cousin fun

this week we are visiting claire and erik.
my mom comes tomorrow...
it's a good thing...cause we need more necklaces.
and this referee is worn out.
this has been great experience...but boy am i beat.

so far they have been taking baths.

emi is learning to share
and claire is learning emi's name is emi
and not baby emi.
every time she calls emi by name, she says...baby emi

it's amazing how much more emi eats than claire.
claire is happy with yogurt and a pop tart
emi eats a banana, strawberries and oatmeal.
maybe some dry cereal and more fruit, if she wants it.

claire is showing emi the ropes
on how to play with her toys.
sometimes the advice is not wanted.
the first day was filled with fighting and crying.
we have been here 4 days and it's getting better everyday.

she has such pretty green eyes.

emi is still getting use to the dog
she isn't sure if she likes him or not.

she is fascinated with the garbage.
maybe that is because she can see in and touch it
and at our house, our garbage has a lid.

we've been playing at the park, shopping and swimming.

claire is showing off her sweet moves at the park.
hanging like a monkey.

one things for sure.
emi is having a blast!

she really enjoyed that water bottle
if you couldn't tell by the front of her.

gpa's favorite place

in virginia
there is this huge grocery store
it is super nice and has all sorts of foods..
and my dad loves to go every time he visits.

the girls watching gpa

silly girl! i asked her to smile and this is what she did.
3 year olds sure are silly kids.

ordering sliced meats...
the main reason he loves this place
then onto the separate cheese dept.

they even had a little area for kids to play
while you eat lunch.

after many trips he finally decided
to get a membership card.

can you tell he was excited?

the horse ranch

yay for horses!

my brother volunteers at a rescue horse ranch on saturdays.
we dropped by last saturday to see the horses.

for some reason some horses were able to
sneak out of their designated areas and roam.

i was happy taking pictures.
i'm not a big fan of horses.
the times i have been on a horse...
i have either been kicked or almost backed off a mountain.

they had little baby horses.
their hair was all funny cause they were losing their baby hair.
i think that was claire's favorite.

while i was taking pictures of the horse happenings.
this horse was trying to get up close and personal with me.
wondering where emi is?
behind me....where there were no horses.
she wasn't afraid, just got caught up with
the ones at the beginning behind the fence.

eventually emi wanted to be held.
perfect opportunity for gpa...
since she won't really go to him or let him hold her.
she was fine and ended up giving him a kiss.

notice her face.
she kept doing her 'i don't like this' noise
the horse was inching closer and closer
and she wasn't cool with it.

even though it was hot, humid and dirty.
we all had a good time.

and it was nice to see what erik does there.

the many faces of emi

this is something new. she does it when she laughs/giggles.

not so sure what is going on here. i think the dog was coming near her.

please help me! the dogs licking my feet....
or eating food from my lap.

i'm stuffed!

my cute baby!
her new fang (on the top) feels like
a sharp puppy tooth by the way.

(this was all taken in like a 2 minute span.)

fifteen months

such a sweet girl when she wakes up
9 times out of 10 we have to go check on emi
to see if she is awake.
she won't cry or make much noise
when she wakes up in the morning or from her nap
she just quietly waits for us.

she is full of drama
i think we have entered the world of tantrums
small ones, but tantrums none the less
she is also full of facial expressions
there is no question about how she feels

the second the fridge opens, she runs
and puts her body so the door can't close.
i usually have to say thank you, or all done
and then she will move.

we are working on naming body parts
she knows: hair/head, eyes, ears, nose,
mouth, hands, belly, legs, knees, feet and toes

she has mastered throwing things away
and putting her clothes in the dirty clothes.
we have been lucky she hasn't thrown anything
not garbage away...yet.

she hates having her hands dirty
and does a tiny raspberry sound with her mouth
when she gets her hands dirty.

when she is sleepy, she lays her head down
sometimes she will lay on the floor
oh and she loves being nakie.

she loves playing with all:
purses, sunglasses, necklaces and bracelets
she especially likes this necklace
she puts the end between her bottom front teeth
and pulls...i have to watch carefully.

emi is on a berry boycott!
despite this picture.
in the past 2 weeks, any berry given has been smashed.
but she will eat bananas all day long.
she really still loves any foods,
besides berries at the moment
and is getting better everyday at using a spoon.

emi never ever holds still.
unless she is eating or watching sesame street.
she runs and walks backwards.
is learning to use her feet to push when she sits on things
she can go backwards but not forwards

emi is still my shadow
and is usually within inches of me at any given moment.

only gets the binkie at bedtime, naps and the car
or when we are somewhere with rocks
she likes to chew on rocks.
teeth grinding is about all i can handle
so she gets a binkie to keep things out of her mouth.

the girl loves cherrios

she shoves handfuls into her mouth
she has 13 teeth and is working on more
and if you try to feel around for teeth
she will bite down and hard
{like her face is jiggling hard}

her appt is on the 6th, so no stats.
hopefully by her 16 month post
i can say she has mastered the stairs.
since we will be at my brothers for a week
and momo and poppy's for 2 weeks.
both places with stairs.

emi's first art piece

for father's day i made "hawaiian" shirt cards
for the gpa's from her art work.
i just moved her around the page
since she would just color in one area.

she did really good
besides just wanting to touch the marker part.
{this is what she used to color}
it ended in tears.
she was like hoarding the colors.
and sticking her thumb into the marker.
so i said enough.
being one is tough!
not fully understanding and not talking
can make for some tough times for miss emi

i think i might get some of the crayon ones
instead of the markers
since all she wants to do is stick her finger on the marker part.
we'll see....eddie thinks i am forcing the whole art thing.
so maybe i will wait.

watching daddy

emi was busy coloring the other day
{notice the wall has little fingerprints}
while eddie was getting ready for work.
emi ran right in to see what he was doing.
i obviously was bothering her by taking pictures.
but i thought it was too cute.
{rooster hair, that is what we call her uncombed hair}

her little cankles are getting skinnier by the day.
but not much skinnier.

if looks could kill!

she seriously wanted me out.
i guess i was cramping her style.
is this the look i am going to get when she is 15?

i think...

your the best dad ever!! because....

you:
love emi so much...

support her whenever she needs it...

play with her all the time...

love taking pictures with your baby...

always putting on a happy face...

taking one for the team...

you enjoy exploring with her....

and multi-tasking isn't a problem....

you encourage her...

hold her when things are scary...

are very, very patient with her...and me....

hold her when you don't have too...

spend every spare second with her...

your the best play buddy around...

you love doing things as a family...

are always there to help her...

your number one goal in life, is to make her happy...

i love you eddie!!
i couldn't have wished for a better father to my children.
you are always there to help and i appreciate you!

happy father's day!!