new baby

More pictures from 2 weeks ago, the trip to see the new cousin...

The happy parents, month-old daughter, and my squirmy toddler.

Emma loved the house (such open space!), the toys, the dog, but would not stop to look at the baby. As you can tell, baby Ansley is adorable. Someone asked me if I felt "baby lust" when I saw her, and actually, no, I didn't. (Which is a relief.) But I did feel nostalgic. I hate that I don't have sharper memories of Emmaleora's first two months. But I guess I'm not unusual in that.

"dog"

One of Emma's words is "dog". There's a dog in the neighbor's back yard that she can see from her window, when she's in her crib (I should take his picture!). We talk about this dog a lot - it's a good distraction if I need to leave her in there. I'll raise the blinds and say "Where's the dog?" She'll trot the length of her crib and come peer through the bars. Whenever she hears a dog bark, anywhere, she looks at me meaningfully and/or says "dog". And if she hears the word in a sentence, even if you're not talking to her, she'll often pick up on it and repeat it.

Here are some pictures of Emma with dogs from our trip 2 weekends ago.

With this big dog who's the same color as our cat Ellie May, Emma tried to grab her tail and her thumb went toward her mouth (this is what she does with Ellie May). But the dog moved too much I think and she isn't as soft. E gave up and I discouraged it anyway! I think Jeremy's dog's name is Chastity.

This dog is named Muffin. She's such a "people-dog" that she has separation anxiety when she's alone.

Muffin was thrilled to make E's acquaintance at first but ended up being chased around the couch. She has extremely soft fur but I didn't see Emma going for her tail.

temporary silence

We've had a problem with our Internet connection at home, so I haven't been able to get to my blog lately. Right now I'm at work, struggling to stay awake. So ironic: last night E slept for 13 hours straight, and I slept more or less soundly for about 7 hours. So why am I so sleepy today? I think it's an automatic thing about Mondays.

If you miss the blog, email me a question or comment to answer in my next post.

daily picture assortment

catching up

Trying to catch up. The kitchen is still a disaster area. I went in to work late today because my cold was driving me crazy: the itchy watery eyes and seeping nose. I can't take antihistamines because I'm still nursing some. So the only thing to do for a cold is eat well, drink lots of water, and sleep as much as possible. At home I just walk around with tissue stuffed in my nostrils. E went back to sleep at 7:30 so I did too. But before I could fully drift off, she woke up. She stayed in her crib, talking and playing for almost 2 hours I think, while I kept thinking "just a little bit longer...". When she started to whine I got up. I never really slept but the rest did me good. I decided I would actually feel even more rested at work! Staying home with Emma meant getting up and down a lot, feeding and changing diapers, etc. At work I had an all day "innovation" meeting going on, where I could sit in a chair, drink coffee, and just THINK. That was much more enticing. So I got us out of the house and took Emma to see Miss Erma.

And my cold did get better somewhere in there. I feel pretty good tonight. I've been thinking of things to post on this blog all week, and now I don't remember them. David called while ago and talked on the phone to Emma. She didn't exactly talk back but it was clear she knew who it was and was listening. She kept handing the phone to me and watching me talk. Here's a dramatized excerpt of their conversation:

"Hello."
... (grin)
"Hello. What are you doing?"
... (stares at the phone, begins to push buttons)
"Uh-oh."
... (smiles, walks off with the phone)
"Uh-oh," he persists.
"Uh-oh," she answers.
"Uh-oh," he repeats.
"Uh-oh," she confirms.
"Hello. What are you doing?"
"Da da" (Mommy exclaims, "Yes, it's Daddy!")
"Da da?"
"Uh-oh," she replies.

a present

E is delighted to get a present in the mail - with RIBBONS on it.

Kaylee lurking for the ribbon

(though it's very cute and a thoughtful gift,...) I SAID I DON'T WANT TO WEAR IT

Thank you Carole and Mackenzie! Here's a fleeting glimpse of E in the hat, with evidence of fun in the background

disaster area

I'm so proud of us. Tonight I cooked for my daughter - and she liked it! I made rotini pasta with spaghetti sauce, ground chicken, and half a can of spinach - all mixed up. I used the baby food grinder that was collecting dust in the cabinet to grind up the chicken for E because she always spits meat out. It worked - she liked it! She fed herself with spoon and fingers. For the first bite I offered a noodle on a spoon and she refused it. She took the spoon in her left hand, noodle in her right and (holding the spoon vertically) tried to "stick" the noodle to the spoon. Pressing hard didn't help, so she ended up eating that one with her fingers. But I coached and helped her a little and she did great. She really enjoyed herself and didn't waste much. I felt very motherly, and I enjoyed the meal too. Then after E's bath and putting her to bed, I came back in here to the kitchen and felt terribly deflated. What a mess! The high chair tray is on the floor, in hopes that the cats would make the first pass at cleaning it... They declined. The sink is full of diced sweet potatoes that I paid 4 dollars for ("washed and ready to eat!") and then ruined. That's one side. The other side is dirty dishes. More dirty dishes on counter and stove. There's cat food all over the floor, because that's how Emma entertained herself while I was cooking. There's big tufts of cat hair all in the living room and hallway from last night when the cats were ambushing each other (actually, it may have all been one-sided). And I'm sitting here with Kleenex stuffed in my nostrils for this cold and an aching back, dreading giving the cats their medicine and then tackling this mess. Oh, and I already cleaned up the cat vomit when we got home, just after changing E's dirty diaper.

I'm in a surprisingly good mood despite all this! It was a good healthy meal and I had been tempted to do a drive-thru on the way home. And I pushed myself a little and made us stop at Stride-Rite on the way home, to measure Emma for shoes. She needs a 5 and a half. I didn't buy any today, need to wait til next payday, but we have some hand-me-downs on hand that are that size. She's been wearing soft leather shoes that probably aren't that warm and definitely let water soak through. So I'm glad I finally got around to that.

Haven't taken any pictures the last two days, will get back to that by tomorrow. Now let's take a deep breath, have some (decaf) tea, and tackle that kitchen....

Tuesday

no time this moning!0











/.m, n n jnjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

and it's monday again

I've been spending the last 40 minutes reconciling my checkbook - one of those chores that's much less tedious if you do it often! But I'm so happy that I can see my bank balance online instead of having to keep track of all those paper bank statements. Emma's still sleeping. We both seem to be starting to get a cold. She's stuffy and I'm drippy. It's cold and raining outside.

We had a good weekend. Left home at 9:20 am Saturday for MC's birthday party. E stole her cousin's thunder with the birthday cake, because MC was too full from her hot dog lunch to eat any cake. She went off to play instead. However she blew out the 2 candles all by herself and that was exciting. And we all watched Emma. The picture I posted last night (see below) captures her glee at discovering the cake. I'm not sure she knew what it was as she watched it being cut and handed to her, but when both hands touched cake she looked up and squealed with delight. Then she got serious, and I got it on video. When I get time I'll figure out how to get that video on here for you.

After the party we drove East and visited with my cousins and their new baby girl. E didn't really pay any attention to the baby, but she checked out all her toys and the dog with great interest.

Someone's waking - more later.

cousin's birthday party

Just a couple of the best shots, for now. We had fun. I'm trying to hurry up so I can watch an episode of "24" on dvd before I crash into bed. E went to bed at 6:30! More about the busy weekend tomorrow.

piano playing with Grandma

It's CAKE!

she's not drunk, she's happy

snow!

Kaylee at the window

Emma in the car

our house in the snow

my workplace in the snow

daily picture - Thursday night

David, forgive my amateurish red-eye remedy, but here you go. Emma had fun trying to wear your sandals. She carries the hairbrush around a lot and is starting to get the hang of brushing her hair. Today I brushed my hair with it and she thought that was so funny.

We're going for her second flu shot this afternoon. Tomorrow is Mary Catherine's birthday party and then we go from there to visit Emma's second cousin Ansley, who's only a few weeks old.

movie test

pictures for Daddy from yesterday

It's snowing outside now. Pictures of that tomorrow. I'm running very late today!

Grandpa Bud shows Emma how to make some noise

...with the shiny metal bucket and the wooden mallet for the xylophone

Tuesday

Sorry, I don't have time this morning to do a proper post. E and I both woke up suddenly and happily around 5 am - amazing. She went back to sleep after an hour and 15 minutes. David's keeping her today, goes back to his set painting job tomorrow.

developmental update

It's been a while. Here's the 14 month run-down.

Emma has about 10 teeth, I think. Lost track when the molars started coming in.
She knows what pens and pencils do and that stickers go on your clothes. She's pretty gentle with the cats but they still avoid her. She dances and turns in circles, marches in place. She knows where toast comes from (the toaster oven) and recognizes the word. I guess she recognizes quite a few other words: dance, banana, shoes, socks, drink, cat, dog, book, Daddy, bye bye, cracker, bath, finished, telephone, nose, eyes, ...not sure what else. She knows where keys go and that outlets are a no-no. She knows she's not supposed to go into the bathroom and will stop at the threshold and look back at you. She loves to empty drawers of clothes, will occasionally put somethin
g
b

3
+in ba0ck i.n




3+helping
+5now000000000000000+
-+hi+ +e-+9vmveryone!! ------Emm6a here.

eating pizza Jan 11

teeter tottering

I took down Jan. 12th post - people were worrying about me! I'm fine. Maybe analyzing things too much for my own good. But I was assured by two good friends that my "time deprivation" feelings are normal. Thank you.

Sunday

Some more Christmas pictures that were easy to pull together.

David opened this gift bag for Emma and gave a big grin. He said, "The cats are gonna love this." Rarely am I quick enough to capture his natural smile - this is close.

The cat's out of the bag (ha ha)

Emma doesn't know what to think of it.

The big soft cat gets examined.

Then ignored, in favor of some Noah's Ark animals from Aunt Cindy.

Back at home, carrying the new cat around, which you can't do with the old cats.

Upside down "Buddy" the Cat. He's a big hit.

You can't see Ellie May on the couch here - the black space, that's her. E is leaning her head on her while she sucks her thumb. She really likes to hold Ellie May's tail and rub it against her face, but I haven't got a picture of that yet.

daily picture for Daddy

a few Christmas pics

Daddy gave me a shiny bucket for Christmas!

It's fun to carry and it makes great noises.

Granny Annie tickled me to keep me from swallowing the caramel creams I found on the floor.

Granny Annie gave me this doll. She has eyes.

Grandma Mickey and Grandpa Bud gave me a wooden xylophone. Parents appreciate the not clangy sounds it makes - sounds like wind chimes.

pictures for Daddy

taken this morning

in case you're wondering

I didn't go back to bed on sunday morning. Instead I left for church early and got breakfast and a large coffee at McDonalds. There were 5 kids in the nursery and I had a teenage helper. It was not a problem staying awake! David took over when I got home and I had a good nap.

Tuesday

This week at work my group is having a "retreat" to focus on our work together, how the project's going, analyzing what we're learning from the research, make plans for the next year, etc. I didn't post yesterday because I was trying to do too much before getting to the office at 8 am, 30 minutes earlier than usual. After the full day of work, we had a group dinner. Luckily I was able to take Emma to that. We had a private dining room with a medieval decor in a hotel and one of my colleagues, Jennifer, sat on the other side of her high chair and made faces at her, made her smile and laugh. It was another side of Jenn that I hadn't seen before. E enjoyed holding her piece of bread out to her to pretend to eat.

Others in my group have children (many daughters, actually) and seemed to enjoy Emma's participation. She fell down once and her loud cries reverberated in that small, stone room - no one could hear each other talk during those seconds. I took her out because it didn't stop as quickly as I expected, and found out she had bitten her tongue or lip or something in the fall. But she stopped crying when I held her over the water fountain and let her put her hand in the water.

I don't know if the bitten lip or teething molars are causing it, but E has slept fitfully most of the night. She cries out loudly and suddenly, a big long whine, and wanted to nurse a lot. I hate it when she wakes at 4 am, because that's not really enough time to go back to sleep before my 5 am alarm. I took her to the couch this time and nursed lying down, dozed there with her. She tossed and turned a bit. I put her on the floor on a fuzzy blanket when it was time for me to get up and blog, and she's starting to fuss again after about 40 minutes' peace. The cats have been staring at her.

I couldn't find any more Christmas candy this morning, so I put a little sugar in my tea. Yum. Today the retreat starts at 9 (very civilized) but I have to prepare a presentation for it, so I still need to go in at 8. Emma is staying with Erma all week, for the rest of the month more or less. David has gone to work in Fayetteville, painting a set for "Cinderella". He posted a comment on the blog yesterday. Tonight we have another "social" after work, at the company president's house. I'll take E but not stay long. All these socials and dinners are organized when people from our other offices come in. In my group there are not only local-based researchers, but 3 from Singapore and 1 from California. It's unusual to get us all in the room together.

Gotta go now. More pictures this weekend, if not sooner.

not much of a partyer

Went out with friends to hear a band last night; D and E stayed home. At my bedtime (9 pm) the band hadn't even started playing and I was tired. But the music was good and I revived enough to enjoy it. Drank water. Wanted a beer but knew it would make me sleepy! There was a time (10 years ago or more) I would have been embarrassed to be at a club listening to a band without a beer in my hand. But this band's following had quite a few people who weren't drinking, and I no longer care about that anyway. When we left I'm sure I looked like I'd been drinking too much - stumbling, droopy, eyes like slits - but it was just that I stayed up so late! Still needed a designated driver. The band is Donna the Buffalo, and I did like their music. www.donnathebuffalo.com

I got to sleep sometime after 3 I think, and E woke up at 6:30. David's mostly useless at that hour (like me at 1 am), so don't even ask why I didn't "make" him get up with her! (I know some of you were thinking that) And he didn't go to bed any earlier, himself, anyway.

... 30 minutes have gone by and the dear toddler just went back to sleep. Should I get my shower now? (I have to go keep the nursery at church this morning) Or should I try to sleep for 30 more minutes myself? Tune in tomorrow to find out how this exciting dilemma was resolved!!

vacation day 5 - bookstore

On the 5th day of our vacation we did some shopping. These pictures are E in the Barnes & Noble near our hotel in Ocala.

discovering the trains

This is with her arm stuck in the train tunnel, but before she realized it was a problem.

reading books while pulling them down

When she holds something soft, Emma's thumb automatically goes in her mouth. She pulled this critter off a shelf and walked around with him, sucking her thumb. I think it was a penguin - upside down here.