My Little Chatter Box

Like many of you I use my blog as a journal, a record of my baby's development and scrapbook so I'm sorry if this post is too much for you to read but it's mostly for my future recollection because this child is growing up way too fast and I want to be able to look back and remember as much as possible.

NEW WORDS
Emily has become such a little chatter box the last little while and I absolutely love it! Here is her vocabulary list, but it's hard to keep it updated because she's learning new words every day.

Mom, Dad, Toby, shoes, what's this, what's that, hot, yes, down, Grandma, please, thank you, uh-oh, ow, outside, eat, eyes, more, bear, horse, moo, milk, juice, cheese, hi and hi guys, bye-bye, all done, toys.

That's all I can think of right now, but I know there's more. She doesn't speak the word no yet, but she says it very well with a distinct shake of her head. She's in the parrot stage right now so she repeats words pretty well and many of these words she only says after I say them first but I am so proud of her! She wasn't talking much before we went to Washington, but as soon as we got there she started talking up a storm and hasn't stopped since! I think it was possibly the new environment that stimulated that part of her brain, but I can't say for sure. Whatever it was I'm glad because it makes me so happy to hear her little voice!

WHAT A SMART GIRL
Emily is getting to be so smart! She is learning the parts of her body really well. She can point to her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, belly button, and feet. We're working on more but we're taking it one part at a time. She knows a cow says moo and we're working on other animal sounds. She's getting very good at folding her arms for prayers, although she only folds them for a few seconds at the beginning it's a start and we've been working on this one for quite a while now. She knows way more words than she can stay and I feel like she understands just about everything I say. If I ask her to go get her pants she'll get them. If I ask her to go to her highchair she does. If I tell her to sit or stand she will, and the list goes on and on.

GETTING DRESSED
Emily is very good at helping me dress her (even though she still hates standing still long enough to do it all at once-we have to take it one article of clothing at a time). When I say "arms up" she'll lift her cute little arms, and she steps into her pants one leg at a time holding up her little foot waiting for me to put them on. When it's time to put on her shoes she sits down in front of me and holds up her foot ready for her shoe so she can go outside.

HELPING HANDS
Emily is still my little helper, and helps out even more now. She loves picking up her toys. Well, she loves taking them out and then putting them back. But at the end of the day before bed when I ask her to put her toys away she runs right over and gets it done. Any time she spills something or sees a mess on the floor or table she grabs a towel or wipe and cleans it right up. If there's a piece of trash on the floor I can ask her "will you throw that away for me?" then she picks it up and throws it in the garbage can. She still likes to vacuum and she's very good at dusting. I give her a wipe and she would dust all day if I let her. I know there will come a day when she realizes that these tasks are actually work but for now I'm enjoying my little helper.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBER
Emily loves to climb anything she can especially the coffee table. She's figured out that to get up on our huge couch she has to first put a pillow down to stand on. She tries to get into her highchair but has never been successful. I wouldn't be surprised if one night I put her in bed, come to the living room to relax and a few minutes later have her running out of her room because she climbed out of her crib. She hasn't figured out how to get out of it yet but I have a feeling she might so when my Dad comes to drop my sister off to college at the end of summer I'm having him bring her big girl bed.

Boy my baby's growing up so fast and it makes me sad but I'm enjoying and savoring every minute of it.

WEEKEND WITH DAD
These are some pictures of a few weeks ago when Steve was home. We went out to the dessert to go shooting. Well, Steve did the shooting. He needed to site in his rifle so Emily and I mostly hung out in the truck so we were out of the way but it was still tons of fun! On our way home that night we had a HUGE storm. You can see it coming in the first photo...dark and gloomy clouds.