2009 ends

As 2009 ends, the terrible, terrific twos are beginning. Emma has been practicing the art of tantrums, screaming, and trying to get her way every single time. Although we do our best to avoid trigger situations, sometimes the fits are unavoidable. Our catch phrase these days is: it's hard to be little. Emma has validation that sometimes life is difficult for her and a reminder to us that being grown up can be the "easier" way to be.

Thanksgiving was a grand feast with Aunt Susan and our friends, Agathe, Henri and their kids, Gustave and Cleophie. Gustave is a picky eater so while he ate plain pasta, Emma chowed down on turkey, wild rice, sweet potato casserole, homemade Parker House rolls, and pumpkin pie. It was a sight to see her eating alone, completely contentedly at her snack table. At Great Grandma's the next day she turned in a similar performance. What can I say, the kid likes to eat!

Aside from eating, reading "tories" is Emma's next favorite thing to do. She is becoming quite the reader, too. She surprised us early this month when she started quoting Snow White and then later repeated to Steve the first few pages of the story, turning the pages at the correct moments. She knows that the letters on the page are the words that we need to see to read her the story. Even still, she has a knack for covering them up and waving the pages of the book around while trying to hold the book for us to see. Oh, the joys of limited dexterity and muscle control. :)

With that in mind, Emma has been working hard on making her fingers contort to make numbers, bunny ears, play thumb wars, give the thumbs up and say i love you. She busted out I love you in the bath last week and I went nuts. Her cousins and family all joined in these last couple of days. I think seeing her older cousins doing it was extra incentive. Emma waved I love you to them all as they drove away this morning.

The other morning I went into Emma's room to "set her free" for the day. Upon opening the door, Emma said, "Good morning, Mommy, I love you." My smile lit up the dark room- no need for lights that morning!

When Nanie gave Emma a bath last night, she sang Little Drummer Boy. Emma chimed in with "pa, rum, pa, pum, bum." Apparently she giggled and giggled over the bum part. As Nanie told us the story at the breakfast table this morning, Emma reached around during the "rum, pa, pum, pums" and patted her bum. Too funny.

Steve and I love singing and making up songs to tunes we all know. Emma usually giggles and adds a line or two that sometimes fits but likely is an example of how her mind works. (She will insert the word poop into any riff, for example.) Anyway, lately she has been trying to rhyme and make up songs with us. Raffi's Willaby Wallaby song is a current fave. Imagine her saying this: "Willaby Wallaby Wommy, an elephant sat on Mommy." Only Willaby Wallaby usually comes up Kawillaby, Kowallaby.

Santa brought Emma an awesome trike for Christmas. Although she can reach the pedals, she is still working on making the bike move by herself. Her cousins, however, gave her a break from trying. She sat on the back while they took turns pedaling her around the table. The younger cousin isn't as strong, so she helped by pushing with her feet. Later, they all gave us an impromptu dance show to the 3 short Peanuts tunes that the Hallmark Snoopy stuffed musical "toy" plays. The oldest cousin kept hitting the button to play the songs over and over again so they could dance. Emma didn't even need to be prodded to join in. She just starting twisting and wiggling around. But she would also then run really fast and jump into the couch cushions. I guess the bright lights of stardom can be too much sometimes! Nanie tried suggesting different music, perhaps songs that last longer than 30 seconds, but they only wanted Snoopy rocking out on his super mini piano.

Tom and Karen, our neighbors across the street gave Emma some Magic Reindeer Food to sprinkle on the snow on the night before Christmas. By morning it looked as if Rudolph had trampled the snow to eat the oats that he saw because of the sparkly green glitter mixed in with them. Santa had also eaten the cookies that Emma left out for him and all that was left of the carrot was a stub. Emma seemed impressed by all of the magical elements, and especially happy that Santa brought her what she asked for- candy.

The family gave Emma some new dolls and doll accessories that have kept her quite busy. She loves rocking them to sleep in the cradle that my godfather made me when I was little, feeding them bottles or cereal, pushing them around in the stroller, or swaddling them in the numerous blankets that can be found in any room of the house. When any one asks Emma what her baby's name is she always says, " Baby Doll." I think she currently has about 5 Baby Dolls.

Emma will sleep right through New Years and tomorrow will be 2010 by the time she wakes up. (Please let that be later than 7 am!) A new decade will be dawning with plenty of time for kicking and screaming, laughing and singing, reading and memorizing, dancing and sleeping. (Please let there be lots of great sleeping.) Happy New Year, Emma Bear!

Another first

So yesterday there we were in the front room just goofing around. I was sitting on the floor while Emma was wiggling around, singing I think. Then she put her head to the ground like an ostrich, which is something she has been doing for a long time. Sometimes she tries to flip over herself, but a lot of the time I flip her over herself. It's fun. But anyway, she was doing a great version of downward dog (a yoga pose) and then over she went. Aside from the fact that her foot hit the piano bench it was a success! It was perfect somersault form! I think she was so shocked that she did it that she didn't do it again. In fact she was purposefully ignoring my encore requests.

Potty Time, excellent

Emma's world..... I have been pretty easy going with the whole potty thing. Emma has been even more so. Sometimes she asks to sit on the potty (her own, plastic version). Sometimes that lasts for 40 minutes. Sometimes it lasts for 2 minutes. All of the time it has led to nothing ending up in the potty. Twice she sat for a little bit (okay, one of those times was for 45 minutes) and then ran away only to pee on the carpet or in her pants. I think I need to elaborate...

A few weeks ago now Emma asked me in the afternoon to sit on the potty. So we took off her pants and diaper and down she sat. I had to sit in the room with her of course, reading her stories. She was so content on sitting there that once boredom settled in I ran the water, used the big potty (sorry), stuck her hands in warm water, gave her a full sippy cup and encouraged long drinks. Nothing worked! I was hoping that she would at least tinkle a tiny bit since she was there for so long. Around the 40 minute mark she began trying to put her pants on, which is something she had been trying to do by herself. It took a lot of tries but she finally got both legs through separate pant legs. (Although it would have been funny to watch her try to walk with both legs crammed into one pant leg, I didn't want the potty experience to scar her or anything. This needs to be fun!) As soon as she managed that feat, she stood up, yanked up her pants and ran away. (It is so much easier to pull pants up over a diaper-less bottom!) I new that she was going to pee now that she was not on the potty. So I tried bargaining with her. "If you are on the carpet area I am going to put your diaper on you." It only took a couple of times before the gleamy-eyed girl made a beeline for the basket of clean diapers on the hardwood floor. She was digging in the basket doing who knows what. I grabbed the camera to document the first successful pants-on-by-herself image. Click. First picture taken. Then right before I could snap number 2, she got a weird look on her face and looked down. Sure enough, there were dark spots spreading on her pant legs. She proceeded to try to climb in the clean diapers, but I wouldn't let her. So we had a nice chat about peeing on the floor and all of that. I hope I was as calm as I felt. Although she did cry because she wanted to sit with the clean diapers.

The second incident happened with Aunt Susan. Emma said she wanted to go to the potty so Aunt Susan made that happen. Emma only sat for a couple of minutes before she took of running to the front room. Aunt Susan caught up with her to put a clean diaper on and then came to tell me the story. I told her what had happened about a week before and then went to the front room to check for wet spots on the carpet. Sure enough, there was a wet spot right in front of the couch! Silly little Emma!

The doc says that it is perfectly normal to go through this stage of peeing outside of the diaper but not in the potty. If it were summer I would really consider letting Emma go around all nakey so she could practice. Oh well. She's the boss when it comes to potty time!

So on Monday, November 2, 2009, Emma took it to the next level. She said she wanted to sit on the potty so we stripped her down and began reading. Just then the phone rang. It was Aunt Susan calling from campus to see if we needed anything else for the cookies we were going to make for Aunt KA. That required a trip to the cookbook in the kitchen to find out. Emma was in the bathroom all alone. I heard the potty bang against the door so I hoped she was okay and listened for tears or sobs but all was quiet (from my spot in the kitchen). A couple minutes later I went back into the bathroom to find Emma standing next to her potty with a very odd expression on her face. Then she stammered out, "Emma peed in potty." I looked down and said, "You did?" It was hard to tell so I wiggled the potty and sure enough there was some liquid in there! "Emma peed in the potty!" we both cried out. I gave her a huge hug, probably a high-five, lots of kisses and more hugs. I wished that I had a little treat to give her. Then I realized that the weird expression had been partly fear so I asked if it scared her and she said yeah. So I said that sometimes the first time is but it takes practice. OR something like that. Then more hugs and kisses! "I am so proud of you!" (They say that you are supposed to be conservative with the potty praise but I couldn't help myself!) Emma helped me dump it into the big potty, and then we washed her hands. Later in the day she would randomly say with a big old grin on her face, "Emma peed in potty."

Turning 2- part 2

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Emma. Happy birthday to you! Emma was singing this almost every day after our trip to Great Grandma's. Actually, most of the time she would sing about someone else. Aunt Susan, Sleepy Joe, Baby Doll, Daddy- all favorite birthday people.



On Tuesday of the week before Emma's birthday, Aunt Karen Anna showed up for the rest of her fall break. We had a fun few days of making preparations and playing with Emma. Friday night (October 16th) Emma opened up her presents from Aunt Susan- a beautiful brown flowered dress and a pink "birthday girl" shirt. After Emma was already asleep, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Uncle Paul and Aunt Lauren showed up at the house. We all had some cupcake and cookie snacks before heading off to bed. Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the Country Inn and Suites, but Uncle Mark, Uncle Paul and Aunt Lauren stayed with us. Aunt Susan joined Aunt Karen Anna in the back room for a night of couch sleeping while Mark crashed on the front room couch. It was quite the flop house!



Saturday morning we were all up bright and early. Aunt Susan whipped up some Puffins (pancakes made in a mini-cupcake pan) that were scrumptious. It was obvious that Emma was soaking up the extra attention; she knew that they were all there just for her. Emma opened up a present from Grandma and Grandpa- a nappy wrappy for baby doll (so Emma and Baby Doll can both wear diapers).

Emma had fun playing and hanging out with the family while everyone pitched in to decorate and make the food. We had streamers and balloons artfully hung by Uncle Paul and Aunt Lauren. Some of the early birthday cards were hung on the walls. The pin-the-candle-on-the-cupcake game was hung on the family room wall. Aunt Karen Anna cut out the Jello "gigglers" that she had created the day before. These things were awesome! 6 Jello flavors and colors made into a 12 layer giggler creation and then cut into hearts and stars. She even filled two champagne flutes with the layers. Aunt Susan, Aunt KA and I decorated the cupcake layer cake. Just look at the picture for a description. They were so delicious!

Around 3 pm Aunt Darcy, Uncle Steve, Madison and Jared showed up, followed closely by our neighbors, Tom and Karen. Aunts Susan and KA churned out delicious cheese and nut twists for snacking while mingling. Emma got to ride on Madison's old bike (that was brought up here just for her), which was one highlight. She also had fun running around with Madison and Jared and reading stories with anyone who would read to her! Madison, Jared, and Emma had fun taking turns playing the cupcake game, although Emma insisted on playing without the blindfold step. They all played for about 15 minutes and laughed whenever some one's candle was upside down (like mine!). Yes, they "made" me play, too. It was fun!



At about 4 pm we gathered everyone around for present time. There were so many! Lots of books and clothes. A Bryn Mawr sweatshirt from Aunt Karen Anna. A fluttery shirt from G-Bugga. Daisy Gets Dressed from Tom and Karen. Bath time baby (from Aunt D and family) was an instant hit. It distracted Emma so much from the other wrapped gifts that Uncle Steve had to take it out of the room to take her out of the box. He delayed the process until the end of the "opening ceremony." (hee hee) Uncle Mark made Emma a xylophone out of wood that is absolutely gorgeous. Aunt Lauren and Uncle Paul gave her a carved pumpkin with a card for a savings bond stuffed inside. Grandma and Grandpa gave Emma a home-made fleece purple bag with a whole slew of art supplies tucked inside along with Harold and the Purple Crayon. Mommy and Daddy gave Emma a tea set, letter blocks, and Carl's Birthday. She really had quite the haul. Once she was all done, she went straight for the tea set and bath time baby.



After presents we had a feast (that Aunts KA and Susan had been busy with during the opening ceremony) of mac and cheese, gigglers, twists of three veggies, lasagna rolls (made the night before), and cheese and nut twists. Then it was cupcake time! Aunt Darcy let Emma stick her finger in one just for fun. Then we sang the Happy Birthday song, and I think Emma sang along. :) Emma got the top cupcake and everyone else grabbed the flavor that sounded best. (There was white and chocolate swirl and red and white swirl. (The triple swirls were left overs and enjoyed throughout the weekend!) We didn't notice until Sunday morning that we forgot to serve Babcock ice cream with them!



After that we all hung out and watched Emma play with her new toys. She knew right what to do with the tea set! She poured tea and passed out cup fulls the whole evening long. "Grandma drink tea." or "Aunt Darcy drink tea." I think everyone had tea that night!



Sunday morning we had waffle sundaes after sleeping in until about 7 am. Grandma and Grandpa came by earlier to find the house dark; they came back after Steve called them. That's Emma for you! She sleeps in when you expect her to wake up early and vice versa. Emma continued to love the attention of the family! Uncle Paul and Aunt Lauren read some of the new stories to her when Emma and Grandma weren't having a tea party. There were pulled pork sandwiches for lunch with cupcakes for dessert. After lunch some of the family went to the Arboretum while the rest of us stayed home while Emma napped.. Emma had to say goodbye to Uncle Paul and Aunt Lauren when they came back so that was sad. The birthday weekend was winding down.



On Monday we had happy birthday cinnamon twists that Aunt Susan had made and frozen earlier in the week. They were delicious! Then Aunt Susan and Uncle Mark caught the bus to campus where Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy and Emma met them later in the morning. We did a driving/walking tour of the parts of campus that Aunt Susan sees on a daily basis. Near Goodnight Hall we walked beneath the fall oak trees to the walking/biking path that runs right along the lake. Emma sat on Uncle Mark's shoulders for a better view. Then we headed off to Babcock Hall to pick up lunch.
While we waited for our sandwich orders to be fixed, Uncle Mark shared his ice cream cone with Emma. Before leaving we headed upstairs to the viewing deck to watch ice cream being made. Emma really seemed to like watching them hose down the floors on one side and watching the machines fill the tubs with ice cream on the other.
Back at home Steve was waiting for us. We enjoyed our sandos, cupcakes and ice cream, and then Emma got to open another present from Mommy and Daddy. It was a play kitchen! Emma checked out the small pieces (wooden knives, forks and carrots) before heading up for a nap. She also had to say goodbye to Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Mark. As if she understood what would happen, she asked for Grandma and Grandpa to both read her stories and tuck her in. When she awoke she predictably asked for the missing guests and then supplied her own answer. "Grandma and Grandpa on plane." The kitchen was waiting for her downstairs and she dove right in. I think it made the empty house a little easier to bear. She focused on cutting the carrot in half with the knife until she could do it quickly and completely on her own. (The carrot is held together with Velcro tabs, leaving a space barely wide enough for the wooden knife.) It is pretty cool!

So now Emma enters her third year as a healthy two year old. On the 20th, we went to the doctor for her 2 year appointment. She was too shy to talk at all with the doctor. He had to take my word for it that she has exceptional language skills. :) She weighed in at 34.4 pounds and was measured to be 38 inches tall. That's the 95%tile for both categories, folks! Everything is A-Okay! She received the regular flu shot and the second of her hepatitis A shots. She cried and said that they hurt, but she got over it pretty quickly. What a trooper!

Turning 2- part 1

Last weekend we went to Great Grandma's house to celebrate Emma's second birthday. We drove down on Saturday and got there in time for a delicious Swedish meatball lunch. It was complete with spaetzle, cheesy, bacon garlic bread, broccoli and birthday cake. Emma successfully blew out both candles, one at a time. That was cool!

Nap was an interesting time. For one thing Emma actually slept for about 1.5 hours (a record for Great Grandma's house). For another thing she refused to sleep on the cushion on the floor. I know this sounds weird but lately she has been sleeping on a blanket on the floor of her bedroom so this was a step up! Where she wanted to sleep instead was on the big bed- the big bed that Steve and I would be sharing later that night. But we let her do it.

When she woke up we opened some presents. Great Grandma got her some fun squirty bath toys, numbers and letters for the bath, and a drum set. It isn't what you are thinking. She didn't get a drum set that has a bass drum, snare, cymbals and the works. This drum set has sticks, a tambourine, a harmonica, and a carrying strap. Plus everything fits in the drum for easy storage. What fun! There was also a box of presents that Nanie and Papa had sent. Emma got some shorts, a red and black outfit, washable markers, and a savings bond. Emma had a great time making dots with the markers.

We had a delicious scrambled egg and leftover dinner and then it was bath time! Emma loved the numbers and letters. They stick to the walls! Predictably, when it came time for bed Emma would not even consider the cushion bed on the floor. So we surrounded her with pillows and Steve tucked her into the big bed. Meanwhile I made him a little pile of blankets on the floor. It was a terrible sleeping night! Emma rolls and kicks and steals the covers. Plus, she woke up for a looooong time in the middle of the night. She sat up, laid down, rolled over and fidgeted all while chatting or singing. She did use her cute whisper voice most of the time, but I still wasn't able to sleep. At one point I woke up to her throwing her arm over my middle and then draping her top half over my stomach. It was cute and snugly until I began to lose feeling in my arm and leg. Thankfully she did not wake up when I gently moved her back to the center of the bed.

Come morning she slept in until almost 7. Yay! We had a simple cereal breakfast with yogurt, strawberries and blueberries. We left right around 8:30 so that Grandma could get off to church without a fuss. Emma fussed in the car on the ride home from lack of sleep and hunger. I headed off to my soccer game around lunch time, and when I returned home Emma was awake. Her overtired self was not able to take a good nap apparently. But the little frustrations were well worth the joy that Emma gave to Great Grandma. Those are sweet memories to be cherished.

What's been happening?

Steve made Emma a sandbox out of a piece of our deck, and we filled it with deluxe sand from Menards. Emma loves it! I taught her how to bury our feet and make caves when we pull them out. Aunt Susan and Steve had no idea when we were talking to them about looking in caves one day at dinner. It was like our little secret! :) Our neighbor across the street gave Emma some toys that used to belong to her grandkids, which made the sandbox so much better. Emma likes to make fish and star molds and then promptly destroy them. Like most kids, tearing down the castles, molds and caves is one of the most fun parts of playing in the sand.

Emma has also discovered the fun of hiding. She likes to hide behind doors, under cushions and beneath blankets. We were bored one day so we built a fort by laying a large blanket over the space between the ottomans and the couch. We crawled in with a flashlight and scores of Emma's plush toys. Then we read a couple of books, made shadow puppets and watched our fingers turn red when you cover the light with them. When Daddy came home I tried to get her to stay hidden, but she was so excited to show him the fort that she bounced her way right into the kitchen. Dinner had to wait until Daddy crawled in the fort to check it out. On a different day Emma was inspired to put her rocking horse in the fort. Clearly this was not possible given the dimensions of the family room fort so we brought the blanket to the rocking horse and made a much larger fort with the rocking horse as the corner stone. It was tall enough for Emma to sit up underneath it, which made her day. After dinner later that night in her haste to crawl quickly through the fort Emma rammed her head right into the other corner stone- the table leg. The tears and pain quickly "brough the fort down." (As a side note: Emma likes to run around like a mad girl after dinner and after bath time. We think it might have something to do with the euphoria of freedom from her highchair and the delirium of near-sleep, respectively.)


Emma also went to two birthday parties. At the first party, Emma bounced in a bounce house and actually sort of participated for the first time. Her and one of the birthday sisters exchanged hugs and fruit snacks. Emma laughed and rolled around the bounce house for quite awhile. When it came to present time Emma pretty much stayed focused on the swingset/play structure. But boy did she have fun! At my godson's birthday party, Emma only crawled through the sea creatures belly once (it was a giant blow up play tunnel); I think it was too confining for her. After that Steve and I took turns chasing after her, but she did swing at the pinata and eat cake. She also had her first Tootsie Roll. :)

What's that?

As already noted on more than one post, Emma's language has exploded. From Emma-rise to Emma-down (her wake-up and goodnight times are completely non reliant on the sun) she chatters away, asks questions and parrots what we say. One of the more common repetitive phrases is "what's that?"

I have to think that part of the reason for using this phrase is because we have used it so regularly with her. Every time we read we ask her what she sees in the pictures. Outside we ask her to tell us what she sees in nature. You get the point. Now it seems that the tables have turned! When she really gets going it is astonishing how many times she can ask "what's that?" in just a couple of minutes. Sometimes she asks the question even though she knows the answer like when she points to an elephant in her library book. She has known what elephants are since before she could talk and when she would trumpet instead.

But "what's that?" is more than just a rote line. She uses it when she wants to know about something, like the "new" pictures and faces in her library book Can You Say Peace? by Karen Katz. The Eiffel Tower or young native Australians are novel scenes and pictures for her. It is pretty cool to watch her learning, especially as she chooses what it is that she wants to learn.

Sometimes her curiosity has not been for the best. She has learned about boobies for example and has embarrassed not just us but other family members as well when she points at their boobies and says very loud and clearly, "So-and-so's boobies!" Hee. Hee. Silence as an answer to her question does not always work either; she figures out the answer and boldly proclaims it to the world. Just the other day we were out shopping and Mommy had to use the bathroom. Since Emma had to come with me into the stall, interesting things were bound to happen. The other patrons heard all about the whole process even though I calmly ignored the "what's that?" line of questioning spewing from Emma's mouth. She would ask "what' s that?" and then supply her own (correct) answer. For example: "What's that? Mommy peeing." I had to keep from chuckling so as not to encourage her further. What's that indeed.

Good morning

Actually, come to think of it I can't remember if it was a good morning or a good afternoon. Emma was waking up from a sleeping session- that is apparently all I know. I am getting annoyed with having to repeat myself, but losing my memory is not fun!

Anyway, Emma was waking up the other day. And I feel like I was also waking up and although that does seem like it would argue the case for it being in the morning, that is not necessarily a valid argument. With this cold-thing hanging around my sinuses I have been known to doze during the daylight hours. Anyway (again), there we were slowly coming to our senses, me in my bed and Emma in hers. I was trying very hard not to curse the early hour rays of light that were casting reddish shapes on the insides of my eyelids and was determined to keep my eyes shut tight for a few more minutes at least. And then I heard more than rustling from Emma's room. I heard her little voice. I found myself straining to hear what those happy sounds were really saying. Slowly it became clear. Emma was singing happy birthday! "Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday Seepy Joe (Sleepy Time Joe is her bedtime pal and Emma can't quite get the "L" sound yet), happy birthday to me." It was so cute that I practically jumped out of bed and stormed her room for snuggles and kisses. I tripped on my sleepy feet and went to the bathroom instead. By the time I made it to her room the singing session was over and I had completely forgotten to praise her efforts. Silly sleepy feet anyway.

Fat lip

Poor Emma did not have a good day yesterday. Her cold had her coughing when she tried to nap so she did not nap for more than 45 minutes. That meant that she was running on empty for most of the day. By late afternoon she was pretty tired. Just when I left the room to get her a kleenex for her booggies she fell off the very short chair, richoceted off the wall onto the floor, and jammed her top teeth into her bottom lip. I came running because I could tell that her cries were not "normal" cries- something was obviously wrong. In my haste I almost ran over Susan. I scooped Emma up and instantly became frazzled because of the blood that was pouring out of her mouth. The kleenex in my hand helped keep the blood from saturating us on our way to the kitchen sink. I'll spare you the gory details. Let's leave it that the rug needed to be cleaned, and Emma's shirt, pants, and my jeans all needed to be soaked.

Emma squirmed for the entire 15 minutes that I attempted to hold a cloth-covered ice cube to the inside of her lip. Susan looked online for helpful tips, and then I finally called my mom (who is a nurse). Susan called Steve and told her to get home ASAP, and then we called the doctor's office. The urgent care nurse (or whoever answered the phone) was not very nice. In fact, her greeting was so unintelligible that I asked her to slow down and repeat herself. (Was her 22 month old crying, bleeding, and was she personally having the shakes from the whole experience? If that was all true then she should not be answering the phone to talk to people who were also experiencing all of that and just wanting some advice for how to proceed. Jeez.) Anyway, the bleeding stopped and the gash was not all the way through her lip so we stayed home and had dinner. After about 30 minutes of being coddled, iced and examined Emma was back to being a toddler. We were hardly excited about her returning to the scene of the accident; Steve kept a vigilant watch until dinner was ready. Emma's swollen lip didn't keep her from devouring dinner or dessert, and she was a brave girl when Daddy rinsed her mouth out with warm water after she finished eating.

This morning Emma woke up happy. Aside from the protruding lower lip on the right side, the bruised flesh and the horrid looking wound, Emma seems fine. I think that us adults are more concerned with her injury than she is. Does it look like it's healing? Does that look like puss to you? Is it bleeding again? When will it look better? Just normal paranoid thoughts and questions. We'll monitor the process and as long as Emma doesn't have a fever or signs of an infection it is all good. At least until the next accident. No wonder parents tend to age prematurely! I just may be completely gray by the time I am 40. Yikes!

XOXO

Yesterday (Saturday August 22nd) Emma, Steve and I went to a birthday party for the two daughters of a woman I used to work with. Sophia is turning 2 and Grace is turning 4. The girls have never met each other before, but they all got along very well.

In the bounce house that was rented just for the occasion of celebrating life and birth the kids of various ages had a great time jumping, falling, and laughing. Emma went in right when we got there so that she wasn't crowded or overwhelmed by bigger and older bouncers. She laughed and tumbled and rolled around. Later in the day after cake, presents, and playing on the swing set and slides (yes, there were 3 different slides- pure heaven), Emma went back in the bounce house by herself. She was quickly joined by two boys and Sophia. Emma was having so much fun that her little cheeks glowed pink with exertion. To take a little rest while playing she followed Sophia around with her arms held wide saying "huggies." Sophia didn't seem to understand the request, but that did not deter Emma. When Sophia was bent over to get the soft football for the boys, Emma kissed the top of her head. Awhile later Emma was bouncing over to Jack with the football and he sat cross-legged and waited patiently for her to throw it to him. While Sophia was helping to retrieve Emma's errant throw (it went backwards over her head), Emma leaned over and kissed Jack's knee. Aside from the look of surprise on Jack's face, it was a well-received kissy. Did I mention that Jack is an older boy? Well, older than Emma anyway. Aye aye aye!

Little Miss Parrot

The funny thing is... sometimes it isn't so funny. :) The following is a real-life excerpt from an actual conversation that is very representative of numerous similar conversations. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent.



Mommy: Do you want a nectarine or pear?

Emma: Want a nectarine pear.

Mommy: You have to choose one, Emma. Nectarine or pear?

Emma: Choose nectarine pear.

Mommy: Okay, how about a pear?

Emma: Bout a pear?

Northwoods vacation

Our vacation this year was awesome! We all had a really great time and are still talking about it. We camped for one week up at Buckatabon Lodge and Lighthouse Inn on Lower Buckatabon Lake in Vilas County, Wisconsin. If you look on a map, the closest big town is Eagle River and the lakes are almost in the UP of Michigan. Real northwoods action. Eagles aplenty. Fishing in the morn and eve. Marshmallow roasting. Smore eating. Summer Hummer drinking. Shooting guns at the range. Water skiing around the lake. Reminiscing and reconnecting with old friends.

That's great, you say, but what did Emma do? Emma loved swinging, climbing, sliding, and swimming. She got to spend lots of quality time with Nanie and Papa who were very eager to hang out with Emma while we played volleyball or went to the shooting range. Emma surprised us all by attempting and mastering the climb up the stairs to the slide all by herself. Earlier in the summer we had turned down a neighbor's swing set sale because we thought she was too little to handle it. (What a bummer that we didn't spend the cheap, cheap price and buy the same model that Emma scaled a hundred times up north!) She only had a couple of minor slips on the wooden slats that passed for steps/rungs, and those were mostly due to the slippery conditions and not her climbing prowess.

Emma's napping and night time schedule was completely turned upside down, but she did great with the changes! After the first day of no napping and a cranky afternoon we decided to try to get her to nap on the following days. The funny thing is that she pretty much wanted to nap on the other days! So much fresh air, sunshine and exercise! On some days she napped in the bright, warm tent and on other days she slept on Nanie and Papa's bed in the cabin. (Guess where she had "the best" naps.) As for night time sleeping routine, we tried a shower with Mommy for a couple nights but we quickly gave that up as a viable alternative to nightly bath time with Daddy like we do at home. Emma did not like showering! She screamed and cried and just about thrashed around for the duration of the scrubbing and rinsing time. And then she kept it up while I dried her and put on her pre-PJ clothes, except that she added plaintive cries for Daddy with every other breath. So, she went to bed dirty on some nights. What can you do? One morning I tried a morning shower but that was no better so on another morning I stationed Steve right out the door. As soon as we were all clean I bundled Emma up in a towel and passed her off through the door. (It was a one person shower/toilet room with a direct outside door.) That at least kept the screaming portion to a minimum.

Emma had only one person her age to play with- a boy named Christian. Christian is 2 and the son of a longtime friend of the family, Jennifer. Her parents (now both passed away) were friends of my parents long before kids, and both families plus a few more used to spend many weekends a year camping together all over WI and northern IL, including summer trips to Buckatabon. Christian and Emma started off by hugging and kissing each other, which was very cute and of course not captured on film. After an accidental hug-turned-pile-up on the ground, Emma was a bit scared of him and would let him get just within reach and then turn tail and run away saying "no" the whole while. Jennifer and I went to an old time photo place in Minocqua and had their picture taken in which they look like little gangsters. It is very cute aside from the lack of a smile on Emma's part. And both of them did very well through the whole process. Hopefully they will be friends as they grow up. Although not her age, the grandson of one of the original Buck families was really great with Emma. They became very fond of each other. He would make her smile and giggle and she would let him pick her up without hesitation. (She does shy away from unfamiliar people picking her up.) His name was Logan. Still, Emma will say, "See Logan. See Christian."

One tradition of the Buckatabon trips of late was an eating adventure at Paul Bunyan's on their all-you-can-eat ribs night. So on Wednesday night we filled up one long table and a small one and tucked in for some yummy grub! Emma had fun drinking water out of the metal mug and going topless to save her shirt from certain BBQ sauce stains. She seemed to love the ribs as much as her Mommy and Daddy. Afterward, Emma watched Mommy, Daddy and their friends ride go-carts around a few local tracks. Nanie and Papa kept her safe and had fun watching her climb the decorative stone walls in the parking lot.

The first couple of days were sunny and warm, which meant that we were able to enjoy the beach. Emma was suited up in a floatation shirt and was not afraid of getting wet or floating with Mommy and Daddy. What she spent the most time doing, though, was filling up pails of water and then dumping them out- on Mommy's feet, Daddy's legs, the sand or right back in the lake. She couldn't be convinced to participate in the "water fights" that went on with Christian and his family a few feet away, which was fine with us. The water felt a bit chilly when the sun went behind the clouds!

These are just some of the Emma highlights that come to mind. There is a small hope that I cling to that when she is older she will be able to remember this vacation and tell us what her favorite parts were. It never hurts to hope!

(Picture explanations in order from top to bottom: Emma kissing a baby tree after hugging it; half nakey at Paul Bunyan's; hanging on the screen tent; swining on the big swings with Christian; pretend kayaking; playing at the beach; swinging with Nanie.

CA living- for a few days

Steve braved the trials of traveling alone with a young child and headed to CA for the last week I was up at Stevens Point. They left on Saturday the 11th of July and returned on Thursday the 16th. This would obviously be better coming straight from Steve's mouth, but here goes.

Emma had a blast feeding and hugging the goats, checking for eggs (and dropping them), swimming, playing with her cousins Wyatt, Blake and Jackson, and just plain having a great time at Grandma and Grandpa's farm. She also got to pick tomatoes and peaches, which she ate like apples straight off the vine/tree. Steve and Grandpa also took Emma to the beach one day and she got to play in the water. She also went completely under at one point too and did not fancy it at all. On a different day they cruised the breakwater with G-Bugga, G-AA, Leslie and Jackson. Before heading home they had to stop at In-and-Out for lunch. I really missed that part, but Steve and Emma froze a burger for me and brought it home.

Emma helped Grandma make cookies one day (for the cousins). Apparently instead of rolling the balls in the sugar, she just stuck her finger in the bowl and licked it clean- many times!

Perhaps the best part was hanging out with all of the family that stopped by to say hi. Aunt Christie, Wyatt and Blake came down for one afternoon. G-AA, Leslie and Jackson came down for a couple days. G-Bugga stayed for a few days. Aunt Margaret and Uncle Dominic were there on the weekend. Aunt Susan and Uncle Mark stopped by a few times. Uncle Andrew stopped by too with Aunt Theresa. Aunt Karen Anna was of course there most of the time since she was on summer break from school. One night for dinner Great Great Aunt Eva, Great Great Uncle Arve, Great Great Aunt Norma and Great Great Uncle John came over along with Great Aunt Kay and cousin Liz. So, it was a very busy and social atmosphere!

Piggies

Emma fondly refers to her toes as piggies, probably because that is what Steve and I call them. When we take her shoes or sandals off she says "piggies" and wiggles them. When she walks on her piggies she says "barina" (ballerina) and is obviously proud of herself. If her toes are sticking out of her sandals in an odd manner she will say "piggies!" repeatedly until we notice the problem and fix it for her. When we tickle her feet she says "piggies" while giggling. And it is no wonder that she loves hearing what her piggies are doing (going to market, eating roast beast, or crying all the way home).

Rando pictures

Emma loves swimming! We knew that last year when I took her for swimming lessons, but we were reminded this year when we set up the paddling pool in the backyard. And Emma had a blast swimming with Aunt Darcy and her kids when Emma stayed there last week. So, two of the pictures are of Emma in our backyard on a swimming day.

Emma really loves helping out and imitating what we are doing. (I hope this turns into no more diapers soon!) The other night we made pita bread and she just had to help flip them over. It was really cute actually, until my arms got tired and I had to put her down. The tears were as big as the pita breads!

Please what?

Emma's verbal skills are growing by leaps and bounds. She is putting together more words and their meanings and then using them correctly later. She still has her moments though when you can tell she doesn't quite understand how to say something correctly.

Take this case in point. Emma loves to eat these Annie's Bunnies (graham crackers shaped liked bunnies, all natural to boot) for snacks or when we go shopping. If I accidentally forget to bring "hop hops" along with me when we go out, it is melt down city! Emma can recognize when she is hungry and wants a snack. She has also gotten very good at demanding whatever it is that she happens to see on the counter or in the pantry. Grapes, hop hops, cheese, etc. But sometimes in her frantic state all she can manage to sputter is "please!" She can say please a lot in a short amount of time! So, to calm her down a bit (and I have to admit, to bye myself a little bit of time) I started asking her "please what?" (Like, fill in the blank with what you want, Emma. I know you want hop hops, but I want you to truly ask for them first.) I try to explain the concept to her but she has not really caught on. Instead, she chants "please what!" "please what!" "please what!" And I say, "please, say what you want." Emma says, "please what you want!"

(If she starts to get too frustrated I will prompt her with the phrase I am looking for, like "please, hop hops." And sometimes out of pure luck she figures it out on her own, which is awesome.)

Love you

So last week Emma said "love you" for the first time...to the neighbor! (I was so happy to hear that but yet so much wished that it had been for me or Steve. You know that heart string tug I am talking about.)

When I called home on Monday to check in, Emma was just getting out of the bath. (Perhaps Steve can fill in the details and his perspective here.) So, Steve held the phone out to Emma at one point to say hi to Mama or say love you Mama. I said hello and love you and then waited. A couple of seconds later and the sweetest word(s) since Mama came crystal clear through the line. "Love you." I mentally scooped her up and smothered her with kisses! It was awesome!

Then Steve and I talked for a bit more. (I think Emma peed on the changing table at this point.) When he put Emma back on the phone she melted my heart again. "Love you. Night night."

That was one of the best nights ever!

Biking

Steve is playing Mr. Mom this week while I am learning in Stevens Point. Below is an exerpt of an email Steve sent to me on Monday.


Emma is back upstairs for another nap try....

We had a fun midday bike trip; we went to a park not far away, off of Onyx (just west of acewood). I brought pbj's grapes and hophops for lunch and we sat on a rock ate lunch and watched the world go by. We then continued on; I wanted to try to make it to Olbrich park; it looks like there is a nice back way, but didn't get far before emma started squawking. I asked if she wanted to go home and I think she liked the sound of that so we turned around; there's always next time... It's supposed to rain off and on the next few days though according to the latest weather reports. On the way home I looked back because I heard a strange sound; she had fallen asleep and her helmeted head was rubbing against the side of the carrier which was contacting the tire. It was scary for a moment but I think the noise woke her up and we rolled home safely.

But-ter

The other day Emma was having a rough afternoon. She was cranky and clingy and she would not let me cook dinner. She wanted "up" all the time. When Steve finally came home he jumped right in to help with dinner by buttering the bagels. Emma noticed the but-ter right away (Emma enunciates each syllable like it is written) and kept repeating the word while practically hopping up and down. When she wasn't saying but-ter she was saying up. Her voice was getting higher and higher. Her eyes were getting more and more frantic. She was over-tired and hungry. It was a crucial time. It could have gone from bad to horrible in a matter of moments. Then Emma would disappear completely and the monster would awake. :)
Since Steve had dinner under control I scooped Emma up and started to dance with her. She was still saying but-ter and trying to watch Steve. The dance turned into a but-ter chant that reminded me of the Native American dances around a fire. The chant went like this: but-ter, ch, ch, ch, ch. (the rhythm was like this: 1 and 2 and, and 4, for those of you musically inclined.) Every time we said but-ter I hopped up and down and then for the ch's I shuffled my feet and rocked her from side to side. Emma absolutely loved it! She calmed down right away and had an extreme shift in mood. She was no longer angry but happy and giggly. The monster went back to sleep, and Emma and I were doing the but-ter dance around the kitchen. It was the funniest sight!
Now the but-ter dance has become a sort of ritual and Emma associates dancing and hopping with the word but-ter. Just this evening during the apricot show we all started dancing and clapping about apricots. (Is this too weird?) Again, Emma loved it. She was so into trying to hop when we did that she actually caught some air and had her first official hop. :) It didn't take her too long to say but-ter while she was dancing and clapping. Just the image of her hopping around all nakey while saying but-ter cracks me up. Oh, the things we do to amuse our kids!

The day has finally come

Emma climbed out of her crib this afternoon, crawled safely down the stairs and surprised and scared me half to death when I saw her coming around the corner of the kitchen. Yikes!

Emma had been in her crib for an afternoon "nap;" the first 30 minutes or so were spent talking and reading and apparently planning her escape. When I thought that she had finally fallen asleep (using the monitor sounds for clues) I began to vacuum the back room downstairs. When I got close to the monitor in the kitchen I checked it for lights (indicators of volume intensity) and all was well so I kept vacuuming the couch. Then I thought I heard a somewhat strange sound- not quite a thump and explainable in hundreds of ways. A few seconds later I thought I saw Porter moving around in a strange manner at the base of the stairs, and at first that didn't stop me. Until my brain caught up with my eyes (it must have been the loud vacuum noises that distracted me :)) and I realized that Porter was doing her excited-about-something dance. Is someone at the door? (One explanation for the thump sound.) Oh, cr*# I better turn this thing off, which I promptly did and headed for the stairway. At the corner who should I meet but Emma- carrying the bathroom wastebasket that had been awaiting its return to the second floor on the stairs.

Emma was not crying and had no signs of having been crying anytime soon. She was not smiling either, but that could have been due to the shock and fear that she saw on my face. (My heart practically stopped when I saw her standing there. Flashes of the completely unsafe journey she had just accomplished, complete with images of wipeouts, bumps and bruises zoomed across my mind. I felt like I was in a dream or nightmare of sorts.) I scooped her up and asked her all sorts of questions like... How did you get here? Do you hurt anywhere? Are you a monkey? What happened? Are you okay? Intermingled were hugs and kisses and loving praises and my statements of how shocked and scared I was for her. All in all, not the best 5 minutes of my mommy life. But, the best news is that as far as I could tell Emma was unharmed by her monkey-ish skills. Whew. I just wish I could see it on video or know what she was thinking or is thinking about her escape.

It is not over yet, as far as escaping goes. Steve and I converted her crib to the toddler's bed after bath time. We tucked it into the corner, padded the ends, filled the gap along the wall with rolled blankets, and covered the floor with even more blankets. Then we laid her down, turned our backs, and waited. It took about half a dozen silent returns before Emma gave up climbing out of bed. After 10 minutes we left the room and Emma promptly came to the door. I returned her to her bed and waited at the door. 5 minutes or so later and she was committed to her new sleeping arrangement. She wasn't asleep yet, but that came shortly thereafter.

Thinking about the events of today makes me sad. Emma is growing so fast! Although I am so proud of her accomplishments (I also climbed out of my crib and shared my skills with my younger brother to the chagrin of my parents) and so amazed at what she can do and how much she learns, it also makes me sad that once it is gone, it's gone. The time and stage I mean. Well, my brain cells, too, but that's another story.

I am wondering if Emma will wake up scared because her crib is gone. If she will be prone to falling out of bed. If we will need to teach her to tell time for avoiding possible early morning wake up calls. If Emma realizes how much of a big deal it is to now have a big girl's bed. If this will start an avalanche of big girl things Emma must have or do. If I'll be able to get any sleep with all of this wondering.

Conversation pieces

Emma: M-L-E. M-L-E! M-L-E? (Stands for my friend, Emily, who visited us in May and who was not here for this conversation.)
Mama: Emily isn't here. It is sad, I know. Where is Emily?
Emma: Ca-go (Chicago! That is indeed where Emily lives.)


Emma: Grandma!
Mama: Great Grandma is at her house.
Emma: Grandma.
Mama: Where is Great Grandma?
Emma: Dinah (Medinah! That is where Great Grandma lives.)


Emma: Porter! (Exicted about watching Porter chase shadows and lights.)
Daddy: Yes, that is Porter. Who is Porter's friend?
Emma: Yandy! (Actually Sandy, Great grandma's dog.)


Mama: I am getting ready to play soccer. See, here are my socks, and there is my soccer ball.
Emma: Goal! (That's my girl!)

Baby

Warm weather means garage sales! I love to go garage saleing (yes, it is a verb), and I am hoping that Emma will learn to love it as well. Otherwise it will be long, lonely summers for us. :)

Yesterday we went out for a walk on our street with empty pockets and no stroller or doggie. We were free! So we first headed to the right, two doors down to check out their garage sale. Emma loved the books and the dancing Elmo doll. Luckily, she didn't get attached to anything so I was able to easily get her to walk back the way we came. We kept walking past our house towards the other end of the street and another garage sale.

At this sale, there was a blanket of stuffed animals and dolls in the middle of the driveway. Emma was instantly distracted by the plush pile and in particular, a small baby doll. I took the opportunity to browse while she "played" with the baby. Since I didn't have any money, I did not purchase the cute, black flip flops for 75 cents- a real bargain. I scooped up Emma and introduced ourselves. Emma kept saying "baby" so I had to carry her across the street and away from "baby." She almost had a meltdown, but for some reason we managed to get almost back home before she sat down and refused to move. I carried her back home with the resolve to scrounge up some change and buy "baby" later in the day.

This morning, Baby was waiting for Emma downstairs. You should have seen the way her eyes lit up and heard the excitement in the way she said "baby!" Emma proceeded to give her kisses and hugs and tried to put the pacifier in Baby's mouth. Baby sat in Mama's seat for breakfast; Mama had to sit somewhere else. Baby came with us when we did more garage saleing this morning. Baby is currently sleeping on the floor next to Emma's crib. Emma is currently not sleeping, however. (Perhaps Baby needs to sleep out of sight or perhaps garage saleing put Emma in an overtired state. ) We'll see where this relationship heads to! I am thinking that a stroller and crib for Baby need to be found. More garage sales here we come!

Thank you

The other morning Emma and I were in the kitchen while I was fixing her breakfast. She has been practicing words and repeating random things I say as was the case that morning. (I think it was Monday or Tuesday morning.) I gave her something (maybe a piece of fruit I was chopping- isn't it terrible how quickly the mind goes?) and said, "Can you say thank you, Emma?" This is a common practice, and in the past she has signed thank you with her hand. That morning she said a very tentative, "Thank you." My heart melted right there.

From that point on she kept saying "thank you" until she was confident with the sounds. Of course, the th sound is more like a td blend where the t is soft, which makes the words even more cute. :) "Td-ank you."

To add to the heart melting cuteness, yesterday I was in the kitchen and I heard Emma padding around the corner, muttering "tdank you, tdank you, tdank you." She came up to me and handed me my knitting bundle that had been left on the couch or end table, saying "tdank you" the whole while. Thankfully my mind was working fast enough to stop my tongue from asking why she had my knitting in the first place (she knows she is not supposed to touch it, even when Mama leaves it somewhere tempting). Here she was being sweet and recreating something we had done earlier in the week so instead I thanked her for being so sweet and for having such good manners. No, thank you, Emma.

(On a previous day Emma had picked up my knitting when I set it down to do a quick thing (don't know what!). I calmly said, "oh, are you handing that to Mama? Thank you, Emma, for being so thoughtful." Or something like that.) Apparently Emma is rapidly learning new words and how to (mostly) use them correctly. Aside from the word "Mama", which obviously tugs on my heart strings "tdank you" is right at the top of my favorite-words-Emma-says-list.

Green or red?

When it comes to grapes, Steve and I have our own definite and different answers. I prefer green grapes. When I go to the grocery store I buy green grapes. Steve prefers red grapes. When Steve goes to the grocery store he buys red grapes. Emma, so far, eats whatever grape is sitting in front of her. Indeed, at this year's Super Bowl party she was grabbing (green) grapes off the table and shoving them into her mouth faster than we could stop her. Up to that point I don't even think she had tasted a grape before due to the potential choking hazard.

Since we usually don't have both red and green grapes on the counter at the same time, Emma has shown no preference for one or the other. Until today that is- Emma and I came home from the grocery store with green and red grapes. I was really curious which parent she prefers, I mean which grape she prefers. :)

After lunch I gave Emma one half of a green grape and one half of a red grape. Once she had eaten them both I asked her which one she liked better. No answer. So I gave her two more halves and asked, "Which is better, Emma, red or green?" She said, "Blue!"


PS Later, Emma spit out the red grape skins and asked for more green grapes. Hmm...

Goooooooooal!

Yesterday I had a soccer game at 2 pm. It was a gorgeous day- a perfect, not hot temperature, a little breeze and lots of sun. I had been trying to convince Steve that he should bring Emma to the game so while I caught my breath on the sidelines I waited and watched for signs of my family. Into the second half of the game I heard my name, turned and saw Steve and Emma sitting on the bench!

Emma looked so darn cute dressed in her light-weight long-sleeves and my white Nike baseball cap. She was nestled on Steve's lap drinking from her sippy cup and eating raisins. It was so much fun! (At least for me.) According to Nick (a team member) Emma was saying "boom, boom" whenever someone kicked the ball. Steve told me later that she had been saying "goooal" when they first arrived as we taught her to do when someone says "soccer." Unfortunately, they did not get to see any goals so Emma gave up on the word "goal" and switched to "boom."

After the game, Emma got to meet some of my team mates. Lauren was shocked that Emma is only 18 months old because of how tall she is. Lauren said that Emma looks like she is almost 4 years old. Yikes! She made friends with Arrow, a dog, and tried giving my hat to a player from the other team. She just walked over to his bag, stuffed the cap in and started looking for something else. She might do well in countries that use the barter system!

Emma also had fun throwing and kicking the soccer balls that were lying around. Jill, whom Emma has met before, was showing her how to play catch. When Emma got bored of that (within a minute) she cruised around kicking the ball. She is already a better dribbler than Mama! :) When I mentioned that we need to get Emma a soccer ball, Steve agreed with the stipulation that it doesn't have to be tiny and made for toddlers- Emma was doing just fine with the size 5 balls!

PS My team won 1-0. The only goal scored was by Nick in the early part of the first half.

Second Easter '09

We celebrated a second Easter with Great Grandma R the weekend after Easter. It was a lovely weekend complete with Easter ham, lamb butter, an Easter egg hunt and delicious desserts.

You might notice that Emma is wearing the same dress as in Easter '09; it was a gift from Great Grandma R so we made sure to get a lot of use out of it.

I kept waiting for Emma to say "Gamma" again, but she did not oblige. Instead she patted her head for Grandma and wanted to be by Great Grandma's side most of the time.

Emma and I headed outside to do some exploring (and energy expenditure adventures as a pre nap tire-you-down scheme) while Steve and G-Grandma hid some Easter eggs inside. Emma loved opening the eggs and eating the candy, but she needed help finding the eggs. Still, we think she had fun. Smiles and a candy-smeared face were all we had to go on. :)

Language Explosion

Emma's 18 month doctor visit on Monday went really well. Her new doctor is very patient and nice. Emma did not seem to mind him at all. Plus, they give out books to their patients as part of a reading program. That made Emma happy!

The doctor told us that between 18 months and 2 years kids go through a language explosion where you can't keep track of the number of words they can now say. Having front teeth aids pronunciation and enunciation. Just to prove his point, when we got home, Emma clearly said "book." Not just "buh." The K sound was clear as a bell. And sure enough, she repeats more words accurately and is just a happily bubbling chatty Kathy.

Here are the stats: weight, 29 pounds (90th%tile); height 35 inches (100th%tile). Yes, her height is at the 100th%tile. Off the curve in other words! She got a tetanus shot, too. The nurses (and doc) commented on her nice, chunky thighs that are perfect for sticking with long, sharp needles. Emma tensed up and stuck out her bottom lip but she did not cry or shed a tear when they stuck her. She is such a brave girl!

The Apricot Show

Ever since Emma was a baby Steve has fondly referred to her tushy as "apricots." It is an endearing adjective that I am sure one day will embarass the heck out of her! (As will the following post.)

Lately, Emma has been fond of running around naked ("nakie") upstairs before her bath. When she runs by the top of the stairs she yells out for Mama, and Steve asks her if she wants to give Mama an apricot show. I, of course, indulge them (and myself).

At the top of the stairs I wait behind the closed gate for Emma to come running by. She smiles and giggles and jiggles on by. I reach through the bars to tickle her and she lets out a little scream and keeps running. Watching her run away is just the cutest thing. Steve and I watch and chuckle. Emma keeps coming back for more! It has become quite a ritual that we all look forward to I think. Someday I know she will learn about modesty and not want us to see her apricots,and I suppose her apricots won't stay apricots forever either. But until that day comes bring on the apricot show! ( Sorry, this show is an exclusive event. You will have to wait downstairs.)

Easter '09

We had a great Easter here in Madison with just the 3 of us (oh, and Porter). We went to church, and Emma was quiet through most of the service. Before her morning nap Emma got her Easter basket, which was filled with grass and chocolate. She pulled out all the grass and chomped down on some jelly beans and M&Ms.

After her morning nap we had our brunch. Emma did not care for deviled eggs or ham, potato, spinach crepes. But she loved the fruit crepes! Then we went out back for an Easter egg hunt. The eggs were pretty much in plain sight on the deck and in the yard, and Emma had to be prodded to "find" each one. She really liked shaking them up! Once we showed her that there was candy inside she stopped looking and worked on trying to open them up. We all enjoyed the sunshine and then it was nap time again.

The crowning moments of Easter were 1) the cookies (Magic in the Middles- chocolate and peanut butter) with ice cream. Yummy! 2) Emma knows what the word "candy" means. This might not be so good. :) We ration the candy to her. She might still be eating her candy in a month! 3) Watching her shake the eggs. It really made me all warm and fuzzy inside as we video taped her doing these Easter things. It all goes by too quickly!

1-2-3 Go!

When Steve or I say "1-2-3" Emma says "Go!" It is too funny! Steve apparently taught her this latest trick over the weekend. And her articulation is great. I thought the "G" sound was supposed to be hard to say!

Down and dirty

This is the video and a picture to go along with our outside time yesterday. Emma's fingernails got so dirty; it was kind of cute actually. I think that might have been the first time for that.

Yes

Emma (like most kids) grasped on to "no" very quickly. She can say no, shake her head no, and point at things that she shouldn't touch and say no. Aw...

Yes has been more difficult. I shake my head and my fist (the sign for yes) and say it all together really slowly and all the time. Just a few days ago she decided to try imitating my hand gesture. Her lack of coordination made it hard to tell what she was doing, but I could tell. :) It was the look of concentration on her face that made me stop and really look at what she was doing. Then sometime after that she started trying to move her head up and down when I said yes. This is too funny because she has to try so hard. Her bottom lip juts out or she moves her mouth in a strange way and moves her head mostly up and down. It sort of rocks side to side as well. Some times her whole body moves as well. You can practially feel her brain trying to control her muscles. I can't really explain all that well. You just have to see it. Thankfully, she does it a little bit in the Hamming it up video. Check it out!

Hamming it up

Emma knows what the camera is used for, and the other day she kept pointing at it and grunting. (She grunts when she wants something or to get our attention. What a little piggy! :)) We won't let her play with it of course so I turned it on and told her I would take her picture. Well, she was being so cute I had to video tape her instead. Did I mention that we were eating lunch at the time? You'll soon see what I mean....(watch video please)

On another note, we stood Emma next to her giraffe wall hanging with the measuring tape to see how tall she is. (I was swearing (not literally) that she is much taller than the last trip to the docs. And....she is almost 33 inches tall! Holy cats. With her "new" height she can now climb on and perhaps more importantly off, of her rocking horse, reach higher on the counters, and has an easier time on the stairs. She also has a new tooth in just yesterday. It seems that the final lateral incisor (the one that has been missing for 2 months) decided to join the others! Soon Emma will have 8 teeth. And counting...

I love this age! She is still so sweet and independently dependent. For no reason what so ever (that I could tell) she ran up to me the other day and bear hugged me. Yesterday she climbed in my lap with Snoopy and snuggled for a few minutes. She says Mama and my heart melts. I love that little bear!

Today we went outside and played. It was so sunny and warm! Emma had such fun getting licked by the neighbor's puppy, interfering in another neighbor's soccer kicking fun, trying to run in the neighbor's back yard, etc. She cried when we had to go in. Then we came back out the back with the dog and had more fun! Here Emma discovered dirt, leaves, and grass. Grass is especially fun to pull out of the ground and dirt has a good smell. :) Plus, plastic glasses make great containers for organic material. Stay tuned for video action at a later date.