Tidbits

I promise to do a regular post later today (and possibly one on my other blog--aren't you excited!), but first, a short homage to Evelyn that I've been meaning to get to for more than a week now.

She's at that age where she grows so quickly; I'm afraid if I don't record impressions of her now, in two more weeks my current impressions will have been written over by newer impressions and that I won't remember the older things.

What I love about her now:

*Her growing independence (well, a love/hate relationship with this right now)--how she wants to try to do everything herself first.
*Her counting: she can get most of 1-10 (although not always), but after 10 she's on shakier ground: "11, 12, 14, 18" (for some reason, 18 almost always comes after 13 or 14 in Evelyn's world).
*The way she says: "I luv you mommy." Today, I said to her (before the nap that wasn't): "You know what? I like you." And she looked at me with those raised eyebrows and big eyes (as if she'd just discovered something amazing) and said: "I like you too mommy."
*The way she's just discovered the word "favorite." Now everything's a favorite. Yesterday, on a hike, she told us about her "favorite" butterfly, and her "favorite" walk.
*The way she uses the word "escited" (excited), as in, when she sees her bottle of milk at bedtime and pronounces, "I so escited!"
*Her newly discovered attachment to bedtime animals. Up until a month or two ago (before our trip north), she had no real attachment to any of her toys, blankets, or stuffed animals. She liked to sleep with a stuffed animal or two, but they were generally interchangeable. Now, she sleeps with (and carries around the house): Pooh bear, baby Minnie, a smaller Minnie Mouse, "Yady" (Lady, from Lady and the Tramp), and Thumper (I just noticed that these are all Disney incarnations--wonder what that says about us? Probably it just signifies that Evelyn developed her interest around the time we went to Disneyland, so these have impressed her as important).
The other night, I came in from a short walk (Dan was outside in the yard working on something) at about 9:15 to discover my daughter (who hadn't gone to sleep yet) standing in the doorway of the kitchen, asking for her daddy, with her arms overflowing with all of her stuffed animals. It's funny to watch her try and walk with all of them, since she invariably drops something every other step.
*Last, but not least, my very favorite of Evelyn's new expressions: "a nex a me." (Translation: Please lay next to me). I think this started when I offered to lay down by her for a minute to help her sleep at grandma's house--now, every time she goes to bed she whips it out in a plaintive little voice and my heart melts. Because, of course, who wouldn't want to be "a nex a" Evelyn?

She's also discovered the phrase "No, you do it," which promises to be interesting in the future. (I'm sure she got this from Andrew).

Here she is with a fountain-style ponytail (and one of Sarah's hair-bows), in honor of the 4th.