11 Months Old!!

Normally when I do a blog about Emily hitting an age milestone I create a list of all the wonderful things that Emily is now capable of. I am going to break from this little tradition for this new post as most of the stuff she can now do is the same as at the ten month mark, plus at this late stage she is almost ONE YEAR OLD! It seems that the few small markers of eleven months will pale in comparison to the next milestone, so why compete? With any luck, the next "look what Emily can do" blog will be filled with wonderful things. For now I will settle for catching up and telling the tale of the one MAJOR thing that happened just days after she hit 11 Months.

I start this tale by telling you about our plans for the Saturday after November 14th, the day that she became 11 Months Old. We were going to start the day by visiting with Great Bob, make a quick stop at the zoo, and go get Emily's 11 Month pictures taken. Sounds like a pretty good family Saturday, doesn't it? One thing we have learned in the last 11 months is that no plans are permanent until after they happen; Emily often makes plans that we know nothing about, and can do little to change. It seems that today (the Saturday after the 14th that is) was going to be one of those days. It all started pretty much as planned . . . we slept until Emily got up, changed her diaper, made her a bottle for breakfast, and Christa started getting the accoutrements needed for traveling with Emily put together. This is where Emily started to veer off the course of our original plan . . . you see after her bottle, we were going to give her a bath, and then get everyone ready to leave. Emily, however, decided that now was an excellent time to get really sick for the first time. I will spare you the gory details, but it was pretty gross. Emily proceeded to get sick every couple of minutes for about the next 90 minutes (poor little girl!). We were pretty freaked out! We bundled Emily up and headed out to the doctor's office. Unfortunately, they did not have any open appointments, so they sent us over to the Emergency Room for what turned into a 6 HOUR visit.

We had a really great time at the Emergency Room. All of the doctors, nurses, and x-ray techs loved her. They all kept stopping by, just to see her smile. She smiled at the male nurses who were hooking her up to machines and getting her vitals. She smiled at the x-ray techs who had to give her a chest x-ray. She even smiled at the lady who gave her a catheter to get a urine sample. She smiled at the people who kept taking her temperature the hard way. In short, she kept smiling at everybody. It turns out that she had a stomach virus, and at this point, was only the first member of the family to get it. She would soon pass it on to me, Christa, Grandpa B, Grandma B, Aunt Susie, Auntie Mandy, Grandma Kathy, and Uncle Carl. It is comforting to know that even at this early age, she has learned to share.

We managed to reschedule her picture appointment for later in the week (an amusing side note here is that her regular photographer was then out with a stomach virus). We also managed to go visit Great Bob on the following weekend.

So there you have it, the tale of Emily's first REAL illness. It was a blast and I only wish that you all could have shared it with us.

"Daddy, do you see all of my new animals? The doctors and nurses are so nice here!"

"Come here, Pelican. I want to give you a kiss and then throw you on the floor."

Giving all of her animals kisses and then throwing them on the floor must have worn Emily out. I think it wore Daddy out too. Aren't they cute?

Such a big girl.

Grandma Kathy thinks that Emily looks like Grandma B in this picture. (Emily does have a very mischievous look about her in this picture. I wonder if there are any large Yogi Bears taking the place of any religious icons around the Elgin area.)

She just gets cuter and cuter. How does she do this?

I wonder what she was thinking about when this picture was taken. She looks like she's really concentrating on something.

What you don't see in this picture is the little cupcake that had been in the pig's mouth. Emily was looking at it, which would have made a very cute picture, but she flung it out of view right before this picture was taken. What a goofball!

Another Busy Weekend

So here we are again, seriously behind in our blogging. I wish I could say that there is a good reason, or even that it won't happen again, but to be honest, I can't. I am not going to make excuses, mostly because there aren't any good ones, but I will get moving and start telling this story.

What is now several weeks ago, Emily had another big weekend. Not only was her Grandpa Jerry in town for a visit, but we were also going to a letterboxing event in Chicago. Emily was very excited about both of these things, and so were Christa & I. Emily got to spend Friday evening playing with her Grandpa, who was very happy to see her, and also amazed at how big she had gotten since his last visit. The two of them fell right into their old routine, Grandpa builds Emily a tower, and Emily knocks it down. There was also lots of tickling, laughing, hugging, and snuggling. All in all, I would say that Emily enjoyed her time with Grandpa.

On Saturday afternoon, Christa, Emily & I all jumped in the Vue, and headed into Chicago for a very special Letterboxing event. This wasn't any old event, this was a Letterboxing Wedding. Two of our letterboxing friends will be getting married in the spring and they wanted to have a special get together for all of their letterboxing friends. It was really a great time. The whole event was held indoors, and there were stamps hidden all over the room. Lots of the letterboxers we have gotten to know were there, and we spent some time catching up. There were even a couple of boxers from Washington state, who were in Chicago on business, and decided to attend their very first event. We had a really great time, and Emily had a blast, she just loves to people watch and a lot of people were stopping by to say hello to her.

So there you have it, one post closer to catching up, but I have said that before haven't I? Check this space tomorrow for what I hope will be another post, till then . . .

"Come on, Mommy & Daddy, I'm all ready to go! Let's get moving! Hurry up!"

Emily thought that her bunny should guard all of the pop tabs that we collected for the Ronald McDonald House. (Thanks, Fungus Woman!)

We all gathered together to celebrate the up-coming wedding of Atom 118 & Coffee Beans. (Or, the soon to be Atomic Beans.)

Letterboxing history in the making . . . Tonto is stamping into a logbook!

The happy couple, Atom 118 & Coffee Beans.

"Grandpa, don't worry. I see your tower. I'll knock it down as soon as I finish looking at this book."

"I'm such a big girl now, I can climb up onto the fireplace all by myself!"

"Grandpa, are you watching me? I can climb up here all by myself!"

"Hey, look! There's a really cute baby in the window. I think we could be friends!"

"How do I get this door open? I want to go meet that cute baby."

"Shania, could you please help me get this door open?"

"Oh, never mind. I'll go push my car around the kitchen instead."

. . . and here's the pitch . . . Grandpa Jerry just hit what could be, it might be . . .

. . . it is! A Home Run! Holy Cow!

"OK, Grandpa. I want you to look at this. Do you see this orange thing? This is a pumpkin. I think Auntie Mandy needs to get her eyes checked because she keeps calling me a little pumpkin face. I think she thinks that I look like this big orange thing."

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Grandpa's getting me!"

"It's so much fun when people get me! I get to have lots of hugs and kisses!"

Babies, Start Your Engines!

So at the beginning of November, Babies 'R Us sponsored a Baby Faire at the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center. The fair was on Saturday & Sunday; we attended last year and learned a lot about all of the stuff we would be using & needing with a newborn. However, we really skimmed over all the stuff for toddlers and older babies. With that in mind, we decided to go back and look at the stuff that we didn't look at the last time, not to mention, we now had a baby to enter in the derby. We found out that a local morning news show would be filming on the Friday before the fair and needed babies to be there to add interest and a "cute" factor, so this is where our story will start.

We all got up very early on Friday morning to be there for the Fox news filming. Emily was very excited and also tired, but she got over that, the tired part not the excited part. When we arrived, there were already a couple of babies there and we were all waiting to be let into the convention hall. After about ten minutes or so someone came out and let us in and informed us the the news crew was running late. So we all waited and let the kids loose in the Babies 'R Us display, which was the only display that was set up at this point.

Once the news team arrived, things started to happen. First they filmed a little teaser for the news, and they had the poor reporter guy surrounded by all of the babies while the parents were all off to the side "relaxing." After the teaser, we started to get ready for the first segment. They put Emily into a little Snugli thing that the reporter was wearing, because the first baby they had in it was screaming her head off. This was working for a while, but as soon as the camera started rolling, she started screaming. I have to admit that it was pretty funny. Once the segment was over, we all went over to the race track for the Baby Derby, this was the main event as it were and where we would do the rest of our filming. I had been building Emily up for this and was sure that she was ready to rock and roll. We did a few more teasers, and then it was time for the big event!! I would like to say that Emily tore off of the starting line and in a blaze of speed never seen before won the race, but sadly, it would not be the truth. The race started and Emily went nowhere, then I tried to giver her a little shove on the butt to get her moving and she fell on her face, it was a mess. She eventually left the starting line, but not until the race was already over. While I was disappointed, I also felt a little guilty about knocking her on her face, so I let her poor performance slide; we had another chance on Saturday.

On Saturday, we met up with Grandma Kathy & Auntie Mandy and went to the Baby Faire. I had spent the evening with Emily going over the tape of the race in an effort to point out some of the mistakes that were made, mostly not leaving the starting line. I felt she was ready to win. Upon our arrival, we basically made a beeline over to the Baby Derby area, and signed Emily up. She was given number 15 and would be in the third heat, the top two finishers in each heat would advance to the Finals for that hour. We watched the first two races and I was very confident in Emily's chances. Her second big moment in two days arrived, the gun went off, and . . . nothing happened, AGAIN! Thankfully, none of the other kids moved either, there were a bunch of parents going crazy at the finish line and a bunch of babies on the other side saying, "I'm not going over there, they're nuts." Eventually the babies, including Emily, started to move, and Emily finished second in her heat. Now was time for the Finals, Emily was a little tired from her first race, but we felt she still had the energy to race. Once again, it was a dazzling display of nothing, followed by short bursts of speed. Emily did manage to finish third, though it is mostly because the baby who was in the lane next to her was disqualified because her mom picked her up before she crossed the finish line.

So there you go, another blog, another adventure . . .there is more to say, about this and other things, and we are working on it.

Emily was crawling around the hotel lobby waiting for the Baby Faire doors to open for us. "Daddy, there was sure a lot of hurrying up to sit around here doing nothing!"

Once inside, the babies were free to roam around and "product test" while we waited for the news crew to arrive. Emily didn't waste any time. She was checking out the strollers once we set her free.

"Daddy, look this stroller has polka dots!"

Emily was checking out the stroller from all angles. She was even putting pressure on the seat to make sure it was comfy.

"Daddy, I don't know that I'm completely sold on this stroller. Are there any other strollers for me to look at?"

"Forget the strollers, this looks like a fun toy!"

"Yep, I can fit under here."

"Daddy, I can fit under here! Can you see me?"

"Yep, Daddy, I think I need one of these."

"Hey, another stroller!"

"Daddy, I think this one is an SUV! Just like your car!"

"Wow, there's even a seat for Mommy back here. I like it when Mommy rides in the backseat with me."

"I better read these tags to make sure that it's safe."

"Look at all of this storage space in the trunk! Daddy, I think I could fit Cow and a few of my other friends in here."

"Daddy, what do you think of this one. This one's pretty fancy. It's black and silver, just like your car."

"I should probably check the tires. I hear that you're suppose to kick the tires to make sure that your car is safe before you buy it."

Emily also product tested the Fisher Price Rainforest bouncy seat. She was "modeling" this toy during the first teaser on the news.

She definitely like the waterfall and the animal noises.

She got very comfortable. Look at those crossed legs. Could she be anymore relaxed?

The reporter arrived and was getting set up for the first segment on air. There's Emily, trying to escape from the bouncy seat.

Since the first baby that was in the reporter's snuggle pack was crying, he traded babies after the first segment. He got Emily in his little pack instead for the next couple of segments.

Here she is, on the Fox Morning News. Our little starlet.

Emily did really well on TV, until about halfway through her big segment. Suddenly the reporter put the snuggle pack's head covering over her head, so she couldn't see us anymore, and she lost it. She cried for the rest of the segment, just to make sure that he knew she was annoyed, what a little diva!

Friends again, sort of, Emily poses with Fox Morning News reporter David Viggiano.

Here she is testing out what it's like to be a morning news reporter. Look out, David, she might try to take your job!

As time got closer for the news version of the Baby Derby, all of the 9 babies were given numbers. We knew trouble was brewing when Emily was given #3 instead of Daddy's favorite number, 5.

Chillin' out before the big race for TV.

Daddy was helping Emily get all stretched out so that she didn't pull any muscles. What a guy!

"Wait a minute, Em, it's not time to start yet!"

The race's referre, David Viggiano, lays down the law for all of the babies prior to the start of the race. "No stopping for pee breaks."

There she goes! Look at that speedy crawler. Too bad the race was already over.

"Daddy, that was so much fun. Can I be on TV again?"

The next day, the Baby Faire was actually open. We signed Emily up for the Baby Derby, hoping that yesterday's news event was enough practice. We were hoping that maybe she would actually leave the starting line during the race this time. I was on the sidelines taking pictures, Grandma Kathy was videotaping with our other digital camera. We sent Auntie Mandy in, armed with Emily's pink monkey, as motivation for Emily to crawl.

Goofy Auntie Mandy. Look at her shaking that pink monkey. She's so silly!

There's Emily, in the far outside lane, just sitting there. Again!

Wait! She's starting to move!

Here we are with her winnings after coming in 3rd! Go Emily!

We discovered the next morning that there had been a Daily Herald photographer at the Baby Faire when we saw our picture in the paper! Wow, TV and the newspaper in one weekend. Plus, this was Emily's second time in the Daily Herald. Such a famous little girl!

Here's a close-up of the picture we were in. I also marked our heads with arrows, since we're in the middle of a crowd. Grandma Kathy is in the back, next is Auntie Mandy, then I'm pushing Emily in the stroller. Emily's head is in the red circle.

We call this video, "The Beginning."

The video run time is 2 minutes, 44 seconds.

In this video, you will see Emily taking her mark for her heat in the Baby Derby. She was #15 in the derby, so she was in the 3rd, and final, heat. They took the top 2 babies in each heat for the final race. While watching, please keep in mind that Emily took second in her heat, and did qualify for the final race. Also pay attention to what the other babies are doing; hilarity does ensue and it is definately worth watching. Oh, I should also tell you that Emily is in the furthest lane, in a purple shirt with blue jeans. I should also tell you that Auntie Mandy is holding the pink monkey at the finish line to lure Emily to crawl. Daddy also runs over to the finish line to help cheer Emily on and to hopefully give her more motivation to crawl. When neither of these two plans work, you will see me come into the screen on my way to the finish line to take over and get Emily to crawl to us. (I had been off screen taking pictures, but was summoned by Daddy to come and take a more active role.)

We appropriately call this video, "The End."

The video run time is 1 minute, 18 seconds.

In this video, you will finally see Emily move. In fact, she moves with a purpose, compared to the last video. (The reason for this second video is that we needed to enlist Grandma Kathy's help, she is the videographer, to get Emily's Cheerios out of the diaper bag as even more motivation, because having 3 people as a cheering section was not enough to get this little munchkin moving. Grandma Kathy resumed the videotaping once the Cheerios had been passed off to Daddy.) Don't forget, she comes in second place during her heat. She qualifies to move on to the final race. Our little speed demon! (She actually does move very quickly when the situation doesn't require speed.)

We call this video, "The Big Race."

The video run time is 1 minute.

This is the final race, the main event, the whole shooting match, the last hoorah, the final stand, the end-all-be-all, the really big show, the cream of the crop. In this match-up are the top 2 babies from each of the 3 heats. (Emily is in the same racing position, in the far outside lane.) Emily takes 3rd place in this race, and earns a $10.00 gift card for Babies 'R Us. The baby who finished just before her was disqualified because her mommy picked her up before she actually crossed the finish line. (Her mommy did this because that little girl had been sitting next to the finish line for awhile already, and Emily was closing quickly.)

We have the entire series of little news segments from the Fox Morning News on tape. Steve is currently working on the logistics of getting them off of VHS and onto the blog. When he is successful, we will post that video for you as well in a future blog. Stay tuned for that later on.