Emma chooses who gets to read her books and put her to bed each night. Usually she chooses Kurt. Tonight she chose me.
When Kurt puts her down, Emma is all business and he comes down to the living room in about 3.5 minutes flat after reading her a book and giving her a couple cuddles. When I put her down, it's a different story, Emma drags out the process for 15-30 minutes. Some nights it is frustrating, but lately, I keep in mind that she's only little once and that I need to treasure the nights she chooses me.
Tonight, I read her books and she pointed to her crib. I put her in and she did not want to lay down. I picked her up and she pointed to her changing table. I thought that maybe she wanted to sleep there since it's similar to her daycare cot. (I would have until she fell asleep and then transferred her to her crib) She wanted to be picked up again and then wanted to read more books. We sat down, read, cuddled. She indicated she wanted to go back to her crib. She scooted over to her new Teddybear that our friend Erin brought her last week and came back to me with it. We sat back down. She hugged and hugged her bear. Then she got a bottle and fed the bear. We cuddled some more. We read some more. We went back to the crib and she played with her music box. She also had a little dance party before she wanted me to pick her up again. We cuddled some more. We went back to the crib. She picked up her teddy bear, her two lovies, and her blanket and gave them to me and then wanted me to pick her up. I asked what I should do then. She said "Sit." So we sat. She got comfy...the lovies went on the floor as did Teddy Bear. She tried to put her blanket over her so I helped then she wanted her bear back. She snuggled her bear and cuddled into me. It was so cute. Finally, she relaxed enough to go to sleep and I was able to lay her down. Sweet girl!
She has several stuffed animals and lovies. She really hasn't taken to any of them. She'll play with them briefly, but she hasn't "needed" to have one in her arms for any extended period of time. Last week, after Erin left and it was time for bed, Emma took Teddy Bear upstairs with her. I just put it in the corner of her crib, and I think it's been in the same spot since. I thought it was really cute that it was just what she wanted tonight to help her settle down. Thanks Erin!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
15 Month Stats
Emma had her 15 month well-check and vaccinations today. She is 21 lbs 13.5 oz, 32 inches tall, and has a head circumference of 45.5 inches cm (Thanks for pointing that out Mom!). She gained almost 1.5 lbs and grew 2 inches in 3 months! We weren't crazy when we thought a few of her dresses looked shorter and we could see more of her chubby little legs!!
She received 3 vaccinations: Hep A, Hib, and Tetanus today. She had much more immediate reactions to them than she has previously. In the past, her eyes would get really big while the pain of the injection registered. Today, it was pretty much immediate. Poor thing! She was a trooper though!
Emma was great in the waiting room and stayed right near me while I filled out paperwork. While we were waiting for the doctor to come in, she enjoyed sitting on a stool at a desk eating goldfish and reading through a truck book. She was very excited when the nurse brought Daddy in to the room.While the doctor was examining her, she was a little weary. She did not really want to be poked and prodded. Apparently, this reaction is completely normal at this age.
After the doctor left and we were waiting for the nurse to come back in for the shots, Emma got a little restless. She made it very clear that it was time to go "Outside!" We kept trying to explain that we had to wait just a little more. She proceeded to pretend that the stainless steel wastebasket was a drum. Awesome. We weren't really thinking when we asked if she wanted to go see Oscar and Elmo in Grouchland (a favorite in our house) because that started her wanting to leave immediately. *Sigh*
One question the doctor asked was how big Emma's vocabulary is. We explained that she definitely knows a lot of words and understands commands and what we are talking about but that we don't feel that she says a lot of words. Most of her words are just the first sound or syllable and many words sound very similar and that other people wouldn't know what she is saying and that context plays a big part in understanding her. The doctor reassured us that it sounds like Emma is normal and that at this age, "normal" is considered to be regular use of 2-5 words.
After dinner, I got out a pen and paper and we made a list of words Emma uses daily or at least regularly enough that we know she knows what something is. We (or at least I) were surprised that she uses upwards of 40 words consistently. She has also repeated many more, but hasn't committed them to her regular usage vocabulary. A couple of her favorites are dog, book, cheese, shoes, hi/bye, and pretzel. She also consistently tells us what sounds 6-7 animals make. We're working on 2-3 more and she can repeat with prompting.
We are amazed daily at how much Emma has grown and is developing! Our little baby is getting to be such a big girl! We can't believe how quickly time is flying by!
She received 3 vaccinations: Hep A, Hib, and Tetanus today. She had much more immediate reactions to them than she has previously. In the past, her eyes would get really big while the pain of the injection registered. Today, it was pretty much immediate. Poor thing! She was a trooper though!
Emma was great in the waiting room and stayed right near me while I filled out paperwork. While we were waiting for the doctor to come in, she enjoyed sitting on a stool at a desk eating goldfish and reading through a truck book. She was very excited when the nurse brought Daddy in to the room.While the doctor was examining her, she was a little weary. She did not really want to be poked and prodded. Apparently, this reaction is completely normal at this age.
After the doctor left and we were waiting for the nurse to come back in for the shots, Emma got a little restless. She made it very clear that it was time to go "Outside!" We kept trying to explain that we had to wait just a little more. She proceeded to pretend that the stainless steel wastebasket was a drum. Awesome. We weren't really thinking when we asked if she wanted to go see Oscar and Elmo in Grouchland (a favorite in our house) because that started her wanting to leave immediately. *Sigh*
One question the doctor asked was how big Emma's vocabulary is. We explained that she definitely knows a lot of words and understands commands and what we are talking about but that we don't feel that she says a lot of words. Most of her words are just the first sound or syllable and many words sound very similar and that other people wouldn't know what she is saying and that context plays a big part in understanding her. The doctor reassured us that it sounds like Emma is normal and that at this age, "normal" is considered to be regular use of 2-5 words.
After dinner, I got out a pen and paper and we made a list of words Emma uses daily or at least regularly enough that we know she knows what something is. We (or at least I) were surprised that she uses upwards of 40 words consistently. She has also repeated many more, but hasn't committed them to her regular usage vocabulary. A couple of her favorites are dog, book, cheese, shoes, hi/bye, and pretzel. She also consistently tells us what sounds 6-7 animals make. We're working on 2-3 more and she can repeat with prompting.
We are amazed daily at how much Emma has grown and is developing! Our little baby is getting to be such a big girl! We can't believe how quickly time is flying by!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Fun Emma stories from Friday
On Wednesday, we were having meatloaf for dinner and I didn't want Emma bothering me for the 8 minutes it takes to mix everything together so I put out a quilt on the living room floor, got her a bowl of crunchers and a cup of water and turned on Blue's Clues. Tonight, we got home and Emma asked for a snack. She proceeded to carefully carry her bowl into the living room, wait for me to put the quilt on the floor and then sat down and ate her snack. =)
During her second pre-dinner snack (they were both small), Emma was sitting in her booster seat at the table. When she decided she was finished, she started throwing what was left on the floor. I sternly told her that it was not acceptable and took her to timeout. She did not like this and protested quite vehemently. When I let her go, she was still crying and went and sat on the stairs and just looked at me with the most pitiful face. I sat by her, she gave me a hug and finally calmed down. I reiterated that throwing food was not acceptable. I'm not sure she was really listening.
During our pizza dinner, she insisted on feeding me a piece of pizza in between her bites of pizza. It was really cute.
After dinner, she was on the couch and threw a thow pillow over the arm, she then proceeded to dive head first over the couch after it. Luckily, I was able to catch her leg so she didn't fall on her head. When I looked at her, she just smiled and started laughing. *sigh* This might be a new game.
During bath time, Emma had a lot of fun playing with her floating hippos. She really likes hitting them to make them chirp. Afterward, while I was trying to get her dressed, I asked her to lay down and she promptly folded herself in half and pretty much laid down on her stomach. Not the best position to put a diaper on!
She enjoyed reading a nursery rhyme book, and pointed at a pig and said "Piggy" without any prompting! I didn't even know she knew what a pig was! During the second book, she turned and pointed to her crib and pointed. I asked if she wanted to go to bed and she shook her head yes. Kurt usually puts her to bed and says she does this almost every night.
Although she had some moments, we had a lot of fun tonight while Kurt was out playing cards!
During her second pre-dinner snack (they were both small), Emma was sitting in her booster seat at the table. When she decided she was finished, she started throwing what was left on the floor. I sternly told her that it was not acceptable and took her to timeout. She did not like this and protested quite vehemently. When I let her go, she was still crying and went and sat on the stairs and just looked at me with the most pitiful face. I sat by her, she gave me a hug and finally calmed down. I reiterated that throwing food was not acceptable. I'm not sure she was really listening.
During our pizza dinner, she insisted on feeding me a piece of pizza in between her bites of pizza. It was really cute.
After dinner, she was on the couch and threw a thow pillow over the arm, she then proceeded to dive head first over the couch after it. Luckily, I was able to catch her leg so she didn't fall on her head. When I looked at her, she just smiled and started laughing. *sigh* This might be a new game.
During bath time, Emma had a lot of fun playing with her floating hippos. She really likes hitting them to make them chirp. Afterward, while I was trying to get her dressed, I asked her to lay down and she promptly folded herself in half and pretty much laid down on her stomach. Not the best position to put a diaper on!
She enjoyed reading a nursery rhyme book, and pointed at a pig and said "Piggy" without any prompting! I didn't even know she knew what a pig was! During the second book, she turned and pointed to her crib and pointed. I asked if she wanted to go to bed and she shook her head yes. Kurt usually puts her to bed and says she does this almost every night.
Although she had some moments, we had a lot of fun tonight while Kurt was out playing cards!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Emma takes a shower
This evening, Emma was tired and a little restless. Kurt and I didn't really want to take her outside because it was hot and kind of muggy and we were just feeling lazy. Out of the blue, Kurt asked Emma if she wanted to take a shower. Emma responded by getting up from the couch and climbing the steps. At the top, Kurt asked where the shower was and she marched through our bedroom right to the shower in the bathroom. We opened the door and she stepped right in. She was very excited!
We decided to undress her to her diaper and let her play in the water. She got a little apprehensive...she's had a on again, off again relationship with running water over the last few months. Kurt picked her up and let her hold her hands in the water. She was getting pretty wet, so we stripped off her diaper and Kurt ended up washing her in the shower. She had fun trying to splash me and watching Kurt make funny faces and noises when he put his face in the water stream. After a little while, she got a little worried, looked at us, pointed to herself and said "Poop." We immediately scooped her out of the shower and got a diaper on her quick as quick could be. Apparently, "poop" is her way of saying "uncle." It's kind of funny that she knew that would get her out of the shower and back onto familiar ground.
We decided to undress her to her diaper and let her play in the water. She got a little apprehensive...she's had a on again, off again relationship with running water over the last few months. Kurt picked her up and let her hold her hands in the water. She was getting pretty wet, so we stripped off her diaper and Kurt ended up washing her in the shower. She had fun trying to splash me and watching Kurt make funny faces and noises when he put his face in the water stream. After a little while, she got a little worried, looked at us, pointed to herself and said "Poop." We immediately scooped her out of the shower and got a diaper on her quick as quick could be. Apparently, "poop" is her way of saying "uncle." It's kind of funny that she knew that would get her out of the shower and back onto familiar ground.
Where is Emma?
One day after work about a week ago, I was trying to cook dinner and Emma was walking around the kitchen playing in drawers and generally staying occupied. She wandered into the living room and I didn't think anything of it. Until she didn't come back to the kitchen for two minutes. (Two minutes is a very long time for this girl to be away from her Mommy...especially if no one else is home) I peeked into the living room to see what she was playing with and was shocked that she wasn't there. I immediately started calling her name, looking behind the couches, in the bathroom (whose door was shut tight) and got scared when I couldn't find her. I flew downstairs thinking I would find her trying to turn the xbox on but she wasn't there either. At this point I was frantic and was yelling her name...and of course she wasn't answering. I ran back upstairs, glanced at the front door and was relieved that it was locked (we don't think she can reach the door knob yet, but one day she will!), and ran upstairs to find her sitting playing with a barn toy we have in our bedroom. I said "Emma, THERE you are!" and she just smiled up at me with the sweetest most innocent smile and offered me a toy. *sigh*
No More Baby Gates
That's right, we have a 14 month old and have no baby gates in our house.
Two or three weekends ago, Emma decided that she wanted to go downstairs. I can't remember if Kurt and I didn't want to go down stairs or if we weren't paying attention to Emma, but at any rate, Emma decided that she was going to climb over the baby gate to get to the basement. Luckily, we stopped her before she tumbled head first down the stairs or fell backward off the gate. Then we took the gate down.
Emma was overjoyed! She now has full run of the house -- and we take extra care to close the office and laundry room doors and not leave random things laying around. She can go upstairs or downstairs whenever she pleases. We do follow her to make sure she's not getting into too much trouble. At first I thought that by not turning on the lights would be a deterrent to her going down stairs, but since we have a walk out basement, there is enough light that it doesn't even phase her. She is a big fan of changing scenery several times a day and enjoys going up and down the stairs.
Two or three weekends ago, Emma decided that she wanted to go downstairs. I can't remember if Kurt and I didn't want to go down stairs or if we weren't paying attention to Emma, but at any rate, Emma decided that she was going to climb over the baby gate to get to the basement. Luckily, we stopped her before she tumbled head first down the stairs or fell backward off the gate. Then we took the gate down.
Emma was overjoyed! She now has full run of the house -- and we take extra care to close the office and laundry room doors and not leave random things laying around. She can go upstairs or downstairs whenever she pleases. We do follow her to make sure she's not getting into too much trouble. At first I thought that by not turning on the lights would be a deterrent to her going down stairs, but since we have a walk out basement, there is enough light that it doesn't even phase her. She is a big fan of changing scenery several times a day and enjoys going up and down the stairs.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Where to Start??
Where to start?? Emma does so many new, exciting, cute things daily and finds more ways to get into trouble daily than we can keep up with!
Emma eats oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning. Some mornings she wants us to feed her and some mornings she wants to feed herself. Since she is still working on being completely adept with utensils and oatmeal is kind of tricky, we give her some help. We're trying to teach her that oatmeal is not a finger food. It's really cute when she can't seem to get a spoonful of oatmeal and then starts to use her left hand to try to pick up some oatmeal, stops herself right before touching it, and shakes her head no, as if she's telling herself that oatmeal is not a finger food.
Emma has been very family oriented for the past week or so. Over the weekend, she was not content unless all three of us were in the same room. At one point, Daddy was reading a book to her in the living room and I went into the kitchen. She quickly came to get me, took my hand and walked me back to the living room then sat back down with Kurt to finish the book.
She is enthralled with books lately as well. Emma has always loved books, but now, she can't seem to get enough of them. I think on Saturday, she brought me at least 75% of the books off her bookshelf and we read the first page of every one. Generally, she brings us several books a night to read. She really enjoys pointing different items out and repeating words or animal sounds. One of her current favorites is Peek a Who? When prompted, she repeats that a cow says Moo!, a ghost says Boo!, a train goes Choo Choo!, and can point out several of the animals on the Zoo! page -- her favorite is the jaguar and she recently learned how to make a ssss sound for a snake.
Emma loves going down to the basement. There are all kinds of fun things to do there....like take DVDs off the shelf, or climb onto the futon to reach the xbox to turn it on, or see if the laundry room or office door is open and get into something there. She is a big fan of pushing/pulling her wagon around --I think it makes her feel big to be able to do it.
Emma watches Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer. Luckily, she mostly just likes to have them on in the background. She rarely just sits and watches. Usually she is playing or bringing books to us during the show. She lets us know when she wants to watch them by trying to climb over the couches to the remote controls or pointing to the TV and saying either Blue or Dora. She sometimes will use sign language --dancing-- to indicate that she wants to watch Blue's Clues. At the end of Blue's Clues, she will stop whatever she is doing, stand up and wave and say Bye! to the tv. Super cute.
The other day, Emma's caretaker at daycare told me, "Emma is so smart. She is also in charge of this room. All the kids look to her to see what to do." We're still not sure if this is good or bad. We're leaning towards that probably means she's the instigator. (Obviously, her father's child!)
Emma is babbling up a storm. It's so cute to hear her trying to hold a conversation. She'll just look at us and talk and we can tell she's trying to say or ask something. In the car on the way home from daycare, I'll ask how her day was and she'll babble a couple sentences.
After we get her dressed in the morning or after her bath at night, Emma will stand up, reach out and then lean over to us and give us the biggest tightest hugs ever. It makes our hearts so happy!
There are probably a million other things I could write, but I think this blog is long enough. I'll catch up more later this week or over the weekend.
Emma eats oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning. Some mornings she wants us to feed her and some mornings she wants to feed herself. Since she is still working on being completely adept with utensils and oatmeal is kind of tricky, we give her some help. We're trying to teach her that oatmeal is not a finger food. It's really cute when she can't seem to get a spoonful of oatmeal and then starts to use her left hand to try to pick up some oatmeal, stops herself right before touching it, and shakes her head no, as if she's telling herself that oatmeal is not a finger food.
Emma has been very family oriented for the past week or so. Over the weekend, she was not content unless all three of us were in the same room. At one point, Daddy was reading a book to her in the living room and I went into the kitchen. She quickly came to get me, took my hand and walked me back to the living room then sat back down with Kurt to finish the book.
She is enthralled with books lately as well. Emma has always loved books, but now, she can't seem to get enough of them. I think on Saturday, she brought me at least 75% of the books off her bookshelf and we read the first page of every one. Generally, she brings us several books a night to read. She really enjoys pointing different items out and repeating words or animal sounds. One of her current favorites is Peek a Who? When prompted, she repeats that a cow says Moo!, a ghost says Boo!, a train goes Choo Choo!, and can point out several of the animals on the Zoo! page -- her favorite is the jaguar and she recently learned how to make a ssss sound for a snake.
Emma loves going down to the basement. There are all kinds of fun things to do there....like take DVDs off the shelf, or climb onto the futon to reach the xbox to turn it on, or see if the laundry room or office door is open and get into something there. She is a big fan of pushing/pulling her wagon around --I think it makes her feel big to be able to do it.
Emma watches Blue's Clues and Dora the Explorer. Luckily, she mostly just likes to have them on in the background. She rarely just sits and watches. Usually she is playing or bringing books to us during the show. She lets us know when she wants to watch them by trying to climb over the couches to the remote controls or pointing to the TV and saying either Blue or Dora. She sometimes will use sign language --dancing-- to indicate that she wants to watch Blue's Clues. At the end of Blue's Clues, she will stop whatever she is doing, stand up and wave and say Bye! to the tv. Super cute.
The other day, Emma's caretaker at daycare told me, "Emma is so smart. She is also in charge of this room. All the kids look to her to see what to do." We're still not sure if this is good or bad. We're leaning towards that probably means she's the instigator. (Obviously, her father's child!)
Emma is babbling up a storm. It's so cute to hear her trying to hold a conversation. She'll just look at us and talk and we can tell she's trying to say or ask something. In the car on the way home from daycare, I'll ask how her day was and she'll babble a couple sentences.
After we get her dressed in the morning or after her bath at night, Emma will stand up, reach out and then lean over to us and give us the biggest tightest hugs ever. It makes our hearts so happy!
There are probably a million other things I could write, but I think this blog is long enough. I'll catch up more later this week or over the weekend.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Guilty?
Emma loves taking all the DVD cases off the shelves in the basement. She also loves climbing in her wagon. This is what I came downstairs to on Saturday morning:
Favorite Toy of the Weekend
On Saturday morning, Emma decided that a laundry basket was to be her favorite toy all weekend. She quickly maneuvered it through the door and then proceeded to push it down the steps before following it down. She had fun putting toys in it as well as climbing in it herself to play. Her favorite activity was for us to shake the basket back and forth for her. She laughed hysterically when we said "Time to shake the baby!" (Don't worry, we were gentle!)
More fun with friends
On Saturday, we stopped over to a friends' house in the afternoon. Emma had a great time playing with Catherine who is 10 days older than Emma and Tyler who is 10 months old. Emma and Catherine had a lot of fun filling red dixie cups up with ice from the coolers. Emma tried to take the game to the next level by taking beer bottles out of the coolers, lining them up on the deck and then putting them back in. We quickly put a stop to this (although we did let her play with Sprite cans, which she had fun distributing to empty chairs on the deck...you know, as a gift for the next person who wanted to sit there.) The girls played great together, although they did fight over a red dixie cup a few times (I think Emma was the instigator of these fights) luckily, just adding in another cup seemed to solve the issue.
Emma also had fun sharing a cup with Tyler and even going to pick it up when it fell to the ground and returning it to him. :)
Emma also had fun sharing a cup with Tyler and even going to pick it up when it fell to the ground and returning it to him. :)
Emma and Lydia
On Friday evening, we visited with a friends from Germany who are in town. We had a great time catching up with Dan, Kristi, and their 7 month old, Lydia. We actually met Lydia right after she was born and right before we returned to the US in January. We were so excited to see them and see how much Lydia has grown in the last 7 months!
Emma had a wonderful time playing with Lydia. She shared her toys very well although she didn't quite get that Lydia doesn't play the same way Emma does. When Kurt brought Emma's jumperoo up, he said Emma's face lit up and then got very confused why Lydia got to go in it and she didn't. Luckily, there weren't any tantrums over it! Emma did insist on getting in it a few times....which was hysterical since we had it on the lowest setting and she couldn't jump in it.
The best part of the evening was when we got Lydia to laugh and were tickling her a little bit. Emma joined in and was so proud of herself when Lydia laughed. Emma was surprisingly gentle for a while, but I did take her away when she started to get a little out more rambunctious. I know she wouldn't mean to harm Lydia, but I was worried that she might get carried away and accidentally pinch her.
Emma had a wonderful time playing with Lydia. She shared her toys very well although she didn't quite get that Lydia doesn't play the same way Emma does. When Kurt brought Emma's jumperoo up, he said Emma's face lit up and then got very confused why Lydia got to go in it and she didn't. Luckily, there weren't any tantrums over it! Emma did insist on getting in it a few times....which was hysterical since we had it on the lowest setting and she couldn't jump in it.
The best part of the evening was when we got Lydia to laugh and were tickling her a little bit. Emma joined in and was so proud of herself when Lydia laughed. Emma was surprisingly gentle for a while, but I did take her away when she started to get a little out more rambunctious. I know she wouldn't mean to harm Lydia, but I was worried that she might get carried away and accidentally pinch her.
It wasn't me!
Earlier this evening, Emma brought the little travel alarm clock I have on my nightstand down to the living room and left it in the middle of the floor. While she was eating a snack before bathtime, Kurt happened to find it and came out to the kitchen to ask, "Emma, how did Mommy's clock get down stairs?" Emma responded with a perfect shoulder shrug and I don't know sound then looked and sort of pointed at me pretty much saying I don't know, why don't you ask Mommy? It was priceless!
*sigh* We're going to be in trouble in a few years!
*sigh* We're going to be in trouble in a few years!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Time
This morning, I was holding Emma in the kitchen so she could point out what she wanted for a snack. She pointed at the clock on the microwave. I showed her that the hour said 8 and told her that I was going to put a clock in her room and that she wasn't supposed to wake up before 8. I asked if that was ok. She shook her head no and said very clearly "Six!" Kurt and I just looked at each other and started laughing hysterically which made Emma very proud of herself and caused her to join in as well.
There have been a few times that Emma has said something that sounds exactly like what the response to a statement or question should be. But she's only 14 months old, so that's completely not possible She decidedly does not know that 6 am comes before 8 am....she won't even sit still long enough for me to point out what the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are let alone 6, 7, and 8!
At any rate, I can pretty much guarantee that she won't be sleeping in any time soon!
There have been a few times that Emma has said something that sounds exactly like what the response to a statement or question should be. But she's only 14 months old, so that's completely not possible She decidedly does not know that 6 am comes before 8 am....she won't even sit still long enough for me to point out what the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are let alone 6, 7, and 8!
At any rate, I can pretty much guarantee that she won't be sleeping in any time soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)