Stuffed Animals Vs. Mama

Okay. So, any mommy out there reading this - stop me if you've heard this one.

My 10-month-old baby is dissing her mama for her stuffed animals.
That's right. If she could give me the "talk to the hand, Mom -I'm with my friends" signal,
I think she would.

I'll explain.

It's no secret Emily has always been a rock star sleeper - so much that some people actually think something is wrong with her. So it's only natural that she loves being in her crib.

Most babies don't want to go to sleep and can't get enough of their mommas, right? They want them to entertain them all day, sing them songs, read them books, cuddle with them, etc.

Now, don't get me wrong. Emily loves all this. She eats it up, although only for a short while. And trust me, she has the wackiest mom in the world, so entertainment is not lacking in this casa.

When I put her in her crib for a nap, the child is at her happiest. I swear it. If she could spend all day in her stinkin' crib, she would.

Emily has two stuffed animals, a silky bunny blanket and a little chew blanket in her crib. And, after listening to her on the monitor, I am convinced that she has in-depth conversations with these characters. She's cracking herself up, too.

The other day she showed her regular signs of sleepiness. After trying everything to keep her awake, I put her down. Yet it took her an hour-and-a-half to go to sleep because she was so busy yukking it up with Mr. Elephant, Doggie and Silky Bunny.

I think she actually looks forward to seeing them and chatting, rather than playing with me! Ooooooh, diss!

Is this how I'm going to feel when she's a teenager?

"What's a Dog Say?"

ZooMania!

The Woodland Park Zoo: a place I will inevitably become VERY familiar within these next - oh, say - 10 years or so.

Emi and I met Nona, her kidlets, and her sister/hubby and their kidlets at the zoo yesterday. The last time Emi went to the zoo, she was practically just out of my womb, sleeping through the bears, monkeys and what have you. This time my little monkey was awake and alert during the whole trip! The rain subsided for us and the sun even made an appearance. It was a great day to hang with the animals.

Ayla and Mommy Nonie

Des, Jared, Giselle and Brock - such a cute fam!

Emi chillin' with the big ape

Nearing the end of our day - a very tired Emi

Look Who's 10 Months Old!

Diez, Ten, the big 1-0!
One word describes Emily: Ham. We hear it everywhere we go. "What a ham!"

This kid will literally stare you down until you look her way, then she'll give you the biggest smile you've ever seen. Oy, she is my child.

It's hard not to love a baby girl who is still napping 2 - 3 times a day. We are soooo lucky for that!

Emily has started to dance this month. (see vid below)
She loves watching me dance for her, too. Matt and I have been getting Emily on all fours to encourage her to crawl, but still no movement on hands and knees yet. She stands on furniture quite well now - her little legs are definitely strong. She loves car, stroller and grocery cart rides.

For all you percentile freaks - and I know you're out there - she weighs near 20 lbs now and is 28" long - or 50th percentile.

Although she doesn't say a whole bunch, Emi understands many words and signs now thanks to lots of reading and repetition. I'll say, "where is..." and she'll look in the direction of or touch that particular thing. It's really amazing that she can understand me now.

Love, love, love this kid!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Squeeze me, I'm Irish!

Emi and I went out to a St. Patty's day lunch with my fellow Irish friend, Jen and her cutie patootie daughter, Lexi.
She's such a sweetie - and a ham for the camera just like Emi!

My favorite Irish proverb:
"May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your skin. May the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again...may love hold you 'til we meet again."

Oh, Canada

Americans are big fans of Canada, and American women are even bigger fans when getting away on a girls-only vacation!

Julie, Erin, Andrea and I decided to head north to Vancouver a couple weekends ago to enjoy time away from babies, hubbies and boyfriends.
Not that we don't love 'em, we just needed a reason to stay at a nice hotel, go out to nice dinners and shop. And the boys are going to Reno this weekend, so we felt we needed a little girl time.

In two days we squeezed in two fabulous dinners, lots of yummy drinkies, pool/hot tub time, shopping, lunch in the Gaslight district and karaoke. Too fun!

Julie and Erin

Erin and I

Julie being a good karaoke sport

Feelin' good after her lovely performance of "Just Like a Prayer"

Yummy martinis at Diva

The birthday girl and her balloon bouquets

Dinner at CinCin

Andrea and I at the Speakeasy bar

Emi Hearts Auntie Sab & Rocks

Emily and I enjoyed a visit from Auntie Sab and little miss sweetie, Caroline, last week. I'm a doof and forgot to get out the camera while Caroline was awake. But let me just tell you, this kid is a peachy, yummy little munchkin. Cheekies you just want to squeeze, little rosebud lips, big blueish/greenish eyes, and the softest skin I've ever touched!

I digress.

This was a very significant visit. For a long time, Emily wouldn't go to Sab for whatever reason. Sab and I think it was her dark hair color. For some reason babies can tend to whig out over things like that. It's amazing to think that Emily really didn't like to go to anyone just a few months ago, and now here she is hammin' it up, much to her Auntie's delight.




On another note, Emi and I ventured outside for a nice walk in the chilly sunshine yesterday. We topped off our walk with some playtime with rocks. That's right - rocks.
We're takin' playing back to the old school - Flintstone-style. She loved 'em.