First Haircut

Yes, it may be hard to believe, but Emily just got her first haircut this past weekend! I have been holding off for awhile, but it got to a point where the cute little blonde curls were getting a little scraggly looking. Unlike some kids who scream and carry on, Emily was really excited to get her hair cut. She has seen Abbie get haircuts before and likely considers it a "big kid" thing. We always go to one of those places that specializes in kids cuts and has TVs for them to watch. The incredibly serious look above is because she is just fixated on the TV, which she rarely gets to watch.

On the way to the salon, Abbie and I were talking about the TVs that they have and Emily asked, "Watch TB, Mama?" (Yes, she calls it TB.) I told her that, yes, she could watch TV at the salon because it is a special occasion. She replied, "Bad for my brain?" I cracked up. Apparently she was actually listening on all those occasions when I have told one or both kids that TV is bad for their brains. What I find kind of funny about this is the fact that she probably doesn't even know what her brain is or what it does. She just knows that TV isn't good for it. :)

Speaking of things that are bad for your brain, another recent first for Emily (although not a fun one) was her trip to the ER last week. Sitting in her booster seat, which is strapped to a chair, she used her foot to push off the table and managed to send the chair flying backwards. She, and the chair, and the booster all landed on their backs on the tile floor and she got a nice bump to her head. Kind of normal kid stuff (falls and bumps), but then 20 minutes later she began vomiting, getting groggy, and looking pale. Clearly a concussion - not good. Anyway, we decided that a little trip to the ER was in order.

Fortunately, she started getting better, not worse, and I think actually ended up enjoying the ride with the EMTs and the attention that she got in the ER at the children's hospital. Of course, it was a slow day at the ER and most of the time she was the only kid in the pod. She looked at all the empty beds and asked us where all the other kids were - as if she was hoping for a playdate or something. Ultimately, we just hung out and kept her under observation for awhile. As we got ready to leave, she decided that she liked all the party favors she received - the tiny gown, the ankle bracelets, and toe thingy that measured her pulse. Most of it was hers to keep, but we had to coax her into trading the gown for a Dora sticker.

I'm sure it seems a bit perverse to whip out the iPhone and photograph your kid in the ER, but clearly this was long after it was clear that she was OK. As for the chair with the booster seat strapped to it, she hasn't been real keen on using it since the fall and neither have we! We have resurrected the high chair for the time being. Many 2-year-olds are fine without any booster, but she is just such a tiny little thing, and we really don't need any more trips to the ER, so I think that all of us are happy with the high chair for now!

Always Observant

Ever since the day she was born, Emily has been the most observant child that I have ever known (OK, admittedly I have really only known her and Abbie, but she just seems really observant). In the photo above, you can see those keen eyes watching the fish in the fish tank at the doctor's office. I just love this picture because I took it from the other side of the tank, so you can see both her and the fish at the same time, which is kind of fun. Also, I love the fact that Emily happens to be wearing a dress with fish on it.

This doctor visit was for her 2-year old check-up. She is doing great and her percentiles are holding steady. She is 31.5 inches (10th percentile) and 23.4 pounds (10th - 25th percentile). So, she's growing steadily, but she is clearly taking after me. Right now the doctor is projecting her to be about 5'1" when she grows up. By contrast, Abbie is projected to be 5'4".

Although the picture above is from one of those stupid rides at the mall, we have actually been doing other stuff with the kids that is more interesting. Last weekend, we took both girls to the Dallas World Aquarium, which was really cool. These big blue eyes soaked in everything from manatees and octopuses to sharks and crocodiles. She just loved it.

Around the house we are working on all the usual 2-year-old things - we can't grab, we need to share, we need to be gentle with our books, etc. One of the more interesting things that Emily has started doing is blaming everything bad that happens to her on Abbie. So, for example, if I accidentally scratch her, she'll declare "Abbie hurt me!" When we point out that Abbie is nowhere in sight, she'll just stick to her story, "Abbie hurt me! Abbie scratched me!" Or if she falls, its "Abbie pushed me! Abbie knocked me down!" It is really kind of perplexing to watch - in a way its funny, in that she tries to blame her big sister; in a way its baffling, in that she seems to believe things that are so far from reality. We try to correct her, but sometime I think that just makes her blame Abbie more. Goofy girl!

Ah, to be a toddler . . .

It is really apparent from watching Emily that a toddler's life is just filled with all sorts of amazing and wonderful things. Because we don't have any pets (besides the fish), Emily rarely gets to see and touch real animals. She recently got to go to both a petting zoo and the real zoo. I think the petting zoo was simultaneously fascinating and a bit intimidating. She loved touching the animals, but also wasn't sure what to expect from them.

As for the real zoo, she was really fascinated by all the animals and watched them intently. She was even fascinated with the reptile displays - watching the fish, crocodiles, sea turtles, lizards, and snakes. Of course, when given the chance to actually touch a milk snake (very long and skinny, but harmless), she quickly declined. Below she is having a great time enjoying the mist that keeps the visitors cool on hot days (which we have a lot of).

Other signs that Emily's world is really fascinating come from the names that she applies to things, which always make me laugh and can't help but stimulate the imagination. A few that have made me smile:

She refers to the yoga mat as the "yogurt mat"
She refers to the pool guy as the "cool guy"
She believes that the mummies in her Halloween book are "mommies"

Of course the ultimate toddler-ism came at dinner last night. We had soft shelled tacos with ground beef, which apparently we haven't had in awhile. As I put Emily in her chair, she took one look at Abbie's taco and said, "poop diaper." Admittedly, they did kind of look like poopy diapers, but that just isn't the image that any of us wanted in our heads as we sat down to eat. Needless to say, Emily elected to have pasta rather than joining us for "poop diapers."

Happy Birthday!

Our big girl turned 2 yesterday! I feel like she has been 2 for awhile, but yesterday it became official. Abbie made her a special birthday crown, which Emily actually really enjoyed wearing.

We also had a small party for her. Ellie's family came over and Chad made pulled pork on the Big Green Egg. We got balloons and a big, insanely sweet, cake from Sam's Club. Emily definitely knew that it was her birthday and that it was a big deal. Periodically, throughout the day, I would hear her singing "Happy birthday to you!" to herself. Also, she kept saying, "Eat cake. Yummy!" which is pretty funny because I don't think that she has ever really had cake. As for presents, she got a keyboard, a water table, and a play grill. We actually haven't even given her the play grill yet because she was so happy with everything else.

Such a Ham

Our precious little peanut has been lots of fun, as usual. Above is a picture of her exploring the fountains when she accompanied us to campus one day. Of course, it is still almost impossible to get her to look at the camera or to smile. She hung out on campus with me while Daddy helped some of his students. In the middle of Daddy's meetings, Emily decided that she wanted to help too and she kept saying, "Me help kids." She wanted me to bring her to Daddy's office so that she could get in on the whole business of helping. She couldn't quite figure out why we never seemed to make it to Daddy's office. Hmmm.

One of our outings on Easter Sunday was to take a nice drive to see the bluebonnets, which are apparently really impressive this year. There are towns where huge fields of them seem to stretch out forever. It is pretty impressive. The rumor that is instilled in the children here from their earliest days in school is that it is illegal to pick a bluebonnet. However, being the contrarian role model that he is, Chad made sure to look this up, confirm that it is NOT illegal, and then proceed to tell every native that he meets that they are mistaken about this alleged law. That being said, they are very pretty, and are worth preserving, so we were careful to make sure that the girls did not pick any bluebonnets.

Emily really is such a ham when she is feeling good (teething is still an issue for her). She really likes to flirt and tease. She speaks in sentences more and more frequently lately and is doing a good job of putting words together. I don't always understand what she is talking about. Her ideas and stories are getting more and more complex and her memory is getting really good, so she sometimes will start talking about something out of the blue and I won't have any context to help me decipher it. However, most of the time she does a great job at getting her point across. 

She has taken an interest in cutting, utensils in general, and in cooking. She likes to help stir and gets excited about helping to make pancakes, eggs, PB&J sandwiches, etc. This is something that we regularly did with Abbie when she was this age, but now that Abbie is firmly established as sous chef (coat and all) it doesn't leave much room for Emily. Many times Emily will just make due with the play kitchen and will make me sandwiches, etc. Funny to think of a chef that doesn't eat even half of the ingredients that she cooks with. I'm hopeful that encouraging her interest in cooking will encourage her interest in trying new foods.

Last, but not least, our little ham felt the need to catch up on the news yesterday. So funny. Do you think the WSJ would pay us for the photo? Perhaps if they start marketing their paper to the under 10 crowd! :)

Big Girl

Emily is really getting to be such a big girl.

 She has been doing a great job with her words and has started putting together sentences. Last night at dinner, she said "Yummy! Thank you, Dada." Its so amazing to hear. Some of her sentences are less perfectly constructed, but still fun! I think that last night she was trying to say that she had had a good day, so she said "Good day me."

She has been really into pretend play lately and has been cooking up a storm in the play kitchen. She also likes to pretend that she is going places (like to the store) and will get all ready to go and then wave and say goodbye to us as if her ride is just waiting outside for her. When we actually do go some place, she gets really excited about it and likes to bring her purse, and put on her own shoes. Here she is ready for the weekly trip to Target.

Notice that she decided that her bunny blankets should go along for the ride and that a hat was essential, despite the 80 degree weather.

Emily was also very excited to see Grandma and Grandpa C. a couple weeks ago. She was really cool with them holding her, getting her out of her crib in the morning, etc. She frequently asked Grandpa to get her up on his lap so that she could look at the computer with him. She is fascinated with screens and totally bummed that the rest of the family seems to look at this TV thing from time to time, but that she is never allowed to watch it with us. Apparently the computer is the next best thing.

In general, Emily's mood has been great lately. However, she has also struggled with some pain from emerging teeth. A molar popped through last week and it looks like some more top teeth are getting ready to come through any day now. This morning she was in one of her really good moods - ready to play and read books. This seemed to continue after I left for work. As you can see, she looks thrilled to be at the park enjoying the nice weather.

Two!

Emily is quickly making the transition from baby to big kid. Even though her 2nd birthday is still a few months away, she is becoming more and more of a two year old everyday. She is showing more complexity of thought, more strong opinions, more times of frustration - all the struggles of being two. When she is in a good mood and things are going well, she is a total ham. She recently started entertaining us with her very own knock-knock joke, which Chad captured part of on video. It generally goes something like this:

"Knock-knock"
"Who's there?"
"Elmo!"
"Elmo who?"
"Abbie!"

Basically, the punchline (which is always nonsensical) always changes, and sometimes (like in the video below) is non-existent because she just cracks herself up at the thought of how funny it all is.

She is also doing a great job with her words. In the photo below, she put these blocks on her wrists and then said, "bracelets". When I was talking this morning about how much older she seems, she said "exciting". I'm just never sure what is going to pop out of her mouth. This past weekend, she surprised me by saying, "changed my mind." Last week I was wearing some pants that I hadn't worn in awhile and she surprised me by saying, "new pants!"

Of course, when she is having a two-year old moment it can be quite dramatic. When she feels frustrated by something she will cry and refuses to let anyone comfort her. She will cry and say, "No, no, no, no, no, no!" If you approach her she'll yell, "away, away!" Of course, if you go too far away then she will cry for you to come back.

She has also figured out how to go boneless if you pick her up when she doesn't want to be picked up. This past Saturday, Chad got her out of the car, but she didn't want to be held and didn't want to go inside. She went limp and he just laid her down on the mat outside the door. We just stepped over her as we unloaded groceries, etc. and she was happy as a clam to have succeeded at not going inside.

I think that ultimately I needed her to come inside for a nap, so I had to pick her up and bring her in, which made her mad, of course. Poor little thing.

Western Girl

Emily has also gotten into all the western stuff that has been going on around the house these days. We couldn't buy Abbie a hat without getting one for Emily, too. She chose this pink one and refused to take it off. Of course, the second time we went to the rodeo, we brought her hat but then she actually did take it off and Chad kept carrying it for her. This became problematic because all these actual cowboys kept smirking at him and saying, "Nice pink hat!" as they passed by. He was kind of embarrassed, I think.

The other big "event" for Emily from this past week is that she tried to climb out of her crib after nap and fell to the floor. She ended up with a bruise on her forehead but really wasn't hurt in any other way. It was definitely scary for her though, and she talked to me about it for days afterwards. Every time I put her down for a nap or for bed at night she would think about it and say, "crib . . . climb . . . fall . . . head . . . boo-boo . . . crying." This is her way of recounting things - she gives you all the essential words and lets you fill in all the small words around it. Needless to say, we have since put her mattress on the lowest level, which we apparently should have done sooner, but we just had no indication that she would try to climb out. And, I think that I have finally reassured her that she will be OK, but this was a really big deal for her. Hopefully this scare will make her think twice about stuff in the future, but who knows.

Hodge-Podge

I really can't think of a good, cohesive title for this post, so I guess it is just a random collection of items based on the photos that I have of our elusive Emily. It is so hard to get pictures of her because she just never sits still. Not a big runner the way Abbie always was, but always moving none the less.

Early in the holiday season (mid-December) we brought Abbie's class birds, Jack and Jill, home for the winter break. This was a great opportunity for us. Emily got to enjoy the birds and I learned that I would never want to be a bird owner! :) When they initially came home, Emily was fascinated. As you can see, she just plopped down by the cage and watched them intently. As time went by, the fascination wore off (for all of us) and we were happy to send them back to school last week.

As for Emily's holiday season, I think it was a good one. She seemed to really enjoy all the company that we had around the house. After New Year's things got pretty quiet and I think it was a bit surprising for her. As for presents, she seems to like everything that she got - a pillow pet from Abbie, a vacuum from Grandma and Grandpa C., a beanbag chair and a baby doll from Santa, some ball toys from Mom and Dad and Greg and Elizabeth, just to name a few. She is not very aggressive about it, but over time she did seem to get the hang of ripping open wrapping paper. The picture below is from a day sometime before Christmas when we were in Pier 1. She is a very tactile person and just loves soft fabrics. She got into this Papasan chair and just would not get out. I think she just loved the soft, cozy feel of it.

As for Christmas day itself, we bought a cute little Christmas dress for Emily. I couldn't wait to see her in it, but she wanted nothing to do with it. At one point I got it about half way on before she started to object, but that was as close as we ever got. So, random photos of her in PJs (like the one below) or in a diaper are pretty much all we have. The idea of asking her to sit on Santa's lap this year was out of the question, so we didn't even try it - way too much stranger danger for our skeptical little one.

Interestingly, Emily has recently come around to the idea of liking Halloween costumes. Who knows, maybe three months from now she'll be into wearing Christmas dresses. Anyway, her favorite is Abbie's old dragon costume. She wears it around the house for hours on end. Its pretty cute to see her swishing her little tail as she walks and letting out little baby "Rar" sounds.

As for other developments, Emily had her 18 month check-up on December 29th. Here are the stats as I can recall them - 18 pounds, 12 ounces (1st percentile), length is 10th percentile, and head is 19th percentile. Pretty much holding steady relative to past measurements.

Also, tooth #4 has finally broken through. It is one of the top center teeth, so now she will have a nice, symmetrical set of two on top and two on bottom. 

Finally, she continues to be a total charmer and have a great sense of humor (when she is feeling well, of course). Her vocabulary and pronunciation are incredible. I really can't even count all the words that she is saying. She repeats the last word of everything that we say and just knows a ton. Slowly, we are getting more and more insight into what she is thinking. The other day Abbie was annoying her and her response was to ask, "Abbie, school?" Like she was thinking in her head, "Why is this girl even here? How can I get rid of her so that she quits bothering me? I know, maybe its time for her to go to school so that I can have everything all to myself."

She also has a great memory and perhaps is a little too willing to follow directions. In December we did a jigsaw puzzle, which we had set up on a coffee table in the living room. Clearly, we didn't want her touching it, so we said "No, no. This is only for big people." Of course, now the puzzle is long gone, but the rule seems to live on. She has all sorts of puzzles for her age - little wooden puzzles with 4 pieces, etc. However, she won't play with them. Every time we try to show her one and ask her if she would like to do a puzzle she replies, "No, No . . . people." I have tried explaining that these puzzles are for little people, but she says, "No, no." I have also tried explaining that she is "people" too, to which she replied, "NO!" Too funny.

Lovin' the Leaves

Emily has always loved to be outside. She is always trying to get into the arms of the person who is leaving the house so that they will take her with them. She also loves to go in her car seat (on the way there, but not always on the way back). She gets totally jealous every morning when we send Abbie off to school. There's Emily, still in her PJs, pointing at the car seat, emphatically saying, "Me, me, me."

Anyway, she does manage to get outside every day and loves going to the park to play with the leaves or to play in the sand. She loves digging in the sand so much and, with the cooler weather, her little hands will turn to blocks of ice, but she will still insist upon staying and digging.

As is common at 18 months (which is tomorrow for Emily), her language skills are just exploding. Sometimes it is almost overwhelming to me to watch because she repeats everything we say and sometimes it feels like she is acquiring a new word every minute. Also, she is starting to put words together, like "up go" and "I don't know." Apparently, something that she learned from me (according to Chad) is the word "sure", so if you ask her to do something, and she is actually willing to do it, she'll respond, "sure." Too cute.

P.S. I almost forgot. We captured the funniest Emily video the other night. Chad and I thought it was hysterical, but we are easily amused. See what you think: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW_zNe6V1Iw

Sisterly Love

The strong preferences continue. Last night I was reading to both girls in Emily's room. Then I asked Abbie to go brush her teeth while I put Emily in bed. Abbie left and Emily managed to grab another book. I agreed to read it to her, but she wouldn't come to me and was crying and upset. I asked her if she wanted Abbie to read the book with us, and she nodded. So, I asked Abbie to come back and the three of us started to settle back into the chair. Before I could even get settled, however, Emily was trying to pull me out of the seat. I asked her if she wanted Abbie to read the book to her and she nodded. So, I guess that was the plan all along - get rid of Mama and have a little sister time. So cute.

Emily really does look up to Abbie. She has started copying her. If Abbie is running through the house screaming, Emily will think it is the greatest thing ever and will run behind her screaming and laughing. This just thrills Abbie. Also, Abbie has discovered all the fun things that she can get Emily to do. Yesterday morning Abbie was thrilled that she was able to get Emily to say funny things. Abbie would say, "Emily, how do you say 'burp'?" and Emily would do her best to say "burp." Then Abbie would laugh and say, "Emily, how do you say 'booger'?" and Emily would do her best to say "booger" with Abbie just laughing hysterically. On and on it went.

They do have their moments when they torture each other, but for the most part they get along very well and Emily makes it a priority to give Abbie a kiss every day before she leaves for school and every night before bed. Even Mommy and Daddy don't get that level of preferential treatment.

Happy Halloween

What will Emily be for Halloween this year? A toddler, apparently! That's right, no costume this year.

I just assumed that we would dress Emily as a lamb because this is the costume that we had from when Abbie was this age (http://our-first-baby.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html). However, two problems emerged. First, I had forgotten that the costume was actually a bit big on Abbie when she was one. Emily is even smaller than Abbie was, so the costume would be huge on her.

Why wouldn't I be a good mom, and go buy a smaller costume, you ask? Well, that leads us to problem number two. Emily has developed very strong preferences about what she will and will not wear. If she decides that she doesn't want to be put into a costume, then no amount of coaxing is going to get it on her. She is very opinionated and stubborn about this. This past weekend, she dictated what she was willing to wear, and on Sunday, I never did get a shirt on her. She spent the first half of the day wandering around topless, and the second half of the day wearing a little sweatshirt that she finally decided would be acceptable.

Her preferred outfit lately has been a diaper, socks and shoes. She seems to think that is sufficient for leaving the house, and really can't understand why we insist on more. She is also getting very insistent on getting herself dressed and she gets really upset if anyone tries to help in even the slightest way. Yes, she is just barely 17 months, and already she is a full-blown two-year-old!

Me

In my last post I noted that Emily has been hesitant to say her own name. It seems, however, that she has come up with an interesting solution for tackling this tough word. She now refers to herself as "me". I think it is her shortened form of "Emily" or "Emmie", but it is ironic that it also happens to be the pronoun we use to describe ourselves. I don't think she realizes this at all, and it is funny that she has stumbled upon something to call herself that makes so much sense in the context of the English language. It is also funny to hear her wandering around the house declaring, "Me! Me! Me!"

Changes, changes, changes

Emily recently had her first visit with our new pediatrician. This 15-month check-up put official statistics to what we already know - Emily is a peanut that takes after her mom's side of the family. This has not changed. She is now 17.75 pounds (1st percentile), 28.75 inches long (6th percentile) and has a head circumference of 45 cm (22nd percentile). So, she continues to be very small, but the doctors continue not to be concerned, so neither are we.

She has been doing a great job with her walking and is all over the place these days. She has discovered that she can get into the lower kitchen cabinets, which are filled with Tupperware and plastic cups. She likes to drag out the little bowls and then leave them all over the house. Often, at night, I'll go through and pick up four or five bowls that have been strewn about.

Emily has also decide that she loves grapes and raisins and has been eating them all the time. Of course, it occurred to me that perhaps this is my doing. Perhaps it was the hint of wine in my breast milk that shaped this strong desire for grapes. Uh oh . . .

BIG NEWS - finally Emily has teeth! The two bottom, center teeth popped through within the past couple of weeks. They still haven't grown in very far, but they are there for sure and are mighty sharp.

We have also been amazed with Emily's growing vocabulary recently. She is trying out new words all the time. Her pronunciation is still very garbled, but I have distinctly heard her say: kid, star, outside, couch, house, bird, car, ball, more, cup, shoes, bye, eye, ear, hat, fish, dog, water, balloon. This is just to name a few. There are probably more that I can't remember and these are in addition to Mama and Dada. Interestingly, she is not as comfortable with Abbie's name (occasionally she'll say "Ab") or with her own name. I have only heard her try her own name once. I guess Emily must be a hard word to say.

Emily has also decided to warn us that the "terrible twos" are on their way. She is already showing very strong opinions about what she does or does not want to do and she will throw a fit if things don't go her way. On the bright side, though, she has been charming us with all sorts of flirting and playing and kisses. She also likes to tease us sometimes. There are days when you'll ask her for a kiss and extend your cheek to her and she'll gladly give you a kiss. There are other days when she gets a kick out of withholding kisses. You'll ask for a kiss and she'll smile and shake her head "no." Same goes for food. Sometimes she'll hold something out to feed to you. Then when you go for it, she'll quickly pop it in her own mouth and smile.

At Last!

Finally, a post! It is amazing how much time gets lost when you move your family across country (again) and start new jobs. Now that we are pretty well settled, hopefully I can get back to some more frequent posts.

(this is the "Really, Mom, you are totally interrupting my important work" look)

The big news around here is that Emily has been walking for weeks, but has always insisted on having a finger to hold onto as she moved around the room. She just refused to go anywhere without a safety net. This past weekend she finally decided that she was ready to strike out on her own. Now she is walking everywhere without requiring assistance. And, because she spent so much time practicing, she is actually moving pretty quickly. It is definitely strange to see because I had gotten so used to seeing her crawl everywhere. Of course, we have been doing lots of clapping and cheering for her and she is just so incredibly proud of herself. If only that feeling could be bottled . . . .

She has also started dancing lately. She has three moves that she likes to do. One is to bend her knees and bounce up and down. This is the most common. On special occasions she will twist from side to side, and on very rare occasions she will break out the hokey pokey fingers. I have no idea where she learned this, but it is pretty funny.

Emily has also gotten better at giving kisses. She used to just kiss her hand as a way to blow kisses to people. Now she has actually started kissing us. It isn't all the time, but it is happening more and more. Last Friday, for example, Abbie, Chad and I were all sitting on the couch and Emily was walking in front of us. All the sudden she decided to stop at each of us and kiss our legs. It was so cute.

Perhaps following in her sister's footsteps, or perhaps just being a girl, Emily has become interested in drawing lately. She has started climbing into the little chairs that Abbie got for Christmas last year and working on her coloring. She seems thrilled with the fact that crayons actually leave marks on the paper. So far she has been pretty good about finding paper to color on, although a couple of nights ago she also thought that the kitchen cabinets could use a little color. Fortunately, she really doesn't press that hard yet, so it didn't really leave any marks.

Matching Outfits

Abbie and Emily have a couple of matching outfits. They usually don't wear them at the same time, but last week, completely by accident, they ended up wearing the same thing. I was trying desperately to get a nice picture of them and it was like herding cats. I couldn't get either of them to hold still, look at the camera, etc. This is the best shot that I could get and it is actually just such a goofy, silly photo that I really like it. I have no idea what the two of them were screaming about, but it just cracks me up to look at their little faces.

Emily continues to be an absolute joy. Very agreeable and easy to deal with. She enjoys being outside and has become accustomed to morning walks after breakfast. There is a dog that lives a few doors down that she likes to visit. She also likes to go to the park and gets really excited about the swings and seeing the other kids. We are still working on getting her off rice cereal and on to 100% table foods. Also, we are trying to get her used to cow's milk. She will drink a few sips of it, but then pushes it away. I hope that if I just keep offering it, she will get to a point where she actually likes it. Emily likes to do lots of walking while holding onto a push toy or someone's fingers, but still doesn't want to walk on her own. She is still working on her words, and tries to say lots of stuff, but most of it is still pretty undecipherable. She still makes her wishes known, though, and does lots of pointing and reaching for what she needs.

And the results are in!

Emily finally had her 12 month check-up yesterday. She is doing great, but she is definitely a peanut. She has actually fallen in her height and weight percentiles, but her head growth is holding steady. She currently weighs 17.5 pounds (5th - 10th percentile), is 27.25 inches long (5th - 10th percentile), and has a head circumference of 18 inches (50th percentile). The doctor wasn't concerned about the decrease in her height and weight percentiles because they are still proportionate to each other and because she claims that it is common for growth to slow around the 1 year mark. I guess this explains, however, why some of Emily's sleepers that she wears regularly are still 6-9 month size!

 (Gratuitous photo of Emily "helping" with folding the laundry)

Emily is still working on her walking, and I think that she is getting more confident on her feet, but it is still manifesting in just a few occasional baby steps at a time. Definitely not full-blown walking yet. Also, in the past week or so her attitude towards food seems to have shifted. Whereas before she was perfectly content with her baby food, and seemed indifferent to "big people food", now she is very interested in what we are eating and definitely more open to trying some of whatever it is. We have developed a routine in the morning where she helps me eat my bagel or my toast and she is getting pretty aggressive with it. She always points to it and I'll say " Mama's bagel" so then she'll try to ask for it by saying "ma ma ma ma" all the while crawling all over me and trying to steal it out from under me. Now, if only we could get her to take such an interest in proteins we'd be all set. She loves her carbs, is OK with her fruits and veggies, but will gladly drop any meat, egg, or fish on the floor without even trying it.

Happy 1st Birthday Emily!

Yes, our little baby turned one year old on Friday. Of course, she had no clue what was going on. We got her some balloons and a little cake that was shaped like a ladybug and covered with red frosting and accented with black frosting spots. We had to wait until Saturday to celebrate, though. She missed her afternoon nap on Friday and melted down pretty early. Poor thing. When we finally did celebrate she acted as though she was scared of the ladybug cake. Every time we brought it close to her she started to cry. She was mildly interested in the frosting and had a couple of tastes, but was more into playing with the cake than eating it:

http://youtu.be/9ZToWiCZBAc

She absolutely loved her balloons, however. She is still pointing to them and saying "ba ba", which is her word for balloon (and ball for that matter).

Saturday was also a big day in that Emily actually took two steps all on her own. She didn't even seem aware that she did it. Now that I know that she can, though, I am more actively trying to give her opportunities to practice taking steps. It seems like two is still the max, but we'll keep working on it. For now, she gets around really well with the infamous crawl, which I finally managed to capture on film:

http://youtu.be/F6t_PpF0DNg

Maxed out

I think that Emily has completely maxed out - there's no way she can get any cuter than she has been lately. Her personality has just exploded. She has a great sense of humor, loves to "talk" on the phone, is understanding words in both Spanish and English, and has started testing out some words of her own. Here is a video of her being all cute and cuddly last Saturday morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zuFgnHziA

She has been so much fun to play with. She will scream and laugh and crawl around as we chase her. Also, she has started to chase us if we get down and crawl around on the floor. The other morning at breakfast she started feeding me Cheerios one by one with her messy little fingers. Most of the time she will point to tell us what she wants, but she is also working on using her words. Of course, at this point the word for Bjorn is "br" and the word for bunny is "br" and the word for anything else that starts with B is "br". Same goes for the other consonants, "ca" can mean pretty much anything that starts with a C. It is nice to see her making these associations, though. She is also at an age where she is starting to pick up sign language. I taught her the sign for "more" this past weekend. Now we are working on getting her to understand what the word "more" actually means. While Emily's 1st birthday is rapidly approaching, her ability to walk is still a ways off. She is consistently standing and balancing on her own now, but the idea of putting one foot in front of the other hasn't even crossed her mind yet. The other milestone that hasn't happened yet is the first tooth - almost 12 months old and not a single tooth! If she is anything like her mommy it'll be another 6 months before we see those pearly whites!

Kickin' Back

Our mellow little baby seems to enjoy putting her feet up and relaxing while in her high chair. She gets herself into this position and then slowly sinks down farther and farther until I have to reach in, pull her up, and "reset" her. She is so funny about it. The other day she was in this position and then decided that she wanted to reach for something in front of her. Instead of putting her feet down and sitting up, she decided to just reach between her feet, effectively folding herself in half. Then she sat there wondering why it was so hard to get whatever it was that she was after. Silly girl.

Also, I think that I am slowly starting to hear the beginnings of actual words out of Emily. The other day I knew that she wanted me to lift her up onto the couch and I swear that she said "up". Then, while playing in Abbie's kitchen I heard her say "a boo". When I turned to look at her I saw that she was reaching for a baby bottle that was in the fridge. Coincidence or does "a boo" translate into "a bottle"? Who knows.

Cruising

Emily has been actively cruising around the house lately. She is really good at understanding that she needs to hang onto something in order to move from place to place. She is also getting better at balancing without hanging onto anything. It only lasts for a few seconds at a time, but even a couple weeks ago it would have been unthinkable. One of the best places to put her is in Abbie's play kitchen. There is counter on three sides and Emily is content to "walk" from counter-to-counter and explore as she goes. It just works out really well because there is so much safe, plastic stuff for her to get into and so much counter for her to hang onto.

When there is no furniture to cruise on, Emily has firmly established her signature crawl. She no longer complains about it and has started to pick up speed. It is a distinctive style - two hands, left foot, and right knee. The foot goes forward and then the knee gets dragged along behind it. It is really cute to watch.

Movement

Emily has really become a flurry of activity over the past week. Last weekend she started a little bit of official crawling. Since then the crawling has become more constant, but it is still something that she doesn't seem to enjoy. There is lots of whining and complaining that accompanies it. Also, it is not traditional, plain vanilla crawling. Instead, it is a bit lopsided and interspersed with little bunny hops, but she manages to get around.

Also, over the course of the past week, she started pulling herself up on things (her crib, the tub, and the footstool) without any help. Also, I observed a little bit of cruising earlier this week as she walked along while holding onto the footstool. I don't think she ever realized that she was doing it. This sort of activity is something that she enjoys much more than the crawling. Anything that involves standing has always been her preference.

Not only do her arms and legs seem to be moving, but it also appears as if her teeth may be moving. I think that I see white at the front of her upper gums, so I think that a couple of upper teeth may soon make an appearance. She was a bit crabby yesterday, potentially due to teething pain, but other than that there haven't been any other symptoms.

Emily is also continuing to develop her other skills. She has added some ma ma ma's to her vocabulary, but so far we don't have conclusive proof that she associates this with me. Also, she has added pointing to her gestures. She learned this from Nancy, who often points to cars, etc. So, today at lunch Emily was pointing out things of interest to me. So cute.

9 Month Check-up

Emily had her 9-month check-up today. She is now 16 pounds, 13 ounces (17th percentile), 27 inches long (32nd percentile), and her head is 44 cm (52nd percentile). Basically, the doctor is happy with her growth rate. Although she is a peanut, her percentages are holding relatively steady, which is the important part.

Emily has decided that she needs to add a few more tricks to her repertoire. So, she has started babbling with actual consonant sounds like "Ba Ba" and "Da Da". Also, she is trying to make kissing noises by smacking her lips together. Her gestures now include lots of waiving and nodding her head "yes" in addition to "no".

As for her gross motor skills, she is trying to pull herself up on things, but needs a little assistance. She still isn't crawling yet, but she is getting closer every day. She can get her knees underneath her and rock a bit. She is also often in a push-up position to see if she can move that way, but of course that is even harder than hands and knees crawling, so it usually ends in frustration pretty quickly. When she is on her belly she will pivot herself around in a circle and also use her hands to push herself backwards.

Sisters

Adorable photos of both girls from this morning. Abbie really does care for her sister and Emily really does look up to her big sis.

Emily is just so adorable (as babies this age tend to be). She is really great with her fine motor skills. She waves all the time and also has started to clap, which is really funny because she brings her hands together but no sound comes out. She is also using her fine motor skills to chase after Cheerios. She loves them and works very hard to get them into her mouth. She is getting better and better at it. Also, she is desperate to move, but has no idea how to crawl. The desire to be more active is definitely there, though. As for noises, she is big into screaming, growling, laughing, vibrating her lips together in a brbrbrbr sound, and sticking her tongue out and blowing raspberries. We got some cute video of her the other night in which she showcases some of these talents. See below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2felleVxEY

Firsts

Emily has been struggling with her first cold over the past week. Fortunately, it has been really mild.  Really it just amounts to a stuffy nose.  Occasionally we spray some saline up it to help clear it out, but most of the time it is just a minor annoyance for her.  Not unlike her hair, which more often than not becomes an annoyance by hanging in her eyes.  We often try to clip it back for her, but it isn't always successful.

We have been presenting Emily with more big-person foods lately.  She usually half chokes on them, but also seems to really enjoy them.  Below she is going to town on a slice of mango; another first for her this week and probably her favorite food to date.  She just couldn't get enough of it this past weekend.  She is also enjoying apple slices and has actually started eating them, rather than just sucking on them.  Tonight we gave her a slice of avocado, but she really just had fun smooshing it into a slimy mess and didn't seem too interested in actually eating it.

Other than these new experiences, life is pretty standard.  Emily has certain things that she really loves and gets all excited about, which is always fun to see.  She still loves the Bjorn, of course.  She also has started to really enjoy going to the park.  The grass is exciting for her and she seems to enjoy watching the big kids play.  She also really loves tub time.  As with every kid, the water is a big hit, but she also loves it after the tub when I rub lotion all over her.  I guess I can't blame her.  Not many people tend to pass up full body massages.

Fun Girl

Emily often appears so serious in photos, but she really does have lots of times when she is laughing and playing with us, so I tried to capture a few different expressions.  She knows that Chad will laugh and play with her and she often tries to get him going.  Her goal is to get him to make silly faces or noises.  This just makes her scream and laugh like crazy.

She is really coming along with her sitting, but still only does it on her schedule.  If she wants to stand, no amount of coaxing can get her to bend those legs!  This new toy (below) that we picked up at Target last weekend has really held her interest and she is willing to sit and play with it for long periods of time.

She definitely wants to lunge forward and chase after stuff, but there is just no upper body strength at all.  I often put her into a crawling position, just to see what will happen, but it just results in an immediate belly flop.

She is up to three times a day now with her cereal, but really could care less about eating any other foods, despite the fact that we present them at every meal.  Even things that seem bland and pleasant to me will sometimes make her shudder when you put them in her mouth.  Such drama. 

I decided that maybe she would be more interested if she were able to feed herself, so I put a Cheerio on her tray this morning to see what would happen.  The result?  Nada.  She still can't do a pincer grasp with her thumb and finger, so she wasn't even able to pick the thing up.  It's just as well because she probably would have choked on it anyway.  I also gave her some water in a sippy cup that didn't have any plug in place, so the water was coming out pretty easily.  I think that she thought it was a giant chew toy.  She just gnawed on the spout.  Every now and then she would get some water in her mouth and she would get this really surprised and entertained look on her face, but it never translated into her actually trying to drink the water.  Funny baby.