Playing much-needed catch up...

Alright, this is the first time I have done the posting on the blog. This is dad speaking in case you didn’t know. We have had a really busy spring/summer so far and that’s the way we seem to like it.

This was Emmy’s first Easter and it was a good one. We started out at Michelle and Brian’s house with brunch and the family. Then on to Kevin’s brunch in Midtown with some of our friends. Emmy got a basket from the Easter Bunny himself filled with goodies and we hung out in the back yard in the grass and enjoyed the day.









Anna’s birthday weekend was jam-packed Inman Park festival was awesome. We had a whole lot of people hanging out at the house all weekend. It was a great weekend for Anna’s 29th birthday. Barbara brought a cake and we had several cocktails to celebrate. I have to say she looks good for her age! We closed the weekend with a nasty double ear infection and ended up at Children’s Hospital on Sunday. Emmy was in bad shape but we got her all taken care of. I think that was our 3rd trip to the ER. I guess that’s what new parents do…

The next big milestone -- my daughter was first in her class to walk at 11 ½ months. We are very proud and will only have the highest standards for her going forward. Totally kidding, but she did walk first. So now she is running around the house screaming jibberish and pulling everything down and off the shelves. It’s cute but wears out the parents.



It’s hard to believe our baby has already had a birthday. 1 year has passed since my daughter was born. I remember getting home from the hospital and Anna looked at me and said “what do we do now”? A year later I think we might have some of it figured out but are so lucky to have a healthy baby. She had a huge bubble-themed birthday party with all of our dysfunctional family and friends. Our family tree could cover Piedmont Park with all its branches. Grand PooPa showed up with a mechanical life size horse that has motion sensors and several different saddles. Thanks Dad.

It was a blast and Emmy now loves cake and dessert. Time is flying by with her but we are having fun watching her grow and all the new stuff she learns everyday.







































Next on the schedule was Uncle Hanky’s graduation. Anna’s brother graduated from high school. We are proud of him and hope he becomes a rock star so he can pay for Emmy’s college. After graduation we went out for sushi with the family and had a good time. Welcome to the real world Hanky!



The next week we flew to Indiana to see Heather and Spence. I went to his bachelor party at the Indy 500. That was one of the wildest and best weekends of my life. I knew no one and ended up with 30 friends at the end of the weekend. Watching a car do 220 mph is very cool.

So the flight up was good. We were armed with a DVD player thanks to cousin Carrie, snacks and toys. Emmy made friends with the family behind us.

The flight back………………….
Nightmare!
Emmy started crying and didn’t stop for about 25 minutes towards the end of the flight. We were on a small plane with about 100 very angry people. I thought Anna was going to cry. I looked back at the rest of the passengers and apologized.

We will be driving on future vacations.



Next, it was onto Folly Beach for Heather and Spencer’s wedding. The wedding was incredible on the beach and we were proud of our girl Heather for finding a good man. It was so much fun and the crowd of people there were salt of the earth. Emmy was good and had fun dancing at the wedding. We had a sweet house on James Island with the Sug, Brian, Ashley, Nate and Brandi -- some of our favorite people.

Congrats guys!!!











After vacation we knew it was time…time to wean June Bug from bottles. The first couple mornings have been rough. She wakes up angry when you try to give her a sippy cup. She has been waking up around 5:45 every morning and we have to get up and feed her breakfast. I can’t get mad at her though because she is real cute eating a banana in her highchair with bed head (her hair is blond and curly, so awesome)…wish us luck with the rest of the transition.

The next big milestone happened last week at 12 ½ months. Now, we are not sure if this is a Paris Hilton “hot” or a temperature “hot”. Either way she said it and we are proud. I will have to start watching my dirty mouth because she is picking up things left and right.

Carry on good people, we will see you soon

Love,
Dad

Enjoy the pics!

Homesick -- "Babysick"

I'm writing this post from a lonely hotel room in West Palm. This is night #2. That is, night #2 away from home, away from my little Em. I'm not so much homesick, but "babysick". This isn't my first time away from her, but it's the first time I've spent more than 1 night away from her AND Drew. Starting a new job requires training, and part of my training is here.

Don't think I didn't try and get Drew to fly down with the little Bug tomorrow morning, so I could see her a little earlier. But she isn't content to sit still for any period of time, and to fly alone with her would probably be very difficult.

My flight arrives tomorrow night at 9:30pm, so that's yet another night without her. I don't think I'll be able to resist waking her up when I get home. I'm sure dad will understand :)

I'm a bit behind on posts. I'll be sure to get some up soon to show Junebug's blond curls that are starting to form. It's the cutest! Oh, and in case anyone was wondering about my last post and the baby walking, she completely faked us out. She's taken 5 steps at a time at the very most, and usually refuses to try. But no pressure little one, you take your sweet time.

xxoo
mommy

We're in trouble

I have no pictures or videos to post just yet, but you guessed it, Emmy took a couple steps! Just a day shy of her 10-month birthday, she took the plunge. I was so scared it was going to happen while Em was at "school", but luckily she did it with Daddy this weekend while Mommy was at Heather's bachelorette party.

It will probably be a bit before she's walking all around the house, but she's already getting the hang of her new push walker. I'll post proof of all this soon!

Family

Junebug has given Drew and I so many gifts -- some obvious, some more obscure. One thing I love is the closeness Emmy has created with our families. We see just about everyone more often, and it's wonderful.

Music lover?

Emmy is into everything these days, and Drew's guitars are no exception. I think it's time we put those away. Sorry dad!

A new kind of tubby

All you germafobes, beware of the following pics. Drew and I painted the bathroom last weekend, and rather than exposing her to the paint fumes, I decided it was better to put Emmy in the sink to bathe, just like my mother did back when people weren't quite so frightened of dirt. But rest assured, I scrubbed the basin thoroughly first with disinfectant. And look how cute she was in there!

11 things I’ve learned…

In the month+ that has passed since my last blog posting, I’ve learned a lot:

1) Babies gain strength quickly – Our little girl, who refused tummy time for so many months, all of a sudden decided it wasn’t so bad. Month 8 brought on crawling and a week following, Emmy decided she’d also pull up on anything and everything that was a foot or so tall.



2) Yoga isn’t just for mommy – Emmy has now perfected standing. Her balancing mechanisms are very entertaining. She often clasps her hands above her head or sticks out her behind ever so slightly to help.





3) Electronics are much cooler than wooden toys – Junebug was lured to cruise with a blackberry, her very favorite play toy. We actually keep Mommy’s old one charged up for her to drool all over.


Cruising from Anna Webb on Vimeo.

4) I know several adults that enjoy hearing themselves talk. Babies also like the sound of their voices – Advanced consonants and babbling also started happening during month 8. Da, da, da first. Ba, ba, ba second. And now my favorite, ma, ma, ma and na, na, na.

5) An addiction to sweets can be hereditary – Emmy isn’t the best eater that ever lived. It may change, but as it stands now, she is quite picky. She turns her nose up at veggies (sweet potatoes and carrots excluded), pasta, meat, beans, etc after the first couple bites, but give her some sweet fruit oatmeal, mandarin orange segments, and I need not forget PUFFS (her true addiction), and she can’t get enough.


Orange and Sweet from Anna Webb on Vimeo.

6) Dogs get into more than just the leftovers in the trash – As disgusting as it is, we had to document this one. Daddy had put a filled up diaper genie sausage bag on the back porch, intending to take it out to the trash. But that’s where it stopped. He forgot about it and discovered a few hours later the bag and all of its contents shredded and strewn all over the back porch. Sweet.



7) Skipping naps while traveling DOES NOT WORK – It was wonderful taking a trip up to Chattanooga to visit with Mimi and Papa, but we’ll certainly plan differently next time around. Checking out and abandoning the hotel room to sightsee all day, and hope that Em will nap in the car, was a mistake. She needs her beauty sleep or things get ugly.







8) We have a social bug – She loves to be around other children. The proof is in the pics.



9) Birthdays change – We celebrated daddy’s bday first with family at a dinner at our home, and second with the Mackintoshes at their home. No wild parties, but we didn’t miss it one bit. Life has changed, and all for the better.









10) In Atlanta, it can snow one Sunday in March, and then be almost 80 degrees the next. Oh, and little babies could care less about snow.


Snow Day from Anna Webb on Vimeo.



11) Emmy's slobbery kisses are the sweetest thing ever...until teeth came into the picture. 2 jagged bottom ones appeared in month 8. And 2 good-sized top ones appeared in month 9, complete with an adorable space between them.