More fun with cousins

On the Safari tram ride at the zoo. I am doing my best to just be background. Emerson is "smiling."

Bath time with cousins Kendall and Garrett

Ethan the ham

We fed him (some avocado)

Feed me!

Emerson and Lucy take on the Tampa Aquarium

Ethan is 6 months

Zoo trip

The Moss Munching Game

Emerson and I played this game for at least an hour at the park yesterday:

1. I put a hairy clump of spanish moss in the dinosaur's mouth and speak as the dino saying things like "Mmmm! This moss is so tasty!! I am eating it up! Munch! Yum!"
2. Emerson rocks the dino back and forth until it falls out, at which point I make a stricken sound "Argh! My moss! Oh no!"
3. Emerson laughs like crazy and then instructs me to put some more moss in the dino's mouth
4. Repeat steps 1-3

Here we go

Ethan is intent on mobility and I am doing my best not to try to slow him down. He is at the stage where he is crawling well - but only moving backwards. If you put him on the floor and put his favorite toy (Sophie the giraffe) just out of reach in front of him he will work and work and soon he will be across the room, under a chair, looking completely betrayed. His sincere frustration just makes it that much more darling. If you try to hold him while he is hungry or tired, he will grab a fistful of your cheek and yank it while he tries to suck your whole face off with his mouth. He is shockingly strong. It is imperative that we keep his fingernails trimmed. In other Ethan news, his thighs continue to get chunkier, if that's even possible.

Emerson is extremely two years old right now. He talks constantly and is exploring narrative. When something happens he will tell you step by step what happened and why. Usually about half of it actually happened and he has taken creative license with the rest of it. It can be very entertaining, unless for some reason you actually want to know what really happened and then, well, good luck. Emerson has also learned the time-tested toddler truth: if at first you don't get what you want, ask for it again and again and again and again and again and again. And again. And then again. As a last resort he will call us Ellie and Eric when repeating the request.

It has been raining a lot these past two weeks and we have been indoors more than usual (with a few walks in the rain to stave off cabin fever). Emerson loves to play hide and seek but doesn't quite understand how it works. He will hide while I count, but then as soon as I start to look for him he jumps out of his hiding place and runs toward me grinning and giggling. When it is my turn to hide, he tells me where to hide and then goes and dutifully counts to ten before coming to "find" me. This afternoon we spent an hour walking and jumping like different animals - hop like a bunny, etc. Emerson came up with different actions for each one. My favorite was "walk like a bird" where he did a great imitation of the wading birds that we watch in the pond. Stand very still slightly crouched. Turn head side to side. Take a few quick steps. Eat a fish.

Life feels a little slo-mo right now, like it is moving through water. But with Ethan reaching six months next week and us getting full swing into summer, I can feel that time is about to accelerate. Here we go!

Family time on the couch

Emerson and his train

Found a new park nearby

We randomly followed a sign that said City Park to a beautiful playground on the water. It is R.E. Olds Park, sharing its namesake with the Oldsmobile and the city of Oldsmar in which it is located. In addition to a great playground set up and a long fishing pier, there is what looks like a gravestone marker with a quote from Emerson on it: "The only way to have a friend is to be one."

Dolphins were swimming just next to the pier and we saw a stingray too.

 

Best rainy day ever

Emerson and I took advantage of a very rainy morning to build an epic fort. He was so eager to squeeze himself through the tunnel that he was trying to crawl through it before I had even gotten it rolled into place.