What is she looking for?

As you can see, Emily is clearly very interested in something behind the couch.  Any guesses?  The first correct response wins a personal card from Emily!

Anyone need a size large t-shirt?

In our house, Eric and I share most of the chores.  As most of our family and friends can testify, we don't often follow the proscribed gender roles when it comes to household duties.  You're just as likely to find Eric cooking dinner (on the days he doesn't work) as you are to find me mowing the lawn.  You're just as likely to find Eric cleaning the bathroom as you are to find me taking out the trash and recycles.  But, when it comes to laundry, that has always been my domain.  There are a few reasons for this.  First and foremost this is because I actually enjoy it.  I get a good deal of satisfaction from freshly folded and laundered clothes.  The other reason though, is because Eric doesn't see the merit in folding.  In college, he would often live out of a laundry basket, pulling clean clothes out of one every day and putting ditry clothes into another.  Neither one of us are super concerned with the appearance of our clothing, but I do prefer to wear mine without wrinkles, and since I detest ironing, it makes sense to spend a few minutes to fold them.

At any rate, I digress.  My husband keeps his t-shirts on the top shelves of his closet and as he's gathered more and more from races and other events, they have simply stopped fitting no matter how I push and shove.  So I told him he must sort through them and get rid of the ones he hasn't worn in the last two years.  This, friends, is what I found.  Just let me know if you need a t-shirt!

Mischief

Today, after Emily was done eating lunch, I set her down on the family room floor by lots of fancy toys.  Then, I remembered that Oscar had been sitting patiently by the back door waiting to come inside.  I left Emily where she was, and went to let the cat in.  On the way, I noticed a bug on the kitchen floor and stopped to gently trap it and set it free outside squish it.  When I came back to where I left my peanut, she was nowhere to be found.  Before I could panic though, I heard squeals of delight and this is what I found:

I guess potty training will be a breeze if she already likes the toilet so much!

Reading Rainbow

One of the things I looked forward to the most about having a baby was reading together. I pictured a little one snuggled up next to me as we re-read some of my childhood favorites and explored new children's books together. When Emily was very little - only a few weeks old - she would fall asleep while I read to her. But now, despite my persistent attempts, she screams and squirms every time I try to hold her on my lap and read a book to her. Last week we went to the children's section of our local library, and Emily had a blast playing with the toys scattered on the floor while I looked around at the thousands of books they had available. Soon, Emily came and found me and very selectively pulled three books off the shelf I was perusing. Her choices were a small hardback about a young duckling named Gossie, a Dr. Seuss classic entitled Yertle the Turtle, and a colorful selection called Heaven is Having You. She happily played with her books (okay, she tried to eat them) all the way home. Still, this seems like progress to me!

Eight months old!

Peanut,

At first, I didn't believe the people who told me that your babyhood would fly by; that I would find myself a little wistful for how small you used to be.  But now, that's exactly what I'm doing.  And this is how people get tricked into having more babies.  They remember the smell of a newborn, how cute the first smile is, how adorable the tiny fingers and toes are - not the screaming, the dirty diapers - did I mention the screaming?  But I digress.   This has been the month of mobility.  You began to crawl the day after you turned seven months old, and you haven't looked back since.  It's been great, because you are getting much better about entertaining yourself, but you also get into everything!  See exhibit A:

In addition to being able to get around the house, you can also pull yourself up onto almost anything.  In fact, I think you'd be an excellent rock climber, though I'll never let you do something so dangerous.  See exhibit B:

We joined the YMCA this month, and it's been good for both of us so far.  You get to play with your little friends, and I get an hour to myself to work out and take a shower that lasts longer than 3.7 minutes.  You also really enjoy the pool there, and splash around in the shallow end watching with wonder as other kids run and swim all around you.  Your dad and I often wonder what sports you will enjoy as you get older.  One of your dad's very favorite things to do is play basketball, and I must admit that you are showing some early signs of interest in the sport.  Last week I captured your very first dunk on camera!  See exhibit C:

You've also started sticking your tongue out a LOT this month, which I think is a sign of concentration.  This is also something your daddy does when he concentrates.  In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I saw you both doing it at the same time and it made me smile inside.  See exhibit D:

Peanut, you are growing into such a lively, animated, adventurous, and truly adorable child.  You are so full of life, and it's so much fun to see you grow and learn every day.  You can frustrate me by not napping or being unusually fussy, but you can melt my heart (and everyone else's) with a single adorable smile.

Love,

Mommy