Wordless Wednesday - Maestro

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

We packed up and headed off to Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas Eve. Emma slept very little on the trip up but was happy for the most part. Seems that she is also a ketchup fiend. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch on the way up. She watched Brad and I dipping our fries into ketchup and then picked up one of her own and tapped it on the cheeseburger wrapper. We gave her some ketchup and she went to town, dipping, sucking off ketchup, and dipping again. We went to the children's Christmas Eve service and then put Emma to bed so she could be ready for a big Christmas. Christmas morning we headed to church and then home where we waited for Uncle Dale, Aunt Michelle, Thomas and Garret to arrive. It was a big feast, which Emma enjoyed very much especially the mashed potatoes. We opened presents that afternoon and Emma helped everybody quite a bit. She got a lot of nice gifts and especially loved her new doll. She was tapping her little feet as she waited anxiously for me to get her out of the box. It was too cute. Emma also had a great time with Bailey, the dog. We stayed through the weekend since we had a baby shower for Aunt Lesa on Saturday. Then it was back home and back to the old grind but only for a couple of days this week.

Christmas at Home

We kicked off Christmas last Tuesday night at home since we were heading up to Grandma and Grandpa's the next morning. Emma had quite a pile of presents; she was obviously a good little girl last year. She especially enjoyed her new ride on toy.

Uh-Oh

I will post Christmas photos but our computer and my jump drive were not happy with each other this morning. In the meantime, I will mention that Emma has become the "uh-oh" girl. She "uh-ohs" about everything and will purposely drop something on the floor just for the opportunity to say "uh-oh". We keep telling here that it doesn't count when you drop it on purpose. Last night, she was preparing to drop a magnet on the floor so she gave a preemptive "uh-oh". She is cracking us up. "Bye bye" has also made it into the repertoire but doesn't seem to be as much fun to say. I promise to get some photos posted soon.

Bruiser

Emma was off playing with the big kids today and what the big kids do, Emma must also do so she was running around and having a great time until she had an unfortunate encounter with the corner of the plastic picnic table. Looks like she may have a shiner just in time for Christmas. As they said at daycare though, "It wouldn't be Emma without a bruise".

The Damage - 5 Hours Later

We're Making Progress

Emma has done so well this week with her sippy cup. The only times that she has had a bottle since Monday have been at night and the way that is going, it won't be long before we can drop the bottle there as well. I don't know what made the difference but we'll take it.

Enough!

Emma is still in the nursery at daycare and is one of the oldest if not the oldest in the room. However, her wish is to be with the big kids and she slips away anytime she gets the chance. Yesterday she must have been at her wits end with the babies. There was one in particular who was crying and crying and crying some more. Finally Emma could take no more; she stopped what she was doing, placed both hands over her ears and let out a scream of frustration. At that point, her wish was granted and she was permitted to go hang out with the big kids. We have no idea where she picked up the putting both hands over her ears but wish we had been there to see that one. What will she think of next?

Wordless Wednesday - Ready for Winter

I'm not ready...

...for winter weather but I guess that I don't have any choice in the matter. We are getting an unanticipated day off today due to icy conditions. Technically our center is opening at noon but trying to drive 40 miles with icy conditions is not an option. Plus Emma's daycare is closed so we are going to enjoy this day off thanks to old man winter. What a relief that I bought my bread and milk the other day; I guess this weather explains the zoo at the grocery store the other morning when I went to do my usual shopping.

Bits and Pieces

It seems like forever since I have had a good Emma story to tell. She has really started to question things these days. What I mean by that is that she is pointing at everything and saying in her Emma speak what translates to "What's that?" in my mind. She is especially interested in photos and the Christmas tree of course but has really been good about staying away from it. She has 10 teeth with 2 more on the way. Hopefully after those two come in we'll get a bit of a break. The sippy cup transition is not going so well. She drinks water great out of a sippy but doesn't want anything to do with the milk. If you transfer the same milk from the sippy into the bottle, she will gulp it right down. I don't know what to do because she needs to drink but she also needs to give up the bottle. Any suggestions?

Emma made a great escape last Friday at daycare. There is a door and a gate between the nursery and the transition room. At times during the day, they open the door and only the gate stands between Emma and the big kids. The gate does not lock so if you push on it or rattle it enough (like Emma), it can be opened. At some point on Friday, she got the gate open and off she went. When they finally missed her in the nursery, they looked all around including under the crib that she likes to hide under (I am sure that is a fun game for her since we like to play "Where's Emma?" at home). She was nowhere to be found until they finally noticed Emma whooping it up in the transition room. While this is the first time she has gotten in there under her own power and unnoticed, we were told that she often just lays in wait by the gate for her opportunity to make a dash to the transition room. Not sure if it is better toys or if she just likes the big kids.

Yesterday between church service and Bible class, we were out in the common area. There is a little guy at church who was born in August. He was in his carseat over on the floor. When Emma noticed him, she made a beeline and just stood there looking at him. At one point she did think that he needed to be rocked a bit. She never touched him but just stood there watching. She is going to be a hoot to watch when her new cousin arrives in February. We were taking Emma back to the nursery while Brad and I went to Bible class. Just this week, they have moved into a larger room across the hall from the cry room, however, Emma knew just where she needed to go and headed directly to the cry room even though everybody was across the hall. It was just amazing to us that she knew where she was supposed to go even though we hadn't been there in two weeks. It would be great to know what is going on in her head.

12 Months

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

...and I declare open season on Christmas music. Not exactly wordless on this Wednesday but I don't guess that any of you will object. We put up the Christmas tree on Sunday and yes, we did put up the big tree and gasp, even have some ornaments hung right at the level that little hands can easily reach. Emma helped a bit with the decorating process but it quickly became obvious that somebody was in need of a nap so Brad and I were left to put up the finishing touches by ourselves. So far Emma has been really good about staying away from the tree although a few ornaments have been pulled down. Of course we still have a month to go so we'll see if she can restrain herself. She is certainly intrigued by the tree and loves the dancing Santa. He starts dancing and she can't help but let out a big chuckle. It's the most wonderful time of the year and would be even better if somebody else would volunteer to do my shopping. Any takers?