E does the blogging - 21 months

In the past few months I have turned into quite the chatter box. Mom figures I was just waiting to say things until I could really say them well. On the day Mom took my pictures I said my name for the first time. Mom and Brother were so excited and tried and tried to get me to say it again - but I wasn't interested. I've also recently learned, "prickly" "train" "airplane" "truck" "story" "pants" bike" "flower" "outside" "buckle" "go away" "please water" "sorry" "help" and a whole lot of other words too. I will even attempt to say anything Mom asks me to, like "friend" at the store yesterday.

Brother taught me a great trick of saying "hi" to everyone we see - especially at stores. Mom says we make a lot of people's day when we say hi to them. I am certainly not shy when it comes to saying "hi" as long as I do it myself. If Mom has to prompt me to say hi then I get really shy.

I love fruit! Right now we have apples, pears, and grapes in our back yard and I sample each of them nearly every day. I am just the right size to fit under the support structure for the grapes. I have surprised Mom several times by walking out from underneath the grapes when she didn't know I was under there. I can hide completely in the grapes and then I can eat as many as I want. I really love eating grapes! Every day when we got outside I ask Mom for an apple. She quickly found if she didn't give me a good apple I'd just eat the rotting ones off the ground. So now I get an apple a day - and it seems to be keeping the doctor away. I haven't had to go to the doctor since I got tubes in my ears in June.

I am very motivated to keep up with my big brother. I love to follow him around and do everything he does. If he sits down to put his shoes on I sit down so I'm in the exact same position to try to put my own shoes on. I really love shoes, too. I know which shoes match up and which person they belong to. I sometimes hand people their shoes in matching pairs when I'm ready to leave. 

Since I got tubes and moved into a bed I've been sleeping a lot better at night, though I often fall asleep just inside the door and sleep on the floor all night long. But I rarely get up in the middle of the night any more.

Climbing is my favorite game. I love to open the dishwasher and climb on the door. If the stools are down I push them around the kitchen and get into whatever has previously been out of my reach. One day I even set the timer off on the stove. It really scared me and I haven't tried that again. 

I love reading books, especially the books that just have pictures and the words to what they are. I pull one out and tell Mom everything I know in that book, then I have her tell me all the things I don't know. Then we start all over again. My favorite things to find are dogs and cats, because they also make noises which are fun to make.

E Does the Blogging - 18 months

Ok - so my update is a month late - but the picture is about right. There is just so much to do these days! Who has time for typing on the computer when there is a whole world to explore? I love exploring. I climb on everything and even when I fall it doesn't stop me from climbing or trying to climb on anything else. In the few weeks we've owned a bunk bed I've already learned how to climb up and down the ladder by myself. Mom always says I have no fear. I love water and heights and dogs and strangers...I'm not scared of anything - except being taken away from my mom and dad. A couple weeks ago (6/24/13) I got tubes in my ears. The anesthesiologist took me from my mom and dad and I was not happy. Other than that the tubes haven't bothered me much at all. The hardest part was not eating before we went to the doctor's office at 7:30 in the morning. By then I've already been up for a couple hours, you know - and a guy sure gets hungry when there's so much to explore at 6 am!

I love living in my new house. I love playing in the yard - especially the front yard. I'm not allowed to be out there by myself, but I sure try to be. I really love playing in the sprinklers. I always scrunch my shoulders when the water hits me - but I keep going back for more. I also love to play in dirt and mud. I have ruined several outfits since we moved with mud. We got a dog a couple weeks back and I sure do love Lola. She often licks me right in the face and I always shudder but go back to her for more. I love dogs! Every time I see her outside I holler "DOG!" and I start saying "woof" over and over. I have also learned to say "meow" and I always tip my head to the side when I say it.

My vocabulary has exploded over the last month or two. My favorite things to say are "uh-oh" "stuck" "Cay-ba" (Caleb) "Ouchy" "shoe on" "shoe off" "wite" (light) "bonk" "car" "no" "tanks" (thanks) "Bye! 'ove you!"

I love food. Watermelon may be my all time favorite though. The other day Mom gave Caleb a plate of watermelon and I reached over, grabbed a piece, and stuck it in my mouth - amid protests from my older brother. Mom handed me my own plate of watermelon a few seconds later and I spit out the piece of watermelon I swiped from Caleb, put it back on his plate, and went to work on my own plate of watermelon. I sure do love watermelon! I am not a fan of bread and I nearly refuse to eat tortillas. But other than that I'll eat anything. I love emptying the cupboards and getting into anything I think I might get away with if no one is looking.

Sleeping, especially at night, is not my favorite thing. Since I've been moved into a big bed I can now get out whenever I want. I often end up snuggling with Dad (Mom always takes me back to my bed - she doesn't believe in snuggling and sleeping at the same time). Sometimes I have night terrors and lately when that happens I end up running around my room or the house and screaming in the middle of the night. Usually when it happens once then it happens multiple times that night and then doesn't happen for a couple weeks. I almost always wake up about 5:30 - no matter how late I went to bed or how many times I was up in the night. I have to be that early bird! Lately though Dad just snuggles me back to sleep for an hour if he can.

I love doing anything Caleb does. If he lays on the floor - so do I. If he poses for a picture - so do I. My big brother is my best friend and we always do everything together - except he isn't fearless like I am so I am often the one to lead out in making trouble. I love carrying my blanky (Bay) around and chewing on it. Mom says that's gross - but she can't convince me!

I have been learning to sing and dance. Most of my singing is incomprehensible to everyone but me - but Mom says she can sometimes tell what song I'm trying to sing. Zip-a-dee-do-dah is one that I love to sing that's easy to hear what I'm trying to sing.

I suppose that is enough of an update for now. I have cupboards to unload, you know. "Bye! 'ove you!"

E does the blogging 15 months

I am loving life as a 15 month old! I am always on the move. I love to climb on things and recently learned how to push large objects, like the toy box, around the room so that I can use it to climb up to get things that are supposed to be out of my reach. I love to climb on the back of the couch and play with the thermostat. I can get on the table behind the TV. I can get on the computer table. I can climb on anything!

I love shoes. If anyone asks me where my shoes are I run to find them. Usually I can find at least one of them. If I can't find my regular shoes (sometimes they are already on my feet) I go get my Sunday shoes or Caleb's shoes. I love shoes! I love getting ready to go outside. As soon as my coat and shoes are on I stand at the door squealing until someone opens the door to let me out.

I can say lots of words now. I've learned how to say "Cay" for Caleb - though usually I just call him "Daaaa" with everyone else. I can say "more" "no" "sit" "this" "uh oh" "go" "woof" "shoe" and something that resembles "thank you" and something that resembles "Where is it?" I love to tickle people and have my own word for tickle. It's hard to understand what I'm saying if I just say it - but I usually try to tickle when I do it so Mom and Dad can figure out what I'm saying.

I am very independent. I love to do things by myself. I like to have my own bowl or plate at dinner time along with a fork or spoon. When I get done eating I throw everything off my high chair tray. I love to eat anything except tortillas. The other night I even picked the peppers out of the fajitas and ate just those. I love vegetables! My favorite food is probably bananas.

I am learning to run. But I haven't quite figured out how to stop running. If I come running in your direction - watch out - I'm likely to smash right into you.

I got a new tooth last week. Now I am up to 8. I have had 3 different ear infections since we moved to Utah last year. The first two were really hard to get over. The last one wasn't too bad, though I also had croup.

I love to give kisses to anything soft and fuzzy and I recently learned how to blow kisses. I can't quite figure out how to make the kissing noise so I click my tongue while patting my mouth. Sometimes  my tongue hits my hand and I blow really drooly kisses.

I love my big brother more than anyone else in the world. I have to try to do everything he does and I'm always looking for him. Sometimes I hug him so hard it knocks us both over. That makes us both laugh a lot. I also really love seeing Dad come home from work. When he walks in the door I drop whatever I'm holding and holler "Daaaaaa!" as loud as I can. I love for Mom to snuggle me. I often plop myself in her lap for a few minutes so I can get some snuggles. I also love wrestling.

Sleep is still kind of hit and miss for me - but I'm sleeping through the night more often than not now.

Baby does the blogging - 1 year old!

I am 1 now! I have no idea what that means - but Caleb and Mom and Dad keep telling me over and over so it must be important.

I love walking! I'm even getting good enough that it's easier than crawling and I choose to walk any chance I get. I am very sturdy and I can walk a long ways without falling down. Walking helps me get into things even better than I did before. I love to climb on anything shorter than I am and then I get into things that are much too high for me to get into.

My birthday was so much fun! I loved opening presents. I got so excited when I opened my first present that I said, "ooooooooooh!" (my excited explicative) and then I did a funny fake laugh. Mom and Dad were laughing so hard. I was so excited by everything that I kept doing the fake laugh all night long. Mom even took pictures.

I loved my cupcake too. I tried to get it from Dad while the candle was still in it. I wasn't sure what to do when Dad told me to blow out my candle so he had to help me. As soon as I got it in my hands I started eating it. It was so yummy! I wasn't as fond of the frosting part - but I loved the cake. I didn't really get what all the fuss was over - but I'm pretty sure my birthday was the best day of my life.

Mom's been trying to get pictures done but she can't find the balloons she's looking for to use for the backdrop. So we'll still have to wait a few more days to get pictures done.

I've been learning to sing with Caleb. I babble along with him almost every time he starts singing. Caleb has been teaching me lots of other good things - especially taking care of people. The other day Caleb was really sleepy and sitting on the floor zoning out. I walked over to him and patted his head to make sure he was ok.

I love to snuggle and I plop into any available lap and expect that person to love me. I love to give kisses too - usually the person I kiss gets a big wet spot on their face. I love to kiss blankets and stuffed animals too.  I love any soft, snuggly thing that comes into my reach. My blanket is one of my favorite things in the whole world. The other day Mom gave it to me just as it got out of the dryer. I felt like my life was complete.

I love to wrestle and climb on anyone who sits down on the floor. I am always on the move and hardly stop moving until I fall asleep.

I have 6 teeth - four on top and two on bottom. I love eating everything put in front of me besides tortillas and bread. I am very attached to my bottle and sometimes refuse to sleep without it.

 I am fearless! I am always running into things, falling off things, and ending up with bruises and scrapes all over. Most of the time Mom can't even figure out what I've done because there were so many times I fell that day.

 I keep getting this particular mark on my head from running into the corner of the wall between the living room and the hall. I keep getting long skinny bruises on my forehead from this particular activity.

I love bath time and splashing. Even when I get water in my face and it makes me feel panicked I still love bath time and as soon as I can breath again I am right back at playing in the tub. I'm not afraid of anything!

Baby Does the Blogging - 11 months

I am walking all over like crazy now. I am pretty steady on my feet and I'm often trying to walk faster than is humanly possible. I can also climb up on almost everything. My favorite thing to climb on is chairs and then I can climb up on the computer table - but only if Mom leaves the chair close enough. 

I have now added "Mama" and "ta-da" to my word list. I don't like to talk much. Mostly I just like to clap my hands and wave my arms around and say "Da da da da da" I also like to sing sometimes. I dance too. I go up on tip toes and back down when I dance. I love it when Caleb sings and I like to sing with him. He is my best friend and we always play together.

For Halloween we dressed up like Calvin and Hobbes. I didn't really like to wear the hat. I did like playing with the bucket though. I like that I can see my reflection. I love to give my reflection kisses. I also like to kiss teddy bears and blankets and my family and sometimes other people too. I love to give kisses. And the better I get at walking the more I love to sit and snuggle sometimes. I plop myself into the lap of the nearest person and expect them to hold me until I find something else more interesting.

Caleb and I often get the giggles. Usually Caleb pretends to laugh to make me laugh, then my laughing makes him laugh. Sometimes it makes Mom laugh too. We have lots of laughing at our house. We also have lots of wrestling. I am not shy about wrestling any newcomers to our house. Wrestling is my favorite game. I do not like blankets to be on my head though. Sometimes I get all mixed up in a blanket and can't figure out how to get out. Then I get very angry.

I have been sleeping through the night almost every night but sometimes I still get up. Sleep and I just don't really get along that well, I guess. I have also been having a terrible time with naps lately. Some days I take 1 nap and some days I take 3. 

Baby Does the Blogging - 10 months

10 months old is a pretty good age to be! I took my first steps less than a  month ago and now I can consistently take 6 steps at a time. I have no fear and I don't mind falling down sometimes. I'm always holding on to something one second and then trying to walk the next. I also try to climb over things - including the shoulder of someone trying to hold me, boxes/toys/anything in my way, and anyone who is sitting on the ground. I have decided that anyone who sits on the ground is trying to be an obstacle for me to conquer. So I do just that - within seconds - even if they weren't sitting on the floor just to play with me.

I have been practicing using my vocal cords a lot lately. Usually that means screaming - especially when I don't like something. When I get excited I say, "ooooooooooooOO!" and I get big eyes and point at whatever exciting thing is there. I also say, "Dad" "done" and "yay" and "rar." When I want to talk I mostly say, "Da da da da Da Da DA!" I say that a lot. One day I got ahold of the phone and held it up to my face and said, "Dad Da Da DA!" Another day Caleb was calling for Dad to come find him and I crawled over to the front door, started banging on it, and hollering for "Da" too.

My top two front teeth came in Sept 30 and October 2 so now I have 4 teeth. I do not enjoy eating bread or tortillas. I like muffins, especially corn dog muffins (corn meal muffins with tiny pieces of hot dogs in them) and I like waffles but I will NOT touch tortillas and I'm not a huge fan of bread. But I'll eat anything else. I chewed the tops of my sippy cups till they leaked all over so I had to switch back to a bottle and now I think I need to go to bed with my bottle. Mom says that habit has to stop - but I'm not liking that idea at all. In fact, I hate it so much I wake up at night if I do not get to go to sleep with my bottle.

I love playing in the bathroom and getting in the tub. If the bathroom door is open I get in there pretty quickly and stand at the edge of the tub and try to figure out if I can get in there without any help. Splashing in the tub is one of my favorite things. Climbing is another favorite thing. I love climbing. It is starting to get me into trouble though. The other day I got the cushion off the rocking chair and when I climbed up my leg got stuck between the springs and the wooden frame of the chair and my foot went down and got stuck between the glider mechanism of the chair. Mom was pretty worried. I didn't like my foot being stuck but stopped crying almost as soon as it was out. Mom says I'm really lucky I didn't break any bones. One day I climbed up one box and managed to get into the box on top of that box. I was so proud of myself.

When we went to take family pictures Mom really wanted pictures of Caleb and me together. Dad tried throwing leaves around us and Caleb hated it, but I LOVED it! Caleb started throwing leaves on me and I loved that too! Leaves are so much fun! Almost as much fun as splashing in the bath tub.

Baby does the blogging - 9 months

This has been a big month for me! I took my first unsupported steps on the 2nd and since then I've been bravely attempting one or two steps on my own a couple of times a day. I can't wait to walk! I have also learned how to go up and down stairs and I can stand up from sitting on something without using any hands. I will eat anything Mom doesn't take away from me - I especially love paper. I decided I don't like formula any more so now I get to drink real milk. Mom found a cup for me that is in between a sippy cup and a bottle and I LOVE it!

I have been sleeping through the night this past week - every night but one! I usually go to bed around 7 and wake up at 5:30 or so for a little drink and a hug. Then I usually go back to sleep for an hour or two. It sure is making us all happier when I sleep through the night.

The ants have figured out I live here and I love to eat food. Well, at least they have figured out I love to try to feed myself and most of my food ends up on the floor. Mom is going kind of crazy. She is going to find ant traps at the stores since sweeping twice a day is not keeping them out. I can't help it though - I just HAVE to feed myself!

I enjoy waving "bye-bye" to people and I have also learned to "rar" people. Grandpa says my roar is about as (un) scary as my mom's used to be when she was little - only deeper. I also say, "Da da da!" a lot (to both Mom and Dad and just when I can't think of anything else to say). I am also remembering I know how to clap. I still find it incredibly fascinating and will sit and watch my hands go together over and over. It makes Mom laugh.

I love to be a part of whatever action is going on around me. If I hear Caleb in the other room I definitely have to follow him and check things out. I love wrestling with Dad and Caleb. We always have so much fun!

Baby does the blogging - 4 months

Can you believe this little guy is 4 months old????

He looks so much like his daddy. And now for his update (with a shocking lack of photos since Blogger seems to hate me these days.)

Hi everyone! Mom says I get to update the blog again. I am now 4 months old. I weigh 13.1 lbs and I am 24.5 inches long. Mom says I'm growing slowly enough that I can actually wear an outfit more than twice before I grow out of it. She says she's glad for that.

My favorite person is my big brother. I love to watch everything he does. I always save my best smiles for him (even though he usually misses them.)

I've been sleeping through the night for several weeks now. I usually go to bed between 7 and 8 pm and then wake up around 5 for a quick bottle then I go back to bed till 7 or 8 am. Sometimes I don't even get up at 5.

I have been losing my hair like crazy. It seems to distress my mother - but I don't really care. She says I have the funniest comb-over...whatever that is. My hair seems to be coming in dark. Mom's excited about that. My eyes are turning brown pretty quickly.

I enjoyed visiting the doctor's office the other day. I was fascinated by everything going on around me. I wasn't impressed with the shots and I was pretty miserable the rest of the day. I cried and cried and didn't even want to be held because my legs were so sore. Dad finally suggested putting a warm rice bag on my legs which helped a whole lot.

My mom sure can make some funny noises. There is one in particular (kind of growling in the throat) that makes me laugh every time. Mom says she can't figure out why it's so funny to me. I love for other people to talk to me or pay attention to me. I love it when big brother pays attention to me. Even if that attention is smashing a mirror to my nose (aka showing me myself in the mirror) or other forms of playing that are kind of rough.

I like to sleep in my carseat all wrapped up in a blanket. But I like my arms to be free. I think it feels like someone is holding me while I sleep. That's my favorite way to sleep. I would always be held if I could. Or watching brother do cool things like have a parade with his cars or play with rainbow rice.

Baby does the blogging

Hey everyone!

I think since I'm 2 months old now I should get to update the blog.

Here are the pictures Mom took for my 2 month pictures:

I weigh 10 lbs 7 oz. I am 21.5 inches long.

My name is (according to my big brother): EmmettStevenThomas. He thinks we should have the same middle name. Sometimes he thinks that his name is StevenThomas. I love my big brother and smile at him the very most (except for maybe Mom who works hard to get me to smile at her. So I do, sometimes)

My hair is starting to get much thinner and lighter. Mom thinks I'll be blond like Caleb. She says my eyes already look like they're turning brown.

This weekend I got blessed on my Uncle Bryce's birthday. He comes home next month and I am excited to meet him. We had lots of people come for the blessing.

Mom wanted to get pictures before church. Caleb, in his new "church shirt" didn't really didn't want to take pictures after the first two.

I wasn't overly crazy about pictures either.

Aunt T was staying with us so she took the pictures of our family.

I was just falling to sleep when we got to church. Then I had to be taken out of the car seat and I didn't really appreciate that much. I didn't go back to sleep till after church - but I tried falling asleep most of church.

These are the booties Mom made for me this week. When she was taking my 2 month pictures she realized the shoes that Caleb wore were WAY too big for me and wouldn't stay on my feet. So she made some booties for me.

After church I fell fast asleep and everyone else had rolls and ham and turkey for lunch. I guess it was a pretty great party.

At least, Jeff enjoyed the party:

I'm loving the swing we got and Dad even fixed it so that it can plug into the wall instead of just running on battery power. I've been sleeping half the day away in my swing most days. Mom says it's saving her life. I love to cuddle and snuggle and be wrapped up (but only loosly) before I go to bed. I also love my pacifier. Mom said that while I was updating the blog she would use the extra time with two free hands to figure out where the extra 2 pacifiers went. They seem to keep ending up missing this week.

I guess that's about it for now. Don't worry. I'll be back to update the blog next month!