Sickness

Lots of sickness this month.*

Fever

Dog Time

Calling Grandma

Christmas Dinner at Stacia's

Emerson Discovers Coconut Popsicle

Stomach Flu 

* Please do not infer causality from picture order. 

A Thanksgiving Journey

Gather round, children, and listen to the tale of the year we traveled to Iowa for Thanksgiving...

Emerson was ready with reading material for the 5-hour trip to Cedar Falls, home of the Hays family.

We stopped along the way to stretch our legs and check out a big tractor at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, home of the Iowa State Cyclones. (Why was there a tractor at the football stadium? I don't know--it's Iowa!)

Things got a little silly along the way...

We arrived in Cedar Falls and headed to a great group Thanksgiving dinner.

Emerson made many new friends--it was a baby party!

On Black Friday, we only ventured out to one store--Blain's Farm and Fleet. We made one purchase (a pair of John Deere socks for Emerson), but we got to test out some possible future Christmas presents.

OK, maybe not this one...

Emerson enjoyed the decor at Rudy's Tacos.

After a fun couple of days, it was time to head home. We ate at the Drake Diner in Des Moines, where Emerson happily waved at every customer and server that walked by.

We also took a moment to pose in front of the Iowa State Capitol. It was very cold and windy, but Brandon was wearing shorts--brrr!

At every stage of the trip, Emerson was ready to "go, go, go!" (And drooling, apparently.)

We checked out one of the famed covered bridges of Madison County (yes, those bridges).

Iowa in November...

Tennessee Trip

One little skeleton had a happy Halloween...

He helped Mommy and Daddy collect some of the toys he's outgrown, and Brisquette watched.

This week, he got to go on an exciting trip. Brandon presented some research at the National Academy of Neuropsychology conference in Nashville, and Alison and Emerson came along. (Grandma Lori was supposed to join us, but her flights were cancelled due to some bad weather on the East Coast...maybe you heard about that...) We missed her a lot, but we stayed busy and had a good time!

One highlight was exploring the hotel where the conference was held. The Gaylord Opryland is huge and has some incredible indoor gardens and water features. Alison thinks she and Emerson walked several miles while Brandon was in meetings.

We also had some time to see the sights in Nashville. We walked around the campus of Vanderbilt University, although Emerson slept through most of that.

We also saw one of the more unique landmarks of the city--a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, complete with a 42-foot gold-plated statue of Athena. It was pretty impressive!

Of course, it was important to keep up our energy with some good food. Emerson recommends squeezy food from a pouch; Mom and Dad recommend the Phat Bites deli (weird name, awesome food).

On the flight home, someone was tuckered out from all his adventures.

He was a big boy while Mommy sat far away on the airport shuttle.

Now he's happy to be lounging around at home (and Mommy's ready to fold lots of laundry)!

One Love

 It's official: We are now the parents of a one-year-old. Can't believe how far we've come since this day.

But first...Carl and Cindy came to visit, and Richard Simmons was on their flight. A good omen!

Even an almost-one-year-old likes to snuggle and drink a bottle with his Grandma...

But he also likes conquering the stairs with Grandpa!

He got his first "big boy" haircut. He didn't love the experience, but all the grown-ups did their best to distract him with toys and squeezy food.

For reference, here is the long-haired kid before...

And here he is after the trim!

For his birthday celebration, Emerson got a delicious chocolate cupcake.

All things considered, he was a pretty polite eater. This is about as messy as it got.

He loves practicing his standing everywhere he gets the chance. Pretty soon he'll be letting go and doing it on his own.

We had "Christmas in October" as Carl and Cindy took some shots to send out with their holiday cards.

An action shot as we tried to entertain Emerson with crackers at a restaurant.

When we told the waitress it was his birthday, she brought him a cupcake with a sparkler on top!

He got some fun new presents from friends and relatives.

What a happy guy! We're looking forward to another great year.

A New Adventure

 Emerson has been lucky to have two great babysitters who have watched him at our house since Mommy went back to work. Jessie watched him starting in February until she got married and moved to South Carolina in July, and then Amy watched him for the rest of the summer. (And of course, Daddy put in a lot of hours too!)  But this week marked a new milestone--Emerson started day care.

We were lucky and excited to get a spot at the Berkley Center at UMKC (we put him on the waiting list before he was born).

Mommy signed Emerson in on his first day.

 He washed his hands at the kid-height sink.

 

He approached his peers.

 

 



 

He checked out the breakfast options as Mom and Dad headed out the door.

 

Emerson and Brisquette were happy to see each other at the end of the day! (Brisquette had a big event last week--she had to go to the doggie dentist and get 7 teeth pulled. Poor girl. But she is feeling better now and has plenty of teeth left!)

After a full week at Berkley, things have been going pretty well. While the first day was a fun adventure, after that, Emerson realized that getting dropped off in the morning means that Mommy and Daddy are leaving...so he is a little sad about that. But he always has fun playing with his teachers and his friends, and he is getting very good at going down for naps.

At night and on the weekends, we are still having lots of fun playing at home.

Emerson is getting more interested in exploring everything--like the curtains.

 

 

Sometimes, he is just silly.

 

And sometimes, we can't believe what a big boy he is getting to be!