Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung, and Emily is turning out to be quite the flower child. She loves them... flowers that is. Our yard is happily sprouting daffodils, periwinkle, other small bulbs whose name escape me, and now... magnolia flowers. Every day we pick a few, so we've assembled quite a bouquet at this point.

One of my favorite little things is how she loves to smell any flower... even if it isn't particularly fragrant... she knows flowers are a thing to be smelled, but instead of sniffing, she blows out through her nose. We'll be 10 ft away from a flower bed and she'll be puffing away. It's all I can do not to laugh. I just sniff while she blows hoping she'll catch on that there's a "different" way to smell flowers.

Yay spring!

Emily's New Friend

She has made a new friend... she calls it "friend". This friend is Mama's right hand... literally. I started talking to her with my hand (think puppet w/ no clothes on), while driving to daycare in the mornings... Now she actively seeks it out. "Friend? Where are you friend?" It's very cute. And of course I drive a stick shift so "friend" can't talk when it's helping me drive... If I ask her to put on her coat when she's in a mood, she just won't... if "friend" asks her, she can't do it soon enough. At least for the time being, "friend" is a handy ally :)

I am so very sad that I made a mistake uploading the last large batch of photos, and somehow managed to delete the "originals", so all i have are versions too small to print... I guess that's still better than losing them altogether, but still... As I look for photos to post I'm reminded of my error & it bums me out...

In any case, sorry I've been delinquent in keeping the blog current. I don't know why I feel like there has to be something big to report... the day to day events are generally somewhat entertaining. :)

We enjoyed & survived our Christmas vacation. Had a great time w/ Dad & Jane & all the family in ND, and we all filled up on baked goods & candy as is required by the holiday. ;) Emily was a great flyer, and adjusted well to meeting new people and having her schedule dumped upside- down.

She's been a little clingy w/ me both during and since the vacation, and now tuck-in time has become ridiculous. I end up rocking her for well over an hour before she'll "let" me put her in the crib... I think we've procrastinated long enough on "ferberizing" her. In the next couple weeks we'll be going through the torturous exercise of teaching her to go to bed awake & fall asleep on her own. I am both looking forward to and dreading this. I feel like she will catch on quickly enough, but it will be tough listening to her pleas. I think the reason they tell you to do it when they are young is they can't verbalize... Now, if I try to put her down in the crib, I hear "I need my mama!" "Mama Danielle?" first in nice voice that implies a "please", soon to be followed in a scream that implies more of a "how dare you?!". Oh yes... this will be interesting. Here's hoping we are strong enough to follow through, since I know this is what we all need.