Around here

Around here

Deciding that cereal with milk is one of my favorite after-dinner snacks of all time and noticing that we currently have five (!!!) different types of cereal at home.

An adventurous little girl who is developing fierce independence while still checking into home base every once in a while with a hug around mommy's legs.

After two weeks of travel, cooking small meals at home while listening to toddler babble and a daddy's laughter.

Wondering whether or not it is worth it to do my traditional summer cleaning and purging knowing that we will be moving out of this apartment at the end of the summer.

A little girl who snuggles up at 4am so close to mommy that I have only six inches of remaining mattress but mesmerizes me with her open mouth breathing and arms splayed out exactly like her daddy.

Emma Badger

Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis) - notorious for their strength, ferocity, and toughness; known to fearlessly attack; virtually tireless in combat.

Emma Badger (Homo sapien wetterholm) - notorious for her strength, ferocity, and toughness; known to fearlessly test her limits; virtually tireless in play.

As early as her first kicks to my internal organs, I knew that Miss Emma Badger would be a spitfire. While we jump around with nicknames for this one, Emma Badger has stuck pretty firmly and even more so that she is fully mobile. (#emmabadger)

She is strong, ferocious, and tough. She is fearless and I can barely keep up.

She is constantly on the move and loves walking/running around everywhere. I am convinced she has superhuman speed because one blink and she's gone. We've got a runner! 

So far, her main interest is chasing dogs and birds. Be afraid animals, be very afraid.

Because we live on the 8th floor of a 15-story building, we don't exactly have a yard for her to play in. When we need to "walk off" some of that dreaded cabin fever, we let her roam the hallways and her favorite spot is the window overlooking the campus near the elevator.

Emma looks around at the world then looks back to find me so she can tell me all that she sees. Usually she gets a little excited and goes face-first into the window. Thunk.

Emma took her first ride on a Muni seat this weekend. She only pulled the cord twelve times. Yes we get it Emma, you want to get off at the next stop.

(Not to brag or anything but let's be honest, I totally am bragging.) She always manages to attract a crowd of admirers. She gets stares and giggles and has amassed quite a following.

She manages to get into EVERTHING. And I mean everything. I am sure the lovely baristas at the local coffee shop loved her reorganization of the refrigerated cabinet. 

I'm going to be needing ten thousand more babies after seeing her smile with her unicorn hat.

Emma can be overlooking the entire city and she will still find a way to get on higher ground. Daily, she is climbing all over furniture, window sills, garden walls, EVERYTHING. Emma badger does not care.

I don't know who is more excited to get out on to the tennis court, us or her. She is already swatting at tennis balls with her racket and now we should probably buy US Open tickets for 2030.

Step one: Emma badger does not get her way. Step two: Emma throws herself on the floor. Step three: she "cries" while she looks at us to see if we are reacting. Step four: we either cave or we stand our ground. Step five: Emma badger does not care.

While we spend half of our day chasing after this little tornado, I would not change it for the world. She is adventerous and fearless. She is my little Emma badger. Watch out.

Around here

Call it adulthood, call it parenthood, call it dental studenthood, call it tiredhood - but I cannot even tell you how much I look forward to the weekend. Monday blues bring on a whole other meaning when your precious weekend slips through your fingertips yet again.

This was one of those textbook, perfect weekends around here. We relaxed, we played, we erranded, we laughed, we ate (and ate some more) and general merriment and frivolity ensued.

And a blogger's gonna blog.

The fun all started on Friday afternoon when I picked Emma up from daycare. She screeched in her booming toddler voice and pointed at some rather large leafage. This particular leaf caught her hoarding eyes and suddenly I can picture her squirreling away various outdoor goodies under our couch.

Emma, Grace, and I practiced our selfie game before we headed to dinner. Emma badger was not amused. But we were very amused by this face she was making, so she's just going to have to continue rolling her eyes on her own time. I have never been more certain that Emma and I share genetic material.

We went to dinner at this little rooftop/garden/café place. Their outdoor seating is next to their herb garden and they have a bocce ball play area which attracted the eyes of the big kids (our husbands) faster than you can say fetch.

I dove head first into my steak and didn't come up for air until it was all gone. I wish that I were exaggerating.

We played bocce ball for a while and we had an epic girls vs. boys battle. Emma was the referee. And the ball girl. And the live entertainment.

I am still astounded that the ball never went inside her mouth, because um, her track record was working against her. It was a chilly, windy evening, but I'll take any excuse for Emma to don her eskimo jacket. Hello cheeky showcase!

CHEEKS! C H E E K S! GIVE ME ALL THE CHEEKS. Okay, calm down Samantha. You'll scare the natives.

On Saturday, Paul took Emma out of the house for some much-needed mommy alone time. Every once in a while, I need some peace and quiet even if it is just to shower in silence and read a book in peace. Praise the Lord for daddy-daughter bonding time.

After her busy morning out and about and her afternoon playtime, she decided to take a little siesta right in the middle of her toy pile. Comfortable? I'm not sure. But she seemed to think so.

Going... going... gone. Any time and any where, her mom be like JEALOUS.

After sitting on my ever growing bottom half all day, I decided to take a much needed walk around the block. After dinner we bundled the gremlin up and took a stroll around our neighborhood. It was one of those golden hours with the beautiful sun setting and the bay breeze wafting through the trees. Emma sipped on some of that domestic milk and took a little snooze with her new favorite teddy bear.

Also known as a tennis ball. Cuddly isn't it?

Sunday morning was for errands! Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Target, Costco, and Trader Joe's we go. We usually try to plan errand running for nap time, but she perked up just in time to walk around Costco like she owned the place. When she tried ordering an extra churro and another hotdog, we had to put our feet down by putting her feet up.

FASTER PEASENT, FASTER!

It's really hard to be a baby.

Sunday evening, Grace and Brian game over for some dinner eating, basketball watching, Cards Against Humanity playing, and (according to never-boring Wetterholm) recycling.

However, Emma thinks recycling should include candy, unopened lotion bottles, baby books, and tv remotes. So there's that.

And we took a turn at expanding Emma's vocabulary with how shall we say, creative word usage in a riveting game of Cards Against Humanity. Somehow Emma managed to win three rounds. I don't even know how that happened.

She really understood the premise of the game. Hand one of your cards to the judge and pick a new card. I don't even think Paul understood the rules the first few times we played. (Hehe, I love you honey.)

Well, there you have it, tales of our weekend warrioring. I know, it completely filled the hole in your heart. You're welcome.

P.S. Graduation is on Thursday! Holy pumpkins! 

Emma's Log

Oh haaaaaaay, Emma here. I have decided to take over her blog today. Remember when I did this last time? Oh yes, that was a hoot. But now I am like thirteen months old, so I have gained a lot more wisdom since I was four months old.

I have been having some serious troubles lately and the man has kept me down. All I want to do is pull everything out of their drawers and off of their shelves, but for SOME REASON that is frowned upon in THIS ESTABLISHMENT. Mom's all, "please stop causing mayhem" and Dad's all, "can you stop that now?" 

Emma badger don't care.

They end up putting me in prison on occasion. One day I will be able to climb over that wall. One day...

So let me tell you a little something about teething... it sucks. Well I have a few other choice four-letter words but I'm not supposed to know those really. I am having terrible trouble with communicating my displeasure with their sudden appearances so instead I wake up at 3 am and scream bloody murder. It gets the same point across I think. 

Don't tell the guardians, but I have also figured out something key to my future happiness. They are called temper tantrums. Yup, that's right. I have caught on to this phenomenon where I sit down and start crying and miraculously, I get what I want. Well most of the time. Sometimes they figure me out, but I'm working on subtlety. 

Players gonna play.

If I could stay in all night, I would. 

Can I just say how much I love baths? They are like my jam. I have always loved them, but lately they have been just heavenly. I use that time to think, organize my toys, splash mom in the face, and turn the faucet on and off. It's just the best.

But like so many things, the fun ends and they make me get out. What the heck?

Seriously?? 

So on the activity front, I have many and varied interests. I just looooove reading books. They also make great step stools. I think I'll use them to get high enough to climb over the prison fence.... But anyway... I constantly try to bring my whole collection with me everywhere I go, but they keep telling me to choose only a couple at a time. Keeping me down! 

If I just manage to shove them all into my backpack, maybe they'll let me bring them with us. I mean, don't I need twelve books while we go to Trader Joe's? Obviously.

So close...

My birthday party was pretty awesome. There were like a million people there smothering me with ooos and ahhhs and it was a little overwhelming. But it's my party and I'll cry if I want to.

School is one of my favorite places. We get to play, paint, and hang out all day. I have my special homies at school and I'm one of the cool kids because, you know, I can walk. Those little non-mobiles are just so cute. Suckers.

I am going to need another vacation soon. I really want to go to Disneyland, but Dad is all like, "you're going to turn out obsessed like your mother." So what Dad? SO WHAT? I need to see where Minnie Mouse lives, obviously. 

Another one of our masterpieces. Oh good times. 

Well like always, this was a pleasure. Mom is probably wondering where I've gone. Now she knows how I feel when I stand outside the bathroom door pounding on it while she needs privacy. Sure mom, whatever you need to tell yourself.

I think I'll take a nap. Or contemplate the universe.

Emma out. 

Awkward and awesome

AWKWARD
- The fact that I have let my coffee get cold every morning for the past six days. #motherhood
- How frequently I forget to grab the one item I went to the store for in the first place. Yup, 3 new cereals but no deodorant. 
- My husband and I calling each other Emma. "Emma, will you take out the garbage?" "Emma, will you defrost the chicken?" 
- A tad too spicy bowl of soup which causes me to have the runniest nose smack dab in the middle of the food court. And no napkins. Great. 
- "Excuse me, ma'am." GAG. 

AWESOME
- My graduation gift from my darling husband which is expected to arrive between June 15 and 17. Color me excited. 
- Speaking of graduation, GRADUATION FROM DENTAL SCHOOL NEXT WEEK. 
- Emma's newfound chunkiness following an increase in her appetite. I mean, LOOK AT THOSE THIGHS. 
- Re-discovering my love of avocados smothered in sriracha. Come to mama. 
- A sparkly clean apartment following my weekend-long cleaning frenzy.

Have a grand old Tuesday! Ew, don't punch me.