Playa, Playa

So, Emmanuel usually has at least one playdate a week.  Lately, he's had two or three in one day.  His good friend, Bella, just moved about three minutes away...so we are able to get together more often, which is really a blessing!  

The title of this post comes from my friend, Nicholl, who called Emmanuel a "playa, playa" because he had two playdates in one day.  Nicholl is crazy funny, and I love her to pieces!  So, this post is in honor of her :)  

(NOTE:  this picture has nothing to do with his playdates...we took this at the library--I just thought that I would include it!) 

Emmanuel hung out with Alex, who is 7 months older than he is (although I am sure that you can tell that Alex is in the 90th percentile for his age and Emmanuel is in the 10th percentile for his age!)  I really admire Alex's mom a lot.  We met professionally about two years ago, and our professional relationship has grown into a great friendship.  Alex and Emmanuel played nicely together, and Alex has so many toys!  Emmanuel didn't know what to do with himself.  It was a ton of fun!  

We headed to Westminster, MD to hang out with Alana's kids, Lukas (3 years old) and Corrinne (20 months).  Emmanuel just LOVED Lukas (of course, my son LOVES older kids...notice that he plays mostly with older kids.)  Lukas was really sweet with Emmanuel and played games with him while we ate lunch.  Lukas is also a great big brother to Corrine.  

Emmanuel loves to tickle feet.  I think that I started this habit because one day when he is in his high chair fussing, I tickled his feet to provide a distraction.  So, now, we tickle feet all the time.  My silly boy!  He had fun tickling Corrine's feet.  

And, he's learning to give hugs.  We've been giving kisses for quite some time, but we've just learned about hugs.  Alana's kids really like to hug.  

And no playdate post would be complete without talking about our Bella Boo!  I hope that these two are friends for many years to come. 

Jamie and I have been eyeing this toy for a long time...and Bella finally got it as a gift from her G-Daddy (He is hilarious!)  A toy for Bella means that Lil' E gets to play with it, too!  Thanks G-Daddy Whitaker!  

Well, there you have it!  Emmanuel and his friends.

Julia and Dr. Dave

On our way home to Baltimore from Nashville, we stopped in Knoxville to get a bunch of UT paraphernalia for Emmanuel (ok, so this is a joke--anyone who knows me knows that this is a joke!)....let's try this again....

On our way home to Baltimore from Nashville, we stopped in Knoxville to visit my good friend, Julia, and her hubsters, Dave, who are visiting the states from Oxford.  Dave...is now Dr. Dave because he completed his PhD from Oxford in New Testament.  Yay, Dave!  They will be returning to Oxford in September for a little while.  

Julia was thoughtful enough to come and visit Emmanuel when he was 4 weeks old...and there was something about her that he either remembered or loved because he took to her right away on this visit.  He's pretty picky with his affection...so she is one of the special ones.  

Dave and Julia, thanks for spending some time with our little family while you were in the states.  We love you guys!

Trader Joe's

I LOVE Trader Joe's....I love the samples that they give you when you shop there (especially the coffee)...I love the cheap, fresh flowers that they sell...I love the ficele bread that you bake at home yourself...I love the cheap frozen fruit that we use for smoothies...Eli loves their gorgonzola crackers (I wish that my friend, Julia, could taste those--she would love them, too), anyway...I could go on and on about how much I love this grocery store. 

And now that Emmanuel is a little taller (yes, folks, he is FINALLY getting some height...although still pretty short)....

He uses their kid-sized grocery carts...so now I love TJ's even more!  (This pic was taken via cell phone and emailed to me by my sis...that's why it's so grainy).   He has so much fun pushing their carts.  He attracts lots of attention (because he's still sort of short pushing the cart around), so we end up staying in TJ's far longer than we need to.  And, I'm sad to say that some of the employees there even know him by name. 

I let him pick out a few things to put in his cart.  This keeps him busy...and gives him a reason to pull things off the shelves into the cart.  

So, there you have it!  Our outings often consist of the library and hopping around to several different playgrounds and friends' houses...but we always stop to have fun at TJ's at least once a week!

Giada (Carmen) at Home

I really like to cook, and I really want my boys to eat healthy, wholesome, home-cooked meals that taste good.  I make it a point every week to look at the circulars of each of the grocery stores and to plan meals for the week.  Food is important to me.  I don't claim to be a gourmet cook.  I don't claim to have an exceptional palette.  But, I can promise that I'll try to put fresh and healthy food on the table every night (ok, so I do love chick-fil-a and pei wei, so sometimes they have the privilege of catering our meals!)  This means that I have to be really creative with leftovers and the crockpot so that I don't spend all of my time in the kitchen or spend all of our budget at the grocery store.

When we were in Nashville for Emmanuel's 2nd Birthday celebration, I made this punch and cut up lots of pretty, fresh fruit to place on top of it.  My cousin came up to me and said, "Wow...this is like Giada at home!"  LOL.  It was funny.  I'm like the cheaper, un-edited version of Giada at home.  

So, here's to all of you moms and dads out there who have the awesome task of feeding kids good meals.  It's a lot of work. 

These days for breakfast, we are hanging out in french cuisine...eggs have been super cheap at Trader Joe's, so we've been eating our share of souffles, quiches, crepes, and french toast crostinis, and Lil' E loves all of them.  Yummy, yum.  Happy eating! 

New Discoveries

NEWS ALERT:  My hubsters suggested that I put the caption or picture description below the picture instead of above the picture so that the blog flows a little bit better, so we are going to try that for this post.  

Emmanuel has discovered many new things in the last week or so.  He is becoming more and more verbal (evidence:  when he sees a dog or hears one bark...he says, "dog, dog, dog, dog!"), he is moving faster than I ever imagined he would with his short, bow-legged frame (evidence: people often come up to me and asking how old he is...then they say, "he gets around well for 13 months!"), and he is showing us that he understands more of what we ask him to do (evidence: picking up his toys and putting them in the bag...mommy REALLY likes that he is learning this) His growth is truly amazing.

We attended our first "Mother Goose on the Loose" in Baltimore.  Emmanuel loved being around all of the big kids...and of course, the little girls kept trying to play with his hair.  Here is a picture of Lil' E "getting loose" during the song and dance portion.  
Most of the other kids were sitting down at first...not Emmanuel...he was up on his feet with his maracas as soon as she gave it to him! 

The building block exercise was a milestone for me.  Eli made these homemade wooden blocks for Emmanuel with some leftover wood that we had from renovating our house.  For the last few weeks, Eli has spent time stacking the blocks with Emmanuel, and Emmanuel just knocks the blocks down.  Well, a few days ago, Emmanuel stacked the blocks by himself for the very first time.  
When Emmanuel stacked his block, he looked up, smiled REALLY big, and clapped.  It was awesome!  I loved that he finally understood how to stack a block.  I loved being able to witness him achieve a milestone.  I loved that he understood that he accomplished something and wanted to applaud his efforts.  I cried.  Yes, I know, how sappy....but true.  I sort of pride myself on not being one of those "over-the-top, super sentimental moms," but the reality is that I am just as "over-the-top" if not more so than the rest of them! 

When we were in Nashville, my mom had a whole list of house projects for Eli to complete. One of them included installing her ceiling fan.  Emmanuel couldn't take his eyes of his daddy when he was putting together the fan.  He even tried to climb up the ladder.  He started grabbing tools so that he could "help."  It was really special.  I guess now we'll have to find some pretend tools so that he can "help" daddy on all of his fix-it projects.

The "classic" Emmanuel thing to do is to find a bucket or a bag or a box and throw whatever he can find inside of the bucket or the bag or the box.  

Emmanuel discovered the guitar with Allegra Stiles (who, by the way, is a great babysitting age and very responsible!)  He really liked the pick, but we weren't so sure it still be around if he played with it, so she hid it so that he could focus on the strings. Maybe he'll be a rockstar someday?

Emmanuel had his very first fudgesicle at the Stiles' house.  He loved it.  He kept sticking his tongue out and licking his lips.  This kid is hilarious!  

Antonio Stiles is going to be a great babysitter when he's ready for that responsibility (I know that people usually don't think of teenage boys for babysitters, but Antonio is a great choice) He kept Emmanuel occupied when we went over for a visit.  He helped him discover the fish (to which Emmanuel said, "dog, dog, dog," and played games with him most of the night (until, of course, Eli challenged Antonio to a game of basketball on the Wii...)

And, here he is...hanging out in front of one of the Towson library.  He is a really loud, happy, silly kid.  He LOVES attention.  He LOVES food.  He LOVES people...and dogs (I'm still coping with this one).  I'll be sure to keep you updated on his other discoveries!  

A Birthday Surprise from the East...

Over the last few weeks, I have had lots of birthday surprises!  Turning one has been the best adventure ever!  Just yesterday, dad told me that I received a package in the mail. The package had a strange looking letters on it.  Dad said that they were characters.  He said that we had to wait until mom was home to open it up because he was pretty sure it was from one of her really good friends.  (By this time I was confused.  If it was a package for me...then why did I have to wait for my mom?  Anyway, I decided that I wouldn't pitch a fit over it.)

It seemed like it took forever for mom to get home!  But, when she finally did, she opened the card, and it turns out that daddy was right!  This was a special present just for me from my Aunt Erin-Ashley and my Uncle Andy who live far, far away.  I haven't seen my Aunt EA since she had to go back to East Asia with her family, so I was really excited and quite surprised that she remembered my birthday. I mean she is busy with two small kids of her own and she practically throws a party every week for the other kids and families in her town.  She also just had a wedding anniversary and she does other things like makes ricotta cheese from scratch...so she's pretty busy.  (For those of you who are a little slow...Aunt EA and Uncle Andy aren't really related to me, but mom says that I can call all of her special friends "Aunt"--I'm trying to keep them all straight, but my mom has a lot of special friends...so when in doubt, I'll just say "Aunt" such and such.)

I thought that opening the present would be my favorite part, but then I saw that it was a BOOK (I love books)!  But, this was not just any book...but a book about FRIENDS....and not just any friend....but about JESUS!

Before I got too distracted with the paper (I really liked the paper), mom and I sat down and read my new book! I decided right then and there that this was the best book in the whole wide world!  This book is special because there are kids in it that look just like me...and some that look like my mom...and some that look like my dad.  You see my mom has been searching all over trying to find books that have racially diverse illustrations...and the fact that this book is also about Jesus just makes it perfect! 

There was another surprise inside of the book!  Besides the racial diversity and the awesome Scriptures...there was a picture of my Aunt EA, my Uncle Andy, and my cousins, EG and Jack (notice the picture is upside down).  I miss them so much.  Maybe one day my parents can save up all their money and we can take a trip to East Asia...I would like that very much...

And I would bring my most favorite book with me! 

Thanks, Aunt EA and Uncle Andy.  Mom said that this ministered to her more than you will ever know (I'm still trying to figure out that what that meant, but I'm pretty sure it is a good thing.)