The Emry Board: January 2013

January was an eventful month for the girls. It was full of lots of ups and downs. One of the high points of the month was starting swim lessons at the YMCA. Emry showed Whitney how to splash and put her face in the water. Both girls love being in the pool! The lowest point of the month was when both girls were struck with illness. They battled runny noses, gagging coughs and ear infections for about two weeks. Both had to be put on antibiotics, and this marked the first time that Whitney had to show Emry how do something...because it was the first time Emry had ever been put on antibiotics. In fact, the Dr couldn't believe she went 2 1/2 years without them! Whitney did a great job showing Emry how to take the medicine.

Apologies for not taking nearly as many pictures as usual this month. We can probably chalk that up to the iPhone effect. However, out of the few pictures we took, Whitney was not camera shy at all. She was kind of a camera hog this month. She really opened up and started showing a lot more personality. Here are some of the many faces of Whitney from January...

This is her punk look

Cheesin' like there's no tomorrow!

Doing her best Gene Simmons impression

Showing how much she enjoys one of her new
favorite hobbies...stacking blocks!

Smiling at her favorite book!

Whit now recognizes mom and dad. She says da-da when she sees Ken and ma-ma when she sees Maren. Whit really gets upset when Maren leaves the room. She will hold her arms up and call for ma-ma! She has a new favorite hobby, which she is getting pretty good at...stacking blocks. She also likes throwing things and she will sit to roll the ball back and forth.

Other things she's done this month include mastering the art of drinking from a sippy-cup...

Drinking with two hands is for babies!

...pulling up on furniture and cruising...(In fact, its only a matter of weeks before she'll probably venture out to take her first step)...

"I'm not ready to let go yet!"

...climbing...

Climbing up to help mom and dad with the dishes

...and mastering body control.

Mastering body control through yoga and chair-rocking!

Whitney tries hard to stand up on her own and it looks like she is practicing yoga sometimes. She'll get in a plank position then move into a downward dog, but never quite makes it completely to her feet. Its been a lot of fun watching her develop this month!

Emry was a lot of fun in January too, but she was also quite a handful. Early in the month, she went through a really whiny phase where she would complain and start fussing over any and every little thing. We felt like we were walking on eggshells for a couple weeks, never knowing what would set her off. We thought this wasn't supposed to happen until the teenage years?! She was also not eating well and became very picky about her food. In addition, she would stay up late at night playing in her bed - sometimes until after 10 o'clock. She just wasn't acting herself at all...but in Emry's defense, this phase happened right before she got sick, so that was probably what was causing her(and us) all this anxiety.

Emry's mood was slightly more sturdy than
this block tower for most of the month...

Over the past couple weeks she got back into her normal routine. In fact, at the time of this post, she has been diaper free for 6 straight days! We told Emry if she got potty trained that she could go to preschool next year. We're pretty sure this might be the only time we'll be able to use "going to school" as motivation for anything!

Emry didn't get a lot of camera time by herself this month, but she provided us with lots of entertainment. The video won't make sense right away, but we suggest playing it and enjoying the music while you read the following stories. It will be relevant later...

--Emry told her first really big lie this month. Maren saw a scratch on her finger one day and asked Emry how she cut it. Emry said she cut it on the ceiling fan in her room. Maren asked how she did that. Without hesitation Emry said she went outside, got daddy's ladder, brought it in her room, climbed the ladder and that's when she got scratched by the fan. We were impressed by the details and facts she presented. She must have taken notes during Oprah's interview with Lance Armstrong.
--Emry fell asleep under the dining room table one afternoon this month. She calls that area "the cage" because all the chairs and table legs make it seem like she's caged in. We carried her to bed, and when she woke up from her nap we asked if she remembered falling asleep. She said "I fell asleep in my cage!" Hopefully CPS never catches wind of that...

The Cage!

--One day during Emry's "cranky, runny-nose phase" she got up from the dinner table and went into the bathroom to pee all by herself. Ken went in to check on her just as she was finishing up, and much to his delight, she had a successful trip to the potty! Ken enthusiastically exclaimed "Great job Emry!" and stuck his hand down for a high-five. Emry grabbed his hand with both of hers and wiped her snotty nose straight across his palm...eggshells.
--A few days later, Maren was laying on the living room floor and said her back hurt. She asked Emry to rub it for her. Emry rubbed it for a second then started patting Maren on the bottom. Emry started laughing and started hitting Maren's butt with even more force. She continued to laugh and said "Mommy's booty is really jiggly!" All of a sudden Maren's ego hurt worse than her back.
--Another day Maren was singing the John Fogerty song, "Centerfield" from the video above. She sang "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play..." Emry overheard and joined in singing "Mia and Coach, I'm ready to play..."

Other than just doing and saying funny things, Emry always impresses us with her memory and ability to put things together. One evening Ken went next door to meet our new neighbor, we'll call him "James Farmer" for the purposes of this post. Maren asked Ken 20 questions about him, and Ken told Maren "We didn't talk long because he came outside in a t-shirt and was probably freezing his booty off." Emry overheard and repeated "He freeze his booty off." So we left the house and went to dinner. On the way home, Maren asked "What's the new neighbor's name again?" Ken responded "James Farmer." Emry heard him say "James Farmer" from the backseat and said "He freeze his booty!" Emry continued to ramble on for a couple minutes about his frozen booty and how he lived in Elise's old house. We were amazed that she not only recognized the name after only hearing it once before, but that she also associated it with the neighbor who moved into Elise's house and Ken's comment about him freezing his booty off.

Nice hair Einstein!

The girls have been a complete joy to us this month. They continue to grow together and bond each day. Its fun to watch them interact and play with one another. Emry still likes to help Whit do new things and is currently trying to teach her to cruise and walk. Emry finally got to the point where she wants to hold Whitney, but Whit is getting to be too big for that already!