Evan at 35 months

Today we went to the beach, which I think is only Evan's third trip ever to the ocean. He's always been overwhelmed and fearful of it. He was willing to get closer this time but still didn't want much to do with the water. But he was totally fine walking with me along the surf. We were close enough that the water would wash over our feet occasionally. When the foamy salt water would get close, Evan would exclaim, "See bubbles!?!" We stopped and picked up shells. I admired the first and thought maybe he would want to hold onto it--his big brother was collecting shells elsewhere on the beach--but Evan decided to just chuck it into the ocean. Then he found a few more and did the same thing. While he had his own idea about the shells, he also insisted that I hold his hand the whole time, which I happily obliged.



Evan may need some time to warm up to a new activity--like playing in the pool or at the beach this week--but he is almost always open to an adventure. When I started talking about our upcoming trip to Florida a couple weeks ago, he started insisting: "I wanna ride boat with Granpa!" Indeed he has almost every day that we've been here.



Vacationing this week has really shown how much he's growing up--and how quickly. He's suddenly able to handle stretching his schedule with late bedtimes and the occasional missed nap. He sleeps on a pallet next to Tobin's bed in a separate room from me and doesn't have the trouble sleeping that he did last year around this time. I'm increasingly thinking of him as a big boy now, simultaneously enjoying and lamenting how he loves playing and being with people other than his mama.



As he approaches the end of his third year, Evan appears well on his way to figuring out the potty. After many months of expressing not just disinterest but outright disdain for the practice of peeing in the potty, Evan is doing so regularly these days. With Tobin, I used a fairly complicated incentive system involving M&Ms and Matchbox cars to encourage potty training. I gave Evan chocolate chips as rewards for the first few days but he quickly got into the routine and seemed much more excited about getting to flush the potty and our cheer of "Yay Evan!" (Yes, he says it too.) than receiving any kind of treat. While neither of us love this whole potty training thing, I know I'm enjoying watching him figure it out--in his own way. He is my baby boy growing into another big boy, but forging ahead with his own very distinctive style.