Luna Luna Luna!!

As I've mentioned many, many times, "Bear in the Big Blue House" is Emma's favorite show. She knows all the characters: Bah (Bear), Hoh (interchangeable for Ojo and Treelo), Pup-Pup (Pip and Pop), and YaYa (Tutter). She's also very fond of NaNa (Luna, the Moon), and Ay (Ray, the Sun).

Today, we were at the local playground, and she could see the Sun shining through the trees. She pointed and said, "NaNa!" I said, "Luna? Actually, that's Ray." "NaNa!" she insisted. I said, "Sweetie, are you sure that's Luna?" No kidding, she paused for a moment as if she was contemplating, and then said, "NaNa! NaNa! NaNa!" The queen has spoken!

The child is such a kick. I don't remember what made me smile before she came along; she's eclipsed everything that came before her.

This is the biggest smile we could get on camera 

A pretty little girl in a pretty dress... 

Ooohhh, what did the Easter Bunny bring? 

Happy Easter!

Emma had a wonderful Easter. The day before, she "helped" color Easter eggs, and had great fun. She knows her most of her colors now, so she was able to tell me that her hand was green from all the Easter egg dye! Remember those old Palmolive commercials with Madge the manicurist, where she tells her clients that they're soaking in Palmolive? Well, Emma was soaking in green egg dye, and red egg dye, and blue...you get the picture. But she was thrilled with all the colored eggs, so who cares about a bit of a mess?

Her cold was mostly gone by Sunday, but she still was feeling a bit under the weather and was a little bit of a cranky-pants for most of the day. I wanted very much to get happy, smiling pictures of my little girl in her pretty Easter outfit, but it just wasn't to be. Well, actually, I have one or two that Grandpa took, but I'm in them, too...not what I hoped for! :)

After two long, PediaCare-induced naps (one dose of PediaCare did the trick), she was in much better spirits. She was even happier when Michael and Beth came over with the kids. Emma was so excited, shouting, "Kis! Kis!" pointing at them, and scampering around. Sam, their youngest, brought a clear blue plastic tub over with some toys and stuff (the tub is about the size of a mixing bowl, but square) and Emma had great fun putting it over her head and walking around like that. She made sure to go up to each adult and say, "Hey!" until they noticed her and laughed at her antics. She loves attention!

I'll be putting pics from Easter here on Emma's blog. Check them out!

Parents, keep your germy kids at home!!!

This past Saturday, I took Emma to an Easter event at a wonderful church nearby. She had a fabulous time; she petted bunnies and chicks, played musical instruments, decorated (and ate) a cookie, created art projects, and had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. She brought home a bunch of goodies - artwork, a duck mask, candy... and a nasty cold.

At this age, colds are super-contagious. Well, they're contagious at any age, really. But when a bunch of little kids are in the same place, touching things, putting things in their mouths (which Emma still likes to do), germs are bound to get passed around. So I'm left to think about parents who take their kids to things like this when they have colds. Why, why, why??? My little girl is suffering right now because some parent somewhere decided that his/her kid's runny nose was no big deal, and that it would be a shame for their child to miss out on fun because of the sniffles. What's a shame, though, is that I'm sure any number of kids have now caught colds because of this parents' lack of consideration.

I'm a firm believer that, if you're sick, you stay home. I've been fortunate, sure, to have jobs that were nothing special, so that I could practice this philosophy without any serious repercussions. But, think about it for a moment: you get sick, you stay home for a day, get lots of rest, you feel better and go on with your life. Or, conversely, you get sick, you show up at work and sneeze all over your cubicle, the coffee pot, the papers you're working on and that you'll pass to your coworker, and what do you know? Pretty soon everyone is sick.

Now, take that same parent who sees themselves as being "stronger than some cold" and give them kids. It doesn't take a medical degree to figure out that their snotty-nosed kids are going to be getting every other child sick. It angers me to no end, particularly since Emma has been sick for four days now, and shows no signs of feeling better. It didn't have to happen.

The upside is that she had the most fun she's had in a long time. I mean, the child was squealing and running all over the place, shouting at all the other kids there, screeching at the poor chicks, generally having a wonderful time. It's not worth the cold, but it's definitely a plus.

This is Emma's last month before turning 2. She's thinking about weaning; she went a few nights without nursing, then tonight when I was bringing her upstairs she said, "Boob!" and started poking. I asked her, "Do you want the boob?" and she started laughing, like it was the coolest and funniest thing that a) I understood, and b) she was going to nurse.

She laughs a lot lately, and over the funniest things. At least, they're funny to her. She'll be watching "Bear in the Big Blue House," and suddenly she's cracking up over Tutter or Treelo or Ojo...it could be anyone. And sometimes she forces out laughter until her face is red and the tendons on her neck are actually sticking out...it is absolutely hysterical. She loves to laugh that much.

There are times when I look at her and I wonder just what I did to have such a precious treasure in my life. I think back on when I got pregnant, and I remember what my life was like; I had no idea that it was changing in such a miraculous way. One day, I'm just muddling through, the next day, two lines on the pregnancy test. Incredible.

But this isn't about me, it's about my precious little girl. My little girl that's getting bigger now. I measured her the other day, and she's 32 3/4 inches tall. You double their height when they're two to get their adult height. That would make her almost 5'4 when she's fully grown. Heck...I can't handle her being two...why am I thinking about when she's full grown???

Lots of reasons to laugh

Emma has added a new character to her collection of favorites: Tutter the mouse, from "Bear in the Big Blue House." Bear has been her go-to guy ever since she was tiny, but this adoration of Tutter is brand new. Tutter, for anyone who doesn't know, is a little blue mouse who talks in a screechy voice with a New York accent. Sounds annoying, I know, but he's actually a very cute character, and frequently makes me smile, as well. Emma suddenly thinks he's so darned funny! He comes on the t.v., and she starts to smile, and pretty soon she's shrieking with laughter. And if he sings, forget it...she shouts, "More, more!" and makes me play his songs over and over again.

Speaking of laughing, she has started doing this fake laugh thing that is so funny. It's like she enjoys laughing and feels good when she laughs, so she forces out laughter whenever she gets the chance. Sometimes, her face will turn red from the effort, but she keeps going. One thing is for sure, she makes me laugh...the real kind.

Revising my thoughts on snow

We got another snow storm the other day. Okay, maybe it wasn't a storm, but it was a decent amount of snow, maybe 4 inches or so. I may have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Emma loves the snow. She likes to throw it in the air, shuffle around in it, watch it fall...anything that she can think of to do in the snow, she wants to do. I, on the other hand, have gotten pretty sick of the stuff!

Getting back to the other day...I was lamenting the fact that it was snowing again, when one of the women on my First Time Moms bulletin board mentioned taking her son out to play in the snow in D.C., where she's at. I thought about it, and I realized that it had been awhile since I bundled Emma into her snowsuit to play. So, when Emma woke up from her nap, we went out, and had a blast! She laughed at the snow falling down, she threw snow into the air, she fell on her bootie and stayed there, so happy to be in the snow. Later, I got out her toboggan and we went for a drag around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing pretty hard, and it was whipping the falling snow into her face, so it got to be a bit much and we had to come home. She got a warm bath, I got some warm Chai, and I also got some great pictures! Check them out below!

Trudging along on the frozen tundra... 

A pretty little snow baby!