Emma’s Dad — Page 8

Pictures From The Fair

March 20, 2007

Emma and Owen posing for a quick photo opp.

This weekend, Elena, Emma, Jessie and Me went to the local fair. The theme was “Yesteryear Village” where we saw replicas of Saloons, Stables, Houses, Fire Stations, Churches, School Houses, etc. from the early 1900’s. It was a beautiful clear, sunny day, and the temperature was just right (a breezy 74 degrees). There were a lot of activities to do and Emma had a great time playing around and making arts and crafts. We met up with her buddy Owen and wandered around the fair together. The first attraction we encountered were the pony rides. Emma seemed to be somewhat indifferent to the animals until I tried to sit her on top of one. Although I was standing right next to her and promised to hold her the whole way through she immediately started to shake her head from left to right and began to wail. I tried to calm her with reassuring words but in the end we had to abort the mission. Perhaps next time.

Next it was time for a little ring toss with Daddy…

…and some of Emma’s world class kisses.

A pirates Hat…

A quick snack…

A walk through the garden…

Some arts & crafts…

And a picture with a mule named Ted.

Filed Under: activities, All, Elena, Jessie, Mark

At the Park with Mommy

March 12, 2007

Elena and Emma have been spending a lot of time at the park lately. Emma likes to blow bubbles, kick the soccer ball, go down the slide, and ride the swing. Emma is signing more and more these days. Words like “dog”, “bird”, “flower”, “apple” “ball”, and “duck” have made their way into her vocabulary which she signs frequently when she sees them at the park. She is like a little sponge these days and will also sign words Elena and I use while we are having a conversation. She is like a little interpreter for the hearing impaired.

Emma enjoys playing with her shovel but doesn’t like to get sand on her hands. She gets this from her Daddy. 🙂 In this picture Emma has fallen down and refuses to touch the sand to pick herself up. The look of dissatisfaction is aimed toward her Mother who is encouraging her to stand up on her own. In cases like this, Emma prefers to be rescued without soiling her fingers.

Filed Under: All, park, signs

Waiting for the plane…

March 5, 2007

Emma at the RDU airport waiting for the plane.

We just came back from a two week trip to North Carolina where we spent time with Elena’s Mom, Frank, Pititi, Rosy, Jackie, Alex, Vicki, Marco, Mario, and Anamarie. We had a great time with them and it was sad to leave. Emma has grown a lot since the last time I posted. She is now running and can kick a ball without loosing her balance. Like her cousin Matthew, Emma is able to climb off the bed (air mattress) and onto the floor. She does this in a controlled way by moving her legs to the edge of the bed and easing her way down. When she wants me to put her on the floor she says the word “down!” in a very commanding tone and uses both hands to point to the floor.

Happy Birthday wishes to Emma’s Godfather Rob and to her friend Ian.

Filed Under: Alex, All, Anamarie, Frank, Jackie, Marco, Mario, Myriam, Pititi, Rosy, Vicki

Emma’s Tech Tip – Quickly Launch Windows Apps

February 7, 2007

If you are running Windows XP and hate searching your Start menu for that elusive link that will open the application you are looking for, fear no more. Launchy is a sweet little app that will free you from ever having to search for a program link again. Once installed, this free application will index your Start menu and allow you to access your programs via a nice command line interface. Say, for example, you want to launch Microsoft Word, press the Launchy key sequence <ALT>-<SPACE> and then type “word”. Hit <ENTER> and you are off and running. It’s that simple.

Filed Under: All, technology

I Think I’m Turning Japanese

February 5, 2007

This picture makes me think of that song from the 80’s from the group “The Vapors” whose chorus went something like this: “I’m turning Japanese I think I’m turning Japanese I really think so”. I have no idea what she was thinking but my little Emmalicious was clearly feeling quite pensive.

Today Emma signed the word “cook” for the first time. I had used it in front of her this weekend when I was making breakfast. Tonight she signed it while Elena prepared dinner. She’s quite a little sponge.

In the last two weeks I have noticed Emma go through a developmental growth spurt. She is now able to stand-up from a prone position without any aid whatsoever; and although she has been able to climb the stairs of our house for some time, she does it with a lot more ease now. Next we will need to work on her going down the stairs.

Emma has a more adventurous appetite than she had in the past and will ask to eat food off our plate. She also understands the concept of “pretend” and will share her food with her dolls (Tigger and Baby Annie). Emma has also grown to be quite affectionate and dispenses hugs at kisses frequently throughout the day. Those little Emma kisses are the best I tell you.

This weekend we had a visit from Grandpa Arnaldo and Grandma Maria. Emma loves it when people sit on the floor with her and engage her in whatever activity she is involved in. Grandma Maria is always really good about focusing on Emma and playing with her. It is clear that Emma really enjoys playing with her Grandma. Grandpa likes to sit on the couch and try to convince her to come over to him so he can grab her and hold her. Emma hates to sit on peoples laps so she tends to walk around him and beyond his reach.

Filed Under: All, Arnaldo, development, Grandma, Grandpa, Maria

Open Up And Say Ahhhh!!!

February 1, 2007

Despite Emma’s milk allergy she seems to be unaffected by cheese. Here she shares one of her favorite snacks (a cheese cube) with her buddy Tigger. Notice how Emma opens her mouth and says “Ahhhh” as she feeds him. It’s the cutest thing.

Filed Under: food

Emma’s Tech Tip – Keep Your Calendar Online

January 30, 2007

If you like to stay organized but struggle to keep your Microsoft Outlook work calendar synchronized with your home calendar, Google has a solution for you. Google Calendar allows you to record all your important events in one place online, allowing you the freedom to add and review appointments anywhere you have an Internet connection. Better yet, since the application is web-based, you don’t even have to use your computer. Any old machine will do. Just log in with your username and password and viol-la, your information is available at your fingertips. Google Calendar even allows you to configure it such that reminders can be sent to your cell phone minutes before an event’s start time. There are also a host of other neat features like calendar sharing, localized weather forecasts, and Microsoft Outlook integration. Best of all access is free. So what are you waiting for, create your Google Calendar today and start the year off on task!

For more information about Google Calendar click here.

Filed Under: All, technology, tips

Hawaiian Delight

January 26, 2007

Emma got a visit from Aunt Jen, Uncle Fernando, and Cousin Jessie today. They will be heading back to Hawaii soon so they decided to spend the day playing with Emma. Although Emma is typically shy and reserved she warmed-up to them quickly. Uncle Fernando sped around with Emma in her new car, going-up and down driveways in the neighborhood which Emma thoroughly enjoyed. It was great to spend some time with them and hope to see them again this summer.

Filed Under: All, Fernando, Jen, Jessie

Emma’s Fifteen Month Checkup

January 23, 2007

Today Elena took Emma for a routine checkup. There she was weighed, measured, and administered her 15 month shots. I usually attend these things but today I had to be at work during her appointment. She had a slight fever throughout the day as a result, which Elena kept in check with Tylenol. Emma is in the 55th percentile for both height and weight right now for children her age. The fact that the percentiles match is a good sign and indicates that she is growing proportionally. For a while there she was on the “chunky-side” (somewhere in the 95th percentile for weight and 75th for height). Her mobility has allowed her to shed some of that baby fat.

Emma is finally sleeping through the night. Our strategy of keeping the baby monitor off in our room has been working like a charm. Bedtime for her is around 8:00 PM and at 7:00 AM Elena and me receive our wake-up call. Elena is still breastfeeding Emma but we are down to one nursing a day. On Sunday we replaced her morning nursing with a nice bottle of Soy milk. She still gets the warm comfort of her mother’s milk at night right before bed which helps to put her in the right frame of mind; however the rest of her meals are supplemented by three Gerber “Stage 2” baby foods a day. With Cheerios and an assortment of cookies and snacks throughout the day. She prefers vegetables to fruits which is a good thing I guess. I wish I could say the same for myself.

Vital Statistics

Height: 30.5 inches
Weight: 23 lbs.

Filed Under: checkup, doctor, Elena

Emma’s Tech Tip – How To Reduce Spam

January 23, 2007

Tired of receiving spam (i.e. unsolicited phone calls, junk mail, etc.). Here are a couple of tips that will help you to reduce the “noise” in your life.

Unsolicited Phone Calls From Telemarketers

Last year the National “Do Not Call” Registry went online. I think it was last year. Perhaps it was 2005. Nevertheless, once you register your phone number telemarketer’s are forbidden to call you there and are subject to stiff penalties if they do.

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

Junk Mail

Reduce the amount of clutter that fills your snail-mail box. Opt-out at the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service.

https://www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing