(19 months) Emily has several ways to communicate with her outside world. I thought that it would be good to document what she is doing at this point.

Actions – Emily has several ways to comunicate with us through actions. If she wants us to do something with her she takes our hands and leads us to the location of what she wants. She will sometimes get Mommy out of a chair and then get Daddy and take him to a baby gate expecting Mommy to also follow. Emily will also bring books and toys to you when she wants to play with you. Lastly she loves to dance to music. She dances when encouraged, but also on her own when inspired by the music.

Sign Language – Emily will sign to us to communicate her needs and wants. Some of the words are based on our expected response or just to tell us information. The signs she is using right now are: juice, milk, please, baby, and more. She also nods her head yes and no. Her head noding is more accurate than her choice of ‘yes’ and ‘no’ in words. Her favorite request is to ask for juice.

Words – Emily has been talking for quite a while and has more words than we can understand. She loves to babble, but I think there are real words imbeded in her babble that we just do not understand. When she doesn’t have her pacifier in her mouth she babbles even more. The words that she uses fairly often and are understandable are: thank you, OK, Da or Daty (Daddy), all done, yes, no, hi, shoes, bye-bye, think-think-think, and oh boy. As much as I would enjoy it she hasn’t added Mommy to her daily language. ‘Think-think-think’ is a phrase used on the Pooh and Tigger cartoon. ‘Oh boy’ is a phrase used on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse by Mickey. She uses ‘oh boy’ appropriately, but only uses ‘think-think-think’ when the show is on.

Each week we see something new in Emily as she learns to be more of an individual. Her play is becoming more developed and very entertaining (most of the time).

In an effort to reduce obstacles for Mommy as her tummy gets bigger, we changed the baby gate layout in our house. Previously we had our living room divided to give Emily some safe play areas where Mommy could leave Emily and not worry about her safety. This required Mommy to step over the baby gate a lot. We have now set baby gates at the doorways leaving the living room, giving Emily much more freedom. Emily has loved her new freedoms and access to more toys. Mommy has trouble multi-tasking while walking and has proved that even with the new layout that stepping over anything is bad.

I have found that Emily is more open to learn new things from other people and children than Mommy. We have had trouble teaching Emily to bite food to get a mouthful. While we were on our vacation my cousin’s daughter Annmarie was having a snack while sitting next to Emily. She introduced a whole banana to Emily. She helped Emily learn to hold the banana and how to ‘chew’ on it until she figured out how to bite. Now I can hold the banana for Emily and she can take bites for herself. She is still learning quantity control, but she will figure it out eventually. Thank you Annmarie!

Yesterday, when I put Emily down for her first nap she was not inclined to fall into a deep sleep, so she didn’t get a long nap. So when it was time for her second nap, I decided to let her play a little longer to get really sleepy. In the 30 minutes I was going to wait, I fell asleep on the couch. I was awakened from my nap by Emily climbing up on top of me. She likes to try to sit on my big tummy. I helped her sit on the couch and lean up against me. The next thing I knew, she had laid down on the couch by herself and went to sleep. She continued to sleep for about two hours. I was stuck for a while, until she moved and quit laying on top of me. Then I was able to get up. I really wanted to take a photo of her, but I was not about to wake her up. It was very sweet to get to watch her sleep!

When I got Emily up from her first nap yesterday, she had been playing for a few minutes. She managed to get her arm out of the arm hole and through the neck hole of her shirt. I had to take a photo of this—once I quit laughing. She hasn’t figured out how to take her clothes off yet, but she is trying to help me get her dressed, so it won’t be long. In the photo you can see her two new bottom molars.

Emily is 19 months old, and between a busy schedule at the pediatrician and a vacation, we were not able to make it for her 18 month checkup until now. At this visit she weighed in at 20 lbs 14 oz. and 32 inches long. Over the last four months she is 2 lbs 8 oz. heavier and 1 3/4 inches longer. Emily is in the 50 percentile for height, 5 percentile for weight, and 3 percentile overall. This is where she was prior to her odd weight loss at one year. The doctor is pleased to see her regain her size. Emily wouldn’t show off any of her tricks for the doctor, but she did let him admire the 6 new teeth that she had come in since her last visit. Our visit ended with three more shots and lots of tears. We will go back for another check up at 2 years.

(18 months) We visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI on our trip to visit some family. Emily was a great sport and was an angel while we visited the Rouge Production Facility and the Museum. She took one nap in her stroller, ate a great lunch, and didn’t fuss as long as we were moving. One day we will take her back and let her explore when she is big. This trip was for Mommy and Daddy. This photo was taken while we waited for the bus to take us to the Plant.

Look Who Decided to Join Me, originally uploaded by Robby Edwards.

Rachelle sent Emily to wake me up.

(29 weeks)  I have found that while I am pregnant I am pretty forgetful. I think of what I need to do and then walk to the other room and can not remember what I had gone in to do. As this pregnancy has progressed I have also found that I had forgotten quite a bit about being pregnant the first time. Some of the things I forgot are worth forgetting, but a few are really sweet remembrances. I just had one of those moments just this week. This baby is getting some size and is able to make stronger movements. She stretched out her arm and then moved it. I felt her drawing her hand across the inside of my tummy like she was following a shooting star in the sky. It is a feeling that can’t be described. I quickly reached to see if I could touch her hand while it was close to my skin. I did just before she moved it away. It was like I was able to hold her hand for the first time. I had forgotten this sweet thing from my first pregnancy. What delight! I will look forward her continuing to interact with me. I thought it would be best to write down my thoughts before I forget them again so that I will never forget it.