El Maguey.

It is official. Our little babe now has as many nicknames as he has months alive. Let's see. We've got Evan Rooney, Gooey, Gooey Gumdrop, Gooey Goodness, Goo Goo Doll, his first nickname Bro Bro, and the latest El Maguey. Yep, that makes seven. Seven nicknames. Seven months old.

The newest month in our little babe's life brought so much excitement not just to our world but his world as well.



He continued to find food amazing and added items to his ever expanding menu of acceptable - and delicious foods.

Evan figured out that eating many of the items the rest of his family eats requires teeth. So, he set out in July to get some. For weeks, we waited on that first tooth. And, I'm happy to say it has finally arrived. At least the top of it.

While we wait for the others, Evan continues to find something new to eat at least daily. I'm still pureeing many of his favorites, including bananas mixed with avocados, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. However, Evan, much like his older brother did, prefers to eat food right from the plate.

I'm not sure what it is about my boys and why we have so much luck moving to solids. Perhaps it is because they are breastfed. Maybe it is because we don't necessarily make special food just for them. We just smash up food we happen to be eating. Maybe it is just luck. Or genes. Whatever it is, my boys like to eat - and eat well.

In the last month, Evan has enjoyed eating green beans, pancakes and waffles, blueberries, Cheerios, warm oatmeal, cinnamon apples, mashed potatoes, rice, watermelon, french fries, and the list goes on.

We have even started ordering him his own food when we go out to eat.

And it shows. The boy's got rolls. Rows and rows of adorable rolls. Don't you just love it.

We're not too worried about all that weight. We've got a hunch that he will soon start to thin out now that he's crawling. In one week, we watched our babe get up on all fours, teeter back and forth, move himself backward, figure out how to go forward - and bam, just like that he was crawling.

He happily moves himself all over the living room helping himself to toys and whatever else he can grab.




Crawling wasn't enough. Last week, he figured out how to pull himself up. Does that photo of him hanging out on the fireplace make you nervous? Us too. However, we just can't stop him. Brother keeps his Monster Jams lined up in a nice row right there - and that's right where Evan wants to be.



You see, he loves that brother, and if brother loves Monster Jams then so does Evan. Lane's not too fond of an Evan that can crawl around and get his Girl and his monster trucks, so I hear a lot of yelling, "No Evan, that's my Monster Jam."

Lane's quickly learned he has to share with his younger sibling. And, quite often, will offer Evan his own Monster Jam to play with. Most of the time, however, it is not the Monster Jam Evan already has in his hands.



Lane's also learned that he has to share his pup because Evan has taken a liking to Elly Mae.

However, his object of affection is still his older brother. Nothing brings a smile to Evan's face faster than Lane. All it takes is a kiss, a tickle or even just a passing by on Lane's part to make Evan happy.

Papa and I watched proudly the other night as Lane rolled one Monster Jam at a time to his younger brother.

You can imagine our joy.

I know it is time to take Evan out to meet some friends of his own. At seven months old, Lane was already hanging with the Besties on a weekly basis. I've already decided once Lane goes back to school, Evan and I will use that time to take some classes or go somewhere just the two of us.

I'm sure Evan will enjoy it - just not as much as he enjoys hanging with Lane and his friends. They might be two years older than him, but Evan has taken right to the Besties. If Lane, Andrea, John and Lily are doing it then Evan wants to be in on the action. Even if it means playing in the fountains at the water park.

He's just not scared. That's just one of the many things everyone loves about Evan. He's always ready to jump right in and take part in whatever is going on.

He's my go-with-the-flow babe. This summer, as his older brother continues to check off exciting adventures from his Summer Fun list, Evan tags along - and adds Places I've Napped to his list.

Others are always amazed at how easily he will close his eyes and doze off.

Let's see, he's slept during a busy Friday night at Steve B's pizza. He naps each morning while in a room full of crazy toddlers at the gym's childcare room. At least once a week, he'll fall asleep at the pool and doze in a shady corner. If Paola's around, he's sure to find his way in to her arms. The two have snuggled up for nap time at two water parks, Monkey Joes, Jackie's living room while the Besties ran around like fools and a few other places. Oh, and there was Lily's second birthday when Evan happily napped on the couch while at least 40 people talked, enjoyed cake and watched Lily open her presents.

Yes, he's a great sleeper. However, that tooth has caused some havoc at night - keeping Evan, his mama and even his papa from getting a good night's sleep. For an entire week, our babe would wake two or three times a night in pain. It broke our hearts, so Papa and I did what we could and took turns snuggling him close and holding him tight so he could get a little rest.

Now that the tooth has broken through, we are getting a little more sleep. However, our night routine has been rearranged a little bit. We are finally getting back on track - going down around 8 pm, sleeping until 2 or 3 am, getting back up around 6 am, and going back down until about 8:30.


I've been a little - well, a lot - tired the last few weeks. Yet, I don't mind. It is just part of the job. A job I love.

Look at my boy. He's a ham. A ham who loves the camera - and life.

He finds beauty in so many things - including a simple little balloon. Speaking of beauty, we think he's gorgeous. Of course.

And, I don't want to brag, but so many others do as well. I receive compliments daily - and if we are out in public, hourly, about just how good looking he is.

Really, we can't go any where without people stopping us to tell us how beautiful our baby is. In restaurants, we will catch strangers looking our way and smiling. Then, we realize, they are really looking at our baby, who is always smiling back at them.

I've been stopped in bathrooms, grocery stores, restaurants, clothing stores, play places - really you name it - so others can stop and stare at our babe.

I even had someone ask me if I could stay right where I was because she wanted to go get her friend so she could see my babe.

I know his looks have a lot to do with his appeal but really I think it also has a lot to do with his personality that makes people find our Evan so charming.


Quite honestly, I don't mind all the attention he gets. He's a lovely little boy. A roly poly ball of gooey goodness who brings so much happiness in to our family's life.

Even though time is moving way too quickly - and my boys are growing up right before my very eyes - I'm just so blessed to call them mine.

And to enjoy every day I have with them.

Summer Fun: Baseball Game.

With the ticket stubs from a college game and a minor league game tucked away in his baby book, Papa and I decided to add the major leagues to Lane's list of baseball game adventures. He's a big Braves fan - watching them each night with Papa, copying each player as he steps up to bat and lately, assigning each of us our own Braves names.

"Papa, I Chipper Jones," he will say. "You be Jordan Schafer." Then, the two will run around the house with their hands in the air celebrating their home runs.

When we saw that the Braves would be playing the Rockies on a Thursday afternoon, Papa decided to take an afternoon off work so we could take the boy downtown.

We made a quick stop in Marietta to drop off Evan with Jackie. Then, we were off for a mama, papa, Lane date.

Dressed in our Braves shirts, we entered Turner and could see the look of amazement in Lane's face. I think he would have stayed out front for two hours - just looking, watching and admiring his surroundings.

I'm pretty sure all of his baseball dreams came true.

He hit the ball on the kids field. He ate the largest hot dog he's ever seen and enjoyed some stale ball park popcorn. He walked up and down the aisles inspecting each chair. And, most importantly, he saw his Braves up close and personal. Although, I'm not sure if that was the best part of the day. In all honesty, I don't think the amount of fun he had had anything to do with baseball. I think it was based more on the surroundings.

But, isn't that what going to a game is all about?

The Golden Arches.

At least once a week, Papa will decide he needs to come home for breakfast. We'll kiss him good-bye, tell him to have a good day at work and then, less than an hour after he's left, we will hear him walk back in the door. Most of the time, he'll have a bag full of McDonald's pancakes for him and the boy and a yogurt parfait for me.

Needless to say, Papa was excited once the babe started eating yogurt. He could bring breakfast home for the entire family. Two pancake breakfast. Two yogurt parfaits. A large tea. (Like how the tea is strategically placed to hide the wenis?)

Last week, Evan decided the yogurt isn't going to cut it any more. He's hanging with the guys from here on out. If his papa and brother eat pancakes then so will he.

I deemed pancakes safe for our toothless babe.

He declared his love for the fluffy bread goodness.

From here on out, it is pancakes for three. Yogurt for one.

Summer Fun: Berry Picking.

I might have picked more than I could chew for this summer fun activity. Picking blueberries sounded like a great idea for everyone. I could get some fresh, local fruit to cook banana blueberry bread, and Lane could have some fun picking blueberries. Just like Mr. Renken's farm, he told me. (That's from Curious George for all of you who don't have kids who love George as much as my child does.)

When both boys got up early one Friday morning, I decided we would head out before the crowds filled the patch and the temperature got too high. We started off strong. Evan playing on a blanket. Lane picking blueberries and putting them in his bucket. ,Kerplunk. Kerplink. Kerplank. Just like Sal, Lane told me. (That's from Blueberries for Sal for those of you who don't have kids who love that book as much as my child does.)

However, Evan got tired. Lane got bored. Mama got frustrated. Quickly.

Before we even had enough berries to make a dent in our bucket, we loaded up and headed home.

What few berries we bring home, Papa gobbled up quickly. Letting me know they were absolutely delicious. I felt validated. I worked hard for those precious berries.

I've marked that activity off my list and will be thinking twice before adding it again next year.

Lane, Indian Warrior.

Dear Mom,

I didn't plan on playing a game of Cowboys and Indians this morning. However, when I came out of the bathroom (how dare I go somewhere alone) to find Lane's face covered in ink from the markers I left him with, I just went with.

We used a pool towel as a teepee and whooooo whoooo whooooed using our hands over our mouths. I even tried to show Lane how to sit Indian style, or should I say criss cross applesauce. (I know this might not be considered appropriate any more.)

I'd like to thank you for providing the morning entertainment. Because, every since Lane discovered the markers you bought for him, I find more ink on his body than on his paper pad. I really don't at all. However, I do get a lot of comments from others. Today's marks did a fine job of highlighting the large bruise covering his right cheek, which might explain why we received more comments - and funny stares - than usual.

Love,
Your daughter

Get up and go.

Evan has realized that there's a lot of fun to be had around here. However, if he's going to keep up with his brother's fast pace of playing, he better learn how to get up and go.

So, that's just what he's done.

Summer Fun: Bowling.

We woke to a cloudy sky and a forecast calling for rain. With the Summer Fun list freshly hanging on the kitchen wall, I glanced at it looking for an indoor activity to keep my boy busy.

Bowling. I gathered the babes and our belongings, and headed to the alley close to Papa's office. On the way there, I told Lane we were going bowling. I'm pretty sure his little brain had no idea what was in store for his little body. However, as soon as we walked in, I saw my little thinker's mind running full speed.

We waited in line, paid for our shoes, quickly found the perfect green ball and found our way to the assigned lane.

Without so much as an a one-word explanation, Lane picked up his ball and began to bowl.

The dynamics of the game seemed unimportant to him. Terms like pin, strike, turkey, gutter ball or curve meant nothing to him.

Most times, the ball made its way so slowly down the alley that he'd lose interest in it shortly after releasing it from his hands. I'd have to remind him to look back as the ball hit the pins.

For my boy, keeping score was for the birds. Picking up the ball fresh from the return, finding just the right way to hold it in his little hands, walking right up to the foul line and releasing the ball from his body was all he needed to enjoy a morning at the bowling alley.

Enough so, he asked that we play another round once the first one ended.