Monday/Mundane

You know it's going to be a long day when the baby gives you a bloody lip before 8:00 am...

When he is not resorting to violence, though, Evan is quite charming. He tries to put hats on his head; he smacks his lips when he hears the words 'ice cream.' He climbs everything- Ethan's little chairs, onto the couch, into the bathtub. He can even get on to the seat of Ethan's tractor and bang on the steering wheel enthusiastically. He is so smiley and cheerful right now; I can't get enough of him. Except for when he sinks his teeth into my shoulder or smacks me in the face with whatever shiny object he is clutching or screams for hours before falling asleep while we walk or rock or jiggle. Yeah, otherwise he is great. Right now he is sitting on the floor taking wipes out of the container, one at a time. Then he places them in a bowl meticulously and reaches for another. Occasionally he'll put them back, just as carefully, and he just tried to stuff the plastic bowl into the container, too. (It didn't fit.) I love the look of complete and utter concentration on his face. Another strategy he has figured out is how to transport objects without interfering with his speed-racer crawling technique: orally. So many uses for those sharp little pearly whites! He looks like a pleased puppy as he gleefully scoots across the room with his treasure.


Ethan is as busy as usual, also. One of his favorite things to do right now is sort dried beans- light, dark, big, little, etc.- into muffin tins. Sometimes he pretends to bake them so then we chow down on bean cakes. Well, we pretend. Evan seriously goes to town on those beans. Ethan is also really into these little rubbery bugs. A little sorting, and a lot of detailed scenarios. "The wady bugs are seeping (sleeping). The gwasshoppers are jumping. Time to go nite-nite, gwasshoppers!" Yesterday my parents had left their cooler in the front hall with a couple inches of ice water in the bottom. Ethan carefully laid all the bugs in the water with some big plastic tweezers. "I need to FWEEZE them, Mom! Is dis one weady?" He would pick one out with the tweezers and examine it carefully. "No, not yet. Is dis one weady? Yes! Dis one is weady" etc etc times five hours.


So, another thrillling day at the Eggert's. These days are so precious and soulsucking and routine and exciting. I treasure each one.

Autumn Harvest

Fall has arrived in all its crisp, colorful glory. I think it is officially my favorite season. I remember thinking that last year, but chalked it up to the excitement of preparing for a new baby. This time there is no baby on the horizon but I am loving these days even more. The weather is perfect for long walks, inspecting every leaf on the ground. And, ummmm, the food. The beauty and bounty of fresh produce never ceases to amaze me. It is so satisfying to eat the vegetables from the garden we've tended all summer. "Ooh, look! A bean!" Ethan exclaims over and over. "Maytoes! Can I pick a maytoe?" We've been canning and preserving everything in sight. I love the rhythmn of picking, cleaning, chopping, mixing: all those steps that have been done by my mother, aunts, grandmother, Caroline Ingalls...so many women throughout the years putting food by for their families. It is such a comfort to be connected that way.

Other great things about cool weather:
Sweatpants. Baked goods. Hot chocolate. Movie nights.
Good thing I am excited about sweats because I won't be fitting into my jeans for awhile.



Quote of the Day, Ethan, 9/19: "Good parents would pick all of those stickers out of the ground."
Yeah, but you're stuck with us, kid.

Platinum Wedding

Lookit the bride! Isn't she beautiful?! Congrats to Kali and Peter. We had a wonderful time in Omaha seeing old friends and enjoying a night on the town without babies.

The boys were in excellent hands, of course. Evan spent the evening with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. We are so blessed to have wonderful family members who love my kids even though they scream so much. He got along just fine without me, which is pretty amazing. Mad props to Nancy, Joe, and Sarah!
Ethan went on a road trip to Kansas City with my parents and brother to watch the White Sox play the Royals. He was full of stories about seeing the lion mascot and the players hit the ball. I have very fond memories of going to those games with my family, and I'm glad Ethan got to do the same thing. He was extremely worn out today- he didn't even want to go play outside or walk down to the mailbox with me. "I just want to way here, Mom," he kept saying. OK, twist my arm. We read a lot of books and watched quite a bit more TV than usual. Oh well, I think he had enough stimulation this weekend that it would take more than a few Dora episodes to wreck his brain development.

Sleep, or lack thereof

This rocking chair is where Ethan finally fell asleep for his nap yesterday, after all the screaming and wailing and gnashing of teeth. So sweet and innocent-looking...but, oh, I am too exhausted to write about him. It's been a little challenging lately. Apparently he just heard the news that he is two.

But a sleeping two-year-old? Awwww.

All About Evan

Evan and I have been having a lot of fun recently. Seriously. Fun. One day while Ethan was napping, Evan was wide awake and in a fantastic mood so we played on the floor with blocks. He was ecstatic about all the exciting things you can do with blocks- pick them up, put them down, chew on them, put them down over there- the possibilities are endless! I realized that I rarely play with toys just for him. Usually Ethan is organizing the activity or Evan is occupying himself with a spoon or riding around on my hip while I get some mundane little household task done (or started. Whatever.). So I was pleasantly surprised to spend some one-on-one time with the little guy that did not involve walking all around the house at midnight, jiggling and shuushing over the sound of his earpiercing shrieks. Because that seems to be his idea of quality Mommy and Me time.

Now he raises his chubby arms up in the air and chortles with delight when you say "How big is Evan?"! Ethan doesn't want to be outdone, of course, so he'll yell "How big is meeeeeee?" and throw his arms up in the air and tip over backwards in a kind of spastic back flip. I hope their little necks are as resiliant as their skulls seem to be.

Until recently, Evan has occasionally still shown some newborn traits while sleeping. A sweet, secret smile would flit across his face or he would scrunch his nose and stretch his neck out. Now when he wakes up, his disgruntled, confused face more closely resembles a teenager being awakened before noon. Ethan and I are sympathetic because that's usually what we feel like, too. (What's wrong, Matt asks me every morning, without fail.)

So my baby is growing up, and it is wonderful. He is becoming a little independent person who is truly a joy to be around. Oh how I treasure these moments together.

Finally, An Adbenture

That's adventure, for those of you who don't speak toddler. We escaped the kitchen yesterday to hit the (surprise) grocery store, then walked to the library and played at the park. Both of the boys are kind of bipolar playgrounders- sometimes Evan screams hysterically if I try to torture him by putting him in a swing and sometimes he has a blast. Last summer, Ethan went down all the slides by himself, laughing all the way, but this year he acted afraid of the big slides. He rarely tried them at all, and if he did make it to the top of the ladder he stood there and whimpered til I rescued him. So you never know what you're getting into, is what I'm sayin'. But yesterday was awesome. Or amazing, to use Ethan's current favorite word.

Ethan charged up the ladder of the biggest slide and laughed gleefully all the way down, over and over over. Evan went down the little slide several times, too. He liked the swing so much he threw back his head and gurgled with those full-body belly laughs. Ethan spun around on the tire swing and laughed just as hard. It was so sweet. They even did the teetor-totter together.

These are pictures of Ethan's first trip to the playground. I think it was right before his six-month checkup.

Here are some pictures from our adventure a couple weeks ago at the Calamus Lake- back before this Global Chilling when the sun used to shine.

More Politics

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check

Here is an article I came across recently. I am so tired of the lying and personal attacks that are running rampant throughout this campaign. There is some good information in here. Another resource if you are interested in the real story behind the jab is factcheck.org.

I am begging all of you- educate yourself and vote! We have an opportunity to be part of an amazing journey for this country.

Monday, Baking Day

We were making bread this morning (yep, I'm still pretending to be a pioneer), and Evan stood on the chair up to the counter with Ethan. It was so sweet to have both those little faces watching intently. I kept being surprised at all the chubby little hands sneaking into the dough while we were kneading. I got out the video camera to try to capture the moment but it needed charging, of course. By the way, if your 2-year-old is freaking out because he can't find his 'eerfron,' hand him his frickin apron already; why would he need earphones, an elephant, or an airplane for baking? Idiot. Apparently the reason I am so fascinated by toddler logic is because it is more advanced than my own. We also made a carrot cake, since the apple crisp and peach cake we made over the weekend weren't sufficiently sugar-laden to satisfy my cravings (although I did cosider adding cream cheese frosting to the aforementioned items). Obviously the winter fashions I will be sporting are size 6598 jeans and muu-muus.


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I was going through hand-me-downs and had Ethan try on a pair of jeans. "They fit just right," I told him as I fastened them. "AMAZING!" he exclaimed.

***
Pop Quiz: Name That Baby

Random, again

I have been channeling my inner Laura Ingalls Wilder this week- putting by stores of beans, tomatoes, peaches, and carrots. Now I just need to go kill a hog and make some head cheese (although I never did figure out what that meant). Also, my camera rode home with my parents last weekend so I have been unable to take any adorable pictures to use as a theme for a blog entry. I have a feeling this will be a rambling, disjointed entry. Read on, IF YOU DARE.

Ethan learned a valuable life lesson this week: Mom is always right. Especially when it comes to the wisdom of food, like the concept that jalapeno peppers are really frickin' hot and will burn your mouth so don't eat them. (I'm sure you can see where this is going.) Sure enough, he took a big bite out of a fresh, juicy jalapeno and began to chew. "Mom, it's not too hot!" he crowed triumphantly before taking another bite and swallowing. Then he changed his tune. "OOH, OOH! My mouf!! It's hurting me!" I felt bad that he was suffering, but it's not like I hadn't warned him. Multiple times, as a matter of fact. He drank some milk and ate a banana, then spent the rest of the afternooon on the couch nursing popsicles and drinks, looking pitiful.

Evan has two new teeth on the top. He likes clicking them against his bottom teeth, which makes me think he is chewing on something he shouldn't have so I dig around in his mouth approximately 20 times a day. FYI, they are very sharp.

I really wished I had my camera this morning because Matt was holding both boys in church and their outfits were all color-coordinated! It was very cute, albeit unintentional. It's cold and rainy these days so as soon as we got home, the good clothes came off and the sweats went on. It was fun to find the winter clothes for Evan. I'm always a little sad to pack up the sizes he's outgrown (and by 'pack up' I mean throw in a big pile in the corner of his room), but I love unpacking the next-sized tote and remembering how adorable Ethan looked in those outfits.

See? But of course he has always preferred the naked strategy.

It's funny- when I look at his baby pictures, I sometimes think oh, that looks just like him. Duh, it IS him.

And Evan, circa March or April. Aww, it looks just like him.