At 19 months, Emerson loves to play outside and doesn’t come back inside the house without a fight. Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather this year we’ve already racked up several walks to the park, collected all the sticks in our yard (and every other yard on the way to the park), made a few trips around town in the bike trailer with dad, and jogged with mom in the stroller — she’s a great passenger!

Going hand-in-hand with the great outdoors, Emerson is deeply fascinated by animals. She has learned to say bird, dog, puppy, kitty, woof, meow, and tweet. We are working at distinguishing dogs from all other four-legged animals, although; hearing her sweet little voice ‘woof’ at bears, crocodiles, and wildebeests never gets old… can you tell we really like watching Planet Earth or anything else animal related? Her enthusiasm never dulls and is endearing to say the least!

As far as our daily routines go, E is sleeping pretty well overall but usually not quite through the night. We’ve made a lot of progress when it comes to staying in her crib all night and it’s been several months since she’s slept in bed with me. She has a terrible time sitting still to listen to books, instead she likes to ‘read’ them to me or just look at them on her own. E is eating very well — especially with a fork or spoon. She’s willing to try new things and doesn’t always appreciate things that resemble baby food (ie. mashed potatoes, apple sauce, squash) or meat. Her favorite foods are blueberries, strawberries, cheese, oatmeal, eggs and yogurt. She’s very vocal when it comes to asking for more food and will use sign language to say ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’. I can’t imagine a sweeter, busier, or more intelligent little girl!

The photos are from a walk to the square last week to see the tulips in bloom (an entire month early). Emerson wasn’t interested in posing nicely for any photos; she was more into chasing kids on skateboards and watching the fountain — she actually said, ‘Wow!’