fun with felt

Emma Jane loves the felt board at the library. As a matter of fact, I have to keep her from taking the felt pieces off the board during class when her teacher is using it to tell a story. So, I thought, why not make one she can play with at home? I bought a large piece of foam poster board, a yard of pink felt, and several colors of the smaller pieces of felt. I measured and cut the pink felt to fit the board, stapled it around the back of the board, and covered the staples with masking tape. Now, I've never claimed to be an artist, so the pieces I have made for her board so far are pretty basic. I cut out some simple shapes to make a house, a boat, a tree, clouds, and the sun. A wavy strip of blue for a river and a shaggy strip of green for grass....voila! Emma Jane mainly likes to take the pieces OFF the board, but she tries to put the apples on the tree and place the rays around the sun. I also cut out some animals from an old pop-up book she had accidently torn, and she likes to put the animals in the boat! She generally likes to just stick the pieces on willy nilly, but I know that in time she'll better understand the concept. I hope this felt board will entertain Emma Jane for years to come.

park attitude

I took Emma Jane to the park yesterday before the cold and rain returned today. Let me tell you, this girl has attitude! She wants to do what she wants to do when she wants to do it! Luckily, we have been teaching her please ("peas!") and "thank you" ("nu!") so most of the time she shouts "No nu!" when she doesn't want to do something instead of just plain "No!" Our time at the park was no exception. Anything I suggested was combated with a "No nu!" and there was a lot of "Come back here!" and "Listen to mama!" from me. Regardless of the battles, it is always eye-opening and never dull on an outing with Emma Jane.

She insisted on walking up the steps by herself!





As soon as we made it up the steps, she took off to do her thing.






I know she looks scared here, but she was really upset with me because I told her it was time to climb down!



Blow the dandelion, don't eat it!



Grass on the booty means the girl had some fun!

zoo anniversary

We had a great time with friends at the zoo last Sunday. Emma Jane said "baboon" for the first time and didn't stop saying it the rest of the day! This was actually our "zoo anniversary". Our first ever visit to Riverbanks Zoo was last year on February 21st, so this was our last day to enjoy the zoo on our year pass. With such beautiful weather, we even took the girls to the Capitol grounds for a picnic where they thorougly enjoyed playing in the dirt! Too bad the warm weather has vanished this week.

Our first trip to the zoo.
Feb. 21, 2009




What a difference a year makes!
Feb. 21, 2010


Babooooon!!!



Emma Jane loves Miss Sara



Checking out the koalas



Round and round we go!




Holding hands with Kaitlyn





First whole apple...crunch!



The dirtier you get, the more fun you have!




A look of pure joy....

wheeeee!

Here are two short videos of our crazy monkey at Little Gym. She loves to swing on the bars and rings. Today the rings were her favorite. She hogged them all to herself and had trouble taking turns with her classmates. When swinging from them she would sometimes shout, "Wheeee!" Later at home she tried to swing from the stair banister! Uh oh!

bike!

Seriously, Emma Jane LOVES her bike. (Thanks again, Aunt Stacy and Uncle Paul!) We took her to the Riverwalk to ride it today, and she could hardly contain her excitement. While in the car on the way to the park, she gleefully pumped her fists and clapped her hands shouting, "BIKE!" until we got there. Here are a couple of videos to showcase her excitement. In the first video, you can see the huge smile on her face and hear her shout "BIKE!" as her daddy pushes her down the sidewalk. In the second video, she is showing off her wild side as she bounces up and down in her seat. Although her legs still aren't quite long enough to do the pedaling, she is definitely ready. Today she tried to pedal on her own several times and she even seems to understand the motion required. It won't be long!

spring is in the air

Today was the first warm day we've had in months. I took Emma Jane to the park for a walk and she basked in the sunshine! She tried to make friends with a little boy, but he was only interested in her ball. I brought bubbles, but I spilled them when I tried to get the wand out. Two major disappointments for Emma Jane, but despite these setbacks, she found other ways to entertain herself....picking flowers, kicking rocks, and running from her mama!

bounce!

I took Emma Jane to Monkey Joe's for the first time today. Since she apparently thinks her crib mattress is a trampoline, I thought for sure she'd love all the bouncy houses at Monkey Joe's. At first, she was less than enthusiastic. After leading me around the entire place TWICE to check everything out and taking a few test jumps in the Disney princess house, she soon became a bouncy house pro! She was really excited when her friend Lily showed up to play, too.

i woo!

Emma Jane has her own language of love. She's just recently started saying, "I woo!" after we say "I love you" to her.

i heart you

No frills this Valentine's Day and it was the best one yet! Emma Jane gave her daddy a handmade valentine and a felt heart-shaped key chain that I made for him with her initials stitched on one side and mine on the other. Paul surprised me with tulips! All of our small plants on the screened-in porch died last week when we forgot to bring them inside, so he potted each tulip in a separate pot to replace the dead plants! This afternoon we made valentine cookies together. Emma Jane kept us entertained all day long and even managed to share a few hugs and kisses. Now THAT'S what Valentine's Day is all about!