In Her Own Words

Emma has been "talking" lately.  A lot.  She also recently figured out how to make a high-pitched squealing sound.  A really high-pitched sound.  She has been practicing this sound, and babbling in general, many times a day.  We often wake up to the sound of her on the baby monitor in the morning.  It's almost like listening to an opera singer warming up her voice.  She starts out in the normal range, slowly working her way up the scales into higher octaves until she reaches the really high notes. And she is so pleased with herself while she's doing it.  And then at night, after we put her down, she sometimes lays there in the dark, babbling away some more.  Emma also gets the hiccups a lot.  She usually gets them at least once a day and they are also rather entertaining in their own right.

This video was taken on my cell phone and I couldn't figure out how to rotate the image so that Emma is vertical, but it's still pretty entertaining.  Oh, and those screeching sounds that are about to come out of your computer aren't due to the cell phone or from feedback. That's all Emma.  It's a fairly accurate example of what she sounds like, except in person it's a lot higher.  In person, it more closely approaches the sort of pitch that only dogs can hear... which probably explains why Lexi keeps coming over to her with a look of concerned interest lately.


And without further ado, here is Emma, in her own words... and hiccups.

(You may need to click play and then pause it right away so that the video can buffer a little so that it will play smoothly.  When you pause the video, you'll notice after a few seconds that the red status bar at the bottom is slowly filling in with pink.  When there is a good amount of pink, you can hit play again and it will run smoothly.)

Emma's Snowy Day

This is the story of Emma's first (really) snowy day, as told by Emma to Mommy.

When I woke up this morning it was snowy outside.  Mommy and Daddy said it had snowed in the night while I was asleep.  This wasn't the first time it has snowed down here in Virginia, but it was the first time we had enough to really cover the ground. 

I was excited to go outside and see some real snow, but first I had to get into my snowsuit. Mommy said it was like trying to stuff a wiggly sack of potatoes into a pair of tube socks when she was trying to get my legs into the snowsuit.

Did you notice the ears on my snowsuit?  I look like a cute little pink teddy bear in it!

I was impatient and kept asking, "Can we go now?!"  I was getting really hot in my bear suit and Mommy was taking forever getting her boots on.

When we got outside, everything was white!

Here's my tree with the tire swing in the snow...

...and this is what it looked like in the summer, but that was before I was born.

Daddy said that the snow was really wet and heavy (whatever that means) and it broke a lot of the trees around our house. 

This one came down kind of close to Daddy's car.

This branch fell down right where Mommy's car is usually parked.  It's a good thing that Daddy put it the garage before the snow started!

A few trees even fell down and blocked our driveway.

Daddy had to use a saw to cut them up so we can drive our cars down the driveway.  It was too far away from the house to use his electric chain saw so he had to do it by hand.

I saw some dried up apples hanging on the apple tree in front of the house...

...they looked a lot better in the fall when they were fresh!

I also saw some deer footprints on the driveway.

Lexi liked climbing on the snow piles after our neighbor, Mr. Cho, came and plowed our driveway for us.

After the driveway was clear, Mommy put me in the stroller and we walked down to get the mail.  It was hard to get buckled into the seat with my snowsuit on.

Mommy made me pose for pictures in my bear suit with her...

...and with Daddy.

But I was getting kind of bored and cold and was ready to go inside by then. 

That's the story of my snowy day. 

The End.

How to be a Baby Fashionista

Do you find yourself feeling camera shy, hiding your identity when you go out on the town? Your fashion foibles can become a thing of the past.  Let Emma share her secrets to being a Baby Fashionista and you won't be a fashion "don't" any longer!

Of course, we all know that every girl needs a little black dress.

But from those babies in the know, here are some fresh ideas to inspire your attire.

Coordinate your outfits with a bag large enough to carry all your little necessities for a day out of the house.

Little princess can take their cues from a soon-to-be-princess: A hat is where it's at.

   

Express yourself in a graphic tee.

Don't be afraid to mix polka dots and stripes.

Feminine accents, like these rosettes and ruffle add a little pizazz to an otherwise ordinary top.

For a coordinated look, coordinate your accessories.

 

Or opt for one bold piece that makes a statement.

Show your flair for fun with flirty fringed footwear.

Finally, every baby knows the three most important secrets to being a darling diva.

Drink plenty of fluids to keep your rosy glow.

Always get enough beauty sleep.

And the single most important thing you can wear is your smile! 

 

So What Can Emma Do Now?

I've been asked a lot lately, "What can Emma do now?"  Here are a few of her latest tricks and talents.


You may recall that she's good at holding her head up and she's still going strong. Here she is looking at a music box she got for Christmas.

She is getting really good at holding things.  She likes to shake these links and really likes to shake a little rattle that she has.  She likes the noise that they make.  I know this because when I've given her some quiet toys she shakes her arm and then throws them down when they don't do anything interesting.  Dave says her grip is pretty firm which he knows from her grabbing his throat when she's crying and he's walking her around to settle her down.

 She can sit when propped up.  She likes to sit next to me on the couch and hang out.

She can "stand" and support some of her weight on her legs when assisted.

She can look at a book and likes to hear someone reading aloud, although she doesn't have a very long attention span yet.  This book is one of those fancy ones where Grandpa Bill recorded himself reading to her.  (She looks right at the book when she hears his voice.)

She can also coo and carry on a "conversation" with another person (or her mobile in the morning).  She can blow spit bubbles (sorry, not photo of that) and smiles an awful lot.  She can track an object from one side to the other and holds her head steady.  She also brings her hands together, especially when eating, as if she is just so delighted to be fed.

The Poll Results Are In!

We had a record number of comments on our previous post, "Whose Baby Is It Anyways?".  A grand total of 27 people have voted to date on who they though Emma most resembled.  Here are the results:

Dave- 10 votes
Jenny- 3 votes
Both Jenny and Dave- 10 votes
Herself- 2 votes
Whoever is holding her- 2 votes
(And one unofficial nod to Grandpa Bill)


If you felt it was really hard to tell who she looked like or agonized over your decision, take a look at the next two photos and maybe you'll see why it was so hard to decide.

 Dave at age 2

Jenny's 2nd Birthday

All that curly hair and all those chubby cheeks can certainly make it hard to tell who to vote for.

As for the votes for whoever is holding her, check out this photo of Jenny and her grandfather.

 

Maybe there's something to the "whoever is holding her" theory...