Future Husband Found

Well, Miss Emma certainly has all her bases covered. She already has a best friend lined up (Makena), a bodyguard (Evan), and now a boyfriend, whom we shall call "Cricket." The latest edition to her entourage was unmistakable this past weekend, when our friends Cara and Bryan came in from Maryland and brought their adorable little boy with them. The two of them instantly clicked.

In one corner, there is Cricket: the active, yet patient male with a great sense of style and amazing athletic abilities such as standing on his own. In the other corner, we have Emma: the active, yet impatient female who appreciates a well-dressed man and is eager to learn as many tricks as you can teach her.

The outcome: Emma can now wave, say Mama, and is more determined than ever to stand. Cricket is now standing on his own for long periods of time and is more patient than ever after dealing with Emma's countless body slams and hair tugs. I swear he smiled and giggled even more after these episodes! Ahhhh.. true love.

To say the weekend was fun is a complete understatement. Watching these two cuties interact was so cool. They truly had NO PROBLEMS being around each other. In fact, they acted like they have always shared the same home. They played nicely together, happily exchanging toys and drool, but they also did their own thing, knocking each other down or crawling over each other to get to their intended destination. Thank goodness we have photos and videos to remember it all. And yes, to Jeff's dismay, we took the bathtub shot -- it was a must (although it might as well have been an Olympic sport trying to get these two to sit still for one nice shot!)

Of course, it was also nice for me to have a playmate around. Cara and I go WAY back to 6th grade and have had our ups and downs since she moved out east. Thankfully, it was in God's plan for us to reunite for the most exciting times of our lives. We reconnected just before her and Bryan got engaged a little over 2 years ago. I was able to stand up in her wedding, and we ended up "planning" our pregnancies at the same time (without even knowing it). It has been such a blessing having her by my side these last few years. She truly brings a new perspective to my life. We are different, but the same in many ways. I mean how many people can go a year without seeing each other in person, but live together for 5 days straight with total ease. I truly believe we were meant to be friends and will be for many, many, many years ahead.

Okay, okay, back to Emma. As you know, our bunny is already 8 months old and is quickly crawling toward 9 months. She is into everything she shouldn't be and thinks she can stand by herself, although she hasn't quite worked that out with her legs yet. Thank goodness for the cushion of a diaper. I hear nothing but that thud ALL.DAY.LONG.

Food is still a hang up for us. Emma loves anything I give her, but her tummy still isn't sure about anything other than her formula and cereal. Carrots failed, but sweet potatoes and squash seemed to have been okay. Bananas and now peas seem to be questionable. Both showed some signs of reaction, but I am not totally convinced. I stopped bananas before we could get confirmation, and we're still working on peas. I'm not sure how much of this is her system getting used to new foods and how much of it is her system rejecting the foods. Needless to say, I am anxious for our next doctor's appt., which is on May 18. I am ready with a long list of questions!

As I said, Mamamamama is our newest word, and baba is also finding its way into her vocab. Dada is still there, but you need to ask for it a few times before she'll repeat. I don't think she quite knows what the words really mean yet, but they are still music to my ears. That little voice just melts my heart, even when it isn't so little (which is most of the time!)

We've been working on waving for a while, but she seems to have finally picked it up. She will do it in response, but only when she wants to, which seems to be a recurring personality trait. :o)

Her naps and sleep habits are okay on the whole, but still fluctuate between good and bad days/nights. I'm very good about respecting her nap and bed times, but I've come to the conclusion that she'll get as much sleep as she needs. I can't make her stay asleep; I can only make sure she gets the rest when she needs it. If she wakes up, there's not much I can do about it.

That should do it for now. I will be posting photos of our fun weekend with Cara, Bryan, and Cricket over the next few days. Stay tuned!