Sweet

I hear from Randa that there are times when Jack will not allow Emily to play with his toys and then there's moments like these where he just loves to love on her.

14 months old - Oct. 16

Emily is definitely expressing more of her own personality these days and it is neat to watch. She has discovered the stairs so we had to teach her the proper way to descend on the tummy. She's still a little skittish about walking, but she stood all by herself without even realizing it one day.

I believe we can say her first real word was door. Charlie was watching Emily one afternoon and taught her the word door while playing with her Noah's Ark toy. Later while he was in the office he heard Emily in the bathroom across the hall saying "dor" each time she opened and closed the cabinet doors. What Charlie realized later was that every time Emily opened the door and said "dor", she was pulling out a towel or wash cloth and pitching it on the floor. She can also now say "uh oh", "no, no", "cheerio" and on the verge of saying "thank you".

First Pigtails - Oct. 9, 2007

The other day Randa tested the waters to see if Emily would let her put her hair in pigtails and she was successful. By the end of the day it was not a good photo op so she put it up again later in the week and we had to capture it on film. Here's the kids with Aunt Neva ("Mefa" as Jack would call her)
We're starting them young on karaoke.

To PA for PumpkinFest

This past weekend was Emily's 2nd annual PumpkinFest in Confluence, PA. I didn't take any pictures during the festival, but I did get some shots with Emily with family. Here she is with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Wally who is now dubbed "Uncle Ice Cream" because when we went to PA in May he was giving Emily part of a beloved DQ Dilly Bar.


Emily had just woken up from a nap, that's why she looks like she's zoning while sitting on Gommy's lap.

They learn by seeing

It is so funny to watch Emily mimic the things she sees on a daily basis. Something she sees daily is Charlie or I on our cell phones so consequently when she found something that she thought would work as a phone she picked it right up and put it to her ear and it even sounded like she said "hewo". She even has the hand motion like she's explaining something.

A trip to Innis Woods

A couple of weeks ago we all went to Innis Woods to see the bug display at the suggestion of our friends Meredith and Brian Snyder. Fun was had by all despite the look on Emily's face in the last picture.

Pigeon Roost Farm

If you are looking for a fun place to take your children, Pigeon Roost Farm is the place to go. They have everything imaginable; from donkey rides and feeding goats to slides and trains and of course picking out pumpkins. We had the chance to go today with Aunt Randa, Jack, Mommaw and Aunt Clara.

Bed Head

Randa and Mark recently moved into an apartment and the most ideal spot for Emily to nap during the day is in the pack-n-play inside their closet with the battery operated fan which serves two purposes for the closet: 1) white noise and 2) of course air movement. Randa was able to get some really good pictures of Emily just after one of her naps. These pictures are for those folks that liked the days when Emily's hair stuck straight up.

13 Months Old on September 16

Vocal is the word for this month. It is so neat to see how Emily communicates in her own way these days. She loves it when you mimic whatever sound she's making back to her.

She is on the verge of taking her first steps by herself. She can side step along the front of the couch with no help and can walk holding on to anyone's finger in her hand, but she has not ventured out on her own yet.

She has 2 bottom teeth, 2 coming in on the top left and right and finally one of her 2 front teeth are coming in.

Also, we have discovered BBQ sauce. When I first started giving Emily solid meat she would only take 1 or 2 bites and then set it aside, but ever since we started adding a couple drops of BBQ sauce from our good friend Leann Bailey from Oklahoma, she devours any type of meat we give her. She must have some Southern roots in her.

1st Birthday Party

"My oh my, I can't believe it's already been a whole year since I entered this world, and what a year it has been. I'm all dressed up for my birthday party with my family."

"Here's who showed up for my party minus Pappy because he had to work unfortunately."

"Hmmm, something tells me this cake looks a little different than anything I've eaten so far."
"Here's Mommy's attempt to get me interested in the cake....not the best method."

"I don't think I like this stuff on my hands, but hey, my bib looks really cool." "Yum, now these puffs are something I recognize, thanks Grammy" "Here's the cake the adults got to eat."

"Thank you so much everyone for my presents."

"Poppaw's sharing his words of wisdom."

"Mommaw and I are singing the Happy Birthday song."

"After the party all the First Daughters in the Groff family posed for a picture." "Aunt Kristen was nice enough to share her PB&J with me and boy was it yummy." "I had such a great birthday....I think I'll just take it easy and enjoy sitting here on my front porch."

1 Year

This time last year I was lying in a hospital bed for the first time in my life holding our precious daughter in my arms wondering what her future would be like. It's already been a year and it's so neat to watch her grow and form her own personality. She is like her Mommy is some regard because you can usually read her emotions just by the look on her face. Not only does she look like her Daddy, but she got his thrill of adventure and love for the outdoors. We are truly blessed!

(Thank you to Aunt Randa and Mommaw for her birthday outfit) Wha choo talkin' bout Gommy? Grammy Groff kept winking at Emily tonight and out of the blue she tried to start winking herself. I definitely missed the best pictures of the face, but here's one attempt.