Sending Love to Daddy

Whenever Brad calls home, I will put the phone to Emma's ear so she can say "Hi Daddy". Of course, she is usually more interested in the buttons so she doesn't actually get much from his side. However, each time I tell her, "Say Love you Dada", she kisses the phone. It is the cutest thing so even though he can't feel them, Brad has been getting Emma kisses all week long. I did attempt to take some 18 month photos and I do stress the attempt part. Here are a few of my results. I did manage to get one good one but it is hard to hit a moving target.

The money shot!

18 Month Update

Emma had a great time in the waiting room before her appointment playing with a big girl; had no problem walking back to the exam room but the minute I stripped off her clothes, the fun was over. Unfortunately, she knew when she got down to the diaper that this would be a full check-up and screamed through the weight, height and head measurements. She was not too happy about having the doctor listen to her heart and lungs and forget about trying to look in her mouth. She did end up getting one shot and cried for just a minute after it was over.

Emma weighed in at 23 lbs 8 oz (25-30%) and was 32 1/4 inches tall (70-75%). She has remained pretty steady with her weight but made a little jump in the height at this appointment; she had been in the 50th percentile for quite a while. As part of the assessment, they asked if she mimicks household chores. You bet! She sweeps, wipes up spills, throws trash away. They also asked if she could stack two blocks together. You bet! Only it is usually like 5 or 6; she also sorts blocks and likes to work puzzles. Can she say two words in addition to momma and dada? You bet! In fact, she has a couple of sentences that are routinely used. Does she like to climb? You bet! Just try and stop her. Does she like to swing, be bounced on your knee, etc.? You bet! The proof has certainly been displayed on this blog. As you can see just based on these few little questions that they asked (there were plenty of others), Emma is doing just great.

My heart and ego swelled a little too when I picked her up at daycare and was told that she had a major tantrum that morning. The swelling was not due to the tantrum but due to the statement by her teacher that she is just so darn smart that she is moving into this phase early. What mom doesn't like to hear that her child is so smart? I have no official 18 month photos because she was just filthy last night when I got her home so I took some this morning and will try again this evening and post them tomorrow. As for now, here are a few more from the weekend for your viewing pleasure.

Memorial Day Weekend and 24 Weeks

Grandma and Grandpa S. came down last Thursday night to spend a long weekend with us. It had been several months since they last saw Emma other than on the blog and she was quite the entertainer. We had nice weather on Friday and Saturday so Emma got plenty of time outdoors. I have noticed that she naps even better with the benefit of some fresh air; 4 hours on Friday (unprecedented) and 3 hours on Saturday. Grandpa cracked her up while she was on the swing at the park making all kinds of silly moves. Unfortunately Sunday was a washout and somebody was a little stir crazy (Emma). There was a little break in the weather during which time Brad and Grandpa put up Emma's new swing and she got to test it out a bit. We went from a full house this weekend to just Emma and I by 10am yesterday. Thankfully the rain that had been predicted stayed away so after her nap, Emma and I paid a visit to one of my coworkers who had a new baby about a month ago and then hit the park. Emma pretty much went between the swing and watching the kids in the pool. I think that we are going to have to break down and join for the summer.








As far as Junior is progressing, I finally took the first belly shot this weekend at 24 weeks. Brad assures me that I am only a little bigger than I was with Emma at this point but I think that he is just being kind. Not much else to update other than to say that the little bugger is moving around in there and getting stronger. I go back one week from Thursday for my check-up and glucose tolerance test (woo-hoo!) so I'll have more to update at that point.


Finally, somebody (Emma) is officially 18 months old today. We got in for her check-up this afternoon so I'll have a full report then. I will also try to get some 18 month photos since the resident photographer had to fly away again (but thankfully for the last time for a while) but that is not the easiest task with a girl who is constantly on the go so we'll see.

Happy Memorial Day!

Thank you to all the men and women who have and who currently serve our country. We appreciate the sacrifice you make. God bless you all and your families.

Greek Food Festival

Emma and I got our photo taken while we were enjoying the Greek Food Festival last weekend. Follow the link to see Emma and mommy "Out on the Rock".

Emma & Laura Greek Food Festival

Wordless Wednesday - Redneck Potty Training

"Amen"

Emma's newest word that Brad was working on with her last week is "Amen". It is the absolute cutest thing coming out of her mouth. She knows to say it at the end of our mealtime prayer and last night even recognized that she should say if after her bedtime prayer. The funny thing is that at meals, she often likes to jump right to the "Amen" if she is especially hungry and it is not like we are saying a long prayer to begin with "Thank you Jesus for this food". Usually, the "Amen" gets interjected right after "Jesus", which is just as good a spot to interject as any.

A Little Jig

If it is up-tempo, Emmma's feet will start moving. As we were exiting Grants Farm the other day, there was some polka music playing. The second the first note hit her ears, those little feet and hands started going. Brad got a very short clip of her dancing. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday - Struttin'

St. Louis Recap

Relax, sit back and enjoy...this is a long post.

We headed out last Friday morning and after some nasty weather along I-55 made it into sunny St. Louis. We decided to head to Grants Farm only to arrive and find that it was closed due to weather that had moved in earlier in the day so we went with plan B, which was the Magic House and thank goodness we did, because it was a huge hit with Emma. They have a great area for kids ages 1-6 that includes a water table and sandbox. Emma enjoyed every minute and demonstrated that she has no fear of heights as she climbed around and explored. After we left the Magic House, we went in search of some food and found out that Emma can turn into a little bear if not fed "on time". Once they brought out her dinner, Emma ate like I have never seen her eat before especially at a restaurant where she is usually distracted by the other diners.

We woke up Saturday morning and got ready to head to the zoo. The first animals that Emma saw at the zoo were the grizzly bears and they elicited a huge smile and a "what's that?". After seeing the penguin feeding, we decided to head over to the carousel. Emma did great for about the first three rotations and then the next time that I saw Brad and Emma, she was crying her little eyes out. Fortunately the ride was almost over but that was definitely the end of the carousel for the day. By this point, Emma was starting to come a little unglued so we looked at the apes and then found some lunch. Thankfully the lunch bolstered her spirits a bit and we enjoyed a few more hours at the zoo before heading back to the hotel for a nap. She barely made it out of the zoo parking lot before crashing. By far the hit of the zoo was petting the goats in the children's zoo. After dinner Saturday night, we headed to the indoor pool at the hotel. Emma was very wary but it has been almost a year since she was in a big pool so she and I sat on the steps for a while and before you know it, the legs were dangling in the water. Then Brad took her and got her focused on getting the ball at the other end of the pool and next thing you know, she was waist deep. By the time we got out, I was able to hold her away from my body and she had her legs out and was kicking.

So the clock in our hotel room had never been reset after daylight savings ended, which we were aware of most of the weekend. Well, Sunday morning I totally forgot so we awoke and thought it was an hour later than it really was. We got ourselves together, packed up and headed off to Grants farm, which opened at 9:30 am. On the way there, Brad looked at the clock and realized that it was really only about 8:15 am. OOPS! We ended up driving downtown real quick and then headed back to Grants Farm. Emma really enjoyed the ride on the tram around the park looking at all the animals. Then, she and I gave one of the baby goats a bottle. It went great until one of them bit her on the finger and she became the first patient of the day at the First Aid. After we got her bandaged, we found a turtle, which was nice and slow and non-threatening. He brought Emma back out of her shell and she had a great time after that especially when it came to feeding the llamas who were so gentle. We had to feed them four times and while we have seen Emma do some signs every now and then, she was really pulling out the "more" sign when it came to feeding the llamas.

Finally, before we headed out of town, we introduced Emma to Ted Drewes frozen custard. Before she even had the first bite swallowed, she was signing for more. She and I also got a pink carnation from Mr. Drewe himself in honor of Mother's Day! From there it was back to our rain soaked home. We had a great trip and especially enjoyed the nice, sunny weather.

Road Trip

We are off tomorrow to St. Louis for the weekend. The major items on the agenda include a visit to the zoo and Grants Farm as long as it is not raining. If we take the rain with us, Brad has plenty of indoor back-ups that will still entertain Emma. We just can't wait to see how she reacts to all the animals since she is proving to be a major animal lover. I'm sure that there will be plenty of photos after the weekend.

Emma's favorite question by far these days is "What's that?", which we probably hear about a thousand times per day. Here is a sample dialogue from this morning.

Emma: "What's that?"
Me: "A grape."
Emma: "What's that?"
Me: "A grape."
Emma: "What's that?"
Me: "Still a grape."

You get the picture. Sounds like they are getting any earful of "What's that?" at daycare as well. Wonder how many of those we'll get this weekend. We hope everybody has a great weekend and a very Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's.

Wordless Wednesday - Bird Watching

Is it Time Already?

Have we already reached the naked stage? When we picked Emma up from daycare yesterday afternoon, she had no pants on. Apparently she kept taking them off all day so they finally just gave up and let her go without. At least she kept her shirt on this time. One of the women who works with the kids in the next room said that every time she walked into the nursery yesterday, Emma was sitting in the rocking chair, no pants, hands on her legs like "Look at me and my bare little legs". Remarkably, she actually kept them on once we got home last night. This isn't the first time that she has felt the need to strip down and I am sure that it won't be the last. At least she can't get her diaper off...YET.