Waking up

I love to listen to Emily on the monitor in the mornings. For the past few months, she has had all kinds of conversations with herself while she's in her crib.We have a basket of her favorite books on the floor next to her crib where she can reach them and read in the morning. I will usually hear her talking about Mickey, Minnie, and the gang or Elmo and his friends.

This week I started to hear her sing when she woke up! It's so sweet :-) Of course, she only knows a few words of each of the songs that she sings, but for the past few mornings it has been either Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or The Bumblebee Song. She asks for us to sing the Bumblebee song ALL OF THE TIME, so I'm very excited that she will be able to sing along now! Her favorite part is definitley the "Ouch! It stung me!" line.

This quiet play/sing/read time can last anywhere from 5 - 30 minutes, and I usually let her stay as long as she wants if we don't have anywhere we need to be. When she's done, I definitely know. She usually says, "Mommy! Get Emmy!"

Conversations with Emily

We went to visit my parents yesterday and Emily knew where we were as soon as we pulled into their neighborhood. She excitedly yelled, "I see Papa! Emmy here! Yay! We did it!" Needless to say, I was dying of laughter as we pulled in their driveway :-)

Roll Call!

Every time we get in the car lately Emily does a little roll call to see who is there. Most of the time it's just me and Em, so this can be pretty funny :-) Here's a sample convo:

Em: Hi Mommy!
Me: Hi Emily!
Em: Hi Daddy!
Me: No, Emily. Daddy's at work. It's just Mommy here.
Em: Wooork. Hi Papa!
Me: No Papa is at home.
Em: Hooome. Hi Jiddo!

You get the idea. Obviously, this can go on for quite some time! It cracks me up every time!

Using a spoon without spilling...much!

Emily has become very independent lately, which includes insisting that she use a fork an spoon when she eats, no matter how messy the meal. I know it takes some time to learn how to use utensils, so we are trying to deal with the mess the best way possible - take off all clothes and pull back her hair! Here's a video of Emily using a spoon to eat her yogurt. Enjoy!

Fun with Mommy :-)

Me and my girl having fun :-)

Peek-a-boo!

Emily is hilarious lately when she's playing peek-a-boo! Here's a video of her having fun during lunch today:

Word of the day...

Can you guess what it is?

Halloween 2011

Emily has had a few different Halloween costumes that she tested out for 2011. First, she wore her kitty cat costume to Boo at the Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa:

Then she attended the Jason's Deli Halloween party with Fouad dressed as a pirate princess. Here's her awesome dance moves at the party:

Finally, Emily celebrated at the MOMS Club Halloween party and did her Trick or Treating in her ghost costume:

Here's a sweet video of Daddy and Emily in our neighboorhood on Halloween. Emily just learned how to say "BOO!"

Dance Time!

Uncle Shuck's 2011

We went last weekend to Uncle Shuck's Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch! Emily loved the goats, but the corn maze...not so much. We had a great time!

Georgia Aquarium

One of the last things that we enjoyed during Fouad's vacation at home was the Georgia Aquarium. Emily really enjoyed all of the exhibits, but she loved the penguins the most! Here's a few pictures from the day:

Emily's Chase Game

This video is from late September, and I should have shared it much earlier! Emily loves to chase us and to be chased. She often gets that look on her face that says, "I'm gonna get you!" or "Come chase me!" and she's off! Check out this video of Emily's favorite new game:

Fun at the zoo!

We took Emily to the zoo for the first time this week. She loved all of the animals, and pointed, waived, and said "Hi!!!" to her favorites. She loved the elephants and monkeys, but the pandas were her absolute favorite! Here's a few pictures from our day:

Feeding the ducks...and Emily

We took Emily to a nearby park a few weeks ago to feed the ducks. She snuck a few bites in herself...silly girl!

Sweet Moment

You may remember the picture above from Emily's 7 month update. It has always been one of my favorites, even though she was teething and obviously not feeling well. It was such a sweet moment that Fouad captured, I will always treasure it. Now it has a new memory attached to it...

Yesterday, I picked Emily up from her nap and went to change her diaper. When I put her down on the changing table, she stood up and gave me a nice long hug. She even let out a couple of satisfied sighs, which I like to think it was because she was just enjoying the moment as much as I was. She then looked over to this picture, which is framed on her bookcase. She said, "Mama!" and pointed at the picture, then proceeded to continue hugging me just like the picture. After a few seconds, she pointed to the picture again and said, "Mama!", and continued to hug me. It was like she was saying, "Look, we're doing that again!" It was so precious!

Suwanee Day!

September 17th was Suwanee Day! We joined the rest of the city of Suwanee (and Aunt Nadine) in the celebration at Suwanee Town Center. It was a fun filled day of music, food, and shopping! Here are a few pictures we captured from the day:

 So excited to be attending Suwanee Day!

 Stopping at one of the vendors

 Aunt Nadine helping me drink some fresh squeezed lemonade

Emiy had WAY too much fun!

Em's New Favorite Toy

You'll never guess her new favorite toy...it's the refrigerator! Check out Emily playing below, and watch her new way of asking for things. Also, there's a twist ending! The suspense is killing you, right?

How Old is Emily?

We'll let Emily tell you how old she is....

Almost walking!

Emily's new favorite thing is walking around with her Vtech Sit to Stand Learning Walker. She has loved this toy for a long time, but now that she has discovered that she can walk with it, she doesn't play with anything else! Here's a video of the first time I discovered that she could walk with it on her own:

Emily on the Move!

Emily is on the move! Check out this slideshow and video of our VERY active little girl: