Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, right up there with Christmas and Thanksgiving.  The crisp weather, the costumes, the pumpkins, the candy...it's all just good fun!  This year was awesome since Emily was old enough to dress up and go trick-or-treating.  We visited her grandparents and great grandparents, then came home and did a little trick-or-treating with our neighbors before we put Emmy to bed and passed out candy.  We had lots of trick-or-treaters this year, which was a fun change.  Here are a few pics of our evening.  We forgot to bring the camera out at Mawmaw's house, our first stop. :(  I hope your Halloween was as fun as ours!

Sweet little zebra

The zebra and her Papa

Mimi, Zebra, Papa

Pure joy

Our little family

Zebra escaping from grandpa

Zebra in the flowers

Zebra with Grandma

Funny face zebra

Grandma, Zebra, Grandpa

Zebra putting candy in her pumpkin

Beautiful zebra

Zebra grazing

Sea Life Aquarium

At the end of September, Daddy took the day off and we headed to the new Sea Life Aquarium at Grapevine Mills.  Emily loves to feed the fish at Mimi and Papa's pond, so we thought she might like to see some BIG fish! 

Overall the aquarium wasn't worth the price to get in, but it did have a really neat tunnel to walk through that had fish and sharks all around.  It was very cool and Emily loved it.  I think she would've stayed forever if we had let her. 

Amazed by the fishies.

Checking out the fish under her feet

Can we get one of these at home?

Attempting a Daddy-Daughter picture

The best we could do. :)  Notice her light up Sea Urchin toy.

Sweet girl and sweet daddy

Fourteen Months

Oh, sweet Emily.  What was life even like before you?  This month has been wonderful, just like the 13 before it.  We had lots of fun this month, started some new activities, became even more mobile, and basically just loved life!  Here are a few highlights:

• Kindermusik:  We started Kindermusik classes in Grapevine on Emily's 13 month birthday.  It has been SO much fun.  It was basically inevitable that Emily would be a musical child, but I figured it would only help things to encourage that talent.  It has been really fun seeing her interact with other kids all about the same age as her, and to watch her grow to love singing and dancing right before my eyes has been an amazing treat.  Her musicality has improved so much in the past month- she is singing more, swaying and bopping more, and being easily soothed by music when she gets fussy.  I can't wait to keep watching her grow to love music even more.
• More teeth:  Bottom two molars are in, which puts us at a total of 12.  If the ridiculous amount of time spent chewing on her hands is any indication, there is at least one more coming in soon.  I'm guessing it's the canines, because those spots seem to be a bit swollen.
• Food:  Emily is such a good eater.  She pretty much loves it all except for meat.  We did get her to eat a good amount of rotisserie chicken this month as well as some brisket, so maybe there is hope for her yet. :)  She loves spaghetti and chicken spaghetti, so that's one sneaky way we're getting more meat in.  Some of the fun things she tried this month were popcorn, candy corn, and roasted chickpeas.  She loved them all!  We also gave her some fresh green beans, which she wasn't a huge fan of...canned are SO much better, you know.
• Words:  She has really seemed to start picking up more words this month.  This is the first month where she has said Mama and Dada and really seemed to be aware that she was calling for/talking to and about us.  She still loves hi and has added bye.  She also says clock- referring to the clock in my parents kitchen and clack- referring to/singing with one of her Kindermusik songs.  She has said dog a couple of times and BaBas for the Backyardigans.  She also says go, thanks to a BaBa song.  Mostly, though, she just babbles non-stop, all the time, from sunup to sundown.  We don't have a clue what she's saying, but she is certainly saying something.  It usually involves stern eyebrows and lots of pointing.
• Books:  Finally has become interested in books and reading.  She is really into her Halloween books right now, and especially loves books where she can lift flaps.
• Mobility:  Emily is walking better and better every day.  She loves to grab our hands and lead us around to wherever she wants to go.  I have started letting her walk from the car to the building when we are going to the grocery store, Jazzercise, etc and she loves it.  Such a big girl!
• Shoes:  We finally bought Emily some big girl shoes this month.  Stylish little diva that she is, she's been wearing shoes all her life, but since she's now an official walker, we decided she needed some good quality shoes.  She is now rocking a precious pair of Keds as well as some black Mary Janes from Stride Rite.  And thanks to her sweet friend Carrigan loaning out her too-small shoes, she has some other super cute kicks, as well!
• Temper tantrums:  There is no doubt we have a real toddler on our hands.  When she doesn't get her way, she often sits down on the floor and screams.  I just love when it happens in public!  She is certainly her mother's daughter.  I have been hearing the stories about my toddler temper for years now.
• Personality:  If there has ever been an independent and strong-willed child, this is the one.  Although it is difficult at times right now, I am so thankful for it.  I know she will grow up to be a strong child, teenager, and adult and that makes me happy!  We are trusting the Lord will guide all of that strong-willedness in the right direction.

Our girl has actually lost weight in the last month since she started walking all the time.  We are around 21.5 lbs right now, and well over 30 inches.  I would guess about 32 or 33.  Size 3 diapers and mostly (baggy) 18 month clothing.

And now for the pictures...

First time coloring with crayons at a restaurant

Sweet girl

Saying "cheese" with Daddy

Reading!

Sweet girl in her new shoes

Early morning smiles

 

 

I LOVE spaghetti!

Skinny baby, playing with her favorite toys.

Beauty queen swinging

Picnics at the park are serious business!

Eating Kissing her puppy.  This girl is SUCH a little mommy.

So sweet.

Big girl on the ottoman

Eating lunch with her new friend Garrett

Hanging out with the firemen at our block party

Celebrating Mimi on her birthday

Emily Reads!

Up to this point, I must admit I've been a bit disappointed at Emily's lack of interest in all things literary.  I see other friends with babies her age that say their kids love to read.  Emily just likes to turn the pages to get to the end of the book as quickly as possible so that, sooner than later, she can get down and move on to the next thing.  It's a means to an end.  Being a children's librarian, it made me completely question myself as both a parent and bibliophile.  What had I done wrong?  Would my child never love books the way I do?  Would my MS in Library Science be revoked? 

A couple weeks ago she began to show a little bit of interest in dear Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  I'm quite sure she cared more about the funny little graduated-size pages and the holes through which she could stick her fingers (Bravo, Mr. Carle) than the story itself, but that's beside the point.  That beloved little Caterpillar got her at least somewhat book curious. 

On Friday, October 5th, I believe we made a real breakthrough.  The day before, I read her Dan Yaccarino's version of Five Little Pumpkins and she seemed to really enjoy it.  It has a great rhyme scheme and cute colorful pictures.  Also, Dan Yaccarino is the artist who created the Backyardigans characters, who Emily absolutely loves.  I think she may see a resemblance between pumpkin number five and Pablo. :)  So anyway, last Friday she went to her book basket, pulled out Five Little Pumpkins, carried it to her daddy, and sat down in his lap.  Finally!  She wanted to read!  Since that day, we have probably read Five Little Pumpkins 25 times.  Such a sweet and fun milestone for this book-loving mama.