Evan Drew Meltzer Birthdate: 12/1/04

Evan is ready for the Marines

Evan's haircut nightmare was turning into a cross between a mullet and a bowl cut. Something had to be done. So I brought him over to a local hair cuttery and said, "Bring on the clippers." A few zips and snips later, it was done. He cried, but it wasn't terrible and he didn't squirm and carry on like before. It was quick and painless. He looks ready to enlist in the military, but I don't mind how short it is because that is all the longer we can go without cutting it again. I actually think he looks mighty cute and a hundred times better than before. It's a little hard to see the haircut in this picture, but it's an adorable shirtless shot that I just had to show off. Enjoy!

Evan loves the bath!

Evan adores bath time.

It's so much fun now that he can sit in the big tub and play.

He would sit there until his skin wrinkled like a prune if we'd let him. Dan has taken over giving the bath because I can't bend over the tub anymore. Haha. So now Evan splashes him instead of me.

Evan can eat with a spoon (sort of)

Once Evan learned to pick up his food, he hated eating by spoon. He was too excited to use his fingers to sit patiently while being spoon fed. But now, he is finally able to use the spoon himself, so he LOVES it. We're back to eating applesauce, yogurt, and even some baby food. Here's some photos of Evan using a spoon. You'll notice that he holds the spoon end in his hand and puts the handle in his mouth. He does that no matter what spoon we give him (even the loopy handled kind) and no matter how often we switch it to the right way. That's all right, he'll get the hang of it eventually. (Oh, and please don't laugh at Evan's bowl-like hairstyle. We are still trying to grow out the Haircut Disaster of January '06.)

Okay, mom, I'm ready to use my spoon!

MOM, YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG!

Phew, finally, some delicious fruit. I'll just dip it in...

.... and down the hatch it goes! Yum!

Evan's new playhouse!

Evan got a new playhouse this week! He loves it. It has a door and windows that open and close, and a stove, sink, and phone inside.

He loves to open and close the door and shutters.

But his favorite thing to do is play peekaboo with people outside the house. He runs from window to window and peeks out, and then drops down to the floor to hide. He laughs like crazy at this game. Everyone is invited to come over and play!

Evan Meltzer, Master of Walking

Evan is a walking expert now. He started out very hesitant, just doing a few steps at a time. Then he would go longer distances, but with his arms wayyy up and out for balance and his feet wide apart (see the photos in the 12/16 blog entry). Once he got more comfortable with walking, he started picking up and holding objects and walking with them. Soon afterwards he graduated to eating and drinking while he walked. Now he can also walk over or between objects on the floor (and there are many objects on the floor) without tripping and falling. Hooray for Evan! Here's a video clip of Evan walking leisurely (he also speed-walks but can't run yet). He is holding his latest obsession, the water bottle. Will he put it in the trash???? Watch to find out! (Trouble viewing our videos?? We've fixed it! Just click on the picture to start the video!)

You've waited long enough!

After being chastised by a friend in the supermarket today for not updating the blog with PHOTOS, I came home and went camera crazy. Evan has regained the majority of his cuteness despite the Haircut From Hell.... so once again we will capture his milestones on film. Here's a good shot of the hair, and this is with two weeks of growth!!

Eek. His cute smile more than makes up for it, though. Anyway, here's what Evan is up to these days.

As you know, Evan has lots and lots of toys. But these days he prefers containers of all types. Here he is playing with a little box.

He loves open it over and over to look inside.

This box is bigger and more interesting, because it's full of cookies.

Here he is, realizing that I took the cookies out while he wasn't looking.

When he does get a cookie, he likes to stash it in his wagon.

Then a day or two later, he retrieves it as a snack. Yum.

As I mentioned in the last post, Evan makes a point of handing us the remote control daily. It's his way of requesting to watch his very favorite show, Sesame Street. Here he is, mesmerized by Grover.

He also loves music, and we listen to his Raffi CDs every day. He loves to clap to his favorite songs.

Getting him to laugh is a real treat. The fake sneeze seems to work every time. Dan is using the fake sneeze to get Evan to smile big for this photo.

I took this shot to show you how my belly is progressing.

Haha. Yes, it's quite large. Evan is a mere 7 weeks away from having a little sister! He has no idea. However, he does like to point at my belly occasionally, as if to say, "What is going ON in there, Mommy?"

Overall, Evan is a wonderfully happy little kid and he is such a blast to be around. How can you not smile when you see a little boy so thrilled by little things like a balloon?

Evan's accomplishments

Since we've put the camera away for a bit until the disasterous haircut grows in, I thought it was only fair to share some of Evan's latest accomplishments (even though you can't see them).

1. He likes to sit in his red car (the big one that you can push him in) like it's a chair. He'll just sit in there and hang out. Sometimes he will take a book and read it in there. The other day Lauren parked it next to his Lego bin and he's in heaven... he just leans over the side of his car and picks up Legos to play with while "parked" in his car.

2. When he wants to watch Sesame Street, he gets the tv remote and puts it in my lap. If I don't turn it on, he takes it out of my lap and puts it back in a little bit more forcefully... like, "Come on, Mom!".

3. He loves to read on his own for long periods of time. He's done this for months. But now in addition to reading on his own, he will go get a book, hand it to me, and plop into my lap.

4. He uses a dipper or a spoon to feed himself. The dipper is made especially for babies... he uses that better than the spoon, because he often gets mixed up and holds the spoon end and dips the handle into his food.

5. He blows kisses. He'll even make a "mwah!" sound.