Emmeline SWEETNESS

I’ve had this post in my drafts box for a few months now (you can tell because I keep adding pictures to it….how she’s changed in a few months!).  I’ve had this nagging dread hanging over me that Emmeline is growing up too fast, that i need to capture all that she is right now….but it seems like such a daunting task.  How can you freeze a amazingly adorable little person in a dumb little blog post? How do you capture all her expressions in pictures?  How do you bottle up how she smells and sounds and cuddles?  Sadly it just can’t be done.  But still, I’m going to try to capture just a tiny bit of who she is right now…..just to document that she might be the most adored little 18 month old ever.

Here are our favorite things about this little girl right now:

• She expresses herself fiercely.  Luckily she has a billion and one expressions to do this. This particular expression (below) is one she makes when she is beyond excited (in this case it was because she saw a dog)
• She has the chubbiest cheeks in the world….accentuated quite a bit by her new haircut.  Jeff thinks it looks a bit dorky, I think it makes her look delicious and like a little European baby. 
• She’s obsessed with shoes.  Brings me different shoes all day long after trying her best to get them on herself.
• Although she doesn’t have a ton of words right now she can certainly communicate.  She does through a few signs, some key words and a lot of insistent yells and squawks.  Sometimes I try to pretend I don’t know what she wants cause I really don’t want to give it to her, but she makes herself quite clear.
• She is the boss of this household.  Partly because she’s so determined and strong headed and partly because she has us all wrapped around her little finger.
• She’s learning how to sing from Hazel.
• She’s learning how to be a ham from Charlie.
• She spends a good part of our at home time walking around with various items…..and almost always has a sippy cup under her arm.
• Her best friend is my friend Heidi.  She says her name and talks about her all the time.
• She has a crush on Charlie’s best friend Saul and starts yelling his name whenever he’s around.
• She loves Hazel.  She trusts Hazel.
• She loves Charlie. She doesn’t trust Charlie.  (she’s smart)
• She is my most cuddly baby thus far.  She’s always willing to give me a nice tight hug and a big slobbery kiss. 
• She’s starting to get “pretending” and is a little obsessed with giving me fake handfuls of popcorn.
• There’s almost always a perfect little tear lingering on her big chubby cheek.  This is less because she’s sad a lot than it is about her cheeks ability to catch those tears and her ability to produce them at the drop of a hat.
• She has a great “funny face” that she’s had since she was a wee little one.  She’ll produce it on demand.  Here it is:
• She is funny, and she knows it.  She puts on a knowing grin as she invents all kinds of weird little moves and strange sounds to make us laugh.
• She’s an awesome sleeper.  When she’s tired she’ll put on her whiney voice and say “ni, ni” over and over again until we snuggle her into her crib with her lamby and binkie and baba.  Before I leave the room I rub her little head and tell her to have a good sleep.  She always nods her head to reassure me that she will.
• She loves babies and is instantly kind and sweet and gentle with them.  Suddenly she looses her possessive angry streak and mellows right into them (even if they are riding in HER stroller). 
• She has an awesome gap between her two front teeth.  Hazel told me the other day that she thought Emmeline was cranky cause that tooth in the front was going to come in.
• She’s in that stage where she’s totally into playing any kind of game.  It’s delightful.
• Her little mind is always running.  She’s looking for stuff, trying things out, exploring her little world.

                

• I love those big brown eyes.

   

Hazel and I often talk about how we just wish we could freeze this little girl just as she is.  I tell Hazel that it’s no use, I’ve tried hard to freeze both her and Charlie with no luck.  I also tell her that babies just keep getting better and better as they get bigger and bigger.