And so it begins...

This was the face that greeted me today when I stepped into the nursery after I had laid her down for an afternoon nap.

"How sweet!" you say.  "So adorable!  Look at those cheeks and those curls!"

I say that this is the face of coming trouble... for me!

Many of you will, of course, know at once what is wrong with this picture.  If you don't, scroll back up the part where I said, "laid her down for an afternoon nap".

Perhaps I should mention that I had only placed her on her back about ten minutes before I took this picture.  Even if you are not a parent, you will realize that not only is ten minutes not long enough to have taken a nap, but that this child is not laying down.  This child is pleased as punch with herself because she is sitting up in her crib and able to reach all of the toys she would like to play with.

You see, Emma and I had been out and about this morning and didn't get home until about 1:00.  I thought that since she'd had a busy morning a quick lunch was in order and then I'd whisk her off to the nursery for a nice long nap.  Once she was in her crib, I'd be able to take a care of a few things that I hadn't gotten around to while I've been flying solo this week with Dave away.

However.

I had tucked her into her crib and had just settled into a seat to enjoy my own lunch when I thought I'd take a peek at her on the monitor.  (We have a video monitor.)  She was quiet, but I guess I just wanted to make sure she was passed out as peacefully as I had been envisioning. 

This is what I saw:

I thought to myself, "Well, at least she's quiet and happy and maybe by the time I finish eating my lunch she'll have fallen asleep."  Then I noticed that she was looking over the edge of the crib and seemed quite interested in what was going on the other side of the bars.

Moments later, she attracted my attention with this maneuver:

At first glance, it appears that I may have, in fact, given birth to a Houdini baby, but really, she's just sitting right underneath the camera and has discovered the cord to said camera.  At this point I decided to abandon my lunch, feeling it would be prudent to lower the level of the mattress in her crib and attempt to resettle her.

So, up I went, and decided that the middle of the three settings would probably be fine for now and besides, did I really want to strain myself by always bending double over the rail to get her in and out?  No, I'd wait to put it down to the bottom until I had to.  It was a relatively quick job to lower the thing, the hardest part being figuring out which way to turn the wingnuts. 

I returned to my lunch, had settled in again and decided I would again watch her on the monitor.  This time, I would undoubtedly, see my babe slumbering peacefully, or at least she'd be just about ready to drop off to sleep.  Flicking the monitor on, I discovered to my dismay, that having apparently mastered sitting up on her own, she was moving on to loftier goals.
 

And so, once more, I hurried upstairs to lower the crib, and this time, it was to the bottom.

(And after that, I sat down to write this blog entry, so the dishes still aren't done.  But hey, at least you have something fun to read, right?)

For Auntie Marie

This post is for my Auntie Marie.  She lives in New Hampshire and the truth is, she's not really my aunt, but I like to call her that anyways.

Auntie Marie loves reading my blog.  She always writes to Mommy and says stuff like, "I love those cheeks!"  and "She's sooooo darn cute!".

However, Auntie Marie also has one teeny tiny little problem with my cuteness.  She always asks Mommy, "Would it kill you to put a hairbow on that child?"

So Auntie Rie, this post's for you!

Look at me Auntie Marie!

I look so cute!  These hairbows are just perfect!

You can call me Carmen Miranda.

You'd better take a good look.  I don't know when I'll be wearing a hairbow again...

See, Mommy, Auntie Marie was right!  Hairbows make everything better.

That's not so bad, now is it?

THUD!

Did you hear that?

Hey Mommy, what was that noise?

...Mommy?

OH MY GOD!!! My mommy's dead!  Auntie Marie!  We killed her with hairbows!

...Uh, Auntie Marie?  Do you think you can teach my daddy how to do hairbows?

Just Daddy and Me

Today is Father's Day.  It's my first Father's Day and guess what else?  It's also Daddy's first Father's Day.  So in honor of the big day here are some pictures of me and my Daddy.  (Click here to see the pictures I took for my Father's Day photo shoot to get some cute pictures to send to my grandpas.)

 This was when I was just born.

 Daddy's feeding me.  He says I'm like him, I could always eat.

 Daddy says he works, but he's always at home...

 Full lap.

 

 The first time Mommy went out and left us alone together, this is what she found when she came home.

 Daddy makes me fly!

 Goodnight Moon... you know, the one with the mush.

 Daddy got me these balls for Christmas.

 Our first snowstorm.

 I help Daddy play his game on the computer... so many colors...

 I know, this one isn't of me and Daddy, but he likes this picture a lot.

 Just hanging out.

Daddy says, "Be gentle", when I pet Twister, but he doesn't know that she likes it when I grab and yank her around.  She keeps coming back so must not not like it.

 So tall.

 This guy is funny!

 Daddy couldn't wait for me to get big enough that I could go in the Baby Bjorn so he could carry me around.

 I can see stuff from up here.

 Waiting at the airport.

 Ahhhh!  He's coming to get me!

 Okay Daddy, so listen...

 Hold still.

 I want to kiss you!

I love my Daddy!

Love,
Emmy-pie

Dinner Time Conversation

Emma had a lot to say at dinner tonight.  She had a great story to tell and wanted to share it with all of you.

For those of you wondering, she was eating blueberry pears.  At the end she kept turning her head because Dave walked into the room and she wanted to see him. 

While reviewing the post, we watched the video and Emma had a lot to say in response to the video.  Unfortunately at this time we are unable to share the actor's commentary, but hopefully soon we will be able to offer it to you.

Technobaby

Emma is enthralled with any piece of small, handheld electronics.  Especially ones that have little buttons you can push or tap on.  She loves t.v. remotes, cordless phones, laptops, Dave's blackberry.  Anything that gets our attention, she wants to use too.  Case in point, here she is at the airport on our recent trip to Boston, playing with Dave's Blackberry.

This has become slightly problematic as the range of her grasp has increased.  She can suddenly, without warning, lunge and make a grab for whatever we're using.  For a while she could  be distracted by a calculator.  It had buttons, it was small, it wasn't something that we needed and it looked an awful lot like that super fun blackberry that Daddy won't let her play with. 

Things really came to a head a week or so ago when Dave and I were both sitting on the couch, trying to work on our respective laptops with Emma sitting between us.  She kept going back and forth trying to bang on the keyboard of each of our computers in turn.  She was determined to get in on the action.  Finally, Dave had a brainwave.  He got up and left the room, returning with a small ePC that we don't really use that often. 

Emma was thrilled!  Finally, a laptop of her own! 

And here she is to tell you all about what happened next...

Okay, seriously, I don't know why Mommy and Daddy took so long to catch on.  I am a social butterfly and I have a great deal of correspondence to keep up with.  All I wanted was a chance to check my email!

 Here I am practicing typing, because I have another blog post to narrate...

 And now I'm checking to make sure the SD card is in there so I can upload my pictures.

 But, ummmm... something's not quite right with this thing.  The screen's not working.

Wait just a minute!  You didn't turn this on for me, did you Mommy?!  That's why it's not working.  Great!  Now how am I supposed to finish my blog post by this weekend so that Nana can have new pictures to show everybody?!

 Fine.

 I guess I'll just have to close up shop.

 That's too bad for you Mommy.  Now I can't write a post about how you're the very best Mommy in the whoooooooole wide world...  Maybe next time you'll turn it on for me.
  
Here is Emma's final message for everyone:


aazegahjihgarkjvakj;afdafafadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Love, Emma