where to start...

poor emerson. already, the neglect of the second born is apparent, and this blog is digital evidence. i am not even going to count the number of posts i had written for bryn by this age. but, like most second-borns, emerson seems no worse for the wear and is a very sweet, happy and chubby baby (strangers seem to agree with me on this, although i hear he behaves very differently when i am not around). and he has the most infectious smile - i always catch random people beaming at him when we are out and about.

in my defense, i think i have kept up fairly well with photos and videos, even if they didn't all get posted in a timely manner. emerson also gets to have HD video, all of which is available here on youtube. you can see emerson trying out solid foods, doing his funny crawl, sitting, jumping, laughing, hiccuping and meeting his big sister. you can even see the pediatricians checking emerson out right after he was born. there are also lots of new videos of bryn singing, dancing, talking, and helping/holding/playing with her brother.

as of today, emerson is sitting and crawling (not a proper crawl, but an inchworm kind of breakdance-y move), and starting to pull himself up. he knows what "no" means and recognizes the intonation of his name that means he should not be doing what he is doing although, most of the time, both of these things just elicit a big grin before he proceeds with whatever it is he wants to do (put dangerous/disgusting things in his mouth). he is very vocal and makes a hilarious chortling sound that we have yet to record successfully. when he wants me to pick him up, he often says "mamamama", which i like to believe is really for me. he loves to bounce and jump and, now that he is too big for the jumperoo, he likes to use me as a substitute (someone at a restaurant recently called him the definition of a "bouncing baby"). he currently has four teeth, front and center, and still has very light red-blonde hair, which caused a woman at the park to ask me if my children have the same father.


bryn is still very shy around new people, especially adults, and is notoriously stealth (among our neighbors and sitters). but, she seems to have turned a corner recently and has started chatting with people and engaging more and more. this may be (we hope) due to bryn starting preschool this fall!


while she is not always excited about going (it doesn't help that she is a night owl, and i have to wake her up from a dead sleep to go to school), she does always seem to have a lot of fun. her favorite things so far are painting, making pictures with "sparkles" (glitter), and playing on the playground, and she seems to really like her teachers. but, both at school and at home, bryn's absolute favorite thing is pretend play - dress up, role playing and, lately, a lot of role reversal (i'm the big girl and she's the mommy) and imaginary play (finding pirate treasure, being a dog). she creates very elaborate scenarios ("mommy, you got an ouchie on your foot now, and you need a shot") and is very specific about how they should go ("mommy, you just like the dinner now"). she's also been incorporating "just" and "probably" into her everyday conversation, which is hilarious ("i think i probably spilled the milk") and adorable ("i just love you"), and recently said "oh. my. god." when she saw the trailer for the princess kai-lan movie (ni hao, kai-lan and princesses are her favorite things, so the combination of the two has to be the greatest thing ever).

our spring and summer were very eventful and lots of fun - we went to a couple of minor league baseball games, spent lots of time playing in the backyard and the kiddie pool, went to the fair, visited my grandmother (along with my parents) in dc, visited friends and family in seattle and had a great visit from my sister and her hubby. i am enjoying the fall weather and holidays (pumpkin picking, costumes) but wishing i had more time to play with my babes...