Adam Miller and Family

Emma's really fun to talk to these days

December 27, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's really fun to talk to these days. She's making sentences left and right, producing such classics as "cheese triangle". She also said her first "love you" yesterday, which was fun to hear.

I was also lucky to get a phone call from her, though conversations are a little tricky. It had a lot of "um" and "okay"'s. One of her new Christmas toys was a pretend cell phone that she's enjoyed quite a bit.

Emma had a dream last night, according to Jamie

December 20, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma had a dream last night, according to Jamie. When she woke up, she said "Mom, dream." She then proceeded to tell what the dream was about - "Earring. Josh. Dave." At least that's the theory.

Emma's vocabular continues to amaze. Sam was running around saying "awesome", presumably picked up at school. After thinking about it for awhile, she piped in with her own "awesome". She also says "Yes" very distinctly, quite a bit different than the "ya" of previous months.

I stayed home from work today so that Jamie c...

December 15, 2004 by Adam in Emma

I stayed home from work today so that Jamie could teach at Sam's preschool. Emma and I got to hang out together just by ourselves, which is pretty rare these days. We decided to go for a walk to the park, where Emma stared at another little girl and went on the swing.

She also ate a ton of spaghetti noodles while I wrapped Christmas presents. Unfortunately she's now getting pretty cranky because she was up for four hours last night. Hopefully Jamie will be home soon to put her to sleep.

Emma's been really enjoying Christmas

December 13, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's been really enjoying Christmas. She oohs and aahs at the lights and tries hard to fiddle with the tree ornaments. We had one accident where she managed to pull down and step on a glass ball, fortunately avoiding any injury to herself. Everything breakable was promptly moved up another foot.

Jamie also related an interesting story about Emma from a week or so ago. I had Sam at my mom's house and Jamie was home with Emma. Suddenly she got a call from 911, asking if there was a problem. She replied that there wasn't, then called me to make sure everything was okay. After eliminating other possibilities, it sounds like Emma must have called 911 while playing with the phone. Yet another thing we should probably move up a couple more feet off the floor.

Emma can essentially talk

December 11, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma can essentially talk. She sometimes puts two words or more together, but even then can still get her point across. I've lost track of all the words she knows, which is a pretty impressive list. She can even say "elephant", which is her word for a Dr. Seuss computer game that has an elephant in it.

She's got a few more teeth to come in and then we're done with this whole business. She's been trying out her new molars on nuts and granola and they seem to work well enough.

Emma's working hard at making sentences these...

November 26, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's working hard at making sentences these days. She'll say things like "Brush. Emma." when she wants to have the brush. There's also phrases that roll off her tongue as a single word such as "Holdyou" which means she wants to be picked up. She also says "yep" like "dep", which has resulted in the rest of our family picking up the expression, especially Sam.

It's a fun time, watching Emma learn how to communicate. She's getting increasingly good at it, using words, facial expressions, and hand gestures.

Emma loves Bug's Life

November 21, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma loves Bug's Life. She watches it every day and everyone else in the family has memorized nearly every line. Emma in particular seems to contemplate the movie when not watching it. She even managed her first sentence: "Hopper. Bird. Eat 'em."

Of course she says it so often that as soon as she says "Hopper," everyone else in the family finishes the sentence for her. Then Emma just looks at us and says "Yep."

Jamie reported a funny story about Emma this ...

November 11, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Jamie reported a funny story about Emma this morning. Sam had crawled into bed with her and Jamie after he had bad dreams. When Emma woke up in the morning, she looked at Sam, said "shh", and gave him a kiss. Sam rolled over and went back to sleep.

Emma changes so quickly that it's hard to doc...

November 10, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma changes so quickly that it's hard to document anything. She can hold conversations of a sort and is very good at getting her point across. "What's that?" is still her favorite expression. She's very good at naming all sorts of objects around the house.

Her teeth continue to pop in. I think she's finally getting her back molars. The only way I can really see is to get her laughing and tilt her back so she opens up wide.

Emma and I have a new game together. She'll say "Drop!" and I'll go into the bed room and start dropping her on the bed. There's lots of variations, such as pretending to sneeze and accidentally drop her. This was a favorite of Sam's too as I recall.

Emma is beginning to learn how to use a mouse

October 24, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma is beginning to learn how to use a mouse. She's been obsessed with a computer game that Sam used to have. She calls it "aminals", because it has singing animals in it. Very cute.

Emma called me by herself this morning

October 18, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma called me by herself this morning. I didn't think anything of it at first, as Jamie will often call me up and put Emma on the phone. We exchange a few words and I say "hi" a lot. This time, there seemed to be a really long delay before Jamie picked up, so I ended up started working again. After a couple minutes, I heard Jamie say "Hello?" and she explained that Emma somehow managed to hit the quick dial button for me.

Somehow I suspect this is just the beginning of things to come.

Emma was up around 7 am this Saturday morning...

October 16, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma was up around 7 am this Saturday morning and Jamie decided to leave the poor girl with me. We played and played for a long while, then decided to make a movie together. It turned out pretty funny.

Emma continues to get new teeth. I think there's three that are slowly coming in. She's been sleeping better for the most part, though she was up a ton last night.

I think Emma's cold is finally getting better

October 11, 2004 by Adam in Emma

I think Emma's cold is finally getting better. She's only a little sniffly and slept really well last night. Every day that goes by I'm amazed at how much she's grown. Her ability to communicate is incredible at times, even though she only knows a hundred words or so. She's really good at adding in facial expressions, impromptu sign language, and simply grabbing our hand and putting it where she wants it to go. Fortunately she also has a great sense of humor and likes just being silly. Emma's also really sweet, hugging and kissing just about anything that moves.

Emma's got a cold

October 02, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's got a cold. She's been goopy and sniffly since yesterday, trying hard not to feel miserable. Mostly we follow her around with a box of tissue and remark on the pitiful faces she makes.

Emma also recently discovered the joy of computer games, and her Pooh one in particular. She'll happily watch anything Pooh-related for long stretches of time. Unfortunately she can't quite control the mouse, so I'm stuck clicking on things. I'm getting really sick of the repetition, though I suppose it's vaguely educational. She can almost say "opposites", one of the parts of her Pooh game.

Sam had Jamie in hysterics the other day while they were all driving to school. Sam would tell Emma to do something really crazy like "pretend your feet are on fire and put it out." Strangely enough, she would. We've already started spelling things around her as our secret grown-up code. Otherwise we could never talk about baths and ice cream without Emma getting excited.

I'm embarrassed to say that I bit Emma last night

September 29, 2004 by Adam in Emma

I'm embarrassed to say that I bit Emma last night. She was holding an apple for me and I accidentally squeezed down on a tiny finger of hers. She looked shocked, then said "ouch" and had to go over to her mom. I sheepishly wandered over too, facing Jamie's glaring eyes. Fortunately Emma recovered quickly and we continued playing.

Emma's two molars are definately coming in. She'll point to her mouth and say "ouch". Feeling about with a finger shows two little bumps coming out of the gums.

Well, Emma's teething alright

September 27, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Well, Emma's teething alright. There's a molar that's poked through. I think it's more than that, however. She's learned the power of whining and throwing a fit when things don't go her way. We're trying hard to steer her away that behavior to some degree of success. Normally she's quite a charming young girl.

She's also getting very attached to Jamie. She loves being around other people and playing with Sam and I. It's just that when she's tired, hungry, or bored, she'll start crying and wanting her mom.

Ah, the trials and tribulations of growing up.

I'm still not sure what's going on with Emma

September 22, 2004 by Adam in Emma

I'm still not sure what's going on with Emma. I think it's that she's teething, but I'm not certain. She'll be playing happily along and then suddenly start crying, calling out for her mom. Last night was more of the same. Fortunately she seemed to sleep fairly well. I vaguely remember he being up once, and then it was blissful silence for the rest of the night.

Emma's been having some separation anxiety wi...

September 21, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's been having some separation anxiety with Jamie lately. I'll be playing with her for awhile and she'll suddenly get distraught and start calling out for her mom. Last night was pretty crazy too. Emma seemed to be endlessly crying and Jamie was exhausted. I think we needed a vacation after our beach trip.

Other than that, she's doing pretty well. Her vocabulary is amazing and she's starting to string together a couple words at a time. She's also very creative in using the few words that she knows. Last night she wanted Jamie to do something while Jamie was still eating. "All done. Momma." Emma told her. We all laughed, which probably encourages such impish behavior.

Emma's really been getting into snails lately

September 14, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's really been getting into snails lately. We have a bunch that move around our house and Sam decided to collect several of them in a plastic container. Emma always wants to play with them, pointing out their eyes on the long stalks.

Last night we had them out, discovering a little snail baby magically appearing in the box. I took one out for Emma to play with, putting down leaves for it to eat. Emma decided to help it along, picking it up and shaking it over the leaves, making chewing noises. Very cute.

For some reason, Emma was up for a long time ...

September 09, 2004 by Adam in Emma

For some reason, Emma was up for a long time last night. It's as if her brain was in overdrive and she kept wanting to read books, see the pictures on my digital camera, and generally be entertained and informed. I ended up waking up really late, but fortunately our team is going out for breakfast this morning.

Her vocabulary is unstoppable at this point, as she seems to learn a new word every few hours. Her pronunciation is much better as well, and I can understand most of the things she says. Last night it was "pictures" whenever she wanted to look at the pictures on the camera.

She's also been very affectionate lately. Emma talked to me on the phone yesterday and Jamie reported that she kissed the phone. She also found a lady bug and carried it around, occasionally kissing it. Unfortunately her love was a bit too much for the poor little bug, who ended up looking a bit on the squished side.

It's been really fun lately watching Emma's v...

September 01, 2004 by Adam in Emma

It's been really fun lately watching Emma's vocabulary blossom. She'll even string two words together on occasion. Words like "applesauce" and "pizza" come easy for her now.

Emma is also figuring out how to control the world around her to a larger degree. If there's something she can't do, she'll grab your finger and put your hand on whatever object she's having trouble with. Many doors are opened this way.

It's also pretty amazing to watch her personality develop. I was holding her yesterday and she gave one of my chest hairs a good yank. After yelling "ow!" and putting her down, she got this distressed look. After I picked her up again, she patted my chest and gave me a hug.

Emma's been really trying out her language sk...

August 25, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's been really trying out her language skills this last week. I was holding her and walking along the sidewalk with Sam when she suddenly said "Bush!" Sure enough, there was a nearby bush that had caught her eye. The "s" sound is pretty hard for her, so I was surprised it sounded so clear. She'll also say things like "house", "nose", "mouth", and a whole slew of other words.

This latest picture is from last weekend when the adults got a little carried away with the stickers. I don't think she enjoyed the removal process all that much.

Emma has this crazy fascination with moles

August 18, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma has this crazy fascination with moles. She loves to examine and prod any funny patch on people's skin all the while saying "mo mo". She'll push Jamie's head out of the way to look at a little mole on her neck.

She also really loves dolls, which she calls her "baby". Seeing that instinctive nurturing is quite the constrast to Sam and his penchant for mass destruction.

Emma's been very cute lately

August 07, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's been very cute lately. She crawled into a basket and happily sat there for a long time.

She's also been really interested in drawing. I'll draw a quick picture of a baby or animal, then Emma scribbles over it, saying "bye bye".

She's also picking up lots of new words. Some are ones that she can't say, but understands, like the word "up". She can also say the names of all our family members, though "Emma" and "mom" sound very similar.

Emma managed to bump her lip on the table yes...

August 03, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma managed to bump her lip on the table yesterday. If only Sam had waited to heal, they'd have matched.

She was wide awake last night, up until close to ten o'clock. We couldn't figure out if she didn't feel well or just wasn't into that whole sleep thing. Jamie took the brunt of it, but I did my share of carrying her in circles and patting her back.

Emma was taking a bath tonight and she bumped...

July 29, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma was taking a bath tonight and she bumped her open mouth on the enamel side pretty hard. Blood came out and you could see that the teeth that were about to come out seemed much more visible. I did a minor freak out, but within a few minutes she was calmly sitting on Jamie's lap feeling much better.

Thirty minutes later she was running around buck naked in the back yard with Sam and Jamie, who was squirting the hose at the flowers and occasionally the kids. Everyone was laughing and having a great time. It was one of those moments I hoped to fix in my memory for the rest of my days.

Emma had a funny thing happen last night

July 22, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma had a funny thing happen last night. She's slowly starting to figure out how her body works and last night she was running around naked on the kitchen floor. As fate would have it, she peed on the floor.

This was a strange and mysterious event to her, which she pondered for awhile. After we cleaned it up, she stood there trying to replicate the event. Sure enough, there was soon another little puddle for us to clean up. She then ran into the living room, perhaps to share the good news with Sam, and promptly peed on the rug.

I think after that Jamie got wise to her ways and threw some diapers on the girl.

Emma is most certainly a walker

July 19, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma is most certainly a walker. When we went to the beach, she spent a good chunk of it moving around from place to place. Most trips would end with her getting too cold and having to return home, otherwise she'd just happily play in the sand and water forever.

Her pronunciation improves daily. She was saying "blueberries" reasonably well over the weekend, a new favorite of hers. She's also figured out the word "baby", applying it to any small humanoid object she comes across. Emma's also improved on her kisses, no longer trying to eat people's lips off like some sort of giant leech.

Emma's walking abilities have improved remarkably

July 13, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's walking abilities have improved remarkably. Last night she was carrying a small watering can around outside, pouring water on whichever patch of concrete needed it the most. She's also gotten quite good at understanding words and I can often explain to her what I want her to do and she'll dutifully obey.

The pronunciation isn't quite there yet. Last night she was in her chair saying "Da. Da." I thought she meant me, but Jamie explained that she really just wanted down.

Emma's teeth continue to sprout in

July 11, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's teeth continue to sprout in. There's two fully in and another four or five popping in quickly. Unfortunately, she's picked up a couple bad habits already. I've caught her grinding her teeth. She's also bitten me a couple times, and I've strongly expressed my unhappiness with it.

Emma's been sick the last few days, very plug...

July 05, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's been sick the last few days, very plugged up and coughing on occasion. We're not sure if it's related to the new teeth that seem to be sprouting in left and right, or if it's something like a cold or allergies. Poor girl.

Emma's getting pretty good at walking around. She really likes her walker and she'll grab it and start hauling it around in circles in the basement. More often she'll just walk to get where she's going, though there's only a fifty percent chance that she'll actually make it.

Her tastes in playing seem to be getting more refined. She'll play in the sand box for a good long while, and loves baths as well. She and Sam will also play with Legos seemingly forever. Emma will remove then reattach hats over and over. She also has a funny habit of sitting in the Lego containers as if it were a tiny sandbox.

Jamie reported that Emma was able to point to...

June 24, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Jamie reported that Emma was able to point to the refrigerator and say "more cheese". Sniff. My little girl is growing up.

Cheese does seem to be her favorite new food. She's also getting a new upper tooth, so she'll hopefully be able to enjoy a wider range of goodies soon.

I took her and Sam swimming last night. She loves the water and splashing about.

Jamie took Emma to the doctor yesterday morni...

June 16, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Jamie took Emma to the doctor yesterday morning, just to make sure she was okay. She got a clean bill of health, other than slowly getting over this bad cough.

Despite her cough, she seems to be universally pleasant. It's rare to see such a personable toddler and she'll happily smile and chat with everyone around her. She's also fairly comfortable playing by herself. It's pretty clear we've got another Lego fan, even though she finds them frustrating at times too. (Sam and I nicknamed them "tricky Legos" in comparison with the easier Duplos).

I'm looking forward to her getting old enough to start sleeping in her own bed and getting more self-sufficient. It's sometimes a challenge having a baby in the house, though fortunately Emma's a really cute one.

Jamie was reporting that Emma had a fever las...

June 12, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Jamie was reporting that Emma had a fever last night. For much of Friday I was battling a nasty headache which only subsided after many Advil. She seems much better this morning, except for a bit of a cough. We're keeping her at home just in case.

Her walking ability gets better by the day. She'll happily walk around with only one hand being held. She'll also take a few steps to get from one chair to another.

Emma's vocabulary is also much better. She understands a ton of words, though her pronunciation isn't quite up to the task yet. "Bath" is her favorite word and her favorite evening activity. When I ask if she wants a bath, she'll crawl upstairs and try to get in herself.

Happy Birthday Emma

May 27, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Happy Birthday Emma. You're one year old today.

Emma took her first wobbly step last night

May 19, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma took her first wobbly step last night. She was hanging on to the edge of the playroom table, then she turned to me, took a step forward, then grabbed on to me. Sam and I both said "Wow!" and ran up to tell Jamie.

Emma is an eating machine these days, though ...

May 10, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma is an eating machine these days, though her baby fat seems to be melting away at a rapid pace. She loves oranges and will happily devour an entire one if we let her. She's also a bread girl, scarfing down any carb-based food. She'll eat a few vegitables, such as carrots, but also seems to have Sam's distain for all things green.

Emma's sprouting up as she approaches her first birthday, getting stronger and more dextrous as the days go by. She wants to be up on her feet more and more. This morning she was pushing a chair about, a happy grin on her face. She'll be walking within the next few weeks to be sure.

Her vocabulary improves as well, with "What's that?" being the phrase of the month. There were some unfortunate consequences with her learning the word "eye". She managed to poke herself in the eye and it swelled up for an hour or so.

Emma has turned into quite the strong-willed ...

May 04, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma has turned into quite the strong-willed little girl. She has very definite ideas about what she wants to play with and gets quite grumpy if you don't comply immediately. Everywhere she goes, she's saying "What's that?" and "What is it?". Now that she's got grownups telling her the names for everything, I can tell her vocabulary will be expanding by leaps and bounds.

Oh, and she likes eating olives as long as they're stuck on her fingers. She can't really chew or digest the skins, but she has a great time nibbling them off her finger.

I think I can say for certain that Emma is ta...

May 03, 2004 by Adam in Emma

I think I can say for certain that Emma is talking. She says "What's that?" all the time now. Jamie's pretty certain that her first word that was completely understandable and used appropriately was "doggy", as she'd point to real and toy dogs and say "doggy" then go "ruff ruff". She's also got other words that I understand pretty well - "bug", "ow hot" (with hand pulling away gesture), "bird", "bee", "mama", and a few others. The pronunciation isn't quite there, but she's making good progress.

Emma got her second tooth last week, which sh...

April 18, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma got her second tooth last week, which she's been using to good effect on everything in her reach. I've got to really watch what odd things pop into her mouth as her main goal in life seems to be to collect as many choking hazards in her tiny cheeks as possible.

Her vocabulary is expanding greatly, though her pronunciation hasn't kept up. She understands all sorts of words now - bird, bee, hi, hair, where's, our names, and many more. She loves pointing and making a "huh?" noise. She says "hi" pretty well and is somewhat understandable with words like "hair" and "bird".

We're also discovering quite a few things about her personality. She loves music and starts clapping and dancing if we start singing. Emma also enjoys various games such as playing with Legos (like her brother) and being pushed around in various impromptu vehicles. Last night I pushed her around on a flattened cereal box. She'd then keep going back to it and sitting down in hopes that it would magically start up and propel her about the room. It did, of course, but only after I placed my hands on it and made a "broooom brooom" noise.

Emma can't seem to stop growing

April 06, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma can't seem to stop growing. She's not quite walking, but she'll stand up for awhile until she realizes that she's much more mobile on the ground. Emma's also gotten quite good at language, though her understanding far outpaces her ability to speak. You can ask her where people and things are, and she'll understand more often than not. That doesn't necessarily mean she'll do what you ask, as she's clearly a willful child.

Emma's also become fond of the "chicken dance" song. We'll start singing it at the dinner table and her eyes light up and she tries to wiggle and clap along with the rest of us. What a wacky family we are.

Emma's got a nasty cold

March 15, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's got a nasty cold. We're following her around with tissue paper as she oozes about the house. Poor girl.

I think she's still getting used to having me in the bed with Jamie as well, though I'm using it to my advantage. A couple nights ago she was crying inconsolably and I popped my head over Jamie's tired body. Emma stopped in shock and I offered up a "Where's dado's hair?" She patted my head a few times, then went to sleep.

This morning, Jamie called and put Emma on the phone. She was quiet for a long time, then said "hi dad". Though there's a chance it was just a random assemblage of noises, it was pretty cool anyway.

Emma definately understands the word "hair"

March 05, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma definately understands the word "hair". I can go up to her and ask "Where's Dado's hair?" and she'll promptly try to make me bald with her grasping fists of fury. The other day I swear she said "Dado hair". Putting two words together at nine months is fairly remarkable. Of course "dado" is her favorite word at the moment unless she's in distress in which case she'll switch to "mama".

It's neat that we can start communicating in words with her. I love being able to teach little kids new things, such as all the words for all the things in the world. I started playing a little game with her where I'd say "nose, nose, nose" while tapping her nose, then switch to her ear and other parts. Eventually she'll figure it all out.

Emma's starting to stand up by herself

March 01, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's starting to stand up by herself. The other day, she stood up without holding on to anything. Waited a second, then lowered herself back down again.

She also seems to be talking, though it's sometimes hard to tell. She can say "mama", "dada", "dado", "adam", and a few things that sound vaguely like "hair" and "baby".

Emma's also getting the hang of playing games like peekaboo and "crawl through the tunnel", along with all sorts of things we make up on the spot.

She really wants to eat adult food too, though I think we've got to be careful about upsetting her stomach. She was very insistent about Jamie's vegitarian meatballs last night, scarfing them down quite quickly. So far, fruits and vegitables don't seem as big a hit, just like her brother.

Emma is a carb-o-maniac

February 09, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma is a carb-o-maniac. Today she was scarfing down a bagel, working out that new tooth of hers. I had to pry it out of her hands after she started managing to rip off big hunks and I didn't want her to choke on it. She's eat just about any bread-based food. This morning she was happy eating Sam's pancakes even though he wouldn't touch them (they were buckwheat).

Her cold is getting better, though it seems she's passed it on to us. I could tell she was in a better mood when she started wiggling and clapping to the radio as we hung out in the basement tonight.

We went outside a bit today as the weather improved some. She really wanted to walk through the grass, so we managed to get a pair of her socks quite muddy. She also had a good time playing in the grass, though I drew the line at eating dried up leaves.

Emma was sick last night, sleeping poorly and...

February 05, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma was sick last night, sleeping poorly and running a fever. Jamie handed her off to me at five this morning where she slept fitfully, settling down to the music and dancing lights of the computer. I kept her as long as I could, then it was back to Jamie while I got ready for work. She seemed in a better mood when I left, smiling at me as I rode off on my bike.

It also turns out that she's getting her first tooth, one of the lower front ones (I'm sure my dad and Jenny know the real name, but I'll just call it that). It's hard to tell if it's bothering her or not, as she's clearly sick and already likes to chew on everything. Poor girl.

Emma continues to grow, which seems inevitable

February 01, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma continues to grow, which seems inevitable. Her mobility is becoming amazing as she'll race across the room, crawling quite quickly. She also loves to walk though she needs both hands held for that.

Her eating repitoire continues to expand. She's quite fond of Metropol bread, assuring me that she's truly my daughter.

She's also doing funny things like clapping or playing peekaboo. She loves to get into big kid stuff as well. She's currently discovered the baby monitor and is trying to disassemble it.

I'm not sure Jamie likes my baby watching skills as she seems to be making exaspirated noises as I let Emma climb a stack of boxes.

I had Emma for an hour or so at work this morning

January 14, 2004 by Adam in Emma

I had Emma for an hour or so at work this morning. I strapped her to my chest and wandered around campus doing a little bike equipment shopping. Later on, Jamie returned from the dentist espousing the benefits of nitrous.

Emma's been pretty happy as of late, smiling at all who wander by. As might be expected, she also had a great time chewing on a rubber chicken key chain I had at my office. I know the full-sized rubber chicken was a hit at home.

Emma's been learning new tricks lately

January 13, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's been learning new tricks lately. She woke up clapping this morning, something she figured out how to do a couple days ago. We're coaxing her to say "Yeah!" at the same time, which she's getting better at.

She's also getting really good at eating solid foods. We were giving her some soft bread crumbs, which she'd carefully pinch between thumb and forefinger, then stuff into her mouth. That's my girl!

Emma's mobility is taking on a whole new dime...

January 12, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma's mobility is taking on a whole new dimension. Today our family was hanging out in the basement when Emma decided to make a break for it. Over a period of a couple minutes, she worked her way up the stairs, finally making it to the top. It's a sign that we're going to have to watch her extremely closely from here on out.

She's also developing distinct food preferences. Virtually every baby food we've fed her from a jar has put a horrid look on her face. The green beans practically gagged her tonight. She loves eating saltine crackers and these long pretzels. Rice cakes are also a hit. Jamie's theory is that any time she can eat like everyone else, she's happy.

Emma continues to develop a new assortment of...

January 09, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma continues to develop a new assortment of tricks. She can lift herself up to a standing position and has decided she wants to climb nearly every object in the house. She's also begun waving to people, which makes for dramatic goodbyes to people who visit.

It's pretty clear that she loves Sam and wants to do whatever he's doing. Sam can get her to smile and giggle quite easily. Emma also tries hard to snatch away any toys that he might be playing with. Legos are a considerable hazard in the play room, so we have to watch her quite carefully these days.

Emma grows increasingly mobile

January 05, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Emma grows increasingly mobile. She's getting really good at standing up, with just a hand on something to hold herself up. She's also getting faster at crawling, to the point where we need to really watch where she's going at all times.

We keep trying to introduce new foods for her. So far, no luck with peaches or carrots, though she seems to like saltine crackers and rice cakes quite well. Anything where she gets to feel like she's really eating goes over well.

Yesterday morning Emma seemed to be playing "...

January 01, 2004 by Adam in Emma

Yesterday morning Emma seemed to be playing "Where's the baby? Peek!" with me. She'd cover up her own head and I'd say "Where's the baby?" Next she'd pull it down and I'd say "Peek!" Good fun.

Emma's been growing like a bean sprout. She's sort of crawling these days, an inchworm-like movement that eventually gets her to where she wants to go. Already we've started baby proofing various parts of the house.

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