We made it! Our sweet, little Emmaline Grace turned a whole year old on February 10, 2010! It is hard to believe that a year has gone by so quickly, but it did. We decided on just having a quiet night together to celebrate instead of a huge party that she will never remember. I got Emma her own smash cake to enjoy, but she was very scared and hardly touched it. In fact, Andy had to try to give her a taste and stick her hand in it; that’s when she freaked out and didn’t want any more of it. I guess it is a good thing that she doesn’t like sugar… she already has enough energy. After the cake fiasco, we got her in the bath and had her open her gifts. It took her a while to realize that she could tear the paper and there would be goodies on the inside. She figured it out though and had a blast ripping the paper and seeing what awesome new toy she got. She took 5 whole steps by herself that night too. She has great balance, but seems to be afraid to go out and try the walking thing. She is getting more and more confident every day though and we think she will be walking soon… and believe me, we aren’t going to rush it! :) We had such a great time watching her play and have fun- a perfect night for a perfect little girl.

So what is Emma doing now that she is a whole year old?

  • She has four teeth and is starting to eat table foods (avocado is her favorite!) and drinks whole milk (hoo-rah!)
  • She likes to feed you whatever she is eating
  • She likes to “walk” on her knees (don’t know what that is all about- but we’re sure walking is right around the corner)
  • She hates to wear socks (just like her momma!) and pulls them off the second we’re not looking
  • She LOVES bath time and looks forward to it every night before bedtime
  • She climbs up and down the stairs 21,982,938 times a day
  • She “reads” tons of books to us
  • She loves to dance whenever she hears music
  • She yells “DAHD-DAAH!” whenever the phone rings
  • She calls everyone “Dahd-daah”– she knows how to say “Momma”, but apparently chooses not to (that little booger!)
  • She does not like to wear dresses
  • She HAS TO turn off the lights by herself even if that means it takes 20 minutes for her little fingers to flip the light switch
  • She loves to go outside on walks and yell at the birds/passing cars/airplanes/moon/anything that moves
  • She waves “bye-bye”
  • She likes to hide and play opossum
  • She tries to catch our toes and giggles while she does it
  • She bites… a lot… and very hard
  • She likes to hand things to you like her binkie or her blocks and then takes it back real quick and laughs (this is how she plays “just kidding”)
  • She likes to chase me around when I vacuum
  • She gives kisses, but they are more like headbutts (she tries)
  • She is always trying to climb to the highest point

We were lucky to have my parents and little brother in town for two weeks to share in the festivities. My brother, Casey, was also able to get some more great photos of Emma with his super nice camera. We were able to go to the zoo and the natural history museum. My dad and I were able to get some bumps and scratches on the walls patched up as well as getting an accent wall in our living room painted. He was a huge help and is a really great painter.  It was fun to spend time with him running to the hardware store and doing stuff around the house. My mom bought tons of toys and clothes for Emma. She bought a beautiful Easter dress for her and we were lucky enough to get some early Easter pictures with Emma in it before she left. She was super excited to spend time with her and spoil her rotten, although I think she was the one spoiling me. I didn’t cook more than a few times while they were here! That’s what grandma’s do best I suppose! :) Andy and I were also able to sneak out for Valentine’s day! NaNa, PePaw, and Uncle Casey babysat our little gremlin while we went out and enjoyed an amazing and romantic dinner for two followed by a movie! We haven’t gone out to dinner, let alone dinner AND a movie in years. It felt good to be together by ourselves for a few hours and really appreciated having some great babysitters.

I know there are TONS of pictures in this post, but I couldn’t decide on which ones to keep and get rid of. Casey took over 600 of them! Enjoy!