Sleeping in the car

French toast!

Tonight, Emma and Jordan went out for dinner with me to a new local cafe that specializes in breakfast food. I ordered pancakes with bacon for Emma, but instead they brought french toast with sausage. Go figure. In any event, she hated the sausage patties but loved the french toast! She even liked it without syrup.

Emma at the Christmas Eve service

This was Emma in her Christmas Eve outfit, about five minutes before she decided she had had enough of the church service and began to pitch a minor fit in the back of the church. Mommy had to take her out of the service until it was done. Apparently she took her to the ladies' restroom, where Emma attempted to flop on the floor in anger, pitching an even bigger fit. Nice way to behave in church! Once the service concluded, we had a Christmas Eve celebration and buffet dinner with my family at our new house, where Emma was in a good mood once again. It may be a while before we go back to church. That's Emma's grandpa in the background, by the way.

Riding the penny horse at the local Meijer store. It's the best penny I ever spent! (OK, so she made me spend 3 pennies because she wanted to ride more, but it was still worth it!)

Dunking a chicken nugget

Emma has learned how to dunk chicken nuggets, french fries, and pretty much anything else in ketchup. I suppose it was only a matter of time! She also learned the word "dunk" quicker than almost any word she has learned to date.

On the subject of words, she is saying so many now it is hard to keep track of them all. Here's a partial list of all the words she knows now, at 15 months:

Dada

Mama

Dog

Abbi (pronounced "Abba".)

Jordan (pronounced "Doh-da".)

Emma

"Get down" (used when speaking to the dog.)

Up (pronounced "up-ah"... my personal favorite.)

Uh-oh

That (usually used when pointing to an object.)

Get (as in "I'm going to get you!")

Ouch

Look (pronounced "gook", and often said when she sees Mickey Mouse)

Nose

"Buckle up!" (pronounced "buh-buck")

Dunk

Ball

Pop

Book

Thank You (occasionally only, pronounced "tee-tee".)

Kitty (also pronounced "tee-tee".)

Donald Duck

Elmo

Emma has also learned to nod her head when she wants something (for example, if I ask her "do you want a drink?") and she dances now... both on the floor when you tell her to dance, or sitting in her high chair if she hears music, particularly Christmas music. She also knows what some more abstract concepts mean like "put it away", "get your boots on", "go find the doggy", or "it's time to take a bath". It's really amazing to see her learning so many things so quickly.

Emma's 2005 Christmas Portrait

Sledding at Grandpa and Grandma's House

Today, Emma went sledding for the very first time. After getting her all bundled up in her new snowsuit, Uncle Aaron (and Daddy) took her down the hill at Grandma and Grandpa's house. The first time down, she didn't quite know what to make of it, but by the second trip down the hill she was giggling and laughing. We only spent about 15 minutes outside with her since she was ready for a nap, but she had a ball outside in the snow!

Sleeping in the high chair

Ready to go!

Yes, I like Pina Coladas!

On the cruise ship tonight at dinner in the Parrot Cay restaurant, Emma tried her very first non-alcoholic frozen pina colada. And we definitely hit a home run! She absolutely loved it, and wouldn't let us put it down for even a moment. Dinner was good, but apparently the pina coladas were even better.

In the Bahamas

Our first landfall on our Disney Cruise took us to Nassau in the Bahamas. There we played in a private lagoon just for Disney guests, Jordan and I rode a jet ski, and Emma fell asleep and took a long nap on the beach.


Emma decided to try on some sunglasses in one of the many Bahamian gift shops. Stunning, don't you think?


All of us outside the cruise ship at Port Nassau. Emma's first international trip!

Doing some research

Emma apparently decided she needed to learn some more about Information Systems tonight, in order to help out with her own web log. Unfortunately, she's reading chapter 3, which has nothing to do with HTML.

Truthfully, Emma does love books. We've been reading to her a lot lately because her attention span is longer. And no, we're not reading Information Systems textbooks to her!

Emma, meet Elmo

Tonight we took Emma to the Big Boy Restaurant near our house, where Elmo was going to be. She was so fascinated by him that she barely touched her dinner. (If you look closely, you can see the guy peeking out from inside the Elmo suit... creepy!)

Eating an apple with her brother at the orchard

Who is tallest now?

Taking a nap

Emma at the Renaissance Faire, September 17, 2005

Emma on her walk-behind toy

Emma loves to play with her walk-behind toy. It makes noise when you touch it, and she can walk behind it or sit on it and bounce.

She is getting to be such a big girl. Last night she took a record 7 steps in a row towards Mommy. She would probably take more steps at once, but she just gets so excited she can't stand still. She is also progressing verbally. We can make out different sounds she makes now for "Mommy", "Daddy", dog, ball, duck, dolly, and possibly even "brother". In addition, she is able to drink very well from a straw, and will eat toast or even a grilled cheese sandwich when we go out to eat!

Emma took her first steps today!

Emma took her first real steps today at daycare! She has occasionally taken one step away from the furniture recently or stood by herself for a few moments but until today has not done any more than that. Hopefully we'll be able to capture some video of her walking!

Holding a balloon at Krystal's graduation party

Patty cake!

Eating cake at Aunt Karen & Uncle Bill's anniversary party

At Grandma's House

Archived photo from December 6

It is hard to believe how much Emma has grown!

Sleeping in her crib

I love peas!

Emma's first ferris wheel ride

Eating goldfishies at Chung's

Emma's first Tigers game

July 9

A picture I forgot to post from January 18

After swimming at Grandma's house

This is one of my favorite photos! She's all snuggled up in a beach towel after swimming, and munching on Cheez-Its.

Bath time at the cabin

We decided to give Emma a bath in the wash basin at the cabin. It's the same bathtub that I apparently took baths in as well as both Aunt Karen and Aunt Vicki. Emma loved it. She got to pound on the side of it with a tin cup, and splash around and have a great time.


Emma loves her bath!


Emma taking a bath in the old wash tub at the cabin, June 26, 2005.


Mommy and Daddy giving Emma a bath.

Traverse City, June 2004

On a hot summer afternoon, we went to the beach to play in the water of Traverse Bay. Emma loved it! She splashed and crawled in the sand, and seemed to really enjoy the water even though it was a bit chilly. The sun was out and the temperature in Traverse City hit a record high of 94, so we didn't spend much time out in the hot sun, but Emma still had lots of fun!


Traverse Bay, as seen from our hotel.


Emma playing in Traverse Bay, June 24


Emma loves the water!


Emma playing in the sand in Traverse City.