Babbling

Emeline has a slew of words she likes to use:
ba-ba
mama
dada
tee-tee (fifi the ferret)
mwow (oakley the cat)
dowy (sorry)
dank (thanks)
bee-bee (baby)
hi
wha dat?
what you doin?
yum-yum
shoe
ow-side (outside)
wee!
yay!
oh, no! (this is sooo sad and cute)
dego, dora, boo, ba-pa (Diego, Dora, Boots, Backpack)
boo-boo (poop!)
ah (off, as in take off)
mine
no

She talks a lot, though we usually can't translate all of it. She is around 21 pounds and 30 inches tall. She still wears a size 3 diaper, because she has such a skinny little butt. Although she loves her cartoons, she is no couch potato. The girl is in motion from morning to night. When she plays, she is industrious about it. She loves to transfer objects from one place to another. This means our shoes end up all over the house, and we find rocks from the yard inside our house as well. She is nosy and loves to open drawers and cabinets, so we child-lock or even tape things shut. Whenever Gene or I do chores around the house, she loves to be involved. She frequently helps Gene "fix" things... who knows, she might be handy one day.

Emeline loves to draw. Our job is to limit her creativity to paper.

She is not two, but she certainly has the tantrum part down. She makes my ears hurt! Spanking does not do much for the stubborn little thing, but time-out does seem to change her mind. So, we just do what works.

When we scold her, she repeats the behavior but does it with a huge grin, like she just performed some kind of trick. It is so hard not to laugh! Where did she learn that?

The last 24 hours have been bottle-free. Let's hope the weaning process is a quick one. She only woke up crying 4 times last night. That's actually no worse than usual. It hurts to watch her grieve, but I know she needs to give it up.

I am getting things in order to be a substitute teacher. The requirements are so much stricter in Nevada, but the pay is much, much better! I am enjoying the time left with Emeline. Oh, I will miss those morning snuggles.