May 29, 2007

Emma has found movement now. She is always on the go and usually crawling as fast as she can to the nearest thing she shouldn’t be. Her little eyes search out everything she can possibly get into and that is where she heads. Today she had me totally worn out, but that is ok, I love spending time with her.

She has found that she can open the cupboard doors and drawers. Tomorrow I am buying child proof locks for the kitchen cupboards and the china hutch. She has found that she can follow the dog down the stairs, even if there is only two stairs and they are well carpeted, I worry she will go down them head first. She tried to pull herself up on the TV stand and almost went head first into the glass door on it! (Grandma moves fast still) Then when she was trying to crawl into her rocking chair, she hit her head on her wooden toy box. She didn’t cry, just glared at it like it was the toy boxes fault. Then when she saw how I opened the front door to let the dog out, she had to try it herself. She hasn’t figured it out yet though… she knows it has to do with that handle, but just doesn’t know that you have to push it down to open.

I finally put her in her activity center and gave her some Cheerios to snack on. She loved that… it meant she could entice the dog to come to her by throwing the Cheerios on the floor then laughing as the dog ate them. She will be a hand full for sure.

Emma also figured out how to drink from a straw. It is so funny the way she holds her tongue out, like she was sucking on a bottle nipple. She does very good with it though… especially if there is root beer in the glass!
There was a baby boy at the restaurant today that was born the 11th of September and Emma was very intrigued with him. They didn’t know what to think of each other and she would touch him carefully on his hand and face. He would hit her or I should say pat her a bit more rough. She just looked at him like he should be nicer, then she touched his cheek and it made him a bit shy. He looked down and smiled which had his mom laughing. I told her we should set up a play date sometime at the park when they get moved here.

One thing I found, even though I think I can’t possibly love her any more then I do at the moment, she will touch my heart with her smile and little antics and that love grows even more. She is my special little Grandma’s girl.

May 22, 2007

Everyone is back to work and healthy again, so life goes back to normal. Yesterday was wonderful with Emma. She and I played all morning, then she had lunch and went down for a 3 hour nap. After her nap I put her in her wagon and we went to visit my friend Teri. Emma thought that her large black lab dog was fun. The dog (Smoke) was curious over Emma but kept a arms length from her. Teri thought it was wonderful how Emma would giggle every time she looked at Smoke. Emma even said “doggie” once for us.

One thing Emma doesn’t like though is grass. We sit her down in front of the lilac bush to get some pictures but she wouldn’t even smile. She doesn’t like it poking at her legs.

Emma is really learning to push her limits. I have to laugh, even when I shouldn’t. Tonight when Brianna and Emma were in the restaurant, Emma kept trying to bite down on the table. Brianna told her “No” but she would try and then she hit her mouth a bit to hard on the edge of the table. She looked like she was going to pucker up and cry but looked at Brianna, like she was the one who hurt her. So then when she would go down to bite on the edge, I would tell her “no.. that makes owies” She would go really slow down to the table edge and laugh when Brianna would tell her “no” again. Finally I moved her away from the table and ruined her fun. Sometimes they have to learn the consequence of not listening is being removed from the desired object. She is so funny and so smart.

Emma is loving summer. I bought her a wagon and she loves to go for rides in it. The kids have been going out for picnics with her and spending a lot of time outside. She thinks that is the best… that and the little Popsicles I give to her. She makes the funniest faces when she eats them. They are the long ones in the plastic, I cut them in half for her.

Tonight I was feeding her some applesauce for supper. I gave her the spoon and let her get the last bite out of the jar. When she pulled out the spoon it shot all over her face and the high chair. I was laughing so hard and she didn’t like that. She puckered up and cried and cried. Brianna says she doesn’t like people laughing at her, she must be embarrassed. It was so funny though.

We had spaghetti so I gave her a piece of spaghetti without sauce. She thought that was pretty good stuff. We laughed watching her eat it, half was hanging out of her mouth. What a kid.

I gave her a bath (after the Popsicle and the applesauce incident it was needed), after I gave her, her little tooth brush and put a dab of the baby toothpaste on it for her. She likes brushing her two teeth, but tonight she wanted to try brushing the dog’s teeth with it! Grandpa Kevin thought it was funny how I grabbed that tooth brush away really fast. I think Tara (the dog) and Emma will be best of friends.

May 11, 2007

Emma is learning new things pretty fast now. She has learned to stop her swing by grabbing the leg as she goes back, she has learned to lean forward in her stroller (wish there was shoulder straps on it) to grab clothes on the lower racks in the stores, she has learned that grandma can’t move as fast as she can when she sees something like a power cord that she wants to taste (she is learning “no” very fast on that one) and she has learned that she can pull herself into a standing position if she grabs onto the edge of the little drawer that I have her toys in. She learned this last one by surprising Brianna and me when she pulled herself into a standing position, but since it was so low she couldn’t stand completely up and went head first into the drawer. Man, did she cry, more from being scared then hurt. I had to laugh though, poor little baby.

Emma and Brianna went into the health nurse to be swabbed for strep. Brianna said as soon as the Health nurse took out the tongue depressor, Emma clamped her mouth shut and started shaking her head “no” I think she will be a handful when she gets older. Right now she gets most things she wants, man, will we have problems when she finds out that she won’t always get it her way. She is such a good and loveable baby though. She has a great sense of humor already. She will be like her dad and make us laugh with all her antics.

I sat in the backseat with her when she was fussing while Grandma DeMaris and I took her to Rapid City earlier this week. She thought that was so funny to see me back there with her. She would laugh and smile at me and then cried when I wouldn’t pick her up. I told her she had to stay buckled in and she seemed to know she wouldn’t get out and settled down and just played with me instead. I love her so much.