(little) grrrl meets world

Emma dances with baby

[and yes, that's CNN in the background -- I have such a girl crush on Campbell Brown!]

Emma this week

More here.

Emma meets ladybug

Rotting her brain

Emma’s newest obsession is Blue’s Clues:

Seriously, for a little grrrl who never slows down, she LOVES Blue’s Clues. (this weekend I found her a “handy dandy notebook” for a quarter!)

Putting Emma to work:

Granted, I think she had more fun playing with a chopstick in the water, but at least she’s grasping the idea of chores early!

A year and a half at a glance:

First Spanish word: “gato” (cat) — Emma’s childcare worker is from Mexico, and often speaks to her in espanol.

Favorite fine-motor activities: taking raisins out of the box AND pulling a juice box straw in and out of its hole

Favorite toy: baby dolls. Emma will feed, kiss, hug, dance, rock, and put to bed her babies. It’s so incredibly cute!

Daredevil qualities: Emma loves to climb on chairs, stand up, and wait until you look her way. Then she giggles and starts to jump. Thankfully she has inherited my hard-headedness (though in more ways than one)

Sleeping patterns: Down between 7:30-8:00pm, up at 5:30 FREAKING AM. It doesn’t matter how often I put her down later, or cut back on napping. This child has an internal alarm clock that is going to kill her mama.

Independence-factors: Increasing, daily. Emma is in that stage where she thinks she is capable of doing things that her body just can’t do, not yet, anyway. Hence, frustration.

Favorite word: “dad-dy” — everything is daddy. Food, mama, herself, toys, trees, anything she can point to, she names it daddy. (not that I’m bitter or anything)

Potty training: So far, she recognizes the act of going to the bathroom, and likes to sit on her little potty and pretend.

Least favorite activity: Washing her hair in the bathtub. It’s like we’re pouring acid down her head and not water, she screams so loudly.

Leaving her mark in the world: Emma has a tendency to leave behind her a trail of Cheerios, raisins, cereal bits, and bananas. It doesn’t matter how many times I vacuum the house (and it’s becoming an obsession these days — I dream of owning a Dyson!) — there are always bits of food to be found, usually on your feet as you walk around.

Favorite videos: Blues Clues. Since I’ve always had a crush on Steve, I don’t mind at all.

Favorite night-night book: The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boyton. I’ve already got it memorized (“the sun has set, not long ago…”)

Favorite food: Luckily, Emma will eat anything. Some consistent favorites are NutraGrain cereal bars, yogurt, zwieback cookies, and anything I happen to be eating at the time.

Hot fun in the summertime

Emma has this fun little splash mat/pool that we can set up and easily take back down again — it’s been a lifesaver for the past few HOT days!

Here she is in action:

Partaking of the sweet nectar of hose water (listen for her bad habit, taught to her by daddy):

Emma showing off her mad splashing skillz:

and my personal favorite, Emma and Daddy in the pool:

Emma at work

Another garage sale deal — a little desk for Emma. She love things her own size, so if I can supply it for a couple bucks, I’m all for it too.

Boogie

Our CD du jour has been Coldplay’s latest, Viva la Vida — so. good. Here’s Emma jamming out to the beginning of one of the songs (I love how she transitions her moves):

and

a bit of daddy

a bit of daddy, originally uploaded by becky b..

Emma with daddy’s hat this morning.