Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Da Da Da Da!

Evan's first words? Well, we're not really sure... Evan started saying "Agoo" quite a few months ago, which was followed by the confusing, "Bob." Not sure where that one came from, possibly a phonetic accident, but it was very clearly annunciated with emphasis on the second "B." Recently, however, he began saying "Da Da" around me and "Ma Ma" when with his mommy. So, I'm not sure when you officially declare a baby's first word, but Evan is without a doubt, starting to speak up. He was singing "Da Da Da Da" all day today. He's been amusing himself by pointing at everything. This is new within the last week or two. He points at pictures in his books, and things in the room he wants you to look at. Another funny thing he's been doing is shaking his head "No." When you tell him "No, No Evan!" He starts shaking his head back and forth. Very cute, but he has been using it to express disapproval. When he doesn't want anymore yogurt, he starts shaking his head "No!" He knows what "No" means, I think that's a good start.

He's also becoming fearless when it comes to crawling, picking himself up on furniture, and exploring cabinets, which has required us to think more about baby-proofing. He's already found the electrical outlets, and loves cords, remote controls, video game controllers, sharp objects, pretty much anything you wouldn't want an 8 month old to have. Of course most of these objects wind up in his mouth within seconds. I walk into a room with him now and within seconds I can assess everything that has to be moved to higher ground immediately. Remote control; up on the shelf! That half glass of soda teetering on the edge of the table; to the kitchen! The Nintendo Wii controllers left on the floor; in the cabinet! I have to think this way, because the second I put him down on the floor, he goes right for whatever it is you don't want him to touch.

He's already scaled the stairs leading to the second floor several times, and is picking himself up on any stable (or sometimes unstable,) piece of furniture in his path. He can transfer himself from one piece of furniture to another with relative ease, but is still a little wobbly once he lets go with one hand. Nonetheless, I think he's way ahead of schedule on all counts, especially his attempts at walking. He can walk around surprisingly quickly if you're holding both of his hands, but it doesn't require a tight grip, it's mostly him, I think he just needs a little more leg strength and he'll be off and running.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Cabin Fever


It's been a long, long winter already, we haven't had many opportunities to get out of the house, so when we do, we try to make the most of it. Even if it's just a trip to BJ's to get diapers, or Target just for going to Target's sake, we try to make it fun.

January and February have been particularly harsh this year. Between the bitter cold snaps and frequent snow storms, (not enough snow to be fun, but just enough to make things messy,) we've found ourselves confined indoors a lot more than is safe for anyone's sanity. The current state of the economy has hit home pretty hard over the last few months as well, and much like everyone else, we've had to scale back considerably on almost everything. Film production has slowed down in New York City even more than usual this winter due to the economy, turning my usual winter break into a nail-biting unpaid hiatus that I thought may never end. But the work that has trickled in has kept us afloat, just barely.

The one good thing that has come out of the economic slowdown, is that I've been able to spend a lot of time at home with Evan. Most of the summer and fall, I was working in New York, sometimes 10 days at a clip working on commercial after commercial. I only got to see Evan on the weekends for about the first 5 months of his life, and by the time I made the 110 mile ride from New York to Philly on Friday nights, I would be exhausted. Then I'd be back on the road Sunday night back to New York. Then in November it was like the rug was pulled out from under me. There was no more work and my phone was eerily silent for months. As hard as this time was, I was able to spend day and night with Evan. Sure I could have used the work, but the time I've had with Evan over the past few months has been priceless.

(It's getting harder and harder to find time to write. Evan was having a real tough time getting to sleep tonight, he was crying so hard, I had to go up and help Genevieve get him back to sleep. I was up there for about and hour and lost my train of thought. I'm too tired to finish writing, i'll have to pick up where I left off tomorrow...He started calming down when we put the TV on. Nick Lowe was playing an acoustic guitar at Austin City Limits. He was mesmerized. He really loves music. He fell asleep humming to one of the songs, it was amazing.)

Friday, February 13, 2009

February Blues

Some photos that Genevieve and I took today. Cold and windy day outside, so we stayed inside and played guitar. You can see the rest of the photos here or at the bottom of Evan's Photo Set on Flickr.

Photo: Mommy

Photo: Mommy




Evan really likes playing with his two bottom teeth.





Thursday, February 12, 2009

Evan at 8 Months










...And we're back! Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been busy, getting back to work after a long hiatus on some film projects in New York. The first was a music video for Bruce Springsteen for the video "The Wrestler," from the movie by the same name. We filmed the video at a boxing gym in New Brunswick, NJ. Not sure when it will be released, but I'll let everyone know once it's available online. Here's the latest pictures from Evan's 8 Month photo shoot.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

8 Months Old Today!

Here's a video Mommy took this morning reading one of his favorite books, "Yummy Yucky."