New school year

My how time flies!! We are back in school already...the summer went by way too fast! Emersen is now in Room 2 at the 'college' daycare. It is a more age-appropriate room; however, she was moved a week earlier than expected so that was cause for some transition situations. She now has 2 weeks under her belt and seems to be doing just fine. Most of her buddies are in the same room and she usually has 3 (if not more) teachers in the room at all times. They have a flexible schedule which includes things like song time, story time, "messy" activity time, and outdoor play.

The biggest changes include the fact that (1) each child has his/her own cot (yes, no crib!!!) and they only pat backs to sleep, no more rocking and (2) all the kids eat together at one big toddler sized table! Eme went w/out a nap for 2 days(ugh!!), but finally got the hang of it and usually sleeps at least 1 hr. if not more. She also enjoys mealtime and is so excited and ready to eat breakfast when Trevor drops her off.

Now that she is a little bit older, I am a little bit more comfortable with her at "school"; however, I love it when she runs across the room to me when I pick her up in the afternoon! :)

Now, if we could just get the teething difficulties to vanish, that would be awesome!

August 2010..hardly able to sit up by herself

August 2011..walking, standing..doesn't she look so grown up and toddler-like?

She loves, loves books!!

A little randomness...

Emersen loves learning how to put things "in" and she really watches everyone all the time...so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that she knows how a key works??

Another example of putting things "in"..she often carries a bag or basket around the house with her "things" :)

Cool shades baby

Reading with Daddy; but with Emersen she likes to have 2 books out at once (and I didn't even know about the "Baby Bear, Baby Bear" but she loved it just as much as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear".

Finger painting!

Recently it has been so hot and humid that it has been tough coming up with new and fun activities for Eme indoors. Then I had a great idea: Finger painting!!

Um, I think it turned more into body painting, but at least she had fun and we got a great 'first' painting canvas!! :)

A girl loves her shoes, right?

Ever since our last well check at the pediatrician's office, I have wondered if Eme needed a bigger shoe size. Well, I guess I was right. The three of us headed down to Jackson to the Stride Rite and her foot now measures just about at the 5 1/2 mark!

Um, she had been wearing a size 4 so that made me feel pretty bad that I had been shoving her foot into a 'too-small' shoe. Anyway, she got 2 new pairs and I hope that she has a little bit of growing room with these shoes!! A pair to get us through the next couple of months since it will still be warm (or HOT) here and then a pair of tennis shoes. She was so excited and loves them!

Tennis shoes

Shoes for now

Shoes in action! :)

Thank you Grandpa and Nana

This past weekend my Dad (Grandpa) and Alice (Nana) came down for a visit. Emersen was so excited with her new toys~a new piano with microphone, tool table, and shopping cart. It was a very hot weekend so we didn't do much outside during the day, but we did visit the playground after dinner. We also went out to eat at the Opera House and had some yummy Indiana sweet corn.

Emersen loved trying on everyone's shoes

We were all trying to teach Emersen how to shuck corn. However, she really wasn't too into it...

Instead, she just wanted to try and eat it!! :) That's my girl!

We had a great time!! Thanks for visiting!

HOT!!!

This summer has been so very HOT outside! Since Emersen loves to play outside, we have had to become creative with the timing of our outdoor activities. Here are a few ways we have tried to beat the heat...

With a bike ride...but that ended in a short nap

Playing in the sprinkler

Emersen just loved putting her hands in the water and letting it spray her :)

Washing the car...although dumping the water bucket was much more fun!

Wherever you are, we hope you are staying cool!

15 Months!

Oh boy! Emersen is now 15 months old (and a few weeks) and has turned into such the little person. She is a walking pro and even dances and spins now! Her are some of her other "tricks":

*says "Dada", "Uh-oh", and the occasional "Mama

*points to anything and everything she wants

*is not a happy baby when she is told "no", but is usually okay once she is redirected to another activity

*likes going to the children's library (but would much rather play on their computers)

*gives a book to you and then will sit in your lap until you read it

*climbs stairs like a mountain climber

*loves to help "clean"

*concentrates so much when doing puzzles

*eats just about anything we give her and she even knows to help pull out her chair when it is time for dinner

*15 month stats: weighs 24 lbs and is 32 3/4 in. (let's just call it 33 in) long

*has 4 top and 4 bottom teeth, plus the 2 top molars are just about in

We have loved watching her grow and change over the summer!