Lots of playing

Since Evan can sit unsupported now, it seems that is all he wants to do. He plays a lot while in that position. We've moved his LeapFrog toy to the next stage, and he can sit up and play with it. He LOVES that toy!

We've also pulled out his stacking toy. He loves to play with the rings. Daddy was showing Evan how to put them on the stacker in the correct size order, but Evan hasn't gotten to that stage yet! Some day, probably sooner than we think...

What IU fan doesn't start out young? Daddy & Mommy were playing 1-on-1 Nerf basketball and Evan wanted to join in. Here he is dunking the ball...IU basketball scholarship in the works?

We sure are having tons of fun with Evan. His solid food tastings have included rice cereal (of course), carrots, peas, pears, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and apples. His favorites right now are the sweet potatoes and apples. There is a little "south" in him after all!

Cutie pie

I know, I know, I'm biased and all, but I do have to say that Evan is so cute! He was being very photogenic tonight after work and I got some great pictures. Evan went to his 6-month check-up yesterday and is doing wonderful! Healthy and growing up nicely. He weighed 21 pounds, 11 ounces (97th percentile) and is 27 1/4 inches long (80th percentile). So he's still being consistant as far as his growth. We got the go-ahead to start many, many more foods. He had his first taste of oatmeal this morning and I think we'll switch up his vegy tonight and introduce something else, like peas or sweet potatoes. All in all, he's a great child and we're having tons of fun with him!

Who's a cutie pie? Oh, I am!...

That's right...I'm a ladies man...

Mmmm, carrots

Evan had his first taste of something besides milk and rice cereal tonight. We introduced carrots! He's been a bit disinterested in the rice cereal, so we thought we'd change things up a bit. Carrots! It was quite funny. He was really digging the new food, wide open mouth and all. But after each bite, he'd have a twitch or shudder and sometimes made a face. My, his taste buds were probably wondering what in the world this new stuff was. Anyway, he ate 1/2 jar pretty easily (complete with a twitch at each bite). A few more days of carrots and maybe he'll try something else new. Fun!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Evan!

Evan is 6 months old today! Can you believe it? We sure can't! We celebrated by going to Babies 'R Us and getting Evan a new toy and a few cute outfits. Yeah, he was quite excited about the clothes. He really wanted to crawl around in just a diaper...so we let him. Anyway, here are a few pictures snapped before the clothes went bye, bye...I sure hope the next 6 months go a lot slower. He's getting so grown up!

Good Night!

Sittin' Up

Evan has started to sit up all on his own this past week. He is staying upright for longer and longer as time goes on. Of course, it's quite funny to see him slowly topple over! Check him out!...Evan said, "Look! No hands!"...

Uh oh! Starting to lose my balance...

Here I go!...

Boom!...Evan really likes Daisy! He'll "crawl" to where she is playing or chewing on a toy and just look at her. Then he wants to take the toy or pet Daisy. Most of the times she moves to a different spot, which is just fine with us. She'll get used to Evan chasing her around someday soon; and will probably like it too!

Where'd she go?

Fun Pictures

Evan and I had fun taking photos today. He has been in a great mood. Here is Evan "crawling" to me to get the camera...I'm trying to get a picture of his teeth. Evan had other plans...

Gotta 'em! Can you see them...2 small white teeth on the bottom...Daddy got Daisy good after one of Evan's bath. Oh what fun we have here in the Mears household!Have a great day!

Take me out to the ballgame!

Evan went to his first major league baseball game this past weekend. The Baltimore Orioles were playing the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards in Baltimore. We were supposed to originally go to the O's game in April, when our friend, Read, was in town, but it got rained out. So we headed out with friends, Brendan and Maureen, to Baltimore on Saturday. The weather was nice, a bit hot and humid, but clear skies. Evan did great, given it was a 7 pm game. He fell asleep a few times, but if the O's did well, the crowd would erupt in applause, waking him and causing him to cry. Poor fella! It looked like the O's were going to lose, as they were down 6-4 in the bottom of the 9th. But they scored 2 runs to cause an extra inning. They eventually won, 7-6 in 10 innings. You can imagine how loud the stadium was. Evan fell back asleep just walking to the car. That's how tired he was! Anyway, a good start for Evan's first MLB game!

Intently watching the game, before getting tired...

Here is Evan with Daddy...Then Mommy...The baseball family...

We're sure to go to more O's games, as we just love Camden Yards! Anyone want to join us?

All Grows Up...

While I was pregnant and on maternity leave, everyone, especially strangers, would always say to enjoy your children while they're at the baby stage because "they grow up so quickly." It seemed like I heard this phrase every few days. When your child is a newborn, you don't really get what people are saying, as they do change but at that stage, they're just eating, sleeping, and pooping. I get it now. Evan has changed so much in the past 5-6 months. It's amazing to see all that he has learned and accomplished. And to see how much he's grown! I sometimes look at him and can't believe he was ever as small as some of these newborns I see now. Well, he's not a newborn anymore, and his carseat proves it. He's too big for his infant carseat carrier. Yes, we had to buy the convertible carseat (we bought it awhile ago not knowing when he'd slow down his growth). We got it inspected yesterday (Montgomery County, Maryland, has a free program where they'll do carseat checks to make sure they're installed properly, etc. It's a great program, especially for us first-time parents!)So far, with this carseat, Evan is 4 for 4 in falling asleep. He loves it! It is more spacious and very soft. Each time we've put him in the seat, he's fallen asleep within 10 minutes. Gotta love that! Ahhh, as Daddy would say, our little boy is all grows up!

You will always have your family

Last week the Mears household headed back to Indiana to visit with family and to get Evan baptized. We drove on July 4 and had a BBQ complete with homemade ice cream. Evan got to meet his Aunt Jen (Jason's sister) and cousins for the first time. Here they all are posing for a festive 4th picture (from L to R: Olivia, Kiera, Connor, Zach, Evan)... Can you tell who lives in Florida?

Evan really liked hanging out with his Aunt Jen... The next day Evan got to hang out with more cousins. My sister, Susan, brother-in-law, Jim, and their children, Clayton, Nadiya, Isaac, and Arianna all came over to my mom's house and, along with Aunt Wendy, we celebrated Isaac's 2nd birthday. Evan and Arianna played more this time around. Ari was born a month before Evan. She is crawling all over the place and is pulling herself up onto things. You can tell who the older cousin is in this picture as Ari was all ready to "get" Evan. Aren't they adorable? Clayton and Nadiya were hamming it up... Uncle Jim and Isaac were accessorizing Evan with Jim's hat. Do you think it fits? Grandma got to feed Evan for the first time. He's a challenge as his right finger wants to go straight into his mouth and his left hand grabs the spoon. Here Grandma was doing great...

Oops! Evan got a firm grip on the spoon. Good luck prying it from his fingers! Grandma was laughing so hard! Time for a nice picture with his cousins and Daisy dog... The weather was pretty nice. It was hot on most days, but if you sat in the shade, with the breeze, it felt great! Daddy and Evan are chillin'... During this trip home, we were able to visit with our friends, Betsy, John, and Miles and their pugs Stamp and Whisper. I grew up next door to Betsy from childhood to college. We were pregnant at the same time and it was nice sharing our experiences with each other. Miles was born 10 days after Evan. So now we get to share our sons growing up.
Miles and Evan were playing on the floor. Miles has a toy...

Look who has it now...

Evan took it from Miles! Next lesson...sharing.

The King family had fun watching Evan eat his cereal. Evan actually was a great eater that night and didn't smear his food too much.

Evan was baptized on July 8, 2007, at Trinity English Lutheran Church. This is the same church where Jason and I got married and Pastor Hasecke presided over both ceremonies. Here are Mommy, Aunt Jen (Evan's sponsor ("godmother")), Evan, and Daddy.

Pastor Hasecke joined the picture as well...A quick family photo...After the baptism, we celebrated with a lunch reception. Evan got lots of attention from his grandparents, aunts and uncle, cousins, and great-grandparents. Here is Evan with Great-Grandma Mears (Jason's Dad's Mother)...

Here is Evan with Great-Grandma Catherine (Jen's Mom's Mother)...

Here is Evan with Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Gerardot (Jason's Mom's Parents)...

All in all, it was a great trip home. We really enjoyed seeing everyone. We are blessed to have such great family. That is something we will be teaching Evan...no matter what happens in life, you will always have your family.