Big

Emma is getting so BIG.  Seventeen months old big, to be exact.  My little monkey is on a busy streak that keeps me hopping.  I forgot what a time of exploration and discovery this age is, and how quickly babies move to explore and discover!

We recently discovered that the whole cuddly monkey thing she had going on may in fact have been a disguise.  Turns out, she's actually a howler monkey.  She is not without her opinions lately.  (I have no idea where THAT comes from!)  She doesn't just have them...she shares them freely in loud and echoing places like the Walmarts.  Once she sets her mind to something, that's pretty much IT.  

One of her favorite snacks is apples.  She likes them with no peels.  If you try to hand her one with a peel on it she hands it right back and shakes her head.  No peels, thank you very much.  I put some apple on her tray this weekend while I was working in the kitchen, and when I turned around to check on her, I caught her sharing with a friend.  :)

We just upgraded from one bow to two.  Hooray for growing more hair!  Hair styling is my new cardio.  I have to wrestle her down, occupy the arms that are flapping and grabbing, and aim the brush at her head, which is a constantly moving target.  It's nothing short of a miracle when I can sweep a dozen strands of baby fine hair into a bundle and wrap a teensy weensy rubber band around them seven times.  (I'm going to invent some kind of straight jacket with a suction cup on the bottom of it.......only it's going to be kid friendly and manufactured out of a cute animal print fabric.  It will revolutionize toddler hair care.)  The real trick is to immediately distract her once I clip the bows in, and I do mean PRONTO.  She's not a big fan of the bow movement.  They say in parenting it's important to pick your battles.  Consider my battle picked.  We're doing bows.

Big girls with big brothers get big ideas sometimes.  The boys left their baseball equipment in the entryway yesterday, and she was quick to claim it.  (By the way, the bows came out before the hat went on.)  I don't know what it is about their gear, but a ball glove and cap will keep her busy for quite some time!

Early this morning, Emma was in her pen watching Hayden play Legos on the floor next to her.  She decided to step right up and take a look.....

If she gave it a moment's thought, she could easily climb out of that pen.  Any second now, that realization will dawn, and when it does, whatever limited sense of productivity I am privileged to enjoy will effectively vanish.  I depend on her time in that pen each day, when I know she is happy and safe, so I can get a few things done without having to worry about her.  My days are numbered, I do fear.

Okay, have you ever seen cuter jammies??  The window of opportunity for a girl to wear an enormous pig on herself with dignity is indeed very brief.  :)  I love these pj's!!  I was trying to get her to "oink" for me and look at this funny face I got.

She is starting to show definite preferences toward certain toys, and is suddenly quite attached to this little pink dog which we've named "BoBo".  BoBo goes places with us now.  By "goes" I mean gets dragged by the neck.  BoBo is very soft, and for some reason his nose is fun to suck on.  Not that I know that from personal experience.  His fur is starting to mat and his pink is slowly showing signs of gray, which means he is changing from a stuffed dog to a loved dog.  BoBo goes night night too.I'm wondering if this will be "the" special lovey.  There are actually a pink monkey and a baby doll in the running too, but so far BoBo wins by a nose.  A wet nose.

So, tomorrow is June 1st and the boys and I officially start our summer schedule for homeschool.  I'm also going to start Weight Watchers.  Dang, when the first of the month falls on a Monday, I feel all kinds of pressure to start things!  :)  I set aside some time last week to do some goal planning, so I could head into summer with a sense of direction.  I'll tell you one thing that's on the list for sure, and that is taking plenty of time to enjoy this precious, not-so-little person and all her new opinions.  I'm constantly struck by the need to drink this all in before she gets a single smidgen bigger.

I've also resolved to persuade her toward a few opinions of my own.  How do you think this will go over??..........