Evan's First Concert

Evan's First Concert from Jennifer Campbell Ling on Vimeo.

This video was taken at Evan's first concert; The Brian Waite Band playing in Kirkland for their summer concert series. He LOVED it, he danced for almost the entire hour.

More pictures from our trip to the south

Evan Turns Two!

We celebrated Evan's 2nd birthday in Georgia and spent a lot of quality time with our family and friends during our two weeks there. I got the chance to see two friends I had not seen in 10 years and Evan loved spending time with his grandparents, aunts, cousins and uncles. This birthday was neat because Evan was aware of all the things associated with birthdays and he is still talking about cake (see the awesome cake his Gram made below), blowing out candles and presents! His 2nd birthday gifts included a train table with a Thomas the Train set and a John Deere front loader!

Haymaking!

We've spent a lot of time at Kristoferson Farm in the last month spending time with family and hanging out while the family was baling hay. Evan and I had a ball exploring (slugs, birds, flowers, rabbits) while everyone else was working hard (sorry guys, we'll put Evan to work soon enough and I will start pulling my weight!). He and I hiked around the property while he was in a backpack on my back. As we observed everyone in the process of raking, tetting and baling Evan got the haymaking lingo down and now uses those terms when he plays. For a little boy obsessed with trucks and tractors he is in his element there!

Highlights of the last 3 Months

The last three months have flown by, I apologize to the two people that read this blog... Evan and I have spent the greater part of the last few months sick or recovering from sinus surgery (me, not Evan thankfully). We are on the tail end of a cold right now and fortunately it is on its way out; I cannot wait for this extended cold season to go away! We also had a fun-filled visit from Evan's Gram and Grandpa which included climbing down to Snoqualmie Falls and visiting the Cougar Mountain Zoo. And Evan is still talking about the Easter egg hunt we put together for him at the farm.

Evan turned 23 months old today. He's becoming more independent as we enter the 2's. He surprises us everyday with everything he's learning, it's amazing to realize just how much they absorb (especially when they repeat words you don't want them to and in exactly the right context!). He continues to love music and just learned every verse to 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' (which is just about the cutest thing I have ever heard). He does a good job of entertaining himself at times but needs much more stimulation now or he gets antsy. To combat this issue I enrolled him in Gymboree as a trial a few months ago. We are now doing classes three days each week - Art, Music and Play & Learn at Gymboree. He loves it and even with all of that I still struggle to keep him occupied! His personality is really developing as well and he says some of the cutest things. My favorites are: 'sure' (when you ask him if he wants something in particular), 'let's go' (which he says in the most excited voice) and 'show mommy/daddy' (he says this about 20 times each day).

Let Me Do It!

Evan just uttered his first four word phrase and wouldn't you know it was "Let me do it!". Here he is with his Dad earlier this evening while Aaron took him for a walk. I have been sick and house bound for over a week so Aaron has been taking him out for walks every evening when he gets home. Poor child is bored out of his mind!

No Longer a Teen

Evan turned 20 months last week...he is no longer in his teen-months. It seems like his next birthday is just around the corner now. We had a rough February when he had four molars coming in all at one time, he was not a happy kid. Now he is back to his previous happy ways. We bought him a starter Thomas the Train set and he is loving it. He is also really into cars and trucks (he loves to make engine noises) and attempting to play sports with whatever happens to be around him (i.e. using his drum stick to hit a tennis ball and yelling 'golf!'). He is getting into imaginative play quite a lot, he likes to play trains with Elmo or his monkey and bear (which he always says together as one word 'monkeybear') while they sit across from him at the table. He gives his stuffed animals water, snacks and has them play soccer. He even tells them 'good job' when they kick the ball! He is also getting more interactive with his friends so the play dates we have been having since he was born with my girlfriends' children are finally fun for him and not just me! The pictures above are of Evan with his friend Jack (they just got up from their naps so their hair was especially wild). Jack is only 7 months older than Evan but as you can see he is a head taller (sorry Evan you are genetically destined to be a short guy...).