Phone Life

Life is moving so quickly with all this warm, lovely sunshine we’ve been having! Here is our life according to my phone. Pictures include: blueberry face, Oliver pretending to be Emmie, fooling Mom so you can really climb on her, running with objects, lots of walks and parks, lunch on the porch and more!

 
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On the Horizon

An alternate titles to this post were:

A. Help! My ten month old thinks she’s a toddler!!
B. Toilet paper, tantrums and sippy cup meltdowns
C. NEED MORE COFFEE…

Any idea where this post is headed yet? Oh that’s right, we’ve got a baby diva on our hands this week. A top tooth is right there. A big ‘ole top tooth is on our horizon. The gum is starting to part and another day or two and that sucker will be O.U.T… phew. We are in full blown teething hell.

In other fun news, my ten month old thinks she’s a toddler. Who can blame her, she just wants to keep up with the big kids. Now that she’s walking, she feels her attitude should match her swagger. And boy, oh boy,  does she have a lot of swagger.
Two minutes setting up lunch? Two minutes of Baby-Destructor! Emerson discovered the toilet paper roll. (Also, note to self, clean the bathroom WAY more frequently now that these chubby hands touch everything. *shudder*) I came back from the dining room to half the roll of TP on the floor. She didn’t notice me at first, so naturally I grabbed the camera, snapped a few pictures and said, “Emerson? What have you discovered?” Lens focused, zoomed in, face centered and in 3,2,1. SNAP. Guilty as charged.

Other moments of hilarity that have ensued due to our teething hell this week include:

  • Rolling around on the floor in a sippy cup tantrum. 
  • Getting mad that you can’t walk over the dog. It causes you to fall and cry. 
  • Getting mad that you can’t push over the gate so you fall down and cry. 
  • Getting told not to throw food off your table, so you get mad and cry. 
  • Being a baby? Get mad and cry. 
  • Having to wear a diaper? Get mad and cry. 
  • Nap-time? Get furious and scream. 

Oh yes, oh yes, this momma needs more coffee. And a nap.

As her guardian, care-giver, and loving mother, I try to keep my calm. Yet, some days by the time 6 o’ clock rolls around I am watching the seconds tick away just waiting, waiting for Kyle to come home and hand off the demon-teether to Daddy. Wine is usually involved after the hand-off process. It’s like the glorious prize of surviving another day with a teething-ten-month-wanna-be-toddler.

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Exploring

As an adult, I feel we all have a tendency to get wrapped up in the mundane day to day tasks. Having a child is such a jarring life event. All of a sudden day to day becomes monumental. Such intuitive movements need to be learned; such inherent ideas need to be discovered. Sure, I see dandelions all the time, but you know what? I never stopped to really discover them. 

Emerson teaches me time and time again, that it’s okay to slow down.  That it’s quite alright to sit and examine dandelions to our hearts content. Taking time in our busy days to appreciate something so seemingly simple as sunshine, dandelions and the breeze. We’re surrounded by complexities every where we turn. All these hidden gems have just been around us so frequently that they start to lose their brilliance with our climbing years. Why is the sun not so fascinating after all these years? 
It should be.  
It is. 
There’s nothing I love more than being reminded of how remarkable the world we live in truly is. Emmie certainly has a way of bringing wonderment back to the lackluster phenomenons that engulf our day to day lives. 
For this, I am forever grateful. 
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Nap-time

Ah, the blissful quiet of nap-time. Nap time with a newborn was way different than what our nap-time currently looks like. With a newborn it was a slow, methodological process of shushing, swaddling, swaying… or sometimes the quirky, “that can’t be comfortable,” car-seat nap.  I mean naps happened in arms, on chests, in wraps and cars, in strollers, stores and restaurants… gosh, now that I’m remembering tiny babies can nap freakin’ any where! 
I miss those days. Now, naps have a certain schedule. A 20 minute window of perfect timing where bottles are had, books are read and eyes close not too soon after. Come anytime before or after that magical 20 minute window and naps are solitary playtime with you and 5 pacifiers- for an hour. But don’t worry by 30 minutes in, you’ll have tossed everything out and when you scream long enough and loud enough, Mom will come to the rescue and put all your Paci’s back in. And eventually after some more howling, rolling, standing and falling down you’ll drift off to sleep with one lone paci.
 Phew. 
* * * * * * * * * 
Yes, I think it’s safe to say this is one of my favorite things about naptime: my coffee. More specifically my morning, I can’t believe I wake up this early every day now, coffee. 3 ice cubes, a smidge of milk and cool straw. Cool straw is not optional. 

Yup. Definitely a favorite part of nap-time because once this coffee is gone it’s onto the mad-dash. Blogging, brainstorming and researching for my new business ideas (I am certainly my Father’s daughter. ) dishes, laundry, snacking, lunch prep, oh and can’t forget those pesky meds! …And is my hair too greasy that it’ll look awful if I just braid it? Nope! Braid it is…thank goodness because I’m not even sure there was time to showe—*monitor blinks on.* 
And just like that, naptime is over. Okay okay, this is probably my second favorite part of naptime. I mean, how could it not be? 

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Phone Life

I take so many pictures on my phone. And while they may not be the best quality, there are some of my favorite moments captured. From tiny pig-tails, muddy socks and park outings; here is our life lately, according to my phone:

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Spring Adventures

May has arrived and with it, glorious weather. We’re talking  70’s to low 80’s, blue skies, sunshine and perhaps the odd thunderstorm. My car has a nice thick layer of pollen and the bee’s are back trying to hive in our porch chairs. Ah, yes, spring is here! 
We’ve been spending our spring afternoons exploring new places! We’ve gone to a nature trail, and went hiking with some friends. Emerson and I explored a park covered in brightly colored tulips. It had lots of shade, and lots of color! 

We visited another park in the city, not too far from where we live, that we had never been to before. To park at this park was quite the adventure. We drove around what I assumed would be the ‘block,’ but turns out I drove about 6 blocks! At least I knew where I was when I popped out on a main street. 

Mid-Sneeze!
 Never the less, all of our park exploring has been great. We’ve driven around so many new and wonderfully rich in history, and if we’re being honest -monetarily rich, neighborhoods, that it made me realize there is so much to Baltimore that I don’t even know yet! Also, I have confirmed my hunch that I just love houses. There have been an abundance of  gorgeous historic houses around the areas we were driving. I could have walked around for hours just admiring them all! 

 Oliver has been on a few adventures with us, using his car harness that my Grandpa Jack gifted us. It’s come in quite handy when driving with both baby and dog. Having Oliver strapped in safely in his harness has been such an anxiety reducer. Gone are the days of him bouncing around like a crazy man, now he’s more or less forced encouraged to sit calmly and stick his face out the window. 

We’ve been having a blast soaking up our sunshine, having picnics and spending lots of our time outside. We’ve all been pretty happy campers round here. 
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