Fifteen months

Emeline hits 15 months today! Time is flying by. And so is Emeline. These days if you get to experience Emeline, it's probably watching her speed past you. She is always on the move. She's always been busy, but she's also fast and busy. The last couple months we've seen her walking get even more stable. She's very careful as she goes over thresholds, and she's getting braver when trying to go up or down stairs. Just the other day as she was speeding around the house, I thought her foot steps were looking more and more like running. Thank goodness she's starting to learn to hold our hands more when we're out of the house. It's very sweet to be out with her and have her raise her hand up to grab my fingers. Emeline is also learning to climb. She doesn't seem to be one of those kids who will climb everything, but she's definitely getting the skills.

She continues to try to say a few words, but most of the time, they are made up of the same sounds 'da' or 'doh', but she always differentiates words with intonation and a sign. For example, 'bye bye' is usually 'da doo' with a rising falling intonation and a wave good bye. 'All done' is similar, but different. I can't quite explain it....but then with the 'all done' sign. 'Water/agua' is 'ba' or 'aba' with the accent on the final syllable and a rising tone, and with her combo 'eat/water' sign. But she consistently will try to say the word 'toes' almost like she did for the first time. She's got a couple more words/signs, but those are some good examples. I know I'm a nerd, but the linguist in me loves to watch how her language develops.

One thing that we're learning as parents is that even though Emeline doesn't say a lot of words, she understands A LOT. I'm sure this is normal, but as new parents we are constantly amazed at how much she comprehends. As she gets older, she responds more an more to what we say. If we ask her to bring us a book, in English or in Spanish, she'll do it. She'll also point out dogs and cats, and perros and gatos while reading. I was doubtful that she'd learn Spanish given that I am very rusty these days, but she responds to phrases about eating, bath time, nap time, diaper changes, and lots of other daily stuff when I speak Spanish to hear. I'm pretty sure she probably will speak mostly English, but even if she understands only a little Spanish, I'll be glad to have given her that little gift of language.

Here are some photos of her after a weekend trip, at a rest stop. She still had her party dress on, and needed to run around to stretch her legs.
I know, I know, that was a lot of photos. But I can't help it. Last, but not least, Emeline loves to run and give Daddy hugs. She's such a Daddy's girl :)

Bath time

Why are babies in the bath so cute? You tell me! Wes brushed Emeline's hair, creating these giant curls, we just had to take some photos. Enjoy!

Lunchtime signing and silliness

Here are a couple of video's from today's lunch. It's pretty typical. Eating some finger foods, signing for more and water. And sometimes signing for 'all done'. And of course, lots of silliness. I thought I had gotten the most hilarious video, one with perfect timing on signing, hilarious belly laughs and a perfect 'bye bye' at the end. But then I realized the camera was not in video mode. So alas, these two aren't as perfect, but still as cute as can be. Emeline kept saying 'bye bye' to the camera because I had asked her to the first time around. She's funny. I think she learned to say 'bye bye' from when we say goodbye to Daddy in the morning. She started out just waving, then waving and saying 'buh buh', but now she usually says 'dah dou' with a wave for 'bye bye'. Maybe because of the whole phrase 'bye bye Daddy', but who knows. It's just neat to be able to communicate with her.

The second video shows one of my favorite things she does lately. She loves melon, and she usually shoves a whole big piece in her mouth. It's hilarious to see her mouth exploding with melon. If its a good soft piece, she'll just chew it all up, but this video shows what happens if it's not soft enough ;).

Enjoy our lunchtime signing and silliness!

iPhone Photo Dump - May

With Noah on the way to Cabo...

Enjoying the beach...

Plane ride!

Artistic foot...

  
Books!

Playa Chileno & San Jose Cabo

On our last full day of vacation, we did a little adventuring outside of the resort. Our first stop was Playa Chileno, a beach nearby. We went there because the beach by our hotel had tides that were too strong to allow swimming. We wanted to get some real ocean time in, so off we went. Here are some photos of Playa Chileno, complete with palapas to relax under!
Relaxing and playing under our palapa.
And Emeline's first dip in the ocean. She did alright, but was a little afraid of the waves.

Later that day, after naps and rest for all, we went to a small town nearby called San Jose Cabo. This is also where the airport is, but it is a much smaller town that Cabo San Lucas. That evening they had an art walk, where local artists open their galleries and people roam the streets. We didn't get many pictures, Emeline was a little tired from swimming, and understandably annoyed about all the car seat and stroller time.

We tried to get some photos in front of the local mission, but Emeline was a little difficult to wrangle.
So we let her run around the plaza across the street.
Final a few photos that actually prove we were in Mexico!

Cabo - Date night

One of the great parts of traveling with another family, is we got to give each other some baby relief. Each couple got a date night, and the babies got TWO play dates :).

We got a little dolled up, still relaxed and Cabo style...
Since we had some time before dinner, we wandered around taking pictures more leisurely.
Wes took pictures of things he's interested in...
And I took some of my favorites too...
We also sat in the sun, having appetizers and listening to live guitar music. Then we went back to our favorite restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

When it was our turn to watch the kids, we ordered dinner in, and let the babies do their thing! Emeline and Noah play very well together. Such sweet kids!

This is one of my favorites because it shows Emeline and her favorite toys now, books. And Noah loving the musical barn toy. He kept pressing the button and bobbing his head to the music.
And last but not least, Noah, seeking a little refuge and looking up. I got to have some nice cuddly moments with Noah, which were very special! Apparently, there are some babies who like to cuddle :)