June Days

Caption:  When Matt dressed Simon last week, he didn't realize it, but he'd put Evie's 6-9 month sized shorts on Simon !

When I put Evie Grace down for a nap this morning, I 'warned' Simon that Evie might cry, but that she' d be okay and that we would paint while she was sleeping.  Simon was adamant that he wanted to 'help' me put Evie in her crib.  

I listened as he told crib-restricted Evie that she shouldn't cry because "God is with you, Evie.  He will watch over you.  There are no monsters, so don't be scared.  God is with you."

Evie hanging around (literally) in her Ergo!

She cut a second tooth last week (it is still in progress) and had some rough days accompanying that tooth, especially with her persistent cough that still racks her body sometimes!

Simon about to eat his "face."

Wow, lunchtime strikes Evie as fun!

Still loving that lunchtime.  Hmmm, it's just Gerber's Mixed Grains.  Evie had some applesauce last week.  Her first fruit.  I just spooned some of mine into her cereal as we all ate breakfast, so it wasn't too momentous.

Her first cantaloupe was momentous, though!  Yesterday, on Father's Day (sorry, no pix as I forgot camera), Matt announced as we ate that he'd just given Evie cantaloupe and she liked it!  I was surprised and asked how he'd given it to her.  He said he'd just given her a piece, no big deal, a small piece, like a crumb.  As we talk, we begin to notice Evie is gagging.  So, apparently the "crumb" was too big!  Evie recovered after a few moments (too long) of struggling.  So, if Evie doesn't like cantaloupe when she is older, it may be because of her frightening taste of it yesterday!

Apple Crisp.

It doesn't look very appealing, but it was delicious!  

We put the apples Simon picked to good use!

Life is sweet :)

Evie continues to express excitement through her tongue!  She "pants" in happiness and glee.  It is so sweet, funny, and ... weird.  

She flails her arms and sticks out her tongue whenever I am holding her and happen to refill my glass with ice and water from our refrigerator door.

She does the same thing if I'm holding her and the microwave beeps and I open the door.

She has never received water from our fridge-stops, nor food from the microwave, so it's not a Pavlovian response, she just likes it I guess!

Kind, sweet, entertaining Simon

SITTING! 

(with supervision and pillows all around)

Simon actually took the above picture!

Simon's responsibilities continue to increase as he has learned to feed Evie (with supervision).  He loses interest fast, but it is fun while it lasts!

Here is a picture of Simon feeding Evie some baby cereal.

As I type, Simon is playing "hide and seek" with Evie as she hangs out in her on-loan Baby Einstein Exersaucer.  "Hide and Seek" is a game I have to monitor and assist, as sometimes it ends with Evie under a pile of blankets!  I think I will pull her Exersaucer in here to the computer ...

This is a "Space Station" that Simon brought to me; he wanted me to take a picture of it!

"Storking" with Scott, Tania, Simon, and Evie over at the Rizzo homestead.

Teressa joked that if we waited too long, we'd have to make a sign that said, "It was a girl!"  I think we got over there before Ava was crawling, so that's good!  

I think Ava was 8 days old the day we went over, and, in our defense, it was a record-setting windy day the day that they came home from the hospital, so, we really didn't want the GFA Stork to go sailing away .... :)

.  

I think that in my free time (whenever that is and whenever it turns up), I want to read about being a doula!  

I've recently realized that part of me wants to be a nurse, and then I realized that really I just want to be a labor and delivery nurse, and then I realized that I really don't want any actual responsibility and potential liability, and that I really just wanted to be there for the mother, so it seems like a doula is what I want to be.  

Maybe I can be the GFA doula.  The problem with such is that GFA ladies come with such supportive daddies-to-be.  

So ... maybe I'll start befriending young single moms-to-be.   

Maybe I'll put an ad on Craigslist for free doula-service....  

(I am just kidding about the Craigslist part)

I did a few minutes of Google-based reading on doulas, and apparently there is a "post-partum" doula that sounds really appealing also!

RENT

(I just asked Simon what to write as the caption, 

and he gave me the random letters, R - E - N - T ... )

Evie IS NOT up for rent.

Matt enjoying his fam and the Brewers last Saturday night!

What Simon has in his hand is a glass coke bottle shaped like a Christmas ornament!

Coke just tastes better in a glass bottle!

The last two summers Simon has been timid around water.  As the evening progressed, he became a little more comfortable.  Either way, he had fun the entire time!

Evie took to the water like a fish!  That reminds me of how Simon was when he was this age!  Evie was just laid-back, in typical Evie-style!

We borrowed this float from Ruthie - Simon used to have one of these!

Hopefully this is not the beginning of swim-suit modeling!

Evie is sporting a one-piece once worn by Emma Grace Buscemi!

Our little "Pool Shark"

I like to see the moments when the kiddos are just being kiddos and taking in their world.

Evie Grace is enjoying the Exersaucer on loan from little Jamie !

This is a precious conversation I had with Simon the other day.   

We were talking about what he should do if he ever "loses" one of us in a store or wherever.  Per advice passed on from my friend Michelle, I've been trying to teach Simon to always "find a mommy" and then ask her to help him find his mommy.

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Me:  Simon, let's pretend you are in a store and you can't find your mommy or daddy.  You lost us.  Who would you ask for help?

Simon:  Hmmm...(thinks for awhile)  What about Debi ?

Me:  If you see Debi, but what if she isn't there?

Simon:  (thinks awhile again)  How about Timmy?  

Me:  If Timmy isn't there ... ?

Simon:  How about an angel?

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