Cheese Heads!

Gracie and Bella have always been cheese heads--they can hear a cheese wrapper opening from anywhere in the house. It seems that Emily has caught on and decided to join them!

Over the weekend while we were making breakfast, Mick had to feed cheese to three hungry little mouths!

Fun Long Weekend

We stayed home this weekend for Memorial Day, partly because Mick was on call and we thought he'd be working most of the three days, and partly just because we were looking forward to some quality time without much to do.

Luckily, he only had one call come in between Saturday and Sunday. We played at home, read lots of books, did some shopping and spent some time at the park. Emily loved the playground, but it was so hot that we didn't stay too long. There was a breeze down by the lake though, so she enjoyed looking at the ducks and baby geese!

It's so nice to have that extra day in a weekend every now and then, and we all had a great few days together.

Even Gracie and Bella had some good quality time with little Emily!

Unfortunately, Monday was the one day Mick did have to work almost all day, and it was the first day I had the bright idea of buying Emily a baby pool. We went to Target and found this one--it's only 4 inches deep, but it served our purpose for the day.

Emily loved it! She's like a fish when she gets near water, and the only thing I don't like about that is that she's completely fearless.

We signed her up for swimming lessons this summer, and they start at the end of June. Since we're moving to a neighborhood with a pool, we really want her to be comfortable and learn to swim early.

I don't think she'll have a problem with that :)!

Videos

I've had some trouble uploading videos, but finally got them to work tonight. You can see the new ones by clicking Emily in Action on the right.

14 Months Old: What's Happening

Emily is turning into a very active little girl these days! She is almost running, and climbs on absolutely everything she possibly can.

One of our favorite things to do now is practice animal sounds--her favorite is the lion, but she likes the monkey too. We were outside swinging one afternoon, and I was asking her "what does the lion say," etc. I asked her "what does Emily say," and she said "ma-ma." It was probably an accident, but it was so sweet!

She's also started tapping us with one finger to get our attention--she's a terrific communicator, even though it's not always verbal. She also is becomeing a lot more independent. She plays so sweetly by herself sometimes, or will sit and look at a book for the longest time.

Emily has all sorts of new hiding places now--under the dining room table, behind the couch, or even in a kitchen cabinet. She likes crawling through boxes or tunnels or other small spaces.

She hasn't been sick lately, but sometimes struggles with a runny nose, so we aren't sure if it's allergies. She's getting pretty good at blowing her nose--the only problem is she sometimes chooses to use her hands, so we're still working on it.

We're almost completely done with bottles now. Emily still has her morning and nighttime bottle, but none during the day for the last month or so. We have tried swapping the morning bottle out for a sippy cup of milk, and it was quite unsuccessful. Our goal was to be done with bottles by about 15 months, so we still have some time, and are continuing to try.

We'll decide after that when we want to get rid of the pacifier :).

Wild, Wild Horsey

Emily and I have this little game where she'll sit on my lap, hold onto my fingers, and I'll bounce her on the wild, wild horsey. Mick caught us on video one afternoon.

Summer Time

Even though Emily can't quite tell us yet, I think she's been looking forward to summer time. She loves to be outside so much, and will immediately go to the back door and try to open it when you ask if she wants to go outside.

There are several places around us that have live music outside every Friday and Saturday night, and we've decided to let Emily break the rules a little the past couple of weekends and stay out past her bedtime. If she takes a late nap, she stays in a great mood and has lots of energy, so we'll go over, eat dinner at one of the restaurants with outdoor tables, and then walk over to the music and let her dance until she's exhausted!

There are usually lots of kids and dogs out, and sometimes even bubbles, so Emily is right in her element!

By the way, Emily found my camera cable as she pulled everything out of one of our kitchen cabinets, so I was able to add the Strawberry Festival pictures from a few weekends ago!

Molars!

Emily has been messing with her ears a lot, and we took her back to the doctor Saturday morning, sure she had an ear infection.

The good news is that her ears are perfect...the bad news is that ALL FOUR of her molars are coming in! Poor little thing hasn't been able to sleep very well, especially for naps. Her appetite doesn't seem to have been affected yet though!

Llama, Llama

My parents were on their way through Charlotte this weekend, so they stopped in to spend Saturday night with us.

My mom had found this book called Llama Llama Red Pajama, and a stuffed llama to go with it. Emily hasn't really shown much interest in stuffed animals, but there was something about the llama she just loved. Sunday morning when she woke up, she came downstairs and immediately started pointing at the llama, which was up on the kitchen counter. We handed it to her and she hugged it close and carried around with her.

I remember how much I loved stuffed animals when I was a little girl, so I think it's sweet to see Emily starting to get attached.

Twice Bitten...Still Not Shy

Gateway called right before lunch today--they first reassured me that Emily was fine, but then told me she had been bitten by a friend (I think they use this term fairly loosely). She was sitting by herself looking at a book, and one of the kids came over and tried to take it. When Emily wouldn't let go, he bit her on the arm!

I'm sure she screamed enough to scare him away, and I'm actually proud that she didn't give up her book :). He didn't break the skin, but she still had a pretty defined mark on her arm when we got home.

Bunny!

It's a little tough to see here, but right before dinner tonight, Mick noticed there was a bunny in our backyard, right outside the window. Bella and Gracie notice them often, but they're usually too far for Emily to really see from inside.

He was so close it was hard for the girls not to get excited,

but once Emily realized she couldn't play with him, she turned her attention to Bella.

Bookworm

Emily loves her books! If she's not climbing in one of our laps with a book,

she's reading one on her own.

Her teacher told me the other day she's one of the only ones in her class who actually turns the pages the right way when she's reading :). Such a smart girl!

Mother's Day

We had kind of a quiet Mother's Day at home--the best kind! Since Gracie is recovering from her surgery, we wanted to stay close for most of the weekend (she seems to be doing very well, by the way).
Mick gave me these beautiful roses,

and Emily and Mick gave me this Mother's bracelet with Emily's name and birthstone (Aquamarine), and a little charm that says Love.

I love that I'll have a little reminder of my sweet girl every time I look at it :).

Another Perfect Saturday

The weather was gorgeous again today, so we decided to go to the South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill. Our new address will be in Fort Mill once we move--it's really close by, and nice to know there are things like this that happen each year that we'll enjoy together.

It was a typical festival with lots of music, food, games, and a big playground. Emily thoroughly enjoyed herself! She danced to the music and made friends with the big strawberry when we took our picture with him. When we passed by him again later, she made a quick U-turn and started chasing him! It was hilarious--we had to distract her with the swings to change her course.

We stopped under a shade tree for a snack of graham crackers and fresh fruit, and Emily also had her first taste of strawberry shortcake. She loved it!

I did take some pictures, but took my old camera and now I can't find the cable to upload the pictures. Hopefully, they'll be on the way soon. I did post some new videos (click the Emily in Action link to the right), and the one of her dancing in the pink hat is from the festival.

Our First Baby

I don’t write much about our first two babies here because I started this blog to be about Emily. Today though, it’s our first baby we’re really thinking about—Gracie. A couple of months ago, Bella started limping on her front leg—when it hadn’t improved in several days, we took her to the vet and after x-rays revealed nothing wrong, we took her home to wait it out. The doctor guessed that she had pulled a muscle, and sure enough, in about a week, she was fine. Then about three weeks ago, Gracie started limping on her back leg. We thought we’d take the same approach, but there was no real improvement after two weeks, so we took her in. Apparently, dogs’ hind legs are much easier to diagnose than their front legs, and the doctor knew immediately what was wrong.

Gracie had ruptured her cranial cruciate ligament—it’s basically the ligament that stabilizes her knee, and is said to be the most common knee injury in dogs. The doctor said if we didn’t have it surgically repaired, her knee would be unstable and her bones would begin to wear unevenly, causing a long list of other problems. We felt like there was no decision to make—she needed to have the surgery.

So this morning, Gracie rode to Gateway with us, waited in the car while I dropped Emily off, and then we headed to the vet. She has a long day, and a very long recovery in front of her! The procedure she’s going in for is called a Tibial Tuberosity Advancement (TTA), and it will require several months of very limited activity, which will be tough for Gracie. I should hear from the doctor around noon to find out how she’s doing. We’re worried about our sweet girl!