Jeanine's Birthday Dinner

We finally were able to get together for Jeanine's birthday since January got so busy and we all had a good time aside from the parking issues in Mount Vernon. It was bitter cold and we had to park 5-6 blocks away. Emme was bundled in her BundleMe Toddler in her stroller and was nice and toasty. I on the other hand was frozen and couldn't feel my fingers by the time we got to the building. But good thing buildings are so hot- I defrosted in no time. We ordered some Chinese food and tested Jeanine's new carpet but no walking yet for Emme. Erin came up and the kids played for a little while. Emme was fascinated with Bailey and even said CAT.

Emme & Erin

Fun New Toys

Emme loves her fridge farm game she got for her birthday. She likes to push the buttons and dances to the songs and animal noises it makes. We regularly have to find the missing pieces and letters under the fridge! Here she is squatting down to play!
Watching Jerry get some water. The water bowl is another favorite place to play. She is worse than the dogs when it comes to the food bucket. Emme opens it and spills the kibble onto the floor. The dogs watch in horror knowing if they tried that they'd be in BIG trouble.

Here is her new Build a Bear Birthday Bunny riding in style in her new baby carriage.

Happy Birthday Jerry The Mighty Quinn!!!!!!

Today I turned 3. I am going to do great things this year. My favorite things to do are agility, tug with Tom and kiss Emme. My goal this year is to get more Q ribbons than TOM!

YUM!

Trip to Stew Leonard's and a Playdate with Natalie

Paul and Dom wanted to watch the Jet game and we girls had no interest in game, the homemade wine or homemade sausage so we decided to take a trip to Stew Leonard's since I needed milk and we figured the kids would have fun with all the stuff they have there to see and eat! Emme ate her way through the store! She had a meatball, meatloaf, donuts and more. I love the milk because it tastes so good and lasts more than two weeks. I refuse to buy milk elsewhere now. We spent a lot and had a lot of fun. Of course I did bring my camera but didn't take any pictures of them being cute. I did catch a few of them before Natalie, Marianne and Dom went home. They ended up wearing similar pj's and we didn't even plan it.

Crawl Racing down the hall!

Peanut Butter

Today we went for Emme's one year check up. She weighed in at 20.5lbs and 29.5 inches long. She is 50th percentile for weight and 50-75th percentile for height. She had the iron test and it was fine as well as two immunizations which she absolutely hated. I hated to see her cry. We wanted to wait until one year to try peanut butter even though I ate it constantly when I was pregnant and have eaten it while nursing and Emme had no problems. I gave her some peanut butter on crackers after the doctor and she ate them like it was her last meal. I think she ate 5 or 6 so fast I couldn't believe it. Here are some pics from lunch. She hasn't learned not to talk while eating or to keep her mouth closed while chewing yet!

Happy Birthday Jeanine

We can't wait to celebrate with you next weekend!

Happy 1st Birthday EMME!

How old is Emme.............

ONE!!!!!!!

Wow I can't believe she is already one. She is such a big girl already. She had so many parties and ate so many pieces of cake and cupcakes it is no wonder she doesn't want to eat real food! We still make most of her food but now it is easier since she can chew with her EIGHT big teeth! She goes for her checkup on the 23rd so we will see how much she has grown. I think she is around 20lbs since her 12 months clothes are fitting perfectly and some are even too small!



For a little update-

Emme......

----->has 8 teeth and one big bump on her gum which appears to be the breaking ground for a one year molar.



----->could live off yogurt and anything covered in red sauce (not ketchup Jeanine!)

----->loves books and to be read to.

----->walks a couple of steps and busts out into a crawl

-----> walks around and around while holding someone's hand

-----> races over to me (crawling) when I pick her up from school

-----> uses the potty at least 3 times a day even at school ( she even started saying pee pee a few times when she had to go) She signs all done if she doesn't have to go. We make her sit anyway for a few minutes just in case! I think she is even motivating some of her older schoolmates to go when they see a baby on the potty.

-----> pees and poops in big potties too and claps when I go! She waves goodbye and says bye pee pee when we flush!

-----> infatuated by anything Sesame Street

-----> loves music and now goes to a music class with Natalie (we love love love it)

----->steals the balls out of the pool table when she crawls by.

----->prefers Daddy over Mommy unless it is milk time which allows me to get some chores done!

----->still has a touch of asthma here and there

----->prefers drinking milk out of a non lidded cup (with assistance of course) than a sippy

-----> points to certain things in books like finding the object on each page.

-----> still sits and watches me run Tom and Jerry every week at dog class with her clicker in hand of course!

----->points to things and says "dis' "dat" "dose" "dum" and "deez" when she wants to know what the object is.

----->points to pictures of herself and says "baby"

----->and a ton more but I can't list everything.

We are so blessed to have such a sweet little baby girl!

Emme's 1st Birthday Party

A party for me ALL ME!

What a weekend! Wedding yesterday and didn't get home until 10. I didn't even start decorating her cake until after 11pm. I think I went to bed by 4:30am. The party was fantastic. Emme had a great time and all the kids did too. I hope all the adults had fun but a few were overwhelmed at the energy some of the kids had. The kids were so excited with the airwalker Elmo and Big Bird balloons that we didn't think they would make it through the party. They did and they were certainly a hit. Unfortunately some guests had to leave because of the weather but by the time the party was over the roads weren't too icy. We were so excited that Paul's dad was able to come and celebrate at the party. We weren't sure if he was coming since he hasn't been feeling well. I know Emme loved seeing him there along with everyone else too. It was a nice surprise.

Yummy cake!

Emme with Grandma & Grandpa Q.

Emme's Birthday cake

Party Favor bags for the kiddies

Big Bird and Elmo airwalker balloons with Sesame Street backdrop

The food was good and the cake tasted yummy of course. Emme was super spoiled and got too many gifts! I seriously have to build a wing onto the house for the toy department. We have been introducing a toy every few days. So far she loves them all. She even got a beautifully hand knit hat and scarf which we haven't been able to wear since it has been so mild out and so so many clothes. Thank you for all the presents and for making Emme's day super special.

This was the only way to get home with the ability to see out the windows and use the mirrors!

I will post more pictures when I get ahold of my sister's and my dad's cameras since I didn't take too many pictures.

Katie and Craig's Wedding

Today my cousin/godchild got married out in New Jersey. We had a great time. Emme was the perfect angel- I was terrified she was going to pull some stunt like flinging a bowl of hot soup off the table at the reception but she had her angel halo on so all was good. The reception was so intimate and one of a kind. It was really nice. The food was exceptional too aside from the frog mousse or whatever the waitress called it. Emme dined on spring rolls, shrimp cocktail, and tomato, eggplant and fennel soup. Where did she get that palette? My aunt and Lauren did a super job getting everything in order. We had an awesome time. Best of luck to Katie & Craig.

Silly Pigtail Girl

This child is too funny. Here she is with her first pigtail since I can't give her a haircut yet. I hear it is taboo to cut their hair before age one.

Happy Birthday Paul!

Today is Paul's birthday. We went to a steakhouse and for the first time Emme misbehaved at the restaurant. So not like her since she is usually happy just sitting and staring and pointing at things saying"dis" and "dat." Not tonight though. Tonight she threw food, refused to eat, was fussy and didn't want to sit in the highchair. The food wasn't that great either so maybe she knew! She was much happier on her Daddy's lap reading and he didn't mind one bit! However she did want the brownie sundae we ordered for dessert. She is definitely my child with that sweet tooth. AND she even pee peed on the potty at the restaurant! Other than that Paul enjoyed his day very much.

Daddy and Emme's Party

We had a party for Paul and Emme today at my in laws since they are not sure if they can make it to Emme's party next week. Paul didn't mind sharing his birthday with Emme. We had a great time and Emme and Paul got great gifts. The catch was I was in charge of a cake but it had to be for both of them!! What could I come up with you ask? A Simpsons/Sesame Street cake of course! Check out the cake.

Readers are Leaders

Emme and Natalie love reading. Here Natalie is reading to her buddy Emme. They sat like this for a few minutes as Natalie told a very detailed story!

Pool anyone????

Watch out! I have been practicing on the new pool table!

Still Going!

I am amazed. Every morning I continue to put her on the potty and she goes. She claps and I act ridiculous singing and dancing and Emme laughs and waves bye bye as we flush! Her school was surprised at this pottying behavior and said I could send in a potty for her. They have her set up in a bathroom in the Toddler Room and she has continued her pottying at school two times the first day we sent it in and they only put her on three times. They want to have her potty in her own classroom but there is no bathroom. They hope if she sees it she will connect with it better as she points to the bathroom at home when she crawls by it. Hopefully this will continue. She even pooped on the potty on Monday while we were waiting for pee to come. She has no problem going on her "little" travel potty either. Yesterday I set it up at dog school in the bathroom and I put her on it when we arrived and she peed. I don't know if I should give her a sticker or something on a little poster on the wall in the bathroom because the times she doesn't go she realizes we do not play with toilet paper or flush the big toilet and she points to them as we leave if she hasn't gone. Our goal is to potty successfully two times a day and I have been showing her the potty ASL sign so maybe she will start using it.

Pee Pee on the Potty

I took advantage of being home all week. I got a lot done and I have to say lately I have noticed that Emme pees all over a new diaper each time she gets up for a nap and I try to change her. I actually felt like she was doing it on purpose like a game of haha on mommy. So I decided to put her on the potty as soon as he got up from her nap. The first time she screamed until I picked her up and she peed all over me and the floor. But at least some of it ended up in the potty so we could sing and dance and high five. The next time she only cried a little and it ended up all in the potty. So we continued this trend for the next few days of only visiting the potty in the morning or after nap. One time nothing happened so after ten minutes we left without the happy singing, dance and celebratory flush. I think she was disappointed. Everytime we passed the bathroom after that she pointed at the bathroom and said "dat." She even crawls into the bathroom sometimes too. So we kept trying and just about everytime was a success. We sit for up to ten minutes and she points to everything in the bathroom wanting to know what each thing is (over and over and over) and usually within 3-5 minutes she is done. Today was by far the most successful day with Emme peeing FIVE times on the potty. Only one other time today did we sit and nothing happened. Pretty impressive. Unfortunately tomorrow I have to go back to work and all our hard work and practicing will be literally down the toilet!