18 months!

Miss Emmeline is 18 months old!  How can she be a year and a half already?  Will she really be two this year??
Let me tell you, I might be biased, but this little girl is SPECIAL.  I am sure all parents feel this way but she just has a little sparkle in her eyes. 
As you can see from this picture, she is a girl who has big plans!
                             

Emmeline is becoming more verbal and independent every day.  It is fun to see her become her own little person with her own unique personality.  She is turning into quite the little ham! I love seeing her explore the world through those little eyes and ears...and she gets a good view because according to her Pediatrician, who we adore, Emme is as tall as a two year old!  He also said that based on the norms of her age group, her vocabulary is off the charts (of course she gets this from daddy...oh come on, you all know how chatty Aaron is ;-) ).  She can now say about 75+ words independently and says a new word every day which always completely amazes us.  Toddlers are little sponges...they are soaking up everything about the world around them.  It is crazy!  they say once they start talking, they don't stop...uh-oh!  We are in trouble!
Her best buddy, Keegan, calls her "Emme"... so when you point to her and ask her who she is she replies, "Emme" (Aaron decided on Emme-pronounced like Emmie-since that is the first half of her name.  He didn't see the need in adding an "i" for Emmie-ha!).  It is pretty adorable when she says it. She will point to her picture and say "Emme". Even when we call her Emmeline, she looks back at us and says, "Emme".  ;-)  Already calling the shots.  What can I say?...she is a girl who knows what she wants.
I love that I can now ask her "yes" and "no" questions and she can answer back...this girl definitely has an opinion! I love that I can now talk with her and not just to her.  We give her options and let her make choices as often as we can. I love seeing her stew over a decision. She is her own being and I love that she feels a part of our family now.  She giggles and gets excited when she sees mommy and daddy hug and kiss (which we of course do in a dramatic way to get a rise out of her)...and of course we let her and Judah join in for a "group hug". 

She is quite the goofball but also very polite, almost always saying Thank you and Please (while signing it too--you know, for an extra emphasis when she REALLY wants something-ha!). My favorite is when she goes around mid-day begging for cookies or other random things.  "Cookie? Cookie?  Peas (please)? peas (please)?????"  Oh my word.  My mistake for letting her help me bake cookies and letting her try one (well, before trying one, she did stick her hand in the dough and help herself to a sample)!  Whenever we are cooking and/or baking now, she holds her little hands out and says "up peas (please)?"...she wants to be front and center to help us.  It is so stinkin' adorable when she peeks into the oven to see if our food is "all done".  I wouldn't be able to tell you what her favorite food is because this girl can/will eat just about anything.  Right now she is always asking for "rice", "broccoli", "juice" (homemade fruit/veg smoothies), "cookie", "cracker", "pasta" and "boo-bies" (blueberries, not to be confused with boobies! ha).


Emme's top 10 favorite things right now...

1. She loves to help us bake and cook.

Exploring the world of decadent foods. ;-)

(Busted!  Sneaking bites of the cookie dough while helping mommy stir.)

 

Love this last one (this is her hyped up on cookie dough and running around the kitchen)...

Helping me make pasta with spinach.  She loves adding sprinkles of cheese to our meals too.

Stirring pancake batter...

Enjoying a green "juice".  Aaron and I have been making fresh, green juices daily and Emmeline LOVES them!

2. She loves to go outside.

    

Don't even try to sneak out of the house without her!  She loves to go out and about with mommy and daddy.  She will run to the coat closet and then point and repeat "boots!", "hat!", "coat!",  "shoes!" and "walk!" or "keys! vroom vroom! (for car)" showing you that she wants to go somewhere too.  We often take her for special little adventures on the weekends, even if it is just a short walk around the neighborhood or up the road to the mailbox.  She loves looking for "rocks" and waves hi and bye to the trees.  She stops and explores everything that catches her eye.  Gosh I love this age!  We even play a shadow game (when the sun is out) where we chase our shadows and make it do things (like run, wave "hi", etc).

Looking out our bedroom window on a rainy day...




Exploring the snow (she says, "crunch, crunch" and "walk, walk" as she marches along)

 "skating" on the ice covered sidewalk

 Holding a piece of snow.  She says, "Brrrrr!" and "Nooo" (for "snow")

We even enjoy the rainy days...

(catching raindrops on our hands)

This is us making "Shadow" wave

She loves playing out back with the car that Aunt Meggie and Uncle Jeff got her.

Right now, she enjoys pushing it around more than riding in it...

3. She loves to build and create

Emmeline asks for "crayons" every day.  Here she is scribbling a masterpiece!  She loves to use crayons on paper (and in the tub).  She likes when I trace her hands and feet.  We talk about the colors but she obviously doesn't quite know which is which. Blue is the only one she tends to get right. She says "arnge" (orange), "boo" (blue), "gween" (green) and "purrrple" (purple) all day long when she hands me objects and she acts proud that she is able to tell me what color it is (even though she is rarely right--when she is right, I wonder if it is pure luck or if she is really catching on this young?).  Aaron also has her saying letters with our letter magnets but it is still a very abstract concept to her.

I caught her trying to trace her hand after I got done doing it.

We've just started playing with playdoh too.  As you can tell, she thinks it's pretty cool.

She loves building towers and other structures with her blocks.  I'm sure one day I will miss tripping over these pieces and picking up all million of them every night. ;-)

She also loves finger paints...pics to come...

4. She loves her baby brother.

Emmeline loves being a big sister!  I didn't think she would really be all that in tune to him and his needs at such a young age.  However, she is the complete opposite of what I imagined!  She is always concerned about where he is and what he is doing.  She calls him "Baby" or "Joo-dah" all day long.  She shares her books and blocks with him (and shows a proud smile when she does).  If he is fussing and we can't quite get to him, she runs over to try and console him.  She even helps us change his diapers.

She simply adores him.

Trying to lift him.  She even dramatically makes the sound "Ughhhhhhhhh" while trying to lift him.  He IS really heavy, I'll give her that. ;-)

She is always asking to hold Judah.  She puts her little arms out and wiggles into a comfortable sitting position waiting in excitement to hold him...after about 2 minutes she says, "up, up!" because she realizes he is about half her size and is HEAVY. ha!

Doesn't she look so proud here??

Tummy time!

This is her straining to lift him up-ha!

Here is a cute video of her playing peekaboo with baby brother...

She just lights up around him.  I just love the joy he brings her and how protective she is of her baby brother.  It is so sweet to watch.

5. She loves to read books.

This girl loves BOOKS. You can tell in the way she says "Bookkkkkkkk", with an emphasis on the "k". She will pick up a book and go sit in a corner with it (or sit in a box like in the photo below).  Our new favorite routine is snuggling for a few extra minutes in the morning (in mommy/daddy's bed) while reading a few of our favorite books.  Everytime I put her under the covers she says, "Brrrrr" and wiggles her body like she has the shivers. :-)  Our favorite right now is "Hey! Wake Up!" (pictured in the first photo below).  We now recite it in the morning first thing when she wakes up.  She acts it out as I read/say the lines.  There is a part that says "orange juice and cereal, too. buttered toast and broccoli stew" and then one of the characters says "ew." Emmeline chimes in every time to say that part ("ew." as she scrunches up her little nose in disgust-ha!).  I love it!  I need to get it on video.

Her expressions as she flips through books is PRICELESS.

6. She loves bathtime.

 After dinner she runs upstairs yelling "bath, bath baaaath!!!"  She thinks it is fun to wash baby brother now too and make his feet kick and splash in the water.

7. She loves her "Honey Bunny".

Honey Bunny was a shower gift long before Emmeline was even born.  I'd say we started giving her bunny during naps and car rides around 3-4 months old?  She now sleeps with Honey Bunny every night (and every day for naps). She calls her "ummy" (AKA "bunny").  Lately she has asked for bunny during the day because she wants to play with her and have her by her side all day. Funny how kids develop strong attachments at such a young age.

For kicks, here are a few pictures from when she was little with "Honey Bunny" :-) Awwwww...

Playing peek-a-boo with bunny...

Giving "ummy" a bath in the sink (you should have seen the first time I tried to wash bunny in with the clothes...she cried so hard when I put her in the washer and drier...you'd think I was actually killing a bunny! ha!  So now we just give her a bath. :-) ).

This is her giving "ummy" some pretend juice (we had just made some in our pretend blender :-) )

8.  She loves shopping. 

Our favorite places to go are the grocery store and Target.  She loves helping me find things...and BUY things. ha!

9. She loves her buddy, Keegan (or as she calls him, "Kee-gee"). 

It is a true friendship.  He is her "brother from another mother"!  She says his name first thing in the morning when she wakes up because she can't wait to play with him.

 

Pajama party!

10.  She loves us :-)

I just love her more and more every day. Can't wait to see the little girl and woman she grows up to be. 

I will leave you with a couple of silly, fun photos!

BOO!

I swear we do not cook or bake naked in our house! ha!