A birthday kiss for Daddy

Tonight we went to an Irish pub for dinner and drinks, to celebrate my 40th birthday. Emma sat between me and her Grandma, and was definitely the life of the party. She ate, made conversation, helped me blow out the candle on my sundae, and then gave Grandma and me kisses too. Plus, she talked to Grandma in the car non-stop both to the restaurant and back home. She kept talking about the ocean, the beach, and a thousand other things, including a ''cotton candy kayak'' she wants (she has seen kayaks that are blue and look like the color of cotton-candy-flavored lollipops).
See the similarity?



For me, it was a great birthday -- I got "flamingoed" (see the other picture of Emma hugging one) and had a terrific dinner with Nichole, Jordan, Emma and my Mom. If Abbi could have been there too, it would have been perfect.

Emma certainly seemed to have a good time, that's for sure. Then, when we put her down for the night, she gave me hugs, and sang "Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to Daddy... Happy Birthday to you." It was very sweet, and we were a bit surprised that she kept it fairly close to the actual lyrics of the song!

Hugging flamingos in the yard

Emma went one by one through the front yard tonight, hugging all the flamingos that had been planted in honor of my 40th birthday. She didn't miss one!

Kissing Grandma

Breakfast with Brother

Watching Dora the Explorer

New Scarf

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Emma and Daddy open her new scarf and matching hat at Grandma's house, during our family get-together on 12/30/2006.

Emma and Santa

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Santa came by this morning for a visit, and brought lots of presents for Emma. His bag was so full, he had to come in through the back door off the deck, instead of down the chimney!

Emma and her new car

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Emma got a new car for Christmas! Unfortunately, it has been too chilly and/or wet to use it much, and she can't step on the pedal hard enough to make it go (yet). But she really loves it!

Emma in her Dora Castle

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Emma was so delighted when she saw her Dora castle on Christmas morning. She played in it most of the day, and even though there were plenty of other toys, she seemed completely enchanted by the castle. I only hope it can stay inflated, since the cat seems to like it too!

Emma and her dolly

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Emma and her dolly -- they match!

Christmas Photos 2006

Emma and Santa 12-9-2006

Today we stopped by The Country Place, a small gift shop in Howell, and Santa was there! We took Emma into the store where he was, and she immediately climbed onto his lap, asked him for a hug (or more accurately, just said "Hug" and put her arms around him), and then sat perfectly still for photos and carried on a 10-minute conversation with him about presents, Rudolph, the snowmen on the wall of the store, and the candy cane ("it has stripes on it!") that he gave to her.

The girls who were in charge of taking photos said they hadn't seen a child do what Emma had done... most of them were either shy or scared, and definitely didn't ask Santa for a hug or carry on a long conversation with him. Emma just took it all in stride, as if she had known Santa for years.

Then, we left and she opened her candy cane. She ate a little bit of it in the car as we were leaving... but then she fell asleep with it still gripped in her hand, and slept all the way home. I bet she had dreams about Santa and snowmen and Rudolph.

Emma as Cinderella

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Emma went trick-or-treating tonight in her fancy new Cinderella costume, with the matching tiara and faux-fur cape. We made it to about 20 houses (driving around in the car and getting out when we saw several houses in a row with their lights on) in our neighborhood before she seemed to get tired.

Emma and Abbi at the pumpkin patch

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Originally uploaded by Emma's Daddy.

Today we went to the nearby farm and picked out pumpkins to carve. The girls had a great time, and mugged for the camera every chance they got. It was a bit cold and wet, but we had fun anyway! (And besides, Emma was obviously quite toasty in her homemade hat.)

Spaghetti can be fun

Normally, Emma won't touch spaghetti or macaroni and cheese (or vegetables for that matter), but tonight for some reason she decided to try a little spaghetti... once I showed her that you could eat it in a fun way!

9/21

Playing the piano

Chocolate milky -- "it's candy, daddy, it's candy!"

Emma had never tried chocolate milk before, as far as we know. But boy, once she tried it, she wouldn't put it down! She kept saying "It's candy, Daddy!"

Emma's 2-Year Photos

Emma had her two-year photos taken the other day, here at our home. She is advancing so fast, and getting so big. She speaks in nearly full sentences (and is a true chatterbox, like both her parents), and comes up with something new almost every day. She has surprised us in the last few weeks by:

Counting to fourteen, all by herself.

Singing the Alphabet Song, all the way through.

Pointing out letters everywhere she sees them.

Calling her Mama in the morning by saying ''Mama, come Emma's room, knock onna door.''

Actually saying ''Come in!'' when Mama knocked on her door.

Telling us that her Mama's name was "Hichole".

Singing to herself, in the car and the bathtub.

Feeding me a tortilla chip and then saying ''don't talk mouth full.''

The weekend after her birthday, we are throwing a birthday party for her with a Cinderella theme. Cinderella is one of her very favorite characters, and so the plan is to have birthday cakes and cookies shaped like Cinderella and her castle, rent an inflatable ''moon-bouncer'' that looks like Cinderella's castle, and of course send out themed invitations to Princess Emma's gala ball.


It's hard to believe she's almost TWO!

On a carousel

Shopping in the living room

Trip to the zoo

Emma cuddling with a tortoise statue at the zoo.

Feeding the piggy bank

Cherry Festival

Feasting on black cherries at the Cherry Festival air show.

Resting after a full morning of swimming

Emma, taking a juice-box break after a full morning of swimming at Great Wolf Lodge.

New dress and sandals

Flowers in her hair

Silly Sunglasses

Sleeping on the couch

Emma, sleeping on the living room couch.

Emma at the Zoo

Last weekend, we all went to the Detroit Zoo. We had a great time, although Emma didn't take a nap the entire time... which meant she fell asleep almost instantly when we put her into the car to leave! Emma's favorites seemed to be the penguins ("penguin funny," she said) and the polar bears. She also really enjoyed the train ride. It was a perfect day, both in terms of weather and fun.