2 Years and 2 Months Old/ Christmas 2009

The time has snuck up on me AGAIN and it is time for the monthly update. We have been so busy with the holiday season and there is much to tell.

- First, Emily continues to become smarter, funnier, sillier, and more imaginative with each passing day. She is venturing into the world of Pretend Play now, and will host tea parties for her toys and wear dress-up clothes. It is adorable! When we ask her what she is doing she’ll say, “Minnie is hungry” or something like that. It’s so cute to watch her feed her toys and tell them things like “take bites!” (which is what I tell her all the time so she won’t stuff food in her mouth), “time to wash hands”, “is it good?”, etc. This is bound to get only more fun as time passes.

-Emily climbed out of her crib on the Sunday before Christmas. I was downstairs and heard a big thud from upstairs and immediately knew (mother’s instinct?) what had happened. I went upstairs and started to open her door, only to have Emily open it from the other side. She was shaken up but not hurt. HOWEVER, she felt very guilty about it and told me over and over, “I jump outta bed....that’s not safe!” It was scary and funny all at the same time. She has not even attempted to climb out again so hopefully that was the last of it. I don’t think she is ready for a big girl bed quite yet.

-She mimics everything we say. Everything! She told Paul the other night to “go get milk- be right back!”. She told Barney to “sit right there- don’t move”. She is also trying her hand at personal pronouns right now and THAT is truly entertaining. She will ask us to “popcorn me”, “drink me”, “chicken nuggets me”, “sit up here me”, etc. etc. Sometimes she will even add a “you” to the end of the command, like this morning when she said, “Mommy, cereals me you!” It is so funny!

-She has begun to understand a bribe- hallelujah!!! We can get her to take additional bites of dinner, drink medicine, etc. with the promise of something else afterward. It is so handy! We aren’t going to over-do it but it is nice to know that we can get her to eat more and things like that. It has taken forever to get her to understand If...Then statements (like, “If you eat another bite of peas, Then you may have one sweet tart.”)

-We experienced a scary afternoon on Monday before Christmas. I had packed the car for our trip to WV and was ready to go as soon as Emily woke from nap and Paul made it home. Well, when she woke up from nap Emily had a fever of 103.3! I rushed her to the pediatrician where she was diagnosed with an ear infection. I felt so guilty before she had told me earlier, “Mommy, ear is hurting!” but I kind of shrugged it off. She loves the antibiotics they prescribed (they are bubblegum flavored) so it has not been any trouble to treat it. Poor girl!

-Because of the ear infection we had to change our plans for Christmas. Instead of driving to Parkersburg before Christmas to spend time with my family, we stayed in NC until Christmas Eve, when we drove to Princeton. We celebrated Emily’s third Christmas there and then my family drove down to Princeton on Saturday to celebrate with us. Thank YOU! to Paul’s Grandma Frances for letting us use your house all day- we really appreciated having the space. My family had a wonderful time with Emily and she enjoyed their company. They bought her a dress-up old pageant dress and she simply loved it! She kept twirling around saying, “I so pretty!” It was hilarious!

-Emily’s favorite Christmas gift was probably the 5 foot tall Mickey mouse that we got from Sam’s club. He is huge, obviously, but she can’t get enough of him. She looooooves Big Mickey, as he is called in our house! He is so big she can’t move him herself so she needs all kinds help to move him from room to room.

That’s our update for this month. I will TRY to update more often but it is hard to find the time. When I go back to school next week it is 2 weeks of testing and then the end of the quarter, which is always a crazy busy time. I will surely enjoy spending time with my sweet girl though! Hope you had a Merry Christmas and you will have a happy, healthy 2010.

2 Years and 1 Month Old!

It’s time for the monthly update! We enjoyed a wonderful morning today as we headed to a local Festival of Trees and had Breakfast with Santa! Emily loved seeing him and she did really well sitting on his lap, however, she didn’t stay there long!

We are enjoying Emily so much right now- this is the best age so far. She is so smart! Seriously- I know all parents claim that their kiddo is smart but Emily shocks me all the time. Here’s what she can do:

-She knows all basic colors (think the Crayola 10 pack…we’re not doing cerulean and magenta yet, but she knows the basics!)

-She can count to 20- she does not have one-to-one correspondence to twenty yet, of course (maybe one-to-one to 1 or 2) but she gladly counts all the time. She will count the stairs, the puffs when she takes her medicine, the legs on her toys, etc. So grown up!

-She knows square, circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, star, and crescent.

-She knows what foods she wants to eat for her meals….my only comment here is that you’d better hope you have it on hand when she asks!!

-She is making so many amazing connections right now and expanding on what she knows. For instance, she saw some music notes and started talking about Baby Einsteins—this is a show on Playhouse Disney that features a composer of the day, artist of the day, etc. She saw the music notes and thought of the sheet music that they show on each episode! So smart!

-She knows about 40-50 songs. I blogged about them a while back and she knew over 20…now she is obsessed with Barney and has learned all his songs, too…so add those to the list!

-She is speaking only in complete sentences now and her speech is really clear. Most people can understand what she says with no difficulty. She is able to answer questions and follow simple one- or two- step directions/ commands.

-She knows just about all of her body parts—head, shoulders, arms, fingers, belly, bottom, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, chin, legs, knees, toes, feet, back, and bellybutton. She will also gladly point out any body parts on anyone else too!

-She likes to play pretend and is very realistic—she pulls her cupcakes out of her kitchen oven using a pot holder! She also will cook lots of meals for us now and give us lots of bites!

-She makes lots of phone calls now- she calls her Grandaddy (Paul’s dad) at least 4-5 days per week and also calls him non-stop from her toy phones. It is really funny to listen to her talk to her “caller”…she will say, “Hi, how are you?” and then turn to me and say, “It’s for you, Mommy!” Then at the end she’ll say, “All right, bye!” She sounds just like me!

-She loves to read her books now- she will say all the words that she knows (she has memorized several stories). She also has several books that have a lot of pictures (Baby’s First 100 Words is a favorite) and she will point to every picture and say it now… even hard words like “firetruck”, “strawberry”, “computer”, and “owl”. She is super smart and we are so so so proud of her!

We will be visiting our families for Thanksgiving and Christmas so watch for lots of fun pictures from those events too. Thanks for checking on our sweet girl!

2 Years Old!

Yes, folks, it’s true-- our girl is two! I can’t believe it but she is getting so big so fast. We are enjoying every minute (well, almost!) of what we are calling the “Terrific Twos”...so far, so good!

Here are the new things going on with our girl:

-- She is speaking almost totally in complete sentences. She says please, thank you, thank you very much, and you’re welcome after almost every request. She also copies a lot of what we say. She is learning probably 5-10 new words every day. Today it was “soon” (“What is soon?” is what she asked me!), “Christmas trees”, “Nutella”, “tear it” (as in, “Please don’t tear it, Emily...we want to color it, not tear it”) and “soup” (which she called “suit”). The words are not 100% clear but she is saying long strands of words and I can generally understand her...so can Paul and Miss Jamey.

-- She can jump with 2 feet and can jump across the Tumble Trak at gymnastics.

-- She can draw a face. I’m not even kidding. She has a little Magna-Doodle and asks me all the time to draw faces for her. I always draw a big circle, then 2 eyes, then the nose, mouth, ears, and hair. The other day she said “I draw face” and proceeded to draw a big circle (she’s been doing that for about a month now), then very slowly, deliberately drew 2 eyes. When it came time for the mouth her hand slipped, but it didn’t matter...I stole that face away so fast! I am going to take a picture to show ya’ll....you won’t believe it!

-- She can operate any and all doors in the house. This is challenging, to say the least.

-- She is very interested in sitting on the potty but nothing really happens while she’s on it. I still will let her sit there 200 times a day if she wants, though, because I want her to have access and I keep hoping that one day, something will come out! :)

-- She helped me bake cookies 2 weekends ago and I think I’m going to let her help me cook something like that around 1 or 2 times a month- she had a great time and was actually very controlled. I think she thought she was big stuff standing on a chair by the counter!

-- She is beginning to pretend play. She will feed Barney and Baby Bop (holding out spoons of food from her Tea Party set into the air and saying, “Here Barney!”) Also she took some food out of her oven in the play kitchen she got for her birthday and used the oven mitt to get them out. It was SUPER precious!

-- She is beginning to understand pronouns....it is MY blanket, MY toys, MY cup, etc., which is normal...but she is also experimenting with YOUR purse, MOMMY’S car, DADDY’S shirt, etc. So amazing how much she is learning!

-- She seems to be getting some toddler eccentricities, which I have to say I love to pieces. The other day she needed to wear 2 different shoes and I was totally ok with it. I really think toddlers need to have some control over their lives and if it comes down to wearing crazy outfits, I’m ok with that! I think it’s super cute.

-- She has learned to ask us for what she wants to eat. This is both helpful and hilarious, depending on what she says. For instance, we were out on her birthday day and she said she wanted spaghetti, so we bought it. She ate it, and all was good. Apparently, though, she also LOVED the taste of birthday cake because nearly every morning this week she has said, “I want birthday cake!” when I ask what she wants to eat. So funny!

-- She is getting very good at counting (to about 16) and at identifying numbers. At gymnastics yesterday she was standing on a hopscotch mat and showed us the 2, 4, 5, and 7. On the way out to the car Paul was holding her and said, “Daddy was proud of you for knowing your numbers!” and she said, “I knew about five”. I thought Paul might drop her he laughed so hard!

That is about all I can think of for now. She continues to amaze us every day with something she says or does. It is so incredible to watch her growing and changing all the time!

2 Year Old Girl!!!!

So, expect a lengthy post after the festivities this weekend about new and improved TWO YEAR OLD GIRL....but for now, I will update you on our 2 year old well-child visit today:

Stats:

Weight: 25lbs 8oz- 35% (she moved up a couple percentiles- yay!)

Height: 35.5" (90%....how did we get a tall kid?)

Head: 19cm and some change... I forgot to ask about the percentile for that.

Her doctor said she looks great, was impressed with her language skills. She SHOULD have been impressed with Emily's art skills since I had given her a pen and paper to draw on while we waited, and she drew all over HERSELF instead. Seriously!

She had already had MMR at her 18 month appointment so today she got her Hib booster, regular flu shot, and, to my great joy and satisfaction, H1N1 shot too! After having my student's father die this week from swine flu I feel like the risk of getting it FAR outweighs the risk of getting the shot. I was mistaken that Emily couldn't have the H1N1 vaccine- she just couldn't have the nasal mist b/c of her asthma. So I was thrilled that she was able to get it!

Unfortunately, yesterday we noticed a rash on her diaper area...today she has it on her legs, feet, and lower tummy, as well as blisters in her mouth- she has hand, foot, and mouth disease. It's a virus and the pedi said not to worry about it- all her friends at Miss Jamey's have already been exposed (DD has it now too). Since it's a virus there's no antibiotics or anything...just Tylenol to help with fevers if there are any. The doctor was 100% not worried and said it was still safe to give her the vaccinations today.

We don't go back until April for a 30 month appointment. Dr Y was WAY impressed that we haven't been in since her 18 month appointment!

Busy Month!

Hi everyone! Sorry we have been lacking in updates this month- we have been very very busy! Some of you may know that Paul’s father was injured in a motorcycle accident on Sept. 5. Since then, we have been traveling quite a lot to see him. He is expected to recover but it will be a long journey. We are so glad that he is OK and are doing our best to keep his spirits up. What better way to do that than to spend time with Emily Claire?! :)

We took Emily to her first fair recently. She LOVED it! She was in awe of all the sights and sounds and really liked the funnel cake, too! We didn’t go on any rides this time- next year we will.

We are all set for her birthday party, which is at our house on Sunday the 25th. I can’t believe that she is almost 2! I get so nostalgic this time of year, thinking about the last few days of my pregnancy and how eager we were to get her here. How quickly she has grown up! Just this morning I walked in her room to find her with her tea party set all set up, “pouring” drinks. It was adorable! Hard to believe that a year ago she couldn’t even walk...now she is running, hopping, and having tea parties!!

Stay on the lookout for new pictures soon- we will probably hit up the pumpkin patch next weekend and post those when we have them! :) T-minus 10 days till someone is 2!!

23 Months Old!

It is simply amazing to me that today Emily is 23 months old! I can’t believe it! She is getting so big and can do so many things... that old saying about growing up too fast is 100% true. Here’s all the new things she can do:

-The biggest thing I suppose is that she is 100% paci-free, for 17 days now. She doesn’t even ask for it anymore!

-She holds entire phone conversations now when you let her use your phone. I can understand about 80% of what she is saying.

-She is a major repeater- she can say anything you say! (So watch what you say, haha!)
-She is getting much better about following directions at gymnastics class-- still some trouble during Circle Time but she follows the rules for the long rectangle trampoline and for the pit...so I am happy with that!

-She can open every doorknob in the house.

-She can unscrew bottle lids.

-She can put on her own shoes (sometimes on the right feet, sometimes not!)

-She is in the “life is better naked” phase and will randomly strip down and run around shrieking with delight. It’s all fun and games until it’s YOUR kid!

-She can count to 20.

-She knows all the songs on “Barney’s Songs” (she is obsessed with Barney!), all the songs on our car music CD, and all the songs I had taught her before. She probably can sing about 35 songs in all- amazing!

-She is using a lot of sentences now- “Go Jamey’s house”, “I want it/ I don’t want it”, etc.

-She will eat her gummy vitamins alone now, they don’t have to be intermixed with her regular gummy snacks.

-She loves “topcorn” (popcorn) but has to be reminded to take only 1 kernel at a time!

-She will stand up in a shopping cart and say, “OH NO MA’AM- sit down! Dangerous!”....all while standing and looking at you. Not that this has happened, of course!

-Speaking of standing, her new fave activity in the house is to try to stand on her ride on toys. Evil Kanevil.

-She loves to color and is getting really, really great pincer control from doing it so much. Also, she can draw a circle very well.

-She knows red, green, blue, purple, and yellow with pretty good consistency. She definitely did NOT learn this from eating a lot of fruit snacks. Definitely not.

-She is now sleeping on a pillow in her crib and loves it- she actually lies down a lot faster now, I think because she is more comfortable!

-She is alerting us to having used the bathroom in her diaper and will bring us a new “diapey” and lie down to be changed.

-She loves to sit on the potty but has not released anything YET.

-She is starting to notice things outside the car- like cows, cars, trucks, etc. She is becoming a lot more aware of things around her like airplanes, birds, etc.


-She can kick a ball- Daddy taught her how!


All in all, she is becoming such a big girl. No part of her is a baby anymore and it is so shocking to us how quickly that happened! We are so excited for her birthday next month- be watching the mailbox for your invitation!

Paci Free- That's Me!

It’s true! Emily gave up her paci last weekend and has not had it since Friday morning. She did SO WELL- she hardly cried (under 25 minutes!) and has hardly asked for it since it “went bye-bye”. We are SO proud of our big girl!

22 Months Old!

Hello again! It’s time for the monthly update- can you believe Emily is 22 months old now? I sure can’t! Here are some highlights and funny stories about our little princess.

-We have been playing a fun game where Emily asks something that sounds like a question and I respond with, “WHAT?!” in a very loud voice. (It’s funnier in person, I swear!) Well, yesterday morning we were playing before I had to leave for work and I said, “Emmy, can you give your Mommy a big kiss?” and she looked up from her toy and said, “WHAT?!” the same way I say it! It was SO funny, especially because she thought of it all on her own- we had not played the game in a day or two. She is hilarious! What made it even better is that while I was laughing she looked at me and said, “I a funny girl!”....yes, yes she is!

-She is getting to be quite the daredevil- jumping on the couch, beds, etc...basically anything. She also wrestles like crazy with Paul and likes to play very roughly....where is my sweet girl going?

-She and Jamey’s son DD have been playing “pretend” -type games a lot lately-- like going to the store together, etc. What is super funny to me is that Emily wants DD to hold her hand...and when he lets go, my little manhunter grabs it back! They are too funny together.

-She is loving animal sounds and body parts a lot lately. She always wants to do her animal puzzles and will tell you a lot of the names if you ask...same thing with body parts. Last night she woke up and I was wearing my glasses- she reached up, touched them, and said, “Glasses!”....such a smart girl.

-She is a dancing queen- loves all music! Lately I am noticing that she will dance different ways to different songs...makes me really excited that she hears these differences and already knows how to adjust her moves to match the rhythm.

-We are doing much more complicated hairstyles right now- French braids, regular braids, multiple ponytails, etc. It will probably all stop on Tuesday when the kids come back to school and I have to be there so early, but for right now we are really enjoying it!

-She is blurting out sentences left and right....her vocabulary and word acquisition skills AMAZE me! I read that toddlers can add a new word to their vocabulary every 90 minutes and I believe every bit of that, especially in a child like Emily who is constantly being stimulated by her parents or babysitter. Our girl is one smart cookie!

That’s about it for now- she is probably 25-26lbs and is about 34 inches tall...next time for the “official” visit is on or near her 2nd birthday pending no issues between now and then. Thanks for checking on our sweet baby.

So Long, Sweet Summer!

So today is the last day of summer for me before I return to work and Emily returns to Jamey’s. I am a little sad but I am so thankful for having had the last 58 days off with her (but who counted, right?) We had a WONDERFUL summer, and I know my sweet girl enjoyed it. Here are some highlights:

-Swimming at the gym pool with Mommy and Daddy.

-Staying a couple different weekends at Granny and Grandaddy’s house- always a treat! (Plus they have a piano that Emily LOVES to bang on...uh, I mean, play beautiful songs).

-Play dates with our friends.

-Playing in the sandbox, blowing bubbles in the kitchen, playing with water on her highchair tray (this was super messy!)

-The whole week of “cation” as Emily called it, when we were on vacation at Myrtle Beach. She loved every minute- time with Paul’s family, the ocean, the sand, the ducks in the stream,...

-Learning to eat whole apples (I have to post this video- it is hysterical!)

-Learning to sing songs- she is up to 22 songs now!

-Joining a gymnastics class and learning to do a forward roll after just one visit!

-Eating snacks in the living room (this is a treat!)

-Early morning snuggle time in the bed with Mommy and Daddy. We thought she would never hold still long enough to do this but she is learning!

-Trying Popsicles for the first time.


All in all, it has been a wonderful summer and while I’m sorry to see it end, I am glad to have had the time I did. I am also eager to get back to my job....well, at least until it starts. If you ask me tomorrow evening I’ll probably tearfully explain that I wish summer hadn’t ended, haha!

The Sweetest Girl

Today Miss Emily absolutely melted my heart. She was in the dining room, and I was in the kitchen (there’s a wall in between, so I couldn’t see her). I heard her keep saying, “Hi Daddy, I love you!” and I thought she must be at the bottom of the stairs saying it toward the upstairs, thinking he was home. Wrong! I walked quietly in there to see what she was doing and found her holding a picture of Paul and me together at the Hoover Dam. She was looking at the picture and saying, “I love you Daddy” over and over....and then while I watched, she kissed MY side of the picture and said, “Mommy!” It was so, so, so sweet. I picked her up, all teary eyed like I get, and just hugged her for as long as she’d let me. I couldn’t believe she was being so loving toward our picture! My next mission- to buy her a durable plastic frame (no glass!) and put our picture in it. Apparently, she likes the looks of us! :)

First Gymnastics Class!

Today we took Emily to a gymnastics center for her first class- a Parent/Tots Class! She had SO MUCH FUN! Seriously- she was running and jumping, rolling over, going through tunnels, and jumping into the Pit (see the picture). We will probably start taking her beginning in the Fall session, that begins August 31st. It’s every Saturday from 9:10-10am! Emily loved wearing her leotard but NONE of the other kids had on anything other than play clothes...I was That Mom today!! Whoops! Anyway, she had a terrific time and we are really looking forward to doing this with her. We are having her birthday party at this same gym so she should know some great tricks by the time that rolls around! Hard to believe our girl is big enough for a class now!

First Big Girl Hairstyle- the Braid!

Check it out- Emily had her first braid today! She is getting SO big. Also, after dinner last night she said, “Ok, I ready to go now.” Did I mention she is getting big? :)

21 Months Old!

It’s time for the monthly update! Emily was a big traveler last month- going to Granny and Grandaddy’s and taking a trip to the beach! She is getting so big and doing so many things....I need to start keeping a list going all month long so it’s not so hard thinking of all the things to put in the update!

Here’s what she’s doing now:

-Eating whole apples! She bites them, skin and all. Do not even TRY to cut them up- if she sees a whole apple, she wants the whole thing. I need to take a picture of the aftermath- the apple is basically skinned in 100 different places...it is hilarious!

-Opening doorknobs. This is not my favorite new trick, for sure.

-Potty interest- she wants to sit on the potty A LOT now. She is not really doing anything when she sits there, but the interest has finally arrived. My personal goal is to have her totally potty trained by Christmas.

-Wearing “makeup”. Whenever I am getting ready she comes in the bathroom and opens my makeup drawer. I have to give her a brush and she brushes all over her face saying, “make up! make up!” It is pretty amusing to say the least.

-Singing....oh boy, the songs! She LOVES singing so much! She knows probably 15 songs now and so we play Karaoke in the car, the grocery store, etc. She wants to sing all the time.

-Colors- she can now identify red and blue with pretty good accuracy.

-Shapes- she finds circles EVERYWHERE and is working on squares (‘scare”).

-Letters- she can ID letters E, A, and O with pretty good accuracy.

-Coloring- she loooooves to color! Any time, any place, if you have crayons or markers and some paper, she will gladly color for you. Or if you happen to leave a pen out, she will happily color your couch.

-Wrestling. I’m serious. I need to video her with Paul in the evenings- she loves throwing herself on top of him and falling off (he catches her!) and running into him from across the room. I have no idea where she sees this kind of behavior but it is pretty funny to watch a seemingly sweet little girl acting so wild!

-Saying sorry. She is KILLING us lately with saying, “I sorry!” over everything! She will not stop until you say OK and then she says, “all right”. It makes us feel awful when we say, “Gosh Emily you sure have a lot of toys” and she says, “I sorry! I sorry! I sorry!”


In the next few weeks we will be transitioning back into our routine with going to Miss Jamey’s a few days per week and getting ready for me to start school on August 10. I’m hoping to do a lot of swimming at our gym pool with her and having some playdates with friends before things get super busy again. Check in soon for more updates on our little princess!

Beach Trip 2009!

We are back from a WONDERFUL vacation. We had a fantastic time at Myrtle Beach and enjoyed getting to spend time at the beach and enjoy the company of Paul’s family. Emily LOVED the ocean and had a terrific time. Here are some highlights:

-First and foremost, the beach. Emily had NO fear about running into the water and enjoyed heading to the ocean every morning for a few hours. She built lots of sand creations (we will not call them “castles” this year...that would be a stretch!) and had so much fun making new friends with kids on the shore.

-Singing- Emily has learned the words to so many songs! She sang Skinnamarinky Dinky Dink (I Love You), Head, Shoulders Knees & Toes, This Little Light of Mine, ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song, Twinkle Twinkle, Victor Vito, the Bumblebee Song, We are the Dinosaurs....and probably a lot more I am forgetting. She loves to have someone sing to her and if no one will, she will sing to herself!

-Emmy loved having her Granny, Grandaddy, and Grandma Frances around to play with her non-stop and take her on long walks. The resort where we stayed had a lot of ducks in their lake and she loved seeing them every time we walked somewhere.

-Meeting other kids- there are two funny stories here. First, we saw Emily with a little boy who was about 2.5 years old. Let’s just say her “pick up” skills really need some improvement-- she started circling this poor boy and saying, “Hello, what are you doing? Hello, what are you doing?”....over and over and over! He just looked stunned and didn’t say a peep- it was hysterical! I wish we had had the camera for that- we were cracking up! The second funny story was Em’s “ability”, if you will, to join in other children’s play on the beach. No matter how old the kids, she would plop down in the middle of their sand play and just start playing with their toys! It was funny because she is so little....something tells me a few years from now kids won’t be so willing to let her come in and wreck their castles and things!

-Going out to eat-- one night we ate at a seafood buffet (we are not usually buffet people but Paul and I LOVE crab legs and it’s the best way to get them at the beach) and she ate...and ate...and ate...and ate!! We could not believe all the food this child consumed during the trip- she must be getting ready for a growth spurt or something!

-New toys! While on the trip Emily got a super cute bowling set (cloth animals are the “pins” and she doesn’t play with them like a normal bowling game- she lines them all up in a row and talks to them!) as well as Mickey Mouse (MeMe Mouse) and Tigger (Kiggo) stuffed toys....she loved them! Usually she doesn’t care much about toys when she first gets them (case in point for this trip- the Build a Bear dog Paul and I stuffed for her during Nap the first day....at least I had a coupon so it was free because she did not touch that dog the whole trip!) We were so shocked at how quickly she started playing with the bowling set and the Disney friends.


Overall it was a wonderful trip and we are so glad to have been able to enjoy the ocean with Emily. Now it’s back to work for Paul and just a few more weeks of summer vacation before I go back to work too. The summer sure does fly by when you’re having so much fun!


PS- I just thought I would let you know I am writing this in absolute quiet because Paul took Emily out for Daddy/Daughter Date. He has been doing this for a few months now, taking Emily out to get little treats and spend special time with him. Today’s agenda was a trip to pick out her first Mr. Potato Head, picking up lunch from Sonic, and heading to the park for a picnic and playtime. Just thought everyone should know he is the best Dad around. :)

Anniversary and Beach Trip!

Today Paul and I are celebrating FOUR years of marriage! It’s hard for us to imagine that we have been together for 7 years next month and married for 4. Since we’ve been married, we’ve moved twice (4 times total!), changed careers/ started careers, graduated college and medical school, adopted 2 crazy dogs, and of course, the best thing we’ve done....given birth to Emily Claire! It is hard to believe time passes so quickly but it reminds us to value every day we are given.

In other news, we are leaving on Saturday for vacation at Myrtle Beach! This is technically Emily’s third trip to the beach, if you count her first visit as the one when I was pregnant (hey, she was there!) I am SO excited to take Emily back because she had such a terrific time last summer-- she loved the ocean and playing in the sand, swimming in the pool, and having her parents, grandparents, and great-grandma all so close. We will see Uncle Bill this trip too, which is great- we don’t get to see him very often. I can’t wait to see how she does at the beach this year- I think a lot of running up and down is in store for us, as well as a lot of sand castle building! I’m not sure how the pool will go- she refuses to use a float this year so I bought her a bathing suit with the floatation panels built in. It seems to work well, but she gets very scared when she can’t touch the bottom. I’m mostly just praying that the place we are staying in (it’s a new place this year, not the same one we always use) has a kiddie pool...otherwise, I can see her refusing pool time all together and us spending all our time at the beach. Expect TONS of pics when we get back!

Hello, Elmo!

Today we had an embarrassing (to say the least!) moment when we were at a local coffee shop. Emily was playing in the children’s area with a little boy about her age. He happened to have very bright red hair. After a little while, Emmy ran across the room, stopped right in front of the boy, and yelled out, “Hello, Elmo!” I was mortified, the boy’s mother was NOT appreciative, and the girl I was at the coffee shop with burst out laughing. Can you say awkward?!

20 Months Old!

It’s time the monthly update about our little princess Emily Claire! She has had a great month and has learned so many new things.

I said last month that I was not keeping up with the words anymore- she knows so many that it’s almost impossible to keep up with her. Some notable words she has learned this month, though, are “circle” (when pointing at a circle), “purple” (when I was wearing a purple shirt), and she counted 1, 2, 3 when she was looking at a group of three goldfish crackers. I was so shocked when she counted the fish and also when she identified my shirt and the circle on her shower curtain. She is SO smart!

She has been enjoying the summer weather a lot lately. Every day she is either swimming, playing in the sandbox, or running around outside. It makes for very busy days but also for really great sleeping- a 2-3 hour nap each afternoon and about 11-12 hours of rest (mostly uninterrupted!) at night. There have been some “moments” though, that were pretty trying: I took her to my friend Leigh Anna’s apartment pool, and that water was too deep for her to touch by herself. At the pool at our gym, there is a huge baby pool that she can be “free” in (no baby boat, no Mommy carrying her). Well, she has gotten so accustomed to that kind of pool experience that she threw a huge tantrum on me about the pool at Leigh Anna’s. She didn’t want to be in the baby boat, didn’t want me to carry her, didn’t want to be in the water, or on the deck….it was a disaster! After about 40 straight minutes of tantrums, I apologized to Leigh Anna and told her we had to leave. Poor Emily was so angry on the way home that she cried and cried! She much prefers the gym pool where she can be free!

Emmy has been practicing her singing again this month. She knows almost all the words to the “Hot Dog Song” from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, “This Little Light of Mine”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and the “ABCs”. She knows some of the words and motions to these songs: “Skinnamarinky Dinky Dink, I Love You”, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, “Peter, James and John in a Sailboat”, and “The Hokey Pokey”. It is so amazing to watch her learn a new song and new motions. She catches on to things so quickly!

Another new development is that she now requires applause after each “performance” … whether that be singing, dancing, playing piano, etc. She will turn to whoever is in the room, clap and say, “Yay!” and stare until everyone is clapping. It is hilarious! She is such a glory hound, it’s unbelievable. I am thinking of looking into a kiddie tap/jazz class or maybe baby tumbling for the fall- I feel like she needs an outlet for all her energy!

She has grown so much in her table habits. She is using a fork and spoon both successfully now and will wipe her mouth with a napkin or cloth if she is asked. She has gotten very independent with eating and really prefers to feed herself. Sometimes it is messy, but she is much happier and eats a lot more if we just put it in a heavy dish and let her do it herself. She even tells us, “I DO IT!” We recently tried peanut butter and she hasn’t had any reaction…in fact she loves it!

We will be heading to the beach in July and are so excited for Emily to visit the ocean again. She’ll get to see her Uncle Bill (Paul’s brother) and his fiancée and their granddaughter Addalynn. It’s been since Christmas that Addie and Emily got together, so it will be fun to see how they play together now. I have bought her one of the swimsuits with the floating panels inside the suit so perhaps she can play in the pool with us and we won’t have another meltdown like we did at Leigh Anna’s pool. We are also excited to spend some time at our favorite beach landmarks with her—she is starting to get to the age when she can have fun doing some ‘bigger kid’ things. Paul and I will also celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary while we are at the beach with an overnight trip to Charleston, SC. We are all super pumped for our trip!

Baby's First Sentence!

On Sunday, June 14th, Emily surprised both Paul and myself by saying her first sentence! She and I were in the baby pool on the deck and Paul walked into the yard after returning from the grocery store. Emily looked at him and said, “Hello, Daddy! What......are.......you..........doing?” It was SO cute! She said all the words very slowly like she wanted to be sure she got them all correct. Paul and I just stared at her in amazement- she is SO SO SO smart! We are incredibly proud of that little lady!

Peanut Butter, Baby!

That’s right- we tried peanut butter for the second time night before last and it *appears* that not only is Emily not allergic to peanuts (phew!) but that this could be a new favorite food! She looooooves a little PB spread thinly on a Ritz cracker (and loves the Ritz brand version of this, too). I am so excited to try other peanut butter things with her! Just one more way she is getting so grown up lately. Big girl!

19 Months Old!

Hello again! It’s time for the monthly update! As always, I will begin with the list of words Emily now knows (new words in bold print) but there’s something different this month—this is absolutely, positively the last month for words. I know, I know…I have said this every month for ages now, but this is really it. She knows SO many words, and now she is making them into baby sentences (2, 3, 4 word phrases) so really…this is it. At some point I have to stop being Crazy Mom and I don’t need to document every single thing she says. Suffice it to say that if you can say it, Emily can say it!


So, without further adieu, here is the final words list:


1. apple

2. uh-oh (in response to falling down or dropping something)

3. doggie (FINALLY!)

4. Mama

5. Dada/Daddy/Dadadadadadad

6. more

7. more please (this one makes me *extra* proud!)

8. uh huh (yes)

9. uh-uh (no)

10. no (getting quite good at this one....ugh!)

11. Booker

12. bite

13. ouchie

14. bye bye

15. baby (sounds like bee bee)

16. hi

17. hello (heyo)

18. poo poo

19. DeeDee (Jamey’s son’s name)

20. cookie

21. eat

22. cheese

23. GO!

24. help

25. up

26. grapes (gape)

27. happy (from “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)

28. outside

29. stack (for her stacking blocks)

30. RAAH (like a scary roar…we do this back and forth sometimes)

31. LOVE YOU

32. brush (like toothbrush)

33. cracker

34. cookie (sounds like “cocky”)

35. teeth (as in “brush teeth”…sounds like “teesh”)

36. shirt

37. socks

38. shoes

39. cup (sounds like “bop”)

40. Emmy (as in, her own name! I have an adorable video I will have Paul post…so cute!)

41. juice

42. pizza

43. Hey Dad!

44. Hey baby/ yay baby!!

45. potty (poppy)

46. push buttons (sounds like “pusha buttahs”. She says this in the garage so she can push the door button, or with my computer mouse, or my phone…basically all over!)

47. I-E-I-E ( this is how she asks to sing Old MacDonald Had A Farm- she says I-E-I-E instead of EIEIO. So cute!)

48. Hot dog! (from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse closing song…she loves Mickey!)

49. Elmo

50. bathtub (bottub)

51. bath time

52. brush teeth

53. shirt off

54. numbers 1-7

55. what’s this?

56. yogurt

57. good girl

58. sorry

59. cool girl

60. fall down

61. clean up

62. go play

63. flush it (this comes out as 2 swear words put together, so we’re sort of avoiding it for now, haha!)

64. ready, set, go!

65. telephone

66. show (as in TV show)

67. sheep

68. cow

69. duck

70. car

71. hungry...eat!

72. snack

73. Bless you (when someone sneezes)

74. thank you!

75. Booker

76. Jack (Paul’s cousin Lorrie’s son)

77. turtle

78. I peed (potty training, anyone? Now you know my summer project!)

79. I poop

80. Daddy here!

81. Daddy home (as soon as she can see our house she starts asking this- it is SO cute!)

82. milk

83. cereal

84. Mommy (she has begun addressing me by name now- I love it!)

85. clothes off!

86. throw it (a ball)

87. Hello? How are you? (when talking on the phone)

88. pet

89. fish

90. work

91. help me please

92. night- night

93. turn it (like turn it on, please)

94. Katie (one of our dogs’ names)


Not too shabby, right? I am so impressed with all that she knows. Her brain just absorbs everything these days!


Now to the fun things she says/ has done in the past month:


-She now has all 4 molars and is working on her incisor teeth. I feel pretty certain the ones on the left are going to pop through first but they are HARD to see, especially when she doesn’t want anyone’s hands in there. She wouldn’t even let the pediatrician look!

-Over the weekend I drove her to Paul’s family’s house in WV so she could see the family for Memorial Day. Paul, his dad, brother, and some friends were all going to a NASCAR race and we didn’t want to be lonely, so we went on a roadtrip. Emily was an ANGEL in the car, thanks to the portable DVD player for keeping her entertained! I only heard from her every 30 minutes or so when Baby Einstein was restarting. It was Heaven!

-Emily had some very special visitors this month—my parents and sister, and my grandparents (ages 94 and 89!) came for a visit last weekend. It was SO nice to see my family again and of course everyone was taken by what a wonderful baby we have. I felt so proud! We had a professional photo taken of the 8 of us together and I will post it when I get it back. It really was a blessing that Emmy got to meet my Gram and Grandpa.

-She is getting very headstrong and is very willful. I believe our parents are looking at her and thinking the word “payback”…she is quite the tantrum-thrower, but Time Out is actually highly effective with her. Thank goodness! I don’t know what we would do because she really gets out of hand sometimes!

-Her feet grew again, and she is now at the end of a 4/beginning stages of a 5. I can’t believe how big she is getting!

-She visited baby Taryn, my friend Casey’s daughter. While there, she treated Casey to a concert of all the songs she knows, and gave Taryn a kiss. She is SUCH a sweet girl! Makes me long for another baby so she could be a real big sister…but, in case you’re wondering……..we’re holding off for a while. So don’t get your hopes up too high. ;)

-Speaking of babies, Miss Jamey has a new baby at her house named Corinne. Baby “Rinn”, as Emmy calls her, is a “BABY”, not a big girl. I asked Emily one morning if Corinne was a baby or a big girl and she yelled out (loudly!) “Rinn a baby!” So smart! Also, Jamey tells me that all the kids at her house have certain “jobs” that they do to help Jamey care for Corinne (did I mention that Jamey is a saint?!) Em’s job is to gently give Corinne the paci when she loses it, and apparently she takes the job quite seriously.

-Also since the addition of Corinne at Miss Jamey’s, Emily has become much more loving on us and on her toys. She constantly carries around babies and other toys and Jamey says she puts them all on the little couch she sits on at Jamey’s house. She is getting to be a very sweet girl.

-This was another musical month. Favorite songs include Twinkle, Twinkle, This Little Light of Mine, the ABCs, Peter, James, and John in a Sailboat, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old MacDonald had a Farm, and Barney’s I Love You Song (you know I’m cringing at the last one). I am thinking of getting her a kids CD for in the car…any suggestions? I am thinking more like nursery rhymes/songs as opposed to like, Kidz Bop. If I want to hear radio songs, I’ll just listen to the radio.

That is about all I can think of/ remember. Thanks for checking in on our sweet princess and be watching out for new updates and pics—school is only in session for 14 more days so I will have a LOT more time on my hands in just 3 short weeks!

18 Month Check Up

I skipped out of work early today to take Emmy for her 18 month (ok, 18 months and 3 weeks) appointment. She tipped the scales at 23lbs 14oz (30th percentile), 33 3/4 inches tall (93th percentile) and head circumference of 18 3/4 inches (73rd percentile). This is probably the ONLY time in her life she's considered "tall"...she's 2 foot 9, people! :) She was chatting it up while Dr Amy and I were talking, and then she said, "Oh, so she says some words?" And I said she knows about 100 (75 last time I counted, which was over 3 weeks ago, and she is picking up about 2-3 a day now...I really can't keep up!) and the doc's face changed completely. She said, "How many words??" and I said, "About 100....why- how many should she know?" thinking something was wrong. Anyway, she laughed and said, "She should know about 15 at least...so you're pretty good in the word department!" I was so pleased to hear her say that! I mean, I know Emily talks a lot but I think any parent would like hearing a statement like that from their pedi. At least I did!

So, after that, she checked Emily out, we discussed the Flovent she is on for asthma and she recommended that we put her on a daily dose of OTC Zyrtec to control the allergy symptoms. We also discussed peanut butter and other nuts- she said the concern with regular nuts is not allergic reactions but choking hazards...so she discouraged those but said to go ahead and try PB. So looks like my sweet girl might get some peanut butter here soon! We also talked about strawberries and how she has had them already but Paul is allergic. Somehow I feel better having heard her say that it's unlikely that Emily is allergic (sorry Paul! I know, you said it first). So, now we can have 2 strawberry eaters in our house. :)

After that, she got 3 shots, cried a lot, and then we left! Her next appointment is her TWO year appointment, in October.

Long Time No Talk!

Sorry for the lack of updates! It is End of the Year time at school and I have been swamped, plus Emmy is not exactly making it easy on me-- she is wild, wild, wild! If we turn our backs for a moment she is into something (good or not so good!) and so we have to be on our “A- Game” all the time. My parents will be coming down next weekend to see her- it’s been since January that they last saw her so they are in for a big surprise-- she is hardly the same girl anymore. Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick update- just 11 days till the next monthly post.

PS-- To all the mommies out there-- Happy Mother’s Day!!!

18 Months Old!

It’s that time again! Emily turned 18 months old on the 21st and is getting bigger and brighter every day. I know I said I wasn’t going to attempt to write all her words anymore, but I can’t resist....this is really the last month though- I can’t keep up! Here’s what I can remember so far (new words in bold print):

1. apple

2. uh-oh (in response to falling down or dropping something)

3. doggie (FINALLY!)

4. Mama

5. Dada/Daddy/Dadadadadadad

6. more

7. more please (this one makes me *extra* proud!)

8. uh huh (yes)

9. uh-uh (no)

10. no (getting quite good at this one....ugh!)

11. Booker (sounds like “ocker”)

12. bite

13. ouchie

14. bye bye

15. baby (sounds like bee bee)

16. hi

17. hello (heyo)

18. poo poo

19. DeeDee (Jamey’s son’s name)

20. cookie

21. eat

22. cheese

23. GO!

24. help

25. up

26. grapes (gape)

27. happy (from “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)

28. outside

29. stack (for her stacking blocks)

30. RAAH (like a scary roar…we do this back and forth sometimes)

31. LOVE YOU

32. brush (like toothbrush)

33. cracker

34. cookie (sounds like “cocky”)

35. teeth (as in “brush teeth”…sounds like “teesh”)

36. shirt

37. socks

38. shoes

39. cup (sounds like “bop”)

40. Emmy (as in, her own name! I have an adorable video I will have Paul post…so cute!)

41. juice

42. pizza

43. Hey Dad!

44. Hey baby/ yay baby!! (see funny story below)

45. potty (poppy)

46. push buttons (sounds like “pusha buttahs”. She says this in the garage so she can push the door button, or with my computer mouse, or my phone…basically all over!)

47. I-E-I-E ( this is how she asks to sing Old MacDonald Had A Farm- she says I-E-I-E instead of EIEIO. So cute! She also attempted to say “Old MacDonald” but it sounded more like “Doda Dahduh” and she only did it once so I’m not counting it.)

48. Hot dog! (from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse closing song…she loves Mickey!)

49. Elmo (pronounced “elbow”)

50.bathtub (bottub)

51. bath time

52.brush teeth

53.shirt off

54.numbers 1-7 (see story below)

55.what’s this?

56.yogurt

57.good girl

58.sorry

59.cool girl

60.fall down

61.clean up

62.go play

63.flush it (this comes out as 2 swear words put together, so we’re sort of avoiding it for now, haha!)

64.ready, set, go!

65.telephone

66.show (as in TV show)

67.sheep

68. cow

69.duck

70.car

71.hungry...eat!

72.snack

73.Bless you (when someone sneezes)

74.thank you!

75. Booker

Pretty impressive vocabulary, right? I am SO proud of her. I know none of my former teachers would be shocked to hear that I am the mother of such a talker!

And now, for the part you really love, the stories and anecdotes:

-- She has learned to climb onto the couch (yikes!) and has a wonderful way to get back off it. It is totally safe and definitely the most efficient and surefire way to get back down: she sends herself headfirst onto her little pink chair, then continues the slide all the way down to the floor. Nope, nothing unsafe about that!

-- She has started saying some hilarious things- in the middle of the night the other night I finally gave in and gave her a cup of milk hoping she might go down and sleep for awhile. She finished the drink, sat it on the nightstand, and said, “Brush.....teesh..........brush.........teesh!” I told her no (I had ZERO idea where she was going with this but was not about to let those little feet touch the floor at 3am!!) and she yelled, “PLEASE?” like it was killing her not to brush her teeth!

--Emily is counting! OK, so counting might be a stretch, but she IS saying the numbers. She can say up to about 7 right now. We are mostly counting her breaths while she is using her inhaler in the morning and evening taking her FloVent. Most of the time it makes her so angry but the counting helps!

--She is starting to ask questions and use 2 words together to make a response. The other morning Paul was making breakfast with me and he handed her some bacon. She looked at it and said, clear as day, “What’s this?” That part was shocking but moreso than that was when he reponded that it was bacon and she smiled and started eating it!

--She is doing so well on the new drugs. We also got permission from her pediatrician to start giving her Zyrtec for her allergies and it is not always easy, let me tell you! She seems to be getting better everyday though, thank Heaven.

-- She is dabbling a little bit in “terrible twos” behavior...and we don’t like it! It is hard- she had to take orapred (oral steroid) this week and it makes her aggressive and moody....on one hand I am tempted to discipline her but on the other hand I feel like it’s not “really her” so I shouldn’t....thankfully she is coming out of it now but it is very difficult. There are some things that I feel are unacceptable, whether she is medicated or not (hitting, for instance). Thankfully, Time Out seems to work for her and I really do think she “gets it”. Tonight, she hit me in the face when I told her to stop throwing her food all around. I picked her up and put her on the floor for TO. When I let her up, she came over, hugged me, and touched my face very gently. Now, tell me she didn’t know she was in TO for hitting!

-- If you read the blog post about Em being hospitalized then you have already heard this story, but she would talk to all the docs, nurses, and therapists who came to her room, welcoming them with a big Hello! After they tried to check on her though, she would starts yelling “Goodbye!” at them like they had overstayed their welcomes and it was time for them to go. It was pretty hysterical!

-- She has learned the words to a few more books now, and if we leave the words out she will say them for us. This is a little bit amazing to me, since this is a skill I am teaching to my first-graders! Granted Emily is not reading, only repeating, but she is very good at it!

--She is getting so funny and her vocabulary is amazing. The other day she brought me a bag with 100 shapes in it. I told her her we needed to clean up before we got those shapes out, and she stood up and proceeded to yell “Clean Up! Clean Up!”

-- She keeps us on our toes all the time. Tonight we filled her kiddie pool with water and put her in it wearing her bathing suit but not diaper underneath. She proceeded to have a BM in the pool, and then when I brought her inside the house to clean up she peed on the floor! You can’t turn your back for a second!

Well, I am worn out (see previous paragraphs!) and it’s time to go to bed. Thanks for checking on our sweet girl. Have a great weekend!

Hospital Trip....Again.

Just wanted to update you all on Miss Emily. We have had an eventful weekend! Friday, she spent the entire beautiful day playing outside. Saturday, she woke up with a very runny, nasty nose and had a nagging cough, but nothing serious. We attributed her fussiness to playing outside and getting exposed to all kinds of pollen (we found out Saturday that the pollen count that day was the highest it has been ALL YEAR!) We basically hung around the house and did our best to soothe/console her. She is also getting her incisor teeth right now so we were not sure if her teeth were hurting, she had a cold, or was battling allergies.

Sunday morning, she woke up extremely sick. She kind of laid around the house, not really playing (totally out of character for her) and around 10am I put her in the shower with me, thinking the steam might help break up the mucous all in her chest and nose. When we got her out of the shower she took a fast turn for the worst-- she was breathing very fast, working hard to breathe, and her heart rate was very high. We tried treating her with her albuterol inhaler but it didn't seem to do the trick, so we packed her up and took her to the ER.

When we got her to the ER she was listless and looked bad, but not horrible. They hooked her up to the pulse oximeter and we discovered her pulse/ox was 77...normal is upper 90s to 100, so 77 is pretty bad, especially for a baby. The triage nurse even said the words, "Has she ever been intubated before?" My heart fell out of my chest and I got super upset but tried to hold it together so she wouldn't get scared. Her heart rate was in the 190s and she was breathing upwards of 60 times per minute- practically panting. We got into a treatment room and they started working on her FAST. She got a dose of steroids, a chest Xray, got another strong treatment of albuterol, and was put on 2L of oxygen. Slowly her stats began to improve. (She did not get intubated this trip, thank you Lord!)

We got admitted because she was oxygen dependent and her stats were not good enough to try to wean her off. It was a very long night. The poor thing was so tired (she had no nap on Saturday OR Sunday!) but she was so sweet and good natured through the whole thing, even when she was scared. One thing that was sort of funny was that she would talk to the doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists and greet them when they came in the room with a big, "Hello!" but then as soon as they would start working on her she would yell, "Bye bye!" like she was telling them they had overstayed their welcome and should leave. It was hysterical!

I stayed overnight with her and Paul went home and tried to sleep. He ended up coming back to the hospital about 3am because he couldn't sleep with us there. Together we slept on about a 2.5 foot bench/sofa thing in her room...I have slept in many places that were more comfortable! She didn't need any additional albuterol treatments overnight and her stats were looking much better by this morning.

The overall diagnosis is that she has asthma (even though she is still too young for the 'official' diagnosis). Her case was reviewed by a world-renowned pediatric pulmonologist today (he writes textbooks on peds pulmonology) and he said even though they are supposed to be 2 years old (she is 18 months tomorrow!) that this "looks like asthma, reacts like asthma, is exacerbated by allergies like asthma"....so he is calling it asthma. Hopefully the addition of FloVent to her daily routine will help us from having to go to the hospital with this anymore. It is terribly hard to have her in there, caged up like a little animal. Not to mention that she is a very busy girl and does not love the hospital crib one bit! We see her pediatrician on May 10 for her 18 month appt and hopefully we'll be able to discuss the effects of the FloVent on her from now until then.

Anyway, just wanted to clear the air and let everyone know the "rest of the story". She is doing much better now- when we left today her oxygen sat was in the high 90-100 range on room air (she's been off oxygen since about 9am). Thanks for keeping her in your thoughts and being concerned. We are very happy and relieved to have her home with us tonight and feeling so much better.

Home from Vacation!

We are HOOOOME!! Paul and I had a fantastic trip to Vegas and really enjoyed our time. Emily was well cared for by “Team Grandparents” and was tons of fun for them while we were away...hahaha! She was actually very good, if you don’t count the hyperactivity, poo-ing in the bathtub, and occasional tantrum. :) We are so thankful to have been able to have some fun “grown up style”...wonder when it’ll happen again?

VEGAS Bound!

That’s right- Paul and I are Vegas bound tomorrow! We’re flying out at 7:50AM so if you have any prayers to send our way, we’d appreciate it (my nerves will, especially). I am so excited to go, especially since the LAST vacation we took together I looked like this:


I think we’ve definitely waited long enough!! :) We will be back Saturday and Granny, Grandaddy, and Grandma are all here to take care of the Princess. Maybe we’ll hit it *BIG* and not have to work anymore when we come back home!

17 Months Old!

Well, Emily Fans, it’s that time again! The 17 month update! I can’t believe how big our baby has gotten this month!

First, I will attempt to list all of her new words….but seriously friends, I think this is the last time. Her vocabulary is HUGE! Basically, if you or I can say it, so can she. I am not even kidding. She is absorbing so many things right now and is even starting little phrases…I love it! Here’s my attempt at Emily’s Word List, Age 17 Months (new words in bold print):

1. apple

2. uh-oh (in response to falling down or dropping something)

3. doggie (FINALLY!)

4. Mama

5. Dada/Daddy/Dadadadadadad

6. more

7. more please (this one makes me *extra* proud!)

8. uh huh (yes)

9. uh-uh (no)

10. no (getting quite good at this one....ugh!)

11. Booker (sounds like “ocker”)

12. bite

13. ouchie

14. bye bye

15. baby (sounds like bee bee)

16. hi

17. hello (heyo)

18. poo poo

19. DeeDee (Jamey’s son’s name)

20. cookie

21. eat

22. cheese

23. GO!

24. help

25. up

26. grapes (gape)

27. happy (from “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)

28. outside

29. stack (for her stacking blocks)

30. RAAH (like a scary roar…we do this back and forth sometimes)

31. LOVE YOU

32. brush (like toothbrush)

33. cracker

34. cookie (sounds like “cocky”)

35. teeth (as in “brush teeth”…sounds like “teesh”)

36. shirt

37. socks

38. shoes

39. cup (sounds like “bop”)

40. Emmy (as in, her own name! I have an adorable video I will have Paul post…so cute!)

41. juice

42. pizza

43. Hey Dad!

44. Hey baby/ yay baby!! (see funny story below)

45. potty (poppy)

46. push buttons (sounds like “pusha buttahs”. She says this in the garage so she can push the door button, or with my computer mouse, or my phone…basically all over!)

47. I-E-I-E ( this is how she asks to sing Old MacDonald Had A Farm- she says I-E-I-E instead of EIEIO. So cute! She also attempted to say “Old MacDonald” but it sounded more like “Doda Dahduh” and she only did it once so I’m not counting it.)

48. Hot dog! (from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse closing song…she loves Mickey!)

49. Elmo (pronounced “elbow”)

50. bathtub (bottub)


OK so I’m calling it quits with 50 words…that’s PLENTY, in my book! And now, for the funny stories and new things she’s doing:


-A few days ago I was using the bathroom and Emmy came wandering in. She is getting very interested in the potty so I was making a HUGE deal about going pee pee in the potty—walking her through all the steps, etc. When I was finished she looked at me and said, “Yay Baby!” in the happiest voice!

-Also related to using the potty, if you come to our house right now I am sure you’ll be happy to know that you won’t need to flush the toilet after you’ve used the bathroom- Emily is now the official Flusher. Isn’t it nice to know that little job is all taken care of at our house? It’s like we have a maid, really.

-She played with PlayDoh for the first time the other day and liked it pretty well. Well, until she sampled a little bit…then she really didn’t have a lot of interest in it!

-She LOVES playing outside and playing in the dirt. Sometimes I wonder if God is challenging me by giving me a daughter who likes dirt so very much…I was hoping for more of a tea party/ dress up/ ballet class kind of girl, but it’s ok. I will love her even if she comes in dirty every night!

-She has learned to take off her diaper. No huge problems with this so far but we are really limiting the time she has to mess with it, and we’re definitely using the zipper jammies as long as possible until she grows out of this. I would hate to think of what this could lead to, haha!

-She picks out her own snacks. And by picks out, I mean she stands in front of the pantry until I finally open the door, then waits to be picked up so *she* can get it off the shelf. And don’t EVEN try to help her put her food on a fork or a spoon…oh no. She. Can. Do. It. Her. Self!

-Also in the realm of new independence, I bought her a “big girl” toothbrush and she LOVES brushing her teeth at night. She actually does not like me to help with this at all but I don’t love the idea of toddler dentures so I win. The other night after she drank her milk I put her on the floor to see if she would walk to her crib for bed or walk to the bathroom to brush teeth…she walked to the bathroom saying “Teesh, teesh”. I was SO proud!

-She said her own name to me when I asked her—“Emmmy!”

-She is singing like nobody’s business right now. I mean any song, especially little kids’ ones with hand motions, etc…she loves all music. Some current favorites are “Peter, James and John in a Sailboat”, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, the ABCs, Days of the Week, Months of the Year (haha- can you say Teacher’s Kid?). She wants to sing all the time!

-She is also dancing a lot- and it is hilarious! She starts out slowly, just moving her head back and forth…then comes the whole body rocking, and most recently she has added spinning in circles til she gets dizzy and falls over. It is hysterical to watch!

-She is rolling and throwing her balls and has attempted kicking as well, but doesn’t quite have the coordination for that yet.

-I was juggling (ok, ok, attempting to juggle) for her the other day and she took 2 balls and pretended to juggle them with me. She is very good at imitating.

-Speaking of pretending, in the grocery store now she has to hold an item (for whatever reason, the frozen items seem to be her favorite…I will never understand….) and while she holds it she “eats” it, by putting her hand on it, then pretending to put something in her mouth and chew it up. So funny!

-She currently weighs about 25lbs (clothed and with shoes). I peeked when she was standing on the bathroom scale. If I were betting I would say she is 30 inches tall and 24lbs. We go to the pediatrician next month so I will know for sure soon!


Speaking of my sweet girl she is just waking up from her nap so I have to run. Thanks for checking on our princess!

A Day in the Life....

Hello friends! I am so sorry about the lack of updates this month- it has been completely crazy! We have had WILD weather (snow for 3 days followed by 7 days of summery 80 degrees followed by what seems to be the second Great Flood), it’s the end of the quarter which means tons of work for yours truly....daddy is back on service which means more work for him....and, Emily is the busiest she has EVER been and is literally all over the place at all times! This place is a nuthouse!

Anyway, I won’t write too much because the big Month 17 update is mere days away (can you stand it?!) but I thought I might give some insight into Emmy’s personality right now. To say she is....unstable would be an enormous understatement. We are QUICKLY getting a taste for the terrible 2s...maybe she is starting early? Tonight I snapped pictures for about 5 minutes and this is what I got:

6:02pm Pure, unadulterated JOY at getting to carry around an old school calculator I have. Yes, she has a TI32. So cool!




6:03pm Reaching up and saying “Please, please, please” at me to get down her snow globe. The snow globe has a lot of rules that go with it....I’m just sayin’.


6:04pm- Getting a little rough with the snow globe. Warnings ensue.

6:05pm-- Far too rough with the snow globe and the warnings are getting us NOwhere. So, away it goes.

6:06pm- THIS happens:



I mean seriously....is the voting for the Oscars closed already? We have some major talent here folks!



6:07pm- Tantrum subsides, and our lovely daughter returns. Karen Katz book, anyone?



Who couldn’t love this girl?

16 Months Old!

It’s that time again- the monthly update! Sit back and relax because there is a LOT to say about the past month!

I suppose the biggest changes this month occurred in the areas of vocabulary development and gross motor skills. First- vocab. Emily’s word list EXPLODED this month…I will attempt to write them all here but bear with me- I know I am forgetting some. This is probably the last list of words I’ll be able to come up with because she has learned so many and is coming up with new ones faster than I can keep track!

*apple

*uh-oh (in response to falling down or dropping something)

*doggie (FINALLY!)

*Mama

*Dada/Daddy/Dadadadadadad

*more

*more please (this one makes me *extra* proud!)

*uh huh (yes)

*uh-uh (no)

*no (getting quite good at this one....ugh!)

*Booker (sounds like “ocker”)

*bite

*ouchie

*bye bye

*baby (sounds like bee bee)

*hi

*hello (heyo)

*poo poo

*DeeDee (Jamey’s son’s name)


*cookie

*eat

*cheese

*GO!

*help

*up

*grapes (gape)

*happy (from “If You’re Happy and You Know It”…see story below)

*outside

*stack (for her stacking blocks)

*RAAH (like a scary roar…we do this back and forth sometimes)

*LOVE YOU (oooh yeah, she says it! See funny story below).

*Oh Jesus (this is Mommy’s fault…sometimes I say this if I drop something or am frustrated. Emily made me eat my words this month for sure when she burst out with this one. I am not proud).

* brush (like toothbrush. This is funny because she loves to brush her teeth but does not understand why ‘brush’ is part of hairbrush. So when I hand her a hairbrush, she first tries to brush her teeth with it.)

*She has a name for her silky blanket but it is not printable. It sounds exactly like a curse word so we’re hoping this month to get some development out of that word and maybe it will not sound so vulgar.


And now, for the funny stories and memorable moments:


•Over Valentine’s day weekend Emily began saying “love you” to us. It is adorable, yes, and I wanted her to say it to me one morning when I was leaving her at Jamey’s. I kept saying “Bye Emmy, love you!” to her, but she was only saying “Bye Bye” and giving me these huge, cheesy smiles. Finally I guess she had had enough of me trying to coerce her into saying ‘love you’ because she looked up at me and yelled “GO!” I thought Jamey and I might die from laughter…it was hilarious!


•She has this Fisher-Price mirror/stage thing that sings “If You’re Happy And You Know It” as the first song. The other day she was standing in front of it saying “happy, happy, happy” and I couldn’t figure it out. Suddenly it hit me that that is the first song that plays, so I turned it on for her (we keep her toys turned off unless she is playing with them because I kicked one in the middle of the night last summer and quickly learned my lesson. Waking her up with a musical medley of fun was NOT what I was intending when I poked in just to check on her!) As soon as I turned it on she got really excited—she knew that song was first!


•She is really into imitation right now- she will mimic any word or action we can do. It’s cute because she wants to brush her hair when I have my hairbrush out, etc. Part of the reason her vocabulary has developed so much probably has to do with her willingness to try new words we say (haha…whether or not we want her to say them, as in the “oh Jesus” case!)


•For her 16 Month Birthday (her “monthday” as we call it), we bought her this tunnel and tent set from Costco. It was a huge hit! She loved the tunnel and immediately went into it. I put a few toys in the tent (it’s shaped like a teepee…so cool!) and she really liked it! It’s fun to buy her ‘big kid’ things.


•She is beginning to show a lot of interest in hand-game type songs. For instance, Jamey sings a song to the kids called “Peter, James and John In a Sailboat”. It has some pretty distinct arm movements and Emmy is now really trying to do all of them. Sometimes she will say ‘please’ and be doing the movement and that is my clue that she wants to sing the song.


•She has fallen in LOVE with grapes. I held off for a long time with them thinking that they were too dangerous, but now I cut them in half and she eats them like they are candy! She loves them so much and would eat them, her veggies (see Month 15 Update) and chicken nuggets for every meal I think.


•We discovered the only way to get her to eat ground beef (or any beef…she hates steak…crazy kid) is to smother it in tomato sauce and cheese. She loves it that way so we’re making Hamburger Helper-esque meals about once a week to get some beef in her system.


•She has begun giving me raspberries on my belly! It is hilarious and tickles so much! Unfortunately, she has also become really, really obsessed with lifting my shirt to do so…anytime, anyplace. Can we say “awkward?!”


•She is getting really good with feeding herself using a spoon. The other morning she ate oatmeal using a spoon. I will readily admit that it was NOT a pretty sight but she did a really great job, actually! I was so excited watching her.


•Her new “hideout” is Katie’s crate. I promise, she is going in there completely on her own. There’s very little we can do to stop her since she knows how to undo the locks on the crate and let herself in. Katie, however, does not mind being let out of the kennel one bit. In fact, I think she likes that Emily likes being in her crate!


•She has an insatiable curious streak…she gets into every cabinet, drawer, nook, and cranny in this whole house. It is sometimes cute and a lot of the time super bothersome. You just can’t babyproof a whole house! She unrolls the toilet paper, pulls all the dishtowels out, slams drawers, steals my makeup, and is this close to being able to wrap her whole hand around the doorknobs. Then we are really, really in trouble. Any tips on what we can do with her, folks?

And that about does it. I told you this would be a massive update! As always, thanks for checking on our girl. Enjoy the pictures in the new album and be sure to check back soon…new things are happening all the time!