I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller...

This January, thinking that 3 was about the right age to start introducing Evelyn to some sports fundamentals, I signed her up for a 5-week basketball "clinic" through our YMCA.  For some reason, when I saw the information for a "clinic" for 3-4 year olds, I thought it would be 5 weeks of dribbling, passing, shooting, defense... you know, basic basketball stuff.  About a week before the "clinic" started, I got an e-mail from the coach, letting the parents know that there would be 2 weeks of "practice" followed by 3 weeks of "games."  Also included in this e-mail was our game schedule and picture order form.  Are you kidding me??  Games for 3-4 year olds??  And team pictures??  Yep.  Silly me for being so naive.

 

Evelyn was one of 2, 3-year olds on her team - the others were 4 (most of them were almost 5, really).  This was Evelyn's first exposure to basketball (other than passing a ball back and forth in the back yard) and most of the other kids had played before and also had older siblings.  Needless to say, even though each session was only 45 minutes, we were lucky to get 15-20 minutes of good participation out of her.

 

However, I have to commend her coach, Tim.  He was wonderful.  He did a great job of spending a little extra time and attention with Evelyn, passing the ball with her one-on-one, and while the older kids were shooting, lifting her up to get closer to the basket, and even dunking a few times.  I cannot say enough wonderful things about Coach Tim.

 

Despite the fact that  this was probably a little over her head, she loved going to basketball each week and would talk about it for days afterwards.  Here she is in their final "game," getting a little help from Coach Tim.

 

 

http://youtu.be/FsVya6ziUs4

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10-11 months

It looks like I've fallen behind!  Time to play catch-up.

 

At 10 months, Jeanie finally figured out how to crawl on hands and knees and it quickly became her primary mode of getting around.

 

By 11 months, Jeanie has figured out how to pull herself up to standing and can frequently be caught cruising around the furniture.  I even caught her pushing one of our kitchen chairs across the floor (in an effort to get as close to big sissy as possible!)  She seems to understand when you tell her no (probably better than her sister does at this point).  She's also started mimicking sounds here and there (da, ba, ma, etc.)  Of course, her favorite thing to do is drop her cup and say "Uh-oh."  She's also found high gear when it comes to crawling.  In addition to that, she's a master stair climber.  This girl continues to be on the move, and I'm afraid that Ethan's prediction ("She'll be walking by her first birthday.") just might come true.

(We've been working on holding up her finger to indicate "1" in preparation for her big birthday next month!)

The Holiday Season

The holiday season is in full swing at our house.  Evelyn must have heard the phrase on the radio (because we all know she doesn't watch any TV, so couldn't have heard it there), so her favorite thing to say these days is "It's the holiday season!"

 

Last weekend, we got our Christmas tree (no fake ones for this Northwest girl!) and quickly got it up and decorated.  Of course, we had a little help.

As soon as Evelyn finished decorating the tree (or the 2 square feet right in front of her), she decided she needed to read a story to the tree.

Jeanie got in on the action as well.

Last night, Santa made a special stop in Waukee to visit all the girls and boys.  Ethan must have been a really good boy this year, because he got a special call from Santa who asked him if he would help during his visit.  Never one to pass up the opportunity to wear an elf costume, Ethan was more than happy to help out.  So, I bundled up the girls and braved the hour-long wait in line by myself so we could visit with the big guy in red.  In line, I asked Evelyn what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas.  Her response, "A candy cane."  So I asked, "Don't you want him to bring you a toy?"  And she said, "No, I have toys at home."  Her daddy was so proud.

 

 

Evelyn the Patriot

Every morning on the way to "school," Evelyn and I drive by a HUGE American flag.  When it's not flying, she asks "Mommy, where's my big flag?"  And when it is flying, she salutes and says...

 

9 months!

Yesterday, our Jeanie was 9 months old.  Yikes!  Every month it amazes me how quickly the time is going by.  Its hard to believe that she's this close to being a year old!  As of Monday, here are her stats:

 

Height: 30.5 in (99th %)

Weight: 26 lbs 4 oz (99th %)

 

Jeanie is definitely not the snuggler Evelyn was.  Ethan and I were remembering the other night how Evelyn would be perfectly content to sit and cuddle after her nighttime bottle.  Jeanie, not so much.  This girl wants to move!  She's had a number of bumps and bruises from daycare recently - we've been told that she wants to be in the middle of all the action, doing everything the older kids are doing.  She's got 3 teeth and you can see the 4th, just waiting to make it's appearance at the right moment.  She has been a slobbering mess lately!  I caught her at daycare holding her own bottle a couple weeks ago.  Just tonight, she was able to hold and drink out of her first sippy cup!  She's not quite crawling, but has the army crawl down pat and has recently been getting up on all fours, rocking back and forth like crazy.  Like I said, this girl wants to move!

Rub-A-Dub-Dub...

...Happy girl in the tub!

 

 

Happy Halloween!!

I still don't understand why we Trick or Treat the night before Halloween (Beggars' Night) out here, but it is what it is.  Evelyn was TOTALLY in to Halloween this year.  I think it started around July when she informed me that she wanted to be a witch for Halloween.  Not just any witch, a purple witch.  Right then and there, we called our seamstress, Bama, and put in our order.  Once again, Bama amazed.

 

Last year, we were lucky to make it to maybe 6 houses.  This year, we headed up 2 blocks on one side of the street, came back down the other side, then turned and went up and down another block!  At that point, Evelyn saw Daddy handing out candy and wanted to get "Daddy's treats", so it was time to head home.  She did an awesome job... needed a little coaching at the first few houses, but then really got the hang of it and went up to the remaining doors by herself, like she'd been doing it for years.  After each house, she said "Another one house Mommy," and off we went.

 

Our purple witch, getting ready to head out. 

A purple witch and a black cat. 

A quick family photo courtesy of our dear friend Sara. 

Evelyn with her favorite baby-sitter, Erica.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!