200-yard dash

Lots of running around in the Mears household the past week. Evan is SOOO good at walking. He gets going across the room and if you act like you're going to chase him, he giggles and takes off in a sprint, well a "baby sprint!" Of course, all this walking comes with its dangers. He's taken quite a few spills and bonked his head multiple times. So much for the family picture last Friday - he had a bruise on his forehead! Cross your fingers for this weekend...

I don't have any new photos of the past week, but here are some really good pictures taken over Thanksgiving by Evan's grandma, Jeanne. Look at those beautiful blue eyes and sparkling white teeth...Evan's always ready to cheese it up for the camera...Playing contently...Haaa, haaa, haaa...we see you! Someone found his reflection in the dishwasher. Gotta give that other baby there a kiss...We adore this child! Mommy and Daddy bombard Evan every night with tons of hugs and kisses. We cannot resist!

Gobble, gobble...

The Mears family packed up and headed to Indiana for Thanksgiving this year. Driving with a 10-month old was dauting for sure. I got some great advice...drive through the night and hopefully the baby will sleep. Guess what?! It worked! We left around 8 pm on Tuesday evening and drove through the night, arriving around 6 am. Evan only woke up once when we changed drivers. Good boy! A word of advice to those parents out there...it totally is worth it! We know this because we drove through the day yesterday coming back to Maryland. Not as fun! Of course, traffic was a nightmare (it took a good 12 hours, ugh!), and Evan certainly didn't sleep the whole way. All in all, he did great, but as you can expect, he wanted out of the carseat and wanted to play. But we made it back safe and sound. Yeah!Our visit in Indiana was nice. Evan got to hang out with a lot of his relatives and friends. I'll post more pictures on that later. Thankfully, the stranger anxiety hasn't set in yet (knock on wood). After checking out the new person for a minute or two, he was reaching out his arms wanting to be held. Such a sweet child! Evan ate the traditional Thanksgiving feast...complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Yum! The tryptophan took its toll on everyone...including Evan. He looks so adorable napping...

He is walking unassisted more and more each day. Now that we're home, he will walk in one direction, see something and turn to go another direction, all without holding onto something for assistance. Our baby is growing up. Hmfff...

Pattycake, pattycake...

Over the past week, Evan has really taken to clapping his hands together. It is so sweet to see him do this. He claps for everything now...diaper changes, playing with Daisy, falling and going boom. It's adorable...Evan's also getting quite daring with walking unassisted across the room. He's doing a great job in this picture...check out that grin!

Story time

Evan loves books! He loves turning the pages and "reading" them to Mommy, Daddy, and Daisy. It's quite cute when he's reading them to us...That book looks interesting...Baa, laa, daa, daa...Daisy is listening to the story intently...Umph...if only this book would open...Open please...Got it! Anyone care for the Lion King upside down?Whatcha doing Mommy?The end! Your turn to read me a story Mommy...

Indy firsts...

Evan and Mommy headed to Indianapolis this past weekend to visit with Aunt Shelly. We had a great time! Evan did fairly well on the plane ride to Indy...he fell asleep and even Mommy got a couple of zzzzz. Aunt Shelly's home is beautiful and complete with 3 adorable cats and a sweet doggie who was staying at her Grandma and Grandpa's place. Evan really liked her pets! He's never seen a cat before. When he got to pet Niles, one of her kitties, a big grin erupted, just like this one:Aunt Shelly has stairs in her house...this is a new concept to Evan, as we have our external stairwells, but no stairs inside our apartment. He climbed up a few stairs all by himself, with Mommy and Aunt Shelly close by. He's never climbed stairs before...he did great!We got to see Shelly's parents, Bill and Jill, and spent some quality time with them. While at their house, Evan met larger doggies, as they have a chocolate lab and a corgie. At first Evan was really afraid of the bigger dogs, but he eventually warmed up. Turns out he's a big animal lover!Both Evan and Mommy had a great time in Indy. Thanks so much to Aunt Shelly, Bill, and Jill Bowers for your hospitality. Hopefully we'll visit again soon!

Happy, happy!

Not much new is going on in the Mears household. Evan really likes to walk and tests his new ability often. Some days we find him in the middle of a room, walking from one wall to another. Gosh! What's next?Daddy was having fun with Evan's hair at bath time last night. We think it looks good...how young is too young for hair products? Ha! Just kidding!Have a great weekend!

OH MY GOSH!!!!

Oh my gosh! Hit play...