Saturday, December 10, 2005
Attack of the box
You would think a box barely halfway up her shin would be easy to master. Not so much...



See Mom, I fit.



Can't. Get. Out.



Get me out of here! Now!



"Just one more picture, hon."



Now roll the film, George...



Film note: What I was missing was a single, solitary Cheerio she had spied under the couch. As soon as she got out of the box she grabbed it and ate it.
Ornament of the Day
I suspect I'm not the only one with this ornament...
Decoration of the Day
The porcelain doll was a gift to Emma for Christmas last year. The box was a gift container for the bottle of wine we received from friends. Once again combine two items and "christmas decoration." OR, I can't ever get rid of anything.

More odd (clever)(disgusting) behavior
We don't give our child soda. Go figure. We're mean, mean parents. I know. But that doesn't stop our Emma, no way. Her latest trick is to pull cans out of the recycling bin and drain the last drops from the can. Yay! Backwash for everyone!

Also she's recently decided she wants to eat things with no hands. Just plant her face on whatever surface the food sits on and suck it up. She was eating Cheerios off the couch this morning. No problem with that if you don't mind the occasional dog hair with your food.
Cut off cold turkey
Due to technical difficulties (and extreme lameness) our mommy board is down this weekend. That's a quick cure for addiction. Despite the obstacles I've been able to communicate with a few of the gals. Feel free to check in here and let me know how you're doing this weekend. I worry about y'all, y'know...;)
Friday, December 09, 2005
Not even a mini-Santa works...
M. wanted to get a picture of Emma standing next to Mr. and Mrs. Santa in the store window. Well...she wasn't having none of that happy crappy either...


More Odd Behavior
Tonight I fed Emma a grilled cheese sandwich. Usually I cut it up into half-inch squares for her. Tonight she was a taking two stiff fingers and mashing down the middle of each piece before she would pick it up and eat it. I have no idea...
Ornament of the Day
Here are the other two White House ornaments we've received from my MIL. They are pretty ornate little buggers.


Decoration of the Day
Mistletoe. This guy probably dates back to the 50's, or at the very least the 60's. It came from Bea Bea. You can see that's where a lot of my stuff came from. Mom has one exactly like it. He hangs over the door between the kitchen and living room. So if I catch you there you'd better pucker up!

I took this IQ test too...just to see...
A.C.E Official IQ Test

This time I got a 143. You all should take it and see if it makes you smarter too. For the record, I don't know my IQ. I assume I was tested at some point, but I've never been told my score.
So I'm a logical moron...
Your IQ Is 125

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional

Your General Knowledge is Exceptional


I hardly find that surprising. I always have a quick instinctual answer for such things and then I think and rethink and confuse myself till I don't know what the hell is going on.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Santa needs some help...
Here I was thinking I was doing pretty good on Emma's Christmas. Then I pulled out my bag of stuff to show M. and realized, shit!, there are only six items here. That would be a damned pitiful showing from the jolly old elf. I need to go shopping! So shopping I went. I added two big balls, a jewelry box, a book for her LittleTouch, a baby doll, and a mini Elmo lunch box filled with butter cookies. Emma won't know the difference, but she's sharing Christmas morning with her three older cousins and I'm sure they can count presents at a glance. ;)
Ornament of the Day
When I was a teen I was a huge fan of the Bloom County comic strip. Opus was the primary character and I had a few Opus items in my collection. Have a cool Yule, ya'll!

Decoration of the Day
This is the arrangement for the kitchen table. It's the informal one that I'll use most of December. When Christmas gets close I plan to change it and use a beautiful table runner that my SIL gave me last Christmas. It's just so pretty I don't want to take the chance of it getting messed up from everyday use.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Emma's favorite toy
She's wielding her big stick. It's actually a back scratcher, but she loves it. Honestly, here is what Santa could bring to make her Christmas merry and bright...her own stick, a box of tissues for unlimited pulling pleasure, dog biscuits, her own bowl of water on the floor, a cell phone, a remote control that works, and a stack of coasters she's allowed to touch.

Trip to town today
I had to work first. I put in three hours and then hit the road at noon. It was my annual GYN visit. Yippee. I got to wait 40 minutes past my appointment time for 10 minutes of attention. Co-pay $40. Fun.

We hit Walmart, the Mall, and Target. I picked up the ornament for my board exchange. I had a particular one in mind so I had to make the big trip over the mountains. I also knocked a few folks off my Christmas list. And I bought some forks for Emma. She's getting into the utensils now.

AND...she's finally signing at me unprompted. That only took forever. I take that back, she's been signing "all done" for a long time. But that sign can also mean "give me water." This time she's giving me the official "more" sign.
Ornament of the Day
This one is a sentimental favorite. I'm pretty sure it's a Hallmark.

Decoration of the Day
This was a gift from Bea Bea (Noni's mom). She really loved this guy. She had one just like it. She took such good care of hers. She even used to curl his beard up with a tiny curling iron. ;) Another decoration to remind me of her.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Emma does the Kwanzaa dance with Elmo
Decoration of the Day
OK, I don't think of myself as a teddy bear person, but I receive them as gifts, so what are you gonna do? I got this bear from a secret Santa years ago. The sleigh bore gifts from SIL last year. So now they're a pair. What do you think? On second thought, nevermind. ;)

Ornament of the Day
I made this one from a kit. I used to cross-stitch a lot, before I got a computer. I'm kind of fond of this one.

More pics from Sunday
This is her plaintive, "you hold me Mommy!" look. I think she was just trying to get away from Daddy who was feeding her raw broccoli. I kid, she loves broccoli. Not sure about raw though...



So now she has me...and my necklace...



Back at home...

Monday, December 05, 2005
Another milestone this evening
We dropped her bedtime bottle. Instead of snuggling up with a bottle before bed, I gave her a sippy with milk and read her a bedtime story. She didn't seem to be phased in the least. Go figure.

I do expect dropping the morning bottle to be more of a challenge because when you come in the room in the morning to greet her, you'd BETTER be toting a bottle. Don't even think about changing her first. I guess it's kind of like morning coffee for her.
Ornament of the Day
This is one of my absolute favorites. It's the White House ornament from last year. I love the blue and the winter scene. We had to set up the tripod to get this shot because I couldn't hold steady enough to do it myself. My MIL has given us the White House ornament the last three years.

Decoration of the Day
Let's see...I received Father Christmas (or Winter, or whatever) from my Aunt. The fancy candle-holders came from Noni, who has a set like them, except hers are red and gold. The crystal ginger jar is the last Christmas gift I received from Bea Bea before the died. The runner is something I bought when I had hopes of owning a real dining room table. That still may happen some day. Anyway, I clear a countertop to make this arrangement every year.

All dressed up
Here she is. Picture attempt #2. Can't get a smile...



Same picture, without the soft focus fiddling.



Picture attempt #3. Already done, time to go to party.



After we got home, tried for more photos. This one shows the entire outfit.

We're going out shortly...
We have a Christmas Open House to attend at our neighbor's up the road. They have one every year and invite half the county. The good news is that it gives me a good excuse to dress up Emma. I recently realized that I hadn't had her dressed up in tights since April. Yikes! Hope to have some good pics for you later.
Decoration of the Day
This couple was a gift from M.'s mother last year. When you squeeze the she-bear's hand they sing "Winter Wonderland." There are lights and motion involved too. They're sitting in a chair that MIL gave us at Thanksgiving for Emma.

Ornament of the Day
In honor of our favorite Sunday pasttime...