9 months, Almost 10?

I realized today I can no longer answer baby age questions with last months "9 months old" response. I will now proudly say "she is 10 months in a week and a bit and I CAN believe!" She is growing up so fast and I love it. Turing into an ambitious little monkey has kept all three of us busy and entertained. We have Em proofed our entire little home, except the bathroom, which has made for a happy cruiser.

Where ever I go, no matter what I'm doing, Emery wants to be there to participate. She hangs on the back of my legs as i do dishes, and even continues to do so as a walk from stink to stove. I'm her walker. Lovely.

Dispite the after mess, we love watching her explore. Empting the bookself has been a new favorite. Carefully pulling one book out, looking at the front and back pictures, then tossing it to the side before choosing another, keeps her busy for a good 30 minutes. :)

This would be her high chair after one meal. Changing to finger foods has definitely put our broom to work. She doesn't seem to mind that her second course comes from her tray rejects, and neither do I. We hope as she gets older she will learn to keep her food on her plate. Something, I personally, hope to grow out of as well.

The terror that flaps in the night

I would like to take a moment to congratulate our little Emery Elise on being the silliest, happiest, most mischievous little girl we know. Lately with her lightning like speed she has enjoyed visiting every UN-dusted corner, morsel of food dropped from last nights dinner, and every item that could possibly make the messiest of messes. We love our little nugget, so as long as she is happy and safe,our house is a lovely display of neglect until 6:45PM...bed time.

I've got it down to a science really. Mornings are full of naps, highchair snacks, and possibly a crib tent. (Anything to keep her busy and off that floor. Less time to make the mess means less time needed to clean the mess. Smart!) I have to let the adorable terror lose at some point so the evenings are for exploring adventures, followed by destructive discoveries. My favorite has to be the food scavenger hunt. I always think i do a good job sweeping until i notice her mouth full of goodies. Em does not seem to mind. Last but not least is a messy supper, finger painted on tray, hair, face, and me. Her bath water has become a soup of breakfast, lunch, supper and floor snacks. Thank goodness for drains. Goodbye soggy Cheerios and shriveled grapes. As fun as a day with Emery can be, the satisfaction of seeing our clean monkey, cute enough to eat, snugly tucked into bed, makes you excited for another day at the zoo. After you clean the house that is....

This would be one of her many silly faces. Her favorite time to make this face is when I am changing her diaper, right after a spoon full of food, and now...when she pulls herself to stand and shuffles around her toy basket!

Shave and a haircut, two bits.

I feel like I should tell you I have a strange attachment to my long dark locks. I never did have long hair growing up because a mother of eight didn't have time to struggle with the curly mop I was blessed with. It was not until I discovered a flat iron at the age of 13 did I find the hope for long hair. Well, it was not until I was 17 did I finally get accepted into the "long hair club". Three best years of my life. :) Levi planted the idea of a change in my head which sprouted and grew with gentle persuasions from friends over time. Angi Gardner, with her love of snippity-clipping, graciously accepted the task of taming the mane. I no longer have long hair, but surprisingly, I love it. Every last short...er strand of hair.

Top picture is before. Last two are after. (in case you were blind?)

Pictures

Do you ever find that you have plethora of pictures without a story or explanation. Sometimes I grab the camera in hopes to capture some of our little family moments before they hurry on by. It seems like tomorrow comes along before I'm done with today or even yesterday. So here are some pictures without explanation or reason. And lets be honest, you just go to our blog to look at the pictures anyways.

Museum of Nature

Let me take you back in time to when we were living in Ottawa. There are so many museums and parks to see in Ottawa, so i was a little sad to leave earlier than planned. I didn't see near as much as i had hoped. We did happen to go to the museum of nature though. It was amazing. 4 floors for the magical mother nature herself. What a lucky lady. I found the dinosaur exhibit a lot of fun. I think the idea of evolution is the best ever. I can't get enough. The dinosaur exhibit was full of examples. They had a whale exhibit i wish i would have taken pictures of. Whales used to have an extra pair of fins. Coolio! Anyways...The next two pictures are of a fossil they found that gives us good reason to believe some dinosaurs actually had feathers. As scary as dinosaurs are, it sure would be interesting to have a way to have them in our zoos. Alive and scampering around in a caged habitat.

This is the bones of a giant turtle. Prettiest shell I've ever seen. I think it would be fun to be swimming and have this giant friend come for a visit. hee hee

If your curious how many birds we weigh...

They had awesome frog exhibit. We enjoyed these waxy grandpa frogs.

They even let me play with the polar bears. It was a magical place.

Thanks to Levi, this stinky friend made it into the blog. I named him Levi.

Emery fell asleep after a fun day. I didn't even notice she was asleep until i went to show her some of the creepy crawly bugs. Its always a nice treat when she is content enough to fall asleep in my arms. So there you go. A blog for all you complainers. (you all know who you are). I expect many comments from you.