Just a Big Girl

Last night , the books were read, the rocking was done, Billy was in place in the crib awaiting his human and I laid Evelyn down in her bed, now, at this point she likes additional kisses, and usually I am required to "go atomic!" , this means giving her as many kisses as possible in 5 seconds. So all is done, the checklist is complete and I was about to leave her bedside when she says "Mom I need to tell you something". "OK", I say "what's on your mind." Then she says the following to me...." Mom you just called me a baby , you said good night baby girl" yes?..... Then she gets real serious, the way you do when you know that you are about to deliver potentially disastrous news to a person who may or may not have the wherewithal to handle what you are about to say, but you must say it anyway, and she reaches up and starts caressing my cheek, then says " I just wanted you to know that I am not a baby anymore. I am just a big girl. Okay?" As tears welled up in my eyes, I realized, yes there is not a baby there anymore, she is a big girl. A sad day for Mom but inevitable I guess.

Tea Party for Two

Last week, Evelyn had been missing her Papa and was very needy with him. Leslie's solution was to spend some good old fashioned quality time with her. They spent the morning playing and reading and dancing, the Big Event of the day was a Tea Party. The two of them busted out Ev's little tea set, tea was brewed, cookies were found and the polite converation began.... needless to say a day like that was just what Ev needed and she was quite pleased to be the center of Papa's universe for awhile.

Funny Girl

Here are a few of the funny things that Evelyn has been saying:

• The other day when I called to her, she answered " Yah Bee-otch?"


• Once I interrupted her and then apologized and asked her to continue, she took a deep breath and said "yes, you MUST respect me"


• "Mama I noticed this morning when I was feeding the cats, that you didn't have a scoop in Stella's bag, so I put one in for you, ok honey?"


• "Holy Crap! I just dropped all of my hair birdettes (barrettes)!!!


• Upon seeing three other Chinese girls at the pool, she leaned over and stage whispered "Mama I am thinking they were born in China too"


• "Billy you drop that hair birdette this minute, you can choke,choke,choke!"


• "Mama, why do kids have to make into grown-ups?"


• When trying to clean something up she was nearly in tears with frustration and she said " OH MAN! I am soooo G%# D&@#$ frustrated right now!!!" and then she sat down and wept....


• During the storm she was lounging relaxingly on the porch swing, slamming a freezy pop and said" You know? I think this storm is freaking me out"


• And this is my favorite, "Let me tell you something. I will NOT dress up for Halloween. I will NOT be a witch. I will NOT be a fairy. I will NOT be a lady bug. I will just be MYSELF." and then she walked out of the room.

Yes, you may notice and excess of swearing and fussing. What can I say? She is a fusser from way back and no one is safe.The Halloween statement came about because we have been having an epic battle concerning that holiday, for some reason she is dead set against a costume. It's hard to realize that your three year old won a major battle against you, as I was so shocked at her statement (well, partly shocked and partly I was thinking how funny she was and trying not to laugh in her face) , she was able to pull that one off. I told Les about it and he asked me what I did about it (we really don't let her mouth off like that), I said " Well Les, I didn't do a damn thing about it. I conceded the point. I think the winner in that one was obvious-don't you?" and then we laughed at our Spicy Brown Baby.

A Girl and Her Kitten

Well, yesterday, as the tropical storm was whipping about the place, we were upstairs watching Evelyn and Billy play around in the big spare room. It's the room that Evelyn calls "Lissa's Room" as that is where my sister slept when she was here. Anyway since her Aunt was here and she got to spend time in there with her, she has been playing in there constantly. If Evelyn is in a place then, so is Billy, so they both napped up there yesterday, Ev on one bed, Billy on another. As they woke up Les and I went up to take a couple of pictures (actually Les took the pictures). It was a nice interlude, as the trees and moss were whipping about in the wind, we were all safe and happy in the house, two of us still sleepy and languid from a nice long nap.

It has been interesting watching Evelyn and Billy get to know each other. I never knew that an animal could be such a friend to a child. Now, that's funny as I am all too clear on how much of a friend they can be to grown-ups, it's just that I have this idea that cats don't want to be messed with alot and manipulated, so I really thought Billy would be an interesting side bar to Evelyn's days. How wrong I was. He is a true little friend and is not bothered by the constant picking up and manipulating that happens when you are the pet of a three year old. They are inseparable throughout the day, he follows her from room to room and heaven help you if she gets outside and he is left in the house- he howls his fool head off to get out there with her. Inside they dash from room to room playing mysterious games and outside they race madly about the yard, chasing each other and falling all over each other. He is a gentle fella and had never scratched, hissed growled or bit at her and she takes great care of him, feeding and watering him everyday and monitoring for choking hazards. What a pair.

A Girl and Her Papa

We went to the beach on Friday, trying to get in some time before we were forced indoors for TS Gabrielle. While there at the beach, Evelyn was all about her Papa as she usually is on his first off -coming day from duty. They were inseperable and everything Papa said was cool and funny. I love to watch the two of them together, Les takes such care with her and her little personality. They laugh and joke and talk and goof off. As I sat ther on the beach watching them frolic in the surf, I realized that there on the shore was absolutely everything that is great in my life. I am so lucky to get to share my life and home with two people who are as kind and as funny as a person can be. It can be quite humbling to realize that you are the person in the household with the quickest temper, longest grudge holding ability and the one that is most likely to loose it, ahh well, I think that they love me anyway.

Tough Day

Today was one of those days that makes me wonder why I ever thought I could be a stay at home Mom. Evelyn was in fine form, stubborn , refusing to listen, asking "why" every time I ask her something or gave her a task direction, calling mama every 45 seconds and then having nothing to say, being mean to her kitten.... usually such a great girl but there are those off days. Of course this happens when Les is at work for 72 hours and today was the first day of what is shaping up into a memorable weekend. It doesn't help that my neck is bothering me pretty bad today and I can't seem to get out from under the pain and we had several, small but annoying tasks that needed done. I haven't had a chance to finish a thought until just now, I swear days like this can leave me feeling like I have post-traumatic stress.

It was funny because last night Les and I were at the dinner table talking about how far we had come from those long weary first days with her. We were remembering the first time we were like , " ok well parenting may not be the cake walk that we thought..." (silly mortals). We were in Guangzhou at our room in the White Swan, Ev had been with us for about 14 days or so and she got sick. Vomiting , coughing, etc., we had just used the last piece if linens in the room for another round of throwing up ( did you know that if you give a baby 8oz of formula and they vomit, the formula multiplies exponentially and you get 8 gallons back? ) and I realized that the crazed/glazed look on her face was the Benedryl and that we had a kiddo that gets wound up on that stuff. Nice. Oh yes, and this was the night before the 24 hour journey back to Alaska, so we were trying to pack! I ended up pacing the halls with Ev all night while Les packed up and secured us for travel. By the time we got to the airport and Ev finally fell asleep on the plane, she had been awake and crying for over 24 hours.....

You know what? Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.

The pictures are from a brief truce in the yard this afternoon.

A Visit with Brevin

My sister Melissa and my nephew Brevin came from Ohio for a visit. We all had fun I think, there was plenty of swimming, sand digging, squirt gun fights, tickling, popsickle consumption and general mayhem. It was funny watching Evelyn with a younger kid to boss around, we had to keep a close eye on her or Brevin would have had to just sit and wait for when she wanted to hug and kiss on him. Brevin is 18 months old to Ev's 3 years and she does not hesitate to lord it over him even though he is the same size as she is. I am sure that I won't ever have to worry about Evelyn letting other kids push her around even if she is tiny.

It was just nice to have my sister here for awhile. As we have gotten older it gets more difficult to get time with just the two of us. Nothing can take the place of a good long snacking and gossiping session with your sister. It was hard to see them off but hopefully Christmas will get here fast.