Welcome and Hello Thea!

Life doesn’t get much better than this! We lounged together on a warm spring day getting to know each other. She is pretty perfect. She studied everything, did not mind a new person holding her, got down and played in water and rolled around on a blanket, helped look for other kids, did not fuss about how she was held as long as she could be a bit squirmy in whatever position she was in, and had such happy faces. This mama took pity on her and kept two sets of little hands off of her today, but the moratorium is off now and she will have to suffer love from two more girls. We are so excited to watch you grow little one! So glad you are in our lives.

All the bigger kids had fun doing their favorite kid things together. Lots of wonderful busyness.

Emily is trying to catch water drops on her tongue. She was pretty busy enjoying herself and wouldn’t pose for any photos.

Wet grins!

Of course Julia had to swing. While she can swing in the bigger kid swing she would prefer to swing in the more secure swing and beg for “underdog”. Geez, the things that Uncles teach little kids. Uncle Doug had better watch out.

We celebrated a little summer at a local splash pad and playground. Despite the heat, Emily and Julia seemed more interested in playing at the playground than getting wet. Emily did figure out how to make her pinwheel spin fast by putting it a stream of water. Julia liked climbing the stairs and sliding. The kids served a lot of food out of their little deli. During snack time Elena gave me an awesome smile.

After church on Sunday, we and the grandparents caught a yummy lunch and then spend some time by a fountain for Emily to play in. The day was a little cooler than our normal hot August days and made for a beautiful day to be out in. Emily, like usual, was a little skittish about getting wet. She enjoyed playing ‘Hokey Pokey’ and sticking hands and feet in the water with her Mommy. The game she loved most was getting her feet wet and then running out to visit with a grandparent and then returning to the water.

We spent one warm summer morning at the Splat Pad with a friend and her kids. I ended up with a lot of action photos of Emily because she was very busy and not interested in looking at the camera. And not to many of Julia because she was attachedto me for much of the play time.

This park has a playground right next to the water area so that the kids can move freely between the two areas safely. Emily chose to play in the playground and not get wet for quite a while. And even after she got wet, she really enjoyed the playground area best this day. She was little ‘Miss Outgoing’ and hung out with some big girls who were great to include Emily in their play. Emily warmed up to the slide slowly as usual, but while holding Mommy’s hand she decided that it was OK. Her wet suit made her very fast down the slide.

Julia hung out with me most of the time. We tried the bumbo next to some squirting water so that she could explore it on her own. Almost immediately, a little boy came to play and inadvertently splashed Julia with water, which she didn’t like. I got her settled and Emily came to check on her. She was very sweet to talk to her and even pet her on the head. The funny thing was that Emily decided that she wanted to put her foot in the water and used Julia’s head to steady herself. The pulling of Julia’s hair was the last straw of Julia’s patience with sitting by the water and she wanted nothing less than to be held. I don’t really blame her, I wouldn’t like my hair being pulled and water splashed in my face either.

This was by far my favorite park and splat pad we have visited for a playdate. The location was good for meeting for a playdate, the size of the park was great for small kids, and the water made it easy to cool off and a lot of fun!

(18 months) This was a very fun week for Emily. Late in the week we found two new teeth in Emily’s mouth. She now has two more on the bottom. We have 10 total (6 top/4 bottom). It is pretty hard to eat with only two on the bottom and I’m not sure how much easier the new two will make it, but it is getting better.

It is blueberry season and Emily tried fresh blueberries this week. She got so excited about them and can’t get them in her mouth fast enough. I have had to limit the quanitity that I give her because a whole meal of blueberries isn’t the best for her system.

Emily is learning to jump up and down. She is able to bounce in her bed when she is holding on to the side. On Saturday she watched a tv show where they encouraged the children to jump with the characters. I watched as Emily tried to obey the request. She was not holding on to anything and she jumped up. She didn’t get very high and was off balance. She could not catch herself and fell to the ground. She got right up to her feet and tried it again. I was laughing so hard. It will not be long until she can hop!

That’s Wet!, originally uploaded by Robby Edwards.

Emily had a play date with Mommy and a friend at a local park with a water feature. She really seemed to enjoy it.