18 Months (but really closer to 19 months at this point)

 As I look through pictures from the last 2 months there is so much that I want to remember about Emery, but I feel like she is so different today than she was even a month ago! Babies/toddlers change so much in such a short period of time! Even though some of the things that I want to document aren't things that she still does a lot today, documenting nonetheless.

My biggest take away as I look through these pictures is just how gosh darn clingy (to me) she has become. She used to play and slide and put things in containers to entertain herself. Not for long, but for awhile. Nowadays it just feels like I am always trying to peel her off of me so that I can get something done. Like, literally, she wraps her legs around me when I try to put her down like so:

Even when we are outside, or on the couch, she can usually be found climbing on me. Also not wanting to sit in her high chair, just wanting to sit in my lap. Also new and has made life pretty challenging. Hoping she's just going through a bit of a fussy/clingy week or two, because I'm exhausted! With that said, there's so much to love about this sweet girl and a lot of fun things to remember from the past months.

This feels like forever ago, but the peaches! Oh how Emery loved that peach tree. She would go grab a peach and wander around the yard chomping on it and then go back for more. She ate so many peaches this summer.

She also went through the stage of trying on everyone's shoes and walking around the house in them.

Also has found a lot of joy in putting things in containers. This was a fun activity that entertained her for a good while, but sadly entertains her less so today. Whether it was putting Wolfa in our block building:

Or her eggs in her pear container: 

Or markers/crayons in an oatmeal container: (today she would prefer to actually use the writing instrument on the table or wall or her face than take it from one place to another)

Or quarters in a piggy bank: (this one she still seems to enjoy, probably because of the novelty of it)

I've started taking Emery to an occasional story time at the library and just love that fun one on one time we get singing songs, listening to a story, and watching her contemplate the bubbles as the librarians go around the room with the bubble machine. 

She went from needing Wolfa in her face to suck her thumb, to just touching Wolfa to suck her thumb, to now just SEEING Wolfa and she will suck her thumb. 

She can sometimes be found standing at her crib touching her Wolfa and sucking her thumb.

Not sure why she was so upset this day, but I think she looks pretty darn cute, even with the long face.

A day at Ibu's house where she drew all over her face:

She was very excited about her big sister wanting to use the Halloween face paint crayons on her face. Which probably hasn't helped her understand the idea that we are trying to teach her that we don't draw on our faces...

Garbage day is the best day. I love seeing her excitement when she hears the truck coming and how she runs over to the window. She loves pointing out all the trucks, buses, airplanes, etc. when we are outside. 

Missing the days where I could just sit on the porch and watch her go down her slides over and over and over again. 

She used to really love taking baths, and still does until the second the water stops running. Then she just wants out. Or on days like today, she'll get out, and then run back and hop back in the tub while I run downstairs to get something. And then a little later after she is out again and in her jammies, she'll sneak back in and hop in with her pjs on while her sister is in the tub. She's quick! 

She also really likes having soap put in HER hand so she can clean herself, and then wants you to do it over and over again. She's definitely hitting that opinionated, wanting-to-be-independent point.

Who me?

She LOVES visiting all the dit-ees (kitties) that our neighbors have and really loves it when they hop the fence and come play with her in our backyard. Her dreams coming true whenever that happens. 

She gets very excited to walk around outside and look for her siblings after school. 

She can open the fridge. Which is really cute when she puts her bottle in there when she is done with it without me even asking. Less cute when I find something like this:

Halloween with her was really fun. People go all out out here for Halloween and she would get so excited when we were on walks and she would see pumpkins, skeletons, or blow up creatures. She loved looking at the "spookies" across the street. I got in a routine with her to always check for them outside her window before or after sleep times and she could often be found looking at them from the living room window. Excited to see/hear her reactions when all the Christmas stuff comes out soon.

A bit skeptical of the pumpkin guts. 

Had so much fun walking around this super muddy pumpkin patch.

It was fun to see her in Shae's old Tigger costume. 

She had a lot of fun going to a few houses to trick or treat, but was mostly into redecorating everyone's porch decorations. She learned quickly that candy is delicious and was/is not a happy camper when she sees someone else eating it and not sharing with her (I get it). 

It's just so fun to watch Emery grow and develop. I love seeing how she understands simple commands like "shut the door" or "put this in the trash." I love seeing how the things of the world begin to click for her, like when she is done with her bottle she often times runs over to fridge and will put it in for later. She gets excited to run to the sink with her plate or bowl and reach up to push them in. Or when I peel a clementine for her she will grunt and point at the peelings until I hand them to her and she will run them to the trash. (She also has a tendency of putting things that aren't meant to be in the trash, in the trash. The other day we found Belen's baseball cap and a bowl and spoon in there. I wouldn't be surprised if there are things we will never find someday when we go looking for them b/c they made their way to the trash a long time ago). 

I love how she will run and get book after book when we are reading together (that age where book dreams start coming true for mama!) With that said, she does have a thing for destroying board books. Mostly when she is in the car, probably bored and tired of being strapped in. She bends them until they break apart or figures out a way to peel the paper off of them. It's actually pretty impressive. We've got a fine collection of "car books" that stay in the car that I don't mind her destroying (mostly because they are already destroyed! ha!)

She went through a phase where Wolfa had to be tucked in to the blanket with her. She would get angry if we didn't tuck her Wolfa in too.

Sadly, she is now in a phase where she doesn't let me tuck her in anymore. The second I lay her down for bed she starts crying and pushes away and stands right up wanting to get out. I am able to leave and she quiets down to sleep within a few seconds, but I really miss that sweet tuck in. 

Thankfully this has only happened twice, but after entering that very toddler stage of transitions being hard -- like coming inside from playing outside when you still want to be playing outside -- she cried so hard and never took that big gasp of air that we all wait for and always comes, but it didn't come! And she passed out! Just for a quick second, before she came to, but it was quite startling and a bit scary. Thankfully it hasn't happened again in quite some time. 

She loves pushing the handicap buttons when we go anywhere that has one, which is most places.

When we are walking around somewhere, I can say "hands" and stick my hand out and she will reach up for it. 

It's so fun to see her copy animal actions and actions in songs. "If Your Happy and You Know It" and "The Wheels on the Bus" are favorites. 

She's been picking up words and probably uses more than I even notice. I haven't done a great job keeping track, but a few that come to mind off the top of my head are: Dahn (done), et, (wet), ot (hot)-- love it when she touches something and says "ot!" or "et!"... there's also elk (milk), na na (knock knock) and moi (more)-- this is one of the few signs that she uses, with the occasional thank you, milk, and please sign thrown in. 

Although some days are harder than others--most leaving me feeling quite exhausted--with this busy, budding-opinionated, independent girl, I sure do feel so grateful for the time that we get to spend together. I cherish our one-on-one time. I only got a short bit of that one-on-one with Shae before Belen was born and then sweet Belen has had Shae by her side just about her entire life, which has been special and wonderful in other ways, but I really do love our Mommy-Emmy time. I look forward to lots of it these next few years.  

16 Months

 It's been a minute since I did a baby update! My baby who is feeling much closer to a toddler than a baby these days. 

Taking her first selfies. 

Loves being a part of anything the big kids will include her on and does NOT like being excluded. She used to not really notice or not care, but now she knows that when the playroom door is shut, she is being left out and she will cry and bang against the door in protest of not being let in. It's rough being one when the Legos come out. 

She loves toddling along outside, exploring the wonders of the outdoors. She gets so excited to go on walks with dad when he takes little breaks (perks of working from home), and will run right over to the shoe shelf and grab her shoes. Sometimes when we are all just hanging out inside, she will bring Darin one of his tennis shoes as a sign that she would like to go outside, or she will take her shoes over to the door and stand by in fussing until we get the message :). She loves outside...

...not so much being strapped to my back outside, haha. She deals with it, but definitely likes her freedom in the outdoors more. 

She had her first tastes of candy last month during the Fourth of July parade. There was so much candy being thrown around and lucky girl got her hands on a sucker. 

She threw up for the very first time this last week (other than baby spit ups). Happened in the middle of the night. She woke up fussing and I went in and smelled something terrible. It ended up being one of the worst diapers I've ever changed, but before we got to that point, right as I lifted her out of the crib she threw up alllll the things, all over me. Poor confused baby in the bathtub in the middle of the night. It just happened that one time (thank goodness) and she was fine after that. 

(Sick baby picture from June when she had a little cold and was a bit more knocked out than she was this time around).

Usually she looks more like this: 

Aunt Amelia and Ibu have discovered that a make up bag is the best kind of car entertainment. (Learned this after a pretty horrible drive up to Pocatello for the 4th of July where Emery cried for a substantial portion of our drive).

Generally, she still only sucks her thumb when she is holding Wolfa. She used to have to have the stuffie up in her face to generate the thumb suck, but now, all she has to be doing is touching it and the thumb is in her mouth. After initially being really opposed to her sucking her thumb, we have come to embrace it and we are all really really obsessed with watching her cuteness the second she gets Wolfa and that thumb goes in her mouth. So gosh dang cute. 

She REALLY loves that stuffed wolf. And I mean, REALLY. Like, heaven help us if we ever lose it. 

She loves getting the vaccum cleaner out of the cupboard and then will walk around the kitchen/dining room as though she is vaccumming. Recently though, she can't just have it, it also has to be on. Noticing the finer details of life she is. 

She says a few words, none of which is mama which makes me very sad. Her first word was "up" and since then she has added ball (baw), wolfa (ul-fa), amen (en-en), thank you (ank uh), daddy (but not mommy!), water (wa-wa). She can point to her nose and knows a handful of animal sounds (dog, lion, elephant, gorilla). 

It's been so fun to see her understanding simple commands more, like "get your shoes" or "sit down" or "fold your arms."

She has a knack for taking things from one room and leaving them in another. She also loooooves visiting the house a couple down from ours where a mama cat just had babies and they wander around the driveway. Her excitement when she sees the kitties outside is just adorable. 

She generally sleeps from about 7 to 7, give or take, and then takes a midday nap around noon that usually lasts around 2 hours. She doesn't usually fall asleep while we are out, in fact, it has only happened three times that I can remember and she transferred to the crib just fine each time when we got home, which was a relief. We go on morning walks a lot and she fell asleep one of the mornings which was shocking! Must have been reaaaaaalllly tired that day because that never happens. 

She climbs everything. It's her new thing. I got ready this morning with her climbing on the toilet and being very excited about reaching a new cabinet of fun. She then pulled one thing out at a time, swiftly dropping the items in to the trash between us. She always wants to be on a chair, which usually leads to her being on the table (or piano), which leads to me taking her off the table, which makes her very sad (aaaaand repeat). 

Trying to remember how I survived these toddler years twice already because she is already giving me a run for my money! She may be non-stop busy, but she sure is cute. 

She has 8 teeth between those cute front and bottom ones, and then 2 top molars and 2 bottom molars poking through, so just about 12 all together! The molars have made her a little crankier and we had a week where she was waking up at night quite a bit, but we seem to be past that for now. 

We love how she is always jabbering as though we should understand everything she is saying and how much fun she has wrestling around with her siblings. She eats just about everything we give her. Fruits are her favorite (grapes, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, watermelon -- bananas are hit or miss). She loves looking through her board books (Emma, Dear Zoo, Wheels on the Bus, and Dinosaur Dance seem to be her favorites). 

Love you Miss Emery Sol!