Happy New Year!
Emma would like to wish everyone a very happy New Year! She didn't stay up 'til midnight this year, though she did decide to get up around 4am to wish Mommy and Daddy a happy 2005...

Emma had a busy holiday season. Last week, she went to Grandma and Grandpa Hunter's house to celebrate Christmas with the family. She did miss seeing the rest of her family, as Gramma Bindert, Uncle Matt and Aunt Betsy were celebrating in Florida (a place Emma hears is really fun to visit) this year, but Em plans to go south to visit Gramma Bindert soon! Emma was happy to see Grandma Hunter is feeling a lot better after her surgery, and she loved following Grandpa Hunter around the house while he worked on the last minute things to get ready for the big Christmas day dinner. Christmas morning, Emma spotted the Hokey Pokey Elmo Santa left by her stocking as soon as she walked into the room, and boy was she excited! She gave Elmo a big hug and got even more excited when she squeezed his hand and saw him do his routine! Em had some practice earlier in the week opening up presents from Aunt Cathy and her sister, Kristin, so she very quickly got the hang of opening her presents from Santa. Her new toys included a baby doll (complete with bottle), puzzle, and pots, pans and tea set (that were to go with her new table and chairs and the kitchen set Santa left back home in Rochester). She also had fun playing with her magnadoodle with Grandpa - who liked it so much he wished Santa had brought him one, too. Em hopped right on her new, pink tricycle (with a little help from Grandpa) and took it for a test drive around the living room. She was fascinated by the Santa snowglobe on the table, and kept patting it and saying "Ho, ho ho!" After opening her first batch of presents, Emma fed her baby doll a bottle and played with her new toys in the family room while all the grown-ups were getting ready for dinner. Later on in the afternoon, the rest of the family arrived. Emma was very excited to see everyone, and couldn't wait for cousin Hunter to open the present she picked out for him. Hunter was excited about his new Octotunes octopus and Em was happy he liked it! Emma liked the Wiggly Dance Mat that Hunter, Aunt Amy and Uncle Mike gave her and promptly checked it out with Uncle Matt. (She showed off how well she knows the characters and songs on the Wiggles musical book Aunt Megan and Uncle Matt gave her, too.) Even though she was all dressed up (and looking quite cute), Emma still went for another spin on her tricycle with some assistance from Aunt Megan (aka "Mimi" according to Emma). Emma also did the Hokey Pokey with Elmo for the assembled grown-ups, and then had fun petting Sky, cousin Hunter's dog. (Okay, she is Uncle Mike and Aunt Amy's dog, too.) Everyone else had fun opening their presents, too. Grandma and Grandpa liked the picture of Hunter and Emma on Santa's lap that they had taken when Hunter and Aunt Amy (aka "Mamie") had come up to Rochester to visit in December. Uncle Matt and Aunt Megan were a bit confused by their present from Aunt Bunny and Uncle Fred, but figured out the real present behind the Pez dispenser soon enough. (It sure will come in handy when Emma's new cousin arrives in March!) Em watched everyone open their presents and said "ooooh" a lot, and enjoyed testing out other people's presents like when she tried on Daddy's new gloves. Hunter had fun hanging out in the recycling box and checking out one of his new toys with Emma, and then Em wanted a turn in the box too, so Aunt Bunny helped her out - or in, as the case may be. By the time we left to head back to Rochester the next morning, Emma was so worn out she crashed in her car seat for a nice, long nap. (Thanks as ever to the Wallman family for the loan of their portable VCR and to the DeGray family for the loan of their Elmo and Bear videos!) After getting settled back in at home, Emma had her very first tea party with Elmo and Daddy as the guests of honor. Her new table and chairs are actually pretty old - her great, great-grandfather Oliver made them for Grandma Hunter when she was a little girl, and then they belonged to Mommy when she was a little girl, and Grandpa Hunter got them out of the attic and refinished them beautifully for Emma as a Christmas present this year.

By the next day, Emma's kitchen was all set up and then she really could get cooking! She went from mere tea parties to serving full meals to all her dolls and animals, with the specialty of the house being a Weeble stew. (Emma is sure to put the leftovers in the fridge, too.) After a few days of heavy Weeble usage in the kitchen, Mommy broke down and opened up Emma's Weeble village, which had still been in the box from Christmas. Well, Emma loved playing with it and quickly realized that there are more to Weebles than just serving as a food item! She played with the village for a long time, only stopping to take a few calls on one of her toy phones. (Notice she goes to sit on the couch just like Mommy does when she is on the phone!) Emma then paused for a pretend nap, showing off her excellent fake snoring skills but not realizing that closing her eyes would help the charade, and then was back for more Weeble action. And that is how Emma spent the last day of 2004!

Emma really loves ALL the presents she was fortunate enough to receive this year, and promises a pictorial of all her new clothes will be coming to the webpage soon!
- posted by Heather @ 1:04 PM