In memoriam

Chris' grandmother, Emma's great-grandmother Mamaw Barb, passed away this afternoon after a long bout with cancer. She is in a much better place now, plus she's with her husband, but we'll still miss her. She was a really sweet woman.

May she rest in peace.

Two videos

Chris posted the newest videos of Emma on YouTube. The first one is from Gymboree class last Friday.

And the other one is from Knott's Berry Farm on Sunday. Be sure to turn up the sound at 2:32 on this one, you can hear Emma yelling for Chris about the boat. It's adorable.

I'm supposed to mention that the reason the log flume clip is so short is because I forgot to call Chris when we were getting on the ride to tell him to be ready. My bad.

That's all for now. More later.

Always remember: Just because flume sounds like something you might cough up in the morning, that doesn't mean it isn't fun.

Knott's Berry Farm

Chris, Emma and I went to Knott's Berry Farm today. We had the best time, despite the 100 degree heat. Emma rode her first big-girl ride, and she rode a few rides by herself, too. She loved it.

We stayed mainly in Camp Snoopy, the kids area at the park. Emma rode the Red Baron first. I didn't know how she'd do by herself, but we had watched the ride once so she knew what it did before she got on. She rode with a little girl named Amber who was bigger and could reach the lever to move the plane up and down. Emma loved it, as you can see.
She went in the Snoopy Bounce House. She loved jumping in there, but I think she got tired due to the heat. She sat down for the last few seconds and coughed a little, so I made her drink a lot of water.
She went on the Huff and Puff train, where she pumped the lever up and down to move the car. Since she's pretty small, the girl working the ride walked around with her and pushed her along, but she kept pumping. It was cute. Didn't get a good photo of that one, but it was sweet.

Emma and I went on the Camp Bus, a ride that made a big circle, going up and down. Emma thought it was so fun. She yelled for Daddy to look while we were way up high in the air.
We went on Lucy's Tugboat, which moved in a motion similar to the Scrambler. She had so much fun, and she yelled to Daddy during the ride, "Daddy! Daddy! It's a boat!" It was so cute. Chris took video of it, and you can hear her say it on there, but the videos aren't quite uploaded yet. I'll post the link when they're up.

We rode the Rocky Road Truckin' Company ride twice. The first time we both rode in the back, then the second time she got to drive in the cab while I sat in the back. She took her truck driving very seriously.
The piece de resistance was Emma's one big-girl ride of the day, the Timber Mountain Log Ride. She and I rode in the front of the flume (I wanted to be sure both of us got in the picture). She loved it. Plus it was great getting splashed with cool water on such a hot day. Part of the ride was in total darkness, but she still liked it. Now, in the picture, she doesn't look like she's having fun, but she was surprised by the big hill at the end. She totally dug the ride and wanted to go again.
We had so much fun today, plus we discovered that when she's big enough, Mommy's going to have a nice little roller coaster buddy. She wants to ride them so much. Every time she saw one race by, she would smile and hold up her arms. So funny.

That's all for now. More later.

Always remember: Roller coasters rule!

Time to blog again

I haven't blogged in a while, I know. I could blame it on being busy - which I have been - but honestly my lack of blogging is mostly due to laziness and forgetfulness.

Emma got her first real haircut from a real salon today. She did so well and sat so still for the lady, who was very nice and did a great job. We went to a kids' salon called Gumball Alley. The photos I took can be found here, but here are a few for ya.
We had date night tonight. We dropped off Emma at Gymboree, then we went to this place with an arcade. miniature golf, bumper boats and batting cages. We had fun, and I even beat Chris at air hockey once! Whoa! That never happens. Never. Afterward we went to Rattler's BBQ for dinner, where we sat at the bar. It's been so long since we've done that. We had some drinks and dinner right there at the bar, just the two of us. I felt so grown up, LOL. We laughed and talked and ate and had a great time. I had this watermelon mojito that was delicious. Other people at the bar were wondering what it was, and I told them I gave it the thumbs-up. Good stuff.

One of Emma's friends, Olivia, is a model on a kids clothing web site, crazy8.com. She's the blonde on the left. Crazy 8 is owned by Gymboree, like Old Navy is owned by Gap. So I can officially say Emma is friends with a model.

We went to Indiana last weekend to visit Chris' grandmother, who is battling cancer. It was pretty rough to see her like that, but it was important that she got to see Emma. Emma was so sweet when she would go in her room. She'd walk up next to her bed and pat her on the leg. It was so precious. Here are the photos we took while we were there.

Tomorrow we're planning on going to Knott's Berry Farm. For those of you who live in Indiana, it's So Cal's King's Island. Make sense? I'll be sure to blog about it and post photos. We were planning on going last Thursday, but Norbert has been a little under the weather, so we didn't want to leave him alone all day at home. Hopefully we can go tomorrow. Cross your fingers!

That's all for now. More later.

Always remember: It's nice to feel like a grown-up once in a while. Even if you don't get carded and feel old because of it.

It's so nice.

Emma loves the song "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles. The song is on the soundtrack for Bee Movie and plays at the end of the movie when the bees are re-pollinating all the plants. She loves the song, which is also on The Beatles' "Love" album that is in my visor CD holder in my car.

As I previously discussed, she knows which CD has that song on it and has me put it in the CD player in the car. But what I neglected to tell you was that she sings along. It's so funny. She'll say, "Here comes sun...doo doo doo doo...here comes sun...here comes sun...I say...it's so nice." The words, of course, are "Here comes the sun, doo doo doo doo, here comes the sun and I say, it's all right." Cracks me up. I tell her the right words, which she'll repeat after I say them, but then she goes back to her own little version the next time the chorus plays. Hysterical.

Norbert finally got a haircut today, of which he was in desperate need. Emma and I dropped him off this morning, and afterward as we were driving she was listlessly looking out her window. I said, "Emma, are you OK?" and she didn't reply. "Are you all right?" Nada. "Do you miss Norbert?" She said, "Yes, miss Norbert. Love him." How cute is that?! Then when we picked him up this afternoon I let him ride in the back seat with her. He jumped in and immediately kissed her on the face, which she thought was funny. As we were taking him home I asked her if she thought Norbert looked nice. She said, "Nice haircut." Hehehe. Funny girl.

We have two 2-year-old birthday parties this weekend, so that'll be tons of fun. I'll let you know how they go. Probably post some pictures. Speaking of pictures, there are new photos on our photo album of Emma's first time flying a kite. She LOVED it. Here's one of the cute pictures from that playdate, it's Emma with her friend Sabrina (who she calls Reena).
That's all for now. More later.

Always remember: It doesn't matter what words you sing, just sing.

Smartest. Baby. Ever.

Emma is, in fact, the smartest baby who ever lived. Too smart for her own good sometimes, of course, but brilliant nonetheless. She catches onto new ideas extremely quickly, and she retains things she's just learned equally as quickly. And her memory? She forgets nothing.

The other day she and I were riding in the car, where I have a CD holder that fits on my visor which holds 10-12 discs. Emma seems to know what each one is by color and order (which doesn't change), because she requested a new CD the other day and as I pointed at the 3rd one from the left (The Beatles "Love" album), she said yes. "The Beatles," she said, "Bee song." (*The song "Here Comes the Sun" plays at the end of the Bee Movie.*) How does she remember that the yellow CD in the third spot is The Beatles and has that song on it? Heck, I don't even remember that sometimes.

Her favorite book right now is "The Giving Tree". She likes us to read it to her, but she also likes to "read" it to us. It's the cutest thing ever. Here is a video of her reading to us before bed the other night, and here is the outline of the story so you know what's happening in the story (unless you have the book and can read along). Don't forget to turn up the sound ... she has a tiny voice.

There are many more instances of Emma's brilliance, but you get the idea.

That's all for now. More later.

Always remember: It's the smart kids now that will rule the world when we're old.