eva making herself smile

eight months

Aside from the expected firsts like Christmas and New Year's, Eva has had a big month of development!

• A new cousin! Aunt Danielle and Uncle Phil had a baby girl yesterday - Annelise Joy!
  
• We had hoped Santa would bring her two front teeth but no luck. However, it looks like they are coming very soon.
  
• Clapping her hands at everything, even when waking up from naps.
• Weaned herself off pacifiers...sometimes we wish she hadn't but overall its a good thing.
  
• Fussy about wearing bibs & really enjoys getting messy at meal time.
  
• Loves the guitar – she can strum and likes to hear papa play.
  
• Loves watching herself on the blog videos. She giggles and smiles at herself.
  
• Wants to play all the time. She insists on having toys while eating, during diaper changes, and generally needs something in her hands at all times. Even though she has some really cool toys, she loves to hold the lids from her baby food.
  
• Giving kisses - open mouth and sloppy but adorable.
  
• Developing a quirky little side smile...we call it her Elvis smile.
  
• Starting to wave to everything and everyone.
• She likes to play peek-a-boo through the slats in her crib.
  
• This onesie pretty much says it all: She may be small but she's the boss. It would be great if she didn't rub it in.
  

exersizing in the exersaucer

eva's first christmas

She didn't really know it was Christmas but she did enjoy tearing up wrapping paper and eating it.



Not sure if she is yawning or talking in this picture. We were definitely yawning.


She pulled in quite the loot. Here she is in front of her bounty. Thank you everyone!


After the gifts, we went to Ocean Beach to enjoy the gorgeous day.

Awesome first Christmas!

deck them halls y'all

Oliver's Birthday

Oliver's birthday was December 15. In his honor, we went to his beach and introduced Eva to Oli's favorite frolic area. The waves were raging that day so Eva was a bit concerned but still a beautiful day to remember The Puppy.

eva @ seven months

Here is the latest in Evangelina-land:

• Eva is becoming quite independent. She likes to sit in her crib so she can change her own music. She likes to read books at her pace and her order. She loves tummy time to show off her new yoga moves like rolling from belly to back or back to belly and chewing toes.
  
• Simultaneously, she is also quite clingy. Mama is best but Papa is a good second.
  
• Eva loves to eat on her own. We put frozen bananas in a little mesh teething ring for her to munch on and not only does it cure the teething pain but is super messy and fun for her.
• Her diet is growing to be quiet varied. She's added oatmeal, peaches, prunes, barley, winter squash, & green onions to the mix of pears, carrots, yams, peas, apples & bananas.
  
• She is still stopping traffic with her beauty. Seriously, we can't go anywhere without someone commenting on how gorgeous our Gerber baby is!
• Had her first Thanksgiving, complete with yummy food and cuddling with Nonni & Nanna.
• Below is a better video of her Baby Einstein commentary. Hairdo compliments of Papa.
  

half year birthday!

Evangelina Viola is 6 months old! Here are all the things she's doing now:

• Her favorite veggie is carrots and her favorite fruit is pears. Her absolute favorite meal is mama's milk straight from the source.
• Rolling over all the way and really enjoying tummy time...she's a powerhouse on push-ups.
  
• Wakes us up by grabbing our faces and sticking her fingers in our noses.
  
• Sitting up and playing with toys. She also loves to grab anything we have as shown in the photo below.
  

• Said her first word-Mama! (ok, it was babbling but still heart warming!)
• Loves the computer and video conferencing with the family.
• Lots of babbling and squeaking and playing with her volume.
• Really likes Baby Einstein videos and her sign language video. Here she is providing commentary in between eating her feet:

eva's first halloween

We had no trick-or-treaters so while mama and papa ate all the candy, Eva had these cute faces.

happy eva

Despite teething, her first (and hopefully last) case of thrush, and being stuck inside due to fires around the county, Eva sure is happy!

eva likes dinner time

first fruits

bananas - not quite sure...











apples - not bad...











pears - delicious! ate the whole jar in one sitting!

eva's new room

5 months!

Eating rice cereal!

Eating yams!

Eating peas!

Eating carrots!

Eating feet!

Told by countless people that she should model!

froggy jammies

Yesterday was her 4 month check-up. She is growing tall and slim. She's in the 85% for height but only 25% for weight. Nothing of concern - just more proof that she's going to be a heartbreaker. Doctor gave us the green light to start feeding her stage 1 baby food - here come the sweet potatoes & peas! Eva (and we) survived her second round of shots. For being so brave, she got to lounge in her froggy jammies and take silly photos.

more fun with cereal

eva's first cereal

She is going through a growth spurt and has polished off my reserves of mama's milk. In order to keep her full, the doctor said we can go ahead and start her on rice cereal as a supplement. She is loving it and already playing during dinner! She's such a ham!

eva @ 4 months

• Making bubbles with her mouth and drooling = pre-teething!
• Made the transition from mama to papa as daytime caregiver.
• Video conferencing with her grandparents – she’s so high tech.
• Standing – albeit with our help but still standing!
• Pulling out and playing with her pacifier and almost getting it back in her mouth.
• Patting the mirror and laughing when looking at her reflection.
• Enjoys touching our faces when we play with her.
• Met her future husband, Gabriel…our friends’ Jen & Lacho’s baby.
• First official beach trip. She was hot and hungry so it didn’t last long but she did dip her feet in the water and sand. She looks awesome in a bikini, especially with her diaper sticking out.
• Rolling over from her back to her belly…then getting stuck and crying.
• First call to poison control. She accidentally got diaper rash cream on her pacifier and then put the pacifier in her mouth. They were great at reassuring us that she may have an upset tummy (which she didn’t) and that there was nothing to worry about. Whew!

excited eva

I'm no Spielberg but look at how excited she is! I'm shaking the rattle for her and she is overjoyed. I tried to cover up the TV noise in the background with one of Joe's masterpieces but apparently I just have both playing. I'm still learning through trial and error (who has time to read those manuals anyway!). Enjoy!

two fisting toys

eva making raspberries

papa's girl

Eva likes to sleep with her arm over her face, just like her papa.

eager face

I call it her eager face because she gets this same look just before I feed her. She's very into this rattle. She coos and drools with big eyes while shaking it and watching the pinwheel spin. Absolutely precious!

standing already?

With a little help from us, Eva is already supporting herself on her cute little legs!

the amato trio at three months

Eva update:

• Eva is smiling, talking and giggling a lot - it is infectious!
  
• She enjoyed her first July 4th with grilling, fireworks and s'mores. Aunt Mere and Cousin Candice were here to share it with her.
  
• She met her Grandpa and Grandma Smith from Florida.
• Eva completed her baby massage classes. She really is enjoying the daily rub down, especially during bath time. In the photo below, Eva is the one looking at us on the side instead of the camera. The boy next to her, Aiden, shares her birthday - he was delivered next door and within minutes of Eva...kindred spirits?
  
• Eva is learning her body parts - she recently discovered her feet and likes to hold them with her hands. She is also closely examining her hands and chewing on them.
• She is very aware of her surroundings. She likes to watch TV, see the curtains blow in the wind, look at herself in the mirror and sit up in her chair.
  
• Even though she still prefers to be held, she is playing on her own a lot more. She can sit in her swing or chair for nearly 20-30 minutes to give mama and papa a break.
• Best news she got today: a new cousin coming in January! Congrats to Aunt Danielle and Uncle Phil!