Evan's 1st Birthday Party!

Ethan, CJ, and Evan at Evan's 1st Birthday Party on Sunday

Frank workin' the grill


Cupcakes


CJ


Evan & Mommy


Gina & CJ


Stephanie


Excitement


Frankie


Ted, Brad, & Andi

Evan's very first birthday card

The mailman delivered Evan's very first birthday card today! It was very exciting. It was from his Aunt Pauline that lives in Manayunk PA. Aunt Pauline is Evan's Mommy's Mommy's Mommy's Sister. Did you get that? In other words, she is my (genevieve) Nana's Sister on my Mom's side. Anyway, I love her to pieces and it means so much to us that she thought of Evan and sent him his very first birthday card.

Aunt Pauline and Evan wearing the sweater, hat and booties that Aunt Paul knitted for him. (August 2008)

8 Years

That's how long Genevieve and I have been together, 8 years. Strange, it only seems like 800 years. We went our first date 8 years ago today!

Memorial Day

Evan looks so grown up in this picture.


Posing nicely for photo. Moments later: arms and legs flailing, dramatic crying, temper tantrum.

Aronimink Playground

On Sunday, Evan got some playground time in. We went down to the local playground to let Evan explore a little bit.




Going down the slide with Mommy

He wasn't so sure about the balance beam.

Memorial Day Weekend

Evan and the Choo Choo Train from Pete Burke on Vimeo.

Evan checking out the trains going by at his Uncle Steve and Aunt Diane's House in Glenolden, PA

New Shoes

We took Evan to the Philadelphia Outlets to buy a new pair of shoes. He's outgrown his old Coverse sneaks and need to upgrade. He's grown quite a bit in the last month, so he needed a bigger size. The Converse outlet there has some good deals on kids shoes.

Evansburg State Park

Evan chillin' in the park named after him.


I was always afraid of dogs as a kid, so I'm glad Evan isn't so fearful. He loves all dogs and wants to meet them.

Shopping at Target

Little Evan Shopping at Target from Pete Burke on Vimeo.

Old Timey Cars!

Wow! What luck we had today! So as we're taking photos at Evansburg State Park, (more on that later,) we saw a 1912 Ford go by with the folks in the car dressed as though it were, well, 1912 at least! (see photo below) So as we were leaving the park, we saw a few more coming down the road. I flipped a u-turn and followed the cars. Sure enough, a few miles away, they had gathered at an antique store in Skippack, PA. We pulled over and took Evan to see some old timey cars, some of them over 100 years old! He really enjoyed it, making car noises, playing with the wheels, and looking under the chassis! The cars were owned by members of the HCCA, or Horseless Carriage Club of America, a group of early car enthusiasts who are part of the "Brass in Bucks County Tour."

Follow that car!

Evan in 1913 with his Studebaker

Evan with a 1912 Ford

Mommy's Birthday

Today was Mommy's Birthday. A few moments after this photo, Evan grabbed the lit birthday candle and put it out with his fingers. Ouch. He was really upset. I think he's okay though, probably more scared than hurt.

Gimme Some REAL Food!

Evan's into the drawers, cabinets, shelves, everything! If he sees you eating something now, he wants to know what it is. He may not even ask your permission, sometimes he'll just reach over on your plate to see what you've got. I'm glad he's trying new foods, he doesn't get that from me, that's for sure, at least not when I was a kid. I was surprised to see him eating sliced cucumber today. I'm not even sure you could get me to eat that now!

Evan: Toddler.

It occured to me today...Evan is no longer an infant. He is a full blown toddler! He's grown in leaps and bounds in recent weeks. He doesn't want food from a jar anymore, he wants REAL food. He's tried meatballs and spaghetti, turkey, roast beef, loves it. (Sorry vegetarians!) He's also become more daring with his walking. He's not doing the "Frankenstein" walk anymore. (Arms forward, legs apart.) He's walking with much more confidence, 'swagger' if you will. Today for instance, we took him to King of Prussia mall, just outside Philadelphia. I set him down to walk next to me and tried to hold his hand. Do you know what he did? He slapped my hand away every time. Oh boy, I was worried that he would be fiercely independent. Looks like he's got a mind of his own. Doesn't want to be seen holding Daddy's hand in the mall with all these cute chicks riding around in strollers! It was funny to look down and see him just strolling through the mall, looking around. So as we're walking around the mall today, and we noticed that Paul Stanley, the lead singer of Kiss was going to be doing an appearance at an art gallery. Of course, we left the camera at home, and while I know it wouldn't have been much of a thrill for Evan now, it could have been a cool story for later. Apparently Paul Stanley does all these paintings, some Kiss themed, some abstract. Genevieve went and talked to the curator, but you had to drop some serious dough on one of his paintings just to get to meet him. Needless to say, Evan didn't meet Paul Staley from Kiss, but we had a good day anyway. Here's another HD clip from a recent trip to The Highlands, where we were married. Evan was tired and didn't want to take anymore photos or video. He's unimpressed by this whole HD thing.

The Highlands Revisited from Pete Burke on Vimeo.

Happy Boy

Photo: Mommy

Still Searching

Well, we're still looking for the perfect venue to have Evan's First Birthday Party, which is tentatively scheduled for May 31st. Of course, now that it's May, every place imaginable is booked. These photos are from our visit to Ridley Creek Park. We thought about having it there, but of course, it's booked solid. It's really been a difficult process, and as we get closer to his birthday, our options are getting fewer and fewer. Hoping to pull off some kind of miracle at this point...

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommy's out there. I'm off to New York to work on "Celebrity Apprentice" tonight for NBC. Wanted to get a quick post up before I headed out the door and up the NJ Turnpike!

May Day Play Day

Today was "May Day Play Day"at Aronomink School, just down the road from the Lambert's house. We took Evan down there and he was very excited to see a fire engine. We got so sit inside and take some photos. Evan got to see the ladder go up and down and heard the sirens and horn. He even tried the hula hoop for the first time.

Evan in HD

Evan, First Time in HD from Pete Burke on Vimeo.

Sort of a technological quantam leap for the Daddy Diaries, we now have HD video! It's a little tricky to shoot Evan though, he moves so fast and I have to focus manually. Some of the focus goes a little soft and by the time I adjust, he's moved on! I'm just testing out the camera and seeing what it can do. So far, so good.

The Highlands Revisited

Genevieve and I were married at "The Highlands," an estate just north of Philadelhia in October 2006. Today, we went back to visit with Evan. The ground was like a wet sponge after all the rain we've had up here, but once the clouds parted and the sun peeked out, the weather seemed much like our wedding day; quite warm and humid. Evan had fun exploring the grounds and just being a kid. He liked pointing out the airplanes flying overhead.

The entire gallery available on Flickr.