Conversation with Emma

My mom forwarded this little conversation to me…

 

At the food table tonight:

 

Nannie:  Would you like some of this?

Emma:  No.

Nannie:  No, thank you.

Emma:  You're welcome.

Pumpkins!

Nannie and Uncle Joshua brought the children some great kid-sized pumpkins along with some fun face stickers.  (Now that's my kind of pumpkin decorating!)  We also had some extra pumpkins from a friend, so the kids decorated the pumpkins and we put them out on the front porch! Click on the picture to see the complete album on our Phanfare site.  

Emma to the Rescue

Today we were at Beaverdam Baptist church where I have been teaching a once-a-week Latin class for a homeschool co-op there.  When got ready to leave, I managed to lock my keys and all of my children in the van!  Fortunately, the van was not running.  But the only one unbuckled was Emma!

 

I said (loudly, through the closed window), “Emma, get down from your seat!”  I think she misunderstood, because she said, “I not, Mama, I not.”  I was finally able to convince her that I did want her to get down from her seat.  I asked her to pull up on the lock.  She tried, but she couldn’t.  Then, I told her to go into the front seat.  I told her to push on the button.  She pushed the lock/unlock button, but she pushed it in the “lock” direction.  When I told her to “push on the other side” she switched to the button to operate the windows (which was ineffective as the car was not running).

 

When I finally got her back to the right button, I just kept telling her to “push it again” over and over.  She cheerfully obeyed and did just as I asked, while I kept my hand right by the door handle to open the door quickly, should she finally hit the right side of the button.  And finally, she did!  It was all rather amusing after it was over.  Apparently, Emma thought it was all some kind of funny game (and a great privilege to get to go into the front seat).  Luke’s comment was “What were you doing, Mama?’  I guess that means nobody was panicking!  I took a moment to educate Emma about the lock/unlock button just in case.

 

In the end, Emma was declared the hero.  When we got home, Luke wanted to call Daddy to tell him that “Emma saved our family!”  Daddy brought her a Ho-Ho for a special treat.

Sittin' Pretty

Last week, Ruth finally mastered crawling, and now she has rounded out her skill set by also figuring out how to sit up.  This means that she can independently go and get a toy, and then sit up and play with it!  It’s funny to watch her.  She reminds me of a little bear cub, because she begins in the crawling position and then just kind of backs up until her little bum is on the ground.  Then it takes her a while to get her feet out in front.

 

In the past, if I put her in the sitting position, she was able to stay there indefinitely.  However, she was always kind of prone to falling over sideways or backwards.  Now that she can get herself into the sitting position, it seems like she’s a little more stable.  Perhaps she understands the mechanics of it all a bit better now.  Be sure to visit our family photo album to see some pics and videos of Emma and Ruth sitting together on the rug reading.

Local Watering Hole

This evening while reading on the living room sofa, I heard cat-hissing noises and opened the front door to find that Charley had cornered an opossum right by our front door.  Later, I hear loud munching-crunching noises and peeked out to see a raccoon larger than Sam eating cat food.  Charley returned from his favorite spot under the tree in our yard to chase him away.  We had a suspicion that we might have attracted some wildlife because the other night when we returned home late in the evening, we saw what we thought was a raccoon run off the porch, cross in front of our headlights and run into the woods.  Plus, it seemed like we’ve been having to fill their bowls awfully frequently.  Apparently Kirkland brand cat food is all the rage in this neighborhood!

Sweet Foof

Our dear Ruth is now 8 months old and is also officially crawling.  I add the qualifier “officially” because she’s not fast, efficient or reliable, but she’s doing it!  In other words, I have observed her move each hand independently and each knee independently and move forward in this way, but she still seems to prefer the little toe-thrust tummy-scooting for major endeavors!

 

Also, she now has four teeth as the second one on the top has just broken through this week.  She had moderately fussy days on Sunday and Monday, so I’m guessing the tooth was to blame.

 

Luke and Emma are enjoying her a great deal.  She sits up in her highchair right along side of them and eats whatever Cherios make it to her mouth while they have their meals.  I often find all three playing together.  Today, Luke and Emma were making block towers and their little Foof was right in there with them, laying on her tummy nearby and gnawing on a block.  When I bring her in to their room at night to put her in her crib, they say, “Thank you, Mama!  Thank you for brining Foof to us!”

The State Fair!

This is the last year that the State Fair will be held at the State Fair Grounds just five minutes from our home.  Matt was able to take the day off of work and we all went together.  We had great fun!  Click on the picture above to see the complete album on our Phanfare site.