Sorry for the Wait

Sorry it's been so long since last posting. I'll bet your tired of checking back to see "Garlic Breath" still there. I'm pleased to say Emma hasn't had it since that day!

What's been happening with us lately? Well, the biggest event has been Emma's first birthday. I'm now the mom of a 1-year old!!!! She had a party on Sunday, the 25th, the day before her birthday, and lots of her friends came to celebrate. Wyatt, Grant, Kalli, Anna....along with Anna's sisters Corra & Cailyn. Adults to celebrate with us: Scott and Laura, Kim and Haley, Crystal, Jaime, Malinda and Paul, Wendy, and Emma's Grandma (my mom). She got lots of wonderful presents (thanks, everyone -- those who came to the party and those who shipped gifts from afar) and our living room will be a perpetual mess until we can buy a toy box/basket/something-or-other. We had cupcakes for Em's party, and I discovered that a cake-decorator-I-am-not. I have no future in that profession...or even hobby! Nevertheless I can say I made Emma's birthday cake, something I'll proudly do every year, I think, even though I really don't care to cook.

The other events of the recent past....Thanksgiving, of course, and then all of us getting sick (but NOT from Thanksgiving....but rather a stomach bug). We ate dinner with the Suttons for what was probably the 4th or 5th year in a row -- always a good time. One of the funny moments of the day was when Kim broke out the storage tote of Haley's old beanie baby collection. We put Emma down inside the bin and covered her with toys. Kim took some pictures....when she emails them to me I'll try to post them here. Emma loved it and sat there for quite a long time! Em and I came home early (the dogs needed to be let out and it was nearing her bedtime) while Jon stayed behind to play games. That's when the stomach bug started to present itself....one messy diaper and two outfits covered in vomit. Poor kid took it like a champ! She didn't even cry. She seemed to get better over the next couple of days but then threw up again on Sunday evening. I think this is what I dislike most about her being in daycare....constant exposure to anything and everything that's going around. I got it on Saturday evening, then Jon wasn't feeling well during the day on Sunday, and my Mom started feeling ill Sunday evening. Fortunately we're all now back on the road....nearly fully recovered.

Lest I forget, Emma also was paid a visit by her Grampie Terry (Jon's dad), the weekend before Thanksgiving. He had a trade show in Indiana and drove over the day after Jon's birthday (now the big 3-0) and was able to spend a couple of days with his granddaughter. They had a great chance to play together one evening as both Jon and I had commitments at the church.

Emma had fun with her Grandma. My mom does lots of silly things to get smiles from her granddaughter -- one of the most memorable being setting Em in a laundry basket, tying a bandana to the handle to pull on, then dragging her throughout the upstairs hall and bedrooms for probably a full half hour before bedtime. Emma was multi-tasking, of course, reading a book as she got the ride.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Emma is picking up great speed crawling on her hands and knees, and she's pulling herself up like crazy. She'll take steps if we walk with her, holding her under the arms, but she hasn't really been "cruising" around the furniture too much. She's also been experimenting, it would seem, with her face! She's making all kinds of new and adorable facial expressions, sticking her lips out, making a tiny "o" with her mouth, etc. I don't think I'll be able to catch them with my camera, though. The shutter speed is just too slow.

That's all for now. I'll try not to be so long between now and the next post.

Garlic Breath

Emma had garlic breath today. She ate spaghetti, green beans (a few, at least), and garlic bread for lunch @ daycare, and I could smell it on her all evening. YIKES! She's too little to smell so stinky....from her mouth (I fully realize the stink that comes from other places which is quite normal). Her teachers stripped her down to her diaper before giving her lunch....when I went to see her she was sitting there nearly naked, but wearing a LOT of tomato sauce! I didn't have MY camera, but Kari (her teacher) took some pictures with her's.

Gotta hit the sack since Em still isn't sleeping through the night.

Lipstick Tubes Beware

Woof Woof! Emma wants to eat from Peanut's bowl...
What a sweet face

Isn't she growing? She likes to look out the back door, especially when Daddy's out there with the dogs. Makes it difficult for him to get back inside, though.

Our little jack-o-lantern on Halloween day. We carved the pumpkin's mouth to resemble Emma's right now....3 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom.

Oh, to explain the title of this post, Emma LOVES pulling everything out of my makeup bag and is quite taken with lipstick tubes, cover-up, and anything else that has a top she can pull off. This morning I set her up with the bag that holds all my "extra" (non-daily) stuff while I was in the shower. I came out to find all tubes minus their caps, and watched as she would keep trying to pull off more even where they didn't exist. Lipstick tubes everywhere BEWARE!

First Puke

Well, the Perfect Peach threw up for the very first time yesterday. She had a fever a couple of days ago and hadn't been eating much, and we think she just overdid it with the daycare lunch of dino-nuggets and tater-tot letters...then the snack of chocolate pudding. Apparently she was jumping in the jumperoo and suddenly tossed it all. Her teacher said it scared her --- I imagine!!! The daycare staff buzzed me, and Em was still crying when I arrived a few minutes later. They had already stripped her down and were putting fresh clothes on her. Vomiting warrants a child being sent home, and the policy for illness is that the child may not return until having been symptom-free for 24 hours. Alas, with the exception of a jaunt over to the church for a meeting I needed to attend, Em and I stayed home today.

Other updates....
Emma is crawling quite proficiently now and will go from living room to kitchen, and will roam the upstairs hallway. I awoke this morning to hear her "hand-falls" coming down the hall and into our bedroom. So cute!!! She thinks it's funny when I crawl over her. I think we're going to need to install the gate at the top of the stairs THIS WEEKEND.

Our little girl is fascinated by the shower. She likes sliding the doors open when we're in the act of showering, and this morning she tried to climb in herself. Not sure she'd like it if she were to succeed, but perhaps we'll find out one of these days.

Em's favorite little game tonight was wetting her hand in a glass of water then transferring the wetness to her mom's shirt and face! She thought it was SO funny and giggled every time.

I think Jon is Emma's favorite person right now. She lights up like a neon sign whenever he comes around, and reaches out to wrap her little arms around his neck in a full-body hug. She drapes herself over his shoulder as if it's the most comfortable spot in the world, and she laughs at her playmate's silly antics. She loves her Daddy.

Emma's drinking juice (diluted, of course) MUCH better now. She finishes off the entire sippy cup in a day now. I'm not worried any longer about her being dehydrated. She's also taking he bottles of milk (2 per day) with ease.

That's it for now! I'll add more photos with the next post.