Emma's new swingset

Grammy and Papa bought Emma a new swingset. We put it out in the back yard next to her sandbox. She seems to like it so far. Thank you, Grammy and Papa!

Emma feeding herself

Emma's getting quite proficient with feeding herself using a spoon. However, every once in a while she prefers the face-plant method!

Hunting Emma

Emma is now ready to go hunting with the O'Sheas (even though the thought of it makes mom a little squeamish):


And Cassie has already taught Emma how to hunt squirrels. Here she is patiently waiting for them to invade the yard:


Thanks for the great onesie Uncle Scott!

Emma swimming (sort of)

Mom and Dad bought this cute little baby pool and Emma got to try it out today. Here are some pictures of Emma in her pool (don't worry Grandmas, Emma is slathered in sunscreen):

Emma locked up

Now that Emma can get up the step, nothing is safe. Mom and Dad have had to get creative to keep me from getting into trouble. Mom uses all of the dining chairs to keep me locked in the family room (and Emma doesn't like it):


Emma also loves to try to get into the dogs bowls. Mom uses the baby gate to keep her away:


Emma strongly protests the use of the gate and tries to knock it down. She hasn't succeed yet, but it is a near thing:

Emma hanging around the house

Now that Emma can crawl and pull herself up to a standing position, she has a LOT of fun playing around with things in the house. She has plenty of toys that people have bought her, which she has a lot of fun with:


However, she really seems to love crawling behind our recliner and playing with all of the diapers that are stashed back there.


And, she is just fascinated by the dogs bowls. We really have to be fast on our feet, or she'd end up drinking from the dog bowl instead of from her sippy cup!


After seeing how much fun she has with the dog bowl and things like a set of keys, I'm really not sure why we bothered getting her any real toys at all!

Emma at the park

We took Emma to the park this weekend. She had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the slide (though she didn't seem all that impressed by the swing).

Emma's shirt

Emma's Aunt Stephanie bought Emma this silly shirt, which Daddy dressed her in. Now all of Okemos thinks that Emma's aunt is a little bit... strange. It's hard to tell. Either way, thanks for the shirt, Aunt Stephanie!

Emma - foiled!

Now that Emma is mobile, she has become fascinated with the dog bowls. It doesn't matter whether it's their water bowl or their food bowl, she REALLY wants what's in it. This is a video of Melissa guarding the dog bowl from Emma during their dinner tonight.



I'm sure that she will get ahold of one of the dog bowls when we're not quite quick enough. I hope it lives up to her (obviously high) expectations!

Emma climbing up the step

Emma started crawling a few weeks ago, and now she can really move. Our family room has a step down into it, which did a good job of containing her. However, she figured out how to get up the step yesterday, and it only took her a day to be able to do it every time. Now the dogs are really in trouble!

Visiting Grammy and Papa's house

Daddy was out of town this week, so Melissa and Emma went to stay with Grammy and Papa. Grammy bought her a new toy Winnie The Pooh train, which she loves to ride. She even holds the wheel!


Also, Grammy let Emma engage in one of her favorite hobbies - tearing apart Kleenex. It's amazing how much damage she can do in such a short period of time. Will Grandma and Grandpa let her play with tissues too? Or did Emma's cousin Alexis end that hobby in the O'Shea family?

Aunt Stephanie's visit

Aunt Stephanie came to visit this weekend, and we had a great time. Thanks for coming, Aunt Stephanie!

Emma feeding herself

Emma now can feed herself! Unfortunately, she hasn't mastered getting food on the spoon yet, so lunch still takes a bit of teamwork. Even so, that's not so shabby for a baby that isn't even nine months old yet!

Emma's first trip to the zoo

Melissa's friend Jenn came to visit for a couple of days, and she, Melissa and Grammy took Emma to the zoo. Emma was a big fan of the zoo - she really liked the peacocks and the meerkats, but all of the other animals were asleep and bored her. Oh well!

Here's Jenn and Emma:


And here's Grammy and Emma. Daddy wants Emma to know that if she's REALLY bad, this is where we'll be leaving her!


Thanks for coming to visit, Jenn!

Emma hanging around the house

Emma really likes to help Mommy with the laundry. She can't really fold, but she can sure press the clothes!


Grammy and Papa brought me back a new hat and noise maker from their vacation! Daddy doesn't mind the hat, but he's not wild about the maraca.


Emma playing with the music table that Aunt Stephanie got her. Thanks, Aunt Steph!