What four months can do...

Evan is four months old today! Hooray for our strong, good-natured, and intelligent little boy!

A professional photographer took a few photos of Evan at the hospital when he was just a wee thing. Of course, when we saw the photos a couple of weeks ago, we couldn't resist not purchasing our favorites. Here's one of those photos of Evan, taken at just 4 days old:

And here's a photo, taken just this morning, at 4 months:

My, what time can do!!!

Here are a few of the many things Evan can do now that he couldn't do 4 months ago:

• Stands up, using only our hands for balance
• Smiles big, toothless smiles
• Laughs!!
• Rolls over
• Eats his feet
• Grabs at everything within reach
• Quivers with excitement as he is reaching
• Discovers Freya, and the thrill of fingers full of fur
• Grew out of his Cocoonababy
  
• Understands games like "Throw the Pillow at Daddy's Face" that Mommy and Daddy like to play with him (and laugh when the pillow hits Daddy's face)
  
• Sucks on his fist
• Puts everything he can into his mouth
  
• Aims at and kicks swinging toys and send them flying
• Starts babbling when Mommy and Daddy are having a serious conversation
• More than doubled his birth weight (I weighed him yesterday, and he's a whopping 18.2 pounds)!
  

And a few things that haven't changed:

• Looks like an angel when he sleeps
• Looks at objects with big eyes and an 0-shaped mouth
• Loves taking a bath
• Tolerates the swing only for a few minutes
• Is calmed by music
• Loves lullabies
• Melts Mommy and Daddy's hearts

Here are the rest of the professional photos from the hospital (I took photos of the photos, so pardon if they're a little blurry):

And last but not least, here's our little boy (not so much a baby now!), enjoying the morning with his dad...

Bundle Butler

We have several nicknames for Evan. Lately, since he has discovered how great his feet are, we often see him tucked up into compact positions. He grabs his feet, and then he sucks on hands, feet, or whatever he can get his mouth on. He really is a little bundle (see photo below)! And so, we've recently begun calling him Bundle Butler.

I even made up a song for our little Bundle. It goes like this...

Bundle Butler
[To be sung, as a round, to the tune of Three Blind Mice.]

Bundle Butler
Bundle Butler

See how he rolls
See how he rolls

He is the sweetest little boy
He sees the whole world as his toy
He brings much happiness and much joy

He's Bundle Butler
Bundle Butler...

[Keep singing as a round, until you are too tired to sing anymore or Evan is too tired to listen, whichever comes first.]

Our Bundle at his best!

Scenes from the last few days...

This post is especially meant for Mark, who is in Colorado right now. He hasn't seen Evan since last Saturday morning, so I wanted to catch him up on a few of the happy moments Evan and I have had, thinking of Daddy.

First, click here to see what we did last Sunday (thank you, Kari and Jonathan, for the wonderful picnic and friendly gathering!).

Evan, surrounded by his stuffed zoo, in his new outfit (thank you, Sara!)

Playing with his new Mind Shapes (thank you, Grandpa!)

Evan didn't do this nearly enough this week!

Don't worry, Evan's hand isn't blurry like this all the time.

Evan did lots of this (smiling, that is) in the last few days.

Evan, looking in the direction of Colorado, thinking "come home, Daddy, come home!!!"

Household Toys

Evan often "helps" me cook dinner in the evenings. This includes me showing him what I am doing (chopping, slicing, tasting, etc.) while I give him various kitchen utensils to play with. His favorite is the colander...

Two Right Feet

Evan has recently discovered his feet and sometimes even prefers them over his hands! He has long toes, and he uses them to grab at things all the time. There is one toy (named Manny the Monster) that he loves to grab with his feet first and then pass to his hands.

When we give him our hands to play with or suck on, he will grab our arms with his feet. We really do have a little monkey on our hands!

...and of course, Evan has learned that feet taste good too!

ps...so far nobody has claimed to share Evan's toe, though Aunty Audrey says Tyson (he isn't genetically related to Evan) has that toe! That's good enough for me! Ahhhh...I can just see that future moment, when Evan and his "Uncey" Tyson are comparing who's toe bump is bigger!

Baby yoga

The other day I was sitting with Evan on the couch, and he kept leaning forward towards his feet. Before I knew it, he was content to sit in the yoga-like pose captured below...

Fun times with Daddy...

Mark is away at a conference this week. It's the first time father and son have been separated for more than a few hours, so it was a difficult goodbye to say. They had some very sweet times together the day before Mark left, as you can see below...

Calling all family members!!

Where does this big toe come from?

I know I have seen this toe, bent at the knuckle, on somebody's foot, but I can't remember where! Neither Mark nor I have this toe, and we are trying to figure out where it came from. So, if you share any genetic material with Evan, take a look at your big toe and tell me if it's similiar!

In France with the Bjorcks!

Our friends Jeff and Sharon came all the way from California to see us earlier this week! It was such a pleasure catching up with them and a privilege to show them around our side of France. We enjoyed each other's company immensely, and we are sad that they had to go back home. :( Thanks for coming, Jeff and Sharon (and thanks for all the treats, joe-joe's, and kitty toys too)!!!

Jeff was the principle photographer for our time together, so all of these shots are from him:

This is our best photo of Evan smiling! It's very hard to capture our sweet son's smile (pull out the camera and the smile disappears), so this is extra special.

Two smiles, amazing!

Waiting for the tram...

In the park at Vienne

Exploring ancient Roman ruins at Vienne

Evan is a happy traveller!

Sharon, Evan, and I share a happy moment.

Enjoying the gardens at park Tet d'Or

Eating lunch at Toutes les Coleurs. This is a vegetarian restaurant that we waited to try until Jeff and Sharon came (they are vegetarians too).

The food was SPECTACULAR!


Walking an ancient Roman road

Jeff and Evan, after some Karate Chops (see below)...

Jeff helped Evan discover his inner karate master, as seen in the videos below.

Evan thought this was quite a hoot, but as soon as we pulled the camera out he put on his straight face. Argh! Wish you could have seen the smiles and giggles! :)

A happy rainy day...

Our wonderful friends the Bjorcks have been visiting this week from California! We've had a fabulous time with them (to be documented soon), and it has been such a pleasure to share this corner of France with them!

Here's a little video footage (thanks, Jeff!) of fun times under a Lyonnaise thunder shower:

Adventures in Annecy

Here are a few snapshots of our time in Annecy last weekend...

I've breastfed in several creative places, but this probably tops it. We found ourselves in the middle of a very intense thunder storm, so we ran for cover in the covered driveway to an underground parking lot. Evan immediately got hungry, of course! It was a very heavy downpour, and we were soaked!

We happened to be sharing our refuge from the rain with another couple (see in background of photo). There were lots of public displays of affection coming from them, and we pretended not to notice each other's presence. I couldn't help but snap this photo, though, and think how they were on an earlier spot on the same path we're following!

Making silly faces while waiting for the rain to stop...

When the clouds cleared, we set out to explore the town.







The bum of a swan...








The next day, walking up to the chateau...

Chateau d'Annecy

Evan gets his diaper changed in a 13th century chateau...


Mark walks with a sleeping Evan to see the view...