Tooth Fairy is Gonna be Broke...

because Emily is taking care of her teeth! Not gonna lose any anytime soon, no siree! I saw a commercial for Aquafresh infant and toddler toothpaste and toothbrushes, for ages 3-24 months. I made the impulse purchase at Walmart (which I am prone to do on or just after pay day when I'm feeling especially rich. Ironically, I am not making any impulse purchases, or any purchases for that matter, other than Ramen noodles or $5 worth of gas at a time, by the end of the month. But I digress). Tim and I are both a bit obsessive about our dental needs (brushing at least three times a day, seeing the dentist for cleanings twice a year, etc. The older two are on a first name basis with Dr. Wendy at Moore Denistry). It was only a matter of time before Emily got in the groove too.
Our routine was to take a bath in the big bath tub in our bath ring, spread the towel on the sink, place Emily on the towel (she sits on the edge of the sink with her feet in the sink bowl, facing the mirror), wrap her in the towel, and brush her teeth. She loves to watch herself doing it, and after the second time, she grabbed the brush from me and went to town. I think it makes her gums feel amazing, and she 's really been fighting these four teeth on the top that have been emerging for the past couple of weeks. When she sees the brush, she starts bouncing and getting really excited. I've changed up the routine in the past week because I thought to myself, "Why am I brushing her teeth, then giving her a bottle on the couch? I'm just putting sugar in her mouth before it sits there all night." So now we do the bath, have our bottle, read some books, then hit the bathroom for some brushing time on our way to bed.

Don't worry, Mom, I'll take it from here.

See her tiny little pink and yellow brush next to the big ones? And her tiny little tube of toothpaste? Awwwww.

Standing Ovation!

Emily decided that just sitting for playtime was too boring. So she's been insisting that I help hold her up in front of her piano and Leap Frog musical table. This requires me to: (1) be seated on the floor behind her the whole time and (2) never achieve any other goals for the day other than be seated behind a baby on the floor. Well, today Emily decided that she had this whole standing thing down and was fine to do it herself. Here she is balancing next to her piano, where she hung out for about 15 minutes before sinking to the floor. And did I chip away at the "to do" list while she clung to the piano? No! I was so paranoid that she would fling herself sideways and slam her head into the floor that I just hung out...on the floor...next to the baby....the whole time. :)

satisified smile

After her dramatic "collapse" to the floor, Emily decided she needed some lap time.

Having a Ball During the Storm of the Century

Tim and I were on the drive home from Fredericksburg with a truck full of drywall yesterday when the storm that wasn't supposed to show up til midnight broke out full force. We were in sight of the driveway when the clouds opened up, and the wind that was bending trees to the ground gave way to a hailstorm. Tim ran all the drywall into the garage (time will tell if we can actually use it) and I ran Emily into the house to get her some dinner. In the middle of our peas, carrots, and yogurt the power flickered three times and then went out for good. So after I cleaned her up, we headed to the living room, pulled open all the blinds to let in some light, and played on the floor for a while. I had picked up a ball for her at CVS that morning (let me rephrase that: Emily saw the bin of balls at CVS and almost dived out of my arms to get one) so we rolled it back and forth. It was a hoot! Emily hearts this ball more than anything! She wouldn't let it go! She would alternate beating it to death with kissing/sucking on it.

When the ball got away from her in a heated rolling match, Emily popped over from a seated position into the "ready to crawl" crab position. Then she got stuck! She just kind of bounced like that for a minute, looking around like "Why am I not moving??" So Tim gave her a little encouragement by shifting her legs, then her arms, forward.
Below: 36 second video of Emily and I playing with her ball. Her belly laughs are worth the download time!