Grab Bag

Evie June has had a very full fortnight.

June (aka "meh-meh") left this morning after a wonderful two week visit. Evie (who now refers to herself as "E-E") enjoyed having an extra person to play, snuggle and read with. And we all enjoyed a few outings together.

Last week, we braved a cool, but rare dry day and headed down to the zoo in Seattle. Evie loved the giraffes (possibly because she was wearing giraffe leg warmers), and got contemplative at the grizzly habitat.

And she loved pretending to be a bear at the indoor play area.


The fun also included a trip to the pumpkin patch. Here, Jimmy educates Evie June on the finer points of selecting a pumpkin.


And one of the many great things about having June around is that we end up with a photographer for our regular weekly outings. On Library Dad, EJ loves the stories, and is starting to get over her fear of London Bridge and Ring around the Rosie. I don't know if her hesitance stems from the wierd ritual circle dancing or if maybe she just actually is paying attention to the words.


June also got to observe swimming class. Here Evie June suits up in the locker room.

Evie has mastered dunking herself, blowing bubbles, and hanging on to the side. We're still working on her butterfly.


Finally, enjoy this video of Evie June doing a couple of her new favorite things: playing hide and seek and blowing her nose. We think "Where'd it go?" might qualify as her first sentence. And the nose blowing thing was inevitable after hanging around with two women nursing killer colds for the last week and a half. Evie looks a lot cuter than we did.

Jen

Hairy Situations

You know those awkward times between haircuts? Maybe you're considering growing it out, but it just doesn't look right for a few months until you break through to ponytail stage. Or maybe you're trying to grow out your bangs, and for a while you look like you have a constant state of bedhead.

Though she's never had a haircut, Evie June is in a similar hair transition period right now.

After so many, many months of being practically bald, we're thrilled to see her reddish tresses finally coming in. So thrilled that we don't mind (much) that she totally has a mullet like the one her dad sported in his seventh grade school picture. So thrilled that we don't mind when old men still mistake her for a smart little fella at the library.

But we're even more thrilled by this:

And this . . .

Thanks to Mee Mee (or in EJ speak--"mehmeh"), Evie got her first lasting ponytails today. I've tried many times to get her hair up in these ridiculous little bands--which she promptly removes and pretends are candy. But MeeMee, bless her soul, had the brainstorm to use teeny tiny barretts on Evie's very fine, still sort of thinnish, hair. The results are much better than the Steven Seagall rattail that I managed last week, though it did complement her black eye.

As excited as I am, all this hair sort of terrifies me a little. I was and still am the only Hargan sister who can't safely operate a curling iron, prefers to let her hair drip dry in the dead of winter, and could never successfully braid a Barbie's hair, much less my own. The parenting learning curve is about to get a whole lot steeper . . .

But when its clear that she enjoys her sporty new look so much, I'm more than willing to learn. Just don't expect me to start brushing my own hair that often (Grandma!)
Jen

They call her the Boxer

Evie June is sporting the remnants of her first proper shiner.


Last week as we drove to Bellingham, Evie threw a bit of a tantrum in her car seat. We're not sure what set her off, but she was holding her mini-Magnadoodle at the time. Perhaps it was that we weren't feeding her cheese fast enough, or maybe she was tired of drawing "S's" (her favorite letter)* Either way, she dropped the magnadoodle but held on to the little pen, which is attached by a string. In the subsequent thrashing of her arms, she clocked herself in the face with the magnadoodle (I wish I could think of a synonym for this toy). Screaming ensued, followed by her father's assessment--"she's got a heck of a write hook."

Yeah.

So between the bad pun, black eye, and runny nose, its been a tough week. All was made better by the arrival of a giant box of goodies from Aunt M on Thursday. But of course, Evie was much more excited about the box they came in. Proving that while nobody puts baby in a corner, baby puts herself (and all her friends) happily into a box.
It probably has something to do with this book. http://www.amazon.com/Birthday-Box-Leslie-Patricelli/dp/1406305227/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-4564025-4362824?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191184870&sr=8-1

Jen

*Okay, she only knows S, B, M, O, and H by sight, but S is definitely her favorite. She likes to scribble on her her slate and then point at the mess and say "sss." Stop signs elicit the same reaction. Most people think she's hissing, but we know the truth.