Happy 17 Months Emersyn Grace!

Dear Emersyn,


It's been awhile since I wrote you a letter on my blog so I thought that in honor of your 17 month birthday, I would let you know what you are up to.

Sometimes these letters to you are so hard to write out because it is truly impossible to put into words how special you are and how much I love you. Time is going by so fast and I need to be better about documenting all your new talents and traits. This could be a long one. :)

*Words you say: "Ma" (Grandma/Grammy), "Pah/Bah" for (Grandpa), "Papaaa" (Papa), "Nuh" (Nana), up, ball, kee (monkey), keekee (kitty), stap (stop for when we are tickling you), DAH! (dad), mum, tucka tucka (not sure what this is yet), geh (again), hot (usually accompanied by trying to take off a jacket or sweatshirt!).

*You are obsessed with your baby Gloworm. You sleep with it, you play with it first thing when you wake up from your night or a nap, and before I get you out of the crib you have to go press the button again so that you can enjoy the music while I change you. :) It is really cute. You have had the Gloworm for awhile but just recently realized that you could make it make music.

*You love your new kitchen. Your favorite thing to do is not pretend that you are cooking, it is to open and shut all the doors, except for the oven which you still refuse to acknowledge. You figured out that there is a manual turn table in the microwave so you will stick something in there, usually something too big that barely fits, shut the microwave with such a force that it scares me sometimes, and then turn the wheel under the microwave until you think it is done. So cute. One of my favorite things to do is watch you play with your kitchen when you aren't looking at me. I love seeing your little mind process things and wonder what you are thinking.

*Whenever you find a cell phone, you put it up to your ear and yell "YEAH?". SO cute.

*You have decided that you do NOT like cheese. I wish you would have decided this BEFORE I bought the 6000 count string cheese pack at Costco. :) It's okay sweet girl, your daddy and I will eat it. But I wish you would eat it too, as string cheese used to be your favorite food!

*My favorite thing to do with you in the mornings is make you oatmeal, toss blueberries in it and then we go sit on the couch and watch Sesame Street while I feel you breakfast. I know it isn't good to eat in front of the TV so we don't do it every morning. But when we do, it is so fun.

*You love your babies. You like to take your baby dolls and go sit in your rocking chair and rock them and pat their backs. You also LOVE the baby doll "backpack" that our neighbors have. Might have to get you one of those soon.....you are so cute with a little baby on your back.

*You are obsessed with your cowboy boots. I think it's because they have a little heel on them so you think your sassy. Today we took you to Starbucks, your favorite place. We put you in the high chair and you ate your yogurt just fine but then you refused to eat your banana because you wanted what we had. After Daddy and I finished eating our breakfast, you wanted to get down and show off your boots, which totally did NOT match your outfit. You then decided you would eat your banana but only while walking around in your boots. After you finished your banana, you decided to roll your high chair clear across the room to the little cubby where it goes. You are so smart.

*You love knocking on doors, particularly bathroom doors when people are in them. :)

*You love the pink hippo/cow (we aren't sure what it is) that Uncle Brock got you for your birthday. You like to slide it around all over the downstairs and then climb up on it and bounce.

*We have started giving you time outs. Not too many yet though. Your frequent offenses are climbing onto furniture and then standing up and trying to stand on the dishwasher, both very unsafe things to do. Mommy and Daddy love you so much but you know better and you get a little gleam in your eye when you are so obviously testing us. For the record, you get ALL your stubborn-ness from your Daddy!! ;) But you do get some of your fiesty-ness from your Mama, that I will admit....

*You seemed to be amused by the fact that Mommy is working out these days. Today you sat in your pink chair in the living room and laughed at me while I was doing "high knees". I realize that it is probably pretty funny looking so I don't mind. You also laid down on the floor with me when I was doing my crunches and gave me kisses. You are such a sweet girl!

*You love baths! When I ask if you want a bath, you run to the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and start shaking it aggressively in hopes of knocking it down so you can get upstairs to the bathtub!

*You have started to understand the concept of cleaning up. The other day you took all your play food out of the crate. I asked you to pick it all up and put it back and kind of didn't think you would but sure enough, I looked over a couple minutes later and all the food was picked up! Also, today we were on our way out the door to go to Starbucks and you saw a coaster lying on the floor in the living room. You ran over to it, picked it up, and then ran into the kitchen, opened the bottom drawer and put the coaster right back where it came from! (Where YOU got it out I might add, you love the bottom drawer that has my placemats and dishtowels and coasters. You also love taking out ALL of my tupperware and stashing it throughout the house!)

*Yesterday while Miss Roxanne and I were chatting, I looked over at you and you looked like you just wanted to be one of the girls, lounging back your chair with your feet up on your pink stool!! It was SO cute! I wish I got a picture but sure enough, you bolted before I could snap one.

*You get sooooo excited when Daddy gets home from work. About 30 minutes before he actually gets home you start walking over to the window by the side of the door and yelling, "DAH!". Usually when he gets home though, you run to me and get needy for mama. I love this. :)

*You love watching DVD's in the car. I try not to let you watch the DVD player all the time, but when you do watch it, you only watch something educational. Right now your favorite DVD is "Blues Clues ABC's". You laugh when all the kids laugh on the show and really get into it. When I tell you that we aren't going to watch a DVD in the car, you get frustrated but then we talk about all the trees that we see and the cars and you have a good time pointing to them all and start jabbering to me. You have so much personality.

*You love your Nana and Papa's dogs. You know each of them by name, Sadie and Gracie and give them lots of loves. You also love our kitty and have learned to pet her very gently.

*You like bling. When you see my watch or wedding ring, you try to pull them off. This is probably because Daddy lets you play with his wedding ring by giving it to you and then you put it on his finger and laugh hysterically.

*You love to dance. Whenever you hear a musical ringtone, whether it's mine or someone in public you start to move and groove.

*You weight 24.5 lbs as of last Friday, which puts you in the 47th percentile. You have such a petite little figure, I love putting you in leggings and dresses. You are such a beautiful child and I spend a lot of our time together just staring at you and thanking God for you.

This doesn't even begin to sum up of the amazing traits and abilities that you have sweet girl. I am so happy to be your mama.. I pray that God would keep you healthy and strong and grow you in the sweet little girl that He has called you to be with a little assistance from your Daddy and I.

With all my love,

Your Mama