New chair

Grammy and Papa bought Emma an easy chair so that she had a comfortable place to catch up on her reading. Here she is, tucking into one of her new books.


Thanks, Grammy and Papa!

The Oak Lawn Childrens' Museum

Emma went to the Oak Lawn Childrens' Museum with mom, her grandma, and her cousins. She had a great time!


It turns out that she's not the greatest piano player, but she's very enthusiastic. Here she is playing with her cousin Alexis, who apparently is a bit shy.


Here's one with Mom in front of a cow (which she and her cousins later tried to milk, unsuccessfully).


Finally, she spent some time brushing one of the stuffed animals in the toddler room.

Emma playing on the table

I was going to include this in an earlier post, but had some issues with the blog software. Oops. Anyway, here's a video of Emma playing around with her Grandma on the table!

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Emma had a fun week at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Chicago. She spent a lot of time with her cousin Dave, investigating the contents of Grandma's cabinets. Note the strings on some of the cabinets - by the end of the week, she had also figured out how to untie some of them!


She also discovered that she really enjoys sweeping. I hope that she keeps that up for a while - it could be very helpful around the house once she figures out how the dustpan works, too.


One night, we all helped to brush Emma's teeth. She started out doing it herself...


But eventually let Grandma help out...


She also helped us make appetizers and desserts for the various family parties. And by 'helped' I mean 'actively hindered'. That said, she got her first real taste of a few different kinds of sweets, and it turns out that she really likes them - surprise, surprise! After she figured that out, she was very eager to help clean up, by licking the bowl.


Not pictured: Emma trying to dive into a mostly-empty bowl of pie filling. (Picture not taken because the photographer was trying to keep her from getting into the bowl.)

Christmas

We had a great Christmas in Chicago this year, and we're just now getting around to putting up some pictures. We went to the O'Shea Family Christmas party on Christmas Eve, and the Kelleher part on Christmas day (as well as opening presents on Christmas morning with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Christie and her family, and Uncle Scott).

Here's Emma and Melissa at the O'Shea family party


And Grandpa, with his little granddaughter in tow.


Emma really enjoyed her gift from the Christmas grab bag!


On Christmas morning, Emma had a blast opening presents - not just her own, but other peoples' as well. Here she is, standing in the box that held one of Daddy's presents, about to toss it overboard!


And, despite having tons of gifts of her own, all she wanted to do was peek through the play tunnel that her cousin Dave received. It WAS a lot of fun, though!


The Kelleher party was a lot of fun as well. Here's Emma in her Christmas outfit - thanks to Grammy and Papa for giving it to her!


Emma playing with her cousins, away from mom and dad for a few precious moments.


And, finally, Grandma and Grandpa with all of their grandchildren (one of whom is actually looking at the camera).


Merry belated Christmas, everybody!

Merry Christmas!

Emma is really excited about Santa coming tonight. Can't you tell?


Merry Christmas!

Lunch with Aunt Stephanie

We went downtown to meet Aunt Stephanie for lunch earlier today. Emma seems a little unsure about the whole situation...


But, eventually Aunt Stephanie won her over by letting Enma drink out of her water glass.

And, finally, Emma gave Aunt Stephanie her seal of approval, and showed the rest of us where Steph's mouth is.