Closing Time

The last few weeks have been a blur. A busy, busy blur.

As Nick mentioned for Flashback Friday, his first year of law school is officially OVER.

We feel tired, relieved, excited, amazed, and very blessed to have finished our first year in one piece.

Nick is a rockstar. He studied so hard, so much, and sacrificed for us over and over throughout this year of school. There were days I just begged him to stay a little bit longer with me before he went to study or to just forgo studying altogether so that Evie could see him.

All in all, he balanced everything like a trapeze artist. Sometimes I'm amazed he's still alive after pushing himself to the limit for such a long time. 

He'd come home from a terribly long day at school and offer to come to the park with Evster and me. He'd be attentive and energetic despite how exhausted I know he felt. 

That's dedication. At least that's how Evie and I see it.

And now for Evie.

She is trying to shake off the baby in her, but her stubborn mom is fighting it equally hard. 

Her hair is getting curlier.

Her faces more expressive.

She is discovering new toys daily.

*I have a spatula in my diaper bag at all times. It is the cure-all toy at the moment.

See? Curlier, I tell you.

She is pulling herself up on everything, and can even stand unassisted for about 4 seconds.

She is still so independent. I tried to take her temperature the other day to decipher between teething and a cold. Ev insisted on holding it in her mouth by herself. Not sure the reading was accurate, but its the best I could do. Now she loves scooting around with the thermometer in her hand.

She is still obsessed with her reading chair. Now that she can climb, she'll climb and climb up and down. 

We had to document this since it NEVER happens. Evie will not fall asleep in either of our arms ever. We have taught her to sleep in her bed and that's how she does it. When she's tired, we lay her down and she soothes herself to sleep (with blankie). The other day she had a (massive) meltdown and Nick was rocking her and she just fell asleep! It was so cute. I can't lie, I was a little jealous Nick got to snuggle with a sleepy Evie. I haven't done that since she was a newborn.

She still crawls occasionally:

Loves brushing her teeth. She even has the motion down right. We brush her teeth every night and she's usually pretty cooperative until we want to take the toothbrush away. Then it gets a little dicey. 

Lately when I say "Smile!" she will do this:

Or this:

Its been so fun to relax for a day or two before heading up to Yakima. Nick has fished, played basketball, and vegged a tiny bit. I planned a party, hung out in Portland, and tried to pump up my running. I'm going to miss our little apartment, but my parent's pool is calling my name...

I have a list of goals and projects to do this summer. Hopefully I can accomplish them all, or at least most of them. One is learning how to use our camera. I'm not really into photography, but I can appreciate a good picture and since I spend the most time with Evie, I'd like to at least learn how to use our nice camera. I practiced at playgroup the other day. Most of them are terrible, but it was still fun to take pictures of such cute kids.

Bonjour, summer!