Afternoon at the Zoo

A few days ago we went back to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, where we haven't been as a family since Emma was little. Like, little little!


It was so fun to go again. For one, Emma was older and had lots of fun looking at all there was to see. And, second, they have a bunch of gardens that you can walk through. I can't express to you how much we needed to see green plants and flowers. I think we can make it until spring now!

So, here's TB and Emma walking into the first garden. She's probably wondering, "No coat? Where am I?!"


Emma and Mama.


This was, by far, the most beautiful garden we saw. I could have spent the entire day there!






Emma tends to attract redheads and people who know or love one. We love it. This woman talked to Emma for a little while, telling her how lucky she is and how proud she should feel to be part of a dying breed.


Partway through our walk, Emma decided that she wanted to hang upside down. She's really into hanging upside down. Maybe it has something to do with us blowing on her tummy whenever she does it? :)


Next, it was off to the zoo, where we saw monkeys, polar bears, lots of different fish,


and puffins.


Her favorite animal, by far, was the sea lion. It was like the little guy knew we were standing there watching him. The more she smiled and clapped, the more he showed off.

A Tooth and Singing

The subject of this post was going to be Emma's new tooth because she has a tooth! Of the bottom center, it's her left one creeping through. But, as it turns out, it's only going to be a side story.

You see, I brought our camera with me in the car yesterday morning so that I could capture a picture of her tooth, but all of the smiling, laughing, and grabbing of the camera going on made it kind of difficult to get the picture. That's ok, I'd take a happy girl over a picture of a tooth any day of the week :)






What you get instead is a video of her singing in the car!

Wordless Wednesday

The I-Spy-A-Sliver-Of-A-Cutie Edition

The Minnesota Golf Show

Last Friday, MyBackSpin.com began featuring deals in the Twin Cities. To help jump start the launch we had a booth promoting the website. Over 8,000 local golfers attended. However, one little person in tennis shoes stole the show. Any guesses?

Baby Proofing

This weekend we did some baby proofing. We figured it was about that time given Emma is over 9 months old and starting to become mobile. We had been baby proofing here and there as Emma started rolling, sitting, and scooting, but there were so many little things to be done.

So, to name a few, we plugged our outlets,


and we moved heavy stuff to either the lowest shelves or the highest ones out of her reach. And, while we're on the subject, Emma can reach to the third shelf of this bookcase. Our little baby can reach to the third shelf!


Some things we thought we had baby proofed were also no longer baby proofed. It was time to snip these guys again.


It seems that because kids are constantly growing and leaning new things, they are always finding more and different kinds of trouble to get into. Making sure our house is safe will probably be a day-by-day experience as we learn and try to anticipate what Emma is capable of.

In other news, we received some more snow, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show you what happens on our sidewalks when it snows: cross country skiing. Tyler and I would actually love to strap Emma on our backs and give it a shot. Maybe next winter. First, we need spring. Oh how we need spring.

9 Month Appointment

I realized we haven't been very good about updating you after Emma's doctors' appointments, so I thought I'd tell you about her last one. It was her 9 month appointment and it was on Valentine's Day. One of her Valentine's Day gifts was no shots. That's right, none until she turns 1, and I hear those are the worst (after the 2 month shots).

In a nutshell, she's doing great!

She's meeting all of the developmental milestones. She stands, crawls, looks for things she drops, claps, uses her pincer grasp to pick things up, waves goodbye, and says "mama," "dada," and "k" (for kitty).

And, she's growing like a weed. Here are her stats:

Height: 27 3/4 inches (60th percentile)
Weight: 19 pounds 8 ounces (60th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 1/2 inches (60th percentile)

We joke that our baby is very proportional!

Standing

While we're on the subject of Emma being on the move, she now stands, too. I know, crawling and standing. All in the matter of one week. Can you believe it?

I was able to catch her on video standing a few days ago. It was sort of her standing debut.



What's cute is that since she's figured out how to do it, it's all she wants to do. Stand, stand, stand, fall onto bottom, crawl. And, repeat.




She even stands to play with her kitchen. It's my favorite when she does this because she's so tall compared to her kitchen and she really has to work to turn on her faucet and put a pot on the stove.


Stay tuned, she'll probably be driving next week.

Crawling

I'm convinced that babies can learn from other babies.

Even if said babies are just 9 months old.

As you know, this past weekend we had a playdate with our Bradley birth class. I can't tell you how fun it was. The babies are busy, busy, busy. A few are crawling and a few more are even pulling themselves up on furniture and toys.

Emma had kind of started crawling by then, going a foot (maybe two) to reach us or a toy that she really wanted, but we weren't sure if it was a crawling stint or the real deal.

Well, the night we returned home from our get together, our baby started to crawl. Really crawl. It's as if she needed to see a few other babies model the right moves for her.



So, yes, we officially have a crawler, and life will never be the same :)

And, totally cute but unrelated, here's a video of Emma and her Daddy playing. She's big on answering her phone.

Wordless Wednesday

The On-The-Move Edition

Love Day

All you need is love,


Love is all you need.
Did you enjoy Love Day?

I hope so.

We sure did. TB and I both had to work for part of it, but this afternoon our little family went to Emma's 9 month doctor's appointment (no shots so it didn't kill the mood), stopped by the animal shelter to say "hi" to the dogs and cats waiting to be adopted, did some grocery shopping, ate dinner, and watched our Wildcats embarass the Jayhawks.

Emma was blessed with lots of valentines. I know, this is very hard to believe.












All the love truly wore our baby out.

Birth Class Get Together

On Saturday, we got together with our birth class. We always look forward to seeing them! It's so fun watching the babies play together and it's good to talk with parents of similarly aged kids.

One thing is for sure, our babies no longer look like this.


They are on the move! No walking yet, but definite crawling, standing, scooting, and rolling.

This is Emma at home before we left, playing and feeling kind of unsure about the whole barrette-in-the hair situation :)




Here are some of her friends. Little Aubrey (the first one) is a hoot.






And, action shots!












This little sweetheart had fun.

Sweet Valentines

I've been itching to use the rotary cutter I received for Christmas.


So, Emma and I decided to make valentines.

Because Valentine's Day is the best.

I can't tell you too much about them or it'll ruin the surprise if you're getting one, but here's a tease.




They were so fun to make!

I've decided that crafting with my girl is pretty much my dream come true.

Wordless Wednesday

The This-Family-With-Cabin-Fever-And-50ish-Inches-Of-Snow-On-The-Ground-Loves-You,-Weather.com Edition

10 Day Forecast:

Thursday - 14 degrees
Friday - 30 degrees
Saturday - 36 degrees
Sunday - 41 degrees
Monday - 39 degrees
Tuesday - 38 degrees
Wednesday - 41 degrees
Thursday - 35 degrees
Friday - 30 degrees

Twice Blessed

In just a few short weeks, two more babies will join our family.

My cousin, Brian, and his wife, Sarah, are expecting twins! The twins (identical boys) are due to arrive in March.

Over the weekend, I drove an hour north of the Cities to attend Sarah's baby shower with family. Sarah is the most adorable mama ever. You can't even tell she's pregnant until she turns to the side. She has the most perfect little belly.

Here she is opening a gift (Minnetonka Moccasins).


And this is a shot of some of the crowd.


This was the first shower I've attended for twins. All of the cute and matching! clothing about put me over the edge. You see, I love matching children. It must run in the family. See how my parents used to dress Ian and me when we were little?


Oh yes, matching. But, we were practically twins, just 11 months apart.

I digress. We can't wait to meet the twins! It'll be so great for Emma to have more baby friends (family) to pal around with.