A Year of The Little Squeaker

We call her lots of things: Squeaker, Squeak, Emmy, Em, Emmer, Emmy Emmer, E, Little Crow, Little Pooper, and sometimes...Emerson.

You may have heard of her. She's cute.

And since she celebrated her first full revolution around the Sun recently, it's a good time to reflect on a year with our little girl. It's been a wild and winding road!

My, how parenting has changed us. And yet, in some ways, it hasn't. She has folded nicely into our family, and has learned to adapt to our collective lives rather than dictate them. It's been a blessing above all blessings.

And so, let's see if we can give a verbal Emerson montage:

• The most swollen newborn ever!



• Sleep, cry, eat, poop, repeat (for months)



• Kicking, scooting, checking things out



• Crawling, getting into mischief, learning who family is



• Standing, cruising, finding everything in the house that we don't want her to get into



• Walking without assistance (nine months and nine days!) and her parents wondering what on earth they are going to do now



• Oh, just kidding, now she really knows how to find everything she isn't supposed to get into



• Growing too tall to walk under the table, and repeatedly forgetting this fact



• Running, smiling, giggling, playing games



• The cutest baby ever. EVER. And if you disagree with me, I will fight you.
  

It has been over a year. Wow. What a ride. What a special girl. We have been blessed beyond belief, and hope that we are good enough parents to keep her going as far and as high as she can go. Thank you Little E, we love you!

Oh, and the nerd in me couldn't resist figuring it out, so here's all of the flying Emerson did in 2010, not bad for a little frequent flyer!:

ORD-STL; STL-RSW; RSW-ORD; ORD-LGA; LGA-ORD; ORD-DFW-MHK; MHK-DFW-ORD; ORD-DEN; DEN-ORD; ORD-MHK; MHK-ORD; MKE-DFW; DFW-MKE

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

You may have heard that it was Christmas recently...

And yes, we did too, and celebrated accordingly! It was technically our second Christmas with a little one, but our first with one that didn't resemble a sleeping, crying, pooping sack of potatoes (let's be honest, that's what newborns are like).

We did Willow's service and Christmas with Jeff's family, and spun around and did Christmas with a house full of sick Kochs and Littles. Seriously, disease was attacking everyone around the Koch house! Jacquelyn, Josh, Ryan, and Evan came to town, and brought their penchant for winding up in the Emergency Room with them. Only two visits this time? ;)

But yes, a belated Merry Christmas to you all. And to all a good night.

Oh, and funny enough, I couldn't find the photos from Christmas, so instead you get a cute picture of our little Bears fan eating an ornament.

Everything Is Bigger In Texas

It's true, actually, even their Walmarts. But I digress...

Hey! Remember us? We had a blog, once upon a time, and we even updated it now and then! Forgive us for our absenteeism, we have no excuse. But be excited, we've hired new management, revamped the blogging protocols, and sacked all of the consultants the led us down such a dark empty blog path before.

Ahem.

So we went to Dallas, Texas! For a day! And saw Kelly! Woohoo!

The lethal combination of Jeff having airline credits to use, flight deals to Dallas, Kelly being available to be a tour guide, and Allison needing just one more flight for Platinum status next year, all came together for a whirlwind adventure down south.

Highlights included:

• Eating tacos, outside, in December weather! Texans have it so good in the winter, they have no idea.
• Driving around Fort Worth (our first time there)
• Touring Cowboys Stadium (yes, it's impressive, seriously)
• Seeing Kelly's campus and home.
• Watching Emerson practice her usual custom of making at least a dozen friends while buzzing around the DFW airport.
• Enjoying some daddy-daughter nap time on the plane.
  
• Laughing at the local hospital pregnancy clinic's advertisement, which was standing directly in front of the "Condoms To Go" store. Seriously.
  

Despite being a VERY long day, it was a great experience we were blessed to be able to do.

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Big Butt Duck!

Say that five times as fast as you can...

Halloween 2010 was a huge success last weekend. Emerson had a wonderful time chewing on the Jack-O-Lanterns we made, trying to keep up with her cousin and friends, chewing on candy wrappers, and falling on her overly wide butt many many times.

It was a great time filled with pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, playing board games, hanging with friends & family, and overall enjoying lots of fall activities and community.

Walking On The Big Wall

Last week we got back from another one of our whirlwind trips across the globe. This time, it was to the home of the 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China. Why China? It had always been on Jeff's list of places to visit, and when Allison heard about the idea of walking on the Great Wall she jumped at the idea. And no, triple miles bonuses and a great fare sale had nothing to do with it either, how silly.

Some stuff we saw:

• Tienanmen Square
• Forbidden City
• Jengshin Park
• Beihai Park
• Hou Hai Lakes region
• Lots of hutongs (historical Chinese alleys filled with shops and restaurants)
• The Great Wall @ Mutianyu
• Temple of Heaven Park
• The Summer Palace
• Old people dancing to weird music in the park
  
• Authentic Chinese Opera

And most surprisingly, we saw...one pigeon. One! I don't get it. But I will say the poultry dishes in the country were quite good. Hmm.

It was a quick, but wonderful introduction to China. Especially since one of Jeff's former classmates at Kellogg, Lexon Li, just moved back to Beijing and was kind enough to host us for an entire day. We are grateful to have made the journey, and reiterate what a blessing it is that world travel is possible. And thank you to everyone who helped out with little E back home!

WARNING: Graphic Nudity - Part II

Walking Version...
This is the highlight of my day.

The Park!

We've been taking advantage of the wonderful weather to go to the park near our house in the late afternoon / evenings as much as possible. A certain someone, who shall remain unnamed, absolutely loves the park, specifically the swing set. Her complete disregard for heights and/or railings makes the playground equipment a little more challenging to leave her on. But praise the Lord for Indian Summers!

Ambulatory At Last

So little E has been cruising and taking a couple steps here and there for a while, but we have been watching and waiting for a definitive time where she's "walking" on her own. And about a week ago, our little explorer decided she had enough of being cautious and it was time to set out on her own. We weren't able to capture the first steps, but here's a quick sample since then. What's next, cartwheels? Sheesh!

Birthday Cousin

We celebrated Emerson's cousin, Alexa, last weekend for her first birthday party! As we have noted before on this space, one year olds make off like bandits at their birthday parties. And giant cupcakes are awesome.

Nine Months!

Once again, we have no idea what Emerson's stats were at nine months, since there was no doctor's visit, but we still know she's cute, she's active, and she will only stay still on the blanket for a photo for a few seconds.