The Hat Lady Who Doesn't Sleep

So first off, our little lady has amassed quite the hat collection in her few months of life.  Just in case you haven't been paying close attention, let's review some of our favorites. 

We have the bear hat, beloved gift from some of Dave's sweet high-school girls.

There's the classic pink hat, simple and understated (also comes in white and paler pink).

Here we have one of several awesome hand-crafted winter hats (this particular hat comes courtesy of one Prissy Voigt, but we also have designs from Mol Tran and Marcia Williams).

When our girl is feeling hipster-Patagonia, she dons this gift from Aunt MC.

And when she is feeling more like a Wild Thing (as in Where the Wild Things Are), she prefers this beauty from Jim Miller.

Last, but not least, she donned this hand-me-down hat from her cousins last week on a warm-weather day.  She looks ready to join right in with the candlestick-makers in Colonial Williamsburg, right?

Note that the second part of this blog post reads "who doesn't sleep."  We have been waging Sleep Wars, Part II, this week in the Berry household.  (Sleep Wars, Part I, came a couple weeks ago when our sweet baby refused to nap during the day for three days straight.  The girl was awake for 8-10 hours straight multiple days in a row before she finally caved.)  

This time around, Ev has decided to abandon the last couple months of sleeping solidly for stretches of 5 or 6 or 8 hours straight, waking only to eat and then returning to her sweet slumber for another few hours.  No, no, she appears to have decided that her parents were resting on their laurels and needed a little wake-up call (no pun intended), and has begun to wake every hour or so throughout the night.  The kicker is that she is not in pain, is not hungry, and does not need a diaper change, but rather just wants our company, it seems, and is refusing to sleep without it.  Strong will, anyone?  

Now we aren't big "cry-it-out" adherents, mind you, but we did (accidentally) have a blissful stretch of sleep last night.  After a busy day of wedding showers and family time, we came home, put Ev to bed, and then collapsed, even though Ev's bellows were echoing loudly from her room.  We aren't sure how long she held out, but we both woke up four hours later or so, feeling much refreshed, with a sweet snoozing baby in the other room.  So who knows what will happen next?  Please say a prayer for all three of us, and stay tuned for the spring hat collection, too:)

Fourth Quarter, Here We Come

So our glorious spring break has come to a close...Dave is back at school, and Ev and I are on our own once more.  On our hike in the park yesterday, Dave said that he figured the three of us had walked close to 40 miles over the course of the week--pretty good for an almost-five-month-old and her parents!  Speaking of walking in the park, Evelyn rode in the Ergo on Dave's back for the first time; normally, we wear her on the front, but we decided to spice things up and try a back ride instead.  She seemed to really like having a different vantage point, and she looks really cute on Dave's back with only her head and feet visible:)

Ev also embraced the role of domestic diva over spring break, it appears; she really got into sitting in her bumbo chair on the kitchen counter and orchestrating the goings-on. 

Dave laughed when he noticed her zero in on the Real Simple on the counter...

...tearing herself away from the magazine only to inspect the dough hook her mama had just used to mix up some pizza dough.

Starting today, Dave will be rehearsing his kids for the spring play, and doing all the million other things that go along with the fourth quarter in a high school, so he is about to be crazy busy, in a full-speed sprint until May.  Ev and I, on the other hand, will be living a little bit slower (I hope), and doing our best to soak up the Nashville spring.  Yay for wildflowers in the park, sunshine, and spring hats! (Note the lovely one Ev is modeling in the picture below; it is a hand-me-down from her cousins Piper and Lily, and is vaguely reminiscent of colonial Williamsburg, I think.) 

Spring Break!

Thank goodness for spring break!  Ev and I have Dave to ourselves for a whole glorious week, and we are LOVING it.  So far, we've had lazy mornings, lots of cuddles, and long hikes in the park across the street....

Overheard in our house yesterday:  "It's not a big deal if she rubs rice cereal in her eyes, is it?"

Also, ants have recently invaded our living space upstairs, and seem to be sneaking in near the door to our outside deck.  Dave has made it his mission to wage war against these creatures, and has spent time the last few days crawling around on his hands and knees looking for ant enemies to crush.  Last night, I'm pretty sure I heard him mutter, "Come to me, leetle ant monsters, mwah-ha-ha."  Love it.

A Day in the Life

With Evelyn on the scene, I often get to the end of a day and marvel at what we spent our hours doing. 

Things like staring at a spiky yellow ball...

...pausing only to wonder why Mama is holding that camera again.

Things like drooling as much as possible on all available surfaces, and looking precious all the while.

Things like playing with the plastic "hex-a-pus" (instead of octopus; get it?) on the ocean playmat.

Before Ev arrived, I didn't devote too much thought to what exactly staying at home with her during these early months might look like; I certainly never imagined that bouncy chairs, spiky balls, drool, and plastic hex-a-puses would play such a major role, but I love it!  What a gift these days are!

And of course, at the end of a long day of playing, the best way to unwind before bed is to eat a snack with Daddy.... 

(For those keeping score, both avocados and rice cereal go on the "like" list so far:))

Evelyn's New Trick

I don't know much about infant development timelines, and eating solid food is no exception.  Babies certainly don't need anything but breastmilk for the first six months as far as nourishment is concerned, and some folks recommend waiting until the 6-month-mark to introduce solids.  Others suggest a broader window of 4-6 months, based on the baby's readiness, of course.  Evelyn's pediatrician happens to fall into the 4-6 month camp and is all about doing whatever works best for you and your baby, a philosophy which we definitely embrace ourselves.

Now again, I'm no expert, but little 4-month-old Evelyn has certainly seemed highly interested in food and eating over the past couple weeks.  She watches intently when we eat, tries to grab any utensils or plates or morsels within reach, and sometimes even mimics us by opening her mouth wide like a little baby bird waiting for a worm.  So on a whim, I picked up a ripe avocado during my weekly grocery trip and brought it home.  On Wednesday, Ev's daddy happened to be home at lunchtime (his school is doing exams this week and he has had a weird schedule), and we decided to give this eating thing a try just to see what Ev thought.  So we plopped her down in her Bumpo chair and put a bib on her, and Dave scooped a little avocado on his finger and offered it to her.  After a couple misfires, Ev went to town on that avocado like she'd been eating solids her whole life.

Note her anticipatory gaze in this picture.  Also note that like any good baby eater, she has managed to smear plenty of avocado juice on her cute monogrammed bib (courtesy of godmother Anna:)).

Crazy how she seems to just know what to do.  Aren't babies amazing?

Mmmmm...avocado....

Where has this been all my life?

We are definitely taking this food thing slow; Ev is still nursing like a champ, and I want her to keep that up for sure.  But trying a little bit of real food this week was such fun for all three of us, and Ev seemed to totally enjoy herself.  She appears to like both the act of eating and the taste of avocado so far; stay tuned and we'll see what she might try next in the weeks to come....