escape artist

Emma Jane can now open most of the doors in our house. Thank goodness for the baby gates in her room and playroom. Without those, who knows where this little explorer might go! In this video you can clearly see that her plan of escape was thwarted by the baby gate outside her bedroom door. With blankie in tow and shouts of "bye!" she obviously had big plans!

shoe showdown

Ever since I got her a pair of Croc knockoffs, Emma Jane has recently become obsessed with putting on her own shoes. For some reason, she refuses to sit down while putting her shoes on, so the whole process can be a little tricky, especially since she gets mad if you try to help her! Here is the video I took of Miss Independent trying her darnedest to get those shoes on today.

playroom playdate

Addie and Kaitlyn came over to play today. Emma Jane was so excited! She jumped up and down and laughed and giggled for the first half hour. She was very generous with her hugs for Miss Shelly and Miss Amanda too! We had a great time watching our girls interact. There were only a few "sharing" issues, but Emma Jane promises to keep working on this!

showing some 'tude

Emma Jane has just recently started to groove out to the music I play in the car. On the way to Target today she was sitting in her carseat sporting her pink Barbie sunglasses while jamming out to Dave Matthews Band. I had my video camera in my purse, so when I parked the car I thought I'd try to catch her in the act. When I asked her, "Emma Jane, will you dance for mama?" this is what she said....



Where in the world did she get THAT attitude?!?

the world according to emma jane

Emma Jane's list of words continues to grow. She surprises us everyday when she says something new. Here are a few of her favorites:

Oh no! (anytime something goes wrong)

I do! (this is her indication that she wants something)

"eese" or "pppp" for please

"nuuu" for thank you

outside (said pleadingly while trying to get out the front door)

dog (hasn't attempted to say Walker yet)

Maggie (when pointing to pictures of our black lab who passed away just a few months after Emma Jane was born)

eyes, ears, nose, toes, knees, teeth, elbow, etc... (she KNOWS her body parts!)

"mone" for phone (said at the top of her lungs when she hears one ring!)

"uhmote" for remote

"ahhh dun" for all done

"I sawry" for I'm sorry

"doo doo" for Blue's Clues (her new favorite show)

no no touch it (unfortunately she hears this A LOT from us!)

"walwa" for walrus (for some reason she loves walruses!)

I poop! (yes, this is a little embarrassing, but I'm glad she's telling us!)

down and up (while climbing stairs)

off and on (she loves light switches!)

"uhdee" for again (over and over to her daddy when he's throwing her in the air!)

"ahdee" for amen (after prayer time)

"Di" for Grandma Di (my mom)

"Aine" for Grandma Jane (Paul's mom)

"Dot" for Aunt Scott

sock and shoe (she tries so hard to put them on by herself)

and the list goes on....but we are so proud to hear Emma Jane's sweet little voice each and every day no matter what she is saying! Of course, when I try to catch her saying anything on the video camera, mums the word!

social bug

Emma Jane knows how to have fun!



Our girl LOVES to hide...



....ALL THE TIME!



Sitting pretty in front of the fireplace



Being shy with Granddaddy Walker



Mommy and me



Lunch with KK



Fun with Grandma "Di" and Grandpa Ron





Hanging with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Bill




Garrison taught me how to play golf...



how to read a book...



and how to vacuum!!!



Lunch with Mary and Santi



Aunt Scott loves me!!



Relaxing with Mary in Bridget's reading corner



Where in the world are we!?!



Snacking with Miss Margaret



She thought the cafeteria benches were balance beams!



Goofing off with Aunt Scott, our favorite principal!



We had such a wonderful time visiting with family and friends in Panama City. Emma Jane was thrilled to be the center of attention everywhere we went! We spent time with both sets of grandparents, had dinners and lunches with our friends, and even enjoyed some playtime at Holy Nativity where Emma Jane met LOTS of kids who were more than happy to entertain her.

catching the sunset

Our trip back home to Panama City was filled with good times with family and friends, but no visit to Florida is complete without seeing a beautiful sunset from the beach. Record cold temperatures kept us from visiting the actual beach during our stay, but we did have a few mild days before it was time to head back to Columbia. While driving down Beach Drive to see friends in the Cove, the sun was just starting to sink into the bay. I couldn't pass up the chance to let Emma Jane run in the sand and see the sun setting against such a beautiful backdrop. It was really cool to see her take it all in with such enthusiasm. You can see from the pictures that she was pretty excited to be there (even if her mama was stalking her with the camera again!).

happy birthday, deeeee!

We celebrated Paul's birthday a day late since he was working out-of-town this week. Emma Jane really missed her "deeeee" and was so happy to have him home today. She even helped him carry his backpack into the house! We surprised Paul with a birthday banner, homemade scribble card, and framed "daddy and me" photos. Emma Jane helped Paul open his birthday cards and fed him his birthday brownies, too!

biker babe

Emma Jane thinks she is pretty cool riding her big girl trike!

first sentence

Two words DO make a sentence, you know. All you need is a subject and a predicate. Take it from the school teacher, this is true! Emma Jane has successfully mastered her first sentence...drumroll...she can say, "I do!" This is her quick answer when asked various questions like, "Do you want to go play?" or "Do you want to take a bath?" or "Would you like a cookie?" We are also working on "please" which she pronounces as "deese". Here is a video of Little Miss Manners after dinner last night.