gator pull

Today Emma Jane spent an HOUR walking around the playroom pulling her little gator xylophone on wheels behind her. She was so proud of herself as you can see in the video. She would stop to look at other things, but as soon as she was on the move again, she would pull her xylophone with her! Thanks Aunt Susan and Uncle Brad! She obviously loves her early birthday gift!

little climber

Emma Jane is now in the climbing stage. She wants to climb anything and everything that is the least bit above floor level. This is loads of fun for her, of course, but not so much for her mama who has to be constantly on guard. Emma Jane still doesn't quite understand the concept of gravity.

shoes and starbucks

I took a trip to the shoe store today to fit Emma Jane for her first pair of "real" shoes. Now that she's walking, I wanted a good comfortable pair of shoes that are made for beginners. Our girl has a gigantic foot! She measured at a 4 1/2 shoe size which is pretty big for a baby not quite 11 months old. Emma Jane had a ball walking around the store while we tried a few different pairs of shoes on her. She even found some shoe boxes with tissue to tear apart so I had to get a picture of her terrorizing the shoe store. After our shoe adventure, we met our friends at Starbucks so the moms could chat and the girls could have lunch. This is a regular hang out for us these days, so we took a picture of our girls on the way out. Emma Jane is really starting to recognize her friends and gets so excited when she gets to see them!

happy birthday grandma jane

We wanted to surprise Paul's mom with a cute email of Emma Jane wishing her a happy birthday. I made a sign and taped it on the wall behind Emma Jane's little rocking chair. When we sat her in the chair, she smiled sweetly not really understanding what was going on. Then she looked behind her and noticed the sign hanging on the wall. She promptly ripped the sign off the wall and tore it to pieces! Of course, we documented the whole thing with a series of photos that you see here. Happy Birthday, Jane, from your little tornado!

little tour guide

We had a visit from our friend Margaret this weekend. Emma Jane got to be a little tour guide when we took Margaret to the botanical gardens and zoo. We had a great time and Emma Jane finally got to pose as a flower in the gardens. It's always fun to have friends visit and our little girl is quite the hostess!

can't stop standing

Emma Jane is so excited about her new ability to walk that it's hard to get her to sit down! When we try to put her in the highchair or car seat, she has begun to protest with some kicks and cries. As soon as she realizes that she's getting buckled in no matter what, the protests subside and she gives in to her temporary confinement. When we went to the pool this weekend she took advantage of the fact that there was no chair to be buckled into during her snack. She refused to sit down while eating and I couldn't see any reason to force her since she easily ate ALL of her yogurt with very little mess. She's a girl who is determined to challenge herself AND her mama!

first bandaid boo boo

Now that Emma Jane is fearlessly walking everywhere, we are finding all kinds of scratches and bruises on her legs that seemingly just appear. Nothing serious, but of course the protective mom in me frantically says, "Now where did THAT come from!?!" every time I see some small blemish. She did have a scratch on her leg that required a bandaid this week, so she got to wear her first real bandaid. It was pink with Hello Kitty on it and I was surprised when she didn't try to pull it off right away. I think she was proud of her battle wound! Of course, about an hour after putting the bandaid on her, I became suspicious when she was being especially quiet in the playroom. When I looked more closely to see what she was up to, I saw that she was happily munching on her bandaid! Oh well, I tried!

first "big girl" walk in the park

We took Emma Jane to the Riverwalk late this afternoon before a storm rolled in. She rode in the jogging stroller for the first part of the walk and then we set her free to "frolick" in the grass. She was thrilled! Even on uneven ground, she walked like a champ with just a few minor tumbles. She even had dirty knees when we put her back in the stroller and when we took off her shoes, she had grass between her toes! I think we have a fearless tomboy on our hands!

squeaky shoes

Emma Jane is walking like crazy! I put her squeaky shoes on her today and she went to town a'squeakin'! It was so funny! When not wearing her shoes, she likes to hold one in each hand for balance. Paul and I took her to the Farmers' Market this afternoon and each of us took one of Emma Jane's hands as she happily walked between us like such a big girl! It's such an exciting time, but it makes me a little sad, too, as we say goodbye to baby girl and get ready for toddler time!

zany zoo puppets

I bought a zoo puppet kit and made Emma Jane 4 bag puppets-a bear, tiger, elephant, and monkey. Don't be too impressed, it took me less than an hour to make them all! Emma Jane loves the puppets on the Baby Einstein dvds so I thought she might get a kick out of these. I was right! The giggles and belly laughs we got out of her were priceless! The monkey puppet now stays on the dining room table as backup when we need her to EAT something she doesn't like. When you get this girl giggling, she can be coaxed into doing anything!