Thank Heaven For Bath Day...

The good news is, I found a breakfast food that Emme will eat (cream of wheat!).

The bad news is, she wants to feed herself, and it's pretty messy.

{Want some, mom?}

The Rugs

Emme is convinced that any little floor rug in our house is actually a playmat for her. She'll take her blankie & a book and go sit by the front door, the back door or the kitchen sink and just hang out & read. So cute!

Emme At 14 Months

{Examining her new squeaky shoes}

{"Where are your ears?"}

{"Where is your mouth?"}

{"Where is your hair?"}

Chris thinks I should start doing Emme's updates less often (which is why I skipped month 13), but I feel like she's changed so much lately that it's time for one! This stage is so fun, I don't want to forget any of it. So here it is.

At 14 months, Emme:

• Has 8 teeth (1 is a molar)
• Babbles constantly
• Says no-no, doggie, duckie, dada, mama, etc.
  
• Can identify many parts of her body
• Loves to brush her teeth & hair, and tries to put in her own clippies
  
• Tries to imitate everything we do (most famously, sitting down on the bathroom scale next to the toilet and just chilling with us while we're "busy")
• Waves & says "hi" to everyone we pass at the grocery store
• Walks up to anyone she sees and puts her arms up to be picked up (...even strangers at the grocery store)
• Has developed quite the shoe fetish (...but in her defense, her shoes are pretty dang cute)
• Reads books all day long! Over and over and over!
• Cuddles her stuffed animals & babies
• Still hates food (what else is new?)
• Has completely transitioned from a bottle to a sippy, from soy formula to soy milk, and from babyfood to table food
• Has developed a King-Kong splashing method in the bathtub, because she refuses to sit.
  

{"Ooooh, the Napping House. I love this one, mom!"}

{Reading to Mr. Bunny}

We love you, Emme-Lou!

So Upset I Could Just Spit...

Our beautiful crib that used to look like this...


Now looks like this...


Why? Because Emme's chompers have been doing this...

{She actually gnawed all the way along the front and sides during one naptime. This is just a closeup of one mouthful.}

This girl already had 7 teeth in her mouth when she started unexpectedly waking up in pain at night, and gnawing on everything in sight. Seriously? Then one day while I was tickling her upside down I discovered she'd cut a molar way in back. So we're assuming this molar is to blame for the devastation that has occurred to our crib. Cursed molars!

The Fridge

The fridge is fascinating at our house. Seriously. It doesn't matter where Emme is in the house when I open it -- she hears it and comes running! She wants to climb inside on the "step" and examine everything inside. Last week we had grapes on the bottom shelf and she'd step right in and help herself to a few. A few weeks ago I discovered the ketchup bottle in the family room because she'd swiped it without me knowing. Yikes!

Resolutions

(Better late than never.)

Here are the resolutions I made for 2010. I did great at some, terrible at some. But I learned a lot about myself this year, and learned to balance life as a mommy. Despite my failures at some things, I feel pretty good about how I did.

• Work out 3x per week -- I did great at the beginning of the year (i.e.when Emme was little and slept a lot), and worse as she got older and more mobile...and as I got sick of all of my workout videos. But then I bought a treadmill (yay!), so we're on the upswing again because running is sorta my thing.
  
• Make weekly meal plans -- I had streaks of good and bad at this one. But I've got a plan in the works to make this even easier, soon. I'll post about it when I finish.
  
• Learn to bake breads with yeast -- Check! Consider the phobia officially conquered. My rolling techniques could still use work because my breads & rolls aren't as pretty as my mom's yet, but we're getting there. Oh, and hello -- yum! Homemade is so much tastier.
  
• Read more books -- Check! I read lots of baby & parenting books this year, as well as a few others, and even got President Monson's biography for my birthday, which I'm enjoying but haven't finished yet.
• Keep up with couponing and deal-blogging -- Check! This one has been hard. I've finally adopted the "I'll deal-blog when I feel like I have time" mentality, so that it's not a stress to me. I also became a Grocery Smarts instructor this year, which has been fun and it's given me a little spending money.
  
• Spend under $100/month on groceries -- Ha! It's more like $200/month these days...but in our defense, we've been dealing with some funky allergies and actually paying for formula (when I had planned on nursing). All surprises -- but nevertheless we're working through them. Still, $200/month is not bad.
  
• Sew more and craft more -- Check! I think Chris has hated how often the sewing machine was out on the kitchen table, but I did get some fun crafts done this year. They saved us some money and gave me a fun outlet.

Without further ado -- here are my resolutions for 2010. Nothing ground-breaking, but I like setting goals. Must be the control-freak in me that likes to cross things off my list.

• Hold Family Home Evening regularly -- We've just started this one with the Bambina. Currently, they last about 6 minutes. I'm hoping that increases with time. Our Book of Mormon picture book is our staple, for now, and Emme loves it.
• Make Weekly Meal Plans -- Same goal as last year, but with renewed effort. :) And I've got a plan to make this easier on myself. Stay tuned.
  
• Work out 3x per week -- Same goal as last year...with (lets be honest) probably the same amount of effort. But the beautimous treadmill is helping.
• Spend under $200 per month on groceries -- I'm giving myself some cushion here, but I'd like to be closer to $150 or $160.
• Be a better housewife & mother -- I've got a new resolve to keep my house a little cleaner, vacuum a little more often, fold the laundry a little faster, and make our home a nicer place to be for the Bambina & the hubby. (I got my inspiration from this.)
  

Kisses

Emme gives great kisses these days. Big, open-mouthed, slobbery kisses.

A few days before Christmas, we went to Nordstrom in search of some shoes for Chris. While Chris tried on a few pairs, Emme entertained herself with the pint-sized mirrors. Every time she saw herself in the mirror she would grin, and then lean in and give herself a great big kiss on the mirror. So cute.


Let's not think about how clean or dirty those mirrors may or may not have been, mmkay?