Bounce!

Emma has been doing so well with holding her head and body upright so we decided to let her try out her activity bouncer.  She's still a little short (she better get used to it!) but she was still able to touch.  Eventually, she'll be able to spin herself around and go nuts, but for now, she she was just getting acquainted.  

Trying to spin the frog

 

I like it!

 

Here's a short video clip of Emma's introduction to her bouncer.

Play date!

Today was Emma's play date and she had a blast!  The first time she set eyes on little Ella, she was amazed and excited to see someone her size.  She grinned the entire time!  I think that there will be plenty more play dates in our future!  

After the play date, we went out to lunch, went to the school and met our new principal, then came back home to play for a little bit until Emma conked out on her playmat. It was a busy day!  Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Emma and Ella meet

  

"Look Mom!  She's just my size!"

 

 "I wonder if your foot tastes as good as mine does."

 

Mary Carlisle and Emma

Getting a closer look

Cole and Emma

Future Lotts teachers: Cole, Mary Carlisle, Ella, and Emma

Reading her Baby Einstein book

All tuckered out

Magic Pajamas

I saw these pajamas at Target yesterday and fell in love with them. Little did I know that they would be magic pajamas. For those of you that know Emma well, you've heard me talk about (or have witnessed for yourself!) how she doesn't like to go to sleep. Maybe she's having too much fun and doesn't want to miss out. But her magic pajamas helped all that. She went straight to bed last night without any fuss and slept for over eight hours. I have just fed her and she is back in bed, and she usually sleeps for another few hours. Oh, magic pajamas. How I love you so. I think I'm going to buy twenty pairs.

Maybe she was just tired from the day's activities. We met Amber and Matthew (who is still cooking) for lunch yesterday. Emma was her usual charming self and made friends with the group that sat behind us. She showed Amber her "walking" skills and was perfect the entire time we were at the restaurant.

(By the way, doesn't Amber look great? She's due in October and I can't wait!!)

After lunch, Emma and I did some shopping and then came home to play and make dinner. At any rate, I'm glad that Emma got her rest, because we have another busy day. This morning she has her first play date with three of the five babies that were born at our school last year. Ella (5 months), Cole (5 months) and Mary Carlisle (4 months). After her play date we are meeting my teaching teammate, Laura, for lunch. Can you tell that I am trying to make the most of my last week of summer vacation?

Early Emergent Literacy

"What is the lion going to do today?" 

 

"Let me see what is hiding under his beard."

 

"Ooo!  The crocodile is bumpy!"

 

"I wonder if peacocks taste like chicken."

 

Pinata Practice

Emma no longer bats daintily at the hanging toys in her play mat.  She takes full swings!  And a cute ladybug is her weapon of choice for this particular attack.  

She's finally rolling pretty regularly!  Andy finally got to see the live show on Saturday.  She teased us with turning herself in a complete circle, but gave in and showed off for us.  We also took a trip to Babies R Us on Saturday where we had fun playing with some of the items in the store.  Well, Andy and I did.

 

On Sunday, we took her to church and she met her old friend Eli (they had previously met in utero.).  I'm sorry to say that she wasn't at all interested in him.  If you ask Andy, she can live her whole life without being interested in boys, so this wasn't a problem in his book.  She had such a tiring weekend of fun that she was pretty worn out by Sunday afternoon (so were we!).  

  

The Proofs Are In!!

The proofs from Emma's photo shoot are finished and you can see them by following this link:

http://www.inspiredphotodesign.com/Emma3mo/

Just hover your mouse over the picture and click to advance it, or select a thumbnail from the side. There are three pages of pictures, so make sure you see them all!

A Happy Girl!

We must doing something right because Emma is such a happy girl and loves to smile.  Her smile just melts your heart, doesn't it?  

(click to enlarge picture)

 

She is still working on her rolling, but doesn't always feel up to it.  She loves to stand and is already trying to crawl.  We're lucky that she's been sleeping so well at night, but she's reluctant to nap during the day.  Hopefully our persistence will pay off in the end! 

Tickles and Giggles

Isn't this the best sound in the world??  You'll have to try to ignore my sounds, but I do what I have to do to make her laugh!

A Girl and Her "Minky"...

...or monkey for you non-Pink Panther fans.  Emma had a pretty brutal stare down with a toy monkey.  

Here she is just minding her own business.

 

She starts to notice him...

 

...and becomes a little more intrigued.

 

Then the stare down begins.

She tried to throw him off his game.

But he didn't give up.

Neither did she.

I think she showed him who was boss.

Emma is on a Roll!

Emma has started rolling! She's done it before with a little help, but this was her first time doing it all on her own.  I think she shocked herself, as well as me!

Photo Shoot

Emma had her photo shoot at UT gardens today.  The gardens were beautiful and in full bloom.  Emma did such a wonderful job and the photographer kept commenting that Emma was the best behaved three month old she's taken pictures of.  Emily, the photographer, squeezed us in, so it will be a few weeks before the pictures are done, but she'll put a preview on her blog soon.  You can visit her blog here.  Here are some behind the scenes shots from the photo shoot.  

 

 

 

Thinking Ahead

I'll be going back to work soon, and before I know it, Halloween will be upon us and I will have failed to think of a costume for Emma's first Halloween. I definitely don't want her to wear one of those uncomfortable rayon numbers, so I thought I would start brainstorming now. What should she be?? There are so many ideas to choose from:

Andy would like this one:

How about a Peep?

Or a whoopee cushion?

Or this?

Ok, this isn't even funny. Even I can't joke about this one (for those of you that don't know, I don't exactly love Elmo). I shudder to think of my child dressed this way.I think there's a fine line between humor and cruelty.

Ok, time to get serious. Here are the ideas I have come up with so far and this is where you come in. Each have their pros and cons, and plus, decisions like this are too big for me to make on my own, so vote for the idea that you like the best.

The classic:This is a Tom Arma costume that I love. Pros: it's warm, it's easy and SO adorable. Cons: there will be 532 other babies dressed as pumpkins.

The family ideaIf Emma dressed up as the Cat in the Hat, Andy and I can dress up with her as Thing 1 and Thing 2. Pros: It's cute, more original, and Andy and I can participate with minimal effort. Cons: The Cat in the Hat is a boy and I'm not sure I could keep that huge hat on her head all night. Then she'd just be a baby in a bib.

We also had the idea to dress up as the Flintstones, Star Wars characters, or Wizard of Oz characters, but those have all been vetoed for various reasons.

So here it is! Leave a comment for your vote, or give us another idea to ponder. Those of you that have been frightened of the comment button thus far, fear not! This is your chance! Seize the moment! Grab the bull by the horns! Just vote, ok?


*disclaimer- The Stegners do not intend to dress their precious baby as a whoopee cushion, piece of pizza, turkey or Peep. No Emmas were harmed during the making of this blog.

Fourth of July

We had a great time celebrating Emma's first Fourth of July.  Emma dressed the part in her little sailor outfit and looked just as cute as can be.  Although she fell asleep early and didn't see any fireworks, she enjoyed the beautiful weather.  

 

 

 

Best Friends

Meet Emma's new best friend. We just call him her sunshine. Each of his rays light up in time with the music it plays. I noticed him in the store and Emma instantly fell in love with him. She smiled and giggled, and that's really all it takes. Without fail, she is mesmerized by him whether she is happy or sad. It provides us with endless entertainment to sit and watch her smile and coo at her friend. I don't know who enjoys him more!