dear emmy.

dear emmy,

you are full of joy.  you fill this house with laughter; i've never met a one year old with such a sense of humor!!  you are awesome.  sometimes when i'm away from you, i picture your cute little face and i just can't wait to see you!  you still feel "new" to me, you're still my baby.  i catch myself thinking about how big you will be next fall and it makes me sad... but i love watching you grow and blossom into such a little lady, so i won't hold you back.

you are so polite.  you say "thank you" allllll the time.  for everything.  to family, to friends, to complete strangers.  although it sounds more like "taaane taooo" and it's my favorite word that you say.  i covered you up with a blanket this morning when you were sitting with bella on the couch, watching your morning show and you thanked me.  when i put your jacket on to go outside, you thank me.  when i buckle you in your car seat, give you your favorite stuffed animal, play your music.  you're so sweet and polite and i'm very proud that at such a young age you are so mindful to say thank you.

you still love food, and pretty much anything and everything!  but i have discovered a new love of yours: nutella.  and whenever you eat it, your face just gets COVERED!  the other night you were eating nutella and pretzels in your new highchair.  i've always wanted an old, vintage wooden highchair and one of my best friends gave me one that she had refinished.  it doesn't have a buckle to strap you in, but i really didn't think anything of it... you had finished your pretzels and nutella and daddy was in the bathroom with bella getting your bath started.  i was doing something in the kitchen and could hear you squawking "moah!  moah!" (more) like you usually do.  before i knew it, i heard little footsteps coming up behind me, and i turn around to see you, chocolate alllll over your face, handing me your plate saying "moah!"  somehow you had managed to get out of your chair and it was hilarious.

your favorite word by far is: BEWWA!  you shout for her every morning when you first wake up.  over and over and over again.  the other day you were sitting in my lap watching sissy in her gymnastics class and you kept saying "see bewwa!  see bewwa!"  you also call her "sissy" and it's so adorable.  probably your second favorite word is "taaaaweeee" (charley), your little bff at your babysitter, michelle's!  you seriously walk around the house saying her name over and over.  it's the cutest thing ever.  new words: "bappo" (apple), "yeah" (how you respond to every question), "duck" "uh oh" and "dat woooon (that one)".

the trash can is your latest obsession.  you love throwing things away.  the other day, i caught you in my purse and you had one of my insurance cards in your hands.  i ran toward you to grab it and you took off, speeding around the corner.  as you passed the trash can, you ditched the card as fast as you could and kept running.  i went to retrieve my insurance card and there found every single other card from my wallet you had thrown away.  ahhhh!  crazy girl!

you love going to daddy's football games.  they are over now, and wow did we end with a bang.  one of his last home games i almost left five minutes after we got there... you were alllll over the place and getting into everything!  i found you asking people for their food, eating french fries out of an abandoned container on the track, ketchup allllll over your face and fingers, drinking out of soda cans you found on the ground... and trying to run out onto the field at least six times.  it was a nightmare!!!!  but i just can never leave before the game is over, because watching you and bel run into daddy's arms at the end is totally worth it.  well, most of the time ;)

you and me had a special mama/daughter date a few weeks ago, when i took you to sesame street live!  the minute we left you were so excited because you knew we were up to something special since it was just you and i.  we met meme and auntie and lulu there, and also lulu's other grammy and aunt kate and cousin daphne.  you LOVED it!!  you sat in my lap, just mesmerized by the whole show!  i was really expecting you to get restless and have to take you out before it was over, but you were entertained the whole time.  you loved standing on the floor infront of our seats and dancing.  it was so awesome.  i absolutely love doing stuff just you and me, my emmy ems!  i had so much alone time with just me and bel when she was your age, sometimes i feel sad i don't get to have that with you.  but i know once she starts school we will have lots and i'm super excited about it.  you're a pretty fun little sidekick, my girl.

one of your new favorite things is praying before dinner.  you never noticed it before, but now you insist on holding hands with us, and every time you giggle like crazy.  you just love it!  it's so adorable.you are LOVING baby dolls, and always have to have one in your hands it seems.  you've been a little bug to your sister lately if she has one that you want, you go to grab it and say "mine!" and you two go back and forth: "mine!" "MINE!" etc, until i'm about to lose my mind.  you are such a sweetie but man oh man you are a little antagonizer!!!  today, while you and bel were in the bathtub, you didn't think i was looking but i caught you just totally whale on her out of the blue for no reason at all.  you do that a lot and it's a good thing she is so patient!  although, you are also a little fighter and have no problem standing up for yourself.  jude likes to growl alot and while it makes your sister cry, you look right at him and growl right back!  it's hilarious.  the other night, all four of us were sitting on the couch reading books.  out of nowhere, bella turned to you and gave you a shove.  before i knew what was happening, you chomped right down on her finger in retaliation.  while daddy was scolding you i had to hide my face because i couldn't help but to laugh!!!  it was really hilarious... although you should not bite, little girl!!!!

oh ems, i just love you so much.  i find myself treasuring your baby-ness so much these days because i know it's fading fast.  you are just such a light in my life and i love you beyond words.  so so blessed to be your mama, my love.

love you to the moon and back (and back and back),
mama