking a nap and Bard is working. No more calls for a hand with diaper changing or lunch time. It also of course means that she is seeing him less because he leaves right after she wakes up in the morning and gets home at about 5-5:30. So that is hard too, but I think overall it will be a very good move for us.

Partly because of that change, Evelyn is coming to dance more with me on Fridays. She had come with me a few times before, but many times I left her at home with Bard. Much to the delight of the 6-10 year olds I teach, I bring her with me every week. She loves it and sits during class, watching and talking to the girls. She is so fascinated when the music is on and they are moving around. And they spoil her rotten (like everyone!) by falling all over themselves to get near her and play with her. They love offering helpful hints like telling me that I should have brought her binky or saying that she wants her bottle if she makes the slightest fuss. What is it about 8 year old girls that make them instinctive mothers??!!

One other fun development before I let you return to your life : ) is her favorite books. In an earlier post I wrote that the first book I ever read her was the classic, Brown Bear Brown Bear by Eric Carle. It is now her favorite! She responds differently when I read it to her, quieting down faster, sitting still, and smiling as I turn each page. She also shows disappointment when I'm done-resulting in me reading it two or three times in a row. In fact, I walk around the house with the rhythm of the book repeating itself in my head!

That's all for now, off to load the dishwasher and do a load of laundry!