The latest on the whole crew
Read the latest and greatest here (Page 113 of 140)
Amy, Evan, and I went to the bank this morning and Evan – of course – asked what we were doing. I told him we were going to the bank – and he said “the coin store” – and Amy and I both looked at each other and said “yeah…I guess it is the coin store”. We got a huge kick out of him putting together bank and coins, and then store. Always something…
Evan recently found his winter boots in his closet and has been wearing them all over the house, in the back yard, and anywhere he can. He puts them on himself and is very proud that he has his boots on. Yesterday we went for a walk with Colby and he decided he wanted to wear his boots – so here is one of the pictures I took with of him with his favorite new accessory.
This morning, like many mornings lately, I had to wake Evan up so we could make it to the babysitter’s house on time. He wanted nothing to do with it…so he covered his head with his blanket and kept pulling the covers over his head when I would try and take them off. Amy and I actually joke about this all the time and we both feel like he is sometimes like a teenager when trying to get him out of bed. He will let you pull the covers off, try to pull them back up, and when you keep at it – he then will just try and get his feet covered up…anything to not have to be all the way uncovered. (I find myself doing this as well).
After I finally got him up and ready for the day – he tried to barter to be able to take his blanket in the car. This is not unusual either. He is a constant barterer in the morning “blanket in the car?” or “truck in the car?” – but this morning I put my foot down…and you can see what I got. I had a laugh to myself though because my parents have a picture of me doing the same exact thing, except I was not face down in a box of blocks, I was face down on my doll’s bed. Fun times for sure. (I took these pictures with my phone which seems to need to be cleaned – so please excuse the haziness.
I have been thinking about getting Evan a fish for a few weeks and finally I decided it was time. We went to the pet store yesterday to get the tank and all the necessities (including a bubbling Volcano) and let it set over night. Today I went back to pick out a goldfish for him and Evan was quite excited. After asking Evan what he wanted to name the fish – he told us he wanted to name it “Evan” – so everyone meet Evan. 😉
Last weekend we took Evan to Arlington Park because they had a Palatine residents appreciation weekend which included free pony rides and a petting zoo. On top of that, the US Military was there (well some of them) with their planes, trucks, guns, etc. Here are a few pictures from the big day.
Evan Loves apples. We know that from his first trip to PSU where he ate an entire apple one night in the hotel room. So we continue to eat apples together and lately he has been reminding me so much of Grandad or my dad. I give him his apple and he hands it back to me and asks for the stem to be taken off – although he does not know the word stem so he usually just motions and grunts. It reminds me of my dad because when he came out to visit and help out when Evan was first born he ate an apple ever day with his lunch and the first step was always to remove the stem. I do not usually care – but maybe it is a Muller thing but skipped a generation! 🙂
Evan is at the age now where everything is really cool and interesting to him. He loves looking for worms on rainy days, and now dead worms on dry days (on the driveway). He recently had shown new interest in fish. Our friends Phil and Ginny have a pond where they have fish in it as well as a large fish tank in their house that Evan loves to look at.
Yesterday we took him to the pet store to look at fish and he absolutely loved it. We then came home and before bedtime I read him the book “Curious George Goes to the Aquarium” where he was completely fascinated with the story and pictures of the whales, octopus, and penguins.
Perhaps when he gets a little older I will buy him his own fish for his room. (At this point I would be concerned he would either drink the water, dump it out, or take the fish out) 😉
Every morning I drive Evan to his babysitter’s house and on the way we always pass lots of cars, trucks, and trains. Evan enjoys riding in the Volvo (he calls it “the Volvo”) and we always “race” the train and cars on our way to the babysitters. We actually never really race, but anytime you have multiple cars going the same way (or a train) Evan thinks it is a race and gets excited.
On Friday I got a call from the babysitter asking me if we race in the car because that afternoon, the babysitter was driving around with Evan in the back and everyone had their windows down. At a stop light Evan said hello to the older man in the car next to him and the man said hello back. Evan then asks him if he wants to race and the older man politely said no thank you – and Evan then said “ok, bye”.
While all this was going on, the babysitter was sitting in the front seat in shock…because Evan was talking to the person next to them and asking them if they wanted to race. We all got a huge kick out of it and are curious what else Evan might say to people next to him over this summer!
The last few nights Evan has been getting back into a good bedtime routine (travel is hard on him). Each night one of us take him into his room to go to bed, he will get into bed, then tells us to “get in”. He curls up in a ball, snuggles in, and then just when I start to think “ahh this is cute” he tells me “ok, get out” and then falls asleep. It is pretty darn cute 😉
We took Evan to the Penn State Blue and White game last weekend so he could experience a Penn State game while Joe Paterno was still coaching. I went to my first Penn State game at age 3 and never thought of going anywhere else to college after experiencing Penn State. I cannot say the same about Evan, but I know he had a good time. He got to meet some of our friends from Penn State (Amy, Casey, and our friend Emily’s son Colin.)
Before the Penn State game, we flew into Buffalo so we could spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Z. Evan enjoyed playing outside on the ATV, in the sandbox, in the fort that his great-grandfather (Papa) built for him, and walking around in gravel while experiencing hills (all our terrain here in Chicago is very flat). Inside – he enjoyed playing with Play Doh for the first time, sitting at the little table and chairs, and running around the house.
All and all it was a great trip and we look forward to more fun visits. Check out the photos section for some pictures from the trip!