Emily updates

I'm totally stealing this idea from my friend Erin.....I feel like there is so much progress with Emily lately and I have not been good about pictures, so I figured I would share some of the "new" things Emily is doing.  

1.  I am not sure if I have blogged about this before, but Emily LOVES going to bed at night.  We just ask her around her bedtime if she is ready for night-night and she stops whatever she is doing and walks straight to her room and stares at her crib until we put her in it.  She goes down immediately after we pray. 

2. She says more, eat and please in sign language frequently.  

3. She verbally says ma-ma, da-da, no, uh-oh, mandy(my parents dog), ball and thank you. Sometimes she says Elmo. She is working really hard at saying grandma and Linda (her daycare provider)

4. She is still pretty shy around people, but if she feels comfortable she will always seek approval by looking at you after she does something silly to see if you are smiling at her.  

5. She gives the BEST hugs

6.  She honks our noses.  Brian says "HONK" in a deep voice and I say "Nose" in a high-pitched voice.  She giggles every time. 

7.  She is trying to smell flowers....she pretty much just breathes out, but it's cute nonetheless

8. She loves playing peek-a-boo with just about anything....as I write this, she is playing it with our kitchen stools.  

9. She loves bathtime.  She hated it as a newborn, but it's truly one of her favorite things to do now.  If we say "do you want a bath" she runs the the bath and tries to to jump in. 

10.  She climbs on anything and everything.  She loves going to the park.  In fact, every day that she gets home, I hear her yelling "BALL" as she comes in the door.  It's because we take a soccer ball with us to the park and by saying "ball" she wants us to grab it and go to the park. 

11. She's getting great at washing her hands.  She understands the pattern of washing hands now....and that's pretty much a result of going to the park too!  

12. She plays pretend with eating.  I have no idea what she is eating, but apparently it is quite satisfying.

13.  We've reached the point that she is testing independence like you wouldn't believe.  We had to leave a restaurant for the first time.  The food was served piping hot, I looked at the waiter trying to hold back the tears and said, "Can you please just pack this to go, she's just not going to make it."  Brian and I had each had "turns" with her outside---about 4 times each!!!  She's also going through a very picky eating stage, but she is still eating, so that's gotta mean something, right?  

14.  I wonder how many of you actually made it to point 14?  Anyway, she makes me smile each and every day!!!!!