Happy Ween!

Happy Halloween from Emma the Honey Bee! Or, "happy ween" as she told Ben today (who makes the most adorable lion!) Emma makes the cutest little bee we've ever seen, although we're not sure how much she likes to wear her costume. After we transform her into a bee, she is happy to buzz around the house. But when it comes time to pose for a Halloween picture- not so much. We'll keep trying. It was easier last year when we could just stick her in a pumpkin and take a picture. Now that she's mobile, we've got to learn to take speed pictures. Here are some pictures of our little honey.

Riding Bikes!

We are now the proud owners of a Chariot bike trailer. We can now go on family bike rides with Emma riding along safely behind in her own little "bike." She loves it already, and we've ridden more than 30 miles together so far. Our favorite thing to do is park the car at a bike trail and ride about 5 miles down to David's grandparent's house for a pit stop (and sometimes cookies!). Then, we hop back on the bikes for the ride home. It's fun- and if Emma is still awake when we reach the car again, she's asleep by the time we hit the highway. There is so much to see on a bike!

We also ride around our neighborhood, and to the big park near our house to feed the ducks. Soon we plan to ride around White Rock Lake. Maybe next year we'll ride in the Witchita Falls "Hotter than Hell".........?? We shall see.

Emma at School

Emma is currently going to her school 5 days a week now, and it's been quite an adjustment! She seems to be doing very well, and doesn't even cry anymore when Mommy drops her off! We had Emma's parent/teacher conference this week and her teacher had many fabulous things to say about her and how brilliant she is. :)

Here are some pictures of her in her classroom and with some of the other kids.

More Pictures!

Here are some more cute pictures of Emma!

Her hair is getting longer, and Mommy doesn't know what to do with it yet. It's not long enough for pigtails, so we usually just put a barette in it- but it still sticks out on the sides. And when it's wet, look out!

She is really attached to this lamb-- "Lambie." She likes to give it hugs.

Silly Emma

Here is a video of Emma being silly. She discovered how to make this mouth noise and it was really cute.

Emma Can Walk!

It's been a while, so here are some updates!

1. Emma is walking!

2. Mommy went back to work.

3. Emma stays with her great grandparents twice a week, and goes to The Goddard School the other 3 days per week. (We're still getting used to this)

4. Emma repeats several words and short phrases that she hears often

Though Emma can walk now, she's still wobbly and has fallen backwards a couple of times- which scares us to pieces. She is getting more brave and yesterday ventured out into the middle of the family room by herself and was able to sit down without crashing!

Some words that Emma knows: ball (first word), doggie, duck, baby, bebe (Spanish for baby), hi, bye, Ben (but she says "beh"), Mommy, Daddy, Gay Gay, Gram, Mimi, and probably some others that I am forgetting. We're working on Pop Pop, Grandma, Grandpa, Papa, and Aunt Heather! She also says "good day" a lot because we often say "have a good day" when we leave her- it's so cute. She also occasionally watches a show called Yo Gabba Gabba, and we think she calls it "Gobby"- she says that while she looks at the TV. It's amazing to see all of the things she learned since turning 1. She still only has 2 teeth, but can eat lots of different foods. She's even learned to dip her waffles in syrup- I think maybe Ben taught her to do that! We can't wait to see what she'll do next.

4th of July

We went to Tyler, TX and spent the 4th of July at our family's lake house-- and Emma went for her first swim in Lake Tyler!! She loved it, and loved the boat rides. It was really hot and she got a little heat rash, but seemed to have a great time anyway. Uncle Nathan and Aunt Mary joined us, and we all had a blast with Grandma & Grandpa Cone. Here are some pictures from our weekend.

On the Move

Here is a recent video of Emma learning how to scoot. So far these are her attempts to crawl- she may be doing the real thing very soon. But right now Emma is mostly happy to hold our hands (or her new walker- thanks Grandma & Grandpa Cone!) and walk all over the house. Whether it's on all fours or two legs, there's no doubt that she's moving on her own agenda!

Birthday Girl

Emma is now a 1 year old! Her birthday was on June 16th, and we had her party the next Saturday. (On her actual birthday we flew home from our family vacation in Florida). Lots of friends and family came to our picnic in the park, and we all had a great time. The big cake event premiered shortly after our lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers (birthday girl had pasta and grapes). Emma ate a yummy buttercream cupcake with vanilla frosting- which was lovingly made by Mommy, Aunt Monica, and Aunt Brittany very late the night before!

We can't believe how fast this year has gone- I know we'll wake up one day soon and Emma will be 7 years old and we'll say the same thing. Emma has accomplished a lot this year, and we are very proud of all the things she has learned and so thankful to have her. We love our little cupcake!

Swimming

We are now the proud owners of a whale-shaped kiddie pool, complete with a tail shade and water spout! Even though Emma has only been swimming in it twice, she already loves it! When we go to the door to let the dogs out, Emma sees her pool outside and starts "hopping" and kicking her legs (which means she is excited).

Here are some pictures of her sitting in her new pool with daddy. Though Sydney and Lily would love to join Emma, the pool has a "no-dogs" rule because inevitably, they would pop it.

Emma's First Boat Ride

This past weekend we spent some time at David's dad's boat house on Lake Tyler. Emma took her first boat ride on Grandpa Mike's new boat and seemed to enjoy it. She liked pointing to the trees and other boats- and she loved the wind in her hair. She made herself quite comfortable on the boat, and even took a good nap! We had a great time and plan to go back a lot more this summer.

Tiny Steps

Well, school's out for mom so it's time to update the blog!! I'll be having quite a lot more time on my hands, so hopefully we'll get more pictures on here more often.
Emma is changing all the time-- it's amazing to see how she has grown this year. Just over Memorial Day weekend she began wanting to "walk" around ALL the time. Her way of walking is holding both of mommy or daddy's hands and rapidly prancing all over the house. When we stop to adjust or stretch (it's a bit hard on the back) she cries to stand up and go some more. And no, she is not crawling yet. She scoots around on her tummy, and is almost doing an "army" crawl, but not quite. That whole saying "you've got to crawl before you walk" might not be true for Emma!

This video was tonight on her way to the bathtub. She wore herself out today- she was asleep by 7 p.m. before Daddy even left the room!

Peekaboo!

Emma is such a happy baby! She loves to play peek-a-boo. One recent morning while we were getting ready for the day, Emma was sitting in our bed entertaining herself! Every time one of us walked out of the bathroom she pulled the sheet up in front of her face, then pulled it down and gave us a giant smile! We love watching her learn so many new things.

10 months old

Emma is 10 months old now! Her first Easter was lots of fun-- she did really well in church, and that afternoon she enjoyed banging some eggs together and pulling the grass out of her Easter basket.

Lately it has seemed that Emma is finally ready for some more variety in her diet- at least some new textures. She's now eating more "finger" type foods, and is beginning to mash and chew with much more ease! So far Emma likes: rice cakes, pieces of pear, cheerios, dried apricots, and banana chunks. She also continues to eat her old standbys: zucchini, apples, squash, sweet potatoes, yogurt, and oatmeal. She is not so into green beans anymore, and she gags on peas every time we try them. We've given her avocado a few times, but she makes a funny face- we're thinking she might not like the green things so much!

Here is a cute picture of her in the bluebonnets over Easter weekend. She picked a few of the flowers and tried to eat them!

Naked Emma

The other day Emma had a diaper rash, so we got her naked to give her hiney some fresh air. She just had the best time. Here she is being super cute and flapping like a little birdie!

Happy Emma

Busy Baby

This past week Emma traveled to Indiana for the first time to visit Gram and Pop. She had lots of fun seeing her grandparents and meeting some family members for the first time! And she really liked Shelby the dog and Pepper the cat. Emma got to visit with both of her great-grandmothers and was such a good baby on the airplane. Today it was back to the grind, and Emma went back to Aunt Heather's. She had a really good day playing with Ben and taking medium naplets with dreams of spring break.


Emma also went to the doctor for her 9 month visit today (it was a busy day). Aside from having her toe squeezed and pricked 5 times for bloodwork (yes, 5 times- she fought the needle!) the appointment went well. Emma weighs 15 lbs, 11 oz., which is on the small side. Actually, "elfin" according to the pediatrician. The doctor assured us that Emma's development is good and she's very healthy, in spite of her being petite. She eats a lot, drinks lots of milk, and is as happy as can be. What more could we ask for?

Dallas Arboretum

Last week over Nicole's spring break we went to the arboretum for Dallas Blooms! The flowers were beautiful of course, and we had fun taking pictures of Emma. She tried to eat part of the scenery a few times, but we managed to keep her from swallowing any flowers or dirt. Here are a few of our favorite pictures, taken by the talented Grandpa Mike.

Recent Skills

Emma is becoming a social butterfly. This is a picture of her playing peekaboo! Emma has recently begun to play this game, and really likes to pull the blanket back up over her face to hide again. She is such a silly little lady.

This past week, she also said "mamamama" and reached for mommy at the same time!! Also, as you can see from this picture- she has no teeth yet. There are little whitish bumps on her bottom gums, so surely some teeth will appear soon......so far Emma doesn't seem to mind being toothless. She is able to put Cheerios in her mouth and "crunch" them a little (but mostly hold them on her tongue until they dissolve). When she stops gagging on them, we'll post a video. Poor baby is still getting used to the feeling of crunchy food in her mouth-- she's not so polite while eating those Cheerios! She does much better with yogurt, which she has also started to eat this past week. Emma is a good eater-- she is definitely not a fan of peas, but otherwise has a pretty wide range of food that she likes (so far!).

Emma is going on her first airplane ride to Indiana next week to see Gram and Pop (and her great aunts and great grandmas). March has been an eventful month for Emma so far. Our little Emma turns 9 months old next week, and we are excited to see what new things she will learn with the passing of this milestone!

Learning the Cup

Here is a silly video of Emma playing with her sippy cup. She can drink better on the cups from Gram because they don't have handles. But she loves this one the best because she can hold onto it and make it dance around. Drinking= boring. Playing and getting wet= fun!

Fake Smile

Sometimes when Emma is not feeling like her cheery self, she does what we so lovingly call her "fake smile." She gets a pained look on her face- her way of telling us that she's trying so hard to be happy, but she's just not that into it. She does this around new people, and especially when she is tired. Here are some of our favorite fake smile pictures.

Talking to Bear

Though we have yet to get a video of this, Emma likes to "talk" to her toys and animals. Here she is having a conversation with her bear. After babbling for a few minutes, she looked up at me with the cutest face right when I took the picture. We think she looks just like a tiny David, only with longer eyelashes!

Bouncing

Emma loves her new jumperoo! She's working on strengthening her legs so she can crawl. She'll be on the move soon, whether we're ready or not!

Ben & Emma

Here are some recent pictures of Ben and Emma. Even though it looks like Ben is trying to smash his small cousin, he is really just giving her a hug!

We can't believe Benjamin is almost 1 year old. In two weeks, we will celebrate his first birthday, and we are so happy to have him in our lives!

I can sit up!

A message from Emma:
I can now sit up all by myself! I've only toppled over a couple of times, so it's going well. With this new skill, I can see things from a whole new perspective. Bonus: I can see where my mom and dad go when they walk around the room and I like to cry when they leave to get their attention. BUT- ceiling fans are much harder to spot. I have to balance my head, and sometimes I fall backwards. Yikes!

Prunes!

Emma's doctor has suggested that we give her prunes frequently to help some recent tummy troubles. This past week Aunt Heather let Emma have some fun while she ate them. As you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed the prunes and rapidly became a sticky, brown mess!

New Skills

Here are some pictures from Aunt Heather's house-she has been having so much fun there. She loves to bounce in the jumper and play with lots of toys. As you can see below, Emma has a giant tongue for such a little lady!


Emma has also learned to sit up! She can stay sitting all by herself once she is propped up by us. She is now eating more foods also. She loves butternut squash, carrots, apples, pears, and prunes. I suppose it is time to introduce some greenery.