Standing alone

Tonight after I got off work Kevin, Emma, and I were playing in Moody Park. I was videotaping her playing because she was so cute. Emma for a brief 10-15 seconds stood on her own without holding onto her toy, and I got it all on tape! It was so cool. I actually didn't even notice at first b/c I was watching her on the 1 in by 1 in monitor. It shouldn't be long to walking I think. She has even made a few steps while holding on to something, cruising. I am so proud. What a big girl I have.

"Cute, Sweet, Adorable"

Ok, I know that I have a tendancy to use these words alot when I am talking about Emma. But she is just so cute, sweet, and adorable. Anyways, I thought I would show you a picture of her, well, other side! hahaha. Actually, I think it is pretty funny. Just see for yourself.

Beep Beep

I decided to go ahead and buy Emma another Beep Beep. She loves the silly thing. She drags it around everywhere. God forbid that I try to lay her down for a nap and she doesn't have it. (Believe me I tried the other day so that I could wash it, yeah, that was a no go.) So I found one online and purchased it. Hmm, maybe I should get more than just one? I have also decided that there are going to be rules about Beep Beep. He has to stay in the house or the car. I took him into Wal-mart the other day and we lost him three times! Luckily once I noticed and twice other people noticed. So Beep Beep has to stay at home or in the car. At least Emma is easily distracted so she doesn't get upset that we don't take him into the store... yet.

Standing up

Emma pulled herself up to standing on the coffee table today. This is the first time that she has done this since she started crawling. Maybe there is hope that she will start walking soon. =)

Words

I realized today that Emma is saying more words than I give her credit for. She says "bean bean" for green beans, "chise" for cheese, "crackcrack" for cracker, "bipbo" for hippo, "guck" for duck, "kack kack" for quack quack, "baba" for ball, and "daw" for down. I am so proud of her. My baby may not be walking yet but she sure is smart!

Playing at the Mall

At the mall near my house there is a indoor park made of foam toys. I can take Emma there and she crawls around and "talks" to the other kids. She really likes to play there. She is usually the only one that crawls, although today there were two other children that crawled. The only thing I don't like about going there is when the other parents ask me "How old is she?". I tell them 13 mo and they give me what I call "the look". "The look" is "Oooohhh, she is 13 mo old and STILL cawling?" Every mom who has asked me this question has given me the exact same look. I feel I have to make an excuse or explain that she is more verbal then physical or that its still normal that she is not walking yet. I just wish mothers were not so judgemental. I hope that I am not like this when I am out around other moms. I will still take her there b/c she likes it and it gets me out of the house, but I look forward to when she is walking so I don't have to deal with "the look".

Emma

Just a cute picture of my baby with my new camera that Kevin got me for Mother's Day. Expect to see more pictures of Emma.

The park.

Until my sister-in-law moves in with us in a few months I have set up the empty room with most of Emma's fun toys and I call it "the park". I say to Emma, "Do you want to go to the park?" and we walk/crawl to the room. She loves to play in there. I probably should stop calling it the park b/c when she can actually walk and go to a real park then she will want to go in there. Until then she likes it, its completely baby proof, and I don't have to worry about her eating the bark. So we go to "the park" every day.

Maternity Pictures

After a year I finally have my Maternity pictures retouched. Here is a few of them. I just love them, I think every pregnant woman should have these done.

Hot... Gotta Blow

Emma started blowing when I say that the food is hot. It is so cute, useless but cute. What can I say, she tries hard.

One Year Pictures

We got Emma's one year pictures done today. Yeah, I know she is 13 mo old now, but it still counts right? I thought she looked so cute. I am sure you will agree. (Click on the pics to make them bigger)

Beep Beep The Elephant

Yesterday Emma found the stuffed Elephant that my brother had gotten her when she was born. Ever since then she has carried it with her wherever she goes, since she is crawling she kind of drags it along. Anyways, today in the car my mom squeezed the elephants nose and said "beep, beep". It is so cute now Emma says "beep beep" every time she picks up the elephant. I guess "beep beep" is easier to say than elephant! It is so funny and sweet. I should probably try to buy another one in case "beep beep" gets lost! hahaha

Easter Egg Hunt

Emma did her first Easter Egg hunt today, actually she had two egg hunts. The first one this afternoon we went with her friend Madeline and Lauren. She crawled around in the grass and got 3 eggs. Who would have thought watching my baby crawl to get plastic eggs would be so much fun?






The second egg hunt was actually at the aquatic center and she got to "catch" Easter egg in a little kiddy pool. She loved it. She got to splash around and catch the eggs. I think we had as much fun watching her as she had splashing around. It's funny how much amusement we get
from her.

Kisses

Emma mimics everything that we do, today she mimic kisses. This sweet little puckered lip "sucking" sound. Now I just need to teach her to kiss me and not just make the sounds. How much fun!

It's finished, official, terminated, done...

I have breast fed Emma for the last time this morning. Even then I don't think I could consider what she did as breast feeding. Emma took three sucks and signed "all done". Even if I wasn't ready to quite, she was. I am sure that I will have a harder time with it than she will. Actually, I know I will.

A Laughing Day With Friends

Emma and I spent the day with Madeline and Laura today. Emma just loves her friend Maddie. This evening the girls took a bath together and they were splashing and cracking up! Emma was laughing so hard. Laura got her video camera and recorded it, hopefully I will get a copy because it was priceless. I just love listening to her laugh. I don't think there is anything in the whole world that is as wonderful as hearing your baby laugh. I wish that I had it on an audio cassette so that I can hear it everyday!

Shots

Emma had her one year shots today. MMR and chicken pox. It's great that children now get the chicken pox vaccine so that hopefully she won't get the disease. The Pediatrician said that there is a small chance she might come down with chicken pox or measles. Hopefully not, that would totally suck! She cried so hard when she got the shots. She looked at me like I had just tortured her. Big o'l tears. It took forever for her to settle down.

Otherwise, the Dr thought that she was doing great. She thought Emma was progressing slowly (but normally) with physical things like walking. But was advanced with speech and communication. She told me I should be proud of how many words she can speak and sign. My baby is so smart! I am not to concerned she is not walking yet, she is already pulling up to her knees. I have a feeling that the crawling stage will be short lived. I still can't believe my baby is one!

Want... More... Drink

Emma signed three signs in a row today, making a sentence (sort of). I have such a smart baby. She is saying more and more every day. What a big girl she is getting to be. I have a feeling this next year is going to fly by with all the new things she will learn.

Pup-py

New word. Emma is saying Pup-py for Abby. It is so neat that she is starting to say words.

Got Milk?

Today I started giving Emma some whole milk. I mixed one ounce of whole milk to three ounces of breast milk. Hopefully she will tolerate it well. My mom said that I had a horrible allergy to milk as a baby. I will gradually add milk to get her use to it. I have a lot of breast milk left so the process can go slow. We'll see.

Gramma Signs

While I was at work today my mom came over to spend time with Emma. Mom told me that Emma signed to her "more" ,"drink". Mom was so tickled that she knew what she wanted. She said she felt like she was having a conversation with her. I wish I had been home to see it because Emma is so stubborn about doing "drink".

Weaning

We are officially starting to wean, although technically we have started the weaning process a long time ago because I am only nursing her in the morning and at night. By officially I mean that we are planning to start the stopping process. Next week I am planning on dropping the night time feeding and then eventually stop all together. I think it is more traumatizing on me than on her. Although the other day we were sitting in the rocking chair and she patted my chest and then did the "more" sign, which for her means I want to either eat or drink something. Well, it was right after her nap and since my milk is drying up if I would have nursed her then I wouldn't have been able to feed her before bed, so we went down to the kitchen and got her sippy cup of milk. She drank a few ounces of it then she patted me again, pulled down my shirt, put her mouth to my breast bone, and did the "more" sign. I then attempted to give her the sippy cup again, but she nodded "no" and did the "more" sign. It cracked me up. I guess it is time to wean when she is telling me she wants to nurse. Hopefully this process will be easy for her, I am sure it will be more difficult for me.

It's official!

Crawling has begun. She finally started crawling across the living room. It's so cute. I can see her concentrating so hard on getting all her limbs and muscles to work the way she wants them to. I will have to say, she is a little lazy though. I put her across the living room to get her to come to me and she stopped at her toys wanting to take a break. Still even now that she knows how to crawl if I put all her toys by her she will just sit and play. She is still catching up on her sleep from traveling and do all this extra working out! I am so glad that she is finally crawling, I was a smidgen worried that she was never going to be mobile, especially since she is now one.

Papa & Hi

Emma said "papa" tonight for Steve. It was so cute, whether or not she was actually saying it to him or just repeating what "gramma" was saying who knows. Also, she says "Hi". She says it at all random times and sometimes at appropriate times so it is so hard to say if she really knows what she is saying or just repeating what we are saying. Does this count as "words"? Or does she have to actually look at Steve and say "papa" while holding out her hands. Or say "Hi" when we first arrive while she is waving her hand. Don't know, I'll ask the Pediatrician if this counts. It is awfully fun though.

Crawling?

Emma made four little crawls! She is so close. I can see it in her eyes, she really really wants to move. This is more fun than I thought it would be. My baby is growing up! Waaahhaaaa.

Cruise

Well, being on a cruise with a one year old is completely different than going on a cruise for our honeymoon. Hmmm, maybe not the best idea. We are having a great time but I feel guilty that Emma is totally off on her schedule. I look forward to getting back on schedule, but I will be sad to get home. Well, off to the pool. =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Emma's ONE years old! I can't believe my baby is a whole year now! She had chocolate cake for her birthday and she loved it. She was upset when it was all gone. The cake was all over, it was so cute.

Packing...packing...packing

Well, we are being brave and taking Emma on a one week cruise. We leave tomorrow, Friday, to drive to Galveston. We are staying the night in a hotel and then boarding the cruise on Sat. Wish us luck. I hope Emma doesn't get sea sick! Actually, I hope I don't get sea sick!

Sitting up

My baby Emma is getting to be such a big girl. Today when I laid her down for a nap I could hear her playing in the room so I went to watch her on the video monitor, well, she had rolled over on her stomach and then she sat up! She went from her stomach to sitting up! I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't saw it. Luckily, I had put her crib on it's lowest setting and had put her crib rail up at nap time, so she couldn't fall out. Although, I have to say that I need to get into the habit of raising her crib rail. I watched her for a while, after a while she put her thumb in her mouth. It seems she could get into a sitting position but couldn't figure out how to lay back down. So I went in and laid her down. She look on her face said "Thanks so much mommy, I couldn't figure out what to do."

Uh...oh

Today Kevin taught Emma how to say "Uh oh". It is so cute. Is there anything that she does that isn't cute. I love her so much more every day if that is even possible. I look forward to when she is really talking and not just repeating what we are saying. I just love spending time with her!