Kisses!

Em now gives kisses. Actually it's more like she's leaning in for a taste. . .but we take what we can get.

Here she is sharing spit with one of her favorite twigas. (For those wondering Emma has several stuffed twigas. .. and twiga is Swahili for giraffe)

Hmm... kissing Twiga was good. . .but I'd love to kiss you instead. Hey Lady. . don't you back away from me.

Pucker up!
Smooch!!!

(See. . I think she's into tasting)

I give good kisses!!
and good hugs too!

Pretty Baby!

Em is such a fun girl and really hams it up when the camera comes out. Here are a few from an afternoon photohoot on the couch. . .

Happy Girl!

Mischevious Baby. . . it looks like she's plotting for something big.
Posing

If she wasn't so washed out this would be my fave.

These were taken a few days after her first tooth broke through.

If you look closely you will see it.

Peek-A-Boo!

Practicing her form as a future rock climber.

Development

Nothing much has changed but everything seems so different.

Em isn't talking, but she has a lot of new noises.

Em isn't crawling, but she quickly gets from point A to point B using her own modified crab style.

Em isn't walking, but she cruises the furniture with ease.

Em's mostly a happy baby except for when she's not. . . like this past week because she's teething.

Here's her version of motoring "quickly".

Em still loves all animals and she relishes in any chance she can get for a snuggle. Truman is usually happy to oblige.

Giving Truman a kiss.
Snuggling her Truman pillow.

Brian took this picture and it makes me laugh. Three of the Anderson-Schroeder clan doing what we do best.

Tuck laying on the couch.

Em quietly playing with her toys (yes she's under the table chair).

Me baking cookies.

.

Buh!

Today Emma and I went to the fish store to buy fish for our empty tank. Emma had never been to the fish store and I wanted her help pick out the fish. . . so we strolled through the aisles browsing the tanks. I described the different fish as we passed the tanks, and she seemed relatively amused.

We walked past a tank of blue diamond discus and Emma pointed to the tank and yelled, "BUH!"

I went back to the tank and laughed as she pointed again and yelled, "BUH!"

After stopping for a few minutes so she could watch the discus we continued through the tanks trying to see if any other fish could get a rise out of her. . . . and NOTHING.

We returned to the tank of high priced discus and again she became extremely animated and pointed to the tank. "Buh, Buh, Buh!" She gazed lovingly at the beautiful fish. After seeing how much the discus cost, I tried to divert her attention by taking her to a tank of bright orange and blue cichlids. She wanted nothing to do with the cichlids. She wiggled and squirmed wanting to get back to the discus tank.

I walked her back to the overpriced fish tank and again she pointed and demanded, "BUH!"

I caved.

Welcome BUH, the newest addition to the Anderson-Schroeder menagerie.

Swing .. . tastes like chicken!

On Thursday we went to Brian's work picnic. We had a great time, and Em got to enjoy the swing.

Hey lady, quit distracting him. . he's trying to push.

Do you see that down there?
Oooh, that looks like it tastes good. . . ..

Quick lick to make sure it's not poisonous. . .
CHOMP!!

WHAT???
I love swinging. . can we come again?

Here's a video for your viewing pleasure. . .

Development Explosion

In two days Emma has mastered pulling herself up in her crib, going from laying to sitting, and has her own version of motoring.

Boy am I in trouble.

Snack Time

8 months!

Holy cow. . where has time gone? Emma entered this world 8 months ago. . and it only seems like yesterday that she joined our family.

8 things about Emma

1. She still has 0 teeth.. . . even though I swear she's been teething since she was 3 months old. If anyone has any tricks to help the teeth actually make their big debute. . .I'm all ears.

2. Emma loves food! She'll eat anything you put in front of her. . .well. . . everything except bananas. She detests them and has from day one. Anything banana flavored is a definite no-no. The only difference between now and then is that she's become an expert spitter . .. . if by accident you sneak a banana into her bite of food (wink wink), she will launch that piece of banana across the room at such a velocity that it sticks to the wall. Honestly, I think she was aiming for my head, but missed.

3. She is still not crawling. . .but gets around by what we call "motoring". See the previous blogs for video evidence motoring.

4. Emma loves to take a bath. I'm convinced she would spend hours in the bathtub playing if I let her.

5. Emma is starting to learn the names of things. If I ask her where Mazie is, she'll look over at Mazie. If I say airplane, she'll look up in the sky for an airplane. If I ask her if she wants yogurt, she squeals and starts bouncing in her highchair.

6. Her afternoon nap consists about an hour of her laying in her crib peacefully playing with her stuffed puppy and about 15 minutes of actual sleep.

7. She loves everyone and eagerly greets them with a smile and a wave.

8. Her favorite activity is standing up on the couch looking out the window. She's a Nosey Nelly and loves to see what's happening in the neighborhood.

Here are a few pictures from a trip to the park.

Hey look. . .what's that?

Did I hear that correctly?

Did you just say it's Dan the Lion?

A Lion??

You sat me down near a lion??

What kind of mother are you?

I'm scared!!

Fine, if you're not going to help me, I'm going to take matters into my own hands.

Take that Dan the Lion. . . I will pull all your hair out.

Bwaahahahahaa

Emma's first adventure in the swing! I couldn't tell if she loved it or hated it. . .

I guess this face answered my question.

Swinging too close to nap time doesn't make a happy baby.