Emily has her first official ear infection. Thursday afternoon, her occasional cough turned into a runny nose that just wouldn't quit, and she finally started in with a fever. We were at my parents' place for a few days while Travis traveled for work, so she had been having trouble getting enough sleep both at naptime and at night. Plus, a new tooth broke through (#13!) which explained her being awake a lot the past few nights. It was a really fun visit home for us, except for the sickness and exhaustion from being up at night. Travis came home last night, and I slept 9 hours straight. I am a new person! It's been especially hard to see Emily be so unhappy, because she is normally so easy-going and happy. I've been spoiled - when she is less than delightful, I find myself consciously calling on patience, which I have less of than usual due to the midnight awakenings! It's a cruel system that mother nature has set up.
It's been amazing to see Emily's vocabulary grow. It seems like during her time in Rockford, I noticed 5 or so words that I hadn't picked up on before. None of her words are all that clear, except for "tractor," I suppose, but with a little bit of context it's really easy to communicate with her. Especially in conjunction with her signing - she really knows how to tell me things. And it's so satisfying for both of us when she does. She has such a great smile. :)
Possibly the cutest thing from our trip to Rockford was when Emily discovered that cows really actually do say "Moo." My dad had sorted a baby calf away from his mom accidentally, so there was a whole lot of hollering coming from the barn the next morning. Grandma took Emily to the window to watch as Grandpa sorted the cows, and it was a lightbulb moment for Emily. She looked at Grandma, and said, "moo!" as if to say, "I get it! wow!" So, I took Emily outside (in 10° weather) while Grandpa did chores that afternoon, and she was much impressed by the mooing cows and the kitties eating supper. And of course, Grandpa's tractor. It was quite the experience for her. Her grandparents are thoroughly charmed by her!
So, it's been a while since I've posted anything, I know, but I'm trying to make this blog about Emily and her growing-up. I realize that in the history of this blog, there was some major venting about my job and other issues, but I'm trying to focus it on her. Having a blog can give a person a false feeling of self-importance (doesn't everybody want to know about me? My blog should be in the newspaper, I'm so interesting!), so I'm trying to focus on the two reasons I am continuing to post: 1) there are lots of people who love Emily but only see her infrequently, and they (you) would love to hear what she's up to, and 2) someday, Emily will love to read this. She may not care until she has a little girl someday, but how cool will that be for her if she does? So, thanks for reading! I know it gets gushy sometimes, but ... I just can't help myself!!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
The latest amazing developments
Emily is a fantastic little puzzler now! Two weeks ago, she was only able to put pieces back if she had just taken them out, but now she'll dump out a whole puzzle, orient the pieces correctly in her hands, find where they go, and get them into place. It's pretty crazy to have watched her learn how to do that. And to realize how much vocabulary comes along with it. My favorite is the high-pitched and enthusiastic "CHOO CHOOOO!" that comes when she puts the train engine into place. She is getting more communicative now, too, using words like Shoes, Juice, and Choo choo (all of which require adorable little lips sticking way far out), Blanket (sounds like of like tay-teh), Mmmmmmoo for moon, Truck, and of course Tractor!
In case it sounds like we're pushing the trucks and tractors on her, check out the video of her playing with her dolls. Precious! This weekend, she figured out how to make her little walker into a baby stroller. It's pretty creative, and I snagged a picture of it today (I'll post it soon). She figured that out while her Grandma J was watching her on Saturday and the rest of us were doing BRR ride. Everybody had a great day that day - I enjoyed the exercise and socializing, and Emily had a fantastic time with Grandma. We both seem to have come down with a cold since then, though, which is disappointing. We did so well the rest of the winter to avoid getting sick, and considering what a pathetic sick person I am, I suppose that's for the best!
Emily has one other new trick I'll mention - going limp in protest! She has yet to do it in public, but she's already decided that if I want her to go one direction (such as, NOT into the street), she can turn herself into dead weight and really throw me off. It seems that toddlers don't have to obey Newton's laws about conservation of mass, because I'd swear she gains 10 pounds when she does that. I also thought she was supposed to be 2 before she started testing me like that, right?
I've also determined that Emily is not a morning person. She still gets up at around 7 every day, but she likes to snuggle and take her time to get going, and even then her happy perkiness only lasts until about 10:00. Then, if there's nothing more interesting than just hanging out with me, she gets whiney and cranky and sometimes snoozes a little. Then she's happy for the rest of the day, generally, unless she's not eating dinner by 6:15 in which case she transforms back into the whiney cranky girl from that morning, who wants nothing more than to be "Bup" in my arms while I'm trying to use both hands. I've tried giving her juice or a banana for a little sugar boost in the morning, but she's never really interested, which is strange because she eats and eats and eats during any other time of day that she's presented with food. Maybe I'll just have to be more interesting to be around, I guess. My life story. :)
In case it sounds like we're pushing the trucks and tractors on her, check out the video of her playing with her dolls. Precious! This weekend, she figured out how to make her little walker into a baby stroller. It's pretty creative, and I snagged a picture of it today (I'll post it soon). She figured that out while her Grandma J was watching her on Saturday and the rest of us were doing BRR ride. Everybody had a great day that day - I enjoyed the exercise and socializing, and Emily had a fantastic time with Grandma. We both seem to have come down with a cold since then, though, which is disappointing. We did so well the rest of the winter to avoid getting sick, and considering what a pathetic sick person I am, I suppose that's for the best!
Emily has one other new trick I'll mention - going limp in protest! She has yet to do it in public, but she's already decided that if I want her to go one direction (such as, NOT into the street), she can turn herself into dead weight and really throw me off. It seems that toddlers don't have to obey Newton's laws about conservation of mass, because I'd swear she gains 10 pounds when she does that. I also thought she was supposed to be 2 before she started testing me like that, right?
I've also determined that Emily is not a morning person. She still gets up at around 7 every day, but she likes to snuggle and take her time to get going, and even then her happy perkiness only lasts until about 10:00. Then, if there's nothing more interesting than just hanging out with me, she gets whiney and cranky and sometimes snoozes a little. Then she's happy for the rest of the day, generally, unless she's not eating dinner by 6:15 in which case she transforms back into the whiney cranky girl from that morning, who wants nothing more than to be "Bup" in my arms while I'm trying to use both hands. I've tried giving her juice or a banana for a little sugar boost in the morning, but she's never really interested, which is strange because she eats and eats and eats during any other time of day that she's presented with food. Maybe I'll just have to be more interesting to be around, I guess. My life story. :)
Monday, February 2, 2009
Computer woes
So, my beautiful new laptop that we got after the burglary this summer is turning out to be a piece of junk. I sent it in to be repaired last week, and the problem came right back. The fan runs ALL the time, and it's really pretty noisy. I guess to their credit, they fixed it fast enough that it was back within 5 days, but that doesn't really do me any good since I have to send it right back! I'm glad we are spending the $60/yr to have our entire computer backed up by a remote service - somewhere in Utah, I think. It's a nice comfort, since I'm still putting my recipes and music and files back together.
Emily had a tremendous playdate last night during the Super Bowl. We were at a friend's house who have a 2-year-old and an infant, and their basement was full of toys - which was a good thing because there were 9 kids there, all under the age of 3. It was pretty crazy, but a really good time. We got home and put Emily to bed, and I got to see the last 3 minutes of the game which is apparently really all anybody needed to see of the 4-hour ordeal. Worked out great!
It was also nice for me to see Emily around kids of a variety of ages, to see how her development fits in with the other kids. Since all the kids are spaced about 3 months apart, it was neat to see how far she's come the past 3 months, and what she might be doing later this spring.
I think I'll do BRR ride this Saturday, since the weather looks to be pretty nice. Nothing like a 26-mile bike ride in the middle of winter to remind you that you're crazy!
Emily had a tremendous playdate last night during the Super Bowl. We were at a friend's house who have a 2-year-old and an infant, and their basement was full of toys - which was a good thing because there were 9 kids there, all under the age of 3. It was pretty crazy, but a really good time. We got home and put Emily to bed, and I got to see the last 3 minutes of the game which is apparently really all anybody needed to see of the 4-hour ordeal. Worked out great!
It was also nice for me to see Emily around kids of a variety of ages, to see how her development fits in with the other kids. Since all the kids are spaced about 3 months apart, it was neat to see how far she's come the past 3 months, and what she might be doing later this spring.
I think I'll do BRR ride this Saturday, since the weather looks to be pretty nice. Nothing like a 26-mile bike ride in the middle of winter to remind you that you're crazy!
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