Subject: First steps
April 23, 1999
Hello to my family and friends!!!
Yes its true I have taken my first steps. Not even a year old and already mobile!!! My very first one, I was going from Daddy to Sara (my nanny) and I took a step and then fell. But I was very excited and everyone clapped and said hurrah. Then I took a sideways step when I was standing up with mom. And with dad I took about five very very small steps (almost just like trying to stand up) And I have stood up all by myself for almost a minute now. I am so excited. I want to do it all the time.
I have also had my share of new bumps and bruises because of all this. I guess the quickest way to get going is to just try it, even it you fall down. I have bump on mynose to prove it.
My appetitie has expanded. I now eat icecream and really like it. I will eat a little piece of popsicle, but I spit it out the first two time s until it gets warmer.
This week I had dinner with Mom and Dad, and you know they eat really odd things, but I am developing an adventurous spirit to take me beyond the cheetoes that Sara buys for me. We had curried rice with raisins and peas, and I ate a lot, especially the peas. We had crab cold noodle salad and I liked it, especially the noodles and the peas. I had chili with corn in it, and I ate the beans and smeared the chili all over (I'm not sure I like chili yet).
Mom and I went in the hot tub because the weather is getting warmer. Yesterday it rained and when we got in it was steamy. I blew on the steam to make it swirl! We go in the swing in the back yard., I like to see the tree sway, but I don't like swinging much and mostly like to get taken in and out of the swing.
I sometimes can blow kisses now and maybe say stop, out and outside and I nod yes and no, although not always to mean yes and no. My hair is long enough now that I can play with it while I have my bottle, which by the way I can hold by myself.
When I get sleepy Mom and Dad put me in my crib with my tiger and I can put myself to sleep. Sometimes I will give them a harumph or two, but usually if the lights are off I go right to sleep. When I want to get up in the morning I say up up up and then someone comes. I like mornings because mom sings to me and sometimes I get in bed with mom and dad, if they're still sleepy, and I jump on them. Or sometimes chase Oscar the cat off the bed.
I can say dog now and point to the dog on my quilt from grandma mary to say it. Today we sang the 'Tis a gift to be simple' song about 20 times while I turned the pages of my song book for mom. Dad got me my first pair of sneakers (pink and white) and they were too small so we get to go shopping again. I an growing and my little legs are getting much longer. I like to listen to my Peter Paul and Mary tape in the car and sometimes I sing along.
At the UU church retreat Mom and I sang in the talent show. I clapped and danced while she played 'if you're happy and you know it clap your hands'. Everybody clapped with us, it was very exciting, They even clapped for me!! We also stayed in a cabin and I slept in a sleeping bag with mom or dad. There was snow, but I thought it was too cold so I dropped it. I liked the birds, though, and pointed to them. I also pushed a chair around and around the dining room to help me with my balance. By the end of the weekend, there was a toddler traffic zone and the other kids and I were having races pushing the chairs. We went on a hike and I fed the ducks and saw dogs (I can say it DOG).
Mommy Helen and brother Bugsy and Auntie Kim are coming really soon (less than 2 weeks) and we are talking about it all the time. It will be my birthday and I am going to eat cake. Mom and Dad have been talking about what to get me (they think I can't hear) and I'm going to get a dumptruck like the neat one I played with up at the church retreat. Maybe even a skip loader to move sand with. We will be going to court and they will let us take a video camera so I will get to look at everyone later. Its in the morning and that night we are going to celebrate my birthday and everything.
Auntie Joanie and Uncle Bill are coming in June so we will celebrate my birthday, again!, and Uncle Bill's birthday then.
My nanny got me a toothbrush that says EMILY on it. I had already been brushing my teeth sometimes and now I do it with my name on it. Afterward I take a drink of water out of a cup, just like a big person.
Hello to everyone. If you were here I would say Hiiiiiiiiii and then smile at you while I stood up by myself for a long long long long time and then I would say 'up' so you would pick me up and I could put my finger in your nose and mouth talking my special baby talk a mile a minute.
Love
Emily