Evan at 38 months

Evan is especially enjoying his bike these days. He's not much for braking though. Mercifully, he's gotten by with very few injuries thanks in large part to Matt's vigilance. (By contrast, Tobin brakes and checks in with the rest of us every 100 feet or so.)



Evan's mostly a champ at using the potty and has fully transitioned to letting us know when he has to go. He's even dispensed with using a potty seat and does his serious potty business sitting backwards, often calling us in to join him in admiring what he's, um, deposited. Of course, we humor him because truthfully, it's a lot better seeing that there than finding it in a diaper. Next up: sleeping without pull-ups; we've just been waiting for the box to run out.



Evan is talking more than ever and we are increasingly understanding him better too. He still doesn't enunciate terribly well but his doctor assured us that's normal for his age and since his hearing checked out fine, there's no reason to fret about his speech. (She also pointed out that Tobin was a precocious speaker.) He's particularly engaged while reading books, asking lots of questions on every page. In everyday life, he asks really thoughtful things like the other day when he saw I had a band-aid on my finger after I cut myself with a kitchen knife. He inquired, "Did that hurt you, Mom? Did it make you sad?"



While antagonizing his big brother remains high on his daily agenda, Evan is also playing very cooperatively with Tobin too. They enjoy racing Matchbox cars and pretending with superhero figurines. One of my favorite imaginary conversations between Spider-Man and Green Goblin Evan narrated went something like this:

"Green Goblin, you go to doctor? Go see Dr. Z [our pediatrician]?"
"No, Spider-Man, I throw pumpkin at you!"

Evan also informed me that Iron Man is "silly" while Spider-Man is "scary." Most days, Evan takes his nap with either a car or a superhero. And he still sleeps in his crib. We've offered for him to sleep with Tobin now, like he did while we traveled this summer, but he still insists on sleeping in "my bed." I suppose sleeping with your brother, like braking, is overrated.



Thus far Evan's reaction to Tobin's "new school" has been one of curiosity. Each day when he comes home, Evan asks excitedly, "Tobin, you went to school today?" He's asked me a few times during the days if Tobin's still at school. He also notes when we pass by the nearby church preschool that was Tobin's "old school." The other day he asked, "Where's Evan's school?" I explained that Evan's school was at home with Mama and Lauren. This seemed to suffice and he'll occasionally ask, "I go to Evan's home school?" I affirm and offer something "educational" like drawing or reading, to which he replies, "No, I play with Spider-Man." Perhaps I need to pick up a superhero coloring book soon. For now, I am indeed enjoying having him home with me, loving his curiosity, enthusiasm and even his antics--all the things that make him uniquely my baby boy.