Christmas was so much fun this year. Emma loved opening and tearing the paper off the few gifts she received. Santa brought Emma a new retro pink kitchen. She loves making the kitchen part of her daily routine. She spends hours each day cooking up who knows what, but it sure is good! Ask her for a treat, and she’ll bake you a fresh cookie each time.

We’ve been fortunate to see lots of family over the past month and a half. Grandma Bowman visited from Ohio over Christmas. Soon after Christmas, Emma’s Nana and Papa Bowman visited from Florida. Both times, we went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum, one of Emma’s favorite places to play. By far the best place to take little ones under 40 inches! Emma loves it there.

The weather in San Francisco hasn’t been great lately. Lots of rainy days which match the many sick days both Doug and Emma have had lately. Poor Emma had it rough most of January. She had Roseola for a week, then she was better for a week, then sick again. Doug thinks Emma got him sick, I’m thinking he got her sick. To top off the sickness, Emma’s molars have been coming in. Four new teeth are coming in as we speak.

We recently bought Emma her first baby doll, which was a huge hit. She carries it wherever she goes, gives it hugs and kisses, and pushes it around and around the house in a tiny stroller. This doll is the first toy over which Emma shows a little bit of possessiveness. This is a good thing considering she usually gives away her toys to other children, and rarely keeps them long enough to play with them herself. We love he giving nature – but a girl’s gotta have some things she keeps for herself.

We’ve had several play dates with her friends Charlotte and Tessa. Emma really misses her friends down the peninsula, but we’re finally getting involved with some of the children around our neighborhood. We have a big playgroup a block away from our house on Tuesdays. Then one here at our house with about 4 other children on Wednesdays. Makes for busy weeks, and gives us something to fill our days until Doug gets home from work each day.

Emma has come a long way in the last two months. She is signing like crazy. She really wants to communicate, but she isn’t speaking much yet. She’s very quiet and shy around new people, not surprising if you know Doug’s quieter personality. But you should hear Emma’s laugh – it’s the best sound in the world. She loves to be tickled by the “tickle monster” and will gladly let you chase her around the house. Hide and seek is becoming a regular activity around here too. As for her relationship with Jackson (our dog), it’s much of the same. She now puts his ear in her mouth. In return, he puts his tongue in hers. Yuck! We don’t encourage this, but this is how they choose to grow as friends.

Now that we are finally settled in, we really love our new home. The location couldn’t be better. We have a park a block away, play groups for Emma, and friendly neighbors. As an added bonus, we can walk less than a half mile to coffee anytime we want. Definitely an improved situation compared with when we first moved back to San Francisco. We’ll take it.

Happy 18-month birthday, Emma. We love you very much!

Yep, we’re skipping month 13. It’s unlucky anyway right? Our girl is now 14 months old. I can’t even begin to tell you all the changes that took place over the last two months. But I’ll try to cover a few of them.

Emma is finally walking. She walks and walks and walks, then walks some more. Back and forth, round and round. When she gets really excited, she almost runs. It’s so much fun watching her waddle around aimlessly. We ask her to bring us things and she does. Usually she’ll fetch her socks or shoes that she took off and left laying on the floor somewhere. She loves carrying things around. She has a purple ball that’s almost as big as she is, and she’ll carry that ball around everywhere.

One of her latest discoveries is something we’ve been calling “giddyup.” We’re still wondering how she suddenly found this joy of riding on our backs or our laps as we bounce her up and down. Her love of giddyup confuses us sometimes though. Just when we think she’s coming to one of us for a hug, she’s actually looking for a lap or a back to climb on to get in a little giddyup!

We’ve had some really fun times this month. Doug and I took her to the California Academy of Sciences (a museum in nearby Golden Gate Park) one weekend where she ooohed and aaahed over tons of fish in the aquarium downstairs. She also got to see her favorite animal so far (penguins!) swimming and diving right in front of her face. She also proudly demonstrated for Dad how she knows to climb down stairs by backing down them feet-first.

I’ve been trying to use the video camera as much as possible. I managed to catch a fun moment the other day. We now know that Emma can say our dog’s nickname. Even though his true name is Jackson, we often call him Bubba. I asked Emma what the dog’s name is and she turned to me and said “Buh Buh” clear as day. Judge for yourself:

Not only is Emma starting to say a few more words. She started signing too. We took two different sign language classes, but Doug and I haven’t been the best with our followthrough. Out of the blue, she started doing the sign for “more” at dinner one night. Ever since that day it’s more of everything. More blueberries, more cheese, more giddyup!

She also loves books. She has three or four favorites. Each afternoon when she wakes up from her nap we read several books together. But we always read them over and over again. Just when I’m able to put one book down, she picks it right back up, signing “more” for me to start over again. Her never-ending quest for more always makes me laugh.

We still haven’t made many friends in the City yet. We’ve been going to both Gymboree Classes and My Gym once a week. I’m starting to see a few familiar faces, so hopefully we’ll get to know some new friends at one of those. Emma and I also starting a new playgroup on Wednesdays, where there will be about 7 or 8 other kids the same age as Emma. We still go to our Monday play date down on the Peninsula with our friends there. We sure do miss them.

Even though we’ve been on a roller coaster the last couple months, with the move to San Francisco and getting our new home established, Emma has been our constant. She is amazing. We look forward to each new day with her. As she learns new things, we get to experience them with her all over again, seeing them through her eyes.

With that being said, please enjoy the updated pictures of Emma in Doug’s Flickr stream. This should make up for our laziness. We actually had to go back about 7 months to get caught up with all the past photos, but we did it. Now if I could just get Emma’s first birthday post done before she’s two!!

Your dad and I went to bed last night just as we did one year ago. What we didn’t know then was it was the last night we would be going to bed as a couple. The next night we would be going to bed as a family of three.

Each and every night since then I thank God for the greatest blessing of our lives. You are amazing. You have changed our lives for the better, and we couldn’t be happier. It hasn’t been easy by any means. But I would do it all over again a million times.

I still remember the minute you were born. I couldn’t believe how small and precious you were. How all the fear I had just disappeared as I was holding you. And here you are, one year old. I am sad and happy all at once. I remember those first few months being the most difficult of my life. Now I wake each day filled with great anticipation of what surprise you have in store for me.

Thank you for being our little girl. Thank you for making us better people and showing us what love is all about.

Love,
Mama

Emma has a wonderful group of friends. Some are about a month or two older and we helped them celebrate their big one year birthday. It was a blast. Thanks to Janet and Brian we were able to have all the kids together for some true birthday fun. Emma loved Nora’s water table. She splashed everyone in arms length. It was perfect for the hot summer day. Janet even made individual cupcakes and fun goodie bags for each baby. It’s always entertaining watching the babies together.

A couple months ago we found Emma a Radio Flyer walker wagon at a rummage sale. By far the best $15 ever spent! When we first got the wagon it sat in our living room collecting dust. The only time it was really used was by our friend Charlotte. Now it’s both a blessing and a curse. When it’s time to put the wagon away tears are sure to follow. Emma loves the wagon. We take it everywhere. She even rode/pushed the wagon in the Fourth of July parade this year. Three of our friends have purchased the wagon recently. We can’t wait for wagon races this weekend in the park!

This was a great 4th of July for all of us. After the parade we spent time at the park with friends then headed over to Jim, Susannah, and Finn’s. They have a swimming pool that is the perfect temperature for the babies! Doug and Emma went swimming. Emma has been in swim classes this summer and is now a pro at going “under water.” It’s nice that she isn’t afraid of the water.

Emma has gone from a slow crawl to “catch me if you can” in a matter of days. We spend our day chasing each other around the ottoman in the living room and she gets me every time. She can play this game for hours. She also loves to be chased and play hide and seek. She will squeal with delight when you do finally catch her. There have been several times now when the whole family has been involved, including the dog. Our house is now a zoo! I wouldn’t have it any other way.

We finally broke down and bought Emma a tunnel to crawl through. It’s just small enough that neither of us can get in it. Emma is a very smart girl. She’ll crawl in the tunnel and sit in the middle not wanting to choose between the two clowns on either end calling her name over and over again. Eventually one of us has to relent so she can start over again. The tunnel has been a great hit. It’s so much fun hearing her squeal with delight as she charges from one side to the other.

We have been wanting to get our family pictures done for some time. We knew several other families who had theirs done and they were amazing. We took their advice and did it. We are sure glad we did. The photos turned out amazing. We can’t wait to get them so you can see!

I think it amazes both of us how quickly the time goes by. I am sad that our little baby is growing so quickly but am excited to see all the changes and discoveries she makes each day. I get to experience the world all over again through her beautiful eyes. We are so blessed.

Happy 11-month Birthday, Emma. You are amazing.

Emma walked in her first parade yesterday. She and her friend, Charlotte, had fully decorated Radio Flyer walker wagons that they pushed in the Menlo Park 4th of July parade. Actually, Emma rode in hers most of the time. These two little girls and their two wagons were the hit of the parade. Everyone who saw them gushed with adoring smiles. We heard lots of “oohs” and “aahs” and “isn’t that the cutest thing in the whole wide world?!” the entire parade route. Lots of fun had by all.

Here are a few photos and a couple videos that help capture the day. (Again, if you don’t have the video password, just email one of us to ask for it.)