This past month FLEW by, friends. It’s like summer is a rock rolling down a steep hill, slowly bouncing at first, but picking up speed. Month by month it tumbles faster and faster until August is ending and the rock is out of sight and everyone is excited for cool weather and the grocery store already has their Halloween decorations out. I love fall and Halloween (for obvious reasons), but summer ended too quickly this year, and I don’t know how or why. It’s okay though because I’m sure in a week or so I’ll be happy as ever, writing about the cool evenings and colorful leaves.

Back to Evelyn…

Can you believe she is ten months old? If you have seen her recently, you can, though the fact that so much time has past is still hard to swallow. My little baby is smart and fun and brave. She is independent and able to do so much already. She is loving and playful and determined and it gets me a little emotional to think of who she (is and) will be.

A few of my favorite things about Evelyn right now include her hugging, kissing, and waving. She is hugging machine right now and it’s the BEST thing that has ever happened to me. She is very cuddly and loving. She also has said “hi” a few times as she has waved recently and it’s adorable, however, we’re still not hearing “mama.” She is still very much enjoying sharing and talking and singing and dancing.

I think my favorite thing about this age is the games we play, though. We’ve been playing peekaboo for months now, but she is just starting to do it on her own, covering her eyes with her own little hands. It is hysterical! She loves to crawl around together and chase each other. She also loves glasses (always has) and now attempts to put them on her own face. GUYS. It is THE cutest!

We have taken a few trips in the past month that E has been great for! While our drive to Idaho last month was hard for her, she did so well on our drive to Arizona, which was much longer. We started early in the morning and she slept the majority of the drive! She loved seeing her grandparents in Gilbert and loved the pool time — she loves swimming. Then Blake and I went to Lake Powell and my parents took her for the rest of the week and she had so much fun with them. She is such a good baby that I’m slightly worried about having more. What are the chances they’ll all be this angelic?

Evelyn is still sleeping fantastically! Every once in a while, she’ll have a week where she struggles to fall asleep, but overall, I think we’re doing pretty good. She eats what we eat (within reason), as well as baby food pouches (we love them, but as a word of warning, she wouldn’t go back to the jars after we introduced the pouches because she likes to feed herself and the jars are about half the cost). She loves drinking water out of my water bottles and she is doing pretty good with the sippy cups!

I always include way too many details in these posts, but I’m sure someday I’ll be glad I did.

I’m usually more prepared when writing these posts; I’ve been thinking about new things to share and sometimes I even begin to write these posts a few days in advance. Not this month, however. I guess thing have just been a little crazier than usual, which is typical of summer, right?

A fitting word to describe Evelyn is busy. That’s the norm at this age. She’s becoming more opinionated and independent. She’s learning how to get what she wants and I’m learning how to deal with a demanding baby who has a high pitch scream until she gets your attention. She is constantly doing something; gone are the days of a baby who simply lies on a blanket and coos. She can pull herself up and walk around as long as she has something to hold on to, so she is constantly exploring. She now opens cupboards and drawers and follows me everywhere I go. She has made a few messes with toilet paper and just Sunday we discovered (by the evidence of a face covered in flecks of white paint) that she now chews on her crib when she can’t sleep. She is really close to walking and stood up the other day for about 15 seconds on her own and then realized she wasn’t being held and slowly lowered herself down. Being so active, she does a good job of wearing herself out each day. She’s currently going to bed around 7:30 and waking up around 6:30 (sometimes 6). She has two little teeth on the bottom and, as we learned yesterday, weighs a whopping 15.5 lbs (back down to the 9th percentile). She gives kisses and shares her food and toys.

Evie is still a very happy, content, pleasant, friendly baby. She loves meeting people, loves getting attention, loves waving at people (adults and other babies), and loves talking. She loves textures and noises. She is a singing and dancing machine; anytime she hears a beat she starts to move (bouncing her belly up and down, bobbing her head). She even starts dancing when she sees the covers of her books that have songs that go along with them. (Barnyard Dance, anyone?) Speaking of books, this girl could entertain herself with books for hours. She loves turning the pages back and forth, touching the images (whether they’re touch-and-feel books or not), and talking while she does it. I’ve been reading to her every night since she was a month or two old, so I think she thinks she is reading as well and it is SO adorable. She has the world’s cutest voice. Aside from being able to say “dada,” she also loves to repeat us when we say, “You did it!” Smiling after accomplishing something she’ll repeat, “Did it!” We’re still working on “mama” though. When she tries her hardest and puts her lips together she ends up making the “p” sound and says “papa,” so now she can say dad two different ways.

We took a few trips this past month, one as a family to Idaho and another, while Blake was at Lake Powell, to St. George with my mom and her friends. She loves being out and about and getting attention from new people when we travel. She is going through a little bit of separation anxiety right now, but it only kicks in every once in a while. I know I always says this, but this age might be the most fun yet.