My Little Bookworm

Now that Emily is mobile, she likes to get into all sorts of trouble. I can't leave her for a second--she's been in the cat water dish, under the dining room table, climbing the hearth, and most recently pulling all of my magazines out of the side table. She appreciates my vast collection of O magazine and Ladies Home Journal.

If this is a problem, I can go back to board books, Mom.

No centerfold?

Ha ha, you caught me!

Candy Corny

I was in the fall spirit recently and decided to order a very cute shirt for Emily. I wanted something fall/Halloween related, but not so "Halloweeny" that she couldn't wear it during September too. Her shirt arrived the other day from Etsy and it is sooooo cute! The only prob? Apparently, a bald baby in a black shirt just screams "boy" to the general public. Despite her very feminine name being embroidered on the front, I still got plenty of "Oh isn't he adorable?" comments.

Emily: Ten Months Old

Big changes have happened in the last month! For the past week, Emily has been crawling up a storm. She also pulls up on all furniture, including her crib (and then she screams because she can't get down!). She can "cruise" along objects until she reaches her desired destination (like her Leap Frog table to the exersaucer to the play piano to the couch). She has many new skills such as clapping her hands, shaking her head in response to a question ("Emily, you ready for bed?" Emily: shaking head 'no'), saying Dada to Timmy, saying "baba" for her nighttime bottle, saying "uh oh!" every time she throws an object, and pointing to something she wants.
STATS:
Height: 28 and 1/2 inches (75% percentile)
Weight: 18 lbs, 11 oz. (50% percentile)
Head circumference: 25% percentil (16 inches I think?)
Sizes: 12 months for clothes, 3 for diapers

Magic Carpet Ride

Check out our new ride! Yes, we have joined the minivan brigade, and once you see all the space you get and the features that come with a minivan, it's very difficult to not immediately throw yourself at one and beg for low financing. We bought a 2012 Kia Sedona yesterday. It is wonderful! But our story doesn't start there. Earlier that day, after dropping off Emily with our friends Tracy and Craig, Tim and I headed over to the local Toyota dealership. We had been there last year, just taking a peek around, and we were both impressed with the Sienna. Well, the minute we get there, it was like we were wasting the sales people's time. They practically threw the keys at us, told us to drive it around, and we had to track them down when we got back. All of which was kinda ticking me off, since I wanted them to act like we were about to throw 30 g's their way.
When it came down to it, they insulted us on trade in price for my Subaru, tried to get us to pay MSRP for the van, and then the real kicker (for me): the interior color. We had one choice--white. Ever see white interior in a minivan....with kids? Not gonna happen. So we walked. Right over to the Kia dealership. And Travis, our Kia salesperson, was so relaxed and calm that I was sure he was abusing several illicit drugs. He was very "no pressure". We checked out the vans, the thousands of dollars in rebates, and we were sold! Our Kia comes with seven seats (both back rows fold flat into the floor), USB port, hands free phone, Sirius radio, a backup camera, zone heating and air.....the list goes on and on.

When I put the van into reverse, a little screen pops up in the review mirror (that's it on the left), which shows me the view behind the van! It also starts beeping loudly if it detects an object in my way. Should stop me from backing into the garage cans from now on!

Tons of space, a dozen cup holders, and a 10 year warranty.....we could not ask for more!

Emily Crawling!

When I picked Emily up from daycare today, Ms. Tammy gave me a "look" and said "She's been faking us out! That baby crawled all over the place today like she's been doing it for months!" Turns out, while Emily is in a seated position, if she really wants something, she whines and stretches her arms toward it, waiting for an adult to hand it to her. This usually works. If she doesn't get the adult's attention, which is what happened at daycare today, she apparently decides that it's time to move and starts cruising over to the desired toy.

So I tested it out. While I was changing the sheet in her crib this evening, I put "forbidden things" like Caroline's socks and a hair tie, out of reach. At first, Emily was only interested in the hamper . Then she does the "Jeti force" with her arms, "willing" the object to fly into her grasp. When this doesn't work, she spends the next twenty seconds watching me put the sheet in her bed. Thirty seconds later, she decides that she wants the socks and hair tie NOW and she cruises on over to them.

Since I can't get the video of her crawling to load, enjoy some random pics of the now-mobile Emily!

Flooded with Emotions

I felt absolute joy when I got the call this morning that school was cancelled. Yay! A Friday off! Three day weekend! That excitement turned to dread later in the morning when I got a text message from Tim that his crab boat had sank from the week's worth of rain we've gotten. The kids and I loaded up in the car to drive to MD to check out the damage. On the way, we passed an area of the Dahlgren base where the sewer drains had blown out the security fence and road on the base. We also passed a section of Rt. 301 where a mud slide had taken out half the hill. It was more damage that we saw during Hurricane Irene!

View from Harry Nice bridge that spans from VA to MD. You can see the green river water all mixed with brown runoff.

Side of Rt. 301 in MD

On the way into Aqualand Marina in MD. The "lake" was a grassy field last time I was there.

Dahlgren Base

First Day of School 9.6.2011

The kids are back in school, yay! And that means I am back in school :( No, I am very excited about my seventh year of teaching. My students seem very nice and fairly intelligent, and I have a feeling it will be a good year. My own "personal" children were happy to return to Potomac Elementary. Garrett is in sixth grade this year and Caroline is in fourth grade. And what might the cats be doing while the parents are at work, the kids are at school, and the baby is in daycare? Apparently, creating a townhouse out of the new side table in the living room. Butters the Cat thinks that there is a force field around the table and that she is invisible.

Ha ha, those humans can't even see me in this table! Joke is on them!