Ravioli Drumset

I know a video of a kid eating is not very exciting....but this is like capturing an exotic wild animal on film. This is Evan, eating his second plate of ravioli at 8:40pm tonight. He picked the can out of the pantry and handed it to me (I thought he was just playing around). After handing me the can, he pulled his high chair into the kitchen (he doesn't really like sitting in his high chair). I guess he wasn't joking! Ironically, this is all after just getting a bath (so much for a clean kid). His rhythm isn't too bad either.



Evan is always the best helper cleaning up...I was finally able to get him to say "night, night".

Our Little Newsie!

Here are the pics Evan's daycare took the other week. They dressed all the kids up in these vintage-style outfits. He just needs a paper route now!!






Here was Evan last year when they took similar pictures....oh what a difference a year makes!! Note the red eyes from crying (he was probably trying to say...."Get me out of this box")!! He was about 16 pounds in this pic...he still hovering in the very low 20's now (so he's not that much bigger now than he was in this old pic).

Get Your Motor Runnin' (Not Yet)

Poor Evan has trouble fitting on toys that are supposed to be for his age range. This was one of his presents from a co-worker of ours...as you can see it's huge for him. He can manage to get himself on and off, but can barely touch the floor.

Stand Still Will Ya!

Is there some switch that goes off with a 2-year old that makes them not want to stand still for one second for a picture?? I was trying to get a pic of Evan with his Gator shirt on (in anticipation of the Florida-Tennessee game on Saturday).

Nice nose pick!


The look he gave me after swatting the camera away:

Our Pooh-crack Baby!

Evan has never been one to get sucked into watching television or videos...until recently. The boy has become a Pooh-addict! We're not sure where it came from....possibly because there are Pooh wall stickers in his daycare? We now have our DVR set to tape every epsiode of "My Friends Tigger & Pooh" on the Disney channel. If there is a t.v. on in the house, it must have Pooh on (but of course not Dad's big screen t.v.).

All this has come about at the same time that Evan is starting to eat really well. When we pick him up, he is getting noticeably heavier. When putting him to bed the other night I noticed that his legs are getting longer...he's starting to leave that baby-look behind...sort of sad, though. His vocabulary is still pretty limited our running tally is:

"ights" = outside
"ot" = hot
"Pooh" = um, yeah, no definition needed there
"bye bye" (said with an accent like Cartman from South Park)
"ba" = Max, Sadie, bottle and ball (little confusing)
"cook-cook" = cookie
"caca" = cracker
"va-va" = water
"go"
"tee-tee" = thank you
"noooo"
"ooooh"
"oh" (said with sort of an Andrew Dice Clay inflection for those of you who remember who he was)
"mine"
"mah" = more
"mama" (finally)
"dada"
He also has a mumbled word that starts with a "tee" sound that we figured out was "trash". He loves throwing things away in the trash can!

What Does This Switch Do?

Evan is a smart kid...I should say, a sneaky smart kid (even more dangerous). I caught him in his room standing on top of a little end table, flipping the light switches. For some reason, he didn't want to wear shorts that afternoon.

Fall Collage

Mmmm....Chewy Chips Ahoy!

We now have visual proof that Evan will eat a cookie....Chewy Chips Ahoy to be exact. He's particular about the cookie though; he only eats it as far down as he is holding it...so he leaves little cookie nibs behind.

Up until now, we couldn't get him to eat the typical bad things kids eat (cookies, candy, etc...). We just need to keep putting calories in him however we can.

Playing in the Pool

We had a pool put in this year...as you can see...it's HUGE! Max thinks it's his big drinking bowl! Evan wasn't too thrilled with it.

Jail and Bail

The March of Dimes Jail and Bail went as well as expected today. We picked Evan up right before lunchtime/nap time and were ready for the worse. As soon as I get pics from the event organizers, I'll post them. Evan had fun running around the restaurant with another little boy (who was 4 months younger than him, but a lot bigger than he was). Evan started to poop out about 1pm; so we took him back to daycare to let him "sleep it off".

If you wish to donate to Evan's "Bail", here is the link: http://jailandbail.marchofdimes.com/evandorris

Evan looking at his display board with Dad:



The vids aren't very good since Evan was antsy

Training in Bisbee

In a previous post I think I mentioned how Evan and I are usually in Bisbee every weekend "training" for the annual Bisbee 1000 Stairclimb in October. Evan has been doing great in the backpack and manages to find a comfy position to sleep in during the walk! My co-worker Terri has been joining us and these are some pics she took with her camera phone.

A view of Castle Rock and the Bisbee "B":


Evan and I making it up the last set of stairs (Perley Street steps):


Evan waiting for the "magic door" to open on the van:


Is this kid too cool or what?!

Sand Art

Last Check-up with the Pulm

Today Evan had a check-up with his pulmonologist, Dr. Brown. It's great that Dr. Brown comes down to Sierra Vista now. Of course, Evan was sounding crispy thanks to one of his daycare buds having croup the week prior. We weren't expecting a huge weight gain (and we were right)...20 pounds 14 ounces (and that was him fully dressed). He measured at 30.5 inches, so I think that's a .25 inch gain in height from his 2-year old check up in July.

Despite Evan sounding horrible, Dr. Brown doesn't need to see him anyone! He wants us to continue giving him the albuterol treatments every so often when he's sounding bad.

Checking Out My Favorite Shows

Evan has been fascinated by the Playhouse Disney page on the computer. He can't quite work the mouse, but understands how to click. His current favorite TV show webpages to view are "Handy Manny", "My Friends Tigger and Pooh", and "Little Einsteins".

Evan's an Ambassador!

Today I got a call from the March of Dimes office in Tucson and was notified that Evan will be an "Ambassador" at the Sierra Vista Jail and Bail Event in September. We're not sure what all that entails (I don't think he gets a crown)! ;-)

Info on what Jail and Bail is all about:

One of the March of Dimes favorite events, Jail & Bail brings together community leaders and ordinary citizens for a common cause... fighting birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Since its inception in 1957, more than 5 million citizens have volunteered their time in the name of fun - and a good cause.

At this event, volunteer "jailbirds" serve time in a "mock jail." "Prisoners" are arraigned before a volunteer judge on trumped-up, outlandish charges, such as "reckless golf-cart driving." They are then sentenced to spend an hour in "the slammer" to raise bail in the form of donations to the March of Dimes. Nearly 500 events are held annually across the country.

Yummy Garlic Powder!

Evan has found a new "fun place" in the house...the corner cabinet and spice rack. He does a great job taking lids off....but it's the putting them back on that he hasn't mastered yet. Needless to say, the smell of garlic powder sticks on ya for a while.

Cool Dude

Ever since we can remember, Evan has never liked wearing hats or having anything on his face...it seems he's taking a liking to a pair of sunglasses. His nose is still a bit short to keep them up on his face.

Today we went to an open house being held by our church...Evan was the cutest guy there with his sunglasses on (of course). He even ate a few bites of a hot dog for me! He was the biggest helper running back an forth to the garbage can throwing away his plate and cup.

Back To His Normal Self?

Evan's cranky-pants phase at daycare has passed quickly (for now)! After experiencing the "tough love" from the teachers, he's back to his regular self! His eating habits still change from day to day...2 days ago he was a crazy-good eater; yesterday, not so much; today, a good eating day (2 servings of mixed veggies.....what's up with that)?. He's definitely doing things on his time! All of a sudden, he has started using sign language for "more". He's also able to point to an object in a book after we ask him to find it.

Bubble Machine

Evan loves bubbles!



Even Dad likes playing with the bubbles!

Extreme Cranky Pants

For the past few days at daycare, Evan has had a big personality shift (so to say). Towards the end of last week, Evan started getting very clingy and wanted to be held all the time. The teachers thought maybe he was sick since the funk has been going around; but we noticed he was fine at home.

Yesterday, he pitched such a fit that we had to pick him up at 10am. As soon as we headed out the door of the daycare, he was absolutely fine....hmmmm, there's a pattern here. This morning, he went into his usual fit when I dropped him off. I watched him via the close-circuit camera system at the front desk and saw he was an absolute cranky-pants (which is not his usual self). He got so bad, his teacher had take him away from the breakfast table since he kept flinging his head backward.

One of the head ladies at the school watched with me and we realized that Evan was totally "playing" Ms. Sara, his teacher. Whenever she walked away, he would go into a fit; when she would try to comfort him, he would quiet down (what a player)! We decided the course of action would be for Sara to totally ignore him and it worked! Sara called me later in the morning to say he was settled down. I think he realized at a certain point that it wasn't working and turned back into his regular self.

It seems Evan's behavior is the unfortunate result of him being so well liked by the teachers that they do tend to coddle him more than the other children in his class. Since he's the "little guy" they like to protect him from the bigger (but younger) kids. So now they have to be a little "tougher" on him, which is fine since he can't be out of control in class.

Here is pic of Evan doing a very bad thing...sitting on Max. For some reason, Evan tries to ride Max and Sadie and he'll chase them all over the yard and house (poor pups). With Max's hip problems, it's a big no-no, and Evan just doesn't understand.