nap, nicknames & updates

sorry for the delay in posts; i won't bore you with my usual excuses (trust me there are some really good ones if i cared to share - not as good as the mom i just read about who was late picking her older child up from preschool because she forgot to put a diaper on her toddler and then when said baby woke up from nap there was quite a mess to clean up! go to www.damomma.com for complete story.)

i haven't taken many pictures in my absence, but i did get this one of evan who had fallen asleep while in his high chair. he's done it a couple of times now and i think it's his way of saying: "get me on a better schedule, mom!"

speaking of evan, i have now read a few blogs where people have come up with nicknames for their family members. this has caused me to ponder on what anonymous names i would come up with for my family. i tend to call evan a "big brute" whenever he is trying to pull hair or digging his fingers into someone's face (he gets called this name a lot throughout the day). but evan is really too good natured for such a tough nickname. so we've thought we could call him "fezzik" which is the name of andre the giant's character in "The Princess Bride." gracie would be "drama girl" for too many reasons to name. i haven't come up with one for lily or jake. lily gets called "stinker" a lot, but that's my affectionate name for any of the kids (but not my niece who's informed me it's a not a nice name to say and that it's not nice to tease) when they are doing something naughty that i actually find kind of funny (we won't say what i call them when i don't find it amusing - just joking here). so any suggestions for a quiet mischievous child who often charms the socks off of us? or how about a boy who loves to laugh and roughhouse (jake)? pat's grandpa would come up with nicknames for everyone. his nickname for pat was "his all american." so maybe pat could be my "mr. all american" or i could go with the standard "dear husband" or "cute husband" (both of which are very true). my one nickname from college i wouldn't share because then i would have to explain how i got it (it's not as bad as you think). with all my thinking, i have only come up with two nicknames possibly three, but it is a fun thing to ponder.

here's the update on the kids:
*evan's favorite hangout spots are: the piano where he will stand holding unto the bench and then reach his fingers up to hit the keys; the bathtub in the upstairs bathroom where he will try and reach out for the faucet to see if water is coming out. evan also now likes to continually stand while in the bathtub. he's learned how to pull himself holding unto the faucet and "drain control switch." bathtime is now a constant battle in trying to keep him safe.
*lily more and more is getting to wear she only wants to wear skirts or dresses (for an hour or two at the most before it's dress-ups or nightgowns). i'm constantly having to re-dress the girl before we go anywhere.
*gracie has worked hard on memorizing some subtraction and addition facts for school. she gets timed on how fast she can do them and she's improved a lot in her speed. she would get bored when we practiced until i pulled out the stopwatch and we made a game of it. she definitely got a competitive streak (might not be a strong enough word here) from me.
*jake is making some real progress in terms of communication. we are trying to use the sign "more" with him and he seems to be starting to understand the sign when we feed him. i just gathered a ton of doctor's reports for an independent evaluation of his schooling. it will be done by the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. it will hopefully give us insights into his education and encourage us as well as his team at school to push him educationally. unfortunately, the observation will most likely not happen until the fall. i'm excited at what we might learn from it.