Happy Easter!

Blah

That's how I've been feeling. Both Emma and I have had a cold for the past few days. She's pretty much over it but I'm still feeling the effects. Hard to function - meaning take care of a baby and a house and work - when feeling way less than 100%.

I don't really have much to write. As for a quick update on Emma...

• I think she's really close to walking. She loves to push her shopping cart around the playroom. And she so purposefully will let go of whatever she's holding on to and gets thrilled with being able to stand without holding on. She falls a few seconds later, but it's really cute. She does a weird thing with her foot, though. She walks fine on her right one but always on the toes of her left foot. Hopefully it sorts itself out and doesn't interfere with her walking development.
• Naps have been crap recently. Usually an hour or so around 9:30am and an hour or so around 2:30pm. I know it could be worse, but I really feel she needs more sleep than that. She's pretty much a mess by 5:30pm, but I try to hold off until at least 6pm to start the bedtime routine. Not sure there is anything I can do to fix this issue.
• It is so fun seeing a personality develop. Two words I would use to describe Emma are observant and strong willed. She is always taking in the word around her. And she definitely knows what she wants. While I generally think this is positive, it also raises some challenges.
• A few favorite words. Emma babbles a lot but her two favorite things to say are "Da-da" and "Jo-jo," which is the name of our neighbor's dog. She'll also repeat words after you, which reminds me of the episode of Friends when Phoebe tries to teach Joey French. If you've seen it, you'd understand.

So, I guess that's about it. Just didn't want to go so long without posting again, but nothing exciting to report.

I'm so out of it

Has it really been that long since I last posted? And so much has happened that it feels a bit overwhelming trying to capture it all in a single blog post. Please forgive me for resorting to bullet points and pictures.

• We moved out of our condo in Alexandria, Virginia and into our house in Southwest Virginia (about a 4 hour drive). It was bittersweet leaving the place we lived for the past 8 years and Emma's first home. It's going to be quite a while before the new place feels like home.
  
• Emma turned 1 the day before the moving truck arrived.

• I had an ultrasound 2 weeks ago that showed a little one on track to make his/her debut October 14th. Today we go in for the first trimester screening, which includes another ultrasound. Almost through the first trimester. Still struggling, more on that in another post.
  
• We received the proofs from Emma's 1 year photoshoot and there are just too many cute ones to choose from; a good situation to be in but not good on the wallet. Here are a few of my favorites.
  

• We had Emma's birthday party once we were settled in the new house, so about 2 weeks after her actual birthday.

You have to click on the last picture to really tell what it is, a collection of all of Emma's picky sticky pictures from the last year.



I think that captures the highlights from the past 20 or so days. I'll try not to disappear again.