Evan is 10 months!

It is hard to believe we have a 10 month old -- I keep telling people I am a new mom -- not sure when that label will not apply to me but it all still seems new. Evan is growing up so much right now, the latest is that he is able to stand for brief spells. It seems that he catches himself off guard when he realizes he is standing on his own then he promptly sits down.

Things are going well here as Evan has been 100% healthy for weeks! His funniest moment last week may have been the discovery of toilet paper, or more precisely how to take it off the roll. He now has his first favorite item -- a hand-me-down plush lion rattle. I almost put it in the donation pile thinking he did not like it. They sleep together now and play in the crib before mom or dad comes in to get him.

Evan is more interested in food than ever and this is good news as I am told by our neighbor from Finland who teaches nursing. She says that is when they can begin to sleep even longer. Evan goes 7-8 hours now, sounds good but that means I am up at 3 AM, and often cannot get back to sleep until 5 AM. So seeing a clean tray and no food in the bib (he is so good with his hands) is music to my eyes!

After seeing how popular the Lakeshore Learning toys are at Lauren's house I decided to splurge and get him an early birthday gift. Getting just one item was hard but the What's Inside Soft Feely Box is so fun for him. He reaches inside and pull one of the 10 items out so it is always a suprprise but the airplane and ball are definately top items -- see the video of Evan below.

We went to Bend last weekend to see Mike's family as one of his younger twin brother's (Danny) moved to Arizona a couple days ago to be in the Border Patrol. Mike's mom says she has never seen such a placid baby. Mike went shooting with the twins and his dad. I got to go shopping for new running shoes. The weather was amazing with pure sun and up to 60 degrees even on the mountain passes. Of course we pulled over to hike on Black Butte (just west of Sisters, Oregon) both coming and going as there is hardly any snow.

I am about to become an Aunt for the second time as Macie is due to arrive on Febrary 12! We send Beth our best wishes for a safe birth. And of course we send David and Chloe, the support crew, our love as well.

Mike is going to Washington DC again during the 2nd week of March for a national project he is on. So my mom, before I even said I was sure I needed her up here, booked a flight. This will be so nice, she is a super grandma to Evan (and mom too). We will have lots of fun for sure and Evan will get lots of love and snuggles.

The weather has been nice here so I got out for biking in the woods this week. My friend, Cherie, who lives in Bend and has twin 7 months old boys just signed up for an Iron Man competition in November down in Arizona (just in case you are not sure, this is a 2 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26 mile marathon -- all in a row), now that is really brave. She had done some in the mid-90s and did well. Mike is out riding now as Sunday is his day. Evan is napping -- over two hours now as yesterday the naps were too short.

I have two videos to share from this week -- one of the touchy feely box and Fran (the master nanny) is with us though not in view. The second is from yesterday when Evan had been playing quietly alone with a book for 20 minutes, I only caught the last of that. Thanks for stopping by!