Growing Up

Oh goodness, Ms. Emma is growing up! Well, you may not be able to tell from these pictures!!!! But she learned to spear her food with her fork this week (although it only lasts a couple of bites becasue she is much too impatient).

I found her sitting on the bench pillow (which she had pulle doff so she could sit on it) looking through my purse (it is one of her favorite activities), and you can see her showing her dad her ice cream in the next picture. The last one is of Emma's adventures with the vacuum. We had new carpeting installed this week, and Em had a full day of adventure. Once we discovered how dirty it was under the cushions of the couch we had to vacuum it and Em was so intrigues with the hose (she just has no fear!!!!!). She like to get it suctioned ot her tounge = strange girl.

That is about it for now. Sorry it took so long to get a post up this week! It has been SO busy, getting ready for our move. I finally found a job and am thrille dto say I will be teaching in a dance program in 2 different high schools in Bloomington, MN, part-time so I can still see my sweet girl. So send us all of your positive thoughts on the house selling!

Love to all....

She's Electric!

Dad always has fun with Emma, playing iwth her in ways that I woudl never even think of. Well, here's one of them....

She loves to help Dad when he is working around the house. She has to be right there next to him, looking in close at what he's doing, handing him tools (not very often the right ones though!).

We've had some pee issues the past couple of days. Two days ago I got her out of the tub and let her run around her room for a couple of minutes (like usual) so she could dry off her naked body. Well, she came up to me and all of a usdden I felt something warm on my foot.... Uh huh, she peed in her bedroom. Well, today I took her out of the tub and let her run around in the bathroom while I got myself together. All of a sudden I heard her playing in water, and I thought it was odd. Yes, it was very odd, as she was splashing her hands in her PEE!!!!!!!!!!!! Good lord. So I turned the tub back on and threw her in:)

She had a rough day today, taking a couple of hard tumbles. The worst she has had yet. She walking down the driveway and tripped, then tripped over that trip and couldn't get her hands under her. So she has a pretty good raspberry on her chin. Then this evening she was having a heyday playing in and out of the sliding screen door, stepping up and down. I heard and cry and there she was on her back on the ground... Cooper had run by her and knocked her down. Poor girl. We took ANOTHER bath, and she was asleep within minutes of starting her bottle!

Love to all...

Swimming - Day 1

Elliot was SOOOO excited to take Emma swimming, as she has beena fish every where we have gone - except for the pool! We think it was a little too overwhelming, loudh, the chlorine, lots of kids. She didn't cry, but as you can see in one picture she was often reaching for me, out of the pool. She did enjoy the splashing,a nd she found a ball to play with. So we know next time to bring a couple of toys that she is familiar with. For a first time we think she did pretty good. We signed her up for Parent/Baby swim lessons starting the middle of July. FUN!!!

Love to all....

Day at the Park

Emma and I went to meet Jessica, Ella, and Aliyah at a park in Woodinville today. FINALLY it was sunny and 71 today! Emma was all get-up-and-go, wanting to climb up the slide (guess who taught her that!) so she could slide right back down it. Her favorite part though was playing in the drinking fountain - again the water calls her.

Emma was so excited to see them, she grabbed for Jessica's hand immediately so that she would take Emma up the play set (that's the first picture). It was lovely to see them as we sure do miss them. I am sure Emma just misses playing and exploring with them, and I miss the daily conversations Jess and I wouldhave, and the joy that watching Emma and Aliyah play, and watching how much Emma loves Jessica. Emma wanted to climbin Jessica's lap while she had some apple sauce and was hugging her legs. VERY heart warming!

After about an hour it was actually too hot, and the girls were getting tired, so we headed over to Jamba Juice for a cool treat. HILARIOUS!!!! Chaos ensued as Emma and ALiyah ran around the store pulling bottles of water out of baskets, grabbing bags of chips, pulling our purses around on the floor - ahhh! So we sat with the girls on our plaps, chowing down on their natural chips (of course Emma was a disaster of food everywhere while Aliyah was not!), then came the smoothies..... Oh good lord, Emma LOVED the raspberry, strawberry, blueberry drink! She had a little cup and straw and went to town - and then would spit a little out - on her too cute top!!!!! I guess that is life. Sot he shirk has been soaking since we got home:) SO, a lovely day had by all.

The bottom picture is one that El took yesterday becasue when he walked in to wake her p from her nap, there she was sleeping with her little arms tucked behind her head - too cute!

Love to all....

Uh-oh

Emma officially has said her first word - "Uh-oh"!!! And she makes her little mouth into an "o" shape, purposely dropping things on the floor to say it. I find that I can't wait to hear what her voice is going to sound like, when she really talks. And this is kind of the first little inkling and I LOVE it! She hasn't stopped saying it since yesterday. Tonight when I was putting her to bed, her eyes were slowly closing and she was STILL saying it! I had to be careful not to laugh outloud at her.

Our little sweetpea loves her apples and her cat Tom Tom. Notice her pursed lips - that is her getting ready to "give kisses".

Ok, off to bed. Love to all...

Happy Father's Day!

Elliott, Emma, and I went to bruch at a great restaurant here in Monroe this afternoon (he had crabcake benedict, I had eggs benadict, and Emma had a smorgasboard of grapes, waffle, hashbrowns, etc, etc!). Emma just wanted to run all around the restaurant and check everything and everyone, and every baby, out! Elliott said we should have gone to Chuck E Cheese, as it was a pretty nice restaurant. Once she had the chance to check everything out she did pretty good.

After we were finished we ran home to change clothes and grab Cooper, as I had planned for us to go to an off-leash dog park. Well, it was that and so much more! It was a 40 acre dog park in the midst of a 600 acre park, about 1/2 hour from our house, with no traffic. Well, least to say that Emma was in her eliment. It was adorable to watch her chase after each and every dog (we had to be really careful and keep a very close eye on her as she wold give every single dog a kiss right one their face if we;d let her!). She would just run with her arms outstretched and reaching.

We also had a VERY hard time keeping her out of the water. She is a fish. If we didn't watch she would jump right in without a second glance. So Elliott have in of course and she was thrilled!!!!!! There were about 4 different spots where the dogs can go into the water, and so ofcouse Em had to go in too. Good thing I brought extra shorts for her....

We are going to have steaks for dinner and then off to bed, as chasing after Emma with dogs all around wore me out. By the way - Cooper was great! He stayed by us the whole time and just lolly-gagged around all the dogs.

Love to all...

"Time for bed..."

So Emma has had a very hard time falling asleep for the past week or so. She is almost 15 months, and her first molars are starting to come in. Last night I finally said "Emma, it's time for bed, time to sleep." And she put her head on my shoulder and fell asleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How crazy is that? The night before she did it too, but played still for a little while inbetween putting her head on my shoulder. But it was just about the dang cutest thing, and scary and exciting to realize how much she understands!

Here is a picture of her lounging out yesterday, and then another of her exploring the sprinkler. I wasn't going to let her in it, as it was only 60 out. But it was only water:)

love to all...

Favorite Things

Putting on Mom and Dad's shoes is one of Em's favorite things to do. She has even figured out how to walk around in them! Feeding herself yogurt is another favorite thing to do. Then, Mom gets to clean up. We did get her some toddler spoons to help her "learn" to feed ehrself with silverware. Lastly, she loves putting things in and out of containers. Be it her farm animals into tupperware, the cat food into a bag, dog food into her mouth - yikes!!!!

Love to all....

Big Girl!

Emma opening the door at the ocean. We changed our from latches to the knobs and she is so sad she can't get them open at our house anymore. I'm pleased though, becasue it means taht she is staying out of the garbage!

Grandma Loerch showed Emma how to put the dog collar together, and Emma was fascinated, knowing where it was supposed to connect, but not quite able to get it. Notice her crossed feet? This is how she ALWAYS sits!!!!

Emma kissing Tom Tom - a favorite passtime of hers.

Poor girl couldn't get herself to sleep tonight! Elliott spent forever, and she is just chattering away in between yawns and eye rubbing. She has had quite the knack of making us both laugh lately, and then it is all over!!!!

Love to all...

Quirky (Special) Girl

Emma walked into the room the other day - and look at what she had on her foot!!!! She put Elliott's glove ALL the way on her foot. It was hilarious.

Then look at her face in the next picture!!!!! This is what she does when she is waiting to get sprayed with "air" (the air that you can spray onto the computer to help clean it off). Granpa Loerch tried and this is the face he got in return:) Now she does it anytime she is waiting for a loud noise to happen.

Our little girl is growing up, eatin gher apples like a big girl! She bites into it, then carries it around in the crook of her arm, then gets another bite, then back to her arm to carry. It is sooo cute!

We went to the park yesterday with Allison, Mason, and new baby Peyton (while John and Elliott put our NEW appliances in the kitchen!). Emma had no fear of course. She wanted to climb to the top of the play gym, and would look through the see-through floor and stomp her feet, we went down the slide together, she was enthralled with the big girls on their bikes, and she tried to kiss everyone!!!!!!!! That is her new thing - kissing! It is adorable as she sticks just her bottom lip out.

Off to bed. Love to all....

Kalaloch, WA

We went to the ocean one night while my mom and Denny were here helping us with the house. We had a cabin that literally sat right on the ocean. We spent ALL evening/night/morning with the slididng glass door open to listen to the waves (and it was COLD!).

Emma is SO tactile (one of her favorite thigs to do is to play with the cat food, OR put one hand in Cooper's water bowl and the other in his food bowl, and then compare the difference)- it was all she could do to not bury her face in the sand! She paid for it by getting a rash for three days! We couldn't keep her out of the water either. Even though it was a cool 51, we took Em's shoes and socks off so she could feel the ocean rush up to her feet. You can see in the one picture with Elliott, that she would hold her leg out while she was waiting for the waves to come in. She is such a quirky kid:)

Love to all...

For Rachel

These pictures are for Rachel, who wanted to know why there were never any pictures of Em crying. Well, she really doesn't usually cry, so I have to give the background on these pics! And Rachel can thank Elliott, as he was the one who made sure we got plenty for Rachel to see:)

Emma was sick for the first week that Grandma and Grandpa Loerch were here (working on our house for us!). She literally would only let me hold her, and she wanted to be held constantly ALL day long. She was tired and not interested in playing at all. One evening when I went to teach she was felling so bad that she cuddled ALL night with my mom, Denny, and Elliott (she hadn't let anyone else hold her up to that point without throwing a fit). The poor girl had a fever for a day or two.

FORTUNATELY, she started to fell better the beginning of this week, and Grandma and Grandpa got to see the REAL Emma!

More later, love to all.....