Tiny Tater Tots

Emmy has moved into the one year old room, where she is now a scrapper. There has been an incident report every day. Every day she bops herself on the head with a toy, walks into a door, gets bitten or bites someone. Every day she leaves home looking like a living doll and comes home with filthy black clothes (from playing on the play ground), with multiple food stains on her shirt, adorning a new minor injury, sticky with sunscreen (which leaves her smelling like the beach, mmm....), and with Sweaty Betty dreadlocks where her curls and hairbows used to be. I must say that she seems happier in the Tiny Tots (one year old) room, and she seems like such a big kid. She walks with authority, talks more, uses her paci less and seems like a kid on a mission. When I arrived to pick her up yesterday, she was standing on top of some toys, with a sensory-play scarf flapping in each hand, squealing with glee and wearing a huge smile on her face! The tater tots teacher said Emmy is spunky, happy and isn't intimidated at all by the older kids. Little Ms. Firecracker. Should've been born on the 4th of July!

A note to 1 year old Emmy:

Dear Ms. Emmy,
You are funny! You crack Mommy up with your constant talk of dogs, babies, balls and "wha dis?" questions. You are absolutely too fun. Please, however, stop growing up so fast. You are breaking your old Mom's heart. Seriously, what have you done with my tiny little baby girl? Ah, scratch all that. You keep up the good work, kiddo! You are doing great and my heart bursts with pride. Just one thing, please don't bite your cousin Lucas anymore at school. I know you little tater tots are into the biting thing, but just don't bite your cousin! He is such a sweet boy! I love you, munchkin.

Love always,
Mommy

Blackbird

I have been a delinquent blogger and documentarian of the life of Em. This month has been super-duper busy, which is way more intense than just super busy. Birthdays, work, the seemingly endless dragging on of the legislative session, spring outings, Easter planning, vacation planning etc. The list goes on and on! Things have been busy but good. Em has literally learned to run in the last few weeks. We went for her one year old check-up and the doc said, "Well, Mom, I don't have to ask if she has started taking her first steps yet," as she ran circles around him like the Tasmanian Devil. We're still speaking mostly space language (actually, Em has about 10 real words she says with consistency, though she prefers to loudly babble on like an alien), but her motor skills are advanced, I think. Actually, her "motor" is a highly revved machine! She is a whirlwind of activity, which is great, except her nearly middle-aged parents can hardly keep up! Em is curious and into everything. She is so excited about the world around her, which is delightful to witness. In the evenings, we have been having trouble settling down for bedtime because there is just too much to see and do. My current secret weapon is singing. I've always loved to sing and was in choirs and choral groups throughout my youth, though I am no soloist. Em doesn't seem to mind. The soothing song of choice these days is Blackbird by none other than the Beatles. She also is partial to (G, don't laugh) a "Bret song" by the Grateful Dead called I Will Take You Home. The music of my college years is all I can actually remember the lyrics to, so I try to pick what seems most appropriate. Oh how I love singing to that sweet little girl!

Emotional Rescue

Today is a very, very special day. Emmy is 1 year old! What a sweet year with our sweet little girl. I've loved it all (with the exception of a few sleepless nights), and it is hard to believe the first year is over. Every day is a new adventure with her, and she is so much fun. I hope she is having a good day and I think she is. We had a big time this morning riding her new wagon around in the house (there were lots of "oohs" and "ahs" when she saw it), and I had lunch with her at school (Em had fried chicken for the first time- there may be no going back now!). This evening we are meeting Daddy at Monkey Joe's to check out the toddler play area and then go home to have spaghetti (Em's favorite) and some giant cupcakes. The real party will be Saturday, though and we can't wait to visit with family and friends. We are having a Dr. Seuss-themed party to celebrate Em's love of her bookies, her favorite "toys." What a glorious, spring day it has been, which seems fitting . I know it's not all about me today, but this day means more than my own birthday now (which is exactly 4 weeks from today- argh, I'm getting old fast!) and I've enjoyed it too. Good times... great memories...

By the way, Em loves the Stones. I mean, of course she does, right? She has good taste in music. She, like her mama, has a nice appreciation for the 80's disco-pop Stones, too. I love Emotional Rescue and she loves to bop along to it to. She/we also love She's So Cold, but note to parents out there that you need to kill the volume at the 2:38 mark, unless you want your kid going to school or church telling everybody they learned to say bad words while listening to Mommy or Daddy's Stones records. We might have to work in a little retro, birthday dance party this evening as well.

Well, cheers to Emmy! She has been a champion of babies this year. Happy birthday, my sweet girl! And many more...

The Talking Tree

It has been a while since my last post, but I have been too busy chasing a fully walking baby to do much writing! The girl is walking so well now and as a result, needs some new shoes. She has been wearing the soft, baby Roby shoes, which are great for learning to walk. However, these shoes are not moisture proof at all, and Em is ready to walk (and practically run) outside. Given that we are in a constant state of slushy and/or frozenness in KY these days, we need some real shoes! I have to warn you that this post is anti-climatic, but it is a memory nonetheless so I feel compelled to document.

Yesterday, I was sooooo excited to take Emmy to the Howard Curry shoe store to buy her first pair of real shoes. This is the store where my first shoes were purchased, though it recently relocated. For all locals, you know that the highlight of the Howard Curry experience is the talking tree (that always knew your name, just like Cheers), which I had been informed had made the move to the new store. So we go to Howard Curry's yesterday, ready to lay down $45 for a pair of baby shoes that Em will wear for 2 months (can anyone spell "highway robbery?"). We come in and the new store is quite nice; it is brightly colored and kid friendly. Nothing at all like the drab, 70's version of the old store, which I must say I still prefer, but there was the blessed talking tree just as promised! Em had a ball running around, while I looked for the perfect shoe. Now I must admit that my girl has some petite feet, but would you believe they had only one pair of baby girl shoes in her size??? They were cute and fit her well. Little navy t-straps, but I was kind of hoping for something more casual and in the brown/pink range. We may go back, but we left without making a purchase. Worst part of all- they did not have the talking tree say goodbye to Emmy!!! Perhaps you have to actually buy something to obtain a farewell from the tree? I should have at least bought her some socks so she could get a shout out. Well, we will be back. For now, we're off to Stride Rite to find some tiny shoes for the tiny princess!

Emerson, Pearl Jam & Nirvana

As I have mentioned before, we are serious Sirious satellite radio jammers in our house. Em seems to love music as much as we do. G and I thought we were majoring in music with a minor in slacking in college, which is why we collectively saw a half-million concerts but took 80 years to graduate. I hope Em doesn't love music quite that much, but actually... on second thought I think I do. As long as she eventually leads a productive life, that is.

Our music listening has been making me feel a little old of late. Em and I had an awesome, leisurely breakfast and morning together because today was a snow day for the local school district. This means our daycare is on a delay, therefore, Mommy is on a delay to stay home with our homegirl. So we took our time eating breakfast, turned the music up and jammed out. Good times all around! I love these moments, and I remember them when I am super tired and the runaround business that is life leaves me exhausted. Ah, so sweet! Then the Pearl Jam tune Santa Cruz came on. I love this song but seriously how old are we that Eddie Vedder is now waxing poetic about having kids and remembering being 17??? Even sadder that I can totally relate. Are we officially middle-aged? Who cares. Too tired to get wrapped up in the "I'm so old" self-pity party. I laughed out loud this morning when I remembered that the theme song for my senior prom was Pearl Jam's Alive. Isn't that funny? Good song but what about that song says prom? Maybe we should have picked Jeremy instead. At least it has a school oriented theme.

Another old-school music moment happened on Friday. G and I were looking through some old cd's (remember those? precursor to mp-3 files? round, shiny...), and we found Nirvana's Nevermind. Em got to rock it out to some grunge-masters who never grew old, well at least Kurt Cobain didn't. She seemed to like it for a while, though after a few songs she began to take on this surly, semi-depressed attitude and when she asked for a flannel shirt and some dirty sneakers we thought we better turn it off.

Well, we finished off our morning by jamming out to the Replacements. Em seemed to dig this, too. All in all, I think she has pretty good taste in music, but I'm reserving judgment until she is in high school.

Walkerson, the Gym Rat

Big week in Woosleyville! Ms. Em is a walker- woo hoo!!! Just call her Walkerson. Walkie-talkie. Walker, Texas Ranger. Whatever, the girl can walk! All weekend long she was walking quite well, but she still insisted upon holding onto one of my fingers. On Monday, I guess no one at daycare was touring her around all day, so she decided to walk. I picked her up on Monday afternoon and she just walked on over to me like, "Hey Mom! What's the big fuss? Walking? Of course, I can walk... been doin' it for years!" I reminded her that this was not actually possible since she is not quite one year old, but she continued to argue with me and assure me that she could practically run. That girl sure has an argumentative nature! Not sure where she got that... couldn't be from her attorney father or her generally disagreeable mother. Well, the point of this whole mini-drama is that the girl can walk. She has been walking, at-will, ever since. She isn't traveling any far distance, but can take as many as 10 steps at a time. Funny how fast it happens. Now, let's see if she ever talks in any intelligible language!

Another major event occurred last night. Ms. Em made her first trip to Rupp Arena, and the girl seemed to love it! Of course, she comes from a long line of gym rats in this family. Just ask her Aunt Polly what her favorite meal is and she is likely to tell ya it's a hot dog/popcorn combo from Memorial Gym. I don't know who started the whole gym rat tradition, but I'd guess it came from the Cox boys (Uncle Johnny, All American and his bro, Uncle Cokie- both players!). I know my mom loved watching Cokie play amongst others. I learned to love the sights, smells (yes, oddly enough!) and sounds of a basketball gymnasium by spending years of my life watching my brother in action. I may have complained on occasion, but I loved it! Em seems to love basketball, too. She really could not take her eyes off of the court, but she also seemed to enjoy the band. Great memories! Thanks to G's wonderful colleague for the great seats!

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!