Evie hearts February holidays

It was an exciting four-day weekend for our little "Love Bug," full of grandparents, new friends, and new adventures. Evie received her first Valentine from Andrew - what a nice surprise! Very unlike a baby boy to remember the holiday but it looks like he's off to a promising beginning! Later on Friday she tried eating peas for the first time but didn't seem to like it as much as her rice cereal... I guess we will have to see how that goes!

On Valentine's Day, Evie got to meet mommy's friend John Kim. John's a dentist and since Evie is teething, he gave her a quick lecture on the importance of flossing. Then the family celebrated with a delicious dinner and TWO desserts - chocolate strawberries and Haagen Daz dark chocolate/pomegranate ice cream bars. The next day, Evie hung out with Ba and Opa while Mom and Dad caught a movie.

Then on President's Day, Evie had special visitors - Grandma, Popi and Tootsie! The family walked a couple of blocks to experience the "world's largest parade celebrating George Washington's birthday" in Old Town. Evie was so bundled up against the cold that she slept through most of the parade, but everyone else enjoyed the bands, revolutionary period costumes, and the shriners in their miniature cars.

ur, we're not quite sure what a penguin has to do with George Washington but we'll roll with it!

Evie may not be an animal person...

Phew, it was a busy weekend: a visit from Grandma and Popi, taking a walk in Old Town and Del Ray, and saying goodbye to Aunty Michelle, Uncle Phil, Talia and Eric who are moving down to Alabama. Evie has crashed.

The family took advantage of the fantastic temperatures to visit the National Zoo on Saturday. We thought that Evie would love seeing some jungle animals given that the "Jungly Tails" book is her favorite (see picture above) -- she pulls the tails and loves turning the pages. But... Evie seemed more interested in the kids running around than the animals. In the picture below, Daddy is trying to get her to look up at the elephants eating the bamboo but she seems particularly fascinated by the ground. She did seem to like the sea lions and the turtles swimming in the pool so maybe our next trip should be to the acquarium.

Roadtripping to Philly for a Par-tay!

Evie and the family headed up to Philly this weekend to attend Auntie Karen's baby shower. Another cousin will be arriving in March and it will be another girl! Lucky Evie got to also spend time with Grandma Beanie and Great-Aunt Dellie during the party. While the girls had a grand ol' time, Uncle Wally and Daddy decided to build a table. Huh. Boys will be boys. We also got to see Mel and Lill and Brian on Friday night and enjoyed lots of delicious ziti and garlic bread. It was a fun trip but also good to be back home to get ready for Superbowl Sunday!






Sunday was a great day with such beautiful weather - it felt like spring! We all went out to the neighborhood playground and played on the slide and the seesaw and tried the swing for the first time. Fun, fun!

Daddy and Evie on the see-saw.

Evie tries the swing but doesn't seem very taken with it.



Down the slide with Mommy!

That night, Andrew came over to watch the Superbowl (with Jen and Tom, of course). The babies seemed to enjoy the game except when we got too excited about certain plays and startled them when we yelled. Whoopsie. While laying on the blanket, the two babies actually held each others' hands for just a brief second without any help from the two moms! So cute!

Our Little Snow Angel

Evie experienced her first outing in the snow on Wednesday... the poor thing had to wait all day and stare at the snowflakes falling down until Mommy came home (she made Ba promise not to take her out so they could play in the snow together). But by the time Mommy got home, the snow had turned to rain ... pooh. We put Evie in her "Randy-from-'The-Christmas-Story'-I-can't-move-my-arms" snowsuit and took her outside, where she made her first snow angel.

Evie celebrates the Vietnamese New Year!

Evie was so lucky to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Ox with tons of family members at Great Grandmother's house on Sunday (Ba is pictured above holding Evie while she takes a nap). It was the first time she got to meet some of her great aunts and uncles and cousins and she had a great time. Evie and second cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Uncle Pierre and Aunt Anna, were both born in the Year of the Rat (Evie was wearing her special Year of the "Mouse" onesie for the occasion). Happy New Year everyone!

Co Hoa, Elizabeth, Great-Grandma, and Ba!

With Aunty Michelle and Uncle Pierre

With Aunty Vun

Evie eats out of a spoon!

THE BEFORE PICTURE

On Saturday, Evie had her first food from a spoon - and in the words of Mikey from the Life cereal commercials, she liked it! Which is surprising given that it was boring ol' rice cereal. But she was very patient until the very end. Mom and Dad don't know if we're going to like this next stage as it definitely seems a lot messier!

THE AFTER PICTURE

THE DURING VIDEO

Uh, oh... Mommy's learned how to use the video feature on the digital camera!

....which means we'll soon be posting lots and lots of videos on this blog! Here's Mom reading Evie "Green Eggs and Ham" - Evie laughs during storytime when Mommy does different voices and makes big motions with her hands. But, after a couple of books, she definitely wants to move onto the next activity.



In the last week, Evie has definitely mastered the art of rolling over from her tummy to her back! Unfortunately for her parents, this means she has figured out a way to get out of tummy time - as soon as she's laid on her tummy, she tilts her head over first, then swings her legs over -- and she can't figure out why Mommy and Daddy don't cheer and yell "hooray!" when she does it every time! Hmmm... we'll have to figure out a way to outsmart Evie!