We were lucky to find a wonderful person for daycare. Every day she writes little report cards about your day, what you ate, and what you and your friends did.
The most recent card made us feel so happy when we read it:
I have a feeling your litttle Emilia will be an exceptional mommy someday! She is so nurturing, not just with her various dolls and stuffed animals but with her friends as well. She is often right by my side when someone needs comforting and today brought a tired and cranky William his blankie and minutes later, Lucy her pacifier. This afternoon Hudson was sitting on my lap after having just woken up when Emi came over, kissed him and then rested her head on his. So Sweet!
It is always amazing to me when I realize how much you have already learned! You are a sweet little baby who is quickly growing into a joyful little girl.
You are a big eater. You haven’t disliked any food yet. Theresa bought you a book for Christmas about BooBoo the blue gosling who eats almost everything, that would be you.
Just in the last day, you started using your utensils to feed yourself! You were a little bit messy, but dug into your oatmeal with abandon! (You also picked up the bowl and tried to stick your whole head in there.)
The other surprising thing about your feeding yourself, is that you seem to be showing a preference for your left hand! This would be weird, because we can’t think of any relatives that are left-handed, (and as I write this, you are using your right to eat peaches, wait, back to the left, maybe you are ambidextrous?)
We’re hoping that your love of so many different foods continues, because one of your parents was quite a picky eater (not your mom).
It is amazing how fast the past year has gone. When I look back at pictures of you as a newborn, I cannot believe that you were ever that small. Your favorite words these days are “Teddy, Dada (you seemed to have forgetten how to say Mama), Bear, Yeti and the sign for more. You have started taking a couple steps too. We threw a little party for you and you loved being the center of attention. What you even loved more were presents. You tore into the packages with gusto and were excited about everything you found inside.
You were especially thrilled by the huge Teddy Bear from your uncle Joey
After the presents we had some cake and since you were a winter baby like your Dad and I, I thought that a snow woman cake would be fitting. You have not had much dessert before now, and I think you liked it.
This year we got to introduce you to the holiday centered around friends, family and food. Needless to say, you thought that was pretty great. We started the day with a quick Turkey Trot downtown with your friends Nicholas and Sydney. At dinner we filled your tray with all sorts of new foods, and you ate every one. You also got to see both sets of your grandparents at once, and uncle Joey was more than happy to play peek-a-boo with you.
You have discovered a new favorite game, Peek-A-Boo. While you have always liked when people played it with you, you now like crouching behind whatever you can find in order to pop up and giggle uncontrollably.
We’re catching up on all of the recent things that you’ve been doing. We’re a bit behind on the blog. Mostly, we’re a bit behind because we already have a hard time keeping up with you!
One new toy that you love is the laundry basket. It’s clear to us that whoever told us not to worry about buying special toys was right, you’re much more interested in playing with the things that you see us using around the house.
You are pushing all sorts of things around as you stand and walk behind them. You aren’t quite taking steps all by yourself, but you’re really close!
We’ve noticed that you have an interesting habit of arranging things, specifically, you are very concerned with the placement of your cup on your high chair:
You will often make sure that it is turned just right before going back to eating your food. If I move it around, you will make sure to put it right back.
We’ll see if this follows through when it comes to putting your toys away and keeping your room clean!
Much to your Mom’s disappointment, you have stopped saying “Ma Ma Ma” and now you are constantly calling out, “Da Da Da!”
You saw me raking leaves in the yard, and I guess you were trying to get my attention!
It’s fun to hear you babbling all of the time, we keep wondering what your next words are going to be! (And don’t worry, Mom knows that you still love her. Any time you are upset, or want to be picked up or hugged, you go for her first!)
It’s been a long time since we’ve written about you here on the blog. A couple months in fact! Mom has been keeping a list on her computer about things that we need to write about, and yet every day and night seems to go by without getting a moment to add these things to your journal. We’re going to start in on a few of them tonight.
But first, (and I don’t have a picture or a movie of you doing this,) my favorite new thing that you do is put your head on my shoulder and snuggle. Mostly when you are getting tired, I’ll softly whisper “shhhhhhh” in your ear and run my hand across your head. You’ll turn your head to the side a bit and lay it down on my shoulder and squeeze me in tiny little hug.
Unfortunately, usually you then realize that I’m trying to get you to sleep and start crying, but some of the time you just lay there on my shoulder, resting. It’s a wonderfully peaceful feeling, and whatever kind of busy or stressful day I’ve had, I completely forget about it and give you a little hug back.
While you have had your share of runny noses over the past few months, we have luckily been spared any major illness until now. You woke up with a slight temperature of 99F. I thought is was just teething since you started getting some swelling of your gums. When Theresa called from your daycare at noon to report you had a fever of 103F, my heart sank. You had lost that little spark in your eyes and it was so hard to see you feeling so crummy. Your fever kept going up to 104F for 2 days. We knew you really didn’t feel well because you only picked at your food! We were especially worried given the H1N1 influenza scare this year. You stopped taking medicine because it made you sick, and because you were so miserable- Dad went to 4 different drug stores at 4 am to look for some Tylenol suppositories. By the time he got back, your fever miraculously broke. In another day you started to bounce back to your usual happy self. Let’s hope we can all ward off illness for awhile!
by
dad
by
mom
