Is this Real Life? (Evan and Maya, Part II)

Perhaps I should be a bit more honest about what real life with these two shenanigans really looks like: The sadness, the crazy faces, baby Chucha, Tigerifa the floating dolphin, the WHINING, and the darling obligatory forced kisses video at the end that makes all the insanity worth it.

Evan and Maya

How Maya has lived with us for over a month and hasn't made the blog yet is beyond me. I think I've been waiting for something "special" to happen because I'm not very good at writing about normal life and making it sound heavenly and full of joy, like many mommy bloggers do. Maybe a few pictures will help. Here's our normal life. I'll summarize at the end.

• Goofy faces
• Maya loves pajamas
• Tia Sarah is the best aunt ever (especially when she shares her iPhone)
• Strollers, wagon, scooter, walker, shopping cart, high chair, car seats
• All-day sharing practice
• BFFs

Go Jaguars!

Nikki--this post is for you!!

First attempt:

Second attempt:

Third attempt:

Evan's running buddy, Nikki sent Evan a package with some very special gifts. He will now have to share his loyalties between the niners and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Dada said that's okay. Nikki found out how many miles it is from her house to ours (something like 2,800 miles). She is logging all of her running/biking miles until she reaches us. 

Evan's got a lot of work to do to keep up with Nikki. We strap him up with his elastic twisters and take walks to the mailbox and around the block to see the "big truck!" He also does really well walking around stores--I think it's because he's distracted and doesn't realize how hard he's working. His physical therapist recently set a goal for him to take two independent steps by December. We hope he can do it!!

Walker wheelies!*

*Note: I tried, on several attempts, to take pictures of Evan's wheelies, only to have him get distracted and stop doing it right when I pulled out the camera. This picture was taken immediately prior to his first and only wheelie FALL, onto his back and then onto his head. Thankfully the walker stopped him from falling straight onto the cement. He cried only a little bit. Still, a great picture.

We love Miss Rika, Evan's physical therapist. She comes to our home once a week and really motivates Evan with her peppy personality (and a little bit of iPad time). Evan is strengthening his quads/hamstrings with an exercise where he sits on a stool and then stands up to shoot a ball into a basket. She helped capture some of Evan's hard work the other day. The shaking camera is due to her excitement. The second and third videos belong together but were too long to send in one email. They give an idea of what it takes to keep Evan walking when he gets distracted.

Family Camping Trip

The last time Isaiah and I went camping was for our 1st anniversary, 2 years ago, when I was 4-months pregnant with Evan. It was so fun to add Evan to our group this time. He was SUCH a good camper!

What we did to keep Evan comfortable and happy:

• Nap BEFORE leaving
• Spread out large picnic blanket for crawl space
• Jogging stroller for walks
• Snacks
• Diaper wipes to keep hands/face clean
• Crib mattress to sleep on
• Lots of blankets to stay warm

Fallen Leaf Lake

Digging for pebbles

Matching morning pj's

We found a campsite near Lake Tahoe at Fallen Leaf Lake. Our campground was a 5 minute walk to the lake which was peaceful and beautiful--and much less crowded than Tahoe. In the morning we went on a drive over to Emerald Bay to enjoy the view.

Evan went to sleep really well on his crib mattress with blankets piled on top of him, but part-way through the night he decided to move off the pad and sleep on the bottom of my sleeping bag. I guess next time we'll save the hassle of packing the mattress.