Emily in her 4th of July dress!
Look at that determination, Emily mid-step
Broccoli anyone?
Shopping with the snowman (in July).
Ready for a bike ride??? This was from the weekend.
We had a nice 4th of July with Emily. Due to the weather and her age, we decided not to go to any fireworks tonight. We considered it for awhile, but it has been rainy on and off since 5, so we decided that it really wasn't fair to wake a 16 month old up, take them to someplace where there is loud bangs, and it is rainy. Plus, we don't know of they would have canceled them adn we couldn't get through on the phone number that we had. Instead, Greg and I just finished watching the NYC fireworks which go off rain or shine. I believe this is the first time that I have ever watched fireworks on tv. Last year we didn't go to a show, but were on a plane flying home from visiting my parents and happened to fly past the NYC skyline during the last part of the fireworks show there so we were sort of able to see them.
We had a nice 4th here. We took Emily to an appliance store to look at kitchen appliances for our upcoming remodel and stopped by the grocery store to get food for dinner. After lunch and a nap for Emily, we watched Greg trim the bushes out front and then we all took a walk with the intention of going to the park. Midway through the walk when we were at the furthest point from our house it started pouring! Such luck! We ran for a little bit, but the rain let up enough that we were able to be a little more leisurely getting back to our house.
Before we took our walk, Emily got to pet her first guinea pig! A neighbor has one and they brought it out for Emily to pet. She really seemed to like it.
Emily had a field day with dinner. We made an extra baked potato tonight since she loves them and I didn't want to give up most of mine to her. Greg and I figured we could split what was left. She ate half of it, but was so funny eating it. When she put the first bite in her mouth, she opened her mouth and started screaming (crying). We thought that she burned her mouth, but none of the potato was near too hot. She kept crying and stuffing her mouth with potato. Once she finished the potato on her tray, she pointed for more. Greg gave her more and she did the same thing, put a bite in her mouth and opened her mouth like it was too hot, whined, then stuffed her face. Each time she got more on her tray, she did the same thing. By the end, I'm sure she was just doing it for effect, but it sure was funny.
She enjoys looking at a fork and spoon in a book that she has and loves to carry with her. Today she was standing near Greg and he held a spoon and asked her what it was. She turned before she could have possibly seen what Greg had and started walking out of the room. Then she said "spoon." We both got such a kick out of it. I really don't think she saw what it was and we've never done much with her identifying actual spoons not in her book.
Emily also loved the balloons at the appliance store and the grocery store today. Kept pointing and saying "boons, boons."
Yesterday Emily suddenly seemed to figure out the walking thing a bit more. She hadn't been walking much at all over the last couple of weeks, but yesterday and today it has really started to click. She is taking a lot more steps and doing it a lot more often. By a lot of steps, she'll maybe take up to 10 at a time. I think the big thing that helped her was a mommy and me class that we are taking that has kid gym time and circle time activities. All of the other 9 kids except one are walking and running and Emily did a great job walking by holding my hand and standing up and taking a few steps on her own. Since we left there yesterday morning, she has been doing so much more. Yay for this class for her walking ability. Not to mention that we both had a lot of fun!
Happy 4th!
Hot Playground
Making music on the chimes
Swing with Daddy on the HOT swing
Chilling with Grandpa in the shade.
Maybe Grandpa is thristy???
She usually looks big, but not when walking with Grandpa!
Who is leading the way?
At Aunt Christi and Uncle Dan's house.
With Grandma.
Uncle Dan's Birthday Dinner
Here are some more highlights of our trip to Texas. When we weren't swimming, we found plenty of other things to do to keep us busy. Daddy and Grandpa took Emily to the playground while Mommy and Grandma did a little bit of shopping. The playground ended up being under direct sun so the swings and slides were too hot for Emily to sit on. She seemed to find enough other activities at the playground like playing with the chimes at the top of the slide, swinging on Daddy's lap, making sure Grandpa wasn't too thirsty, and taking Grandpa on a walk. 
