Shots

Today Everett had his twelve month check-up and the shots that go along with it. His head size is in the 75th percentile, which is good, and he is getting shorter compared to the national average for his age with each doctor's visit. This is no surprise to me because he is too short for all of his pants. His chubbiness is actually below average now, and as far as numbers go, that percentage is only slightly higher than his height.

Then the Physician's Assistant, who is very warm and sweet, began asking all sorts of questions about his development and abilities as they are supposed to do, and when she got to the part about him talking, I told her that he doesn't really say very many words but that he can understand a whole slew of them. He says "ma" for three things: Me, More, and Milk. As far as I understood, he is right on track because he babbles, points, and when he plays with objects, he will frequently hold them out to me and "talk" about them to me. A lot of the time it is as though he is questioning me, and it is only when I give an answer that he is satisfied.

When I told the Physician's Assistant that he only said that one sound (which actually counts as three words), she frowned and told me that he should be saying between 3-5 words at his age, and then told me that I needed to "work on his vocabulary at home".

?????

Yes, that's right. Does anyone know of any baby flashcards out there? Apparently Everett's verbal skills aren't varied enough--he hasn't yet figured out the nuances of subject-verb agreement.

You can see I'm a little perturbed, but I am not holding anything against her. She is just doing her job. But this whole situation begs the question: when did we all become so obsessed with our children being "by the book" and "normal"? What is normal, anyway?

To me, normal is a happy little boy who loves laughing and exploring, has a knack for figuring things out, loves dancing and "singing" to music, and gets along just fine with his own babbling language. He uses it just like you or I would speak, only the sounds are jumbled so that it isn't actually English. He understands and responds appropriately to more words than I even think he does, but a few of them are:
Bottle, Go to sleep, Papa, Kitty, Doggie, Ball, Window, Baby, Book, Sock, Mama, Milk, More, Graham Cracker, Cheese, and Diaper.

It is a little strange for me to think that we should somehow expect all babies to hit the same milestones at pretty much the same time. We all know of a baby who talked "late" and ended up being exceptionally eloquent or having an impressive vocaubulary (case in point: my own amazing brother Mack). I have never doubted my son's intelligence, and I never will: I know that he will always be as intelligent as he, Everett, needs to be, and in the way that is best suited for him.

I just have to wonder if there is wisdom in expecting so much, or if it is better to just let our babies be the sweet, wonderful, well-adjusted babies that they are and stop worrying so much about comparisons.

Sometimes boys will be boys, but babies will always be babies. And let's let them be.

Double Trouble

I have been charged with the care of the other Everett in our ward for three days--Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He is three weeks older than my Everett, and the two of them get along famously. Even though they are both the oldest and only children, they are learning to share really well. If one of them has something the other is interested in (which happens often), the one with the toy will hold it out to the other child and let him take it. Nevermind that the first one will take it right back; it is all just a jovial exchange--back and forth, back and forth, and both of them are perfectly happy with that system.

The thing that has saved me is that they both nap at the same time. Whew! Even though he is much bigger than my Everett, Everett Sjolseth (the other Everett) doesn't really move around very well, so in a way it feels like he is much younger than my Everett. He is learning to crawl from watching my Everett, so his parents were excited about that. Yes, that's right, he's learning because of my boy. That's because my boy is the smartest, cutest, best baby in the world.

Hah--yes, I don't inflate my child's characteristics. No sir-ee.

As you can see, having two Everetts around gets confusing. If one of them is doing something he shouldn't, when I say "Everett, No", both of them look at me, and the innocent one will have a look on his face that is something like "what? I wasn't doing anything!". Kind of funny. But on the other hand, I can keep them both in line with limited verbage.

Here are some pictures from our walk to the pond and the swings today.

A Year of Everett

Here are pictures of our sweet baby. See how he's changed over the past year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERETT

I forgot to mention on my post this morning that today Everett is ONE YEAR OLD. It is crazy how fast the time goes, and it is amazing to compare how he is now with how he was when he was born. His personality has shown more and more every day. It will be fun to see where he is next year.

Well, that's all. Just wanted to let you know about my boy's special day.

Smart Baby

Here are some cute pictures we took recently. Everett really likes Joel's BYU hat, and it is fun to see his expressions when we have him wear it.

Also, lately he has started pointing at objects that I talk about. Yesterday we were looking at a picture of a Mom, Dad, and Baby. Since he loves babies I said "Look! Where's the baby, Everett?", and he grinned and pointed right at him, and smiled at me with a proud look on his face. He is so funny.

It is really fun to see him learning and being able to communicate more. Just thought I'd pass this on, since my last few posts have been about him getting into trouble. He really is a very good boy, he is just insatiably curious.

What happens when you have a child named Everett Wayne Johnson:

I just thought I'd write about Everett's latest adventures (which usually translates into extra work for me :) ).

A few days ago, while I was giving Everett a bath, I had a lot of things to do so I was running back and forth between the bathroom and the kitchen. Everything was going really well and I was getting a lot done until I checked on him one last time before I was going to empty the water and send him to bed. ***Disclaimer: Graphic Content Ahead*** I quickly peered into the bathroom and noticed there was some...extra...stuff in there that wasn't there before. Yes, Everett pooped in his bathwater again. Only this time, his stool was very loose, so it was mixing in the water in unappetizing clumps all through the bathwater.

As if that wasn't daunting enough, I then looked at Everett and noticed that he also had it all over his hands and in his mouth! He was just about to eat some more when I yelled "No No No!". I didn't mean to scare him, but he immediately started bawling and was inconsolable for a few minutes.

Hah. So there I was, comforting my baby who had just eaten his own poop. What a day! Needless to say, I bleached all of his bathtoys and the tub.


The next day, Everett was eating dinner in his high chair and was kicking at the tray like he usually does. He has figured out that if he kicks hard enough, the tray will pop off, but he hadn't done that in a long time so I wasn't too worried about it. Even when he did do it, he would remain in his seat and watch the tray plummet to the floor. This time, however, he plummeted with the tray, and landed on his stomach. He bit his lip somehow and ended up with a bloody mouth, so I gave him a cold washcloth to suck on. I also put a bottle of milk upside down in the freezer so the nipple part would be frozen. That seemed to help a little as well, but he had a swollen lip for a day or so.

What a kid! And, silly me, I felt guilty the whole time for not standing next to his highchair and never leaving so I could watch him eat and make sure this kind of thing would never happen. Crazy, huh?

So, Everett had an eventful week. I can't wait until he's two...

Everett is an inquisitive child. He is an adventurous child. He is a child who is eager to discover things. These are good qualities. Right?

Yesterday I left Everett in the living room for two minutes while I was in the bedroom and bathroom. How much trouble can one little person get in in that amount of time? Apparently quite a bit, because we left a box with large styrofoam pieces inside of it by the front door (which isn't really in the living room). Everett seized the moment, and in my absence went directly for the styrofoam and began to (what else?) tear it apart, leaving tiny styrofoam balls all over the place. It was funny enough that I had to get a picture, but it doesn't quite do the mess justice.

Have you ever tried to sweep up those kinds of styrofoam balls? Don't even try. You won't get anywhere.

What a boy! It's a good thing I love him so much...

I've been tagged....

...by my dear friend Amanda Webb. Apparently now I need to write seven facts about myself, which is harder than it sounds. So, here we go:

1. I like doing things with my hands. I always have. If I go too long without baking something, making cards, or doing some other kind of craft, I start to get antsy and anxious. It is kind of my outlet, if you will. The only tricky part is making time for it while Everett is asleep along with everything else I need to do. Trying to do a craft with him all over everything gets more than tricky--it gets impossible.

2. I have not finished my college degree, and sometimes it is a point of embarassement for me. I really want to, and I have an independent study class I'm working on, but it will be kind of a long process to get everything done. Sometimes I feel very intimidated around people who have their degree (or multiple degrees) and are very proud of it. I guess I have this nervousness that people will disapprove of me, think less of me, or think I'm less capable because I have not finished, and I don't want to be judged in that way. It makes me wonder in what unfair ways I am judging other people, who may or may not be extra sensitive about those things. I keep telling myself "everyone has something", but most of the time I would rather that this particular thing isn't my something.

3. I love, love, love reading. It is very theraputic for me to lose myself in someone else's story or problems (whether real or not), and it is one of the ways I find the most relaxation. So, in my quest to become a more knowledgable person, I have made a goal to read a biography about each of our nation's presidents. I just checked one out from the Library about George Washington, so I am excited to start it. I am glad that Joel likes reading too--sometimes some of the best time we spend together is going to bed early, each with a good book, and reading the hours away side-by-side.

4. I love Fall! It is by far my favorite season. I love the crispness of the air and the way the changing leaves smell. I love the vibrant colors and the excitement of the approaching holidays. I love the simple traditions, like jumping into leaf piles, watching the first snowfall of the season, decorating (and eating pumpkins) and collecting colorful leaves. I also love wearing sweaters in the fall, which are probably my favorite kind of clothing. Fall and sweaters: things to live for!

5. I like to go out to eat. I like being able to order something off a menu I don't usually eat, and I like not having to worry about buying it, cooking it, and cleaning up the mess. I like fine desserts and classy presentations. I love going out to eat as part of a date with my wonderful husband, something we do only very occasionally. One of these days I will arrange for a babysitter and he and I will go have a leisurely meal and be able to just...talk. Preface the meal with a visit to a museum, and I'd be on the perfect date. Joel--are you listening?

6. I really dislike stupid, crude humour in movies. Why can't script writers learn to be creative with their writing rather than using the same old predictable crude jabs? I really wish there were more talented writers out there who care more about being clever and original than securing a rating or being inappropriate. I am especially tired of sexual innuendos and jokes that cheapen such a Divine thing. If only the world valued it enough to keep it sacred, but that isn't the world's way. It makes me mad because young teenagers and pre-teens who are curious but have no experience with sexual things only have these unrealistic portrayals as information and models. Sheesh.

7. This should have been first on my list, but I love being a mother. The most important thing to me is that my kids feel loved and appreciated, that they know their Heavenly Father loves them, and that I give them as many opportunities as possible to strengthen their testimonies and faith. I think many parents wish they could give their children a testimony, but since it doesn't work that way, I want to promote those testimony-building experiences as much as possible. I know I need to lead by example, so I will have to keep working on myself as well. I will do everything in my power to give my children the experiences they need to have.


Well, my list is done, and the rule is that I need to tag seven other people and list their names here, but I can only think of three more people I know who have blogs:

1. Jessica
2. Natalie
3. Krystal

These are the rules:

• write seven things about yourself
• make a link to your tagger in your blog entry somewhere
• tag seven other people
• let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.

P.S. If you don't have time to do this, it is perfectly fine. It is just something fun to do if you need a distraction.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Here are pictures (finally!) of our adorable little monkey. Yes, the costume is pretty much homemade (I re-made it), and yes, it is already dirty. I don't have a sewing machine, so I had to use fabric glue for the finishing touches. All in all it didn't turn out as badly as I feared!
















Do you wonder why we chose a monkey costume for Everett's first halloween? Take a good look at this last picture. What did he do as soon as I stopped trapping him on the couch for pictures? That's right--he headed straight for the library books where he became immediately intent on examining them (read: beating them up). Does learning by osmosis work?


I actually took Everett trick-or-treating this year. Every year, several young families in the ward meet at a house, eat pizza, and all go together, and since I was invited I thought I'd take advantage of my Joel-less evening and get some adult interaction (some days I feel my vocabulary is rapidly diminishing). We only went up to a few doors, but even so I felt a little awkward picking out candy "for Everett". Yeah. Like no one saw through that! Everyone seemed to think he was cute, but I did get a few smiling "so how much of this are you going to eat, little boy?" remarks. I learned quickly, though, and after the first couple of houses, I either got him to reach in the bowl and grab a piece, or if he refused I just snagged one and pretended he was being too shy to grab one himself. When we got home, Joel and I started feasting, and Everett soon realized that there was (gasp!) candy in the bag I gave him to hold. After that there was no turning back, so our little monster--I mean, monkey--had his fill and then wouldn't go to bed. Strange...we couldn't seem to figure out why...