Ice Cream Surprise

Boy was I surprised when Emily's kiddy meal at Travis Pointe last night came with this ice cream treat!  I thought it would be a tiny little scoop, nope ice cream with a cookie and all!  Luckily Emily just dipped the cookie in the ice cream and licked it off a few times and was done, we passed the ice cream around the table to share.  It kept her busy for a while which was a huge plus, but what 2 year old eats this much ice cream for dessert?  

Playhouse

I had to share this picture of Emily that Jim took the same night as the kite flying.  I thought she looked so sweet, I was gone to a church meeting, so I don't have much commentary.

Kite Flying

Emily teaching her dad a few tricks!

Jim posted this great video to the blog - his first post!  Yeah!  I found out that there is a service that will turn your blog into a book.  It probably costs a fortune, but it's in the back of my head now and on the top of my want list for Christmas.  So I had to add a picture and some commentary to the blog because I am sure the video will not be viewed in a book.

When I was gone to a church meeting Jim and Emily went outside to fly a kite.  Jim always does fun things with Emily when I am gone, his favorite outing when I was teaching at Adrian College was to go to Jungle Java so Emily could climb.  Unfortunately Jim doesn't always take pictures, so on my way out the door to the meeting I asked Jim to take pictures if they do something fun.  Of course they did something fun, that is Jim's style.  

You'll see in the video that Jim let Emily hold the kite, and she loved it!  The only problem was she kept letting go of it after a short bit and Jim would have to go sprinting after the kite to catch it.  From what I hear some of the sprints were quite long and Jim is actually sore from the wind sprints Emily put him through with the kite flying ordeal.  Luckily Jim caught up to the kite every time and we still have it.  I am not sure what Emily enjoyed more, flying the kite or watching Jim sprint after it when she let go.  She is a smart cookie and I am sure she found the game of watching daddy sprint quite amusing.  The kite has Winne the Pooh on it, or as Emily calls it "Pooh Bear!"

2 Year Pictures

This is what Emily looked like before we left to get her pictures taken at Sears today, and this is what she looked like at Sears.  I thought to myself I should take a picture because her hair was curled so nicely, then of course it was raining out and it looked a mess when I got to Sears.  I actually got out my curling iron and curled her hair again before her pictures at Sears.  Straight hair is a pain, I am starting to like my curly hair more every day!

I know they are small, but what picture is your favorite?  I was rushed at Sears, and now I think I like a different one than what I ordered!  

Feeding the Fish

We went to my parents house for dinner last night, and Emily could hardly eat because she was so excited to go feed the fish in my parents pond.  She loves to walk out to the pond and feed the fish.  Emily always asks about going swimming but I told her the water is too cold so now she says "water too cold. "  Abby my parents lab gets to go swimming, but grandma told Emily that dogs like cold water.  Here are a few pictures of going out to feed the fish and Emily after she feed the fish (1st picture). 

Rainy Day = Treehouse

I saw the weather report yesterday and decided today would be a good day to go to the Chelsea Treehouse.  I wasn't the only one with this idea, there were quite a few other kids there and I ran into a friend from MOPS too!  

We met our friends Davis (pictured above) and Jen Myers (friend from HS) at the Treehouse.  Jen and I got a good workout helping the kids climb up to the top so they could go down the slides.  Emily can climb up to the top by herself but no longer will go down the slide by herself, she always wants me to go too!  

Davis and Emily were so cute together, they climbed into this box by themselves and were sitting in it all cuddled up (it was pretty tight fit).  They shared a snack, and they interact so nicely together.  Of course Emily didn't always share the train set very well with Davis and when he went to take it from her she would say "No, Share!"  Emily was telling Davis to share with her, but she wasn't sharing with Davis.  The joys of being a toddler.

Playing Ball at the BBQ

I have said this a couple of times, but I hope Emily loves sports like I do.  Lately she has shown some interest in learning to catch and she can throw the ball pretty well.  Also, she likes to kick the soccer ball, but she carries it around too, which a little boy at the BBQ we were at on Monday told her you aren't supposed to do!  It's fun watching her learn new things, she really is a little sponge!

Yesterday we had her 2 year doctor visit and the doctor said she was doing great.  She can do all the things most kids her age do - throw a ball, kick a ball, jump, follow directions, imitate us, climb, problem solve, use a fork & spoon, walk up and down the stairs by herself, etc.  The doctor was most impressed that Emily goes on the potty 3 or 4 times a day, now that I said that I am sure she will have no interest for the next month.  Today she did tell me she had to pee and poop which was the first in a while, usually I take her to the potty and she goes, but we are working on her communicating she needs to go.  Unfortunately we didn't get out of the high chair quick enough and upstairs to the potty before she peed, but then she did poop on the potty - YEAH!  The doctor also asked her to jump for her, which Emily did twice, I was relieved she did it because she doesn't always perform.  

Emily weighted 26.2 pounds (50%) and is just shy of 36 inches tall (93%).  Hopefully she will be tall like her dad, it looks like she has his genes.

Memorial Day Parade

Emily enjoyed the Memorial Day parade in Dexter this morning.  We went with our friends Tom & Abbe who have Hunter (10 months old) and then we met my cousin Diane and Claire (5) and Aunt Joyce at the parade.  

Waking up from her nap

I had to share this pictures of Emily waking up from her nap.  I went in to wake her yesterday after she slept for over 2 hours and I thought these were so cute of  her trying to wake up.  

Playing with Josie

We had another great BBQ last night.  I met Jamie and Josie at the Chelsea library last summer at storytime.  Jamie works during the school year so we didn't get a chance to get together a lot after school started, but they just had a new baby and she is off until January!  Yeah.  We went over to meet Ruby who is 11 days old and the girls played.  Emily was a little stinker at times and had 3 time outs in a row at their house.  It's so hard to discipline when we are away from home.  The girls had a great time playing together, Josie is about a month older than Emily.

Playdate with Luke Goodman

Luke and Emily are only a couple of months apart, and they are so cute together.  We enjoyed going to the Goodman's house yesterday for a BBQ and lots of fun.  The kids played together so nicely and it was fun to watch Luke copy Emily's moves.  And Luke showed Emily how to walk barefoot in the grass, which she now in enjoys!  

They were so cute drinking their sippy cups sitting next to each other, and the bottom picture is them enjoying a little video with this big furry dog Luke has.   Luke's mom Carrie and I used to work together over 10 years ago and we have continued to kept in touch and get together.

Grandma & Grandpa's Farm

We had fun last night at my parents house.  Emily enjoyed playing outside digging with the shovel and pail, and just exploring.  I was amazed that she can drive this little electric dump truck all by herself, of course Jim was not far behind to help her steer.  After dinner we walked out to my parents pond and fed the fish.  Emily loved the water and wanted to go in, but we convinced her it was too cold.

Tractor Ride

Here are Jim and Emily on his beloved Ford 2-N (1931) tractor.  This is a very special tractor because it was Jim's grandfather's tractor and when Jim got it from his dad about 4 years ago it didn't work.  So Jim spent our first winter here rebuilding the tractor and now it runs like new.  He rebuilt the engine in our basement and Jim and I nearly broke our backs carrying the completed engine up the basement stairs.  

Emily loves going for tractor rides with Jim, in fact she calls this her tractor!

Playing in the Sand at Timbertown

We went to Timbertown this morning, it was a last minute thing because we had no plans today.  You would think Emily would have liked going down the slides or climbing the big play structure the most, but it wasn't she enjoyed playing in the sand most of the time we were there.  The other thing she liked was the swings.  At home she likes to climb and go down the slide, I never would have thought she would have liked playing in the sand so much.  But we don't have a sand box here, and she has only played in the sand a couple of times.  We did climb the play structure some, and go down the slide once or twice.  The other thing she enjoyed was a little chipmunk who she kept watching, and it would run away and they she would say "Where did it go?"  Finally when it was time to leave she wanted to find the chipmunk and I told her it went night night under the play structure so we wouldn't see it again because it was asleep.  If I hadn't said that I think we would still be looking for that little chipmunk at Timbertown.  When she was eating lunch after we got home she still kept saying chipmunk go night night.  Hopefully when she gets up from her nap she won't want to go find the chipmunk.

It's Emily's 2nd Birthday Today!

Emily turned two today, I am not sure where the last two years have gone, but they sure flew by!  Emily is more a little lady than my baby now, she repeats almost everything we say and has quite the personality.  She is a lot like her dad with her sparkling big blue eyes, long eyelashes and straight blonde hair.  Plus she is a jokester like her dad too, and loves the outdoors and tractors too!   Here is Emily at lunch today, we went with our friends Erik, Julie, Blake & Megan after story time at the library.  We walked to downtown Dexter and ate at the Lighthouse, it was such a nice day.  Of course just turning two Emily doesn't like to sit long, so lunch was a little bit of a challenge, so we won't try this every day.  I think a picnic lunch at the park may be the best bet these days.

At the Park

Could the grass get any greener?  Wow, the weather was perfect yesterday.  Emily and I started off our morning with a nice walk to the park and then lunch with the Cabble's.  We had a great time at the park, Emily and Blake enjoyed swinging, climbing on the play structure, going done the slide and running around of course.  Emily is getting good at climbing and can climb up most things, yesterday she enjoyed climbing up the "bumpy" slide.  Baby Megan was a little angel as she watched the kids play, doesn't it look like she is waving in this picture?  She is 6 months old.  Megan enjoyed a couple of trips down the slide on her ma ma's lap.  

Last night I went for a run with Emily in the jogging stroller, of course the faster I go the more she likes it.  She keep saying more when I would take a break to walk, I am a little out of shape.  Emily is the youngest trainer I have seen, but she pretty motivating with her "more more!"

Lunch with the family

Emily made her rounds today at lunch and sat on everyone's lap and posed pretty well for the camera saying cheese.  She is good at the cheese part, we need to work on her looking at the camera though.  We ate at Travis Pointe with my parents, brother and grandma - YUM, their brunch is very good on Sundays.

Emily & Caleb's Birthday Party

Here are just a few pictures from Caleb's 7th and Emily's 2nd B-day party at our house yesterday.  It was a farm theme with a tractor DQ ice cream cake, and we barbecued hot dogs & hamburgers.  The kids had a great time, it turned out very well.   

The top picture is Caleb and Emily hanging out before the party got started and before Emily had her fancy b-day dress on.  The second one is opening up presents, one of Emily's favorites was this bunny that sings and it's ears wiggle.  The bottom picture is Emily and Blake trying on their visors and looking at the party favors.

Change in plans

Thursday we planned on getting Emily's hair cut.  I thought to help it go well, I would tell her we were going to go do it and help her get excited.  Well she was excited running around the house saying "Hair cut, Rob sucker."  She said Rob sucker because if she is good Rob gives her a sucker afterward.  The first sucker she had was a couple of months ago at the hair salon, and she has only had maybe 4 or 5 suckers to date.  So of course the sucker was big deal.  Well Rob was sick so we got a call and had to change the appointment.  Then Emily was saying "Hair cut, Rob sick."  I told her that it made ma ma sad that was we weren't going to get our hair cut (mine too) and so then Emily said "Hair cut, Rob sick, Ma ma sad " and with a sad look on her face she said "I sad too!"  

We decided we should be productive and clean out the fridge for the b-day party on Saturday.  We got as far as seeing some old apples and decided we should go feed the apples to the neighbors horses.  Emily loves to go next door, we fed the horses apples, and then Emily did her favorite thing which was plan with their cats.  I thought it was so cute when she was picking them up, they tolerate her doing this, and they are almost as big as Emily!

A Happy Ending

Monday night Emily was acting like a normal toddler, running around the house playing with her babies.  She had a blanket in the kitchen for her baby and she ran and slipped on the blanket and fell.  She cried more than usual for about a half hour, but I thought it was because she was tired from no nap and going to the zoo that day.  In the bath I realized her foot was swollen and she complained about it hurting.  So I gave a snack and some Motrin and she seemed to feel better, but was up in the middle of the night with pain. UGH!  Yesterday she limped around and wanted me to carry her most of the morning.  I got tired of hearing "Hold me ma ma" (which is usually so sweet to hear) because I was tired of carrying her.  Plus Emily complained when she went from sitting to standing on it.  After consulting our good friend who is a PA we decided it was best to take her in and get an x-ray.  

The good news is she is fine, and last night and today you can't even tell she hurt it.  Last night she was outside with her daddy walking around the yard having a grand time.  Here they are standing next to the tractor in their sun hats.  Emily likes to drive the tractor, today we were getting into the car and she said "tractor" and I said, "yes daddy's tractor" and she said "No, Emily's tractor!"  

Toledo Zoo

The Toledo Zoo was FREE yesterday if you said "National Tourism Week."  That saved me $12 for just me!  We went with our friends Julie, Blake & Megan and met Kelly, Luke & Jada at the zoo.  Emily's favorite part that she talked about when she got home was the elephants and the polar bears.  We didn't get to see all of the animals, but we were on kid time and I was happy with what we saw and the day went very well.  My favorite was the polar bears, they swam in the water, one was playing with a ball, he was so cute, only 2.5 years old.  I thought it was interesting that he is already over 100 pounds larger than his mother.  Polar bears nurse for 5 years, and he is still nursing, I am sure it looks a little odd seeing he looks so much bigger than his mama bear.  Here is a picture of the kids looking at the elephants - from left to right - Jada, Luke, Emily and Blake.