First things first

Okay, so Emma has been going through this period of change, growth and doing new things.

She has been taking two naps per day again, and she seems pretty happy about it. On a couple of occasions over the last week when I asked her if she wanted to go to sleep she put her hands behind her head as if to say "yes, Mama!" So I put her down for a nap and she slept for 1.5 hours! That was a first (her "asking", in a way, to go to sleep), and you won't see me complaining.

Last Thursday or Friday Emma decided that it was time for her to crawl backwards down the entire flight of stairs (13 or 14 of those bad boys) on her own for the first time! We had been working and practicing that skill for what seems like a long time. Well, ever since she crawled up them for the first time. She would only go for a couple of steps before stopping and crawling back up. I would end up carrying her down, and sometimes if I put her down on the last 3 stairs she would crawl to the bottom no problem. But that was only sometimes. She just didn't seem interested. Then on one of our outside trips over the last week or two, Emma was really practicing on the stairs on the deck (there are only 3). She would go down, touch the ground, climb up, stop, climb down, until she would finally take off running through the grass. I guess she just needed the repetition and safety of a short flight of stairs. Now I know! So the trouble now with her interest (and confidence) in climbing down the stairs in the house, is that she insists on going sort of backwards/sideways. She likes to see where she is going. Plus Steve and I have both observed that Emma would rather turn around completely and "walk" down. Such an independent little girl! I just hopes she doesn't try walking down anytime soon. It would likely turn into falling down. Not good.

On Sunday, when I was buried in the basement under school work, Emma and Steve were in the family room watching basketball. According to Steve, Emma started pointing to her butt and saying something over and over. Of course he was curious so he picked her up and smelled a poopy smell. She was telling Steve that she had pooped! It was amazing and is marked down as another first. And then it just got better when she did the same thing on Monday morning. Wow! Is it too early to get a potty-training toilet?

Over the weekend we were all hanging out in the guest bedroom hanging some warm window curtains, when Steve spotted a cardinal in the birch tree outside the window. He scooped (I don't know why this is my favorite word) Emma up so she could see out the window. We all watched the bird, pointing out it's features and admiring it's red feathers. I reminded Emma of the sign for bird (opening and shutting your thumb and fingers under your chin like your hand is talking, at least that is what we are using), and then it flew away. Monday morning while Emma was eating her breakfast I had her highchair sitting in the kitchen, facing the window. I was attempting to eat breakfast, watch her and make scones. It took her repeating this same small "buh" sound over and over quite a few times before I realized that she was trying to tell me something. Her pointer finger and thumb were timidly clicking together and she was staring out the window. I half thought she was crazy (my mind hadn't process all of the visual clues that she was giving me) until I turned around and looked out the window. There was a cardinal sitting in the locust tree!

A couple weekends ago Emma had her first official haircut! We went to the salon where I get my hair done, and Holly gave her a trim. Emma was such a big girl and sat all by herself in the chair (on a booster). We had to distract her, of course, with snacks and juice, but she didn't try too hard to escape. I think we must have been bursting with pride watching her get her hair cut. It is so silly- she will have many more hair cuts and it is just a hair cut afterall. But, she is our Emma and just about everything is too cute.

Finally, (I think!) the other day I was cutting a pear for Emma for lunch and thought that I should look up the sign for it. So I did. While Emma was eating I showed her the sign for Pear. She watched me, but she didn't try to repeat it or anything. The next day Steve was slicing a pear for dinner, and I asked Emma what the sign was that we were doing. She watched our hands and said "puh". We think that means pear! So, she used a word for a sign that she was watching-a first!

Emma just never ceases to amaze me! She is so smart (at least it seems that way since we have no comparison), and she is learning so much right now. I feel like I can't keep up with her some days. Not physically- soccer does come in handy, you know. I mean for what she absorbs and processes. I always feel like I need to work harder to show her new things and teach her more about her world. I love her refreshing look at the world. It is true that looking at the world through the eyes of a child is a rewarding thing to do.

Eating with a spoon

One of Emma's accomplishments this past month was eating with a spoon by herself. Sure, she is still covered in food. Sure, she is still eating some of it with her fingers. Sure, she still has trouble handling the spoon. However, she is getting better! And this was the first meal where she ate with the spoon more consistently instead of just a couple random times per meal (or not at all). She is still working on figuring out a fork. The trouble is that how her fork is constructed (dull prongs, with the outer two bulbous at the ends) opposes the stabbing technique. Any efforts to stab food onto the prongs usually sends it skirting across the plate. It's like a cat and mouse game. Plus Emma doesn't quite have the concept of stabbing with force; she daintly stabs at her food. It's a cute technique but not very effective for filling her tummy. Still, I am sure it is only a matter of time before she has it figured out.

Painfully obvious

Emma has not been sleeping well for the past week or so, particularly when she naps. And her nap schedule is way off. It sometimes seems like she wants to sleep in the mornings instead of the afternoons. Plus she has been really cranky and unhappy, which is really not like her. Her right ear was also seeming sensitive to touch, and she was chewing on her fingers like they were flavored with something yummy. (My paternal grandfather used to ask me if my thumb tasted like chocolate; I so wanted that to be true!) Anyway, I finally called the doc yesterday and took her in this morning.

You will all be happy to know that she is fine! Not a thing wrong with her. Except for the tiny spot of a yeast infection in her diaper-area. Really, it is such a small spot compared with the flaming, wide-spread rashes of her early months that it is almost not worth mentioning. That has an easy fix, too; we still have left over topical cream. The real trouble that is nothing beyond the normal for her age is this: she is cutting a molar! Duh! I suspected that she could have been teething, but she was lacking the copious amounts of drool for one thing. And she has not had a fever for another. Chalk it all up to being a new parent I guess. :)

The doc was pretty non-committal about Emma's sleep pattern (or lack thereof), "Every body is different." (Thanks. Super helpful, aren't you?) She suggested that Emma might want 2 naps (again) or a late morning nap instead of early afternoon or that her behavior might be affecting things or day-light savings or blah blah blah. Those were all things that I could have (and did) tell myself. I wanted someone to give me a more concrete decision about WHAT TO DO. Isn't that what people say is the hardest thing about being a parent? Not knowing what to do? Seriously, there should be a manual that comes with each individual child. :) But, would that be any fun?

At home I cracked open her baby book that has the teeth diagram for marking the dates each tooth appears. It also lists the "normal" age for when each tooth usually appears. Emma has been way late from the very beginning (she didn't get her first tooth until 9-10 months), but for some reason I was thinking that all the molars were last. Nope! At least not according to the chart. She should have her front teeth and incisors and then should get the first molars. That's all well and good, but she still doesn't have the last incisor! The fourth, and final incisor also doesn't look like it will be appearing any time soon. Emma certainly likes to do things her own way!

I dosed her up with some Tylenol before her nap so we'll see if she is able to sleep any better. I just want our happy little girl back. Not that crabby, swollen-lipped little wanna-be-Emma. :) Did you wonder about the swollen lip reference? No, I didn't bruise her trying to see inside her mouth. Right before we were going upstairs to brush our teeth and get ready for the day, Emma tripped on some winter hats and scarves and fell right into the bench. I came running and saw her grasping the very edge of the bench that leaped up and bit her. We headed to the freezer, and I tried to convince her to chew on the frozen teething toys. She reluctantly did, and thankfully it seemed to alleviate her pain. And yay, no blood. That really makes me want to wrap her in a bubble. :) A little piece of me aches with every bump, bruise and bleeding wound!

Brighter side

I do not feel like I can end my blogging for the day with "losing my cool." There are so many other, more inspiring things to say.

Emma watched me drink the milk out of my cereal bowl this morning. I did not think anything of it. Not much later, she grabbed her bowl and tried drinking out of it! I stopped myself from asking to her put it down when I realized that she was imitating me. If I don't want her to do that with her bowl, I better not do it with mine! So instead I watched her and took her picture. The funniest part of the whole scene was that her cereal did not have any liquid left! It was just a bunch of mush! So when she put the bowl up to her mouth the cereal fell out into her mouth, her bib, the highchair, the floor in big globs. She didn't mind! In fact, I think she had fun and ate more cereal (with bananas and raisins) than she would have otherwise. It was too funny!

Just a couple of days ago I turned around to find Emma standing slalom on her scooter! She had both hands on the handle bars, one foot on the seat, and was pushing herself up off the floor with her other foot. She balanced that way for a few seconds before dropping safely back to the floor. I could not believe my eyes! I didn't say anything at first because I didn't want to scare her (and potentially cause a fall). And then I chose my words carefully so that she would not want to do it again just because I said no. (She is testing a lot these days.) So I told her to be careful and that scooters are for sitting on. I wonder if she was listening...

Yesterday I happened to be on the phone with Steve when I peered around the corner to find her standing on her scooter again! This time she was trying to get both feet on the seat. Again, I did not rush right over there for the same reasons. The scooter was in the middle of the room on the carpeting, which is safer than on the pergo. And at least she was using both hands to balance herself! (I don't want to take pictures in case she sees that as positive reinforcement.)

losing my cool

Emma has started this very annoying and unsafe habit of going nuts when we change her diaper. To paint a clearer picture, going nuts means flailing her appendages, arching her back, screaming, scooting backwards, putting her feet in the diaper (not so bad when it is clean, but rather icky when it is dirty), rolling over, trying to sit up, trying to stand, etc. And usually all of this is happening at once, or faster than I can shove a diaper under her and wrap it around. And since the changing table is the top of her dresser, which comes up to my chest, any sudden movements could result in a long fall to the floor. Not a good thing.

So today I was changing her before her nap and she started to go nuts. I was putting a disposable diaper on her (I have to do laundry!) so the task should have been easier. However, she was really going nuts in a major way. It made me start to go nuts (completely different picture mind you and not so flattering to an adult), and I tried pinning her down with my arms. She is so strong! I failed to restrain her and the diaper kept getting kicked off while Emma's head was dangling farther and farther off the other end. I was getting to frustrated and mad.I tried telling her that if she would stop it would be over sooner. (Was that to comfort her or me?) I could feel the rage rising and I wanted to walk away to calm down. (But you can't leave her on the dresser!) So, with super mommy strength I got the diaper around her, scooped her up and onto the floor (not with much particular gentleness. Not hard, but certainly not with loving tenderness.). I walked into the bathroom to the sounds of her crying. She followed me. (So much for getting some space!) I washed my hands, counted to ten, told myself that I need to be patient and understanding and most of all that I need her to know that how I acted was not okay. (Be gentle and loving and say you are sorry.)

Now I scooped her up with great care, snuggling her and covering her with kisses. Then I walked into her room telling her that I was sorry. That I need her to listen to Mama. That she needs to be safe on the changing table; that Mama does not want her to get hurt. That she needs to lie still when we are changing her. That Mama loves Emma so much. That Mama loves Emma so much.

Emma stayed still while I changed her. She was snuggled in my arms while I read to her. She feel right to sleep when I put her in her crib. (Mama loves Emma.) She is so precious.

I want to blame my loss of patience on PMS, and that would be a viable physical reason considering my cycle. BUT, on the other hand I don't want to blame anyone or anything but me. I lost my cool, and I need to work on being patient in the toughest moments. I don't want Emma to think that losing her cool is a good choice. This is another lesson in life for me. I will learn from it, and I will do better next time. For Emma.

good, clean fun

Friday was a gorgeous day around here! The sun was shining and it was a lovely 5o-something degrees. We just had to go out and enjoy it. I unfolded the stroller, dirty and stiff from many months of lack of use while I sensed the excitement building in the air. Porter was jumping up and down, Emma was pointing out the window, and I was practically singing out loud.

Once I got everyone saddled up, we hit the sidewalk. Across the street our neighbors yard was a flurry of activity and loud sounds. One of the huge trees in their front yard was being cut down- all the way to the grass. Emma was fascinated with the man with the chainsaw up in the branches. The loud sound was a little unnerving but she got used to it pretty quickly. We went around the block at an enjoyable pace; it felt good to stretch my legs and soak up the sun.

Back at the house I put Porter in and took Emma out of the stroller. It was her turn to stretch her legs and explore! She was so happy. She practically ran to the end of the driveway. Unfortunately she tripped and took her first spill of the season. The good news is that she landed right in the soft, soggy corner of the yard- aside from her dirty hands she was fine. She seems a bit disturbed by the persistent specks of earthen matter, but once her hands were dry she pushed me away. She went right to the tree on the street's edge and reached for the buds on the trunk. She seemed to like the spongy earth beneath her feet and the feel of the bark on her fingers. And then she was off to the next exciting thing!

She continued down the sidewalk, darting her eyes from left to right, and trying to keep as far from me as possible. Two doors down she stopped to watch the tree cutting action. Then she found a stream of water from the melting snow. you know, the spot- right where the street meets the driveway. I explained about needing to hold my hand to cross the street and all of that, but she only had eyes for the slowly moving water.

She dabbled, splashed and even sat down in it! Now her butt, knee and sleeves were wet and messy. She rubbed rotting leaves between her fingers and picked up tiny pebbles for closer inspection. And then she was off again.

She didn't make it far- just to the sidewalk and the deliciously soggy, messy corner where it meets the grass. I showed her the fun of stomping in a puddle to make it splash. She loved it! She giggled and stomped. Then she bent down and stuck her hand in the mud. She loved squishing the mud between her fingers and then splashing in the watery surface. And then digging down into the mud and then splashing in the watery surface. And then she sat down. Now she was pretty much very dirty and her fingers were very cold. Because of her cold appendages I steered her towards home. It was no easy task getting her back home. She certainly didn't want to stop playing, and she definitely did not like it when I carried her for a few steps.

Back on the ground, she stomped through the largest puddle on the sidewalk (nor her feet were soaked) and headed into our front lawn to explore the shade and shrubs. She was smiling and laughing and trying to run from me. I finally scooped her up to take her inside. Right inside the door, I took her picture (to show Steve how much fun she had) and then took her clothes off down to her diaper and shirt. They were so messy that I soaked them right away.

As I was dressing her upstairs I kept thinking about how curious and messy she got. How much fun she had being a kid. And how much fun I had not worrying about dirty clothes but just being there with Emma while she explored her world. Good, clean fun indeed!

She's so busy

This past weekend (February 19-22) we went to Portland, Oregon. Steve was whooping it up with fellow brothers and groomsmen for his brother's bachelor party weekend party. Emma and I stayed with our good friend, Kate, her dog, Sam, and her cat, Max.


Getting there is half the fun as they say, and as usual there is more than one "airport" story.

Story #1: We missed our connecting flight in Minn/St.Paul due to an airlines delay while they fixed our plane's squib on the ground in Milwaukee. Emma filled her diaper (with more than urine) on the descent into Minn, and we only had 15 minutes to get to our connecting flight. We hustled from one terminal to another, and once there I made the hasty decision to change Emma's diaper in the bathroom directly across from the gate. I hustled and bustled! When we came out of the bathroom I could see the nwa woman gesturing to Steve to get off the jetway. We got there just as she was closing the door on us. We were not allowed on the flight even though Steve had been explaining the situation thoroughly. Suffice it to say that the attendants on the first flight promised the connecting flights would be held, and the nwa woman at the connecting gate was rude and completely inflexible and lacked any level of understanding. We, of course, handled ourselves with dignity and patience. :) Emma really was the model of patience; she did not seem to mind the delay. We had a good snack, did a lot of walking and exploring, and then on the trip to Portland she slept for almost 2 hours!

Story #2: The disposable diapers were just not able to withstand the call of nature for the beginning leg of the journey home. Before we boarded the plane in Portland, Emma was soaked through her pants. We put on the only spare pair and crossed our fingers. With turbulence, Emma's nap, and the fasten-seat-belt sign being illuminated for the descent into Minn, we were unable to change her diaper in the air. Before landing, Steve felt something a little unnerving: wetness on his thigh. Emma had soaked through again! It was so bad that Steve's leg was soaked, and we had to put down a thick magazine on the seat of the stroller to prevent further defacement of our clothes and accessories. Off the plane in terminal G, Steve changed into dry pants (he had all of his weekend gear stuffed into a carry-on bag- so efficient!), and I changed Emma into the drier of her two pairs of pants. Then we headed off on the long trek to terminal D, and we stopped at a the first clothes store we saw. Unfortunately, there were no toddler-sized pants. The woman was very helpful, however, and pointed us in the direction of the closest info desk. She thought that there was a hand-me-down spot for poor souls whose children needed fresh, dry, clean clothes. That lifted my spirits, but the man at the desk sent us on to the airport information center next to terminal D with drooping hopes. The man at that info desk was eager to help, but after discovering that all they had were spare diapers we were again losing hope. (Emma still didn't seem to mind anything except her growing hunger.) Sensing our despair, he pointed out the nearest row of stores and suggested a few that might have toddler pants. Off we went! Emma and Steve grabbed some chairs (and a light snack) while I started shopping. There were a plethora of toddler pants in one store called Fly Babies. (We're in luck!) I ended up leaving that store empty handed after reading the price tags; they wanted at least $25 for pants! Ouch. So I went back to the store across the way that had one 5/6 size grey sweatpants left on the rack. Emma is too young to really appreciate fashion so I happily paid $6 and left. From then on Emma remained dry and cozy!


Our stay in Portland was awesome! Kate and Emma had never met each other so that part of it was great. Thursday night Steve, his brother, Mark (who we picked up from the airport), Kate, Emma and I enjoyed a nice night of shooting the breeze and eating a tasty dinner. Kate convinced Mark and Steve to try sardines, which I think they enjoyed. Emma slept well that night until 5:30 am, which is great considering it was 7:30 our time. We shared Kate's bed that sits on the floor at the perfect height for Emma to crawl in and out of safely. Since she was so tired, she fell asleep right away. When I joined her later, I scooted her over to give me some more space on the outer edge of the bed. But throughout the night I would awake to find her legs up against my back, her entire body in danger of being rolled upon if I laid back, or my body almost falling off the bed. It was interesting! But I have to say, waking up to her cute, morning coos was just precious. Apparently, her soft sounds also woke up Kate whose alarm had failed to wake her up earlier.

Kate went off to work around 6:30 am, and I hurried to get ready for the day. Emma had so much fun playing with the pots, pans, cookbooks, stereo- anything she could get her hands on. "Aunt" Kate pretty much told her that nothing was off-limits, and Emma took her completely seriously. Sam the dog was very good with Emma playing with his toys. He also followed Emma around, licking her fingers for food scraps. She giggled. :) Max the cat sat on the stairs and watched the whole show. When Emma spotted him she tried playing peak-a-boo with him! It was too cute. We left the house around 8:30 am and headed to the park district in downtown Portland. The sun was shining and it was warm outside the shade of the buildings. We drove the length of the street (instead of walking in the cooler shade) admiring the beautiful trees, buildings and statues. When I stopped to figure out how to park (to perhaps take a stroll) I said hello to a passing elderly man to ask him how to work the parking situation. (You have to park, find a parking payment station, buy a ticket, place it in your window and then return before your paid time is up.) He also told me all about Pioneer Courthouse Square where the Portland information center is and a little bit about the aerial tram that we had seen from the freeway. He was a nice man, and Emma and I took off to find the square. We did find it, more than once (around 3 times actually), but by that time the street parking was non-existent. I was afraid to try my luck in a parking garage so we drove through the streets passing the World Trade Center, the river park (gorgeous), a Chinese-looking archway over a road, and other random city sights. When it sounded like Emma had fallen asleep in the back I decided to head to Powell's Books to let her stretch her legs before heading to Kate's for lunch.

Powell's Books is huge! The location we went to downtown is called Powell's City of Books and for good reason. When we walked in the list of rooms with different genres was itself like a book: Rose Room, Orange Room, Blue Room, etc. http://www.powells.com/info/citytour.html Visit that website to take a virtual tour if you are interested. The place defies description. I basically wished that I had the whole day to wander around and lots of spare change to buy, buy, buy! Emma had other plans. We went into the Rose Room because it housed the children's section so I thought she would find it interesting. She found it so interesting that she pulled books off of shelves and plopped down on the floor to "read" them. Well, she read one, and then I had to pick her up to keep her from pulling them all on to the floor. It turns out that picking her up wasn't the best idea: she screamed! So I tried to distract her with the nearest book, which worked for a minute. I put her down, but she continued to fuss and pull away from my hand. I calmly told her that if she didn't listen we were going to have to leave. We had to leave moments later, and that was when I smelled a horrible smell. She had pooped! So I carried her kicking and screaming and stinking through the store. A kind cleaning lady held the door open for me, and as I thanked her and turned away she tapped my shoulder. "Only one shoe," she said in a thick accent as she pointed to Emma. Great. We had to traipse back through the store- Emma was kicking, crying and stinking the whole way. Her shoe was waiting for us along the back wall somewhere in the Rose Room.

Once I got her shoe on Emma calmed down. Hmm. I took the opportunity to walk a hallway to another room and we passed by a row of sale books. Wouldn't you know that they had some kids books there? Emma started fussing again so I grabbed a book with a rooster on it and we marched back to the entrance and check out counter. On an impulse I also purchased a recyclable "canvas" Powell's bag that has a squirrel on it. Lord knows I needed both hands to carry Emma to the car!

I changed her poopy diaper in the back of the Rav4, put her in her car seat and wished we had more time for browsing. As I was opening the driver's door, who should be passing us by but that same elderly man who had helped us earlier in the day! We exchanged pleasantries, and we headed to Kate's. But we stopped at Fred Meyer first- the local grocery store for some supplies.

After lunch it was time for Emma's nap. Let's just say that I was glad I had happened to watch a bit of Super Nanny a few weeks ago. (Don't ask!) Anyway, I read a few books to Emma just like at home and laid her down in the middle of the big bed with Sleepy Time Joe. As soon as I had turned my back on her she was scrambling off the bed with an impish look on her face. "It's sleepy time, Emma," I whispered while firmly laying her back down. I turned around and decided to keep standing there, completely silent to see what would happen. Predictably, Emma crawled out of bed again, giggling to herself. *Quickly and silently, without eye contact, I scooped her up and put her back on the bed.* I turned around, taking a couple steps closer to the door and waited. Sure enough, she scrambled out of bed again. Read between the *'s. This happened about 6 times before I made it to the bedroom door and Emma stopped crawling out of bed. I took one small peak as I left the room, and I saw Emma on her tummy resting peacefully. Whew. (Thank you, Super Nanny! I had seen Jo coaching a mother on this same strategy of not leaving the room, not speaking, and not giving up re-placing the child in bed. On the show, it took the mother 45 minutes until the daughter fell asleep. Emma only lasted 6 escape attempts and roughly 15 minutes. Yay!)

I made crackers while Emma slept, and when she woke up we had a snack of grapes and crackers. It was such a beautiful day that we walked around the block (with no coats!), hung out at the corner utility pole (a neighbor decorates it in an unusual manner), and played with the rocks in the front yard. When Kate came home she told us she wanted to take us out to dinner to her favorite local Mexican restaurant- Por Que No? Since it was so nice out, we loaded Emma in the stroller, put a leash on Sam and walked the few short blocks to the restaurant.

It was a hopping place, but luckily we found a table that would accommodate the 3 of us comfortably. Emma devoured her rice and bean bowl that was smothered with all kinds of sauces and blobs of colored yumminess. My chicken taco was good, and the homemade chips and guacamole were delicious! We left quite fat and happy.

Back at the house, we gave Emma her bath right away. Sam and Max had never seen anything so interesting before; they came right into the bathroom and watched the whole show. Sam even stuck his face over the edge of the tub, and Max got cozy in the towels. It was a very endearing scene. Emma feel right to sleep that night! Kate and I were planning on watching a movie, but instead we chatted the night away while eating cheesecake and drinking tea.

Saturday morning we got up and snacked and left before 9 am for a breakfast fundraiser in Happy Valley where Kate teaches. Emma and I met some of her fellow teachers, parents of her students and the principal. Emma loved the pancakes and orange wedges. I cut up a pancake into bite size pieces for her, but she grabbed a whole pancake and chewed that down to her fingers. Kate got a big kick out of that! It was pretty amusing. Again, it was a delightful treat for Emma and I!

On the way home we decided that the aerial tram would be something fun to do that would be easy for Emma to enjoy as well. So we looked up the location, grabbed a baggie of treats for Emma and we were back on the road. It took us a couple of tries to find the bottom of the tram along the river's edge; there weren't signs or anything to help us out. We did end up on the top of a hill overlooking Portland and the river, which we would not have seen if we had found the tram right away. It was a gorgeous view!

The tram ride was only 3 minutes one way, but the view was spectacular! You could see the buildings of downtown, the mountains (Hood and Mount St. Helen's), and the river. Pretty neat. Plus, Emma didn't seem to mind the height, or the crazy dip that made the car rock front to back. The tram stops at the OSHU (Oregon Hospital something or other) at the top of the hill. There is an observation deck and a very pretty garden terrace area. We saw it all! On the garden level there was an area enclosed with 4 foot high rainbow glass that glittered and shimmered in the sun. On the inside was a the soft turf found in Kindergarten playgrounds these days, done to look like ripples in the water. In the middle was a large, bronze turtle perfect for sitting on. We all took turns and of course, snapped pictures!

Further along was a fountain low to the ground, and Emma had fun splashing her fingers in the water. Kate was continually amazed with how busy Emma is; she is always looking, touching, examining, etc. I find the phrase quite apt at describing Emma. She is so busy!

We took the tram back to our car and got home in time for lunch and nap (although a bit delayed on all counts). Emma again fell asleep fairly easily. I managed some homework, and Kate took Sam to the neighborhood dog park. We reconvened at Kate's for a homemade dinner. I made ravioli and Kate made a quinoa dish that was quite tasty. Steve and I are always looking for good vegetarian staples so that was fun to try. After dinner was another fun bath experience!

The bathroom was crowded again with people and pets. Emma was having tons of fun in the deep, large tub. At one point I wondered aloud what she was doing squatting down, and Kate echoed my sentiments. "It almost looks like she is going to poop," one of us said. Then I said (a little too loudly), "she is pooping!" We both started cracking up, and I think I scared Emma a bit with my loud voice and obvious shock. I tried corralling Emma towards one end of the tub to avoid stepping in the piles, but it was tough going. The piles started floating! Kate said she would scoop it up as she ran out of the room. When I saw what she was scooping the poop with, I laughed even harder. She had grabbed her slotted spatula from the kitchen! That pretty much signaled the end to bath time. We tried soothing Emma while dressing her in her pajamas. She fell asleep easily, and hopefully she doesn't remember her mother's shock at her bodily function. :)

Kate and I were just starting to watch Mama Mia when Andrew dropped Steve off. Steve looked dog tired, and they both said it had been a fun weekend. Steve went up to sleep on the floor not long after he arrived. Kate and I couldn't watch much of the movie before we also went to bed. (In case you were wondering and have not seen it for yourself, if you don't like ABBA, you probably won't like Mama Mia. I love musicals, but I was having a hard time with that one. I did finish watching it when we got back to WI, but I pretty much muted the singing scenes.)

The next morning dawned too early. We had a nice breakfast of oatmeal and toast. Sam licked Emma's fingers one last time, Max meowed from the stairs, and Kate bid us farewell at the car. It was really hard saying goodbye, especially after such a super visit. We all waved and blew kisses as we drove away. Another great trip to add to our memories! And Emma will hopefully one day love hearing all about it!