OMGTC phase

Over the past few weeks Evie has entered an exciting phase of her development… the oh-my-god-too-cute (OMGTC) phase. Now some may think that the OMGTC phase begins at birth and I am willing to concede that the precursors, building blocks to too-cute if you will, are definitely there. But once your child truly enters the OMGTC phase you’ll know it and understand how all the early cuteness was just training for the real deal.

And of course, because one would expect no less of me, I have been taking notes and gathering evidence to support my declaration of the beginning of the OMGTC phase.

Example A: Evie and I were shucking fava beans on the floor last week and she was “helping” me by trying to put the already shucked beans back into their pods. The best part about it was that she got this very serious, “I’m working here people” look on her face as she did it.

Example B: Genevieve took one of her shirts out of her drawer and proceeded to spend a good 10 minutes putting it on her head like Carmen Miranda… giggling at herself, taking it off and then putting it back on again.

Example C: We have booster chair for Riley that stays on the floor in a corner during the weekend when it isn’t needed. Yesterday Evie grabbed her spoon and a bowl, sat down in the chair and pretended she was “eating” while all the time talking to herself about her meal in a higher pitched version of her normal gnome.

And this, folks, is just one weeks worth of data gathering… I’m sure there will be much more to come!

Chatterbox

Evie takes after her mom.... she just talks and talks and talks. I am proud to say she is now fluent (or I am pretty sure because my skills are a bit rusty) in her very first language.... gnome.

Bagel Monster...

All visitors to the Mott Lacroix house be forewarned. There is a monster in our midst. She lurks beneath the kitchen table at around about the hour of 7 am. Appearing innocent enough, this monster cases the table’s underbelly waiting for her moment to strike. One must be vigilant, clever and quick in order to evade this monster, for she is swift, relentless and decidedly hungry. Yes danger waits for those foolish enough to try to eat their breakfast of the seemingly peril-free…. bagel and cream cheese.

Through weeks of suffering through this morning menace we have, as all good parents, learned to adapt. Simply feed the mini monster and occasional “bagel tariff” and all remains peaceful and good… but oh woe to you if you do not. The terrifyingly cute eyes will stare longingly at your feast, small precious hands will reach out for your hard-toasted fare and, if you are not paying enough attention, you may soon find your entire bagel and plate on the floor in the domain of the dreaded bagel monster (and of course her devious companion the D.O.G.).

To and fro this bagel monster roams. First a small morsel from dad, then a toddle over to mom for another bite, back and forth she will go until utterly sated. So, friends, family and visitors of all sorts consider yourself noticed. Should you choose to dine at breakfast time at our table a bagel tariff will be required of you!

Birthday Paarrrty!!

Evie's b-day is much like her... it just keeps on going and going and going! (But really you only turn one once, right?)

On Sunday we had a little group b-day shindig at Reid Park with all her baby pals from the birth center. It was so neat to see all of the kids at one year and how much they have changed! The theme of the party was storybook. I put together a little invite:

Anyway we all brought books to trade among the babies, but mostly the time was spent enjoying their cute little faces and trying to keep them coraled under the ramada. Evie was lucky to have some friends other than the birthday kids show up to wish her a happy one... including Evie's Uncle Brendon (who came all the way from Phoenix AND bought her a ice cream birthday cake) my aunt and uncle Lisa and Bob and cousin Melissa (who donated the awesome car to Evie which turned out to be a real hit at the party), Keren, Jeff and Zev and Annie!

Happy Birthday Genevieve!

Today was Evie's 1st Birthday!! It was a pretty laid back affair; attended by Patrick and I and my folks who came down from Phoenix for the weekend to celebrate with us. On Saturday we went down to the 4th Street festival and picked up a few presents for her... dad bought her a cool truck with a trailer full of blocks and grandma Mary picked her up a fabulous birthday dress and a cool jungle toy tote bag. Then today we walked over to Ikes for breakfast and my mom and I baked her a carrot cake. During a trip to the grocery store Evie got really excited about the mylar balloons so we decided what the hey, ya only turn one once and picked her up a balloon too :)



After the cake was made we threw on the b-day dress, put her in her "throne" (which was my little brother's chair originally) and tried to get her to open up the presents we had bought for her. Good thing there weren't too many of them because it was quite a challenge to get her to focus in on the task at hand. She kept crawling or walking off to go investigate the dogs... or the door... or the last thing she had opened.... or "wait guys aren't these bows on my dress cool?" Anyway it was all pretty cute and as you can see very well documented. Once presents were opened we sang happy birthday and tried to get her to blow out the candles... when it became clear that the candles were going to burn into the cake before she would blow them out Patrick and I gave her a hand. For Genevieve the highlight of the whole affair was definitely the cake. Man did she scarf that piece we gave her!! (Of course you'll see we had to remove the dress first; we didn't want it in the frosting line of fire)

Look who's walkin'

It occurred to me last weekend that Genevieve was starting to really walk and I had not yet captured the moment on film... So the dutiful milestone preserver that I am I took a little video... Here it is. As you can see crawling is still the quickest way around for her but she is looking pretty good as an amateur walker :)