October

I can hardly believe it is fall. We had such a nice summer and I really didn't even mind that it was a bit on the cooler side. It's too bad fall has been off to such a rainy start. It's feels like it's been raining for 2 weeks straight. We've hardly been able to get any good quality time outside to play, but we've been making the best of staying inside. She discovered she could get herself in one of the baskets and it was even better when she discovered her lamb could sit in it with her.

Em has really been into playing "kitchen" with whatever she can find. The other week I watched curiously as she took 3 mittens and a book and climbed up on one of the dining table chairs. It suddenly dawned on me as she layered the mittens (the odd one out in the middle of the matching ones) on top of the book, then picked up the mitten stack and pretended to take a bit and chew, that she was making a "sandwich" (a.k.a. mittens) on a "plate" (a.k.a. book). Good imagination, but I guess it's about time for some "real" play food. So, we got her a wooden slice and bake cookie set... she adores it! She especially loves to give daddy cookies and watch him eat them like Cookie Monster! Today I watched her as she set each one of her babies at her table and then put a cookie on a book (she doesn't have any play plates) in front of each baby. She'd take turn offering a cookie to each baby. Then she took on stacking cubes and put one on each "plate" and then shook a toy block over each cube. Again, she would take turns holding a cube up to each baby's mouth... sometimes she would even take a "taste" of her own. It was so cute to watch! Can you guess what Em will be getting for Christmas?

It's always a real treat to get to play with real spoons, bowls, and food. Em is becoming a real pro at feeding herself. Of course, she insists on holding the utensil herself. She has conquered oatmeal, peas, mac & cheese, but yogurt is still quite a challenge. It's a little too thin to make it all the way from the container to the mouth! Here's Em after finding a cozy spot in the kitchen corner to sit and play with her Cheerios and clutching her baby...

And, in typical Emerson fashion, when I asked her to give me some cheese, she went all out (her nose is very snotty in this picture, she's been getting over a cold and LOTS of nose wiping!)...

I think Em is finally getting over her cold (that also seems to have lasted about 2 weeks). Only an occasional nose wipe was needed over this past weekend. Overall, she did very good this past weekend. Emma from next door came over to play with Emerson for an hour. She wants to learn to babysit and has been asking her parents to babysit Emerson since she was born. Emma's still a bit young to take care of Emerson alone, but I don't mind letting her play with Em so she can get some experience and Em can get use to Emma. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to get upstairs and spend a good amount of time dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning the shower. It only took Emerson about 5 minutes to warm up to Emma, so it worked out good.

Cody had a hockey game at Lawson so everyone was up to watch him play. Em and I stayed home, but met the group later for dinner out. Unfortunately, Em and I will not be able to do much cheering on of Cody this year. We went to a game a few weeks ago and it was so much work to keep Emerson entertained and keep her from going down all the steps and all over the place. Maybe next year! We had a nice dinner, even though it ended up being much later than I expected... we didn't leave the restaurant until almost 8:00. Under the circumstances of being off schedule and tired, Emerson did really well and promptly took a batch and went to bed when we got home.

Sunday morning, I couldn't resist getting the camera out to take a picture of Emerson... she looked so cute dressed up with her coat on waiting for us to leave. Of course, as soon as she saw the camera she started making her cheese faces (I don't even have to ask anymore!)... she's such a nutty girl!

She was so excited to go into the church nursery, practically jumping out of our arms to get in. This was a much different story than the week before, she really did not like her mommy helping in the nursery and playing with the other kids. There were only a couple of kids in the nursery today and 4 helpers, so she got a lot of attention, which she loves! She was doing so good that we decided to go out to breakfast, she did good again -- of course, towards the end, Todd did have to give her his watch to keep her entertained!

All in all, it was a very good day (and weekend!)! Tomorrow, I have to leave for New Jersey for a few days.... so, I'll miss Todd and Emerson greatly!