Watch Me Grow - 9 months

Emma is now 9 months old. This month she has surprised us by starting to make the move towards becoming a walker. She is very happy to be in a standing position, and will "yell" at us until we hold her hands so she can stand. Recently we dug out Cody's old music table so that Emma can practice her new talents on something that is just her size. She is in heaven playing with the buttons and knobs and is pleased as punch to be becoming such a big girl. We are also having a lot of fun watching this transformation, but I can't help but feel a little sad as I watch my baby begin to become a toddler. Here she is in all her glory...

I'm such a girl!

I got a phone call the other night from the Team Mom from Cody's T-ball team, just to discuss the things he'll need for the first practice. The list included things such as cleats, a mitt, and a cup. Upon hearing that he would need a cup, I generously (or so I thought) offered to "bring cups for the whole team, and some juice too if they needed it." Suffice to say, she did not mean a drinking cup (DUH) but rather, a protective cup. I'm now slightly embarrassed to go to practice and be known as the mom who wanted to bring cups for all! What a girl!!!

one of the guys

Now that Emma is mobile, she is always following Cody around (much to his chagrin). Tonight she snuck up on the boys while they were playing monster trucks, and was actually invited to stay and play. She was beside herself with glee.

the alphabet "game"

Now that Cody is officially registered for kindergarten, I'm beginning to panic. What if he's not ready? What if I haven't prepared him? What if, what if, what if... So, we've been playing lots of "games" lately that reinforce his language skills. Yesterday we played the alphabet game, and Cody absolutely loved it! All I did was pull out the alphabet cards and mix them up. Then Cody arranged them on the floor in a path. After placing each letter he would walk the path saying the letter's name and sound until he figured out what came next.

This morning when Cody woke up the first thing he said to me was, "Can we play the alphabet game again." I'm a firm believer of tricking them into learning - it works every time!

Here comes trouble!

Emma has been experimenting with her leg strength lately. She loves to be held in a standing position, and today decided that she was going to stand holding the railing of her crib. I'm excited that she is getting ready to become an unsteady walker, but if I remember correctly - this is the beginning of the end for us. But, she sure does look cute, and she just glows with pride when she catches us watching her.

a calm in the storm

We have been having some unpredictable weather here this week, so when we saw the sun pop out for a few hours this afternoon, we quickly got ready and walked up to the park. All of us, kids, parents and dog, were sick of being cooped up, and were quite thrilled with the break in the weather and the opportunity to spend a few minutes in the sun.

When I grow up...

I often ask Cody what he wants to be when he grows up. I love the answers he comes up with and the reasons for his choices are often too cute for words. Well, last night after reading bedtime stories we were talking about my job, so I decided to ask again what he would like to be. Our conversation went something like this...
Me - "Cody, what do you think you might want to do when you are a grown up?"
Cody - "I want to write Mommy."
Me - "Oh, what do you want to write?"
Cody - "I want to write books, silly."
Me - "What kind of books?"
Cody - "The kind with words. Silly mommy!"
So I guess that says it all - silly me.