Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

But first a few pictures of my little man, watching his Grammy out the window.

It has been a long while since I have done a Not Me Monday. Partly because I am pretty much perfect and have no confessions to make what-so-ever!!! But also because I have been trying to steer clear of the original host of Not Me Mondays, McMama.... see above for link to her blog. She feeds her four kids carrot sticks and hummus for snacks, and steel cut oats with shots of fish oil for breakfast. And as I am trying my best to get Evan to eat any type of chicken that isn't fried, the last thing I need to hear is about what her perfect little vegetable eating, cloth diaper wearing children are doing!!!

No really, I am perfect, that's why I didn't apparently miss a spot of pooh on Evan's butt the other day, and not realize it until it was naked time before his bath and I found Corky helping me out with her tongue. Not Me and definitely not well-mannered Corky!!!

I wasn't getting dressed at the YMCA after swim class in a hurry, trying to make it to a Doctor's appointment, when I put my shorts on the sink while I was taking off my bathing suit, only to realize that there was an automatic faucet. It wasn't triggered by my shorts and didn't get them wet, but only conveniently in one spot in the crotch region!!! Oh well, hopefully the doctor didn't notice!!!

I wasn't setting the table for dinner, when I realized I hadn't heard Evan in at least a minute... and when I found him he hadn't gotten the butter off the table and wasn't spreading it all over the tile floor. And I didn't take my time taking it away from him simply because I was enjoying preparing dinner without tripping over a 20 month old!!!

Paul still doesn't refer to our unborn baby as Bulgar Wheat. When I first got pregnant, I didn't make a comparison to the bulgar wheat in our tabbouleh that night at dinner, to our tiny fetus growing inside of me. And it didn't stick with Paul so much, that he continues to call him/her that on a daily basis, nope, not Paul!!!

I didn't accidentally give Evan the wrong sippy cup the other day when reaching back to the back seat of the car while driving. He didn't proceed to drink the whole thing, and I didn't realize later that it was an old sippy cup and the apple juice smelled more like apple cider than apple juice!!! Oops. Not me!!!

I am not convinced I am having a boy, simply because I recently realized my eyebrows have stopped growing (I used to tweeze them every day and haven't now in weeks) just like they did when I was pregnant with Evan. Nope, what medical professional like myself would base anything on that. Not me!!!

PWEEEEEE

Evan can no longer be referred to as "Baby Evan" like he so commonly was and still is by the ones that love him. He is officially "Toddler" Evan. But since that doesn't have quite the sound as "Baby Evan", we will probably just stick with Evan, or one of the 82 other nicknames he has. Why you ask? Because he is a big boy now, except for some minor details we continue to work on (oh you know, the fact that he still takes a bottle twice a day, wants to be fed, and wants to be held 24/7 just to name a few). But otherwise, he is growing up ridiculously fast. He wants to sit in the booth by himself without a booster or a highchair when we go out to eat. He wants his own drink in big cup, and wants to drink it by himself!!! Plus he has learned so many words this week alone. "Pwwweeeeeeeeeee" has got to be my favorite. This is code for "please". But the way, when Evan says it, it is stretched out over at least 5 seconds and is always accompanied by a smile. How could anyone possibly say no to that?? He has also started saying "No", and "Mmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee" which is "Me". He looks at pictures of himself and he points and says "Me", but again, very stretched out. He is working on "Grammy", and can say "Papa" and "Cookie", along with another half a dozen words that have slipped my mind. It's so much fun watching him learn and grow, I can't get enough of it.

20 Months.... Going on 15 Years.

Although Evan has been really sweet lately.... his attitude makes an appearance at least once a day. It reminds me of myself as a teenager. He looks at me as if I am not only embarrassing, but just plain stupid!!! He's even got a look that includes something close to an eye roll. I suppose this is a glimpse into our life in 13 years or so. Minus the drool... hopefully.

Water's Edge

One of my favorite places to take pictures of one of my favorite subjects is near water. I love the way the water reflects light up on Evan's face. Unfortunately, this sometimes means I have to be in the water, while he is at the water's edge. Like today for instance. I was on the third step of Grammy's pool, in my clothes, trying not the fall in. All the while, trying to keep Evan from jumping in or getting my camera wet!!! As you can see from the pictures, that are obviously out of order, he got just a little wet. A little splashing, turned into dunking, which turned into sitting on the step with his clothes on. But totally worth it!!!!

To Cut... or Not to Cut

Evan looks like he is about to take flight these days. He has what Daddy calls "wings" on the side of his head.... also known as little curls that curl out behind his ears. I am on the fence about getting him a real haircut. Grammy has made her preference very clear... it went something like "don't you dare cut my baby's hair." But Daddy is pretty persistant. What do you think. Cut or not to cut?

MMM... MMM... Good.

Evan has loved Cheerios since he was 7 months old. I should own stock in Cheerios, we go through so many. Watching him eat them can be, at times, entertaining. He doesn't make it a secret that he loves them, that's for sure.

Happy Birthday Corky: A Look Back

Birthdays make me nostalgic. Here are a few pictures that I took back in 2002 (with a disposable camera no less) when Paul and I first got Corky. She was about 8 weeks old at the time. She weighed less than 10 lbs, but had the skin of a 60 lb dog, especially on her neck and face. She still has a lot of skin, but it's much less noticeable. Have you seen a cuter puppy? I think not.

Case in point:

Happy Birthday Corky

Corky turns 7 tomorrow. We have made it a Birthday weekend for her. Friday night, she got scraps from our steak dinner. Saturday night she had a hamburger made especially for her. Today, I didn't tell Evan "no" when he started to feed her Cheerios. Instead I got my camera out. Our sweet little Corky with more health problems than I can count... but I wouldn't trade her for the world.

Evan getting Cheeky

Yesterday was Evan's last day of swim class. He was not sad to see it over. I couldn't get any pictures of him in the water, because I was always in the water with him. But here he is pool-side. Just look at his little swim trunks, falling off his skinny little butt. He kept having to pull them up or the tops of his cheeks would make an appearance. I could have put him in smaller ones... but that would have been NO fun at all!!!

Sweet N' Sour

One minute..... sweet.

And before you know it.... Sour.

He isn't trying to break dance here, this is a mid-tantrum photo.


He's making sure I am looking here.

Poor guy, what a rough life he has.

Evan has been mostly sweet lately, I suppose to make up for the last few months of being sour!!! But of course, like any toddler... moods can change in the blink of an eye.

But I did see the first signs of feeling empathy. Before, if he would ever see me cry, he would either laugh or completely ignore me. But last week, as I was watching Grey's Anatomy's season finale and I was sobbing as usual... Evan looked genuinely concerned. His bottom lip dropped and he came over and gave me a hug. This of course, made me cry even harder. Not only was I surprised at his sweet empathetic gestures, I was surprised at the part that made me cry. It wasn't (SPOILER ALERT... IF YOU STILL HAVEN"T WATCHED THE FINALE ON YOUR TIVO, READ NO FURTHER) the possibility of Izzie and George dying, it was when the red-headed doctor went to see his Mom to tell her he was back from the war. I told Evan, he is not allowed to be in the military, no if, ands or buts about it.

One Turned into Two, and Two to Three...

First Evan had one stuffed animal in his bed. Then it was two, now I think we're at six. And Evan's running out of room to sleep!!! He loves his animals. When we put him into his crib he lines them all up and then burrows his head into them, and says "Awe". I think he is his happiest when he's got his animals by his side.

On a side note, Duncan his runner up favorite teddy bear is still out of commission. When Evan was sick two weeks ago, Duncan didn't stay out of the line of fire, let's say. The directions say you have to freeze the teddy bear for 24 hours, then wash him in the washing machine. But I haven't gotten around to doing this quite yet.