Avery's Birthday

I know, I know - you're getting blog overload. Sorry, but a lot of things have happened in January. Now our little Avery has turned 3 yrs old!!! She had her birthday at the karate academy she attends. All the kids were so great and had such a good time. Avery partied hard and started dosing as Danielle carried her off after the festivities. Evan, too, missed a nap, and fell asleep in the car ride home.

Here's our little birthday girl:


All the kids got a Dragon headband. Here's Evan getting his:



And him taking it off

The kids played karate games. Here's Avery. The point of the game was to be as still as you could. If you moved, you had to sit (that's why Avery is sitting at the beginning of this blog entry).

Colin

...and Evan. He moved the whole time and refused to sit. As you can see, you must remove your shoes before you step into the Dojo. This was Evan's kind of party, as he had his shoes kicked off in the car en route to the party. But I felt bad for Steph - she finally had a chance to dress up and looked really good! She had on a great pair of boots, and what's the first thing she had to do when she got to the party? Get rid of them!

We had pizza and cake.

And the kids cracked open a pinata! Evan didn't do that activity, but he reaped the benefits as you can see here. Hello there, handsome.

He used his tootsie rolls like flippers. Awwww! he's calling for him mama at the end of this clip. It melts my heart, but I was off eating pizza. Sorry, Ev.


As usual, we were the last to leave! Here is a picture of Master Kim saying good bye to Evan. Master Kim said Evan has mad skills, and invited Evan back to train with him when he turns 18 months. Evan has a look on his face like he had when he met the Phillie Phanatic and Sir Rod! I'm starting to wonder if he has a problem with authority...


Evan just did a huge roundhouse kick here, but he was too fast and I just missed it. I asked him to do another one, but he shot me a look that said "What, I'm here to amuse you? Like a clown?" so I just dropped it. Trust me, this instructor was very impressed with Evan's cat-like reflexes and lightening quick kicks! Steph was not as impressed, saying "You should have felt him in my tummy!"


Happy Birthday, Avery! We love you!!!

birthday cake

Here's Evan's birthday cake (finally!) with my dad's sugar-free pie next to it.
Thank you for this shot, Joel!

Thank you Schuyler!!

No, Evan's birthday isn't over yet! He had one more gift to open last night. Bob's daughter Schuyler, who was born on January 14 (not 2007... she's a preteen now), gave him a present - an awesome Tonka walker/ride-on truck! Evan was so excited and kept playing with the parts as Mike put it together.

Great kids are born on January 14, right Schuyler?

Here's Evan waiting impatiently for his dad to put everything together.

Yay- finally!


He tried it out with his brand new BIG BOY KICKS (aka sneakers) the next day!

Hanging with the Daly Boys (and Marti)

Marti, John and Jude came over yesterday to play. Evan always thinks he's a big boy when they're around. I was just happy to chat with Marti. Here are the kiddies in action:


Poor John is going to kill me one day for this, but it's just too funny. First of all, he's singing Neil Diamond! Secondly, Marti gave him hot fries, which he loves, but can't eat all the time, because... well... he'll tell you why...

PopPop Bock's Birthday

It was such a nice weekend having Josh and Brittany stay and play with Evan. It even allowed Mike and I to go out on a lunch date! Evan barely noticed I left when I kissed him goodbye because he was too busy playing with Josh.

The day after his birthday Mike and I went out for a drive then came back to celebrate my dad's birthday. We opened presents during the day then went out to dinner that night. Evan was so beat that he slept in the restaurant the whole time and woke up just as dessert came out. Smart boy.

This is after Grandmom gave him some chocolate ice cream. Bad BAD Grandmom.

We were all off on Monday too. So the fun continues...

Brittany got Evan the cutest clothes ever for his birthday. Here she is putting on his Hurley dark-washed jeans. He's wearing a scary shirt that has a skull, an exploding pirate ship and a dragon on it. Evan thought he was so badass.

Sponge Bob Extravaganza

Evan's first birthday was at Mac & Manco's on the boardwalk and we really had a blast. We didn't get that coastal winter storm that was supposed to happen and the day was cloudy, but nice. We bundled up and hit the boards!

Before the party Evan opened gifts from Josh and Aunt Brittany. Josh wrapped up his old Blackberry, which Evan LOVED! He put it to his ear and said 'hi!'.


Evan dined on pizza and carrots. Here he is with Grandmom:

Here's the whole restaurant (which was open to the public) singing to our baby boy (and my dad too!)

I love Bob's face here (by the balloons)

Uncle Larry gives his signature expression:

Evan eats his Sponge Bob cake (unfortunately, no shots were taken of the cake itself).

Gifts were opened...

Evan's wearing his "Make Pizza, Not War." t-shirt that Becky and Chris got him. He's got sleepy eyes because he had to skip his nap to party.

The aunties partied too!

Here's Janice, Chris & Becky (w/ Aunt Wanda in the left corner)

Once again, the MVP award goes to Jake Sullivan, who took his nap for the first half of the party, woke up and put on his goody bag glasses to party the rest of the time. He's seriously the chillest kid I've ever met. here he is with mom, Toni.

Afterward, we walked back to the cars to go to the afterparty at my parents' house.





After the party, Evan cruised away in his new Radio Flyer car. He loves to play the radio and put on the blinkers.



Evan stayed up until 10:00 to be with everyone (after a 5pm nap!) Here he is with Grandmom and PopPop. I know the balloon string is in the way, but my dad refused to pose for any more photos.


Thank you everyone for making Evan's 1st Birthday so special! We love you all so much.

Playtime

I'm going to post Evan's birthday party shots soon, but first I wanted to show off his dancing skills. Isn't this the cutest thing ever? He LOVES to dance to everything - my singing, the radio, his toys and when I say the word 'dance'. BTW, today we had our first Mommy & Me gymnastics class. The kiddies were much older than Evan, so I was a little stressed, but hopefully I'll be able to mellow out by next week. I had to wake Evan up from his nap to go, then bundle him up for the cold walk to the gym, then try to protect him from being trampled by 2-4 yr olds. He had a great time, but I think I got a few more gray hairs.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, EVAN!!!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Mr. Presideeeeent.... Happy Birthday tooooo yooooou! Can you believe our baby boy has been out of the belly for 1 whole year?! What? Where did the time go. Here's our 1 year photo:


Afterward, Evan chucked his bear over the side of the crib.

Then he said 'Ya, take that!'


Here's an update... he FINALLY started eating again. He says "Yes!" very clearly and "Daddy!" I'm still Ma or Mama. He waves when you ask him to (without waving yourself!). He now forgot how to clap and waves when you start clapping. Before it was the opposite... You'd wave to him and he'd start clapping. He's very social at the playground and always makes a friend every time we go. He's not walking yet, but cruises along using one hand. He's also become very sneaky now. Aunt Ella had given him a Porsche matchbox car, which I only let him play with when I'm around since he always puts it in his mouth. One day, he of course started sucking on it. I looked at him sternly and said 'No, Evan. Not in the mouth.' I usually do this 3x, on the 3rd time, I take the toy away. Evan dropped the car to the ground and made a car noise as he pushed it along. Then he took the car and quietly crawled to the corner, with his back to me and puts the car in his mouth! BABY BOY HAD TRIED TO TRICK ME! He slowly turned to see if I was looking with the toy hanging from his lips. It killed me not to crack up. I said 'I see you, Evan! Not in the mouth.' and took the damn car away. He sometimes just gives me a very dirty look. It's really funny to see a baby give a dirty look.

At the playground

The weather has been so beautiful lately that Evan and I played at the playground one evening. Evan tried to chase the older kids (he crawled after them as they ran away).

Dance Party

Here's some footage of Evan dancing. Now anytime I sing or put on some music, he bops to it! The thing on his back is a mitten clip, but we used it to keep his pajamas pulled up.

Christmas Party IV: New Years

You thought it was over, but it's not! Mima and PopPop drove up to visit us on Sunday to stay through New Years Day. We had so much fun and Mima brought up homemade tomato bisque soup, 2 homemade quiches and a delicious cinnamon struessle.

Here is the day they arrived. We took this photo of 3 generations of Cronin boys. Evan donned his Eagles outfit for the game.

Evan is sitting on his present pile. You wouldn't believe the awesome toys and books his grandparents' gave him! Then Mike and I got to open our gifts - we were all obviously VERY good this year. One of our gifts was a navigation system for the car! Mike can't wait to use it.


The next day we headed downtown to check out the Macy's light show, go through Dicken's Village and have lunch. We also walked down to Rittenhouse Square while Mike and PopPop smoked cigars. What a great day and end to 2007 - the year our baby boy was born!

Here's Evan with his Mima before we left...


New Years Eve, Evan partied.

We had a delicious crab cake dinner. Mike and I then headed over to our neighbors' for a few minutes.

I wore my tiara... At midnight, I spoke with my parents on the phone and we ran outside to watch the fireworks as Mima banged on a pot. Here's my not-so-pretty face.

The next morning we had herring in sourcream on saltines (a tradition in Mike's family). Yuck!

Yay 2008!!!!!