Family Party & Cute New Outfit

Hiya Emma!

We had a family party at our house yesterday. Nana, Grumpy, Grammie, Alan, Billy, Christa, Layton, Jenna, Ben and Noah were here. There was lots of food to eat. You and Jenna had fun playing together.

Here's a picture of the two kids hanging out and having a drink.

Oh wait, there's three kids hanging out and having a drink.

Here's a cute picture of you wearing your brown outfit and pink hat. You're so adorable.

I love you cute baby!

Daddy

Christmas At Grammies

Hi Emma Doodle!

We went to visit Grammie on Christmas day after we finished opening gifts at home. Christa, Layton, Noah, Ben and Jenna were there too. You got to open more gifts. As usual, you liked the paper most of all.

You and Jenna got along pretty well. Jenna is pretty fascinated by you. She tries to talk to you and touch you. She even gave you some hugs and kisses.



We had some left over Christmas dinner. You sat in my old high chair and had some too. My old high chair isn't as safe as the high chairs today. The table part is hard and there are no straps to buckle you in. You kept standing up and trying to get out.

You and Jenna both got twin baby dolls for Christmas. Jenna had hers open at Grammie's house. You were playing with her dolls before they left. When they were leaving, Jenna took her dolls back. That made you really upset. You screamed and cried like crazy. I don't think I've ever seen you so mad. Even Ben tried to give you a goodbye hug, but you were inconsolable. You cheered up right after Jenna left. You were smiling and cooing, etc. You went on to have fun climbing in and out of the lazy boy chair. Here you are looking cute and taking a rest.

Before we left, Grammie showed you one of her table-top Christmas ornaments. Its a winter scene and little people skate around on a mirror when you wind it up. You were quite fascinated watching it. Grammie said that Ben used to love playing with it when he was younger. You were pretty cute.

It was such a fun Christmas. You got lots of fun presents, but most important of all, everyone was together as a family. I can't believe that I forgot to mention how pretty you looked in your cute dress.

I love you pretty little baby!

Daddy

Merry 2nd Christmas, Doodle Doo Bopper!

Hi Bopper Boo!

First, I need to tell you who Daddy took you to see last Friday, December 18!  You went to see Santa Claus for the very first time!!  Mommy was at an appointment so Daddy took you all by himself.  You sat on Santa's knee and had your picture taken.  Daddy tells me you were such a good girl baby!  Daddy took lots of pictures, too.  Here's one where you're looking intently at Santa.

It is Boxing Day 2009.  We had such a wonderful Christmas!  Nana and Grumpy and Uncle Billy came to our house on Christmas Eve for Christmas dinner and stayed the night so they could be here to watch all of you open up all your gifts on Christmas morning.

Santa brought everyone so many presents.  We are all so very lucky!  Here you are sitting with Grumpy while he helps you open one of your many presents.

One of your very favourite presents on Christmas morning was from Uncle Billy.  It was a Tigger.  Here you are snuggling with it after you opened it.  You didn't even want to let it go long enough for us to take it out of the package.

You really enjoyed opening presents this year and you were really great at getting the paper off.  You did get a little tired after a while, though, and eventually we put you down for a nap.  Here you are with Grumpy again ripping paper off one of your presents.

Here is Nana holding you while you snuggle with your Tigger.

Do you know what??  You gave me the most special gift!!  You're such a wonderuful little baby!  You and Daddy picked out a beautiful bangle bracelet with two hearts intertwined.  It is so beautiful.  The hearts represent your heart and mine beating as one.  Here is a picture that we cropped.

It was such a special Christmas and you kept everyone very well entertained with all your crazy antics!  Daddy will tell you lots more about our day.  I love you, Crazy Monkey!

Love,

Mama

Cranky Bear & Pretending To Bite Daddy

Hi Little Bear!

Cranky Bear

You sure have been a little bear lately, especially in the car. I guess most of the time, you don't like being in the car strapped into your seat. You're OK in the morning on the way to the babysitter, but in the evening lately, you often growl and scream most of the way home. Silly little bear :) Such a temper. I took a few photos of you being cranky in the car on Friday evening. Here's a cute one showing your little temper.

Pretending To Bite Daddy

Last night while we were eating supper, I was putting some food on your high chair table. When we're cutting up food from our plates, and passing it to you, its hard to keep up with you. You munch on it with two hands, one hand after the other. You did a couple cute things. I was resting my hand on the side of your table. You were eating contently. All of a sudden, you grabbed my hand with both of yours, leaned forward, looked up at me and made a cute growl/scream noise. It was funny. I don't think you were screaming for food because there was food on your tray table. I guess you were just excited about eating.

You started doing something else cute. While holding onto my hand, you leaned forward and gently bit my hand. You made ahhhhhhhh and ummmmm sounds when you did it. You kept doing it over and over... just gently squeezing my hand with your teeth. It was pretty funny. It was the first time you did that. Every time you bit me, I'd lean over, make an ummmmm sound, and bite your hand. I think you learned that from us. Mommy and I bite you all the time. As we're leaning in to your hand or foot or arm, we say ummmmmmmmm, and then bite you and say "chomp". It makes you laugh and smile. Sometimes when I bite your foot, you smile, and then lift your foot towards me afterwards, trying to get me to do it again.

I love you, even when you're a cranky bear!
Daddy

Spinning You Around On Floor In New Snowsuit

Hi Cute Little Baby!

Spinning You Around In Your Snow Suit

Mommy and I searched around last weekend for a nice one-piece snow suit for you. We finally got you a cute blue one at Sears. Its a little big, but it will keep you very warm, and should fit you for a while. You look so cute in it... especially with the hood up. You don't really like hoods, so we took it off... you were being cranky about the hood.

This morning, we layed you on the kitchen floor to put you into your suit. Before I picked you up, I spun you around on the floor ... slowly and gently of course :) You had a great big smile, so I kept doing it one turn at a time. When I stopped, you put your knees in the air and moved your legs back and forth, trying to get me to do it again. I did it a few more times.


Snuggling With Dora Blanket

The other night when we were playing in your bedroom, I was getting your bed ready. I threw your soft Dora blanket on the floor. You immediately dropped face first on the blanket and started sucking your thumb. Its cute when you do that :) You were tired and ready for bed.

I love you sweet baby Emma!
Daddy

Liking The Bath Again

Hi Sweet Emma Doodle!

Liking The Bath Again

You used to love the bath. You'd sit down and slip and splash around everywhere. You'd excitedly play with all your rubber bath toys.... grabbing them and throwing them and chewing on them. Lately, you haven't been liking the bath so much. You've been scared and have been crying. You would immediately stand up and grab onto us when we sit you down in the tub .... and its been almost impossible to bend your legs to sit you down.

You had a fun time in the tub last night. We think the problem was that you hated the detachable shower head. We were using it to wash your hair. The first time we used it, you seemed to like getting sprayed by it. We would play around and spray your back and belly too.... you seemed to like it for a little while. But then you began to hate it. Your baths didn't involve playing and fun anymore. You would screech and cry and flail trying to get out of the tub when we'd try to spray the shampoo out of your hair.

Last night, you didn't want to sit down... so mommy washed you while you stood up and held on to me. Every now and then you'd quietly look up at the shower head with a somber-scared look on your face. We'd say, don't worry, we won't spray you with it. By the end of the bath, you were sitting down, splashing and playing with your toys again. Yaaaaaaay!


Giving Kisses To Daddy

Last night, we were playing in your bedroom. I was laying on the floor and you were playing beside me. You crawled over and stood up next to me, leaning against me. You were playing with and chewing on your croc shoe. I said "I love you". You immediately turned toward me and slowly moved in for a kiss. I gave you a kiss and you turned back to playing with your shoe. I said I love you again, and you turned quickly and planted a quick kiss on my lips. I said it again, and you kissed me again. Awwww, such a nice baby.

I love you little baby!
Daddy

Temper & Other Cute Things

Hi Cute Little Crazy Monster!

Bad Temper

Mommy was telling you about your temper. Haha. I often only write about the cute adorable things that you do and don't mention your temper. You certainly do have a temper :) I've already told you about the screaming and squealing you do when you are sitting in your high chair waiting for food... and sometimes you even scream in between bites.

You also get really mad when you don't get your own way... when we pick you up when you're on a mission to crawl somewhere ... when we take something that you shouldn't have away from you.. etc. Last night, I had a big box of christmas lights out on the living room floor ... I was putting lights on our tree. You were trying to open the box and the top flaps. You would give it a try... then scream & cry ... and lift your arms over your head together and slam them down on your lap a few times. Such a bad temper :)

Lately too, you started dropping your head and burying your face down between your hands on the floor and cry when you get mad. The thing is, your cry sounds so fake.. and it goes away right away when we give you what you want. Silly little monkey.

I'll try to get some pictures of you showing your bad temper.


Climbing Into Toy Box

Last night when we were playing your bedroom, you crawled over to your toy box and stood up at it as you always do. You pulled out some toys for a while. Then next thing I knew, you had one leg up in the toy box. Silly little girl trying to climb into your toy box. I pulled you out and we played on the floor. You tried to climb into the toy box a few more times later.


Playing With Blocks

You love playing with your rubber blocks. Mommy and I often play games with you. We build towers and you crawl over and knock them down, and make a woooooooooooo sound. Now you even help stacking blocks. A couple times, you've stacked one block ontop of another and made it stay.


Saying Stop It

Tonight, Devon played with you in your bedroom for a few minutes while I got you laundry from the dryer. When I came back, he said that he was tickling you .... and you said "stop it" and "stop that". Actually, Devon says it was a little more like "saaaaaaa yaaaat", but he's sure you were telling him to stop tickling you.


Riding In Laundry Basket

I took a pair of your jammer-jams out of the laundry basket to get you ready for bed. You had another idea. You crawled over and climbed into the basket of clothes. I let you play for a while, then took you out. You climbed back in again. So I pushed you around the bedroom. I made car sounds like "brooooom brooooom" while I pushed you around. You held on, looked around and smiled. Every time I stopped, you would make sounds that were kinda like the "brooooom brooooom" sounds to tell me that you wanted to go again. You sure had fun.

Thats all for now. I love you baby cute girl!
Daddy

An update from Mommy...:)

Hi Crazy Monkey:)

You sure are so funny these days!  You are almost always happy and smiley, just like Daddy told you, but sometimes you show your fiery little temper, too!  Usually, you are just being deliberately demanding and aren't even really mad or sad...you just scream until someone gives you what you want!  It can be kinda funny and cute:)  But, it sure can be loud, too! 

For example, we always give you a toy to play with in the car...  Sometimes, you purposely throw them on the ground...then scream really loudly for someone to pass them back to you.  If we pass them back, you throw them on the floor again...and scream again...  We sing songs to you in the car to distract you...it usually works:)

Walking with Your Car

On Sunday, you and I played inside for most of the day, while Daddy and Cameron brought wood into the garage.  I decided to stand you up behind your car and you started walking the whole length of the living room with it.  You were so super fast I couldn't even keep up with you!  I called Daddy into the house to see you and he grabbed his camera and started taking pictures and video.  I'm sure it won't be long now before you're running around everywhere!!  (Heaven help us!!)

Piggy Tails

A couple of weeks ago, you and I were playing in your room...  I thought it would be fun to try putting piggy tails in your hair:)  You didn't really think it was fun at all...  As a matter of fact, you thought it was torture...so I probably won't try it again any time soon!  You looked pretty darn cute, though!!

No, no, no!

Another cute thing you are doing these days is shaking your head back and forth as if to say, "no, no, no"...  You always have a silly smile on your face and you love when we laugh at you and shake our heads, too.  We always say, "no, no, no" when you do it.  I bet, before long, you will be saying the words, too.  Although, that's probably one word we can wait a while for you to learn!

Sisters

The other night you were crawling around in the hallway wearing your pretty jammer jams.  Daddy decided to take some pictures of you and Brenna wanted in on the action, too.  Here is a picture of you with your big sister:

Well, I guess that's it for my update.  I know I don't post on your blog as much as Daddy....but he always has so much more energy that Mommy at night:)  He is usally typing away on your blog while I am sleeping on the couch!!  But, poor Daddy is never full of energy in the mornings!  Lately you have been waking up in the early morning around the same time that Mommy gets up for work...  Daddy gives you your bottle while I am showering and getting ready.  The last week or so you have been pretty determined to make Daddy take you out of bed instead of snuggling and snoozing until he is ready to get up.  Poor Daddy!

Even though I don't get a chance to write on your blog very often, Daddy and I always talk about the things we want to tell you about and then he does all the posting while I snooze.

That's all for now, Doodle Doo Bopper!  I love you big giant bunches and whacks!!

Love,

Mama

Lots More Updates

Hi Wonderful Baby!

Again, I have so many updates for you, and Mommy is also posting some updates.

Holding Sippy Cup By Yourself

On the weekend, you started holding your sippy cup, tipping it up and drinking from it all by your self. Up until now, we would have to hold it up for you. If you ever did hold onto it, you wouldn't tip it up enough. Then this weekend, you grabbed it and started drinking from it. You've been doing it ever since. You're growing up into a big girl so fast.


Saying Look (Eeeuuuk)

Tonight at supper, I was sitting beside the patio door as usual. You were sitting with the door to your right as usual. I did your twisting hand wave and you pointed and said "eeeuuk". You are so smart. I took a couple videos of you saying it a couple days ago.

Climbing Up On Chair & Over To Couch

On the weekend, you climbed up on the wooden chair again. You've done it before. This time, you climbed from there over to Mommy on the couch. She would set you down on the floor and you'd climb up and over again. You did it several times. Ohhh, I hope you don't get hurt doing all this climbing. I took some photos, and I think I took a video too.


Playing With Remote

This is a photo of you doing one of your favorite things .... getting into anything and everything. Here you're standing up at the coffee table as usual with the TV remote in your hand. You love grabbing one of the remotes, or the cordless phones. Sometimes, you pick up the remote and point it at the TV. You're such a smart baby girl. You know what the remote is for. Other times you bite it, or throw it on the floor.


Talking On The Phone

Tonight you were playing with the cordless phone. You put it up to your ear, as you usually do. This time, you said "hiiiii". On the weekend, Cameron was playing with your toy phone in the living room. He was pressing buttons and saying "hi". You picked up my cell phone and put it up to your ear a couple times and said "hiiiii" I think I got a video of it. You learned this back when Mommy was still home with you. When I was at work, and we were talking on the phone, she'd put the phone to your ear and I'd talk to you. You would always get so quiet, sometimes not even making a sound. Just listening intently. You would turn your head toward the phone trying to figure out what was going on. Sometimes you would even kiss the phone. Here is a picture of you with my cell phone to your ear and Cameron in the background saying "hi" on your toy phone.

Crawling On Your Hands & Knees

You finally started crawling on your hands and knees last week. You still mostly crawl on your belly, but you've moved up to your hands and knees a few times. I took a video of it.

Funny Faces & Laughing Together

Tonight, we were playing your bedroom before you went to bed. I started making suprised-looking faces at you and making a gasping noise. You started doing it too. It was kinda like the face you were making when you were out shopping with Mommy and I a couple weeks ago. I laughed at you... and that made you laugh. We just kept doing it back and forth and laughing. You were making the face and noise, then dropping your head down laughing and making cute little giggles. You were so cute. We had fun.

So Interactive

You are getting more and more interactive. You repeat the things that we do. You scream, smile, you laugh. You are so active and make many more sounds and noises. You still scream and yell when we're feeding you as if to say, give me more.. hurry! You are such a happy baby. You are often smiling. You do things (like shaking your head back and forth ... Mommy will tell you about that one) and then you have a satisfied smile when we pay attention or laugh at you. You are quite a show off... you just love the attention. Its cute.

Taking Your Socks Off

You pull your socks off all the time. Well, you don't do it so much since a couple weeks ago when the weather got cold and snowy... good thing. Every time we went to get you out of your car seat, you'd have your socks off. We'd have to pick socks up all over the van. There's probably still a few in there. Its hard to find matching socks after we do your laundry because you take them off everywhere and they don't make it to the laundry. I'll try to get a picture of you pulling your socks off sometime.

You Love Maple The Cat

You sure love the Maple the cat. You squeal and screech with excitement when you see her. You go to her and try to pet her and pull her fur. If I'm nearby I bring you over to her and pet her with your hand. We have to be careful because she can be a cranky cat and she's scratched you a couple times before. She gets cranky when you pull her tail or fur. Don't feel bad, she even snaps and turns cranky and scratches us sometimes when we're petting her.

We sure do love you sweet baby. We are so thankful to have you. You bring so much joy to all of us.

I love you very much!!!
Daddy

A Bunch of Updates

Hi Sweet Baby Emma,

I have a bunch of updates to catch up on.

We had cake for Cameron's birthday yesterday. As usual, you loved the cake. You have a cute mischievious grin in this picture.

When we play with you in your room, you get into everything. You crawl all over the place and go from one toy to the next. Its so cute to watch you pull yourself up to your toy box, reach in and start pulling toys out. When Mommy left the room, you crawled over to the door and pulled yourself up. You stood up and banged on the door. You tried to reach the doorknob... you can almost reach it.

Snapping Your Fingers

When we snap our fingers around you, you watch intently and you move your fingers and thumb on both hands in a finger snapping motion. Its pretty cute. We're not sure if you learned this from us or at the babysitter's house.

Reading a Book

You really enjoy playing with your books. You ripped some pieces out of your elf book... you little monster. Last night, you sat down and kept on turning pages in your "Things That Go" book. At one point, you were sitting cutely and holding the book like you were reading it. It was so cute. I wish I had a camera to capture that moment.

Climbing on Daddy

As I was saying, you crawl and climb everywhere when we play with you in your bedroom. Last night you were crawling over me (I always lay on the floor with you) to get to the other side of me. One time, you were getting tired, so you just layed on my chest. It reminded me of when you were a tiny baby only weeks old. You often woke up during the night and we tried to get you to get back to sleep. Sometimes I would lay you on my chest wrapped up in a blanket to snuggle you to sleep. You were so tiny and precious then.

Waving At Your Reflection in Patio Door

In the evenings when we put you in your chair for supper, we see you waving at your reflection in the patio door window. You always do your open-hand queen wave where you rotate your hand back and forth, twisting your hand at your wrist. Its pretty cute. You wave and smile. I then do the same wave to you in the reflection. You look back and forth between me and your reflection smiling.

Pointing and Saying Look

I started trying to get you to look at your reflection in the patio door window. I pointed and said look. The first time I did it last week, you also pointed and I think you tried to say look. You kinda said a higher pitched yooook. It was pretty cute.

Half Arm Wave

Last week, you started doing a half arm wave. Instead of your usual rotating-hand wave, you were swinging your arm from your elbow. Of course, it was darn cute.

Laughing in the Car

Last friday when Mommy was in a store, we stayed in the car. You and I shared some big laughs. You giggled a bit, so I repeated your laugh. It made you laugh more and repeat after me. We just kept laughing together. Your laughs are starting to become a bit different. Your laughs are getting more like a child's or adult's when you are laughing hard. Its pretty funny. You mostly do it when we tickle you and bite your neck.

Making a Kissy Face

Last week, you started making a fish-face and making kissy noises. When we did the same thing, you just kept repeating it, sucking your lips in and making squeaky noises :)

Giving Us Nice Noisy Kisses

When we ask for kisses, you still come at us with your mouth open... that is, when you aren't being bad and turning your head away from a kiss. When we ask for a kiss by saying "kisses", we move towards you making an "uuuuuuuuuuuumh" sound, then kiss you with a muah sound. Tonight when we asked for kisses, you came at us over and over with your mouth open, and saying "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" while you moved your lips towards us.

You are an amazing wonderful precious baby. I love you big bunches!

Daddy

Kissing Nana & Grumpy, Eating Cheesies, Holding Your Bottle By Yourself

Hi Cutie Emma!

Nana and Grumpy were over on Tuesday night to have supper with us for Mommy's birthday. Her birthday was actually the next day. We had a great ham and scallop potato supper. You had some ham... mmmmm. Nana made a birthday cake for Mommy. You helped Mommy blow out the candles. Well, you didn't actually blow out any candles. Maybe you can help me blow out the candles on my birthday cake.



Grumpy was lifting you up and playing with you before they left. You were giving them both lots of kisses. Several times, you also turned away from their kisses like a bad little pup :)



For a couple days before the supper, you hadn't been eating or drinking very much, probably because you weren't feeling ... you had a cold. We were trying hard to get you to eat and drink for a couple days. I dropped you off at Nana and Grumpy's in the afternoon and they took you home to our house to start making supper. They bought you a small bag of cheesies. You almost all of them. We were so impressed. You sure loved them. You were eating them three at a time.



Oh yeah, later that same evening, I sat down with you on the couch to give you a bottle before your bedtime. You grabbed the bottle, tipped it up and started drinking. This was the first time I ever saw you do this. You've briefly held your bottle before, but you've never really held it up properly. Usually you just don't bother to hold it, even when we try to get you to do it. You might rest your hands on the bottle, tap the bottle with your hands, touch our faces, or just have your hands by your side. You sure are growing up :)


I love you baby girl!
Daddy

Feeding Yourself With Fork

Hi Cute Baby Emma Doodle!

You are getting so good at feeding yourself. Yesterday, we were feeding you some baby food at supper. You wanted to have the fork yourself, so we gave you one. While you held the fork, we helped you to scoop some food out of the bowl. You then put it in your mouth. A few times you grabbed the food off the end of the fork with your other hand and made a mess. You even took a few scoops out of the bowl and ate it all by yourself. You ate a lot of that meal kinda by yourself. Here's a picture of you in action.

You were making funny faces while you, Mommy and I were out shopping on Friday evening. It was so cute. You were opening your eyes and mouth big to make a silly face. It was funny. Even funnier was how proud you were of yourself. You grinned and laughed when we laughed at you or made a face back at you. You are turning into quite a show-off. You're a pretty cute comedian.

You sure made a mess eating chocolate cake two weekends ago when Nana & Grumpy came over for supper. It was obvious that you had a lot of fun. Here's a picture of your mess.

Mommy and I raked the leaves in the front yard last weekend. We sat you down in one of the big piles of leaves. I took a few photos of you. Here's one. It would have been nicer if we had taken the pictures a couple weeks ago when the leaves still had colour. I gave you one of your rubber blocks to add some colour to the picture :)

You are such a beautiful and wonderful girl. I love experiencing every day with you.

I love you baby girl!

Daddy

8th Tooth, Saying Raarrr, Walking Car Forward, Lots of Words and Singing With Mommy

Hi sweet baby!

We noticed tonight that you got your 8th tooth, the one to the right of your top front teeth. It must have come in a little while ago, because it is way out. You now have the 4 front top and bottom teeth. We're glad that you don't try to bite us much anymore.

As mommy was telling you, you sure are talking lots lately. More often, you are making different sounds over and over, but you sometimes say a word, or repeat one that we say. You say Hi and Mamma and Dadda. We're still trying to get you to say I love you, but you haven't said all the words clearly yet. You try to repeat after us, but just get all the words yet.

We're always interacting with you and trying to get you to say things like Mamma, Dadda, Hi, etc. This evening on the way home in the van, we were trying to get you to repeat words. Mommy was trying to get you to say Mamma, and you said NO. It was funny, but I don't think you knew what it meant.

Sometimes, Mommy will ask you "Where's Daddy". When you look at me... she pats me on the shoulder, say's good girl, and says nice Daddy. I also say, "Where's Mommy", and you look at her.

When we put you to bed, we usually snuggle you, rock you back and forth and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Tonight Mommy was snuggling with you and singing. Sometimes, like tonight, you quietly hum along with Mommy's singing. You're so cute singing along with Mommy.

You can now sit on your car and walk it forward. We took a short video of it. You're such a big girl.

We recently started asking you "What does a dinosaur say?" Then we'd say RAAARRRRRR. Now, when we ask you that question, you whisper a cute little raarrr. You're so smart.

You are so darn active lately. You are growing into such a crazy active little girl. You are so hard to hold onto. Tonight, we had you on the couch with us, and you were crawling all over us and trying to climb onto the back of the couch. You just wouldn't sit still. When we play with you in your bedroom, you stand up (holding on) at the toy box. You reach in and pull toys out one by one. When you get near the bottom of the box, you stand on your tip-toes and reach way down.... sometimes we think you're going to fall in head first. You are so cute looking standing up and reaching into your toy box.

I love you precious Emma!
Daddy

Lots of words...

Hi sweet Doodle Doo Bopper,

Looks like Daddy and I have slowed down writing on your blog.  Things have been super busy for us since I started working again.

I needed to tell you all about all the new words you can say.  It started with the word, "Hi"...  You started saying it over and over again...like "Haaayeee, haayee.."  Sometimes it even sounds like you're saying "hello".  "Haawoe, Haayee". 

You also say, "Yeah".   "Ya, Ya".  Sometimes it sounds like you say, "Hi Dad..."  And, the other night when I was putting your jammer jams on, you said "Kisses"...it was so cute.  We all love trying to get you to say things...and you're getting pretty good at trying to repeat the things we say.

You have a bit of a cold right now...a runny nose and a cough.  It's pretty sad...but you are feeling really happy and great even though you're a little sick.  Cameron is sick, too.  Last night I took him to the hospital and they said he has pneumonia.  He has to take lots of medicine to get better.

Daddy is gone away for a few days for work.  So, while I took Cameron to the hospital, I left you at Nana and Grumpy's house.  You had tons of fun...and, of course, they fed you lots of supper:)  They even gave you a bath and washed your hair.  I don't think you liked that part.

I love you sweet little baby.

Muah - kisses, kisses.

Love, Mama

One-Year Doctor Check up & Some Cute Things

Hiya Cute Doodle Bug!

One-Year Check up & Latest Measurements

You had your one year check up with Doctor Coady today. You didn't get to see him until after 11 AM and didn't get to have a nap in the morning, so you were kinda cranky and hard to entertain while we waited. Your check up went great. You just finished your last antibiotic on the weekend ... so it must have helped make your cold and ear infection all better.

Here's your latest measurements.
- height = 76 cm tall (30 inches) - 90th percentile
- head circumference = 45 cm (18 inches)
- weight = 21 1/2 lbs (9.75 kg) - 75th percentile

I don't really trust the accuracy of the measurements taken at the doctor's office, but I'm sure they're pretty close. They measured your height quickly and weighed you with your clothes on. They are usually much more accurate when you get your vaccination needles at the public health office.

Needles

Speaking of the public health office, we took you for your one-year vaccination needles last Thursday. You got two needles in your arm. You cried briefly but were content again in barely any time at all. A few minutes later, in the same building, you got the H1N1 flu vaccination needle in your other arm. Again, you had a brief cry and were content again. You are such a strong and brave girl.

Oh yeah, they didn't take your measurements this time because the nurses were very busy giving the flu vaccine to many, many people.

Your First Nighty

We bought you your first nighty on the weekend. Its a pretty purple "Tinkerbell" nighty. You are wearing it tonight for the first time. I was going to take a picture, but we put you to bed before I got the chance.

Clowning Around At Supper

You are such a silly little bopper. You were in your highchair at the table, eating tortilini pasta with us for supper. After you ate your first serving, we looked over to see you holding your little plastic bowl upside down on your head like a hat. You were looking around at us with excitement as if to say "somebody look at me!!!" We laughed when we noticed you. Upon being noticed and laughed at, you belted out a loud giggling laugh... you were so proud of yourself :)

A little later, I looked over to see you with your plastic fork in your teeth. You were grinning and shaking your head back and forth. You are so silly.

I didn't get a photo of your silliness tonight but here's one I took of you eating on Halloween day. You were kinda doing the same thing with your spoon, except tonight you were being silly and shaking your head with your fork in your mouth.

Dancing With Daddy

A little bit before bedtime tonight, I was carrying you around in my arms. I was rocking you around and spinning with you. You seemed to have some fun. A few times you were quiet and seemed a bit dizzy, but some other times you were smiling and making wooooo sounds. You spit up a little bit after Mommy took you. Ooops, I guess that was my fault :)

Where's Your Toes?

Mommy recently started a fun game with you. She says "Emmaaaaaa, where's your belly?" After she says it a few times, you put your hand on your belly or lift your shirt. She then tickles you and says "I got your belly!" It makes you squeal and laugh like crazy. You don't laugh as hard when I do it. We also say, "Where's your tongue?" You stick out your tongue... you're so silly. I often say to you, "Where's your toes?" Then I bite them. It makes you smile. When I let go, you reach your foot out towards me as if to say, "That was fun .... do it again, Daddy".

You're such a wonderful and beautiful baby. Mommy and I find ourselves saying that to each other many times each day. Each time I look at you having fun or playing or sitting in your car seat or snuggling and sucking your thumb ..... my heart melts..... and I turn to Mommy and say "She's so beautiful" or "She's such a wonderful little baby".

I love you little bopper!
Daddy

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Doodle Doo!

Your second Halloween was a lot of fun. It sure was much more fun than your first Halloween. You were 7 days old and we spent that weekend in the hospital. You were very jaundiced and it wasn't going away on its own fast enough so you had to spend the weekend in the hospital in a special bed with a light shining underneath you. The light makes the jaundice go away.



Here you are sleeping in your special light bed on Halloween night. It was like your very own cute costume. You look like a beautiful little angel. Mommy and I stayed in the room with you all weekend. We had the room all to ourselves. Mommy and I shared a pullout chair to sleep on.

This is a closeup picture of you in your special bed. You're such a beautiful little baby.

We got you a skunk costume for this Halloween. It is pretty cute. It has a heart on the back of it with the name "Lil Stinker" on it. We visited Nana and Grumpy in the morning to show them your costume. You gobbled up some cheezies while we visited, yum, yum!


We stopped by a farm near the cottage to get some pumpkins. The photo above is of you sitting on a hay bale next to a couple pumpkins. After that, we spent the afternoon grocery shopping, etc. We didn't get home until late in the afternoon. You didn't nap all day. You finally were ready for a nap around 5 PM. We had to wake you just before 6 PM so we could put your skunk costume back on and take you out for your first trick or treating experience. We would have liked to let you sleep, but we couldn't let you miss out.


Here you are in the front yard in Mommy's arms just before she took you trick or treating to a few houses in the neighborhood with some of the other neighborhood kids and parents. You were such a tired little stinker sucking your thumb.

You got a few treats on your short walk around the neighborhood. You sure loved the cheezies :) The next two photos are Mommy and I posing with you in your costume on the front step.

We are so glad that you had a fun first real Halloween. Well, it was probably more enjoyable and fun for Mommy and I. You were an adorable little stinker.

I love you big bunches, little stinker!

Daddy

Driving Your Car Better & Eating With Both Hands+

Hi Doodle Doo Bopper!

We visited Christa, Noah, Ben and Jenna on your birthday. You had fun playing on Jenna`s car. It was the first time that we saw you pushing yourself foward. Since then, you`ve been starting to push your own car forward a little bit when you`re sitting on it. Jenna had fun with you when you were on her car. She was pushing and pulling you around. She pushed you forward into the couch a few times. We had to jump up and stop her so she didn`t push you into the couch too hard and knock you off the car.

This is Jenna getting ready to give you a push while you drove her car.

Haha... I laughed at you while you were eating tonight. After I fed you supper, I gave you some cheezies on your high chair table. You were gobbling them up, often with one in each hand. I then gave you a few corn twists too. I laughed when you had a cheezie in each hand, and then leaned over to try to bite into the pile of corn twists at the same time. I never expected that you would need more than your two hands while eating... haha.

You were so nice offering to share a cheezie with me. You took it back and put it in your mouth just as I was going to bite it. You`re a silly little monster ... but you`re a darn cute monster :)

Lots of hugs and kisses!
Daddy

Opening Presents...

Hi Big Baby One-year-old!!

So, Daddy told you all about your wonderful birthday party!  You were such a good-girl baby!!  I'm going to tell you about the part where you opened all of your presents from all your terrific family and friends!!

You were quite enthusiastic about opening presents...but not for the reason you might think!  You loved opening presents so that you could try to eat all the wrapping paper!

Here is what you got for your birthday:

From Nana and Grumpy you got a wonderful toy...it's called Songs 'n Smiles Silly Town.  It makes funny sounds and music and has really neat blocks that come with it.  We put it together first and you really like to play with it.

From Aunt Christa you got a great-big, lonnnng CaterSpeller!  It's a caterpillar with all the letters of the alphabet!  It looks really great in your room!

From Kaleigh you got an awesome purple Dora zip-up blanket, a shirt, and a baby wearing a bumble bee costume.  Jenna really, really liked the Bumble Bee...so, we let her play with it.

Grammie gave you a really nice baby and a very pretty purple outfit and some money, too!  She also got you a nice book called Love You Forever.  She wrote on the inside of it for you.  I hope you will have it forever.

From Cameron, Brenna and Devon you got a really neat Laugh 'n Learn Purse.  It makes music and sounds and it came with toy lipstick, keys, a bracelet and play money inside.  You really like it.

Daddy and I got you a play table.  It plays music and makes sounds and you love it.  When Daddy put batteries in it for you, you stood up and danced to the music it made.

Old Nanny gave you a really nice card with money in it.  She wanted you to get something you need with it.  Maybe Daddy and I will put it in a bank account for you...since you don't really need anything right now.

Our neighbors, Steve and Margaret, and their daughter Abby couldn't make it to the party but they gave you a really nice pink outfit for a present.  That was really nice of them!

Your cousins Noah and Ben made you homemade cards.  Ben was especially proud to give you his (he made two).  I think you liked them a lot...because you tried to eat them!!!

You sure did get a lot of presents for your birthday.  You are a very lucky little baby.

I love you big giant bunches and whacks!!

Muah.  xoxoxo.

Love Mama