The Power of Mama

So, Emma is still pretty stingy with her words. Her favorite thing to say right now is "Dog-uh" with a cute little emphasis on the "uh". But she has started saying Mama more. Only not always when she is referring to me. One morning last week as Matt and I were getting ready for work, we heard Emma making a little noise over the baby monitor. She sounded happy, so we were just leaving her alone while we tried to finish getting ready. Then she softly said "Mama.... Mama.... Mama" and how do you ignore that? So I ended up getting Emma dressed and feeding her some breakfast - then I tried to finish getting ready. A few days later, Emma was eating a snack and had finished everything on her plate. Does she say "More"? Nope. She says "Mama". And it is the same if Matt is feeding her or if she is feeding herself. And if she wants to be picked up, a different toy to play with, or simply more attention focused on her? Saying "Mama" is what gets it done. It sure didn't take her long to learn how well that worked!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Emma had a big Valentine's Day. We went to church this morning and then she ate spaghetti for lunch without getting it all over herself. :) After she got home and took a nap, she went for a ride on her pony. She has to get a lot of riding time in to prepare for the rodeo. What an adorable little cowgirl...

Then she got to open her Valentine's day present from her Grama and Granddad while they watched on the web-cam. (I highly recommend web-cams to anyone that is separated from their friends and family.) To top off the day her friend Zoe came over to hang out for a little while. It is so fun to see Emma playing with a friend. There's not much cuter than two little girls running around and giggling. Emma loves playing with Zoe and Zoe is pretty good with Emma - even with the almost two year age difference. I tried to get a cute picture of them, but I waited too late and the little ladies didn't want to cooperate. Maybe next time.

All better at last!

Emma has been fighting an ear infection since before Christmas. We weren't sure if it was the same one or if she was getting better between different infections. We have tried several antibiotics without improvement. To make it worse, Emma had an allergic reaction to one of them. :( Her doctor had told us that we would have to take Emma to a specialist if this last one didn't work. She had her checkup this morning, and I was really hoping that she would be better. When the doctor was checking her ears, I was holding my breath waiting for her diagnosis.... and her ears look better! They still have a tiny amount of clear fluid, but the doctor said that was to be expected since they had been infected for so long.
After we made it through that, Emma had to get her iron levels checked because it was low at her 12 month well baby visit. They have to draw blood to check her levels and that is typically the most painful part of going to the doctor. Emma is typically a slow bleeder, so it takes a while for them to get enough blood. She normally wails the entire time they are working on her and I can't stand it. I was bracing myself for Emma's pain as they pricked her finger - and Emma didn't react beyond gently trying to pull her arm away. She set and watched the entire process without crying at all. I think the worst part of it for her was when they put the band-aid on and she couldn't get it off. Over all it was a great visit to the doctor!

Bath Time

Emma has loved taking a bath since her very first time after we brought her home from the hospital. Even if she is fussy, when you stick her in the water she turns into a giggling, happy baby. It is an interesting transformation. She has taken several bubble baths, but she is still amazed when she gets bubbles in her hands. She will hold up her hand and look closely at the bubbles. Then she will close her hand and watch the bubbles squish out. Then when she opens her hand she has to examine it to see where the bubbles disappeared to. It is so precious. She is also fascinated by pouring water. Tonight during her bath, she kept handing me her purple octopus toy. It has three small holes in it so water drains slowly out of it. I would fill it with water and hold it up so she could watch the three streams of water run out. She would move her hands underneath the water then try to catch it in her little fist. I had Matt bring me my camera, but I just couldn't catch the expression of wonder on her face. She still looks pretty cute though!

Light meter, shutter speed, and f/stops - oh my!

My dad gave me a great Digital SLR camera for Christmas. I am so excited to have it and am determined to learn to use it to the best of its abilities. I have already taken some good pictures with it in the auto mode, but I want to do more. So Tracy and I took a basic photography class yesterday. It was really good with lots of information that I am trying to keep straight in my head. Naturally, I am in a hurry to start practicing before I forget what I just learned, so I decided to take some pictures of Emma today after church. She was wearing a precious dress that her Uncle Greg and Aunt Melissa gave her for Christmas. It is still cold here, so I decided to take some inside. I quickly learned that Emma moves too fast for the lighting conditions that I was trying to use. All of the pictures were either too dark - even though my light meter was balanced - or they were blurry. I finally gave up and used the auto feature and got some cute pictures. I will continue to work on my skills - they can only get better. I wonder if you will be able to tell which pictures I took manually and which ones I used the auto feature...
After church we went to lunch with a big group of our friends. Emma drank out of a kiddie cup with a straw like a big girl. This was her first time to drink from a straw and it only took her a few minutes to get the hang of it. It is funny how amazing all these little things are when you see your baby do them for the first time. Everyday she seems to learn something new.

Emma Week by Week - the First Year

It's time to move the week by week picture slide show. I didn't want to take it off the page completely, so I will put it in this post. I am working on a monthly picture slide show to show how much Emma is growing.

Ever left a bathroom with toilet paper on your shoe?

So Grama Thompson taught Emma a new game while we were in Midland. Maybe it isn't fair to say that Grama taught Emma the game, but she definitely encouraged it. I just had to share some precious pictures that we took of her playing this new game this morning... That was a brand new roll.
Doesn't she look like she is having a great time?
Pesky toilet paper didn't want to let go.
At least she helped her daddy clean up after she had her fun.

Thanks Grama! :)