Catching up...

Yikes! Bad Mommy. Bad blogger. I've had a devil of a time keeping up with things lately. I could make up excuses...like a conference in El Paso and general malaise...but the truth is that I just haven't been diligent enough about updating Evan's blog!

Just to catch you up...here are the photos I've taken since I last posted. Please read the captions to see what's going on. As always, click on any photo in the slideshow to enlarge or to control the speed...

Our recent redecorating...

Lately I've been struck with an extremely rare case of spring-cleaning-itis. I'm tired of all the junk that seems to accumulate around the house, and Bryan and I have been working to purge it. As such, we did a little furniture "redecorating" (we moved stuff around), and Evan was more than happy to help.

As you can see from the photos, he dusted and eventually helped Daddy shoot some pool on the table that is now in our dining area.

Now on to the closets!

The haunting...

Fun video of the tail end of Evan's trip through the house with a blanket on his head (looking vaguely ghost-like).


The haunting from Rena on Vimeo.

Evan's musical revue...

I think the videos pretty much speak for themselves even without my witty commentary. I was in the kitchen making dinner when I heard Evan in the other room singing "The Turtle Song." Fortunately I got him to sing it for the camera. Not sure what the spinning in circles was all about...

The second video is evidence that I'm a bad mother. This video has been sitting on my camera since before Christmas. AND I COMPLETELY FORGOT IT WAS THERE. In fact, I barely remember even shooting the video. Oh well. Such is life. It is a delightful holiday medley. I think you'll especially enjoy "O Christmas Tree."

Happy viewing!


The turtle song from Rena on Vimeo.


Holiday Medley... from Rena on Vimeo.

Obsession...thy name is McQueen...

Okay...so if you read my recent post about Evan and his big-boy bed, you'll know that he's currently got a bit of a "Cars" obsession. Since we wanted to gently discourage him from sleeping with his laundry basket, we decided to get him his own "lovey" to sleep with in the bed. There appears to be a shortage of stuffed automobiles. In their absence, we substituted a Lightning McQueen pillow (which conveniently came with a fluffy Lightning McQueen blanket).

Evan LOVES his pillow...although rather than cuddling with it as we had envisioned, he chooses instead to sleep with his head on it. He actually threw his big pillow OUT of the bed the other night when I was tucking him in so he could have room for the little pillow. Sigh.

He also likes to drag both the pillow and blanket around wherever he goes...we think he may be turning into Linus.

But our favorite part is when he insists on holding the pillow, the blanket, AND his little Lightning McQueen car while we're reading--you guessed it--CARS!

As we speak, Evan is napping, but Lightning McQueen is in the front room with a tractor...just like in the movie.

Beautiful randomness...

And why shouldn't a dog drive a tractor pulling a couple of low-rider trucks?

Evan's "big boy" bed...

Well...we didn't have the inevitable "crawling out of the crib" moment that inspired us to move Evan to a "big boy bed." It was more or less our discomfort with seeing our poor boy mashed up into the corner of his crib each morning coupled with his advancing age (almost 3, you know) that led us to the "big boy bed" moment. Couldn't have our boy sporting a pointy noggin from the baby cage!

Anyhoo...the transition has gone swimmingly. We first put his crib mattress on the floor to get him used to the idea...then bought a twin-sized mattress this weekend to put on the floor (we'll get an actual bed in a few weeks once he's used to the whole "no bars" thing). A little bribery with some fancy "Lightning McQueen" bedding...and VOILA...big boy bed.

The only snag has come with the fact that he, at first, wanted to sleep with his brand new "Lightning McQueen" clothes hamper. We have since gotten him a pillow with said famous racecar that we hope will serve as a surrogate so the dirty clothes stay corralled. (Sidebar: poor Evan looked somberly at me this morning and said, "I no play with laundry, Mommy. Toys are for playing. Basket not for playing.") He also "makes his bed" every morning because he has to have every character on the comforter showing. A 2-year old who makes his bed...we're very proud.

Despite the fact that we have to recite every character and shop in Radiator Springs (courtesy his new rug), the transition has gone very smoothly. Yay big boy bed!

Anyone need a crib? :)