Moments

This gem takes us all the way back to August, when Emily and I were with my parents for a couple of weeks.  She is a morning person, and she really liked all of the books and toys my family had put together for her.

Shortly after we all moved back to Indiana officially, I was trying to put together these wire shelves.  Emily was right there with me the entire time, playing with the different pieces.  Just as I put in the final piece she pulled herself up and the entire thing collapsed.  Needless to say we waited for Andrew to get home to use his muscle.  What took me an hour to pull together he finished in twenty minutes tops.

Emily LOVES balls.  Yesterday she WALKED across the playground and a grassy area to get a yellow ball that was just sitting on the ground.  She played with it until we had to go inside, carrying it around and then dropping it down a hill and then walking/tumbling to get it again and walk it back up a hill.  This passion for balls has been around for quite awhile.  Here she is a few months ago playing with Andrew.

We’ve had quite a few Friday night dates on campus this year.  Toward the beginning of the semester, Purdue officially opened a new graduate student center.  Andrew took Emily and I to the opening where they dedicated the building and had delicious food like salmon to enjoy. The next week we went to the graduate school barbecue complete with cold stone ice cream for dessert.  We ran into many friends from church and enjoyed a picnic dinner together. 

 

The next week we went to a traveling smithsonian exhibit.  It was literally a truck with the exhibit inside, parked on the lawn.  Emily loved the animals and enjoyed playing with the touch screens even  more.

This cute girl of ours on a Sunday, leaning against the wall and thinking about walking.  This is was back in the day when she would just take one step and sit down.  Now she walks all around the room without a second thought.

Emily spent a lot of time playing with this empty tub a few weeks ago.  She would sit inside and then try and get the balls or a book in there with her.  She could never quite get everything to stay inside so there was lots of trying to get settled in and then chasing after a ball to bring it back in. She was working so hard, but I couldn’t help but laugh quietly on the side.

Emily normally comes into our bed for a little bit in the mornings when Andrew and I aren’t sure we are ready to be up yet.  She will usually crawl around and try laying down all over the bed to get comfortable.  For the first time ever she found a spot that she stayed in for a good long while.  Those two just melt my heart.

Emily and I have been going on walks about twice a week with one of our friends.  It has been so beautiful changing from summer to fall and I just can’t seem to soak up enough of it.  Needless to say, we have spending nice afternoons outside at the park trying to get every ounce of warmth and sunshine left before winter hits.

Emily loves holding pens, pencils, and sticks and practices writing on everything without actually making marks.   My mom suggested I put Emily in the high chair and actually let her draw.  We did this a few weeks ago now and she enjoyed drawing and but preferred watching me draw dogs more. This is one activity I need to make an effort to do more often.

Some Sunday afternoon fun.  Emily was trying to put things in Andrew’s mouth. She enjoys feeding us and also pointing (actually stabbing and grabbing) our facial features.  Noses are particularly vulnerable.

When we got settled into our new apartment, the area was finally baby proofed enough that I could go to the bathroom alone and let Emily fend for herself for a few moments.  It was many a week before little fingers stopped clawing for me under the door.  One day I came out of the bathroom and found Emily standing in her dad’s shoes with her shoes already on, unable to move but happy to stand.  When  Andrew got home later and I told him about Emily’s discovery, he was quick to recreate the moment.

With all of our building projects, Emily has spent a lot of time sitting on wood and playing with wrenches, measuring tapes, and clamps.

She absolutely loves sitting on anything her size, especially stairs and boxes.  I was surprised to watch her work tirelessly to arrange the laundry basket into a comfortable seat for herself. She enjoyed leaning back and eating a snack. Speaking of laundry, she loves handing me the clothes from the basket to put into the washer or from the dryer for me to fold.

Watching General Conference at the beginning of October.  This lasted for about thirty seconds and then she was ready to play.  She only paused her activities during the music to watch.

Emily usually starts the day out playing with the light switch while I brush my teeth.  We make faces together in the mirror and she watches for my reaction when she turns off the light. She thinks turning it off is so funny still; it’s quite the game.

On one of our morning walks with a coat that tries to take her place in the stroller.  Now I’ve learned my lesson and she  keeps her pajamas on and has on many, many, many layers of clothing on top of that all wrapped in a blanket and we leave the puffy coat at home.

Andrew took this while he was watching Emily.  I guess they were having a bit of a rough moment.

When my parents came to visit a few weeks ago, my mom gave me a BYU T-shirt quilt that she made with a few favorite shirts of mine. Emily was quick to crawl on and look at all the designs and then started snuggling in to find a comfortable spot. We both love it.

Andrew took Emily with him to Walmart and they had a grand time trying on hats.  We have yet to buy any Purdue apparel, so just in case it never happens this is proof that Emily was born a boilermaker.