4.30.2010

Bedtime craziness!!

The last hour of Emmy Cate’s day has recently turned into our very FAVORITE part of the day.  What used to just be chores of getting through dinner, bathtime, and bedtime has now become sooo much fun because Emmy Cate is usually in the best mood!  And by best mood, I mean crazy hyper!! 

She has a couple of games that she loves to play and get her giggling and racing around.  the first is a surprise game and takes two people.  It goes something like this … one person holds her and the other person turns their back to her.  Emmy Cate reaches out and touches the second person on the back and that person jumps and turns around and acts crazy.  Then repeat!  She can really get giggling on this one.  We don’t have any pics because it takes two people!

The other game is simply to play chase.  She loves to chase and be chased and she can really get tearing around her room at bedtime.  She really loves for Daddy to play the game with her and she thinks it’s the BEST for him to swipe her legs out from under her when she crawls. 

You would think getting her that wound up before bed would be a complete no-no and we should be dimming the lights and reading to her or something calming, but we give her a bath, get her pj’s on, lay her in the crib, turn off the lights and shut the door and she goes to sleep within a few minutes by herself every single night!  Thank you Emmy Cate for being a GREAT sleeper.

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EC hyper 1

4.27.2010

Busy, Busy Last Week

So, we have really been busy this last week … doing I don’t know what … just keeping busy!!  I am always amazed at how Emmy Cate’s progress in language, motor skills, etc. really jumps by leaps and bounds in a matter of days!!  I was pretty distracted writing her 11 month post, so I’m going to revise it and add some things that she has now mastered or I forgot to post a few days ago.

  • We have definitely learned to both clap and wave on command!  Before, she could clap and she could wave, but all you have to say is “Emmy Cate, Clap!” and she does it!  And yes, her official wave is the “closing-her-hand-in-a-fist-waving-to-herself” wave that most babies do!   Why is that so darn cute?
  • After taking the last video of her walking behind her walker, she has really started to enjoy that toy and can walk anywhere behind it now
  • She is now a proficient “cruiser” and can walk around the coffee table, down the sofa, around people, etc!  I may have thought walking was a little ways off but I think I’m retracting that statement!  Here she is walking down the console table.

EC cruising

  • She can stand up and balance without holding on to anything.  Here she is taking time out from playing on her walker to take a sip!

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Ok, I think those are all of her new “skillz” for now …

Other than that, we went swimming for the first time this summer.  To say Emmy Cate enjoyed it would be an understatement!  We have a blow up floatie that she can sit in, which she liked, but I think she mostly liked me holding her and swimming around with her.  Since I took her by myself, I don’t have any pics of her in the water, but here she is pre-swim:

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I didn’t really realize how often she has her tongue sticking out until I started looking through these pictures! 

And finally, last but not least, our friend Diane came to visit us this weekend and got in plenty of play time with EC.

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4.21.2010

Why crawl when you can (start) walking?

Emmy Cate is really getting the hang of her walker!  Here is a quick clip I caught of her “walking” around today.  Forgive our “WT”-ness … Emmy Cate was so sweaty from chasing Bits so I took her pants off!

 

11 Months

Wow … only one more month to go until Emmy Cate is a year old!  Amazing!  We are knee deep in her birthday planning and can’t wait to celebrate our little girl turning 1 year old!! 

Not a lot of drastic changes from 10 months, but here are some highlights from her 11th month:

  • Pulling up on any and everything, and cruising around a bit.   We think walking is still a little ways off though!  :)
  • Loves to give high fives, low fives, and clap with you
  • Babbles and has too many sounds to name!!  Starting to say “mama” specific.  Looks like we may have our first word!!
  • Loves to reach for whomever she wants to hold her
  • Weighed in at the doctor today at 20 lbs. (50%).  Estimated 29.5 long (75%).

She loves her some Bits and so they wrestle quite often now!  Bits gets really PO’ed, but for some reason stands his ground and will not run away and get out of her reach.  Here is their latest round of fighting!

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4.12.2010

Pool Party!!

It was such a beautiful day out today, we decided to get Emmy Cate’s jungle baby pool out and play in the backyard.  Not surprisingly, this girl loved it since it had to do with H20!  The water was a bit chilly (filled from the hose), but our little trooper didn’t seem to mind.  Our pools open later this month so this was just a little preview of summer!  Note the random stick that she was intent on holding on with a death grip!

Ec standing pool

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 smile in pool

4.06.2010

Hoppy Easter!!

Emmy Cate had quite the first Easter!  Unfortunately, we had to take the bad with the good and deal with our first ear infection.  After having a fever for 3 days, a horribly runny nose, and the ear infection, Emmy Cate has not been a happy camper!!

Pro and DeDe were in town to help us out with some home improvements (more on that later!) and so they got to celebrate with us.  On Saturday, we dyed our Easter eggs with DeDe.  Emmy Cate get her hands in the yellow dye and so had yellow fingers for a while, but she managed to avoid getting it on her clothes or anything else!

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We also made a bunny cake!  My grandmother made this cake for my brother and I when we were little and so gave me the pan to make the cake for Emmy Cate.  Talk about pressure!  It was quite the task with the cake mold and icing and decorating!!  We managed to make it work, although we had a number of close calls with the head threatening to topple!  We think it turned out cute and you can see the picture of the original cake too!

Cake compare

EC easter cake

On Easter morning, Emmy Cate woke up to yummy breakfast of bunny pancakes!! 

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At lunchtime, we headed to the Club for an Easter brunch, Easter egg hunt, and a visit with the Easter bunny.  And no, Emmy Cate did not wear a dress on Easter (Sally) :) !!  I know, terrible, but she is NOT happy when she cannot crawl everywhere, and she gets stuck on the hem of a dress.  And since she has been a little crazy the past few days, that was just not a battle I wanted to fight!  Soooo … she wore a cute bubble and her Easter dress is in the bag to be taken back.  :(

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After an incredible brunch (Miss EC was on her best manners!) we headed to the Easter egg hunt where EC managed to collect all of 3 eggs before the big kids snatched them all up!!

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We tried to get pictures but there was WAY too much going on for her to concentrate!!  Many of the pictures turned out like this … EC pick nose 

Yes, that is her finger straight up her nose!!  This is her latest obsession, which is quite gross especially when her nose is running!

But once she saw the Easter bunny, it was all smiles!!  She gets so giddy just giggling and grinning when she sees any “character” in costume!  Add in the fact that she has never met a stranger so you can hand her right over, and you can get the best pictures!!  We basically had to tear here away so that the next kid could get their picture taken!

EC easter bunny

Easter bunny family

After brunch, we came home and Emmy Cate found what the Easter bunny had brought her – an Easter basket filled with bunny bubbles, sidewalk chalk, a hopping chicken, bunny ears, peeps, cotton candy, and other yummy treats!!

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 Happy 1st Easter Emmy Cate!!!