Queen Elizabeth and the Divine Ms. Em

Hi. Kerri here (posting from Martin's side and too lazy to change the user).

We have two videos that so particularly capture little pieces of the girls' personalities at this moment. They are so different in so many ways and yet they adore playing with each other. When Libby's on her game (and not being a bullying big sister), she can make Emma laugh harder than just about anyone.

First video: Libby has developed this total space-cadetness. She is just hilarious. It's like she just has too much on her mind to pay attention to petty little details like watching for walls she shouldn't walk into. We were at a park last weekend, and the girls had lollipops for the first time (or at least the first time in memory). Notice how Libby's so engrossed in her "pollilop" that she first walks into the bar at the top of the slide and then almost falls completely down the slide itself.



As for Emma, she has the funniest sense of humor. She already can be quite a tease and has a killer smile. She loves to do goofy little things to get a laugh. Already! She's only 18 months old, for Pete's sake. Here she is at the beach in Florida. She's first talking about my boobs (still fascinated though we haven't breastfed in a few months) and then she pretends to eat the beads off my shirt (yes, that's right -- I was bejeweled and bedazzled).

Florida

We just got back from a trip to Florida. We were there for a conference. We had a great time but we're all exhausted.

The view from our room

A trip to the beach for ice cream

And then downtown for a festival

Both kids discovered the ocean

Emma was a little less sure she liked it

And we got a few good pictures of the girls together

I just love the look on Emma's face here

The More Things Change...

We recently returned to the Field Museum Toddler Lab for the first time since Emma was a little baby in a sling. Here's Libby at the lab last year:

And here's Emma this year:

More later. Emma's doing great. No more rash! Libby's got another double ear infection, and I have another cold. Sigh.

Pictures of lots of visits to come (we need to upload the camera).