Van Morrison, Foo Fighters & Pele

You are thinking, what in the heck do these cats have in common? Nada! Except an afternoon of lovely memories with my little gal. Yesterday, we were singing and dancing to Van Morrison's Caravan. She was so cool! I swear she was bouncing along and trying her best to sing! The next song that caught her attention during our little mid-week dance party was Foo Fighters' Wheels (gotta love Sirius' The Spectrum- keepin' it real, keepin' it random, keepin' it really random!). Em's got some moves, of course, she always looks like she's bouncing along to Snoop Dogg or some old school funk tune. I don't know where she got it, but Little Sister's got some soul!

The next highlight of our evening was Emmy's interest in kicking around her ball. She now walks pretty well while holding onto one of our hands for light support. She can actually get up some speed and practically run. Apparently, Daddy had been teaching her about kicking without my knowing it, and last night she was dribbling her big green ball around our house like she was Pele, or perhaps the next Mia Hamm! It was impressive, and I have hope that she may not be as athletically challenged as her mother. Fine, fun evening!

Unrelated

Unless you believe that everything is related (and it probably all is), this blog entry has little to do with parenting or babies. It's just a blah, wintry afternoon and I wanted to list some things that make me happy. They are not in any sort of order. They are random. Unless, of course, you believe that nothing really is random (and it probably isn't).

1. Emmy when she wakes up laughing and/or smiling.
2. Emmy in her bathrobe- don't know why but a baby in bathrobe cracks me up.
3. Emmy walking- it's a zombie-like gait for now, but oh-so cool.

10 Non-Emmy 'Things'
1. Bird Nest by Charlie Parker
2. Mobiles
3. Bob Dylan & Woody Guthrie
4. God, though He/She probably doesn't recognize me anymore- I've been making too little time for spiritual reflection. Yet another parenting adjustment to make...
5. Trees
6. Mountains with their tops intact
7. Post-it notes & the fact that UK supplies me with all I need (xo, UK! One of your finest features:)
8. yogurt- Emmy loves it, too. Inexplicably, G hates it.
9. Old pictures
10. My dining room table. A little shabby now, but it was my grandmothers. I often think of my whole family crowded around it back in the day.

Legislative Effects on Childrearing

We have now survived two weeks of the legislative session in our household, which may not seem to be a big deal to most, but is to us. G, being a small part of the legislative machine, now departs early, early in the mornings which leaves me to get Em up, dressed, to school, me to work, me to pick her up, me to care for crazy bird dog while simultaneously suppressing desires to turn him loose while simultaneously cooking dinner all before my loyal and talented co-parent is released back into the wild and is able to assist me again. I will admit that there have been a few moments that brought tears to my eyes, but all in all it has gone pretty well. I like having the extra time with Emmy in the mornings, so that is a nice bonus, and she has been such a kind and pleasant baby of late. It sure does make my job easier, but she still fights me every morning when I put her coat and hat on! She hates it! Yesterday, I was able to make this process pain free by singing to her, but today that did not work at all. I need a better distraction or at least some better songs.

Hey, does anyone remember that educational cartoon from way back with the song "I'm just a bill, up on Capitol Hill..?" It gets stuck in my head all the time whenever G is talking about his work. Maybe I should sing that one to Emmy next time we are putting on our coats!

Dylan

Most of you who know us know that G and I both have a slight obsession with Bob Dylan. Because of this I have always loved the name Dylan, and I had hoped to someday use this name for one of our offspring. In the meantime, the name Dylan exploded in popularity. I guess we have Beverly Hills 90210 to thank for this (and as a closet 90210 fan, I figure it's a small price to pay). In my career as a social worker, I have known literally hundreds of kids named Dylan, Dillon, etc. Alas, we did not use this name, but geeze I still love Bobby D! Maybe we'll name a fish or a cat after him someday. I was listening to a random Dylan mix this morning on my way to work when I heard him croon in that endearingly, nasal and croaky voice of his, "She has a face that shines like the sun in the sky." Of course, I thought of my girl. We haven't had too much sun lately, but I've hardly noticed. That is is a big statement coming from me because I am usually sun-starved by this point in the season (yes, I know it is still early winter!), but lately I have been having too much fun to care that we are stuck inside and it is nearly always dark and freezing cold. Em is clearly feeling better (thank you, Dr. Van Metre!), and we have had a great deal of fun so far this cold and blustery winter. I want to take her out in her new snow suit, but it hasn't really been warm enough yet. Hopefully we will have a balmy, 20 degree day soon and we can get out and play in the snow for just a minute at least. Maybe we'll even build a snow girl! And name her Dylan...

The New Adventures of Young Emerson

It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't."
-- Barbara Kingsolver

Emmy is on the move for real now! She can take a couple of independent steps before falling into our arms, she cruises with ease and stands on her own. She can bend down to pick things up and sits down from a stand rather than falling down. Little BG is going to be walking before you know it! I am amazed and proud of her, but those little snuggly baby days are just slipping away so fast. We only have two months left until her birthday, which seems unbelievable. G and I were talking about taking down the co-sleeper last night because it hasn't been used in 6 weeks or so, and I realized that it has been taking up all of the space in our tiny bedroom for a whole year- crazy! It is a little nuts that it is still there, but Em slept in our room until she was about 8 months old, not because she wasn't ready to move on but because I wasn't. She transitioned to her room no problem, heck she was probably relieved to have some quiet and privacy! I'm a nut. Anywho, the girl is also talking more and more as well. Today she said "book" several times, which is no surprise because she has been book-obsessed for months now. They are still (in spite of the awesome toys she received at Christmas) her favorite play-things and we read at least 20 of them a day. While she likes to read, she loves to look at them, play with them and chew on them just as much. It's funny to watch her and wonder what she is thinking about. I wonder if she is making up her own stories about the characters. It is even more fun to watch her kiss several of the characters or pictures in her favorite books. Current kissable favs include Mr. Brown, a gorilla, a baby, and a picture of her Dada in a photo book about her. She babbles more and tries to say words now when we are reading, which is a rather new development that I attribute to a recent improvement in her hearing since receiving ear tubes over the holidays. I hope this continues and her speech begins to take off. Little baby voices are too sweet!

Holiday Update 2009

I was thinking a little holiday update was in order and I received some encouragement from a fellow blog-sister, so here it goes! I feel like so much has happened since I last wrote that I hardly know where to begin. It has been since last year, you know! I am 33 years old and I still love making lame, completely humorless new year's jokes. Sad. Anyway, we had a great holiday! It was so nice for G and I both to have two weeks off to spend with Emmy. We had a lot of different functions in the evenings, but we spent nearly all day every day just hanging out with each other. She is so close to walking and actually talking that this time was invaluable. We could practically see her developing into a toddler over the break she was changing so fast. Spending time with her and being in church with my beautiful little family on Christmas eve were the best parts of this holiday for me, but there were many other highlights. I will try to recount them in list form. Happy 2010 everybody! xoxo- A



Top 10 Things About Christmas Break 2009 (the highlight reel, sports fans)

10. All three of us staying in pj's nearly all day long

9. Watching UK beat UofL- we're back baby!

8. Enjoying "wine-thirty" a few times thanks to my brother-in-law who brought us a case of "two buck chuck" from the Trader Joes in St. Louis

7. Watching Emmy chew all of her new toys and clothes and realizing we could've just given her sticks

6. Enjoying excessive use of red and green hairbows on my child in spite of her having limited hair (hey, she was in costume as a present!)

5. Bowling with the fam- I got a strike!!

4. Spending nearly all day in our jammies... did I mention that I enjoyed this?

3. Playing elfen helpers to Santa Clause for the first time

2. Watching Emmy's face light up when she got her new baby doll from Granny and Papa

1. Being thankful to have the chance to see most (though not all) of the people I love most around the holidays, and for us all having pretty good health and situations for the upcoming new year. God bless us, every one!

Honorable mention: Eating 2 lbs of the awesome beer cheese that my father-in-law made and all of the breads, cookies and candies given to us by our dear, sweet friends. You all made me fatter, but I love ya for it! Peace out and enjoy 2010!!!