Emily is 17 Months

We have one crazy girl on our hands.  We are crazy in love with her but she keeps us crazy busy.  Do you see a theme here?  This picture of Emily was taken in our backyard.  She kept trying to stand up on our outdoor chairs despite the fact that Mommy was saying, 'No!'.  When I went over to her to tell her again that I didn't want her to do that because it wasn't safe- she ran away laughing at me.  I absolutely love this picture because I see this little smirk all day long when she tests me!  I know that years from now when I see this picture it will help me remember what it was like to raise little Emily!

I wanted to write down the things that Emily is into these days but instead- I think it would be easier to talk about the things that she is NOT into.  She is not into things that she can reach easily.  She prefers to climb and balance precariously on unsafe structures which makes me have repetitive heart attacks all day long.  She is not into listening at all.  Wait- she is a good listener but if I say to her, 'Emily, please do not push that button again!', she will most definitely stare me down and then in slow motion- push the button!  Well, we've been having a lot of time-outs and little hand spanks (think of me tapping her hand).  Emily loves to push the limits and I think I have a few more gray hairs to show for it!  Emily is also not into car rides, keeping clips in her hair, leaving the toilet alone, television, pacifiers, sleeping soundly, and eating eggs. 

On the flip side, Emily is one of my most happy and smiley babies!  She is such a good girl!  It is just hard when she is in her 'I am going to win and no one will beat me' mood.  I can't blame her though because I have those moods, too.  Each day it is getting easier and easier to mother my sweet girl.  She is getting more independent and requires less from me each day.  I am not too worried about this because she still loves and needs me so much!

Emily is growing like a weed and now weighs 32 lbs!  I really don't care how much my kids weigh but the fact that she is tipping the scales AND spends a great amount of the day in my arms is tough!  My left bicep looks great!  The right one needs some work!  She is starting to run and it is actually kind of scary!  I can't take my eyes off her or she is gone!  Right now Emily is working on breaking though four molars at the same time.  Not fun for her at all (not fun for a Mommy of a teething baby at night, either).

She is trying to communicate a lot but is getting increasingly frustrated.  She calls both Matthew and Michael 'Ma', calls me 'Mom', calls Damien 'Dad', and calls Claire 'Te'.  Not too bad!  She knows a lot of words but because I usually don't have time to work with her on her speaking as much as I would like (instead we are rushing out the door to soccer practices or school) we usually just give her what she wants.  Emily loves to laugh and has a great one!  Her laugh reminds me a lot of Michael's laugh when he was younger.  It is so guttural and just contagious! 

Emily's hair is ridiculously curly!  I LOVE IT!  I don't think it has gotten any longer because as soon as she grows more hair, it just curls up more into ringlets.  I love this because this is what my hair was like when I was her age!  Wild and crazy.  Her eyes are still huge and blue.  Emily is just such a character.  There is no other way to describe her.   Sadly, I don't see so much of a baby in her anymore.  She is seeming to be more two-ish by the day.  One thing we know for sure is that Emily has us all wrapped around her sweet little finger (that probably just touched the button I told her not to) and we love her so much.