Hasta la Vista Diapers

Ok, where not quite there yet, but it never hurts to put a goal in print! Emory did reach a MAJOR milestone last night..... she pottied in her potty chair for the first time!!!! I was so proud of her. She was proud of herself too, and together we cheered, clapped, danced, and yelled for daddy to come! This accomplishment took place just before her bath and lets just say she "milked it" during her entire bath time. She definitely knew she did something good!

So this morning after she woke up into the bath room we went. She sat there for a minute and then said, "No potty mommy." And that was that. Then later today she ran into her bathroom, sat on her potty chair and told me she had pooped! She was a tad late, but I am so thrilled she seems to be catching on. I happened to have my camera near by and snapped a picture.

I guess we are officially potty training now and not just "talking" about it!

18 Months

Emory turned 18 months old today. She is such a little girl now, which is both exciting and a little sad. She is full of energy and loves to entertain! She is quite the talker, which is helpful and fun and she seems to learn a new word daily. Last night she yelled out BARNEY when she saw him on TV. That was a first! I am guessing she learned that one at Ms. Betty’s. She is slowly moving out of the temper tantrum phase, probably because she is able to communicate with us now and I have not been bitten in over a week! She loves tutu’s, doggies, crackers, bath time, ice cream, the “clean up” song, books, and being the center of attention! The clean up song is a song I created (I think, maybe borrowed) and have sung for a while now when picking up Emory’s toys. Well, I have created a clean-up monster. Emory loves to sing the clean up song while picking up her toys, however she also likes to dump her toys all out for the sole purpose of singing the clean up song. The only problem with this is she usually gets tired of singing and picking them up half way through. For those inquiring minds, the song goes like this: clean-up, clean-up, clean-up your toys!

Emory is also getting better at using a fork and spoon, so much so she decided to fork her sausage biscuit the other day!

She is also a wonderful eater, (knocking on wood) and I pray she continues to eat veggies and fruits with enthusiasm. We go for her 18 month check-up on Monday and feel like she will weigh 21 pounds, maybe 22. She is still on the petite side, which amazes me considering how much she eats! We love you Emory Grace!

Quick Visit

Last Saturday my grandmother and aunt came for a quick visit. Emory was a little shy at first, because she had not seen them since Mother's Day weekend, but she warmed up quickly. Then put on quite the show!

Emory and Alpie

Emory being silly with Aunt Shirley

A close up of the silliness!

Giving Alpie a hug goodbye.

INTRODUCING..........

Mckenzie Rae Contreras! Mckenzie made her debut on Saturday July 10, 2010 at 8:06 am. She weighed 6 lbs 14 ounces and was 19 inches long! So its official, Emory is a BIG cousin now! Congratulations Rachel and Andrew and Happy Belated Birthday Mckenzie, we can't wait to meet you!

This picture was taken on her way home from the hospital. I love her expression!

Close, but no cigar!

Emory got a potty chair for her 1st birthday and for the last few months I have been putting her on it before her bath and talking about going potty. She usually just sits there for a few seconds and then jumps up and runs to the bath tub. Then a few weeks ago she discovered that if she stood in it the sensor would trigger and music would play. Since then I have been explaining to her that the music will also play if she goes potty in her potty chair. Last night Bradley undressed her while I ran her bath water, which is our routine, and then Emory typically runs in and sits on her potty chair. Well last night after she came in the bathroom I point in the direction of the potty chair and said, “Go potty!” Well she did, except she was sitting on the floor next to the potty chair. She was still proud of herself and applauded her effort all the way to the tub! Now I just have to figure out if this was a fluke or if she understands the concept of going potty, however I know NOW not to utter the word potty until she is seated on the chair!

In other “firsts” news, Emory said her first “sentence” this past weekend. Emory’s first sentence was…. “Mine Mommy Mine.” She said it with such authority and conviction too! This week she has added a few more, “Daddy Outside?” and “Doggie Night Night?”

After Emory gets out of the tub her favorite thing to do is pretend she is a bird. She runs around the house in her towel flapping her “wings” shouting tweet, tweet, and laughing hysterically. This picture was taken during one of her “flights!”

Happy Birthday America

My parents came Saturday morning for a visit, which worked out great because Bradley and I had a wedding to attend that night and I was nervous about Emory Grace attending. She is in this I think I am hysterical so why don’t I put on a show for everyone phase. So that evening we headed out and my parents kept Emory. Then Sunday we shopped a little, visited a little, and went for a late lunch where Emory ate a TREMENDOUS amount of food. We went to a local buffet style restaurant where kids under a certain age eat free. We joked that they are going to charge Emory the next time because she ate like a BIG kid! I joke about it, but I feel very fortunate that Emory eats so well and that she loves fruit and veggies! Then after our lunch my parents headed back to Arkansas, that still sounds weird to say, and we had a semi-quiet afternoon. We were going to go watch the fireworks, but Bradley’s dad re-hurt his back and ended up in the hospital last night. He is doing much better now. I told Bradley when he got back from the hospital that next year we need to just sit out in our driveway and watch the fireworks our neighbors down the road do. They put on quite the show. Luckily, Emory slept through it all, even Cole’s incessant barking. He does not like loud bangs and booms! So this year we had a very relaxing low key quiet 4th of July and a great visit with grandma and pawpaw!

This is the look I got when I said, "Say CHEESE!"

Emory modeling her slippers and necklaces.

Working on her walk or should I say strut!

This is a picture from when Bradley and I were at the wedding!

Vocabulary Explosion

Over the past few weeks Emory’s vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. Last night I decided to try and write down all the words that Emory knows and I was surprised at how many words she can say. Granted, not all of them are the clearest, but we are still able to understand what she is saying. So hear it goes! Emory at nearly 18 months old this is what you are saying: cookie, outside, coke (daddy taught you this one), ire truck (fire truck), mine (your favorite word), bib, no, cracker, ice keem (ice cream), cup, bow, spoon, moo, cow, cat, meow, baa, quack, doggie, wuf wuf (wolf wolf), diaper, hello (this is what you call a telephone), ba-ni-na (banana), apple, ball, book, bathy, shoe, socky, daddy, mommy, Cole, light, keys, tractor, baby, night night, bye bye, hat, broken, uh oh, mote (remote), fow-er (flower), door, cheese, Elmo, illow (pillow), peese (please), vroom (this is what you call a car), and tant you (thank you). Emory also likes to sing songs which go a bit like this lalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaalalalala. She is quite the entertainer!

Emory likes to get diet cokes out of the pantry and give them to us. Sometimes she insists on putting them in the fridge.

Her other favorite thing to get out of the pantry is this container of oil. She carried it all over yesterday evening. Who knew oil could be so entertaining!