Happy Valentine's Day

From my little heartbreaker

Gymnastics Dude

Before the holidays I started thinking about putting Evan in some kind of organized, after school, athletic activity. He'd reached the age where I felt like he could put some of that energy into something more productive than running around the house and using my bed as a trampoline. But I read somewhere that most kids aren't really ready for team sports until age 4 or so. It's enough for them to control their own actions, much less take into account what the team is doing. So maybe we'll look at tee ball this summer after he turns 4. (We'll see. The thought of giving him a potential weapon and projectile object may have its drawbacks.)

So that pretty much left us with dance or gymnastics. In our family, you really can't underestimate the importance of coordination and balance (reference: Evan's first stitches @ 18 months, and please excuse the baaaad photography). I don't know how or why, but Evan already seems to have developed a shyness about public dancing. You expect that sort of thing from a middle school kid, but someone who has no problem announcing (loudly) that he tooted in the grocery store? Not so much. In any case, he didn't hesitate when saying "no" when I asked if he wanted to take dance lessons.

Okay, gymnastics. Evan didn't know what it was, so I showed him some videos on Facebook of his second cousin, Justin, who competes in gymnastics, and some YouTube videos of other kids. He seemed intrigued enough to want to check it out. The place where he goes is fantastic, but I think he was a little overwhelmed on his first day. Parents aren't typically allowed in the gym with the kids but I had to stay with him for the first 15 minutes or so. These guys are pros though. They have older kids who help and one came over and befriended Evan. Now we're six weeks in and Evan asks every single day if we can go to gymnastics. I'd say that's a pretty good affirmation. I'm really impressed just watching him - he takes direction, follows along, watches the other kids, and adores his teacher.

Because of the "no parents in gym" rule I haven't gotten any pictures except on my iPhone through a window. This was his second week:



I think he likes it.

They had class photos taken a couple of weeks ago. Really, could it be any cuter?


(The gym name is blurred because there are other kids in this pic.)

A Mother's Lament

So as most mothers will tell you, we all want our children to grow up healthy and happy, but few of us are prepared for just how quickly this process occurs. Of course I know he's getting taller, I observed this just the other day when looking at the 3T pants that used to drag the floor and now are hovering right around the tops of his shoes. And boy oh boy do I know how much heavier he's gotten as every evening he cuddles on my lap to read stories. I've long since given up on keeping a list of all the new things he says every day, though I really do need to keep a list of the memorable things only a three year old can conjure. But for the most part all these things happen gradually and it's not until you see the differences in stark contrast that you really see how much they change and grow in the few short years of childhood.

I saw this contrast recently while editing some pictures and I was reminded of a similar picture taken of Evan on the occasion of his first birthday party. The wall letters and the table he's on haven't moved since he was a baby. He's standing in both, with the assistance of grandma in the first picture.

At one year (minus 1 day):



And at 3 years, ~7 months:



He's 3 ft, 2.5 inches tall, 36 lbs. of incredible. Gone are the adorable little rolls on his arms (though there's still the hint of them in his wrists), and where did those ribs come from? From just barely being able to stand with assistance, to practicing his gymnastics landing. But, like any good (read: stubborn) toddler he's still holding on to some baby traits, like being almost-but-not-quite potty trained, hovering close and ducking behind us when meeting new people, or my favorite, unsolicited hugs and kisses. And that's okay with me, he's got plenty of time to grow up. Right?

Party People

This weekend was full of milestone birthday celebrations. My brother and mother-in-law share the same birthday. I won't mention their respective numbers, because I like my MIL and don't need to get on her bad side, and if I mention Aaron's, well, then the countdown begins for me! NOOOOOOO!

Thankfully their parties were on separate days so we got to attend both.

My SIL, Andie, the party planner extraordinaire, and my adorable nephew, Liam. Could they look more alike?



The birthday boy.



And the little boys posing for the split second I had to take a picture.



The next day we drove to Ohio for Fran's surprise party. It was held at her neighbor's house, and Fran was home so we all had to hide our cars at the park and sneak in quietly. Have you ever tried to keep a 3 year old quiet? Believe it or not, she was surprised and we had a great time.









Fran, and the awesome party planner, Joyce.



Joyce was relentless in her good-natured teasing of Fran last week for her birthday. Notice the special "birthday chair." I wonder if she knows that old saying about paybacks?









Photography notes:

For the b/w shot of the two little boys I didn't have a flash, so I cranked up my ISO to 2000. Then I made a rookie mistake and left it there for most of Fran's party. Thankfully I was able to fix most of the noise in Photoshop, but man I wish I'd noticed it earlier.

The three b/w photos were all processed using different software - LR4 beta, LR3, and PSE9, respectively. So the styles might be slightly different. I can't decide which process I like to use more.