What they've been up to

Emmett: Last Wednesday Emmett took his first two steps in the kitchen. He stepped on the hem of his pants, slipped, and has refused to try to walk since. The week before he was sitting in my lap and I was playing with him, pretending to wave goodbye. I stopped waving and then Emmett picked up my hand, waved it for me, and then waved his hand in front of mine. It was quite cute, considering that he's not much of a waver.
Emmett's Great-Grandma Neta came over a few weeks back and Emmett warmed up to her quite nicely during her visit. When it came time for her to go, he leaned out of my arms toward her, grabbed the fabric of her sweatshirt over her shoulders, and pulled her toward himself. He didn't want to let her go!
Mike, a close family friend, came by to visit a few days later and Emmett warmed to him quickly as well. Emmett crawled over and pulled himself up on Mike's legs, making it clear he wanted to be picked up. He thought Mike's chin whiskers were very interesting and kept "pinching" his chin. When Mike was leaving, Emmett also grabbed his shoulders and pulled Mike toward him, almost into a hug.
This week I've noticed that Emmett has been making more sound effects when he plays with toys. He makes a "rrrrr" sound when he's playing with toy cars. I held up two dinosaurs for him and made them "roar" at each other, and now he tries to imitate the roaring when he plays with them!

Liliana: A couple of weeks ago, during a preschool lesson, I mentioned that when we're sick we can go see a doctor to help us get better. I randomly said, "That cold metal circle thing they use to listen to your chest and back is called a stethoscope." A few days later while reading a children's magazine, Liliana pointed at a picture of a nurse and said, "That's her stethoscope." I was so surprised that after having heard the word once, with no picture to support the new word, Liliana was able to accurately use her new vocabulary word.
Last week Liliana was trying to zip up her blocks in a storage bag. As she struggled with the zipper, she huffed, "Come on!" I started laughing, knowing that she has heard me say that in frustration before. She really is my little parrot!
Last Thursday, Liliana's friend was supposed to come for a play date. His mom called to reschedule and I told Liliana about it as soon as I got off the phone. The next morning she asked to call her Grandma Cindy. When Grandma picked up, Liliana told her, "Jimmy was supposed to come play yesterday, but his mom called and said, 'Can we come later?' and now they will come today." I was amazed, yet again, by her. I was impressed that she could accurately deliver the message as though from Jimmy's mother's perspective.

I can't believe how time is flying. Emmett will be a year old in just a few more days. Liliana is just a couple months short of her third birthday. So much fun so far, and so many memories yet to come!