Sunnin' & Funnin'

Spring finally arrived in Michigan this past week! We had warm, sunny weather to enjoy so we broke out the sunscreen and spent the week sunnin' and funnin'.

On Tuesday, Xan and Nelleke came over for lunch. We ate yummy lasagna, caught some rays in the backyard and Emily opened her first 1st birthday present. She loves her "Band in a Box." Perhaps we have a future percussionist in the family.

At school Emily had so much fun playing on the playgroud. She loves the swing, the slide and the rocker. Emily also enjoyed the sensory table
filled with colored rice. However, she discovered that colored rice is not very tasty.

I brought home one of my crawling tunnels from school. Emily had so much fun crawling from one end to the other. She also thought it was very funny when I was on the inside and she was on the outside.

Emily and I also took some nice walks and played at the parks. We are so fortunate to have so many parks in walking distance. Emily particularly enjoyed the park on Thursday when there were "big girls" there playing.

The weekend was made for playing and working outside. Emily had so much fun with her new sand and water table. Here she is waving to her daddy who was having fun with the chipper, taking care of all of the tree branches that fell during the winter. After practicing her digging skills in the sand, Emily helped me plant some bulbs.

Emily started to cruise this week as well as test out standing solo. Her favorite trick was grabbing her sippy cup with both hands. We were there to help her out, but she can stand for several seconds on her own.

Finally, we are expecting teeth at any moment. Emily is constantly rubbing her tongue back and forth over her bottom gum. Teething can be tough so Ryan offered Emily some moral support!

My weekend in Grand Rapids

We had such a busy week and weekend, let's see if I can remember it all!








I discovered toilet paper this week. Who knew that such a wonderful toy was right there in front me all along?

This weekend we went to visit my cousin Simon. He's pretty much my hero, as he has 16 teeth, can walk so good, play the drums like a rock-star:

and knows how to play with EVERY toy! He's also helping me to learn how to listen to books. Here we are in our pajamas during storytime:

I had a great time playing with Simon. He shared all of his toys, his bathtub and his crib with me so nice - what a great older cousin to have!

On Saturday afternoon I went over to see my great grandma and grandpa - so much fun. I think it was my first time to visit their house, and I had a really good time.


This is me with my Great Grandma Beth - she's reading me a book too - I'm so lucky!














Here I am with Grandpa Jack - he's finding out that I can be quite a handful - "hold on tight grandpa"!













Whew - what a weekend. I celebrated by taking a four hour nap on Sunday afternoon. I'm a hard workin' girl!

Easter Sunday

Emily had a wonderful first Easter! The Easter Bunny brought her toy boats for the bath, toddler song, dance and nursery rhyme CD's and an Easter egg book.


At church, Emily enjoyed Daddy's great saxophone playing and Mommy's joyful singing during the service. Afterwards, she "hunted" for eggs and posed by the flowers. Then it was time for a nap in the car on the way to Kalamazoo.

We arrived in Kalamazoo in time to have brunch at Grandma Sally and Grandpa Jimmer's church. It was great to see everyone, especially Aunt Kathy.

The Easter Bunny also visited Grandma and Grandpa's house and left Emily an Easter bucket (in preparation for beach season) that was filled with bubbles, sunglasses and socks. Easter dinner was delicious - Emily found the lemon muffins and frosted cookies especially tasty. This was the first time Emily had been to Grandma and Grandpa's house since she was mobile. She loved climbing the stairs and standing up at the railings, as well as chasing Mac and Dude.

Happy Easter from Emmy

At first, Emily wasn't too sure what to make of playing outside on the grass, but once she had her Easter toys, she was good to go. We hope your bunnies are chocolate, rather than plastic!

Happy Easter

Welcome to the a2plums' blog!

Hello, and welcome to our new adventure - attempting to capture the fast growing world of little Emily and her family, and let all of our family and friends keep up on things, and all of our goings on.



Today's entry is a little simple until we figure things out, but it's a snowy, cold afternoon here - so we should make good progress!

This morning Emily practiced her walking, using a little toy that is quite well known in the Plum family:



We just got back from our first family adventure to Costco. Emily seemed to enjoy it, as there were plenty of snacks (alfredo pasta, tangerines, strawberry cheesecake and mini quiche). Plus, as always when Emily goes shopping, she made plenty of friends and shared lots of smiles.

Now it's naptime, hope you enjoyed our first blog entry!

a2plums