Dear Emmylou,

On Saturday you turned sixteen months old. This is getting ridiculous! What have you done with my little baby? No more bottles! You want to use utensils! You communicate with words and signs! Pretty soon you'll be asking to borrow the car and wanting to get your belly button pierced (please, not that). The other day your dad walked in and you said, clear as day, "Hi, Dada" like you've been saying it for years. What is that all about!? That's all I'm saying this month. Nothing mushy, just wanted you to know that if you want to slow all this down just a little bit, that'd be fine with me...

All my love,
Mama

Emmylou reading her favorite book, "The Wheels on the Bus." I'm afraid "Pride and Prejudice" might be next...

I continue to be amazed every single day by Emmylou's development. Not only is she insisting upon feeding herself (and doing a pretty good job at it) and opening every door she comes across, she is a sign language fool! She's like a little sponge when I show her signs and now consistently uses the ones for "more," "all done," "milk," "water," "open" and "eat." She also can make the animal noises for dogs, horses, sheep and cows. When does Harvard start taking applications?

Lizzie and I finished the Iron Chicks Triathlon on Sunday in New Braunfels at the Texas Ski Ranch and Emmylou and Grammie came out to cheer us on! Everytime I wanted to stop I just thought about seeing Emmylou at the finish line! Thanks for the motivation, Emmylou!

Hi everybody! Emmylou would like to introduce you all to Gustafer Yellowgold, her new favorite kiddie character. Aunt Lizzie found out about him at the Children's Museum last month and got the DVD for her. Isn't he so cute?! He's kind of like Wilco-meets-The Shins-meets-The Wiggles, singing silly songs like this one about his eel friend:



They had me at the opening lyrics: "Up through your pant leg and out through your collar..."

When Gustafer performs live, it's a group of 3 (pretty cute, according to Lizzie) guys who play the music in front of a big screen with Gustafer animation. They're from New York and she says they're coming back again in December. We can't wait to see them!

Emmylou's impression of Paris Hilton:

Happy Fourth, everybody! We took Emmylou down to our neighborhood parade this morning and in our infinite wisdom, decided against bringing an umbrella. Sometimes I do wonder if we might be unfit parents. Of course by the end of it we were all completely soaked to the bone but still enjoyed it and warmed up quickly with baths back at home. The parade was fun but wasn't much more than a bunch of families with decorated strollers, bikes and scooters going around the block following a fire truck, and us pulling Emmylou in the wagon Eric made for her. I would've taken pictures of the actual parade, but I was keeping my camera in my pocket so it wouldn't get ruined from the rain.




I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the wagon says "Fleet Flyer" on the side-- we lived on Fleet Street in Baltimore! Adorable, Eric.

Last week Emmylou created her first work of post-modern abstract surrealism* that I like to call Happy Face in (Mostly) Primary Colors: The Early Years.




Really, I was just glad she didn't eat the paint (not that she didn't try), and, yes, I did help a little here and there.

*That combination isn't even possible, right, Alex?


On Wednesday we went to visit Alyssa and her big brother Joshua at my friend Lizette's house. We had so much fun playing and Emmylou could not tear herself away from their piano!




And since things have been so hectic lately and I didn't get around to posting a pic of Emmylou and her daddy for Father's Day (which Gary pointed out the other day), here are a couple of photos I took today of them together. I hope all of you have or will get to see them together for yourselves- the smiles, giggles and full-on hyena laughing never stop! For either of them!

Emmylou's been all smiles lately because we just got her this castle climber (of course I put it inside because it's so dang hot and muggy outside all the time). I'm happy to report that there have been no serious head injuries on it as of yet.





Grammie picked up these crazy tie-dyed bandanas somewhere and everyone wanted to try them on (even Lola!)...





Grammie also made some yummy yogurt popsicles that Emmylou loved and Lola admired from afar...

Okay, so here are the vacation pics.

While we were busy wearing sombreros, shaking maracas and eagerly gorging ourselves on lobster and fruity drinks...






Emmylou was busy going to the park to ride the train with Grammie, Tessa and Amelia (Grammie says that if Lulu doesn't look like she's enjoying herself in this picture it's only because the train couldn't start up fast enough)...



Going to what appears to be a sandbox Happy Hour...



And hanging out in the new chair Amelia passed down to her (So sweet! Thanks, Amelia!)...



And while we were touring an organic farm...


the Cabo marina...


the famous Cabo rock formations...


and the stinky seals that live nearby...


Emmylou was busy taking funny pictures with Grammie...



And trying on everyone's shoes...




Considering Emmylou tried to push right past us in an attempt to get out the front door to play when we first came to pick her up from Grammie's, I think it's safe to say she had a great time there and didn't miss us too badly. I think Grammie had a playdate scheduled for her everyday! Of course we missed Emmylou terribly but it was wonderful knowing she was having such a great time while we were away. Thanks, Grammie, for taking such good care of our girl! I do have to admit we changed our flight to get home a little earlier to pick her up on Friday night rather than Saturday morning, but in order to appear a little less pathetic, I told myself it was really just because the weekend was going to be so hectic with the triathlon (which, yes, I barely survived). Speaking of, here's a photo of Lizzie and I post-race with our bikes and medals. Yay! We did it!

Dear Emmylou,

Can life get any more exciting? At fifteen months old, there is hardly a thing you don't meet with a super-excited gasp or thoughtful "oooooh!" You are curious about everything and as I watch you explore every new thing, I see you getting smarter with each experience. You're trying out new words, following directions, pointing to lots of body parts and swimming, climbing and dancing every chance you get. In short, you're kind of a tornado ripping through each day, trying to get your hands on everything you possibly can, but in a really sweet, mostly non-destructive kind of way (I'm sure the destruction part is still yet to come).

Today you had to go to the doctor for your 15 month check-up and here are your current stats: height is 34 1/4 inches (50th percentile); weight is 21 lbs, 7 oz (25th-50th percentile); and your head circumference is 47 cm (50th-75th percentile). The doctor said all of that was fantastic, but I think your dad may be a little worried about the head circumference-- he's had a bit of a complex about having a big head ever since I've known him (many baseball cap-buying nightmares), so I'm sure he's hoping yours stays in proportion. I think it's perfect the way it is, so don't listen to him! You had to get 2 shots today that were the worst yet-- it broke my heart when you screamed and cried but I have to say the look you gave the nurse afterwards was kinda funny. Everyone at the office thought you were soooo cute-- and a little goofy! You're always a good sport, though, so I wasn't surprised.

Okay, well let's get on with it: here's the monthly mushy part... I've been wondering lately if it's because we spend almost all of our time together or if it's just how it is with all mothers and daughters, but, Emmylou, I can't even begin to describe the bond I feel with you. I guess I've tried with the nearly 200 posts on this blog, but sometimes I still feel like I haven't even scratched the surface in expressing the love and joy you bring to my life. I mean, I don't want to sound like a co-dependent maniac, but what else would get me up before 7am every single day with a smile on my face? And who knew that picking up your toys for the millionth time would remind me of your laughter that day playing with them? And that after about 15 minutes of relaxation once you've gone to bed, I'd wish you were back up with us? Sixteen months ago I would've never thought I'd be spilling my guts to you every month where anyone could read it. But now, I don't care. I just want you to know how much I love you. That you're my favorite person. That I'll always be here for you. That I'm having the time of my life getting to know you. What should we do next?

All my love,
Mama

Although it still feels like we just got back from vacation (I only unpacked yesterday!), Emmylou has had a very busy week so far. We started swimming lessons together on Monday at the gym, and today was a milestone: her first time (intentionally) to go underwater! She did it twice and didn't cry, however she did look pretty surprised both times she came back up. Here are some photos of us in the pool today...






Yesterday, Emmylou got her very own toothbrush so she no longer has to use mine everyday! At Target she had to choose between the Baby Einstein and Elmo brushes and Elmo was the winner. Here she is making the big decision and then brushing her teeth later at home...




Since there was no food in the house after our trip for a couple of days, we've also been going out to eat quite a bit. Here's Emmylou nearly jumping out of her chair to get more of Daddy's chocolate shake from EZ's...





Mmmmmmmm... sweet victory!

I think I'll be able to get vacation photos posted tomorrow.

Sorry for the long break in posts, but Gary and I were in Cabo San Lucas all last week. We had an amazing time but, of course, missed Emmylou like cuh-razy. Emmylou stayed with Grammie, who took lots of cute photos I'll eventually post here once Grammie figures out how to send them to me as attachments. Posting them here is also dependent on my not dying tomorrow when I do the Danskin Triathlon! But to tide you over in the meantime, here are a couple of pics I took before we left for our trip:

Emmylou loves her clothes, always helping me with her laundry or getting herself dressed/undressed (so very helpful)...







And here's one of me and Lulu-- I keep getting comments from people I don't know saying stuff like, "she must look like her father!" Sometimes I don't think people believe she's my daughter!