Buds

Emma has hit that point where she seems to have suddenly become a little person overnight. She is so hilarious! She is finally crawling (though usually by hook and crook and with no real definite form), but she still just wants to stand, man, stand. She is now excellent at pulling herself up and finally -- thank God -- is also getting better at landing on her butt when she falls. Mommy has heard that little head thud on the floor quite enough, thankyouverymuch.

Speaking of thudding heads on the floor, Libby has become quite the caring big sister (although we still have our head-thudding moments every few days). She is extremely sweet to Emma and is just about dying to have Emma old enough to play with her. In fact, most of the head-thudding these days is because Libby has tried to dance with a standing Emma or get a standing Emma to "bounce, bounce, bounce" with her. Emma's fragile balance just can't handle it--although she's always game to try. (And when she's not game to try, you should hear her -- raspberries all around. A raspberry is Emma-ese for "stop whatever the hell you are doing." I've been hearing it a lot these days as I've been trying to give her her eyedrops.)

Today, I was carrying the girls up the stairs, and Emma reached over and held Libby's hand. Emma squealed with delight, Libby squealed with happiness in return, and Mommy's heart melted. Then Libby reached over and gave Emma a raspberry on her cheek, and they both laughed riotously. I wish I could have bottled that moment up. (Although in the bottled-up version, maybe I would have skipped the part where I'm carrying 40 pounds of kids up three flights of stairs.)

Not a great picture of Emma, but they're still pretty darn cute. And Emma's expression reminds me of Pop-Pop Marc. Does it anyone else?

Auntie Mary Beth just gave us a box of hand-me-downs, and we got these two darling hats. The girls played in them for quite awhile. Here, Emma is standing (of course) and watching as Libby puts shoes on monkey and then changes his diaper. (Hey, Big Brain Maryann, recognize this monkey? He's a new favorite!)

I vvvant ... to be alone.

Ham-burger with cheese. She knew she looked darn cute.