At the 2007 Zoo Boo

 

Abbi and Daddy on a hayride at the pumpkin patch

 

Emma as a Halloween pumpkin

 

Abbi and Emma at the pumpkin patch

 

Emma's Three-Year Photos

Blowing out Mama's birthday cake

Emma on her new swing set

Whoosh... da nomby whoosh!

For the last several weeks, Emma has been saying a phrase that sounded like "Whoosh... da nomby whoosh!" She says it when she is being particularly silly, and says it in a loud, declarative voice. Now, normally we understand nearly every single word she says. She speaks very clearly and has a huge vocabulary. But this little phrase stumped us completely. Even when she said it slowly, we couldn't follow it and thought it was a made-up phrase that just sounded good to her ear.

However, today the mystery was solved. Apparently at school they have a book called "Whoosh Around the Mulberry Bush" which comes with an audio CD, and this is what she has been saying. The people at daycare said it is an odd voice, and they could totally understand why she thought it was "Whoosh... da nomby whoosh!" They also said it was sort of creepy.

So today, I bid on a copy of the book on eBay, just so we could hear it for ourselves. I don't know if I'll try to correct her on the phrase, though; I sort of like "Whoosh... da nomby whoosh!". It's become one of our favorite catch-phrases when we're all being silly.

Building Emma's playhouse

Not the best photo, but here's the playhouse we are building for Emma in the back yard. So far, we are through step #64 of 99 steps. (And it's obvious they combined some steps to keep the total number under 100.) Still to do: We have to put up the bridge/tunnel, add the swings, and add the slide. So far, it has taken us about 12 hours of work, including 3 hours or more just sorting and labeling parts. We bought it at Sam's Club and they say it should take 16 hours or so for ''two skilled builders'' to put it together. I guess that means it should take us twice as long!

When it's finished it should look roughly like the photos below, taken from the manufacturer's web site. I'll be sure to post some ''real'' photos once we get it completed. I'm hoping to have it finished this week. Thanks to Tom next door and Uncle Dennis for their help. We couldn't have gotten this far without you!

I'm a little teapot...

Today at the 4th of July parade, Emma spontaneously broke into a rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot." The high point of the parade today was picking up candy; she scurried around picking it up when it was thrown to her, and even shared some of what she picked up with the little boys standing next to us. The best part was when she picked up two suckers, saw that one was broken, and offered the broken sucker to one of the little boys... all the while carefully protecting the 'good' sucker behind her back to hide it from him and keep it for herself!

She also got very excited when she was watching her brother play. She wanted to follow him down the street!

Picking Raspberries

Today we went raspberry picking. Of course, Emma ate about half of the ones she picked, and picked a lot of green, unripened berries, but she had fun and we came away with about 5 quarts of berries for jam.

Ladybug Raincoat

Emma has a ladybug raincoat, ladybug boots, and even a ladybug umbrella. She wants to wear the coat and boots whenever it rains. We're even thinking of having a ladybug-themed birthday party!

The Reading Room

We've been really working on potty training, but Emma has been a bit resistant to the idea. She manages to go occasionally at daycare, but is reluctant at best at home. However, she does enjoy flipping through a catalog or two while she gives it a try.

At the park

Emma's yellow balloon

Emma at a restaurant 5-24-07

Best friends

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

CIMG4330
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

CIMG4260
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.