Emma's new potty

Emma got a new potty...just to try out for now. Little potties now are very advanced...the sing when you tinkle, and this one also serves as a step stool and you can use part of it on the big potty, too.

trying it out

Hmmm...trying to get on myself

My foot fits here

It's a duck!

Maybe this is how it works.

Hi Duck!

Hi Mom.

Chatty Cathy

Emma has been very social lately...starting to show her little personality, which is apparently very talkative. Yesterday she kept walking around, holding random things up to her ear, walking around talking...as if it was a phone. So I called some of our family and let them hear some of what she had to say..which was a lot.

New Camera

For Christmas, we got a new camera...so we wouldn't miss anymore of Emma's smiles. :)  The SD card I ordered finally came in, so now I can capture each and every smile I want. Here are a few from this weekend...

Emma got a black eye from running with the ipad.

Her Sunday dress

He picked her up to play with her, but she said more and pointed to his computer. He obliged. 

Playing with her buddy.

 These are from when we were in KS...Faith let me borrow her SD card so we could use the camera.

Playing...in the sink? What do you people do with her when I am not around?

Cuteness all piled up.

Probably watching the bunny movie, or the kitties. 

Also... Emma has been sleeping through the night...although I wish she would sleep later in the morning. She has also apparently changed her nap time without telling me. I tell you what, I cannot keep up with this girl!!!
This morning she woke up and said all kinds of animal sounds...she roared with the tigers and lions, neighed with the horse, and even did some whoo-whoos for the owl. Her meows sound more like moos now. And be jealous..our door is open, in January...but not too jealous, it's to air out the poop smell from all the fun diapers we have been having. ;)

Emma's first haircut

Well yesterday was the day! Emma finally got her hair cut. Yesterday was actually a big day...we went to story time at the library where we also had lunch, went on a wagon ride AND she got a hair cut. (And I wish you could see her jamming out to Journey right now. Emma loves to dance to music.) Anyway, the stylist thought she did a good job, but she was pretty uneasy about the whole thing...I mean a complete stranger was coming at her head with scissors. I guess I could see how she would be unsure about it.

Before picture

Mom...what is going on?!?

Thankfully, Daddy came to her rescue! (Playing with kitty.)

Where's Daddy?

The closest thing we could get to a smile. She shook her head back and forth after I took this.

All done!

Get me off of this chair!

Ugh. So glad that is over!

On a side note: Emma slept through the night last night.

Emma's first (outdoor) wagon ride

Emma got a wagon for Christmas, and although she had a wagon ride in the Bency's house, she had her first ride outside yesterday. I am glad it is warm enough for us to get to be outside...our house gets small during the winter. I am also glad to use the wagon for its intended use...I have used it to carry loads to and from the van like four times already.

Swinging

I put up Emma's swing after we got home, and yesterday it was finally warm enough to go out and use it. She doesn't look super happy in this video, but she had a big smile on her face when I put her in  the swing.

Presents from Grampy Loha

Grampy Loha is actually Guen's grandpa (our old neighbor), but he has a kind heart and sends Emma presents, too. We discovered some packages from him outside our front door on Saturday...Emma was very excited to open more presents.

Hi Grampy Loha!

Emma loved all the clothes...kept trying to put them on and play peek-a-boo with them.

I feel like I should have an Emma update now. She is doing so much everyday. We have been very tired, so we decided to try to sleep train her...again. This time it went much better. She had a hard time in the car on the way home, having to go to sleep like that, but she did it...after 45 minutes of crying. That night she seemed to have a hard time falling asleep once we got home, but I was so completely exhausted I had to put her in her crib and just let her cry anyway...I even fell asleep while she was crying. So after all that, we decided to just keep going, and it quickly got better. The last couple days she didn't even cry once when I put her down. I also decided to stop nursing her at night..even if she wasn't crying, she would get up like 5 times to nurse in the night....way too much for a one year old. So one night we just stopped nursing in the middle of the night. The first night she cried a lot, but did seem to get comfort from her binkies. Last night, the second night of not nursing...she only woke up once and that was only because she pooped. I hope it continues like this...I haven't sleep through the night in a very, very long time. 

Emma is also talking a lot more. She woke up this morning and pointed to a fish in her book and said, 'fish.' She loves to make monkey noises whenever she sees a monkey. She says 'hi' and 'bye' to everyone she meets, and is really starting to repeat or say things that sound like real words or phrases. She still loves books and cats...thanks for that Aunt Grace. In fact we had to put her book of cats away because she had almost destroyed it with love...or abuse. She loves to be outside and is becoming a much more social person. At church last night I just put her down and she wandered around saying hi to people, and every so often came back to me to make sure I was still around. While we were in Kansas I taught her how to say, 'Brrr" when it's cold, so now whenever I mention that it is cold outside or she notice it herself, she shivers her arms and says, "brrr!' It is super cute. And don't worry...I know her hair is long, she is getting her first haircut tomorrow afternoon. Pictures to follow.