Merry Christmas!

We all enjoyed a fun visit in Michigan for the holiday. Evan loved exploring Grandma & Grandpa's house, playing with the animals and getting tons of attention. While there, he mastered coming down the stairs and really gained his confidence cruising on their furniture and carpet - he now is officially walking! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5C_RN5TZgA

Shoeing, Swimming and Santa

Evan went on his first snow shoe yesterday, and it was absolutely gorgeous out! Then we took him to visit Santa, which he totally loved, as you can see. Oddly, right after he cheered right up and "got the Led out" while playing with tupperware: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GArFea-gPMY. Today, there was swimming and lunch out with lots of our friends - we sure are a busy and happy bunch!

Snow!

We finally have snow! It's beautiful here in the foothills, and it's beginning to feel like Christmas. It's hard for Evan to move in his full suit, but he enjoyed watching Lucy play. Also, a video clip of post-birthday balloon fun - by Grandmother request.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANI12lZD4hs

More Birthday

We had such a fun party for Evan, and were lucky enough to celebrate with lots of family and friends that have been such a huge part of his first year of life! He wasn't much into the cake, but ate the berries out of it and was completely spoiled by everyone.

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Evan had a wonderful birthday - 1 whole year old! We played at the Children's Museum, and Evan created his first work of art...with only minimal amounts of paint ingested. We opened some presents and had dinner out, a perfect birthday celebration. We can't wait for the big party on Saturday!

The End of Evan's First Year...

This is such a reflective time, remembering just a year ago when we were anxiously awaiting Evan's arrival. It's amazing to see what a character he's become and how much he's changed!

First Steps!!!

Just as I say we're not anxious for walking, Evan took his first steps! He's still wobbly, so who knows if actual walking is in the near future - but it's pretty amazing to see him try. Managed to catch a few of them on camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQh9i1ZK1kE

Entertaining Baby

Evan started saying "hi!" while waving the other day! He's almost completely converted to a normal crawl rather than the army, and is standing on his own better every day. We're still in no hurry for him to actually walk... Here's a clip of him signing "all done" and doing his funny "aahhh" after drinking water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7-KAwiVjX4

Copy Cat

We had a great time with our family in town, Evan is quite the little mimic lately! He copies nearly anything we do, and his signing repertoire is growing daily. He loves getting into absolutely everything, and standing briefly with no hands. He's gotten really communicative and physically active in the past couple of weeks - our little chatterbox!

First Halloween

Evan had so many fun Halloween activities this week! We went to "Boo at the Zoo", had a dress-up playgroup, a group hike and went trick-or-treating at dad's office. And we still have a costume birthday party to go to...good thing we have 2 costumes!

Berry Picking!

It doesn't seem possible that's it's nearly Halloween, and there are lots of great berries to be picked - but we had a great time today filling our bellies & baskets! Evan ate tons of them, and stained his sweater (and mom's) red. Yummy...

Stairs

Our theme for the past couple of days! Evan learned how to crawl up them, and mom & friends huffed up and down Red Rocks (70 rows, 3 times) - with a 2 mile hike "cool down". Evan also practiced picking out a lovely zin...

This Is How I Roll

*UPDATE* - He's much faster in just 48 hours...here's a new clip!
He loves to go out to eat, so we've been doing lots of that lately - we figure there's only so long before he wants to terrorize the restaurant and we'd better take advantage of this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8K6vjWA7iY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9x4yuFveFw

Haystack Mountain Goat Farm

We went on a fun "fieldtrip" with friends to a goat farm. Almost all of the babies had fun petting the goats, and Evan called them "dogs"...

Trips & Tricks

A couple of weeks ago, the 3 of us stayed up in the mountains for a short getaway. It was beautiful and relaxing, as always! Mom left Evan overnight for the first time to go to CA, and Dad took him all over the place - even the grand opening of our friends wine store! Evan is doing great, he's been playing "peek a boo" and blowing kisses - we're working on "high five".

More Hiking

We have 30+ miles of private hiking trails at our new house...dreamy! Evan & mom are still hiking with friends during the week, but we've also been taking advantage of our new backyard as a family (and letting dad schlep all that extra weight) - needless to say, we're not missing city life much yet! Evan also got a sweet new "walking wagon" that he loves almost as much as waving to everyone. He says mama, dada, dog & cat regularly now...although most animals are grouped into the "dog" category :)

Baby in a Box

Helping dad out in the garage! New in the last couple of weeks...Evan has 5 teeth, is army crawling quickly, has signed "dog" a few times, and seems to be trying to say a few words (cat & dog, mostly...shows what interests him!).