Ho'd ma sho'ders (written 11/25)

Emily is a good little monkey and always very entertaining. She has more joy & energy than she knows what to do with. Yesterday she merrily strolled the circular path through the house - pushing piglet in the stroller. She'd yell good bye & have a nice day as she left our sight, then a hearty hello seconds later.

One of my favorite things is when she's strolling her dolls & wants company so she'll wiggle the cutest little wiggle & say "hold my shoulders".

She had her 2 yr checkup last week. Her beautiful head is in the 97% percentile for size... it's got a big brain to support after all! She's 3' tall & 30 lbs... big girl!

She's gotten so big that I find myself telling her as much while my bicep quivers trying to balance her, a diaper bag, a dolly, a grocery bag, etc.

Mismatch Day

She's just the cutest little monkey. This photo is dim, but it's still pretty darn cute, so I had to share. Today is mismatch day at daycare. The memo said wear whatever you like as long as it doesn't match. We went all out. One turquoise sock w/ yellow ducks, one purple sock w/ spiders & pumpkins. Chicken romper over bright blue flowered shirt & autumn striped pants... all topped off w/ a lime green hat.... a work of art, really.

We arrive at school to discover all other kids are dressed... normally?! Well, technically one of the boys was mis-matched, but just barely... he had horizontal stripes mixed w/ vertical stripes... yawn. It's too bad Em's too young to realize that she's mismatched! ;)

In other news... last night she pulled a funny I'd like to share, totally unrelated.
She was eating yogurt, and took a full scoop, lifted it high and watched it slowly fralump off the spoon and onto the chair.... There was no mischief involved - just innocent curiousity... nonetheless, I sighed an "EmilyDavis", and proceeded to wipe the primary splooch of yogurt from her chair. As I wiped it, she pointed to a spot of yogurt on her pants and said "EmilyDavis" with a sigh similar to my own! Priceless.

Little Miss Em... what shall I write about today. She has discovered her CT cousins, and boy oh boy are they fun! Last weekend we stayed w/ the fam in CT. The little girl cousins (7 & 9 now) think she is a living doll, and she thinks they are the coolest. They have more "bling" than she can fit on one arm, they have a swimming pool, and they like to play all the time, unlike the boring old folks she lives with... what could be better! We had another surprise playdate with them mid-week for Grampy's 75th birthday party. And again this weekend we head to CT for further home improvements. We are all looking forward to the trip!

She loves to swim. She's only done it a few times really - at the cape, then in the pool in CT. Now in the bathtub, she shimmies onto her belly, kicks her legs & says "I swim!" She loves to scare Mommy by putting her face right up to the water, but I've taught her to blow if she's going to do that. Teaching her to swim and respect water and the dangers that go along with its pleasures will be an important next step.


She's getting so big. She's about 30 lbs now. Unbelievable. My biceps quiver after about 10 minutes of holder her. This always happens right after a growth spurt, as my muscles struggle to keep up. She's so smart & so nice. She now counts 1,2,3 and 8,9,10. She knows the following letters as...
A is for Amy
D is for Dada
E is for Emily
F is for Frog
H is for Happy
J is for Judy
M is for Mama
N is for Nate
O is O
Q is for Quack
R is for Rich (& she knows this one goes w/ J for Judy :)

She's just so nice... I love that she wakes up happy. She sits up, shakes off the sleep and as sweetly as one can imagine she smiles & says "hi". While she sleeps, I keep a few select stuffed animals wedged between the crib bars, so we go through the process of identifying them - "do you have a frog?"... "glog- aaahh you?", then she finds frog & we move on. (aaaah you == where are you?)

She has 13 teeth now & she'll smile & say "TEEEEEEEETH".

She loves to say "Monkey, JumpOnTheBed!", and of course she loves to be the monkey jumping on the bed. She'll hold two hands and jump with reckless abandon.

She has learned to identify a few letters. We have an entire alphabet of letters that we play with in the bath tub. She can tell us that A is for Amy, D is for Dada, J is for DooDoo (judy :), M is for Mama, F is for frog, E is for Emily, and she recognizes the number 2.

She is just sooo nice. :)

Bling

Boo LOVES jewelry. It has become somewhat of an obsession. She's not fussy about quality at this stage. She wears ponytail holders around her wrists along with some tarnished anklets, and "id" bracelets I got from friends in high school that I'm sure i'll never wear again. To her, these are the coolest of cool things. Very special, very beautiful.

She cried desperately when I took them away for bath time a couple nights back. Her only consolation came when I started loading her up with the rubber bands so she at least had some bracelets.

She will have 15 or so on her wrist, then gently & painstakingly move each one from her hand to mine (or anyone else's), then back. This will keep her busy for hours.

She's beginning to understand possession... to love a thing and know it belongs to her, and that she has a right to it. She loves her jewelry, her baby dolls, her shoes, you name it. If she sees her sock lying on the floor, she'll point & say her name.

Words Words Words

Magic happens while she sleeps. At bedtime, she says "kay-koo", but by morning, it has become "thank you". We are enjoying her rapidly growing vocabulary so much. She is so proud that she can say what's on her mind.

The partner to "kay-koo" (thank you) of course is "malcolm" (you're welcome).
Dudu == Judy
I LOWv Dada/Mama/Dudu == I love ___
how-are-you
aaaaah-yooooo? == where ARE you?, sung
hup == help
bye-bye ... Dada
Mama do, I do, I sit, mama sit
ride-a-bike
take-a-bite
walk
run
wheeeee
swing
wansome == want some
byla == bunny (i know... not even a sounds like, interesting)
... and on and on and on...

Mama's Day

I came home from my business trip a weary traveler on Mother's Day. What a delight to be back home with my wonderful family! I missed them very much. Hubby had prepared our bikes so we could all go out for a ride. Peanut LOVED it! Her seat sits between my handle bars. We talk and point out squirrels, birds, dogs, etc. as we ride along. We've biked many times since then and she can't get enough. The park is only a mile away, so we have made frequent trips to it. Unfortunately, swings trump bikes... so it is sometimes difficult to convince her to leave the park! Here's a photo of her enjoying a little swing time! ;)

Peepee on the Potty

Boy oh boy do we have a big girl on our hands. The question is becoming what CAN'T she do... Last night we had a very exciting moment... We occasionally sit her on the potty just so she can get used to it, and last night as she sat - the cutest nudie you ever did see - we heard the delightful sound of "tinkle tinkle tinkle" down below... yay!!!

I'm sure she thinks her mama's a kook. I had to express my joy so she would know this was a very good thing that she did. We sang "if you're happy & you know it"... clapped hands, shouted hooray... you get the picture.

I'm sure we have many more dipes in our future, but it's pretty cool to have taken this first step!

p.s. yep, mama cut her bangs! Whoops - hopefully they'll be neater next time :)

Teeth, Words, Bikes & Separation

The canines are coming! The canines are coming! :)
Well, that is to say, the little muffin is getting more teeth to add to her already impressive collection of 10 lovely, pearly whites. She's had a few restless nights, chews her fingers a lot, but is generally taking it in stride.

She's talking a lot more these days. She loves that she can say & recognize things like: ball, moon, hat, elbow... Best of all, she has started saying her own name! It comes out more like "emmull" than the real deal, but it's so close & she's so proud that she can say it!

Mama & Dada are on a mission to get us all geared up & outside riding bikes! Purchased & en route to our house are: baby bike seat, elmo helmet & elbow pads, bike helmets for Ma & Pa, a back of bike rack/bag... I can't wait! I think she will love it!

We'll have to wait a week or so to test them out since Mama is leaving town for the week - going to San Fran for work. Mama has very mixed feelings about this... very sad to leave my honies, but it will be a good work opportunity and I'll spend the last day with a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in years. So while I'm looking forward to it, I will be a little lost without my booboo. We are hoping to squeeze in a web cam session each day, but it will be tough to get the timing right. I know she will be just fine in the tender loving care of Dada & Auntie J, but the mommy-guilt is built in, so I have to live with it! :)

Well, we knew it would happen sooner or later... She has decided that "Nooooo" is the answer to everything. Do you want a drink? "No" .... frustrated cuz she can't move an immovable object? "NOOOOOOOO".... Doesn't want to be doing what she's doing? "Noooooo"...

You get the picture. Somehow we consider this adorable, cuz she just is, although we are encouraging her to explore using other words to express her feelings. The good news is she understands pretty much everything we say so when the rest of her vocabulary kicks in, she's going to tell us a thing or two!

We all had a great time at the Children's Museum on Saturday w/ our friends K D & J. Great place & so great to see them again!!

Muffin & Daddy had a nice day at the park this weekend. Mama & Dada are tag-teaming yard work tasks in preparation for hydro-seeding. Dada had yesterday off and did even more work on that project. It will be nice to have a lawn again!

Where to begin... I feel like there is so much to catch everyone up on since I haven't been the best at sending updates lately.

This is a photo of us at the local park last weekend. The sweater is great-auntie's handiwork handed down from the China gang.

Muffin is still the easiest, sweetest, smartest & most fun kid ever! (total mama bias, but it's true!)

Yesterday evening, I transplanted a few bulbs and she was right by my side, shovel in hand, digging. She did a great job not eating the worms we found. She brought them to Dada instead.

She's a great talker - babbles incessantly. Her "real" words are becoming more & more frequent amid the babble though. Her whoa's, wow's, oh's, & uh-oh's are extremely well placed in conversation.

We discovered her first freckle this week. An odd milestone, but there it is! It is on her left leg, just above the ankle in front. The first of many I imagine given Mama & Dada's coloring.

Tomorrow we head to the children's museum w/ friends! I can't wait. It will be a fun adventure for us.