Adam Miller and Family

Emma has had a great Christmas so far, and it...

December 25, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma has had a great Christmas so far, and it's still not over yet. Our first Christmas was on Monday, with just our little family. Emma kept asking "Did Santa come last night?" and we finally got to say that he had. I spoiled both the kids, and Emma had a great time with her Playdough, Magnetix, and especially the Leap Pad.

Today we had Christmas at Jim and Judy's house. She got all sorts of frilly girl clothes, including a pink flapper dress and Cinderella dress up accessories. I think she had two or three outfit changes while presents were being opened.

She also spent some time with her cousin Jackson (Jim's grandson). He was a bit rough, used to bigger kids, but soon enough Emma was giving him hugs and they were having a good time playing together.

Tomorrow's the final Christmas, at my mom's house. I suspect the pink presents aren't at an end quite yet.

Every night at seven o'clock, the kids get du...

December 16, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Every night at seven o'clock, the kids get dumped into the bath. Emma in particular likes bath time. She'll happily fill up old shampoo bottles, draw in the mist on the shower doors, or see how much she can bother her brother. Last night I took a few pictures of her aqua-play session, mostly so I don't forget what it's like.

Emma's been really getting into the spirit of Christmas this year. We were driving around town and hearing Emma say, "Look! Look! Look! Look! Christmas lights!" Yesterday she had her hands clasped together, an intense look on her face, whispering, "I wish . . . I wish . . . I wish for Christmas."

Poor Emma's been sick these last couple days

December 13, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Poor Emma's been sick these last couple days. When I came home from work yesterday, all she wanted to do was either be held or watch cartoons. Towards the end of the evening she perked up, though. She really wanted to eat a gingerbread man and after dinner, she finally got her wish. Instantly she was happy Emma again, exclaiming such joyous phrases as "His head popped off!"

After dinner, the kids and I piled into the bathtub for a cramped but amusing good time. The highlights involved putting on soap bubble beards and doing Santa impressions. Sam was also interested in the various styles of facial hair, from goatees to soul patches.

Hopefully Emma feels better soon. She missed out on school yesterday, which she really loves. Hopefully she can be back this Friday. The one thing we've noticed is that there's a new ritual she wants to do before each meal. She wants everyone to hold hands and say "Thanks!" Ah, the joys of church-based preschools, even of the subdued variety.

Emma crawled off the bed last night, burrowin...

December 06, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma crawled off the bed last night, burrowing under the covers until she ran out of bed. Soon enough she was on the floor, crying, with a bruise on her forehead.

Fortunately she's quite rugged and was smiling and laughing a few minutes later. Today she came to visit me at work, charming my coworkers and having a chocolate muffin with me at Starbucks. I'm looking forward to taking some time off from work these holidays and spending some time with her.

I have in fact found a nice situation for Emm...

December 03, 2005 by Jamie in Emma

I have in fact found a nice situation for Emma at St. Mary's Episcopal church downtown. There are 2 nice ladies who take care of kids on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30-1:00 so their beleaguered mommies (or daddies) can escape to the dentists office or the grocery store unmolested. There is a big gym with lots of riding toys and playhouses, so Emma loved it. There are only 4 or 5 kids currently using the service, so I loved it. The first day she decorated a Christmas tree and painted a picture in lovely shades of pink and lavender and was fed a healthy lunch homecooked by one of the grandmothers who attend the church. She didn't cry while I was gone....and was heartbroken when we had to leave. What could be more wonderful?

Well, Jamie dropped Emma off at this new day ...

December 02, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Well, Jamie dropped Emma off at this new day care for the morning. After sticking around for a bit, she told Emma "I'm going for a walk." Jamie returned a few minutes later to find that Emma was doing just fine, so she wandered over to my office and chatted with me for a bit.

So, it looks like we have a winner. That means that most mornings Jamie will be able to have at least some time to herself.

Emma keeps growing up

November 30, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma keeps growing up. I'll pick her up and ask "why are you so heavy?" "I growed up!" she'll exclaim.

We moved Emma's bed into Sam's room a couple days ago. The first night was a little rough, with Jamie having to go in a few times during the night. Last night, though, both kids slept through the night without any trouble. Jamie had to go in at seven in the morning to wake them up and get them ready for school.

Jamie's also looking into a daycare style place where Emma could go from time to time. It's fairly short, about four hours long, and she can go any time during the week. We'll see how it goes.

Interesting to hear ADAM'S interpretation of ...

October 10, 2005 by Jamie in Emma

Interesting to hear ADAM'S interpretation of what happens at night while he is mostly sleeping in ignorant bliss. Actually, Emma was up and down and crying for MOM most of the night. I got maybe two hours of sleep, interrupted by her kicking me and crying for help. And her diaper leaked onto my sheets in the morning so now I'm getting Sam ready for school and taking care of Emma who doesn't want to be out of my arms AND washing sheets. But, you know, don't cry for me ;-)

Poor Emma had a hard time last night

October 10, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Poor Emma had a hard time last night. She had a fever and was tossing and turning in bed, saying odd things about the chickens. We gave her some tylenol and she seemed to settle down somewhat. Poor girl.

With Sam feeling sick yesterday as well, it may be that we'll soon be experiencing another round of illnesses. Usually they wait until Winter, but maybe they're coming early this year.

Emma's still a little sick, though hopefully ...

October 06, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma's still a little sick, though hopefully it's at the end of it. A couple nights ago she woke up with a fever, dreaming about monsters in the bed. "It's just dad," Jamie told her. I'm guessing it was my snoring.

Last night she was up again, though I wandered over and patted her back to sleep.

Today she came to visit me at work, which is becoming a regular Tuesday/Thursday treat. It's funny how she's becoming such a creature of habit. We always walk to the bagel store, where she sees a manikin in a store and talks about her Barbie birthday cake. She talks to the people behind the counter and dances to the music they play. Then we wander around campus for awhile, returning back to say hello to my office mates and hand her back to her mom.

We've also established a bedtime routine that involves her sitting on my lap while she eats cereal, and watches movies of her and Sam when they were little. Funny girl.

Poor Emma is sick today

September 27, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Poor Emma is sick today. She woke up last night, quietly sobbing and feeling lousy. Jamie sent me off to the store at seven this morning, returning with assorted kid medical supplies.

The last few winters have been pretty hard for our family as wave after wave of illnesses hit. Hopefully things will be better this season now that Emma's a bit older. We'll see how it goes.

Emma has been growing up in so many ways

September 08, 2005 by Jamie in Emma

Emma has been growing up in so many ways. Each day as we drop off Sam she gets this pained look on her face..."But I'll MISS Sammy!" Her sleeping issues I believe are growing pains, as she complains of legs hurting and needs me to rub them in the middle of the night and is constantly hungry. Fortunately these episodes are usually followed by a few days of great sleep. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Emma loved the beach

August 30, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma loved the beach. I spent a tremendous amount of time following her around as she played in her giant sandbox. I think her favorite thing to do was discovering little critters and parts of critters, handing them to me to carry around. I didn't let her wade around in the water too much, as she ended up getting pretty cold, though she would have happily splashed away all day.

When we were inside, she spent a lot of time with Natalie. The two of them crawled about and didn't get in too much trouble. The only hard part about the beach was that she had a hard time sleeping. I frequently got kicked out. And the last fifteen minutes of the drive back home was pretty bad too.

I had the kids at work yesterday and we went ...

August 03, 2005 by Adam in Emma

I had the kids at work yesterday and we went over to campus for our usual exploration and bagel eating. We passed by Renee's Landing and she said "I want to go in there." "You want a beer?" I asked.

She then put on her whiny face and said, "I want a beer!" After I informed her that wasn't possible, she turned it up a notch. "I NEED a beer!"

Fortunately these temper tantrums are pretty amusing so we merely laugh at her. I suspect she'll learn soon enough to try a different approach.

Emma is a joy to be around

July 25, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma is a joy to be around. She's polite, funny, and extremely smart. She'll hurt herself and I'll give her a kiss and she'll say "Oh, thank you." Admittedly, she can be a handful as well. She's very curious about the world and how it works. Making pizza together is more of a messy art project than a cuisine-related activity.

This particular photo is showing off her trademark grin, a funny little thing that no one taught her to do. She does it when she's being a little coy or shy about something. It might vanish as she gets older, something I'd dearly miss.

Last night Emma was watching videos of Sam as...

July 12, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Last night Emma was watching videos of Sam as a kid as she'll often do. She saw the one where he was riding his bike around and she decided that was exactly what she wanted to do. We put on her knee pads, elbow pads, and helmet, then rode down to the park.

Once there, she lost all interest in actual riding, instead wanting to show off her bike and equipment to the oblivious teenagers playing in the sand. After awhile we returned home, with me pushing her back up the hill as she enjoyed the ride.

Emma's vocabulary is amazing

June 28, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma's vocabulary is amazing. Not only does she understand all sorts of big and complicated words, but she's surprisingly in touch with her emotions and how the things around her impact her feelings.

Lately she's been carrying around a toy notebook from Blue's Clues. Jamie took it away as it was bed time. "Why you take it away from me?" Emma said tearfully. After some back and forth, she got it back and said "Now I'm happy."

Emma was up early this morning and I was hang...

June 15, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma was up early this morning and I was hanging around the kitchen table with her and Jamie. For some reason, I was pointing out that she and Jamie were girls and I was a boy. I'd point to her and say "Emma's a girl", point to Jamie and say "mom's a girl", and point to myself and say "I'm a boy."

Emma smiled and pointed to Jamie. "Mom's a kitty." She pointed to herself and said "I'm a man." She then pointed to me and said "You're a milkman."

I had to stifle my giggles so that I didn't wake up Sam. It's amazing that she's only two and still has a great sense of humor.

The other day, Emma destroyed one of Sam's sa...

June 12, 2005 by Adam in Emma

The other day, Emma destroyed one of Sam's sandcastles he was working on. Sam was mad, and told her so. For the entire afternoon, Emma and Sam discussed the issue. She kept telling me "Sam mad at me." Emma turned on the charm, apologizing, giving him hugs, and saying she was sorry. After a very long while, Sam decided he wasn't mad any more and they went back to being best of friends.

Emma had her two year checkup at the doctor's...

June 08, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma had her two year checkup at the doctor's this morning. I went along with everyone to provide moral support.

Emma was happy and cheerful the whole time, giving Doctor Jimmy a spontaneous hug. She requested that they take her "temperature" in particular and dutifully submitted to various measurement and prodding. Even the shot at the end didn't make her cry. Her cheeks flushed and she seemed a little scared, then she was fine again.

She's tall and thin for her age, but we already knew that. Since she's in the 25th percentile for weight, we got quizzed on eating habits. Sam was the same way, as I recall, so we're not particularly worried. The doctor was amazed with her verbal skills, just like he was with Sam.

We had Emma well trained to identify one's philtrum, as that was the one body part Sam couldn't identify at that age. Sadly he never asked. Gotta start impressing those authority figures early on, I say.

Happy birthday Emma

May 27, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Happy birthday Emma. You're two.

I took Emma to see Sam's practice last night

May 20, 2005 by Adam in Emma

I took Emma to see Sam's practice last night. John, Natalie, and their mom Sharon were there as well. Natalie had a monster suit that Emma climbed into and wore the entire time.

Emma's doing really well these days, chatting and being pleasant most of the time. She's extremely verbal and funny, which makes parenting easier. Towards the end of the day she does get a bit grumpy, though.

Jamie's working on having Emma go to sleep by herself. Instead of laying next to her, Jamie sits by the bed until Emma goes to sleep. She'll sit up in her bed, eyes flickering closed, until she conks over and finally goes to bed.

I have a hard time writing about Emma these days

April 17, 2005 by Adam in Emma

I have a hard time writing about Emma these days. She always seems the same to me, as I'm around her all the time. I'm sure to an outsider her changes seem sudden and dramatic.

Everyone is amazed by her vocabulary. She can pretty much say anything. We sat down for dinner tonight, she took a bite, and exclaimed "Delicious!"

I took her swimming a couple weeks ago and she really had a good time. I tried going again on Friday but it was full, and Emma was quite distraught.

We love her lots. She's very cute.

Emma and I had a fun time wandering around Sa...

April 01, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma and I had a fun time wandering around Sam's school while he played soccer. We started off throwing pebbles into a nearby creek, then moved down to the playground. Emma really got into the slide, climbing all the way up and going down all by down herself.

She also has a great sense of humor. I drew "Hair Gel!" on the shopping list, then scribbled a picture of myself with big hair. Emma kept laughing and wanting to see it, saying "You! Funny."

It's been nearly a month since I gave an upda...

March 29, 2005 by Adam in Emma

It's been nearly a month since I gave an update on Emma. Her vocabulary skills just keep getting better. She tries to say just about anything I do. I was getting changed after work and Emma found some old computer parts tucked away in my closet. "What's this for?" she asked. "Oh, that's for a CD-ROM drive." "CD-ROM drive," she replied in a cute little voice.

Last night she directed the play activities, having me pull out the big indoor tent and then pretend to be a monster. Sam was told to go inside and then I held Emma and terrorized the boy, who had a great time. Later Emma and I ran back and forth in the dark, holding a flashlight, while Sam chased us making monster noises.

Emma also seems to share my affinity for coffee. She'll look at my cup and say "Coffee?" and then "Try it?"

Emma seems better today

March 03, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma seems better today. Jamie brought her down before I left to work and I got to visit with her a little before I left. She loves looking at my old bug collection from graduate school, picking up the vials of alcohol with strange creatures floating in them. She'd put in her cute voice and say "Look? Worm. Cute." Sometimes she'd even give them little kisses.

She was also looking at my work shoes which I keep by the back door. "Work shoes," Emma said as she picked them up. "Yep, I've got to go to work today." She made a frown and pleaded, "No work day." Fortunately some cocoa and a show distracted her long enough for me to slip away.

Emma's sick again, running a fever of 102 degrees

March 01, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma's sick again, running a fever of 102 degrees.

Last night she had a really hard time sleeping, rolling around and calling for Jamie and I. This morning she related her dreams, which were elaborate and involved sharks. It's fairly hard to understand, however, as she'll say lots of one or two words in confusing chunks: "Sharks." "Bonk." "Head." As well as semi-understandable phrases.

Sadly I'm feeling a bit warm and tired. I suspect it'll be pizza and movie night for everyone.

Emma's life seems an endless game

February 28, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma's life seems an endless game. She loves the "monster" game, typically involving hiding from monsters or having me chase her around the house, preferrably to exciting music. Yesterday we invented a game that involved climbing up me, then flipping backwards onto the bed. With her getting so big, it's like an extra workout every weekend.

Emma's also endlessly curious. She loves the light that comes in through our front door, exclaiming "rainbow" and pointing to it. When we're outside, she's always looking for slugs and bugs and interesting plants. I imagine they all run fleeing from her grip, as she tends to crush them with love.

She's also putting together long sentences like "Grandma Judy made that for you." and "Emma do it self." (when she wants to do something herself).

On occasion she can be pretty grumpy, bonking people to get their attention or grabbing things away from Sam. Still, she's usually very sweet. She'll give people hugs and kisses, and sometimes extend the courtesy to her stuffed animals, plants, or slugs.

Emma keeps getting bigger each and every day

February 13, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma keeps getting bigger each and every day. We had a nice walk around the block just the two of us yesterday. She wanted to walk on every tall thing, poke in every muddy crack, and move rocks from place to place.

Her vocabulary continues to expand by leaps and bounds. She's also gotten very good at mimicking pretty much anything someone says. I'd imagine she'd be fun to bring to parties.

Emma was sick again yesterday, running a feve...

February 07, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma was sick again yesterday, running a fever and generally whining. Poor girl. I think she ended up with three baths and spent most of the day holding on to Jamie. We've been keeping the antibiotics going as well as periodic Tylenol.

Dave and Kirsten came over for a little yesterday, in hopes of relieving me when Jamie went off to Angie's birthday. I think Emma lasted about five minutes tops before I had to do the daddy thing and distract her from wanting mom.

Emma's ear infection seemed to have cleared u...

February 03, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma's ear infection seemed to have cleared up earlier this week as Jamie took her into the doctor just to make sure. A couple days later, she was tugging at her ear again and reporting problems. We're back to a second round of antibiotics. Fortunately the flavor of this one is better and she doesn't struggle quite as much drinking it. The only weird thing Jamie noticed is that Emma now seems to sweat out an odd fruity smell. Weird.

Emma continues to be quite chatty. As I left for work today, she gave me a hug and a "love you". It was very sweet. I also got a phone call that included lots of confused talk about "pull white things". Jamie later let me know that she was talking to Sam about Little House on the Prarie and "pulling wagons". Context is everything.

Emma seemed to have a hard time last night

January 24, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma seemed to have a hard time last night. Most of the time she'd be her normal cheerful self, then she'd fly into a tizzy. She's still sick, which could be part of it, as well as having an overly exciting day. Poor kid.

We've been giving her antibiotics, which she completely hates. Plus we hate restraining her and forcing fluids down her throat, so it's pretty much a lose-lose situation (especially for the bacteria, I suppose). The other night we gave it to her, kicking and screaming, then rewarded her with a little candy. "Thanks," she said in a tearful voice afterwards.

Last night we were giving Jamie a foot wash and massage in a big basin and Emma decided she wanted to play with it. We stripped her down, threw her in the tub, and she had a great time. It only lasted a few minutes, though. I think the water was too hot and Sam was impishly bumping it. Soon enough she wanted out and back to mom.

Poor Emma started whining and saying her ear ...

January 22, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Poor Emma started whining and saying her ear hurt last night. Jamie was going to go out with Angie, but decided against it, instead taking Emma to the after hours pediatrician. The doctor was able to ask her where it hurt and she pointed to her ear. Sure enough, that was the one with the infection. She's on antibiotics and we gave her pain killers. Hopefully she'll be on the mend soon.

This morning she seems to be doing much better. We watched some Fantasia and she loved the flying whales. Mostly she seems interested in getting into sword duels with her brother and I.

Emma has the computer down pat

January 19, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Emma has the computer down pat. For the last ten minutes she's been playing the same Jumpstart Toddler's game as Sam once played, deftly moving the mouse around and clicking on things of interest. She'll click on a letter of the alphabet and watch a picture of something interesting pop up. Pretty amazing.

She appears to have discovered the word "Why?", presumably from her brother. Now when we tell her she can't do something, she'll ask "Why?" with a pouty face.

Tonight, for no apparent reason, she was running around with a black mesh bag over her body. She ran up to me, grinned widely, and said "evil". I suspect it's yet another tidbit she picked up from her brother.

Poor Emma's had a bad cold for the last few d...

January 03, 2005 by Adam in Emma

Poor Emma's had a bad cold for the last few days, along with a cough that's lasted a month. She's had a really hard time sleeping, which Jamie seems to get the brunt of. Emma would wake up every half an hour and climb on Jamie saying "Hold you. Hold you."

Fortunately she's better in the day time. This morning Emma removed her poopy diaper and thoughtfully wandered over to hand it to her mom. Such kindly children we have.

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