Walking

Emma started walking on Wed. She was standing at the table in the kitchen, Shawn was sitting in the chair, and she took about 3 steps to him. We looked at each other like, "did you see that?" Shawn walked away from her a little bit, and beckoned her to come to him, and she walked again. Then I squatted down and she walked to me. We clapped and cheered like crazy, which made her do the same thing. We played baby ping-pong for a little while with her walking back and forth between us clapping and cheering at each parent. When she would get to one of us, she would make the "more" sign, turn around and walk to the other one. She was very wobbly and her head was bobbling with each step. It was so cute. It's been a few days and she is already much stronger. She still prefers to crawl, but we walk a little farther each day.

We have been reading a lot. She likes to bring me stories and crawl onto my lap so I can read to her. She is quite opinionated about which stories she wants to hear and will push away the offending offering. We are in the repeat stories over and over phase. I think I read Pat the Bunny 10 times over the course of the day last week.

I have Emma enrolled in Gymboree. It's a lot of fun. She gets to crawl around, practice her walking and climbing, and play with other kids. It's great to see her generous spirit in action with other kids. She is always sharing balls and bringing them to her friends. She loves the songs and dancing, and is very adventurous. When there is a new activity to try, she does it willingly while some other kids are hesitant or won't even try. She also loves the parachute time at the end. We let them lay down on the floor and make the parachute fly over their heads. Lots of kids will sit there or run away, but my girl lays on her back and laughs at the parachute going up and down. She loves the wind it creates too.

She is definitely in toddler-hood now. Her opinions on things are very clear, even if she doesn't know what they are. Sometimes she starts a tantrum for no reason and I am sure her brain is just in overload. She doesn't know what she wants or doesn't want, she's just not happy. It's getting very challenging. The signs are helping, but it's not a perfect system. I had to escape to the mall and a pedicure yesterday. Shawn went climbing with the boys early in the morning, and by 8am I was losing my mind. He and Rob came home and rescued me and I disappeared for about 5 hours. I felt much better today and more equipped to handle her. We need to start implementing date night at least once or twice a month. We are going to Seattle for our anniversary next week and will have an over-night in a hotel just the two of us. I can't wait. I just hope she sleeps for Aunt Judy!

Baby Signs

I have been trying to teach Emma some basic sign language for months and it's finally sinking in. The last few days she has been doing the signs for "more" and "all done," but it has been very frustrating because she uses them for everything. She gets frustrated and just keeps saying "more" and then "all done," which doesn't tell me what she wants! She went up to the stroller and did "more." I just looked at her like, "more stroller?" I put her in the stroller thinking she wanted to go for a ride, but she freaked out and had a little fit on the floor. Once she calmed down a little, she went back to the strtoller and did "more" again. I said, "Emma, do you want to go for a ride?" I put her back in the stroller, strapped her in, and walked around the house. She sucked her thumb and was happy as a clam. I have been pushing "eat," "milk," and "water" to help her differentiate her wants. I think she is finally getting that I am trying to help her to communicate because today she has been eating up the signs. She stares intently as I show her "eat," "book," and "outside." Then she repeats them. It's so rewarding when she gets it!

She has a few words, "Dada," "Mama," "hi-fi" (high-five,) "diti" (kitty,) "hi," and "bye." She is still only walking with assistance, but is getting better one handed and can stand unassisted for a few seconds. She just doesn't like it!