In December our family enjoyed holiday events, and Christmas with family! Evan didn't really understand all the fuss about Christmas--the Advent calendar, tree, stockings, etc.--but it was so much fun for all of us to enjoy the holiday season with him.

The month held a number of special holiday events. Evan and Dad stayed for lunch at the Advent Event at church on December 1, then left Mom to do crafts and visit with friends. On Monday the 16th Mom and Evan took the day off from daycare, and the afternoon off from work, and went to the Argonne MCS holiday party at an Italian restaurant. Dad enjoyed introducing Evan to his friends from work, and everyone was especially impressed with Evan's pink "peace and love" hummvie (a matchbox car). Mom and Evan won the prize for being the last ones to arrive at the party.

In the first week of December Evan had his first babysitter, when Dad was out of town on business and Mom had meetings at church. A girl from church whom Evan had met a few times and who has a lot of experience with young kids came over. She said that after Evan hid behind a chair for a few minutes, he was just fine for the rest of the evening.

Evan also visited his new pediatrician this month. He wasn't very happy about being at the doctor again, or about getting four immunizations (!), but Mom liked her. We will go back in January to get the last three of the catch-up immunizations. He was 29 inches long and weighed 19 lbs 3 oz.

The weekend before Christmas, Nana and Papa (Lee's mom and her husband) came to visit. We celebrated Christmas on Saturday night. Evan didn't get too excited about the gifts, but he loved the Christmas cake Nana made; it's light, fluffy frosting was delicious. The rocking horse from Nana and Papa is a little big for him, but he is intrigued, and spends a bit of time each day petting it or getting on and off. He even rides it sometimes. Lee's Aunt Anne and her family spent Thanksgiving weekend in London, and they sent fun gifts for Evan, too – a London double-decker bus and taxi, and a Paddington Bear stuffed animal and storybook. Evan was especially delighted with the Paddington Bear.  He cooed and gave it a big hug when Daddy took it out of the box.

On Monday the 23rd we went to the Christmas party for Evan's daycare. The preschool kids did a program, we had a yummy dinner, and opened gifts. Evan was a bit overwhelmed by all the people, but he had a good time running around with his friends from daycare. After seeing them all together, we can understand why he comes home so tired from his days at Mary's.  They're an active group of kids!

Evan is talking more and more, especially to himself while he sits in his crib or his car seat. He is starting to imitate words sometimes.  We've heard him say "up", "cat", "baa baa" like a sheep, and one morning when Daddy came in the kitchen during breakfast and said "hi," Evan very clearly responded, "hi!" He also says "all done" or "all gone" by putting his hands, palms up, out to the sides and giving a little shrug. Most importantly, he says "da da" fairly regularly; he is also really working on "no" (it sounds kind of like "nah" at this point, but the meaning is pretty clear).

Evan wants to feed himself more and more often , which has resulted in some very messy mealtimes. He is very good about eating in a restaurant, which is nice, since it's something Mom and Dad really enjoy. We went out three weekends in a row, the third time with Nana and Papa, and Evan was quite well behaved each time.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church for the family service in the late afternoon then we visited with some friends from church at their home. While we were there, we had lots of yummy food, and then a surprise visit from Santa Claus, who brought gifts for all of the kids. Evan was a bit concerned about the big man with the crazy beard, but he had a great time playing with the other kids, who were all older than him but were happy to entertain him anyway. We went home and picked up Evan's playpen and some supplies for mom and dad, and returned to church for the evening. Evan went to sleep in Mom's office and Dad played in the bell choir before the 11pm service. Then Evan and Dad returned home (a very cold ride in the car, which Evan seemed to find a bit exciting!) while Mom continued the worship service.

Christmas morning, we all got up very early to get ready for our cab ride to the airport. We were flying to Albuquerque to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa Schultz and Aunt Jodi and Uncle James! We discovered our stockings from Santa Claus in the living room, and packed Evan's new toys and treats away for the plane ride.

We had a wonderful time in Albuquerque.  Evan got Grandma to follow him everywhere, and she always had new things to show him. He loved to get Grandpa to chase him, and he played hide and seek with anyone who would come look for him when he suddenly disappeared. (We all took turns at it.)

Lots of friends came to visit and meet Evan, but his favorite times were times at home with his family, playing all around the house with his toys and his shoes. He found a favorite end table in the living room where everything got piled up, and after a few days of kitchen exploration Mom and Grandma just gave him a bottom Tupperware drawer to keep his new kitchen toys in.

On Saturday we went to the zoo with Mom's friend Kristin, her husband Jeff, and her girls, Maddie and Saili. Evan wasn't too interested in the animals, but the pond and running water were fascinating. On Monday our friends Megan and Steve Lewis and their kids, Madeleine and Weston, came over. The three kids enjoyed playing in the new tent and tunnel which was Evan's Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa. Weston and Evan are just a few months apart in age, and both sets of parents kept commenting on how much the two boys are alike.

Monday we went with the Lewis's to the aquarium and botanical garden. We met for lunch in the café (which adjoined the aquarium and had a full-wall view into one of the largest tanks, containing sharks, stingrays, giant tortoises, other sea-dwellers).  Evan spent much of lunchtime on the shoulders of mom or dad looking intently into the tank and watching all the large fish go by.

On Tuesday--New Year's Eve-- we had breakfast at a nearby restaurant and then drove up to the Crest of the Sandia Mountains. Evan threw a fit during the drive (we think the pressure affected his ears and breathing) and he hated being bundled up to protect him from the biting cold wind, but he was also very impressed by the view and enjoyed walking through the woods (where we were sheltered from the winds). We spent about an hour or so walking the paths with Evan in the stroller Grandma and Grandpa had bought for the grandkids or being held by one of us.  It was cold, but beautiful.  We stopped in at a gift shop and cafe on the way back to the car to warm up and let Evan run around for a while.  

We had dinner at Aunt Jodi and Uncle James's house, and Evan enjoyed their big dog, Seldom. Later that evening, Evan went home with Grandma and mom and dad went to a movie with Grandpa and Jodi and James.

Just before leaving for home, we made an important discovery.  We were looking at a photo we'd taken at breakfast on Tuesday. In the picture, Evan had a big wide-mouthed grin, and Lee noticed that he had two extra teeth! His upper canines had come in, and we hadn't noticed yet. (Evan had been a bit more cranky than usual and had been up in the middle of the night a couple of times, but we'd thought it was insecurity over the plane trips and being away from home.) Congratulations, Evan!

Following the holidays, we were hoping to have a very relaxed, un-hurried January: a chance to settle in to Mom's work schedule and Evan's day care schedule. For the most part, that's exactly how it seemed to us when we got home. No major travel, no major visits from others: just normal work schedules.

We did have one very nice visit, though: Kathryn Kuhn (Kristin's friend from Wisconsin) came to visit one weekend with her son Josh (four years old) and daughter Clare (ten months old). We visited the Kohl Children's Museum in Wilmette and had a great time, and Kathryn and kids stayed overnight before returning home to Wisconsin and enjoyed playing in the tent in our family room.

Evan has pretty much settled into a new nap schedule: only one nap a day, starting around noon and lasting a couple of hours at least. Then he's awake again until bedtime around 7 or 7:30pm. He's handling it surprisingly well: not very grumpy at all, even late in the evening. We're thrilled to see him with such energy!

A few days ago, we noticed that Evan's lower canines are starting to come in. He's been up in the middle of the night again a few times. (He's truly inconsolable at these times, unfortunately, despite OraGel and children's Advil, but it only lasts a couple of hours at most.) Today Evan woke from his nap clearly suffering from teething pain, and he's been a bit grumpy throughout the afternoon. It'll be nice when these last baby teeth come in and he's finish teething for a while! Despite the teething issues, Evan's still been extraordinarily happy and fun to be around. He's enjoying being home in a normal schedule now with both Mom and Dad around a lot of the time.