twenty-two months old - 12.27.13

wow, that month went by fast! it's hard to believe we've already hit another month birthday! emery annabelle is twenty-two months old.

when we got home from texas, we put up our christmas tree at home. emery loves it. she calls it a "kih kih tee-uh. soo piddy!" (christmas tree. so pretty!) and she did a great job of not touching it. she even helped me put up the lights outside. a few times she was able to say, "mer-ruh kih kih" (merry christmas).

for christmas, we've traveled to wyoming to visit blake's family. she really did a great job on our flights, despite the late hour. she liked to point to folks around us, identifying "boy" and "girl" regardless of age - we find that people of all ages like being called boy and girl. haha.

emery is enjoying time with her other grandparents and uncle brandon, or "unca por cha" (uncle pork chop), as he's affectionately known. and of course, she LOVES their dog, jaxsyn. emery follows her around, asking "where puppy go?" and today she even started to feel grown up enough to command her: "gah-seh, sih!" (jaxsyn, sit!) jaxsyn must not speak toddler, because she doesn't obey.

yesterday morning, we heard emery in her bed singing: "ha-pee ber-day to you! ha-pee ber day to you!" (happy birthday to you!) she sings other songs, but so far this is the only one i can understand.

today, emery came down with her first real big fever/cold. she's been a very healthy girl so far in her twenty-two months with only a few runny noses and a couple of very low, short, shot-related fevers. after some baby motrin, she seems to be managing ok. the family has passed this illness around and we were hoping she wouldn't get it too, but she managed to catch it too.

so today we only had a quick photo session with emery's new pink backpack that she got for christmas.

 emery's new back pack is perfectly sized just for her and embroidered with her name.

 she decided to wear daddy's hat.

 when she took off daddy's hat, she told me: "ah-wee hair meh-hee!" (emery's hair [is] messy!)

 emery wanted to play "hee-oh game" (video games) like daddy and uncle brandon.

Christmas Letter 2013

2013 has been a sweet year with joy that outweighs the tougher moments. We continue to be grateful for our blessings.

We began the year settling in to a new place: a 3 bedroom rental townhouse not far from our little one bedroom condo. It's not glamorous, but it's perfectly-sized for our little family. We used the Two Marines Moving company, and they were a big help with the transition.

In February, we celebrated Emery's first birthday with a small party of close friends and family. Emery got a lovely pink cake all to herself. We were so happy to have Blake's parents and brother visiting from Wyoming to celebrate with us. Blake and his family also visited the International Spy Museum and went to a Washington Wizards game.

In March, as the weather got better, we started going on walks in our neighborhood. There is a small, secluded park just down from our house. We like to push Emery on the swing or take a trip down the slide. The park is surrounded by trees and always peaceful and quiet, except for some chirping birds. Our neighborhood is also close to several running trails which Blake likes to use when he can.

In April, Tiffanie was able to go on a weekend getaway with some close friends in Indiana. Blake and Emery enjoyed the daddy-daughter bonding weekend. Blake likes to take Emery on walks and to read her books, though she is getting better at reading books to us. She surprises us with how observant and receptive she can be.

In May, Blake finished his coursework and comprehensive examination for his PhD in Educational Psychology. He is officially considered a Doctoral Candidate and is working on his dissertation. His graduate program is in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, and he has a specialization in counseling. His dissertation is looking at contemporary rites of passage and the transition to adulthood.

This summer Emery enjoyed going to the pool a few times and riding on the train at Burke Lake Park.

In August, Tiffanie began her 9th year of coaching Freshman Cheerleading at West Springfield High School. The Freshman team cheered at football games and also joined the JV team to compete in two JV competitions and won first place in both! 

Tiffanie continues to work for the Office of Institutional Research at NOVA -- as she has been for the past 5 years -- now primarily from home while Emery sleeps. 

This fall, along with his full-time job as a counselor and academic advisor at NOVA, Blake taught two Student Development courses at NOVA. His classes helped students transition to the college environment, think about their future careers, and prepare for different aspects of adult life. He enjoys getting the opportunity to teach.

At the end of December, Emery will be one year and ten months. She loves puppies and kitties, Mickey and Minnie, and helping mommy. She surprises us with how much she remembers, understands, and can jabber on and on about all day -- unless of course she's in front of other people. She takes a little while to warm up to new people, especially in a large crowd. We love to see her organized side coming out when she lines up her toys, faces toys all the same direction, and groups toys together. She loves to color, use stickers, and "take care" of her stuffed animals. She pretends to give her animals a bath, comb their hair, and send them on adventures.

We spent Thanksgiving in Texas visiting Tiffanie's brother, Bryan, and his wife Sherry, along with Tiffanie's parents. We were also able to see Blake's aunt, uncle, cousins, and his folks and brother came down from Wyoming. This Christmas will be Emery's first trip to visit Blake's family in Wyoming. She's excited to meet Blake's folks' dog, Jaxsyn. Emery knows she's a "biiiiig puppy!" 

We are blessed and grateful for a happy and healthy year. Thank you for loving us and being an important part of our lives.

Love, Blake, Tiffanie, & Emery

An experiment

My daughter has all the makings of a future researcher. The other day she took all her stuffed animals into the kitchen one by one. She lined them up side by side along one wall facing the center of the kitchen. Trip after trip, animal after animal, she traveled from the living room to the kitchen and carefully selected a spot for each animal. If an animal fell over to the side, she repositioned it so it was upright and facing the center.

In the center of the kitchen were two animals separated from the pack: a black dog and a white sheep. Both animals were facing the same direction as the others, meaning their backs were to the group. It looked like they were being ostracized, like they weren't welcome with the others. Trip after trip, she walked past the dog and the sheep to carefully line up her many other animals. When she ran out of space along the wall, she started cramming the remaining animals into a corner, and at the end she had a giant frog crowdsurfing everyone.

I watched all this and even helped transport a few animals, but I consistently wondered about the ostracized dog and sheep. I said, "Don't you think the dog wants to play with everyone else? Why don't you move him over there?" She ignored me and kept working with the others. I continued to ask about the dog, as did Tiffanie. Nothing. She ignored our requests. So to see what would happen, I simply rotated the dog in the center of the room so it could face the others along the wall. On her next trip into the kitchen, she stopped in the middle, bent down, and turned the dog back around the way it had been.

I walked into the living room and said, "Man, we've got some social experimentation going on in there."

twenty-one months old - 11.27.13

i'm way behind on our 21 month post. we went to austin, TX to visit my brother and sister-in-law for thanksgiving this year.

emery annabelle is beginninng to repeat more of our statements as we say them: which means we need to watch what we say and what she can hear! this week she described something as "so boo-tee-fuh" (so beautiful!) and i don't remember saying that to her. she said her jammies have "pokey daws" (polka dots) and i don't remember teaching her that either.

she speaks in decent sentences most of the time: "i sih cow" (i sit [on the] couch). "i go bye-bye." "i go dow sears" (i go downstairs). she's also starting to put concepts together. i said: emery, i need a nap! and she said: mommy tired! she also knows our normal order of events: when i take her upstairs for a nap, she says: "chay die-der. go nigh-nigh" (change diaper. go night-night).

she can identify more letters: A, B, C, D, E, G, H, J, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, Y. she knows numbers 0-9, and pretends to count 13, 14, 15 - though it sounds more like dir-tee, fo-tee, fih-tee, dir-tee, for-tee.

she's great at categorizing her toys. she lines up her Little People and her animal bath toys. she matches her disney memory cards by tv show: all the mickey mouse friends in one line and all the winnie the pooh friends in another line.

she's a sweetie and a cutie and loves to be silly and laugh!

on her 21 month day, she wasn't very cooperative for official pictures (as if she ever is!)