July 6, 2003
The last weekend in June we went to St. Loius to see Lee's family. We spent a lot of time at Lee's
Aunt Anne's and Uncle David's house, which was great for Evan because she has a fountain on her back patio, and
she had washed up all the cars and trucks her son Alex used to play with. Of course, Evan had a car
wash going in no time.
Friday
evening we all had dinner at Aunt Anne's, followed by another birthday
celebration for Evan, including an ice cream cake. We kept Evan
up very late that evening, but he enjoyed the cake and ice cream before
sacking out in his playpen in Alex's old bedroom.
On Saturday morning, we visited Faust Park on the far west side
of the city. The park had some nice gardens, a butterfly house, a set of
historic houses and buildings, and--best of all--a fully operational
historic carousel in an air-conditioned pavilion!
Lee took Evan in the swimming pool at the hotel Saturday afternoon,
along with Nana (Lee's mom), which was really fun. It took Evan a long time to
remember that pools were ok (thinking back to our trip to Phoenix in
February), but after Nana and Daddy played with him for a while in the
whirlpool (which was turned off and so was just a bit warmer than the bug
pool), Evan was comfortable with standing on the steps and playing with
his plastic cups. Toward the end of the afternoon Daddy was throwing the cups
across the pool and then carrying Evan across to get them, and he thought that was great.
We were especially happy to have a chance for Evan to visit with
his Great-grandma Priestley. Grandma Priestley gave Evan a large frog
puppet that makes "ribbit" sounds that kept Evan company in the
car and in his bed throughout the whole weekend.
Evan still enjoys daycare a lot. They play in the backyard in the afternoons, and sometimes
Kristin has quite a time convincing him to come home! Mary, the day care director, talks a lot
about Evan's antics with his buddies, Marisa and Kyle. The other day they joined the older kids
playing croquet, but since they couldn't really use the mallets, they just had fun throwing the balls
around and chasing them. Evan is learning a lot from the other kids, too. He's just started trying to
jump, for example. He squats down like he's about to jump, and then he stands up very fast and
laughs. (He doesn't quite get the part about actually jumping--just the "getting ready to jump"
part.) He also has learned how to climb up on chairs (grown-up chairs) and is starting to walk
down stairs (hanging onto the banister) instead of sliding down on his tummy. This kind of worries
Lee, since he's not really tall enough to do it safely.
He's also enjoying the summer a lot. The back yard has been completely transformed into play
land. We have a wading pool, a water table, a playhouse, a sandbox and a swing, as well as
various balls and other toys. Evan loves playing in the water, and especially mixing the water with
sand. He'll gladly play by himself out there for over an hour, which gives his parents a nice
chance to sit in the back yard with a glass of tea and a good book (we're both reading Harry
Potter right now). He also enjoys the Fisher Price kitchen that we have in our basement. (He
loves to "cook".)
On the fourth of July we just enjoyed a lazy day at home, which all three of us haven't gotten to
do for quite a while! In the evening we went to the schoolyard across the street to watch the
Palatine fireworks--from a distance. Two families from church joined us, and we made a party of
it. Evan really enjoyed the fireworks--even when a neighbor came and set off a bunch of (illegal)
fireworks very near where we were sitting. He didn't mind the noise. After many of the fireworks
he would yell "boom" and clap his hands. He was very tired by the time we got to bed at 10:00,
which probably led to him tripping and cutting his lip just as the fireworks display was ending.
One thing we've really enjoyed as a family this spring and summer is visiting the Chicago
Botanical garden. The gardens are just beautiful, and always changing. When we went in May,
the apple trees around the lake were blooming; yesterday, the roses were blooming, and they
smelled great. Evan loves the many fountains throughout the gardens, many with falling water.
He loves to stick his hands in and throw in rocks and pennies. There is also a fantastic model
train exhibit, which we went to yesterday. He really enjoyed the trains, but what captured his
attention was a diorama of a parade on "main street, USA." We finally decided that he was thrilled
to find someone else who lines up trucks the way he does (compulsively).
It is fun to hear Evan beginning to talk, and we all enjoy looking at books together. He'll sit and
look through his picture books by himself or with us for a long time, and point at things and try to
name them. His favorite, of course, is the big truck book. Sometimes he tells us stories about the
books, but we can't understand what he's saying yet. The other night Kristin was reading him the
story "Goodnight Moon," and when we got to the part about the old lady who says "hush," he said
"huuu!" He's also learning to roar, and loves to come to the pages with lions or tigers on them.
One night Evan was in the bath tub and he suddenly took the fish net--which has been in the tub
with him for months but never received much attention--and caught the fish, then went after the
cups and snail and frog, too. Mom was delighted to see him do something he hadn't done before.
We just love watching Evan just pick up and do something new like that, just like it's no big deal.
He just keeps learning new things and new words, and it's so wonderful to be able to watch him
grow and see the world through his eyes.
