Evan James at 17 Months, how times flies

I feel like I say this all the time, but that saying “Time flies when you’re having fun” is SO COMPLETELY TRUE. I never imagined I’d wake up one morning with a 10 year old, 6 year old and 17 month old… all while being 15 weeks from meeting our youngest! That’s right, Evan James is 17 months old this month!

After raising two girls (mostly as a single mom), I was pretty content with my “girl tribe” and felt equipped to handle most things. After all, the worst thing that had happened was Gracie’s broken arm at 3 years old. I could deal with that. Boys are a whole different ball game though, and I pretty much wake up every day not knowing what I should be prepared for.

In the past 17 months:
+ Learned Mom has mad first aid skills, but sometimes she needs a second set of hands to hold little man down.
+ Gotten countless bruises, smashed fingers, bloody toes (from pulling a stool onto our foot), and just this week gave ourselves a good shiner by falling off the play kitchen.
+ climbed on everything we possibly can. No joke, I’m a bit surprised I haven’t found him on the kitchen counter, though we don’t keep anything nearby for him to get up there. Kitchen chairs must be stacked AWAY from our farm table, otherwise Evan James will find his way up there when no one is looking.
+ We’ve discovered our words! He loves to play “puppet” with anything he can put his hand in, and their favorite thing to say is “Hello” though it sounds more like “Herro” because that’s how dad says it. Other things he says on the regular are apple, no, mine, me, Emi, mom, and nana (banana). Plus he knows the sign language for “more” and will tell you he has a “stinky butt” by waving a hand in front of his nose or pinching it like he smells something yucky.

He’s such a small ball of energy, and I’m so grateful that God sent him when he did. Who knew I’d need this little guy almost as much as he needs me. Believe me when I say he’s the happiest little guy, and being sad around him is completely impossible. Even when the world shuts down and the future looks frightening, Evan James is there to goof off and make everything seem perfect.

While I haven’t done a great job of yearly or even monthly posts over the past year, you can view more of this cutie on his announcement post. One of these days I’ll actually blog his first birthday too.