May 10th

Emma and I spent some time down at my mom's house and we really enjoyed it. My mom loves Emma and pretty much will let her get away with anything as most grandmothers will...just wish I had the same treatment while I was growing up (just kidding, Mom). We took Emma Claire down to the beach and she quickly got the hang of her shovel and pail. She wasn't really interested in the water which was a good thing since it was a little chilly. Emma was very busy feeding her various babies (she now has 3 dolls), helping my mom water the flowers and just generally being very cute (no, I'm not biased). When asked what her name is, Emma will very promptly (and sometimes loudly) proclaim that she is 'Emma'. She has a little trouble with 'Claire' since she can't quite pronounce l's yet. Emma also discovered how to lock and unlock the bathroom door and she loved just to go in there, shut the door and then come out and say "hi". I also encouraged her to knock on the door when my mom was in the bathroom since I did the same thing while I was growing up. I learned that once again, kids are best entertained by simple things rather than colorful and sometimes expensive toys. My mom gave Emma some plastic cups to play with during her bath and she thought they were so neat. We have tons of bath toys at home, but I've never seen her so intent on playing as she was with the cups. She even asked for a bath the next day just so she could play. Now if only I could get her to have as much enthusiasm for brushing her teeth as she does with bath time!