dear emmy.

dear emmy,

you are awesome.  you are sweet and cute and full of joy and you are naughty and pesky and full of spirit.  you have a huge temper.  lately, when you don't get your way, you tense up, eyes all big and wide, and you let out a long screech.  you make us laugh all the time.  i always tell daddy that i have never seen a one year old with such an innate sense of humor like you have.  it's pretty hilarious.  and incredible.  i think it's a gift, my girl, to be able to make people laugh.  and to laugh at yourself.  you love big, sweet ems.  you are so kind and affectionate it melts my heart.  i was driving home from a conference last week and called daddy.  you wanted to get on the phone and jabbered away and then i heard "mahhh!" as you kissed the phone.  it made me want to cry and i couldn't wait to come home and squeeze you!  you love life and you live it with such joy.  i just love it, and i so enjoy watching you experience and take on this world.

one of my favorite things about you right now is that you love holding my hand.  even here at home, if i'm in the other room and you want to show me something, you'll come in and yank on my leg and say "mama!" and reach up to take my hand and lead me to where you want me to go.  whenever we walk to the car, you'll stop and hold out your hand for me to hold.  i love the feel of your soft, chubby hand in mine.  it never gets old.  and i wish i could freeze time so that i will always remember you wanting to hold my hand, and the look on your face as you look up at me, sweetly asking me to come with you.  it is just the cutest thing.  YOU are just the cutest thing.

you have the deepest brown eyes that are full of such expression.  they also give you away when you've done something you're not supposed to.  you are a little trouble maker, my love!!  and you know it.  you love looking at us sideways with this coy look in your eyes, and daddy and i always laugh because we just can't help it.  your eyes also get so wide with excitement which is so fun to watch...  they are bright and impish and joyful and when they are full of tears, i have to scoop you right up.  when you cry, it breaks my heart.

you were pretty sick a couple of weeks ago and it was the saddest thing.  you just laid on our chests and slept all day.  we loved the extra snuggles and the rare times of you being so still, but it was so hard for mama and daddy to see you like that.  one night, before i went to bed, i went in to check on you.  i immediately came out to get daddy because i could not stop laughing.  there you were, sound asleep, sitting straight up in the corner of your bed!  it was the funniest sight, and yet made us so sad because we knew you were so sick and so tired to have fallen asleep like that!  we were happy to have our wild girl back once you were feeling better.

today was one of your naughty-er days.  you broke one of the sheep that goes with my nativity set, you stood in the middle of our living room floor and repeatedly spouted water out of your mouth, laughing hysterically as it dribbled all over the floor, you found your hair bow basket on your changing table and dumped it all over your floor four different times after i scolded you each time (and every time i found you with a huge smile on your face, so excited for me to discover what you had done... again...) and you've learned how to rip your diaper off at naptime... even after i thought i had outsmarted you and put it on backwards.  nope; you still figured it out.  you are a handful!

another sign of your sweetest side is your budding maternal nature at the age of one.  seriously.  you are OBSESSED with babies!!!!  everywhere you go, your baby dolls go.  now at night, you need two baby dolls tucked right in with you and your bunny blanket.  if you're missing one you ask for it until she is safely snuggled by your side.  you carry them everywhere and sing to them, dance with them, kiss them... it gets really great when we see a real baby in public.  your eyes get all big and you repeat "beebee, beebee, beebee..." loudly over and over.  it's the sweetest.  i love it.

you've been talking more and more, starting to put a few words together.  your favorites: "no, bella!", "thank you, mama", "hi bella" or "hi daddy" and "pretty mama" (you kept saying as i was putting on makeup today... you love when i pretend to put makeup on you!)  you sing along with every song, even if you don't know it, but the ones you do know, you are starting to remember some of the words!  it's awesome.

speaking of singing, you LOVE it.  and you especially love to dance.  and let me tell you, you totally are your father's daughter.  right now, you are totally obsessed with the song "roar" by katy perry and it's pretty awesome.  you love singing it, and you also love dancing to it.  and if bella gets in your way you get a little upset (that's where the "no, bella!" comes in).  you also love it when i sing to you.  you calm right down and cuddle in to me when i sing.  you were even like that in my belly, sweet pea.  you would be moving around and the minute i started singing, you'd calm.  it melts my heart.

you love to say grace at dinner.  you'll say "pray!  pray!" if we don't do it the second we all sit down.  then you reach out your hands for them to be held, and you giggle and look around at all of our faces.  for some reason, you think it's the funniest thing.  you love it when we're all together.  you'll go around, pointing to each of us saying "da-ey!  bewwa!  mama!"  sometimes you call me "mommy" but you pronounce it "mi-mey".  i love it.  and try to get you to say it every chance i get.

you love your meme.  she has been spending fridays with you this fall while i finish up my requirements for certification as a school counselor.  the other night before bed bella said something about meme coming over; you ran to the front door, and with your hand on the doorknob started calling for meme over and over.  i had to explain to you she wasn't coming yet, and you were not happy.

some of your favorite things right now: babies, playing with daddy, elmo, music, books, cheese, trips to the library, "airplane rides" with mama, dancing, racing with jude... and you are fast.

this is your first christmas where you're active and aware of what's going on so it's really fun, and also a little bit stressful!  you're always touching the tree, and looking at us, testing us.  you like to take your baby and swing her so she crashes into the tree.  for the most part, you've done pretty well.  but you definitely like to push our buttons.  i took you out to play in the snow the other day for the first time since you've been walking; last winter you just sat in a sled.  you didn't like it at first; i showed you how to make a snowman and you cried the entire time.  but you took my hand and wanted to walk up and down our driveway a few times, and then you were used to it.  today we went out again with a few of our friends and you were running around, keeping up with them all.  i think you're going to be a snow girl like your big sister (and mama).

you keep us on our toes, emmy girl.  i love you more than life.  you are truly one of my most favorite people in this entire world, and i'm not just saying that because you're my daughter.  you are awesome.

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