mooch...

Cooking, eating, snacking if there's food involved Emily's there ready for a taste and if she doesn't want it or like it? Good luck. Emily seems to be able to discriminate between her foods and when she's had enough of something no amount of coaxing can get her to eat it. It's not that she's a picky eater, but how many spoonfuls of peas can anyone eat before they've had enough and the evasive maneuvers begin; head shaking side to side, her head back over the chair, hands flailing, mouth locked shut. If you get something different that she likes, no problem, Emily looks like a little bird in the nest waiting for the next mouthful of food.

Dad

Emily's Egg-cellent Adventure

There's nothing better than a basket of empty plastic Easter eggs to keep a baby entertained; just wait until she finds out that the eggs usually come with candy inside (unless dad gets to them first). The big hit for Emily's first Easter was the discovery of something called stairs. I thought climbing the stairs would be a problem for her, shows how much I know; she never even broke stride as she motored right up stairs. God help us.

Dad

It's never too late

Even when I get home from school too late to see Emily Grace before she goes to bed, her presence is everywhere; from the shredded magazines to the overturned furniture, you can tell she's had a busy and productive day.

Dad

As if it's not falling out fast enough

It's bad enough that Emily likes to pull my hair but now when I'm giving her a bath she gets hold of my hair and before I can escape her clutches she's kicking me in the eye; had to call for mom to rescue me. The best part of the whole ordeal is that Emily thinks it's hilarious.

Dad

It must be magic

I don't know how she does it it but Emily Grace somehow manages to untie all of my shoes. At first I thought Mom was playing a joke on me but the fact that the ends of the shoe laces are always wet leads me to believe that is the culprit is Emily. Mom is as smart as she is beautiful but even she has limits when it comes to practical jokes.

Dad

on the horizon...

Emily's starting to stand on her own, a little too much if you ask me. Although there is something very endearing when you sit down on the couch and she crawls over and pulls herself up. It starts with the flurry of activity as she crawls over, talking loudly all the way and then the silence as she grabs hold and pulls herself up up. The head slowly appears over the horizon of the couch cushion and then the eyes appear looking for you, followed by that great lopsided grin when she finds that you're still sitting there. Now if I just had time to "baby-proof" the kitchen, the garage, our bedroom, Grandma and Grandpa, the cats.......

Dad

Another tooth for Emily

What can a baby do with two teeth? Tear up a house. Bite everything in reach and enjoy every minute of it.

Dad

The definition of ambivilant....

Today was my first day back at work after two months of paternity leave. I was so sad to be leaving Emily Grace that I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep. It's not going back to work that's the problem, I love my job. I just knew that I'd miss that little lopsided grin as she crawled through the house wreaking havoc just like Sherman's march through the South. The only saving grace in all of this is that she's being taken care of by her Grandparents and I know that Emily adores her Grandma and Grandpa and they adore her.

Dad