Busy girl

Emma helped me get the mail earlier. She sat and played with these boxes and sorted the mail for a long time while I got dinner prepared. Hooray for mail!

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She chugged this little milk jug in about five minutes, all while sitting on her car. I think having a different container made it REALLY fun for her! She doesn't normally drink that much milk in one sitting!


Today is the perfect day to play outside. Not too hot, not too cold, a bit breezy but rain-free (unlike yesterday)!

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Toddler-cycle

Emma likes to "ride" the exercise bike! She even bounces on it like a horse. Giddy-up!


Oh yeah, stretch that back!

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Cousin fun

Miranda gave Emma a ride around the yard in the wheelbarrow. Wheeee!


The girls each colored a mermaid mask with markers. Emma colored more - including her clothes! Thank goodness the markers are washable :)


Cutie driver!

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Happy Friday

So, Emma had her first Happy Meal last night. I felt sort of guilty - like I really should have cooked her dinner, but Ed was gone and it was very convenient while we were out! I think she liked the box best of all! She probably ate a total of 1 out of 4 nuggets - Zoe got the rest... It was a little treat for us both :)

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Last night we went to visit Ed at a local park where he's involved in the Cascadia Peril exercise (a statewide earthquake drill) with his CERT team. On the way back, we stopped at the playground for some quick fun! Emma did much better crossing the bridge this time!

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Children's Garden

Today we were at Legacy Emanuel Hospital where Emma was born (and oh, resided for 58 days!). I brought my camera so that we could check out the Children's Garden. I can't believe I hadn't thought of taking her out there until today!

Anyway, it's a very peaceful and beautiful garden with a lot to see. We visited it just once or twice while Emma was there - the weather wasn't too accommodating then. It's also heartbreaking to walk through, because there are many memorials to loved ones, typically children who lived for a very short time. It's very sad, but it's nice to see the bricks, benches and statues in their memory so that they will never be forgotten!

It was Emma's idea to sit in front of the sign. I just wanted her to stand there, but she pulled up a curb and sat down!


Climbing on the mosaic turtles.


Look mom, the Tin Man! I don't think we're in Tigard anymore!!

We used to see him out the window when we were outside the NICU! You can also see the yellow brick road painted on the sidewalk, and though she's never heard the song before, I sang "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" while we ran around the loop!

She really liked watching this fountain splash water on the rocks!

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Funny food day

I happened to get some funny pictures of Emma eating today, both breakfast and dessert!
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Yummy oatmeal...

Silly pudding face!

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What a nutty kid :)

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Baby blue

Emma turned 19 months old yesterday! I am losing my touch, I failed to get a picture of her as I have done on every 20th. I meant to, I really did!

Here's one cool baby today! On the warmer days we'll walk earlier in the morning. Emma enjoyed wearing her sunglasses today. She doesn't have the hang of putting them on yet (she pokes herself in the face), so she asks me to help. Then she gets a big smile and takes off running!


Party gras! I let Emma play with some New Orleans beads that Miranda brought me a few years ago. Emma was having a ball playing with them. She gets a little frustrated when they tangle though. I think it's time she makes a fruit loop necklace!!


She looks so good in blue, as it really matches her eyes!!
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*Sun*day fun

This afternoon we hit the playground at Cook Park while daddy wanted to check out some geocaching coordinates. We put on the sunblock and played at the younger kids' playground. It's really nice that they separate the big kids from the little ones!

The first thing Emma did was climb through this tunnel. At first there was a young girl in there, just hanging out with her feet up. It didn't stop Emma from climbing through (oh she's so much like me) - she just climbed right in and the girl got the hint and got out!


Swinging and crawling on the bridge. She never stood on the bridge - she didn't like how it bounced. She got a little weary when other kids ran by her and shook the bridge. So, she crawled from one end to the other!


She loved the slide at first. I would put her at the top and help her slide down, and she'd want to go right back up to do it again. This picture looks like she's all ready to go, but she sat there for a lonnnng time. I finally helped her down. She liked to climb up the steps to get to the slide, but then she didn't want to go all the way down it!! Also, there was a tiny, tiny Terrier puppy at the park, and they let Emma pet him. His name was Patch, and darnit I didn't get a picture, but Emma was very gentle with him (unlike with Zoe!). This dog couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 pounds! She followed him around and around waving at him :)

After the park we hit the grocery store for some bbq fixins. I've never used one of the car shopping carts, but I thought what the heck, we're just stopping for a few things. Well now I know why I hear other moms complaining when their kids ask to get these carts! They are big and bulky and hard to steer, but no matter. Emma loved the steering wheel and drove us all the way around the store! As soon as we'd start pushing the cart after stopping, she would grab the wheel like it was her time to drive! Plus, you've got to love the cupholder!

Finally at home playing with and raking the rocks. She loves picking up rocks and trying to give them to me. Sometimes she puts them in a bucket (that's busy work). I'm not sure what she thinks I'm going to do with a few rocks when there are thousands of them all around us!

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Tastes like chicken

Tonight on our walk we saw a duck and a duckling at a neighborhood pond! Later Emma was playing with the "water's too hot!" duck in the tub, and then I remembered I had two baby ducks in the drawer. We got those out later and one of them is glow in the dark. Sweet!! This is a good find because we recently put glow in the dark stars on Emma's ceiling. Each night right before lights out we shine a flashlight on each star for a few seconds to charge them up for a good glow. (Now, I'm pretty sure we won't be doing that for the next 10 years for her, but you never know!) She really likes to stargaze as she falls asleep, and it's become a fun bedtime ritual! I highly recommend them :)

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Here she is just chewing on the poor little rubber duckies.

Tonight I turned the flashlight on her little duck and sure enough, he's glowing away in her crib! (That glow won't photograph though!)

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Happy Friday!

Some Friday cuteness to share! Have a great weekend everybody!

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Fun in the sun

Emma just loves playing outside. Every time Zoe wants to go out (which is often), Emma is at the door with her begging to go out. Even in her jammies first thing in the morning ("No, you don't have shoes on!")! Now we keep her boots by the back door so she can slip those on over her pajamas :)

Today we got some little kiddie gardening toys (super cheap!), water bucket and folding chair (so maybe she'll quit climbing the picnic table). Emma had a blast pouring water from the bucket all over herself. It actually makes it more fun for me to do yard work when Emma is out there playing!


You would think the bucket was enough water fun for her, but oh no. Zoe's water bowl has always been a big attraction to Emma, so today she spent time splashing in it, and dumping the water from the bowl to the bucket, bucket to the bowl... until all the water was spilled out! Then she'd run to the hose because she now knows that's where the water comes from outside!!


She wasn't happy at all when I brought inside for her afternoon nap. I told her we'll play more when she is rested!!
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Jello?

I'm not sure what to say about these pictures of Emma after dinner! I just knew I had to snap a photo before her bath. She pulled her bib off before she was done eating, as you will see...

When cherry Jello attacks.

I fought the Jello, and the Jello won.

Good Jello - gone bad.

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Fun at the zoo

Today we went to the zoo, and Daddy got to come with us! We had a lot of fun. It was cold yet sunny, and we didn't get rained on once! Emma walked/ran a good part of the way - she'd much rather do that than ride in the stroller. She was getting tired at the end so she relaxed for a while. I think we covered the whole zoo in about three hours, without hurrying even!

Emma checking out the big lion. The pride is coming back this summer, yippee!!

Wow, that's some big fish you caught Emma!!


I won't post all the animal pictures we took, but I can't resist the elephants on parade. How can you not love that adorable baby Samudra?! I'm guessing he's with mom and aunt here.

Posing with some sort of rodent statue...

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Rock climbing! So they're not very big rocks, but Emma loves to climb and these rocks at the entrance were perfect for her! She didn't want to leave them.

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Wow, now that's a big bear!!

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Easter Sunday

Our church held one service outside at a stadium today (instead of the usual three services). Brr!! The temperature was in the 40s and it was a bit breezy. However, we were so blessed that it didn't rain on us during the service! We were seated closer to the front and may have gotten a little wet if that happened. However, we had our thermos of coffee and blanket/gloves, etc., so we were prepared! The nurseries were actually set up in locker rooms beneath the bleachers, so Emma was dry and warm! They did a good job of accommodating everyone. Not an easy task I'm sure!

This is on the way back to the car. Emma was super giggly and the wind was just blowing her hair around like crazy! However, the giggles turned to tears when Daddy buckled her up to go home. About five minutes later she was fast asleep. Long morning!

After we ate lunch and napped (that included me), we all had some chocolate bunnies. Emma's was named "Hopper" and mine was "Flopper." As usual Zoe was very interested in what sister had, and at one point Ed had to pry some chocolate out of Zoe's jaws. We put the bunnies away after eating about half (they were hollow, but that was plenty of sugar!)!

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Hey, where'd his ears go?!

It began to rain really hard this afternoon. We went out with Zoe at one point and Emma was very drawn to some mud puddles where the deck used to be! I said "WAIT!! We need your boots on first!" So, we averted having soaked shoes and got her rubber boots on in time. She was happy as can be just walking back and forth in the water! She stomped a couple of times making a splash. Instead of the Riverdance, she was doing the Puddle Prance*!! (*That's an ode to Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, my favorite at Disneyland!)

I was trying to teach Emma to jump like a bunny does, and so when she started dancing around I grabbed the video camera. Then Daddy tried to get her to jump too, but she more-so liked to dance around!

We hope everyone had a nice day!

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