for emma, forever ago

One of my favorite things about being home is getting to spend more time with my niece Emma. Since I was last home in June for her first birthday, she is now walking, talking, and looks more like a little girl than a baby. I am amazed with how fast she grows! And she's pretty funny. Soon after I arrived home, I attended church with my sister Becca, brother-in-law Ben, and little Emma. Emma has a pink dog/blanket named Sparky that she brings around with her everywhere. During the service, Emma was sitting in her mom's lap and decided that she no longer needed to hold onto Sparky so she handed him to me. Not long afterwards, she decided that she wanted Sparky back. She doesn't really say "Sparky" yet so it's just an "Arf!" or "Woof!" when she's talking about him. However, this time, she wanted him back during a really quiet time of the church service and while everyone was praying, Emma goes "Woof!" Becca and I laughed quietly until our sides hurt.

She is also SUPER strong willed. Whenever Emma comes over to hang out with Mimi (grandma) and me while her mom is working, she knows EXACTLY what she wants to do. Mostly, she likes for one of us to "hide" while she goes to the end of the long hallway and sneaks up on us until we say "BOO!" to make her laugh. She then immediately runs back to the beginning of the hallway to start all over. We hide in the same spot every time but it really doesn't matter. She could play this game for hours and in fact, does. And I guess you could stop playing if you wanted, but if she's not done playing, she will grab your hand, pant leg, or shirt, and pull you over to where she wants you to be. All the while she's saying "Hide. hide. hide." One word commands are her specialty.

Today was her first experience sledding. It was fun for us and a little scary for her. Or maybe not scary, but definitely new and she wasn't prepared for it. Her first run down the hill with her Dad went pretty good up until they ended in a snowbank and she got snow in her coat. Not that I blame her. Snow in your coat is not comfortable. So we tried again and she went down the hill with Pa (grandpa). She cried the whole way. After that run, Emma began asking to play with the big pink exercise ball my parents have in the basement. So, my mom got that out and Emma was much happier chasing that in the snow while my dad, Ben, and I experimented with the different sleds and had fun sledding ourselves. After a few minutes, we decided to try again and sent Emma down the hill with Mimi (who is her favorite person after Mom and Dad...sometimes even before Mom or Dad) AND the pink ball. It kind of worked. At least she cried less but mostly I think it was because the pink ball was there and she thought it was funny when it flew off the sled halfway down. Ah well, we tried! She did really enjoy watching the other three of us sled down the hill and would call out our names as we came down..."Pa!" "Da-eee!" "Ar-in!"

Well, I could go on and on about how cute and wonderful she is, but I won't...for now. She really is such a joy to be around and an all around great little girl. I'm biased...but with good reason.