Parlor Tricks and Prevacid at 8 Months

Emma experienced many developmental milestones as well as some health issues this past month.  This little girl has kept us busy and the lack of pictures to choose for this post proves it.  Emma’s biggest accomplishments this month are her first two bottom teeth and crawling.  Last month she was scooting around on her tummy and able to go wherever she wanted as long as there was nothing blocking her path.  This month, she can crawl and climb over just about anything short of our safety gates.  We've even had to lower her crib mattress because she pulls herself to a stand and tries to climb out of her bed.  We are currently child-proofing our house too.  You would think our home’s safety should be top-notch since Lucy has made it to two and half years old safe and sound, but this time around is a lot more nerve wracking.  Our adorable two and a half year old just refuses to be child-proofed!  Play money, stickers, costume jewelry and food are just a few of the objects that bring great curiosity to Emma and severe anxiety to her parents.

Emma has become quite the novice at parlor tricks this month as well.  She will kiss me on the mouth with her mouth wide open when we say "Kiss" and will clap our open palm when we sing "Patty Cake".  If you ask her a question like, "Are you hungry?" or "Do you want to play?" she will nod her head repeatedly while bouncing and smiling.  And just this past week she has started waving her hand when we say "hi" or "bye."

Emma loves to hold onto our fingers as she walks around the room and isn't content to be held without trying to climb up our shoulder or arm.  It is a great workout for us - Emma the climbing medicine ball.  Fortunately, Emma still loves being in the baby carrier all snuggled up to me which has been great for playing outside with Lucy or while shopping with the two of them.

Our little Emma gave us quite a scare a couple of weeks ago.  About ten minutes after I had laid her down in her crib sound asleep I heard choking and gagging on the monitor.  I ran upstairs and grabbed her out of her bed and started thumping her on the back.  It took almost two hours for the coughing and gagging to stop.  When I finally got her back to sleep and laid her down the choking started all over again.  I spent the night sitting upright with her in the rocking chair and in the morning I called and made an appointment to see our pediatrician, thinking that Emma had caught the croup Lucy had the week prior.  Emma's sinuses and lungs checked out completely clear at the doctor the following day and we began to suspect that perhaps Emma was suffering from acid reflux like Lucy.  Little details started adding up - since about four months old, Emma has been steadily falling off of her growth chart curve.  When she was born she was in the 50% for weight and length.  Now she is under 5% on the growth chart, meaning she is smaller than more than 95% of babies her age.  Our second clue is that she has been refusing to eat solids.  She makes a "lemon" face every time we present food to her.  According to the pediatric gastrologist this is common among babies with severe inflammation in their esophagus from months of acid reflux eroding it away.  Our third and most trying clue is the fact that we can no longer lay her flat for anything - diaper changes, putting her coat on or sleep without her arching her back and screaming.  That part is like déjà vu from Lucy who went undiagnosed with acid reflux until she was ironically the same age Emma is now.  After a trip to the emergency room due to more severe choking and finally an appointment with the pediatric gastrologist this past Wednesday, Emma is now on Prevacid and slowly, slowly, ever so slowly doing a little bit better.  To say that we are frustrated is an understatement.  I can hardly believe that we have another child with sleep issues of this magnitude.  I feel like I am missing the best parts of Emma’s babyhood because I am constantly trying to get Emma to sleep or eat.  She is at the point now where she is sleeping so little and eating so frequently (for weight gain purposes) that I feel like we are back in the newborn stage again.  The only difference is a newborn doesn’t get into everything and sleeps most of the day!  We have another appointment this coming week with the gastrologist, and we are hoping that she starts to show some more improvement so we can avoid extensive testing and the anxiety that something more serious is wrong.

Our little bean continues to be good natured through all of this.  As long as we aren’t laying her down, she is nothing but smiles and cuddles.  She continues to be a mama's girl, but she definitely loves her sister and her daddy, in that order.

We are looking forward to Emma’s first Christmas and hopefully experiencing a Silent Night soon!

Lucy-is-ums

What a month we have had!  Lucy had croup earlier this month with a fever for a week and a cough for over two.  The fever and cough got worse at night, so we had many sleepless nights of rough coughing and reading stories in the bathroom with the shower running on hot so Lucy could benefit from the steam.  Our bathroom counter looked like a chemistry lab with every natural cold remedy known to me lined up from honey to vitamin D, probiotics, fish oil, apple cider vinegar for foot soaks, homeopathic cough syrups, tea and tons of Kleenex.  During Lucy's sickness she became addicted to watching TV and her favorites included Dora, Clifford and Sesame Street.  Now that she is better, Lucy is having a hard time with 'healthy' TV limits.  This is new for us, as before Lucy was sick she really didn't mind TV and had no problem turning it off herself or turning it off when she was asked.  It seems we have entered a whole new phase that I'm guessing will be here to stay.

Lucy has discovered feelings this month.  Maybe this was triggered by her sickness, but either way she has become very descriptive of her moods.  The other day she woke up and told me, "Mom, I feel cranky."  And boy was she right!  She also will whine and tell us several times a day, "I want to watch Clifford...because I'm so sad!"  Or, when we agree to let her watch Clifford, "I'm so cited!!"   Even better, the other day Lucy was standing on her tiptoes, peering out of the window and told me, "Mom, I'm just so happy."  When I asked her why, she told me, "Because it snowed!"  But probably the pinnacle of her new found understanding of feelings is how she understands feelings in others now too.  When Will and I were having an emotional moment about Luke, Lucy went and got me a Kleenex and while she was wiping my face she sweetly asked me, "Mom, do you want some candy to make you feel better?"

Along with Lucy's expanded emotional vocabulary she has also become quite knowledgeable about time.  The days of the week are used in her conversations as are minutes and hours.  When asked if she would like to go to the park she now responds, "Um, I might be busy.  How about Friday?"  The other day Will asked her to hold his hand while we crossed a parking lot and she responded, "I can't Dad, my hands are busy."  She even has included dates, times and appointments into her conversations about Simone.  "Mom, I can't go to the library on Tuesday because Simone has an appointment at 9:30."  When it is time to get ready to go somewhere, Lucy will tell me in a sad voice, "I can't go mom.  Simone is sick.  I have to stay with her so she won't be lonely."
 
I made Lucy a baby carrier for her dolls this past month.  I was going to give it to her for Christmas but well, I got tired of carrying a doll every time we went somewhere.  I mean, my hands are full enough with a baby, a toddler and all of their accessories.  The baby carrier is working out nicely.

Now when we go for walks or hikes, Lucy has her baby in her carrier, and I have Emma in mine.  The picture below is a replica of what it looks like when I go shopping.  Just picture the doll Babsie who is in the carrier as Emma, and the doll Huggums who is in the shopping cart as Lucy.  Oh, and picture Lucy as me, but with shoes on.

Lucy is still talking about her imaginary friend.  In last month's blog post I misspoke about his name and called him Hevnah.  I will make another attempt to write it, but it is hard to get the proper spelling from someone who according to Lucy, "lives far away.  You have to go on a plane to be there in heaven, at school."  His name is Heinkon and the other day Lucy refused to let me get her out of her car seat when we arrived home because Heinkon was coming for her.  I was at a loss on how to respond to this so I left her there for a while.  When I came back I asked her if she was still waiting on Heinkon and she told me that "he's still at school mom.  You better get me out."  Heinkon alternates between being her brother and her friend.  Fortunately she has a real life sister to play with, and the two of them play very nicely together still.  I am bracing myself for the day Emma has an opinion about Lucy taking her toys away, but until then, I am enjoying their sweet interactions.  I found them the other day playing together in our office closet.

Favorite Lucy-isms this month include:
-When asked a question she will respond, "I can't know" whether she knows the answer or not.
-She calls a bean bag chair a "bean bang" chair
-When trying really hard to do something like carrying a heavy object she will say, "All my might!"
-When she is begging for something she wants, she will say "but I want it so badly!"
-When I warned her about wiping snot in her eye and how it could cause pink eye, she got super excited and started jumping up and down saying, "I want a pink eye!  I want a pink eye!"  So then I told her that I was joking about pink eye, and that actually her eye would turn the color of snot and she stopped.
-When Lucy was baking with me she asked if she could put the "poke of salt in it."  It took me a moment to realize she was talking about a "pinch of salt."
-Lucy loves a song she calls "Dancing Queen" and begs us to watch it on YouTube.  It took several days before we figured out she was talking about "Come on Eileen."  She watches the Dexy's Midnight Runners version and even dances with her hands behind her back just like them.
-Lucy has entered the WHY stage.  For everything she now asks WHY.  If you have any tips on how to end a 'why' conversation, please let me know.
-The other day Will was washing Lucy up without his shirt on.  Lucy looked at his chest and said sweetly, "Dad, I like your boobs!  I've never seen that color before!"
-When I was at the chiropractor's laying on my back getting an adjustment Lucy came over to me and started unbuttoning my shirt.  When I brushed her hands off she kept opening the buttons.  Finally, I asked her what she was doing and she told me, "Mom, let's get some air in there."

Below is a picture of Lucy on Will's shoulders at our annual downtown Christmas lighting ceremony.  It was cold, rainy and way too crowded, but Lucy had a blast.

It is definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 

Sunny Days and Seven Months

It's hard for me to believe, but Emma is closer to being one than a newborn now.  We have had a somewhat rocky month with her and sleep.  Any day now we are expecting her bottom two teeth to pop through, and when that happens, I am hoping her good sleep habits return.  Besides showing a stubborn streak with sleep, she remains a fun-loving, wide-eyed girl who is observant of everything.

We have introduced more foods into Emma's diet, some of which include a ham sandwich with the works on it and garlic spinach pizza.  Some might say that I've become lax in my parenting with subsequent children, but the truth of the matter is Emma takes full advantage of whatever is in my hand while I am distracted with Lucy.  And based on how she freaks out when I realize what she is chowing down on, it is no wonder she refuses to eat the baby food that we present to her.  As soon as the spoon laden with our homemade baby food crosses into her personal space (about a two foot radius from her) she squints her eyes shut and purses her mouth tight.  We have found a compromise fortunately, with a little mesh food bag attached to a handle that we put 'real' food in.  Sometimes we put the little mesh bag in the freezer for a little bit so that the food is slightly frozen to help with teething pain.  Meshed contents so far have included steamed carrots and potatoes, fresh apple, pear, banana, and skinned grapes.  Emma will gnaw on this at least long enough for us all to enjoy a meal together.

Emma has also found relief from teething pain in the most unusual objects.  She likes to chew on Lucy's doll's faces until Lucy notices.  Below it looks like she is resuscitating Simone, but she is really just relieving some teething pain.

So far my favorite Emma-invented teething remedy is chewing on Will's big toe.  I'm not sure if it's the special odor or tangy taste that numbs her gums, but either way it works.  Based on this method, we will know the moment her teeth do poke through based on Will's surprise when something sharp pierces through his sock.



Emma loves to stand.  If she is sitting anywhere near something she can use as leverage, she will scoot over to it and pull herself up to a stand.  This is very dangerous, as she doesn't have the balance yet to maintain her upright position and usually will do a half spin topple and hit her head on something hard.  In fact, Emma loves standing so much that she refuses to sit in her special little baby tub we have for bath time.  Because of this, we decided to try her out in the big tub with Lucy.

 As you can see, she still preferred standing.  After a couple of baths though, she finally was convinced to take a seat and relax which has introduced us to a whole new world of bath time fun - or as Will calls it, "Planned Chaos."  Lucy dumps water on Emma's head, Emma cries.  Emma splashes water into Lucy's eyes, Lucy cries.  Emma pees in the tub, Lucy screams.  Lucy takes Emma's bath toy away, Emma screams.  You get the idea.  But, it does save us a lot of time (and water!), as we no longer have to bathe them separately.

Emma generally doesn't like to get undressed and absolutely hates getting her diaper changed.  My sister Jane has classified her as a Never Nude (from the show Arrested Development) and if we weren't a cloth diaper family we would seriously consider getting those disposable diapers made to look like jeans in an attempt to recreate a pair of jean cut off shorts.

Maybe Emma is a Never Nude because she is always cold.  For bedtime I dress her in footed pajamas, a fleece blanket with sleeves that zips up from head to toe and a knit hat.  With this getup she would still wake up in the middle of the night ice cold, so I added a fleece blanket on top, which goes against all of the information the medical field warns parents about to prevent SIDS.  Thankfully, a friend of mine recommended using an afghan as a blanket since it at least has plenty of holes in it to prevent suffocation, but is still heavy and warm.  That is working great, combined with pumping our furnace all night long.  We received our first heat bill for the cold season and were semi shocked about the price.  I had to laugh though when I realized that we have finally found something to spend money on for Emma.  The clothes, cloth diapers, toys and accessories have all been handed down from Lucy.  Up until this past month, Emma hasn't really cost us a dime.  So, while the rest of us are sleeping in shorts and a t-shirt, Emma is finally warm and cozy and a part of the family budget as well.

Here Emma is below greeting Lucy in the morning.  Emma usually wakes up before Lucy, and will look around for her until we go into her room.  As we approach Lucy's door Emma pumps her arms and legs in anticipation and lets out a squeal when she sees Lucy.  Lucy in turn tells Emma, "I missed you when I was sleeping Emma" and when I ask Lucy what she dreamed about that night she always responds, "Emma."

We have had some beautiful fall weather this past month.  Living in Michigan, if the calendar says November and the thermometer reads above 50 degrees we do what we can to go outside and enjoy it like it's the last hurrah for the next six months.  This is part of why I love fall so much - it makes you appreciate every beautiful day.  In the picture below, I decided to capitalize on a sunny day this past week by packing a lunch and having a picnic outside our library which has a beautiful garden and walkways.  After we ate, we sat in the sun and read the books we had checked out earlier that morning.  It was one of those moments in motherhood that was easy and beautiful.  The kind of moment that was exactly how I pictured motherhood to be before I became a mother. 

Now that I am a mother, I understand that the shiny moments are mixed in between a lot of not so shiny moments.  But because of this, I appreciate those picture perfect moments like a sunny day above 50 degrees in November.

Lucy's Two and a Half!

Lucy is officially a two and a half year old.  I must say, I really do like this age.  She is the perfect mix of independent and cuddly.  She continues to sleep well and plays on her own ninety percent of the time.  However if Will is home that percentage changes to two percent as she is a daddy's girl and well, her daddy is a lot of fun.  Lucy was super excited this month because we got to celebrate her daddy's birthday!  She told me a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to bring Will lunch for his birthday and meet his students.  We did just that, and she is still talking about it.  Here she is below with Will and Emma, eating her lunch in Will's classroom.

When we got to Will's classroom I was all impressed with myself for remembering such details as plates and napkins to go with our picnic.  Panic started to set in though, when I realized I had brought nothing to disinfect the desks we were about to eat on!  After rummaging through the diaper bag, I found some extra disinfectant wipes from the doctor's office that they give you when they want a urine sample.  That took our picnic lunch to a whole new level of classy, but at least I wasn't worried about catching any germs.

I got a little teary eyed when I realized that one day Lucy will be big enough that her feet will no longer dangle at this desk.  It seems her growing up is already catching me by surprise.  Little things catch me off guard like the steadily rising height of the hand prints on my stainless steel fridge door, or how she can put the straw in her juice box by herself now.  The other day I was on autopilot getting her ready in the morning when she shook off my hand that was attempting to get her dressed.  She asked me to leave her room and close the door and promised that when I came back she would have a surprise for me.  So I went and got Emma ready and when I came back, there was Lucy sitting proudly on her bed completely dressed beaming from ear to ear!  No matter that her pants were on backwards and she was wearing a lime green short sleeve shirt with magenta plaid shorts - the fact that she got dressed all by herself was amazing to me!  She had never done this before.  I was very proud.  Granted, the following morning when I suggested that she get herself dressed she screamed "NO!" and ran away, but still.  The fact remained that she has the ability to dress herself now.  She even goes potty by herself now too, and pushes us out of the bathroom and closes the door behind us so that she can have "privacy."  This always brings a shudder to me when I hear the splash from the contents of her froggy potty being dumped into the big toilet, as she is still too short to get on the big toilet by herself.  I've told her to leave the contents of the froggy potty there and I will clean it up - really, I WANT to clean it up, but she insists on doing it herself.  Keep in mind she really only has to use the potty when I am in the shower or feeding Emma.  One morning I stepped out of the shower and found her cleaning a smear of poop off the bathroom floor with a wet wipe.  Lovely.  It is very hard for me to be angry though, as she is really trying to be independent and I do value that trait in her.

Lucy has learned a lot about cause and effect this month.  Will chopped a tree down in our yard and Lucy watched as he swung the axe.  When the tree finally fell to the ground Lucy clapped and jumped up and down.  Then she asked Will to put it back.  When Will explained that he couldn't put it back she started crying and demanding over and over again - "Put it back!  Put it back!"  Along these same lines there was a house and a restaurant near us that both got knocked down on two separate occasions.  Lucy watched the bulldozer and backhoe level them with fascination.  Now, whenever we go by either of these sites, she demands in a whining voice over and over again - "Put it back!  I don't want it knocked down.  Put it back!"

 

Lucy's imagination is still quite vivid.  This month she has been talking about her brother "Hev-Nah" which is a name she made up.  Upon further questioning to find out exactly who this person is, she has told us it is her brother in heaven.  We think Hevnah's name is a variation on heaven and we are wondering if this is her way of processing the fact that she really does have a brother in heaven.  She calls Hevnah on her play phone and tells us about conversations she has with him.  Fortunately, he is a good amount more friendly and well behaved than the tales she tells us about Simone.  Lucy continues to tell us all of the bad things Simone has done.  The other day I had just finished telling Lucy about how it is hard work for me to have to clean up all of her messes (okay, maybe I was yelling a little bit) when she went and told Will that, “Simone is really messy daddy and I am tired of cleaning up after her.”  That only gave me slightly elevated levels of mom guilt when Will related the story to me.  What really sends my mom guilt levels into overdrive however is lately Lucy has been telling me in a sweet and calm voice right after I finish venting my frustrations to her, “Mom, I love you.  I love you mom.  Mom, I just love you.”  She continues to repeat these various endearment combinations until my face changes and the anger is gone.  I’m not quite sure if she is genuinely being sweet or if she is that smart and has found a way to disarm my anger.  Either way, it works.

Some of my favorite vocabulary from this past month includes:

-Lucy tells me, "Mom, type in Dot-Com" any time she sees me on the computer.  Or even better, I find her at the computer pretending to type saying, "Dot Com."

-She calls a head band a "Rubber band"

-As we were driving home from trick or treating at the Farmer’s Market, Lucy stuck her head in her Halloween bag, inhaled deeply and said, “Mmmmmm, it smells like candy in here.  Want to smell it mom?”  Choking back immense feelings of pride, I took the candy bag and as I inhaled deeply, I thought finally, someone who appreciates the same things I do!

-"Mom, I just got to tell you something ____".  Fill in the blank with whatever randomness you can imagine.

-When Will was driving the other day and exhibiting somewhat hurried behavior Lucy piped up from the backseat “Will, be careful not to tip the car over.”  This almost made me pee my pants, because I was thinking the same thing, just in different words!  To represent Will fairly, Lucy also comments on my driving – “Whoa, Mom!  Slow down!” or just “Whoooaaa!”  Might I add that these comments are always appropriately timed too.

-And the vocab word of the month "Squirt".  She uses this word in all sorts of combinations but my favorite one was when she told us that, "I just squirted a fart in my pants."

Happy Halloween!

We began our Halloween festivities at our local farmer's market on Saturday where the vendors had trick or treating for the kids. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to say goodbye to the farmer's market until spring.  Lucy was a huge hit with the kids.  You would have thought Lucy was the next big thing, because throughout the morning random kids would shriek "ELMO" and practically pass out from excitement when they saw Lucy.  

People had no idea that Emma was Oscar the Grouch, and instead commented on her cute hat, and asked where we got it.  When I informed them that the fur was supposed to be a grouchy eyebrow, they either gave an awkward laugh or just stared.  So much for the homemade costume!  

And speaking of homemade costumes, when we were leaving JoAnne Fabric last week with the items for Emma's costume Lucy stopped us in the check out line, and with a look of horror on her face proclaimed, "What about Simone!?!"  She then proceeded to tell us that Simone was going to be Abby Cadabby, Elmo's pink and purple fairy friend on Sesame Street.  She was so convinced of this, we went back and picked out some pink and purple felt and pipe cleaners to create Simone an outfit too.  Below are the three Muppets along with the head Muppet Handler taking a break at the farmer's market.

The following day we visited the cemetery and put a pumpkin on Luke's grave.  We had hoped to get Emma in the picture too, but she was fast asleep in the car and we didn't have the heart to wake her up.

After the cemetery, we went to a family Halloween-themed birthday party where Lucy had a ton of fun running around with her cousins, playing Halloween games with the big kids and eating candy.  Here she is below with Will's cousin Jake who wrapped her up like a mummy.

Here's the family tonight, minutes before trick or treating.

Not only was it Emma's first Halloween, but her cousin Ellen's as well.  We had a great time with my brothers John and Mike, sister-in-law Jenna, niece Ellen, sister Jane and her boyfriend Matt.  Here's Ellen the football with her biggest cheerleader, mom and football star, dad.

 Here's Emma wanting out of her trash can.

My proud brother Mike looking at his cute little football girl.

This picture of Lucy was surprisingly taken BEFORE trick or treating where she was wound up on pure excitement!

Below is my brother John getting smiles out of Emma and proving that she really is no grouch.

Elmo decided that we needed to go trick or treating NOW!

Here Lucy is waiting by the pumpkins we carved, while the adults gathered coats, costumes and babies for trick or treating.

 Here's the gang trick or treating.  Every time Lucy got candy from a house she would quietly and shyly say "thank you" and then turn and run for her Aunt Jane while yelling at the top of her lungs, "AUNT JANE, I GOT MORE CANDY!"

 And finally, here is Lucy getting a lift between houses.  She made out pretty good this year and had a blast.

We hope you had a blast too!  Happy Halloween!

You and me baby are stuck like glue

This past week Emma celebrated her half birthday!  When Lucy turned six months, we celebrated with a fall photo shoot so we decided to carry on that tradition.  It was a lot harder this time around to get two kids looking at the camera.  Emma was freezing cold and more interested in eating leaves than smiling, and Lucy was hard-pressed to sit still.  The three 'unique' pumpkins came from our garden.  Below is our best attempt at showcasing both children and pumpkins.

Here is the photo from Lucy's half birthday fall photo shoot two years ago.  I like to compare Lucy and Emma pictures and see how similar and yet how different they both are.

Emma is such a big girl, now that she is half a year old.  This past month we introduced solid foods to her.  First, we brought up Lucy's old high chair from the basement and let Emma get a feel for sitting in it.  We even gave her an empty bowl to try out.

She seemed to pass these steps with flying colors, so we decided she was ready to try something a little more substantial.  We were temporarily delayed however, as we couldn't find any of our rubber coated baby spoons from Lucy (Will thinks I donated them, which is entirely possible - if we haven't used it in a year, out it goes!).  But then last weekend when we were at our local supermarket making the samples round, we realized the little black plastic spoon that came along with the bite of cake in the paper cup was perfect for a baby spoon!  

So far, she has eaten rice cereal, bananas, butternut squash and applesauce.  Banana is her favorite but she gags every time she tries the squash.  I can't really blame her, as I prefer butter, cinnamon and brown sugar on mine and she can't have those ingredients yet.  Until then, I mix the squash with a bit of apple sauce and she only makes mild grimaces when the food touches her mouth.

It seems Emma is starting to exhibit more of her own personality.  As much as I have tried to let her be her own person, I need to admit that I have been routing for Emma to be the 'laid back' sister.  And although she may be laid back in certain aspects she is definitely beginning to show her own stubborn streak.  She also has become a genuine 'mama's girl' and refuses to be with anyone else if she can see me.  For some reason, this has taken me by surprise as I only assumed that subsequent children naturally accept that their parents have divided attention.  Nope, Emma could care less that it is difficult for me to cut her older sister's food, wipe mouths and bottoms, cook meals and generally run a household one-handed.  She is stuck to me like glue.  She can hold out for hours, screaming until I can feed her or rock her to sleep.  It makes having evening plans almost impossible and extremely stressful for babysitters.  And as tiring as it is to be someone's one and only, I melt whenever she cries and reaches for me.  So I guess it is a two way street and a better description would be that we are like Velcro.

Fortunately, Emma does peel herself off of me for plenty of floor time.  She loves to be on the floor next to Lucy while playing and rolls to whatever it is she wants.  

She even gets up on her hands and knees to rock back and forth, causing a bolt of terror to run down my spine as I realize it is probably time to re-baby-proof the house.

Besides being a mama's girl, she is also Lucy's number one fan.  She lights up whenever Lucy comes into the room, and wants to be wherever Lucy is.  Lucy is the only one that can make her laugh uncontrollably and just when I think Lucy really hurt her, Emma breaks out in giddy laughter.  Emma adores Lucy.  Here Emma is below playing baby doll with Lucy in the bouncer...

in the doll stroller...

 and in Lucy's play car.

Emma eventually gets her fill, and finds her way back in my arms.

She has been a little Miss Fussy Pants lately.  Her crying really flusters me, and I find it extremely difficult to concentrate on whatever task is at hand when she is upset.  This past month I shook up a container of orange juice with the cap off, left a cup of water filling in the fridge door and didn't notice until the water spilled into the dining room, and almost blew through a stop sign.  Fortunately, none of these incidents happened on the same day, and I did stop halfway into the intersection with only a mild reprimand from my backseat driver - "Whoooa, Mom!"  We are hoping that she is cutting teeth and that this fussy phase will go as fast as it came.  Until then, stay tuned for next month's post and I will end this one with a picture of Emma at her very first annual Timmerman Apple Picking event.

Apparently the only person looking at the camera was the only person interested in the numerous aunts, uncles and cousins behind the camera who were jumping up and down and making strange noises.