21 months old

Emily is now 21 months old. She has had a fun summer campaigning for daddy by just being cute. :o) Every time I get out her Lorenzen campaign shirt she gets excited and says, "Tee-shut!" It is fun to just sit back and listen to her constant chatter. She speaks in more 'sentences' (i.e. 2-4 words strung together) and has some funny phrases sometimes. She says, "I like it!" whenever ice cream is mentioned. :o)

Emily loves the whole new world she has discovered at counter-height in the kitchen. Whenever I'm preparing food or working at the counter she says, "Watch Mommy" and hauls a chair over. She was fascinated watching me make blueberry muffins, enchiladas and smoothies in the blender this past week. It will be fun to share my love of baking and cooking with her!

Also in the kitchen Emily has figured out how to remove the yardsticks running through the drawer pulls to keep her out of the drawers. She can usually get them back in, too. So far she is only interested in playing with the yardsticks and not digging through the drawers. I'm waiting for the day she discovers them. :op

Emily has also figured out how to snap together basic buckles (booster chair, stroller, etc.). She can't pinch them apart, though, so I have to do that multiple times a day.

Emily absolutely loves Cheney. Thankfully, Cheney is VERY patient with her (see videos for proof of that). She asks, "Cheney doing?" or "Cheney go?" all the time. He's the first thing she looks for when getting out of bed. Then she alternates between chasing him with the baby stroller or a yardstick, "dressing" him up, using him as a horse for her bears and trying to shove his bone in his mouth. I think Cheney puts up with it because he knows there will be spills and scraps to be had almost every time Emily eats. :o)

We are also in the very beginning stages of potty training (see previous post). It's actually more like "potty exploration". :o)

The July video player is posted below and the July pictures are updated on Winkflash.

Note: I tried saving the "Bremer County Fair" video in a different format for a clearer picture. Please let me know if you are unable to view it or it takes too long to load and I'll post it in the regular format. Thanks!

Bremer County Fair

Tonight was a very hot and sticky visit to the Bremer County Fair in Waverly. It was free hamburger night courtesy of the Bremer County Cattlemen. Austin shook a lot of hands while Emily & I explored the fairgrounds. The theme was "Celebrate in 2008" so the 4-H building had balloons all over, which Emily loved. We got to hear the Johnson Family Strings again.

Emily loved looking at all the animals. They have a great petting zoo area, too.

There is a video montage in the July player documenting it.

(Note: I started leaving the videos in the monthly player in chronological order rather than trying to keep them in reverse-chronological order, so the newer ones are at the end of the list. Use the arrows at the bottom right of the player to scroll through the video list.)

Emily also enjoyed playing in the "corn box".

Our last stop of the evening was the Bremer County Dairy Producers' booth for ice cream sundaes. :o)

We headed home before the combine demolition derby started. Emily needed a bath and I needed a shower. I also had a gut-ache from eating too much ice cream. There was too much going on and Emily lost interest after 5 bites. Being the good Dutch (dairy) girl I am, I couldn't throw away ice cream I had paid for (even if it was only $1). So I ate most of Emily's ice cream, too. Next time I think we'll share! ;o)

Battle of the wills...with a small victory for both sides

Emily & I have had some serious battles of the wills over the last few days. I've had to review my strategy and change tactics (as well as take some deep breaths) a few times because this is one war I am not going to lose! ;o)

The biggest battles have involved the potty chair and the bathtub at night. Emily does not want to get off the former to get into the latter. That may not seem like the worst problem in the world, but it can be quite frustrating when you know your small group will be stepping in the door in less than 15 minutes and/or your back is aching from sitting scrunched up on the tile floor after looking at the same lift-the-flap book for 20 minutes. Then when she finally does actually get into the water she refuses to sit down. On Sunday night she got a fast washcloth bath while kicking and screaming and trying to climb out. On Monday night I washed her hair while she stood up. Tonight I have a high school girl coming over to observe our supper/bedtime routines in the hopes of establishing a go-to evening babysitter. Let's hope the presence of another person subdues the fury a bit. Either that or Sarah will know exactly what she might be getting into!

Lest I forget the small victory--After sitting on the potty chair for almost 20 minutes last night Emily announced, "pee-pee," and sure enough, there was a little tiny tinkle in the bottom. Yay! I know there is still a loooooong way to go in the potty-training process, but that is a big step for both of us! :o)

First tomato

I picked the first tomato of the season this afternoon. Yay! We're having enchiladas for supper tonight. :o)

I about fell over paying $6 for a dozen ears of sweet corn this weekend, but there was definitely supply/demand forces at work to justify the price they were charging. I guess sweet corn is not immune to inflation. :o( For the record, it was delicious!

Janesville parade

This week's parade was in Janesville. We got some great help from Addy, Emily & Morgan Schut along with Austin's parents and brother. It was sunny and hot! Thank goodness for lots of DumDum suckers acquired along the way. :o)

Bubbles with Grandpa Lorenzen

The last time Grandpa & Grandma Lorenzen came to visit Grandpa introduced Emily to "bubbles" in the sink. Emily has been obsessed ever since and comes running as soon as she hears the water turn on. She often pretends to give her stuffed animals a bath in the sink (see video in player). Grandpa & Grandma were back again this weekend for golf and the parade and more bubble fun! The bunny started off with just a bubble beard, but ended up fully submerged for a true "bath". Thanks Grandpa! ;o)

Pumpkin Progress

The pumpkin experiment is going well. There are beautiful flowers all over the vines. Let's hope they turn into some pumpkins! :o)

Fayette County Fair

Tonight we traveled to West Union for the Fayette County Fair. Austin was in and around the GOP booth talking to lots of people while I followed Emily all over the fairgrounds. We forgot the stroller at home, so she had free range. Whew! She loved looking at all the animals, but kept running back to the pigs. :op Unfortunately, she got pig manure on the bottom of her shoes and they may be declared a total loss (after the Bremer County Fair next week).

There was a big free meal sponsored by all the main livestock groups. Emily's favorite part was the ice cream. :o) She is obsessed with ice cream lately and asks for it all the time--including at breakfast. Emily's other very favorite part of the fair was the red balloon she got from a church booth. It served as great entertainment for the evening. I had to tie it to a little wooden bug car toy from her bag so it wouldn't fly away. She got upset when she saw someone else let go of their balloon let alone lose her own. Heaven help us if she did!

Election countdown...

On the advice of the wonderful wife of a former political candidate, I indulged in a little "craft time" this afternoon and made an old-fashioned paper chain to count down the days until the election. (I'm feeling very nostalgic for elementary school lately!) I thought it might be fun/interesting for Emily, too, but after less than 5 minutes I decided this was a WEN (While Emily Naps) project. I just finished prying my gluey fingers apart and draping my chain on the curtain rod in the office. Each color represents one month beginning with red for the remainder of July. I can't decide if looking at the chain makes me feel better or more overwhelmed about the remaining length of this crazy season of our lives. I'm sure I'll feel differently on different days and so will Austin! ;o)

Reaching new heights

Emily recently reached another milestone in mobility. She has now figured out how to shove a chair from the kitchen table around the kitchen to reach up onto the kitchen counters. She is particularly fascinated by the coffee pot. Luckily, it is almost always empty. Small rugs also tend to get in the way of reaching the sink and stove (for now). Between that and the potty chair/stool in the bathroom no counter is now out of reach except the pass-through window shelf. It will add a whole new dimension to strategic placement of items. :o)