Family Photos

Our church is making a new directory, so they had a professional photographer come in to take pictures of all the members. We were excited to have a family photo taken, since the last one we had professionally taken was when Lilah was two months old. Up until last week, that picture was still in a frame in our foyer. We are updated now!










** I love Emma's expression. As you can see, Emma did not trust the photographer even one tiny bit. Just after this picture was taken, he blew a raspberry in her direction, trying to get her to smile. She burst into tears instead.

18 Months!

We had Emma's 18 month well-check last week. I can't believe it's already been that long. She did great on her little checklist, but I am realizing how much less I know about what she's capable of, compared to Lilah at the same age. The doctor was asking about her speech, wondering how many words she says. The checklist asked if she just said more than eight, but I didn't know an exact number. I guessed, and told the doctor more than eight, but probably not more than fifteen. Later that afternoon I was trying to think of the words she says now, and so I started a list. Within about an hour I had come up with nearly thirty. I guess I underestimated a little!

She weighed in at 23 lbs 10 oz, and 32 inches. One is 55% and the other is 45%, I can't remember which is which. She's the funniest little girl. Emma is learning better and better every day ways to annoy her sister the best. Lilah and Emma fight a lot, but it is magical when they play happily together. Emma loves baby dolls and kitty cats. She has a bit of a temper, and loves to throw things when she's angry. Yesterday, I had told her no for some reason, and she threw her baby doll several feet. Then she started crying, "baby!!!!", she was so sad her baby had taken a spill. Crazy girl!!!

More Lilah

Lilah has created a couple of words in the last few days, and I think they're pretty clever.
Jonas was moving some equipment out of the office from when we were working on the bookshelves. Lilah was asking what different things were, including the air compressor. All afternoon, she was talking about Daddy's air oppressor. Still sort of accurate....
We watch Wizard of Oz yesterday, which we hadn't seen in a while. Lilah kept talking about the twirlnado that took away Dorothy's house. I like the new name.

More Lilah

Our sweet 12-year-old cat, Bess, died today. She's been losing weight for several weeks, not eating and drinking, etc, so I knew it was coming. Long story short, she passed away in her sleep last night, and we found her curled up on the sofa this morning. Jonas buried her out in the yard and later this morning Lilah asked about Bess. I told her she had died but was all better and in kitty Heaven. Lilah said, "Oh good, God loves cats." We'll miss you, Bess!

Piggies!

Emma let me try pigtails in her hair today! She wasn't a fan of the process, which is why she's sucking her thumb in the photo. She probably won't let me do it again for a while. It is super cute from the front, but the back looks pretty silly. Emma still had all of her hair in the back hanging down. Still cute though. I love how they stick straight out!

Northwest Girl

It's raining today. The girls and I made a little run to the grocery store before lunch to pick up a few things. As we were leaving, I asked Lilah if she wanted to pull her hood on. "Nah." As we were loading the groceries into the back of the car, Lilah asked, "What's that over that lady's head?" An umbrella, Lilah. "Oh," she said, "that's right..." Poor girl hadn't seen one in so long!

Date Night and Updates

We had a Johnson girl first this weekend - A full-on paid babysitter! Nearly all (except one that I can remember) of our date nights have fallen when a parent or two are in town. One of our playgroup moms suggested that the moms and dads go out together on a group date night. We picked a day, and I called around for a sitter. Strange, because I hadn't done that before, but the girls I talked to were really great in telling me how things go now-a-days. We had the best time on our date, and the girls did so well. Lilah talked all morning about her new friend Hannah. So cute!

Emma is sick again though, starting with a high fever on Friday. She's been pretty steady with fever except when on the Tylenol/Motrin train. She only had a runny nose to go along with it, so I didn't feel bad about leaving her with a sitter. Should I have felt bad? Emma did great with her, although her sleep schedule was off. She had slept most of the day, so she didn't go to bed until 10:30, just before we got home. Hannah said Emma wasn't fussy, she just wasn't sleepy either. Today(Sunday) was a bit different. She was super cranky this afternoon, but perked up tonight and actually ate a bit of dinner. I hope I don't have to take her to the doctor tomorrow!

Emma amazes me everyday with the things she does and understands. Tonight she ran laps around the downstairs carrying a cat toy calling "kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty kitty..." FOR FIVE MINUTES. I asked her earlier (no gestures) to wink at daddy. After a few seconds, she turned to him, and squinted her eyes closed. It was so cute.

New words this week: Again, Fishies, Baby. She's crazy about her dolls. Emma had three of them lined up tonight and they were all taking swigs from her milk cup (Emma included).

When we are getting ready to leave the house, and I tell the girls it's time to go, Emma goes running for her coat with her arms outstretched to slide it on, and then sits down nicely on my lap to put her shoes on. She gets so excited thinking we are going outside. When I open the car door though instead of heading to the yard, she completely breaks down and tries to buck her way out of the seat. "No no no!" Maybe I should change my warning to 'it's time to get in the car' instead?

Lilah has become obsessed with time lately. She asks the time all day long. She's been waking up early (before 8am, sometimes before 7am) and I usually just bring her in to bed with me and turn the TV on until Emma wakes up about 8. We have a no TV before 7am rule, to try to encourage her to stay in bed, but she doesn't have a clock in her room. So, she comes in our bed and fidgets until 7am. Yuck. This week we bought her a Tot Clock, with colors that help indicate if it's okay to get up. We have it plugged in the the kitchen right now. It's analog, and she asks about every half hour "what time does that say now, momma?" I'm hoping it'll help keep her in bed a bit later...

After a few months of Lilah calling Jonas Dad instead of Daddy, he's finally remedied the problem. He corrected her every time for the first two months, but that didn't work. Eventually, he just ignored her when she called him Dad, and would respond again when she switched to Daddy. She fixed it all on her own. I was getting tired of it, so I'm glad that's over. "Look at me, Dad!"....... "Look at me, Dad!"...... "Look at me, Daddy!" Yes, Lilah?

Took about two days. Pretty neat experiment overall.