Three year old Emma!
Here she is, no longer a baby, but a genuine "little kid" now! From her annual birthday portrait session:

• Three year old Emma #1


• Three year old Emma #2


• Three year old Emma #3


• Three year old Emma #4

Mommy is working on the backlog of photos and swears that they'll be up as soon as possible! Isn't there a saying "Christmas in July" anyhow?
- posted by Heather @ 7:55 AM

 
Emma's first airplane ride, aka Turkey Day in Florida!
Emma, Mommy and Daddy went to Florida to spend Thanksgiving with Gramma Bindert, Aunt Betsy and (great-) Uncle Lenny this year. It was Emma's first time riding on an airplane, and Mommy and Daddy had a little trepidation about how smoothly the trip would go. We left in the middle of the night (3:45am) in a blinding snowstorm for the drive to the Buffalo airport. A short time later, and we were on board the plane! (Okay, we're skipping the whole "lug the luggage, kid, stroller and ginormous car seat into the terminal, through the check-in line, through security, and down to the gate" part, but that went pretty smoothly, all things considered. The only slight issue came when Emma and Mommy were waiting just inside the airport doors for Daddy to park the car in the long-term lot, and Em took it upon herself to yell "ONE, TWO, THREE WAKE UP!" to the family who were trying to catch some Zs on a nearby bench. She didn't quite get that it was just short of 5am at the time...) Once Emma was safely secured in her car seat - or was it a plane seat for this trip? - she had her eyes glued to the window and her hand glued to Mommy's for the taxi and take-off part of the flight. After we reached cruising altitude, Emma turned away from the window, let go of Mommy's hand, and said "Oh, fun!" before closing her eyes and instantly dropping off to sleep. When she woke up almost two hours later, she gave a mighty stretch and promptly snagged herself a breakfast bar from the airline's snack basket. She found the whole flying thing to be delightful, including the very messy banana bread breakfast bar (say that five times, fast).

Once we landed, Emma couldn't get over the novelty of being in her stroller while on board the shuttle bus, something she'd never experienced before. Then it was off to Gramma's house, arriving just in time for a nap and then a delicious Thanksgiving dinner! We all sat down to eat, and Mommy tried very hard to get a good picture of the family enjoying all the yummy dishes, but this is the best shot she could get. Among the exotic things Emma enjoyed about her first trip to Florida were the palm trees, all the lizards that were running around Gramma's yard, and Zeke and Henry, Gramma's two cats. After Thanksgiving dinner, and a couple of other nights too, we took a walk to the next block over from Gramma's street, where the residents go CRAZY with the holiday decorations. There were lights and decorations on everything! (Gramma reported that as it drew closer to Christmas, there were even MORE lights and decorations going up on that street - we're pretty sure there were enough lights to be seen from space, or at least an airplane!) Mommy was trying to get "arty" with the camera, and this was the best result. (Mommy was using the various "fireworks" and "night action" settings because she'd never had the chance to use them before.)

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park with Gramma and Aunt Betsy. Uncle Lenny had to work so he couldn't join us, but he stopped by to say hi on his way to work. There were all sorts of cool animals at the refuge, like alligators, birds (Em loved the "mingoes" especially), bears and a hippopotamus, who we later got to watch as he was fed his lunch. (Mommy feels obliged to share at least one hippo eating photo since she took like 2 dozen shots of him...) Em, Gramma and Daddy checked out some very big kitties - even bigger than Zeke, Gramma's very own "little lion" in Emma's terms. (If you look between Gramma and Emma, you can see the kitty too!) Then Gramma, Daddy, Emma and Aunt Betsy posed by the only cat that was safe to pet, and we continued on our walk. After our tour of the refuge, we had some lunch and headed home for a rest, and afterwards Gramma took Emma, Mommy and Daddy to a really cool playground near her house. Depsite all the really neat playground equipment, Emma was fascinated with just two things: the lion water fountain and playing with a stick in the sand under all the equipment!

The next day, we had to say goodbye to Aunt Betsy, who was heading home to NY. Before she headed to the airport, we went over to the local mall so Emma could visit her favorite Man in Red, Santa Claus! It was a little bit odd to see Emma on Santa's lap in shorts, a tank top and sandals, and Mommy was cracking up at Santa's distinctly Southern accent, too! This turned out to be the first of many visits to St. Nick that Emma would make over the coming weeks.... Once Gramma got back from taking Aunt Betsy to the airport, we decided to take advantage of the sunny, warm afternoon and we headed for the beach. Emma was mightily impressed at the size of this "sandbox" and dug right in with both hands! It was a nice afternoon on the beach, even if we didn't actually make it to the water for a swim. (Mommy used the "beach" camera setting for those last two pictures, that worked a lot better than the other settings did for the Christmas lights!)

We got up and at 'em on Sunday and headed into Tampa to visit one of the greatest zoos Mommy and Daddy have ever been to - the Lowry Park Zoo. It was amazing! Not only did they have an adorable baby elephant, but Emma got to feed the giraffes (that's Emma's hand feeding the giraffe the biscuit), Emma and Mommy got to feed and pet the rhinos AND ride on a camel, too! We also spent a lot of time in the "Outback" area, where they had a huge goat pen the kids could go into - with parents, of course. Emma sure loves goats! She had lots of fun feeding them with help from Gramma and Daddy, too. We finally had to head for home, exhausted from the heat and the walking, although we hadn't even seen half the zoo yet. We can't wait to go back there and check the rest of the zoo out on another trip!

Our last full day in Florida turned out to be rainy, so our plans to spend the day at the beach were out. Instead, we drove to Tarpon Springs, where Emma's great-grandparents lived, and we walked around the town. We checked out the Tarpon Springs Aquarium, where Emma got up close and personal with an alligator and a scary snake gave Gramma the hairy eyeball. Emma and Daddy checked out one of the open tanks but didn't actually pet the rays or sand sharks. We stayed long enough to check out the diver going into the big tank (filled with beasties like sharks and groupers and eels), then headed back out in search of a snack. Stopping in one of the many Greek bakeries that line the town streets, Emma had her first taste of baklava before picking up some pretty, purple seashells as a memento of the day. We headed home the next day, back to the land of snow and cold, but now that we've survived one round trip plane ride with the Emster, we're confident that we can do it again without any worries!
- posted by Heather @ 5:00 PM

 
Gobble, gobble, gobble


A big picture update is coming soon, Mommy promises! In the meantime, the Smith family wishes you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
- posted by Heather @ 3:00 AM

 
The Smith girls' road trip to NJ
Mommy and Emma went on another whirlwind roadtrip to NJ, to visit Mommy's family and to get a picture taken of all three Hunter grandchildren as a Christmas present for Grandma and Grandpa Hunter. Emma had a great time with her cousins, if not during the actual photo session... (You try getting three kids under the age of 2.5 to sit nicely together, look at the camera and smile! It is NOT a fun or easy task!) One night, Aunt Megan, Uncle Matt and cousin Kirsten came over to Grandma and Grandpa's. Emma enjoyed hanging out reading books with Kirsten and Uncle Matt, and cuddling with Aunt Megan and Kirsten, too. Emma is definitely a Grandpa's Girl!! The next day, Emma, Grandma, Aunt Amy, cousin Hunter and Mommy met up at one of the area playgrounds. Emma and Hunter took off right away, and after running the adults ragged chasing them around - and over - the equipment, they finally settled in to the giant sandbox to play, giving the grown-ups a rest. Then we headed back to the farm where Hunter and Emma had a quick bite to eat before heading back outside. The kids took off running - little did they know they were headed straight for the Hunter Family Pet Cemetary in that shot! - and then they played a rousing round of one of Emma's favorite games, "Catcha-you, Cathca-me!" An adorable hug tipped the cousins right onto the ground, where they figured rolling around was just as fun as running. Soon enough they were back up on their feet and running around the very big trees in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard. The biggest fun came when they found a kid-sized tree to play on instead. After that, we went off to find Grandpa, who was busy raking leaves. Emma and Hunter pitched in to help him, and as a reward Grandpa took the kids and their mommies on a ride in the back of the wagon all around the property. After that, cousin Hunter and Aunt Amy had to head home, and Emma had to go finish her chores! (Just kidding!) It was a fun weekend trip for the Smith girls!
- posted by Heather @ 4:00 PM

 
Emma gets a big girl bed
It had to happen - Emma had been climbing out of her crib for weeks. Mommy and Daddy finally took the plunge and switched Emma's room around, taking out the crib and putting in her brand new big girl bed. (Well, the mattress and box spring for it anyhow, she won't be getting the frame part until she is a bit older yet!) Here is how her room looked when the crib was still in place. A few hours later, and Mommy and Daddy had gotten everything all moved around and set up. Here is the big girl bed and the other side of her room after the transformation. Emma was impressed with her new digs, and settled right in to her new bed. (You'll note she has her trusty teddy's arm jammed into her mouth, as always!) It is exta-fun to have her bedtime stories read while snuggling in the bed! We put in guard rails, of course, but Emma was very quickly determining that she could climb right over them if she wanted to - good thing they're really just there to keep her from rolling out of bed while she sleeps! Within no time at all, Emma had settled in to her new room arrangement, and she now enjoys being able to get up and play with her doll house or other toys when she wakes up, and Mommy and Daddy enjoy not having to rush in and get her because she wants out of her crib!
- posted by Heather @ 4:00 PM

 
Happy Halloween!

- posted by Heather @ 9:09 AM

 
Pony rides and bounce houses!
This was Daddy's 15 year high school reunion weekend, so Daddy brought Mommy and Emma over to his old school for the "family fun" day. There weren't many other kids there, which made it even better in Emma's opinion, since that meant that she could ride the pony and go in the bounce house with NO waiting! Em made a beeline for the ponies as soon as we got there, and hopped right on and took off! She was petting the pony and talking to her, too. Mommy likes this shot of Emma and Daddy that she took while Em was riding. She really loves horseback riding, so Mommy and Daddy took the pony ride owners' brochure to keep in mind for a future birthday party activity.

Next, we moved on to the bounce house. Em had never been in one before, and she wasn't sure what to make of it when she first climbed inside. (She kept calling it a "rocket ship" even though it was a castle, and the dragons on the inside were "dinosaurs" in Emma's opinion!) Once she figured out she could stand and walk in it, she quickly began bouncing and discovered that it was lots of fun! Emma was the Bouncing Queen in no time flat! She did her Michael Jordan impression while bouncing, which was funny. Emma also discovered that rolling on the bouncy floor is also lots of fun! (That's Daddy's old classmate Kirsten's daughter, Zoe, in that last picture with Em.) She was a bouncing maniac and had to be lured out with offers of sippy cups and snacks when it was time to go! (And boy, did she take a BIG nap when we got home, too!)
- posted by Heather @ 1:00 PM

 
Fall Friday Fun
Emma met up with her good friend Omar at the park this afternoon for some Fall Friday Fun. Emma immediately tried to get Omar to play her favorite playground game,"You catch me, I catch you!" Omar found out Emma's chasing game is fun and they ran around for a while. After several trips down the big, tube slide, the mommies took the kids over to the made-for-smaller-kiddos part of the playground, where they went up the stairs, over the bridge and down the slides for a while. A bit of swinging followed, which was a big hit! Then it was off for a bit of exploring and some more playing on the playground equipment (Em loves checking out the animal wall) and a few last trips down the BIG slide before it was time to head home for dinner.

PS - Just thought this is an interesting comparison: Here is Emma on the swings today, and here she is last year, and here she is two years ago (okay, so that one is a slightly different swing...). Boy is she growing up fast!
- posted by Heather @ 8:30 PM

 
Making play dough
Emma went over to her friend Macey's house this morning, where she, Macey and their friend Sidney made homemade play dough. The girls got ready to pour and mix the ingredients, with some help from the mommies. As they mixed it up, we all quickly discovered that homemade play dough is messy! Soon we had lots of pink play dough to play with, using all of Macey's neat play dough toys. Once the girls decided they'd had enough of the play dough, the mommies scrubbed them down and they went to play in Macey's tent and with the non-messy toys. It was a very fun morning, and there was enough playdough at the end of the day for all three girls to keep some for future gooey fun!
- posted by Heather @ 12:19 PM

 
Emma the Elephant - almost!
Emma is going to be an elephant (one of her favorite creatures on Earth) this year for Halloween. After a valiant effort to locate a suitable elephant costume in every store in town (and with back-up assistance from Aunt Cathy), Mommy couldn't find one that she liked and was willing to pay for - there was a lovely elephant costume online, but it at its cheapest was still a ridiculous $60. What to do? Well, Emma's honorary grandma, Ginny, has come to the rescue! Mommy found out that a pattern is available for the very cute, yet too costly elephant costume, and Ginny is making it especially for Emma. Yesterday morning, we went over to Ginny's to have a fitting and see what Em thinks of the costume so far. We got Em into the costume as it is so far, which she thought was pretty fun. Ginny showed Emma the pattern envelope with the picture of the completed costume, and Emma checked it out with interest as Ginny showed Mommy the ears. (Mommy didn't realize that those little threads on the hood were there on purpose as markers for where the ears go, and oh-so-helpfully picked them off the hood when Ginny wasn't looking, thinking they were stray fuzzers... This is why Ginny is making the costume and not Mommy the "But I can sew a button on, really!" fake seamstress, and just one more reason why Mommy is eternally grateful for all of Ginny's hard work in pachyderm production!) Once the fitting (which clearly showed that Emma will indeed be the cutest elephant in town come Halloween) was over, Emma insisted on having Ginny read Emma her favorite book at Ginny's house, Maurice Sendak's Chicken Soup With Rice. No matter how many other books Ginny has for Emma, Em always wants to hear about that chicken soup!

More pictures will obviously be posted once the costume is complete and Emma the Elephant is let loose on the town!
- posted by Heather @ 8:34 AM

 
Em oughta be in pictures...
...and of course, she is in many, including this batch from the past few weeks:

On a recent weekend, we went kite flying at a nearby park. Emma actually helped Daddy hold the string for a bit, and was as excited as always when the kite went up. The park had a really cool playground too, with lots of slides and swings and this neat bulldozer, that Em asked Daddy to climb in with her.

More from Gymboree - Here are Emma and Macey having a slide race at Gymboree, and sharing a laugh during another Gymboree class.

The morning of the Wiggles concert, Emma and Mommy went for a long walk through Highland Park with Em's honorary grandma, Ginny. Emma likes to pick dandelions while we're out at the park, and she likes to pet all the dogs that we pass on the path, too. (We always check to make sure the dogs are friendly before letting Em say hi to them!) The long, early morning walk was designed to get Em to take an earlier than usual nap pre-Wiggles show, by the way. However, Emma opted to not nap at all that day instead!

On a recent weekend trip to the playground up at the beach, Emma demonstrated the powers of static electricity while going down the slide. That's some crazy hair!

Emma recently received her first dollhouse, given to her by one of Daddy's coworkers (thanks Sandy!). It is very, very big, and Em doesn't have any furniture or official dolls for it yet... but she still loves to play with it, from inside and out! She uses her various stuffed animals, like Pooh and Piglet (of which she has several different versions) and if that gets too dull, well, Chloe the cat likes to play in the house, too! Chloe also likes to stretch out on the roof of the house, which is juuuuuust out of Emma's reach - for now!

Last but not least, we now have a new Kodak digital camera, as our old one inexplicably broke, and isn't repairable since it is obsolete, what with being over two years old and all... The new one is an upgrade (another Kodak), and has lots of kewl features that Mommy is still getting the hang of, but one thing that she has mastered already is the video feature. Here's a video clip of Emma singing the ABCs while accompanying herself on the piano, then going for the big piano solo finish. (Yep, you hear her right - she does sing next time won't you sing with Emma instead of me... :) ) As always, the video file is rather gigantic (we're talking MBs instead of KBs here), so if you have (goodness forbid) dial-up, you're probably better off skipping this clip, unless you have a lot of time on your hands to wait for it to download!
- posted by Heather @ 10:06 PM

 
Emma's first concert.... the Wiggles, of course!
Monday, August 29, 2005 - the day of Emma's first concert. None other than the Wiggles, of course! Daddy took a half day so he could go with Mommy and Emma to the Blue Cross Arena for the big show. (On a side note, the last concert Mommy and Daddy went to at the BCA was Aerosmith.... what a difference a few years makes!) After having a bit of trouble finding parking, since every minivan and family sedan in town seemed to be circling the same 6 block area looking for a spot, we made it just in time to our seats. Emma, of course, was mostly out of her seat for the duration of the show. Emma didn't really get the whole "concert" concept, at first, and seemed to think that she was just at some strange house with lots and LOTS of other kids (and their grown-ups) to watch one of the two big TVs (there were 2 video screens in the arena, one on either side of the stage). She barely noticed that the Wiggles were actually THERE, on the stage, until a few minutes in when Murray and Jeff came up into the crowd. Now, Jeff is by far Emma's most favorite Wiggle, and when he walked between our seats and the screen, he came into Emma's eyeline and she FREAKED out! "OH LOOK MOMMY! OH LOOK DADDY! IT IS JEFF!!!!!!" She then began waving wildly at Jeff (who was about 8 rows away from our row) and we think she thought he really was waving back at her, Emma, personally... She couldn't believe that he was really right there, it was very cute. She then seemed to "see" the stage, and was watching and pointing out the various Wiggles and friends to us throughout the rest of the show. Emma was singing, singing some more and dancing along, as she has the Wiggles' entire catalogue pretty well committed to memory, and at one point the mom sitting in front of us turned around and said "Wow, she really knows all the words and dance moves!" That's our girl! :) She was applauding quite enthusiastically, too. Unfortunately, Emma didn't take a nap before the show, so she was rather overtired by the time the concert started (as evidenced by the fact that she was asleep about 3 minutes after we got back into the car after the show ended) but she definitely had a good time while the show was happening. (Well, except for when she was saying "NO NO NO" when we'd suggest something like sitting in her seat or not kicking the back of the seat in front of us....) We will definitely try to get tickets again the next time the Wiggles are in town!
- posted by Heather @ 4:23 PM

 
Some serious cuteness (and Em's newest hairdo too)
In case you were looking for something to sweeten up your day, check out this picture of Emma and Macey taken at Gymboree this morning. Still not enough cuteness to get you through? Then here's another one! You'll note that these pictures feature the debut of Emma's latest new 'do - the pigtails! Anything to keep the crazy curls out of her eyes while we wait for her bangs to grow out......
- posted by Heather @ 2:52 PM

 
Fun in the sun
What a busy summer! So many, many pictures to share of Emma having fun in the sun - and inside when it has just been too darn hot or occasionally rainy, too! Without further ado, here's a recap of the past several weeks...

Emma spent a rainy Friday in July at the Strong Children's Museum with her friend Omar, his mommy and her Aunt Cathy, too. Omar shared his love of trains with Emma, which worked out well since Em has a love of pushing buttons, and there are several there to choose from to operate the trains. The kids came up with an interesting stew of play food, and old favorites like the Elmo taxi were also a big hit, as was taking a spin on the carousel. Em rode a horse with Aunt Cathy, while Omar and his mom took a spinning teacup.

Emma will be the first to tell you that Macey is her "best friend" and the girls sure do get along together very well. They've spent lots of time together this summer, and we've got the pictures to prove it! Back in July, Em went over for a playdate at Macey's, where the girls played hide-n-seek inside the kiddie tent which quickly turned into a game of "tip the tent over while giggling fiendishly" instead. After they whipped up a meal at Macey's toy kitchen, it was time for the real deal, and the girls enjoyed eating long noodles among other yummy things before it was time to head home for a nap. Another afternoon, Macey (and her little brother Hayden) came over to play at our house. It was sooo hot and sunny out, so after the girls played in the sandbox for a while, they wanted to cool off. Popsicles were requested, and the pool just looked so refreshing that they decided to enjoy them IN the pool! Now, we all know that you are supposed to wait half an hour after eating before swimming, but what are the rules when the eating is occuring simultaneously??

Speaking of fun in the pool, Emma is Ariel, the Little Mermaid, or perhaps Esther Williams would be a better choice, as she is LOUD and ACTIVE while she takes a dip. (Mommy, on the other hand, is MacGyver for figuring out a way to plug up the pool, for which the drain went missing last year, with a water balloon - more on that later.) Here is a video clip for those with speedy enough connections of Emma trying to dump a bucket of water on her head. As you'll see, she more often managed to dump it behind her head than over it... A little later that day, Omar came over to play in the pool, and the two kids had buckets of fun - buckets of water for dumping on each other fun, that is!

One of Emma's three obsessions this summer is the sky (and all things to do with it). (The other two are elephants and dinosaurs, in case you were wondering.) Since she is so fascinated with the sky, Daddy got Emma a kite, and we've spent some time kite-flying, or attempting to as best we could with the wind or lack thereof. On our first attempt at flying the new kite, Emma "helped" Daddy out with getting the kite up and was VERY excited when it became airborne. She was yelling "OOOH KITE!! LOOK AT THAT!!" as she chased after it. Even though the kite didn't stay up for long, Emma still loved every moment it was flying, and we're keeping it in the van for any future windy day opportunities.

Grandma and Grandpa Hunter came up for a week in July, which made Emma very, VERY happy. She loved to watch Grandma get ready in the mornings, especially when Grandma would give Emma dabs of lotion on her hand, or pretend to put make-up on Em like she was putting on herself. Grandpa was working for part of the week, while Emma and Mommy took Grandma to all the fun spots in town. When Grandpa came back, Emma managed to get herself into her favorite spot of all (in case you couldn't tell by the look on her face!) - in between Grandma and Grandpa while they read her a story. (Mommy was glad that Grandpa was the one who had the "honor" of reading Go, Dog, Go over and over to Emma for a change.) Emma loves her grandparents and was very sad to see them go! To cheer her up, we tried kite-flying again that afternoon up at the beach, and this time Em was an expert at helping Daddy get the kite up, which once again was very exciting for her to see it in the air.

Emma (and Mommy) went to Seabreeze Amusement Park for the first time last month, when Daddy's company had their summer picnic there. Daddy took Em on her very first amusement park ride, picking out a good car and then settling in for the ride. Emma figured out that she could control their car, and away they went! She loved every second of it, as well as the train ride we all went on next, though she definitely does NOT love the "waiting in line" part of the amusement park experience. We'll have to figure out a way to deal with that before we go visit Gramma Bindert down in Florida, where we plan to check out places like Busch Gardens and Disneyworld! After watching an acrobat/juggling show and a yummy picnic lunch that Emma mostly ignored in favor of an ice cream sandwich, we changed into swimsuits and headed to the water park section of Seabreeze. You'll have to take our word for it that Emma loved the splashpad, as we didn't dare bring the camera into that area for fear of ruining it, since Mommy and Daddy both got thoroughly soaked while Emma played in the water. Perhaps on a future visit, we'll bring an underwater disposable camera...

Along with having fun in the sun comes the downside of summer - yardwork. One afternoon, Emma decided she would help Daddy with the weeding and spent time gleefully tossing weeds into the wheelbarrow. After all that hard work, a girl needs to kick back and relax in the AC, along with a sippy cup of Ovaltine and her good buddy Elmo!

Speaking of yards, we have several plants and bushes around the property that are supposed to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. (The hummingbird feeder Mommy keeps stocked with homemade nectar helps, too.) With all these plants around, it was cool to see some monarch butterflies on our butterfly bushes one day when we were coming home from Gymboree!

So, earlier Mommy mentioned how she is MacGyver with the water balloon-pool drainplug idea. Well, Emma has subsequently discovered how much fun water ballons are, and loves to play with them once Mommy "pulls the plug" on the pool. One afternoon, Mommy and Emma were lounging on our towels in the sun after taking a dip, and Emma was idly playing with the balloon that was full of water, when suddenly it went SPLAT! Luckily for Em, it burst on Mommy's towel...

Last week, Emma went to a birthday party for her good friend Taylor. (Funny to think of it, but Em and Taylor have known each other for most of their lives!) Taylor's mommy, Katrina, had the pool set up, but when the party started, the girls decided they'd rather play in the sprinkler, which Katrina hooked up to the laundry room sink so the water was nice and warm. The girls were very excited when the sprinkler started up! The sprinkler's flow is adjustable, and Emma paid very close attention when Katrina adjusted the spray, so that later she could adjust it herself! Along with the sprinkler, the kids had fun playing with cups in the pool - so good for splashing each other! Doesn't Emma look like she is saying "Ahoy, matey!" in this shot? The girls (and mommies) took a break for lunch, after which Katrina helped them rinse off their hands, but soon after that, the girls had some popsicles and there was no keeping them clean! Once dessert was done, we sang Happy Birthday to Taylor and then the three amigas had a blast in the sprinkler again before it was time to go. It was a great party!

Last Friday was rather rainy, so we headed over to Macey's house to do some arts and crafts. Macey is an old pro at fingerpainting and play-doh art, but for Em it was the first time trying out either medium. (Macey's mom, Freyda, is an absolute saint for not only welcoming us into her home, but then graciously not minding at all when more fingerpaint and play-doh wound up on the table, chairs and floor than Mommy would've wished!!!) Emma wasn't sure what to make of the paint at first (and astute viewers will note the smear of red paint already decorating Emma's knee within five seconds of her having access to the finger paint), but soon enough she dug in and started working on her first fingerpainted masterpiece. Macey, the fingerpainting pro, offered comments and suggestions on how Em could refine her technique, and then both girls decided that the paddling of rubber ducks (turns out a group of ducks is called a "paddling" as Mommy just quickly googled "ducks group" to find out!) would make better canvases than audience members and the ducks soon were covered in paint as well as just about everything else in reach. Here's one more shot of the genius at work. After a thorough clean-up of the kids, they headed off for a break to refresh their artistic sensibilities in the form of Sesame Street and a snack. They were all snuggled up on Macey's couch, which was so ridiculously adorable, with Em resting her head on Macey's shoulder and Macey stroking Emma's hair, that the mommies immediately turned into paparazzi and took gazillions of shots of them while they tried to snack and watch "Street" in peace. Seriously, is this not one of the cutest things you've ever seen? Anyhow, following their break, the girls immediately got back to their work as artistes, this time in the "crayon and easel" medium. They worked diligently on their shared drawing, before deciding it was time for cookies (when is it not, in fact, time for cookies?). After eating (the girls had a real lunch, not just cookies!), the play-doh came out. Macey has quite an assortment of play-doh, which Emma had never used before. Em quickly got the hang of stamping shapes into the play-doh, and quickly had created an elephant in her blob of blue doh. Eventually, Mommy created some jewelry for the girls out of the play-doh (okay, Mommy loves play-doh as much as any kid!), and Macey was still wearing her ring and bracelet when Emma and Mommy headed home for a nap.

The very last recap and then we're caught up! Earlier this week, we met up with Macey and her mom for a playdate at the park by the canal in Perinton (right near Aunt Cathy's house!) and it was the first time Em had ever been there to play. The whole play area is set in sand, and Emma immediately plunked herself down and dug in, happily helping herself to all the other kids' sandtoys while she did. She and Macey had lots of fun chasing each other - and Mommy - up and down the playground equipment and eating popsicles (which Macey's mommy brilliantly thought to bring along) in the shade. Right before we had to go, Emma discovered the monkey bars. She saw older kids crossing them in the official "kids crossing the monkey bars" hand-over-hand style, but that wasn't good enough for her. Emma decided to hoist herself above the bars - using Mommy's chest as a launching pad - and was holding herself up with no support from Mommy, just the strength of her own arms. (Mommy just spotted her and kept a grip on her ankles for safety purposes.) Emma was clearly quite pleased with herself, while Mommy imagined sitting ringside as Em makes her gymnastics debut someday down the road!
- posted by Heather @ 3:51 PM

 
Rest in peace, Katie

Katie Hunter Smith, aka Nate, the Katinator
June 9, 1992 - July 23, 2005
She will be missed.
- posted by Heather @ 3:46 PM

 
Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from our little firecracker! (doing an Independence Day dance in this picture)
- posted by Heather @ 8:42 PM

 
Emma's 2 year old pictures
Mommy is very excited because Emma's two year old pictures came in yesterday, and Mommy ran right over and picked them up! Here is the close-up of Miss Emma this year, and here is Emma with the watering can and the flower box props that she liked during this year's photo shoot. (Emma sends a special shout-out to her honorary grandparents, Ginny and Alex, for the sundress she wore in the pictures, which was their birthday present to her!) Mommy and the photographer had a bit of a difficult time getting Emma to cooperate for the pictures this year, so these were the only good ones we got, unlike last year, when Em sat and posed happily in several outfit changes!!
- posted by Heather @ 7:34 AM

 
Emma takes Uncle Joel and Aunt Honda to her favorite museum
Emma's Aunt Honda and Uncle Joel came up for a visit last week, and while they were in town, Em wanted to take them to her favorite museum - Strong Children's Museum. She had a great time showing them around all her favorite exhibits there, like the kids' Wegmans and the Sesame Street area, and Mommy was very happy that Uncle Joel took Emma on the train and the carousel so she could keep her feet on solid ground! Emma also found it quite funny that Uncle Joel was sleeping on a bed on the living room floor when she came downstairs in the morning - she'd never seen an air mattress before! Em had lots of fun with them on their visit and hopes they come back soon - with Uncle Jim and Chester the dog next time, too!
- posted by Heather @ 7:30 AM

 
Daddy's Girl on Father's Day
Emma is definitely a Daddy's Girl - the very first question she asks Mommy on weekday mornings when Mommy goes in to get her up is "Where's Dada?" So, it is only fitting to share some pictures and a video clip of Em and her daddy from Father's Day 2005, which we spent at the Buffalo Zoo. Emma and Daddy checked out the bears, who were romping around and playing. They also fed the giraffes some biscuits (warning to folks with slower internet connections - that is a pretty big video clip) before enjoying a picnic lunch with Mommy and a few avian friends... We were surrounded by seagulls during lunch, which Emma found highly amusing, and which Daddy and Mommy encouraged by sharing bits of our lunch with them. They were cawing very loudly, which might scare some kids (and even adults) as they circled 'round our table, but Emma declared their "singing" (as she called it) to be absolutely delightful! We just hope that the petting zoo is open the next time we go to Buffalo, so Emma can get closer to the animals than she could this time.
- posted by Heather @ 7:20 AM

 
The 3 Amigas and beating the heat
Whew, it sure has been HOT, HOT, HOT here for the past several days! Emma and her good friends Taylor and Macey have been trying to do whatever they can to beat the heat. The three of them are in the same Gymboree class and always seem so excited to see each other, it's like they're the Three Amigas!

Last week, Taylor came over to play in the back yard. (Macey decided to take a nice, long nap instead and didn't join them that afternoon.) Em and Taylor started out by playing in Emma's new sandbox (Taylor has the same one at her house) and then tried to cool off with some popsicles. The popsicles were cold and yummy but melted fast, which left the girls a kinda sticky mess despite Mommy's efforts at preventative bibbing.... so we changed the girls into swimmy diapers and let them run around under the sprinkler for a while to cool off and clean off! Here is a close-up of Emma's face as she stuck it in the spray. She was trying to catch water in her mouth, which led to a very soaked kid who made pirate faces that cracked us up! Once the girls started turning blue from the cold water, Mommy decided it was time to shut the water off and we wrapped them in towels to warm up. All that running around in the sprinkler seemed to tire them out, because the next thing we knew, they were lying down by the sandbox saying "okay, nap!" Taylor's mom said it was time to go, so the girls hugged goodbye and we made plans to get together soon.

The next day, Mommy's friend Rasheem came over for lunch and brought her younger son, Malachi, to play with Emma. Malachi is almost two years older than Emma, and thinks that boys should really play with boys and girls should play with girls, but eventually he warmed up to Emma and they started playing together. He even gave Em a hug when it was time to go! Mommy remembers when Malachi was born, he was just a tiny, little peanut - not quite as small as Emma - so it always surprises her to see how big he keeps on getting!

On Monday, Emma and Mommy met up with Taylor and Macey and their mommies, along with Macey's baby brother Hayden, to check out the animals at Springdale Farm. Even though it was still morning, it was already hot and steamy outside! Taylor's mom, Katrina, helped the girls pick up grass and hay to feed to the miniature horses. The horses seemed pretty happy with their snack assistance, too. After checking out the animals for about an hour, the girls started getting hot and cranky, so after a quick beverage break we headed over to Taylor's house, where she has not one, not two, but THREE pools to play in in her back yard! Macey's mom, Freyda, was super-prepared and had TWO bathing suits in her diaper bag, so Emma borrowed one of them and in the pool they went! (Hayden needed a little help from his mom to hang out with the big girls.) Emma started right in with her favorite thing to do in water - splash with her feet and hands! It was a lot of fun going between the pools, especially once Katrina set up a slide going into one of them. After cooling off in the pool, it was chow time and Taylor's mommy made all sorts of yummy things for the girls to eat. After lunch, the kids tried out the hammock (with Katrina's help) and thought it was pretty fun at first, but then Macey decided she'd rather get out and help rock the other two instead. Emma and Taylor thought the free ride was pretty great!

Today was Gymboree day, and so we'll leave you with some pictures of the three amigas playing with the beach balls (thanks for the pic, Katrina!) and being pulled on the steps ride. They were having a great time and can't wait to play together again soon!
- posted by Heather @ 6:46 PM

 
Emma turns two!
Emma had a big week, and this is going to be a big post to commemorate it! It started last Tuesday, when Emma tried peanut butter for the very first time. (She'd just gotten the okay from her pediatrician the day before to add nuts to her diet.) Emma wasn't quite sure about this sticky stuff on her toast, and tried to show Mommy just how much it was sticking to the inside of her mouth! The jury is still out on the PB toast, but we are glad to now know that Em isn't allergic to it. Tuesday night marked the arrival of Gramma Bindert, who came up from Florida to visit. Emma very quickly introduced Gramma to Elmo and Gymbo, her buddies who sit at the table with Em when she eats and even go in the car with us (yes, Mommy has even pushed Em and Elmo together in the shopping cart at the store). The next day, Gramma came with us to Gymboree to see in person how much fun Emma has there. After Em went to bed Wednesday night, Mommy and Daddy started getting stuff prepared for the big day.

When Emma awoke the next morning, she didn't really react to all the birthday decorations right away besides saying "Oh, ABCs" when she saw the Sesame Street tablecloth. (She did, however, tell Gramma who all the characters on the tablecloth were a little later.) Instead, the birthday girl chose to relax on the couch with her Ovaltine and milk and watch a little Sesame Street. That was fine, since Mommy, Daddy and Gramma were busily cutting up fruit for the party later that morning. On the dot of ten, the doorbell rang and Emma's first party guests arrived. Em, Kyle and Omar got right to playing without even waiting for the others to arrive, but soon everyone was there and playing in earnest. We handed out the party hats to make everyone appropriately festive. Em was pleased with her hat at first (sitting on Omar's mom Nipa's lap, with Macey's brother Hayden and Kyle's sister Adria looking on from the floor), but then she snapped the elastic against her cheek which she didn't like one bit. Once she determined the cause of her discomfort, she refused to put her hat back on and furthermore, tried to remove everyone else's hats because she thought they were "bad hats" and didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Emma was very displeased with the entire hat situation. Once the offending hat was removed from Emma's grasp, she and her friends really enjoyed playing with all her toys, especially her kitchen set and accessories, which Kyle and Macey took turns with before the kids decided it was time for a real snack instead of just eating the pretend food. After the first round of food, everyone headed out into the back yard to play. The kids were all over the slide and swing and generally all over the yard. The four girls, Macey, Taylor, Sofia and Emma, seemed to be running races to and from the back fence, which was funny to watch. After playing outside for a while, it was time to head back inside for lunch, which Daddy was getting ready while everyone was frolicking about outside in the sun. The kids all dug right in, and the adults did too, which was good because there wound up being way too much food! After eating lunch, it was time for cake. Emma seemed to like everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her, though she wound up needing some assistance with blowing out the candle (good thing Mommy is always full of hot air, right?). After cake, Emma and Macey took a "nap" on the floor while the other kids were playing and then Emma opened up all her really cool presents. She got into tearing off the wrapping paper pretty well, although she seems to have confused one of the gift bags for a lampshade... She got so many neat things, from a bubble machine and toys for her new sandbox to great books, fun art supplies, a Mrs. Potato Head and a Classic Pooh Bear that instantly was added to the select group of friends that share Emma's crib. After everything was open, the kids played a little more among the debris left from the unwrapping and then Mommy remembered to hand out the goodie bags just as the kids were getting ready to leave. Kyle looked pretty cool in his goodie bag sunglasses! After everyone left, Emma immediately went down for a nice, long nap, and decided to wear her new birthday outfit from Aunt Amy, Uncle Mike and cousin Hunter for her second birthday party. Yes, that's right - Emma had TWO birthday parties in one day! (Emma is standing in the kitchen in the previous picture because her favorite "mirror" in which to check herself out is the oven door, followed by the close second of the TV screen.) Emma decided that it wasn't a headband that came with her new dress, but a "crown" in keeping with her Little People Castle, King and Queen set that was her birthday present from Gramma. Emma thought she'd better rest up with Pooh Bear before the second batch of guests arrived. Once Emma's Aunt Cathy and honorary grandparents Ginny and Alex arrived, the party began anew. Emma got to open her presents right away this time. She got lots of neat presents, but was more intrigued by the ribbons on the packages than the presents themselves at first. She especially liked this fancy ribbon. Once she opened up a certain package from Aunt Cathy, however, all ribbons were forgotten. Aunt Cathy gave Emma two talking and singing Wiggles dolls (Jeff and Captain Feathersword) and Emma was in heaven. When it was finally time for her to go up to bed, the last goodnight she called out as she headed upstairs was "Bye Jeff!" (Mommy is planning to find some nice, noisy toys for Eddie and Sully, Aunt Cathy's dogs, as thanks for the talking Wiggles dolls...) Emma slept hard after all the excitement of turning two and having two parties to celebrate!

The next day, Daddy had to work, so Emma, Gramma and Mommy decided to do what chicks do best - SHOP! Emma insisted on wearing the crown she got from Omar's birthday party two weeks before as well as bringing the new purse she got from Macey's mom. She also insisted on bringing along Jeff for the car ride. As Gramma astutely put it, "Jeff can make a long car ride longer!" Fortunately for us, Jeff and the crown both decided to stay in the car once we got out to the stores. When we got back from an unsucessful attempt to procure Mommy strappy, silver sandals for Aunt Lauri's upcoming wedding (hard to find such things for Mommy's big, ole size 10 feet!), we headed out to the back yard to check out some of Emma's new birthday presents. Gramma turned out to be a whiz at operating the bubble machine, which really did live up to its packaging that promised to make "the ultimate bubble" - Gramma got it working so it made giant bubbles with a bunch of little bubbles inside them. Emma had fun chasing the bubbles and her friend Davey from next door came over to chase the bubbles too. Emma decided it was more fun to chase Davey than the bubbles, so that's what she did 'til it was time for Davey to go home for dinner. Once the fascination with the bubbles subsided, Mommy set up Emma's new T-Ball set. Clearly, Emma picked up a lot from watching the Mets games with Daddy on TV, because she immediately knew to put the ball on the T (okay, the Mets don't do that part) and hit it off with the bat! Gramma helped Em hit the ball farther, but Emma seemed quite pleased with herself even when she only hit the ball a few inches instead of yards. All that T-Ball and bubble and boy chasing tire a kid out, so Em and Gramma relaxed on the deck for a while. Em gave Gramma some big smooches as thanks for running the bubble maker and shagging the baseballs.

Saturday morning we got going early and headed over to the zoo. (You will note that for this trip to the zoo, Emma is wearing her Bronx Zoo hat, given to her by Aunt Betsy last year.) Being there so early in the morning meant that there wasn't a glare coming through the windows in the monkey house, so Emma could see the orangutans without any problem at all. (You try explaining to a toddler how to look at juuuust the right angle to be able to see through the glare!) We spent some time saying hi to the elephants (among Emma's favorite animals), then Emma showed Gramma how she likes to bounce on the bridge and then we stopped off at the playground in the middle of the zoo, where Emma played peekaboo in the tunnel and ran around a bit before it was time to say goodbye to the elephants and head home. This was the first time Em and Mommy actually saw the bears that are visiting this summer - the past few times we've been there since the bears arrived, they've been inside and out of view. When Emma got up from her post-zoo nap, she was thrilled to discover that her Uncle Matt had come to visit her, along with his girlfriend Nicole. Emma warmed up to Uncle Matt right away, even though she hadn't seen him since she was 6 months old. It sure seems like Emma's other Uncle Matt and her Uncles Mike, Joel, Sean and Jim have some competition for Favorite Uncle now! Emma was sorry when Uncle Matt and Nicole had to leave, but they had a long drive to get home, so she sadly waved goodbye to them.

The next day, Em was sad again when Gramma had to head back to Florida. After saying goodbye to Gramma at the airport, we went over to the Public Market to buy some plants, then later we picked up Emma's new sandbox. Emma was so excited about the sandbox that she climbed in before Daddy had even finished filling it with sand! She thought all this nice, clean sand was pretty cool to play with, even more so when Daddy brought out all the sand toys she had gotten for her birthday. Emma decided to try eating some sand with her new shovel, and even though she didn't like it, that didn't stop her from trying again with a fork a little later. Turns out that cutlery choice wasn't the problem... the sand just didn't get any better tasting! Emma had lots of fun playing in the sand and didn't want to come in for dinner. She even climbed up on the lid when Mommy closed the sand box!

Monday was such a nice day that we decided to head over to Springdale Farm to see all the new animals that had been born since we were there last month. (Note: the following three links are video clips, which are very large, so please use your best judgement about clicking on them if you have a slow connection and/or old computer!) Emma mostly enjoyed seeing the horses and donkeys and the very large pig. The pig is named Ricky, and he is the father of a litter of very cute piglets we saw running around, and even though he weighs over 300 pounds and is a lot bigger than Emma, she still decided to pet him. We also saw some sheep and lambs, goats with kids, chickens and chicks, turkeys, peacocks and bunnies, but for Em this trip was all about Ricky, the horses and donkeys. Who knows what she'll be captivated by the next time we go?

Emma would like to thank everyone who helped make her birthday week (starting with the weekend before when we went to NJ) so very special and memorable. She is still talking about all the people that spent time with her. She would like to send a special shout-out to Aunt Betsy, who was the one relative that couldn't be here to celebrate her big day, and she says she is sorry that she never wanted to talk on the phone with her when Aunt Betsy was talking to Gramma last week. Emma sends Aunt Betsy an extra-big smooch and a hug!!
- posted by Heather @ 4:10 PM

 
Countdown to Emma's second birthday
The countdown is on! Emma began celebrating her second birthday six days early, as Emma and Mommy had another whirlwind trip to NJ this past weekend. On the way down, we stopped off in Syracuse for Emma's first visit to SU and had lunch on M Street with Mommy's friend Kathryn. Emma had her first taste of a Varsity grilled cheese and bacon (one of Mommy's old favorites) and her first Cosmo's milkshakes. That would be plural because Emma had many, many sips from both Kathryn's vanilla shake and Mommy's chocolate shake too! After stopping by Mommy's old building for a brief visit, where Emma discovered just how wonderful the echo is in the Hall of Languages, we got back on the road and made our way down to NJ through lots of road construction. Emma said it was a good thing that the Wiggles and Sesame Street crews were along for the ride or she would've been a lot more antsy.

Friday morning, Emma and Mommy met up with Aunt Lauri (who has been friends with Mommy for twenty years!), Aunt Lauri's mom and her friend Alice for breakfast. Emma enjoyed the breakfast out, especially all the food on everyone else's plates, which looked much more appealing than the food Emma on her own plate. Fortunately, Lauri's mom was very willing to share her breakfast with Emma, since Emma was being very polite and using her manners. After breakfast, we headed to Lambertville to check out Aunt Megan and Uncle Matt's new house. Emma also met her cousin Kirsten for the first time. Em and Kirsten checked each other out and Em tried to play with her baby cousin before spotting one of Kirsten's cats, Heathcliff, and deciding to chase after him instead. After checking out the new digs, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's house for a nap before Emma's birthday week celebrations kicked off. Grandpa decorated the kitchen while Emma was napping, so when she got up and everyone arrived, the house was looking appropriately festive for a 2nd birthday party! When everyone arrived, we tried to take some pictures of the three Hunter grandchildren who were together for the first time. (For the record, Uncle Mike said Mommy could crop his head out of the shot!) As you might imagine, it isn't too easy to get a nice shot of a 2 year old, 1 year old and 2 month old where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. This shot is the best one we got of the three Hunter girls with the three grandkids before Emma and Hunter decided they'd rather get down and play than pose for photos. Soon, it was time to eat. Everyone enjoyed the pizza and salad before Emma started to open her birthday presents. (The Richard Scarry book she is opening here is from the Bielefeldts, and Aunt Honda told Em that it was one of Uncle Sean and Uncle Joel's favorites when they were little.) Aunt Mimi put together Emma's new shopping cart while Aunt Mamie put all the appliances together. Emma thought that the new kitchen appliances Grandma and Grandpa Hunter gave her were really fun to play with. Mommy the photographer got a cute shot of Uncle Mike and Hunter while the toy assembly was being finished, too. During all the playing, we remembered that the birthday cake was ice cream and was starting to melt, so we quickly put two candles on it for Emma to blow out. (Yes, that is frosting on Mommy's sleeve, courtesy of the birthday girl who grabbed a handful and wiped it on Mommy's arm!) Emma was more interested in pushing the shopping cart around than blowing out her candles, but once the cake was served, Emma and Hunter discovered how delicious it was and began clamoring for bites of cake using any "utensils" they could find. Once Uncle Mike's cake was gone, Em and Hunter went over to Grandma to get some more! Once everyone's cake supply had disappeared, it was time for everyone to go home and for Emma to take a bath with her new bath baby doll and wash all that ice cream cake and pizza off!

The next day, Mommy went to Aunt Lauri's bridal shower while Emma went to play at White Oak Park with Grandpa and Grandma. Mommy had fun hanging out with Aunt Lauri and her friends (l-r Andrea, Lauren, Alice) and eating some more yummy cake - the cake at the shower was "Mega Chocolate" and it was "deeeelishis" as Emma would say - and Mommy got home just in time for Emma to get up from her nap. Grandma and Grandpa sure tired her out at the playground! Sunday morning we got up and hit the road for the drive back to Rochester. Emma took a snooze in the back, which made Mommy jealous, since she wanted to take a snooze too, after staying up late watching a movie with Uncle Joel Saturday night. Emma was very excited when she realized that all her cool new presents came back to Rochester with us, and she has been cooking up a storm in her toy kitchen since we got home Sunday! Emma is very excited that Gramma Bindert is coming up from Florida today to visit, and can't wait to show off all her amazing cooking skills.

As part of the countdown to Emma's birthday on Thursday, we went to see the doctor for her 2 year appointment Monday morning. Emma's official "stats" are: 34.5 inches tall and 24 lbs, 10.5 oz, which is the 76th and 25th percentile, respectively. Since "they" say you can take a girl's height at age two and double it to find out how tall she will be, it seems as though Emma will be 5'9" when she grows up - that's a tall drink of water!
- posted by Heather @ 7:48 AM

 
Picture Time!!
Okay, I have over 6 weeks' worth of pictures to post. Mommy has been slacking! Without further ado (and in time for Emma's second birthday next week, which I'm sure will mean lots more pictures), here is a recap of the past 6 or so weeks!

We went to visit Emma's honorary grandparents, Ginny and Alex DeSantis, on Easter Sunday. Here, Emma is playing with Ginny while Alex looks on in the background. Ginny also made a most delicious chocolate cake for dessert that afternoon! Emma loves to go and play with Ginny, and go for walks in Highland Park with her too (more on that later...)

A few days after Easter, we went to the zoo with Omar and Sofia and their mommies. Emma really likes to hold hands with her friends these days, as she tried to do with Omar and Sofia that afternoon.

Emma loves to play on the "uhputer" whenever and wherever she can - this computer was at the children's museum. Also while at the museum that afternoon, Emma made some music on the steel drum, drove the truck at the Clifford exhibit and even had some up close and personal time with the Big, Red Dog himself. After hugging him, Emma gave Clifford a big smooch on the nose, which was very cute.

As soon as the weather started getting nice, we headed out and about! We spent an early April afternoon at the playground, where Emma the daredevil zipped across the rickety bridge and gave a beauty queen wave from the bouncy thing (what do you call that thing anyhow?). Emma has also mastered climbing the "rock" wall at the park, which means that Mommy gets to climb the wall right behind her as a spotter!

Another nice weekend afternoon was spent at Springdale Farm, where a good time was had by all the Smiths. Emma was a little uncertain about petting one of the miniature horses at first, but with Daddy's reassurance, she made her way closer and before we knew it, was petting him and saying "Hi, horse!" Emma had a chat with Daddy as we strolled around the farm, and later she took off on her own to go see what she could find. (Of course, Mommy and Daddy were right behind our Little Miss Independent!) The highlight of that afternoon's trip was when we saw one of the workers bringing a horse in from the pasture. Emma went right up to them and started petting the horse without any hesitation at all this time!

While we were in NJ in April to visit Emma's new cousin Kirsten, Em also spent time playing with her cousin Hunter. We went with Mamie (Aunt Amy) and Hunter to White Oak Park, where Mamie took Emma on the tall, twisty, tube slide. A few seconds later, they reappeared at the bottom - Mommy was glad Amy was brave enough to do that slide, because she didn't dare try it herself! After a hard day of playing, Emma and Hunter needed a bath, so into the tub they went! They had a lot of fun in the tub, playing peekaboo and splashing each other, along with a little bit of actual washcloth use, too.

Emma decided to give up using her high chair in April, and now sits like a big girl in her booster chair (aka the "BEEEGGIRL CHAIR!") at the table with Mommy and Daddy. She is getting good at using a fork and spoon, too. Another big girl skill she has mastered is how to hold a popsicle on her own to eat. (Before, Mommy and Daddy would have to cut it up into pieces on her high chair tray or hold the stick for her.) She loves "OPS-ikkels" when she is teething, and she's been cutting molars for a while now, so popsicles are a pretty regular thing lately. She tries to jam the popsicle as far back as she can to hit those sore spots!

Since it has warmed up now and spring has finally sprung, we've been going on walks with Ginny at Highland Park (site of the Lilac Festival) to see all the flowers, not to mention all the dogs that also go for walks in the park! Emma especially enjoys seeing the Emma-sized trees - perhaps they make her feel like a giant? Emma likes to smell the flowers and makes a funny, squinchy face when she does. She loves to be outside! Ginny helped Emma pick some flowers that Emma held onto the entire time we were at the park. She has a great time playing outside!

On Mother's Day, we took advantage of the nice weather and went up to Lake Ontario to walk around the beach and park. Emma took off towards the water as soon as she saw it, which was a change from the last time she was on a beach, last summer! (She did not like the sand or water very much at all when we went to Coney Island last year.) Emma and Daddy found some sticks that they took down to the water's edge to throw into the water. Well, Daddy threw his stick into the water, but Em decided to hold onto hers and use it for digging in the sand instead. Emma had a lot of fun playing in the sand and was very sad when it was time to head back to the car.

Now that it is summer, Emma gets to enjoy unlimited Gymboree classes again. She loves Gymboree and especially her favorite teacher, Miss Teresa. Miss Teresa plays lots of cool games, like feeding the bear puppet which made Emma laugh a lot. Miss Teresa also blows LOTS of bubbles for Em and the other kids to pop during bubble time. Emma can't wait to take Gramma Bindert with her to Gymboree class when Gramma comes to visit next week!

Last but not least, it is Lilac Festival time again! Emma and Mommy met up with Daddy at the park this afternoon, despite the cold and blustery weather that seemed more like early March than mid-May. Daddy took Emma on the pony ride which Emma has been wanting to do since she saw the ride last year at the festival. Emma had a very tight grip on Daddy's jacket the entire time! She had a great time riding on the pony and then going to hear Mr. Mike, the Story Time guy, tell stories and sing songs at the pavilion, despite the cold, cold wind.
- posted by Heather @ 11:27 PM

 
Emma's cousins, Kirsten and Hunter
Emma and Mommy just got back from a trip to NJ, and Mommy has lots of pictures to post, but not a lot of time to post them right now. So, quickly, here is a picture of Emma's new cousin, Kirsten Lily Ruf, and one of Mommy holding Kirsten (that Mommy took using the timer and with the camera precariously propped up on the edge of Aunt Mimi's TV set). Emma didn't get to meet Kirsten on this trip, but she did get to spend a lot of time hanging out with Aunt Honda, Uncle Jim, their dog Chester, and Aunt Mamie and cousin Hunter, seen here climbing up the slide at Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's house. Mommy promises lots of new pictures will be arriving on the webpage soon!!
- posted by Heather @ 7:15 AM

 
Easter Em '05
Mommy finally had a minute to post some of the pictures of Emma from Easter this year. She wanted to get at least a few of them online while there's still some Easter candy left in the house....Here is Emma in her Easter basket this year. (You may remember if you are an Emma's Room regular that Mommy put Em in her basket last year for a picture too. Hasn't she grown so much in a year?!?) Here is one more shot of this year's Emma in her Easter ensemble, what a cutie! She is definitely getting too big for the "in the basket" shots, so next year she will probably be next to her basket instead. Here is our whole family just after we arrived at church Easter Sunday. You'll note that Emma had a cardigan to wear over her dress, since it was, after all, Rochester in March, brrr! The preceding picture is thanks to Mrs. Britton, who was quick with her camera and kind enough to send us a copy. Mommy has more pictures from Easter afternoon, but she needs to scan them in first since they are from Grandma Ginny's camera, which, alas, isn't digital. More to come....!
- posted by Heather @ 2:09 PM

 
Happy Easter - and birthdays too!

Emma would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter! This picture is from Emma's visit with the Easter Bunny yesterday afternoon. She had a great time hanging out with the EB and was quite reluctant to leave, though the nine gajillion kids in line behind us weren't as sad to see her turn end! Emma is especially thrilled today to welcome her brand-new cousin, Kirsten Lily Ruf, into the world and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to her! Kirsten was born at 3:46 this morning, weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and Aunt Megan and Uncle Matt are both thrilled (and a bit tired, too). Emma also would like to wish her Grandpa Hunter a very happy 60th birthday today! She blows Gahpa a big birthday kiss and says she'll see him soon!
- posted by Heather @ 7:16 AM

 
Emma and Gymboree
Emma is still a huge fan of her weekly Gymboree classes, which were a Christmas present from Gramma Bindert for this year. These days, Emma is in the "GymRunners" class, though she will be moving up to the "GymExplorers" class before the summer. This week's class theme was LOUD and quiet, and the teacher, Miss Teresa, handed out sticks so the kids could bang on things to see if they made loud or quiet sounds. Emma and Taylor seemed to prefer banging on the big, red bucket and making LOUD sounds to trying to find anything quiet to hit with their sticks! Emma really enjoyed doing her impression of Ringo Starr (or was it Liberty DeVitto?) which she also does at home, using two pot lids she grabbed out of the kitchen for cymbals. Speaking of Miss Teresa, she is Emma's favorite teacher at Gymboree and Emma will often go sit on Teresa's lap for song time and ignore Mommy's lap altogether! One of Emma's favorite parts of Gymboree remains Bubble and Parachute time. Emma loves to pop all the bubbles and to play under the parachute while the grown-ups shake it up and down overhead. Mommy doesn't think she'd ever be able to get Emma to leave the play area if it weren't for Miss Teresa giving out Gymbo stamps to the kids after each class. The stamps make a good incentive to get ready to head out the door for home and a nap. Now that spring is here, it is actually pretty sunny outside, so Emma and Taylor wore their cool shades on the walk out to the cars. Emma just loves Gymboree!
- posted by Heather @ 4:00 PM

 
Ava's Goodbye Brunch
Emma's good friend Ava and her parents are moving to Connecticut this week, so there was a goodbye brunch today in their honor at Omar's house. The kids got right into chowing down on all the yummy food just about as soon as we got there! They all had a blast playing with Omar's toys. Sofia and Emma checked out his truck while Ava looked on, and Omar's new fire-truck shaped climbing toy was a lot of fun too. Of course, more fun than all his toys was the staircase, and the kids spent lots of time on that! They were so attracted to the stairs that the mommies decided to try to get a nice group picture of them all sitting on the stairs, but it is mighty hard to get even one toddler looking in the same direction and smiling, much less five! Here's a shot of the three good buddies, Ava, Emma and Omar, and here's a picture of the three girls, Taylor, Ava and Emma. Haven't they grown so much since last summer, when they seemed so big back then? Guess that is always how it is with babies! Once the mommies gave up on trying to get a decent picture of the kids (hoping between all our cameras we had gotten at least one good shot!), Ava and Emma discovered the joy of banging on the stair risers with their big girl shoes. Then it was time to head back to Omar's table for a quick snack before a rousing game of Ring Around the Rosie, led by Taylor's mom, Katrina. (RAtR is one of Taylor's current favorite games.) The kids were all having lots of fun playing, and didn't even mind holding hands - guess they're still too young for "the cooties" and such silliness. After the game broke up, Emma and Omar decided to dance together and then it was nap time and we had to say goodbye - for now - to Ava and Jenn. We wish Ava, Jenn and Kirt lots of luck in their move and hope to see them again soon!
- posted by Heather @ 9:00 PM

 
Emma's "wardrobe malfunction"
It all started about a month ago, when Emma mastered the art of unzipping her own pajamas (she wears the fleece, footy one-piece sleepers). First, Mommy and Daddy would go in to her room in the mornings and find "Disco Em" - Emma with her jammies unzipped to her navel. Then, it escalated. Emma would greet us in nothing but her diaper, sometimes with her jammies tossed out of the crib for effect. The major "wardrobe malfunction" incident occurred last week, when Mommy went in to get Emma out of crib and discovered not only had Emma removed her jammies, but she'd also removed her (used) diaper and tossed BOTH onto the floor, along with Teddy and her sippy cup. Needless to say, it was not a pretty sight. The FCC may not be fining her, but Mommy sure didn't enjoy the subsequent clean-up! To prevent any further wardrobe malfunctions from happening, Mommy and Daddy have resorted to putting a onesie on Em under her jammies. Now the worst thing that happens when we go in to get her is to be greeted by Emma in this condition, which isn't so bad. Sometimes, Em thinks her jammies should be a hat, which she finds highly amusing. She is, as always, quite the ham! After goofing around for a while, Em will decide she's ready to get up and will say "Bye-bye, Teddy!" as she tosses him over the side of her crib. Better Teddy than her diaper, that's for sure! (PS: You can also spot Emma chewing on Teddy's arm in these pictures, as she is wont to do.)
- posted by Heather @ 8:16 PM

 
Call her Emmelda!
Emma has been on a bit of an Imelda Marcos shoe spree lately. We had her feet measured last month and learned that her feet have grown from a 4.5 extra-wide to a slimmer 6 medium. Since this meant she needs bigger shoes, we hit the stores! Emma now has a few new pairs of shoes, including this pink pair that she wore to church today. Em is something of a footwear fiend, as it turns out! She is quite excited that she still needs to get new sneakers, too, so she will be adding to her collection again!
- posted by Heather @ 11:59 AM

 
APB for Pinks the Bear
Emma has a very, VERY favorite teddy bear. (Actually, she has two, as she got duplicates of the same bear as a baby.) His official name is "Pinks the Bear" but Em just calls him (them) TEDDY. Teddy is only allowed to hang out in Emma's crib, or in the carseat with her when we're on a long road trip (one in which a nap hopefully gets taken). This is what Pinks the Bear looks like when he is new and beautiful. The thing is, Emma likes to suck/chew on his arms whenever she is sleeping. Since Teddy then gets rather sodden and gross and smelly, we wind up rotating between the 2 bears - one for nap and one for overnight - and washing both of them in hot water with bleach every day. (Emma will cheerfully announce "TEDDY BAF" each morning when she gets up, and she likes to watch as the 2 bears go into the washer for their "bath" too.) As you might imagine, neither bear is looking so "in the pink" after such a long period of daily baths and nightly chewing. The time is quickly arriving when one or both of the bears are just going to fall apart from the wear and tear. There are ominous worn/balding spots on all 4 arms, which is cause for alarm! We have tried giving Em a substitute "lovey" instead, and Aunt Honda found Emma a very similar bear made by the same manufacturer, but alas, Emma rejects any and all loveys except for Pinks. To make matters more complicated, it turns out that Pinks is a Ty "Pluffie" which is a collectable toy like their Beanie Babies, and Pinks was retired (gasp) in January of 2004. We have located one new Pinks on Ebay and have purchased it, but it will get expensive fast if that is how we have to keep replacing the sacred teddy bear! (Who knows how much longer Emma will want her Teddy with her when she sleeps.... Mommy still has her "Star Bear" and "Blankey" at the age of 33!) We're putting this "APB" out there now so that just in case anyone happens to be in a store and spots a Ty Pluffie "Pinks the Bear" on the shelf, please grab it for Emma and we'd be eternally grateful! Mommy and Daddy will gladly reimburse you for the effort too!

(The preceding bulletin has been brought to you by Parents of Emma, who hope that she will continue to have long, solid nights of sleep complete with bear arm jammed in her mouth.)
- posted by Heather @ 7:47 PM