Uh-oh nose

Emiko is growing so quickly! She can hold up her head, has the same freakishly strong legs as her sister (she can hold her own weight), smiles whenever she sees her mommy, and coos adorably. At her most recent doctor's visit, she weighed in at 10lbs 6ozs. No light weight, this one.

Mayumi is always fidgeting with Emiko; inserting her pacifier, stealing her blanket, trying to insert a sippy cup into her mouth, sitting on her, and kissing her.

I have to constantly remind Mayumi that "Emi is not a toy." Fortunately, she does have her own dolly to 'baby.' Thank you Grandma Mimi! This baby goes where Mayumi goes. My favorite is when she tries to put a pacifier into the doll's mouth, holds it close and rocks it, and 'shush shushes' it. She does all this with a concerned look on her face (knitted brow) and adorably pursed lips (she cannot make an 'sh' or 'ch' sound without seriously pouting her lips).

We have to watch this little Mayumi very closely. For example: Nate picked up these little sticky fake gems to affix to Valentine's Day cards. We had fun with them and only a few remained after our craft project. Somehow Mayumi got a hold of one and next thing we know she's saying 'uh-oh nose' and rubbing at her nose, sticking her finger up inside repeatedly. We expected the worse and, sure enough, Nate spotted it up there with the aid of a flashlight. He got out the pliers. Fortunately she sneezed it out before he performed surgery on her. Whew.

Blizzard '10

I am certain that there are thousands of blog posts with the same title, but that is exactly what it was: a blizzard. Or blizzardS, I should say. For those of you outside of the Eastern Seaboard, you may need a bit of an update: we had three '10-year storms' in Virginia within one month of each other, making this the worst Virginian winter in (statistically speaking) 1,000 years (the math brought to you by Nate). Our back deck is still covered in two feet of snow, and that is after more or less 1 full week of sunshine and melting.

We were blessed to have a houseguest during the second of these three storms. Old roommate and dear friend of eight years Amber Henrie made it down on the last bus from NYC. It was already snowing heavily when she arrived, and didn't stop for several days. She deserves the credit for many of the following photos.

Nate spent hours...hours and hours...shoveling. He had to borrow a shovel since someone stole ours (can you believe it? The nerve). You can see his handiwork here. Can you believe this snowpile in our front yard?

Yumi did her best to keep as warm as possible, but it was hard to keep the snow off her incredibly long lashes (you'll have to enlarge the picture to see what I mean).

The Federal Government was closed for four full days--meaning Nate was stuck at home. He got a little stir crazy, as you will see through the following series of pictures and video clips. Enjoy!

Our master bedroom window.

Amber couldn't be outdone, so she went next:

If you are one of Mayumi's grandmothers, you should skip the next video:

And finally, to top it off, I take the plunge. You'll hear Mayumi in the background...enough to make your heart bleed. She really loves me.

This picture is worse than the Peter DeFazio picture (inside family joke...). You'll have to blow it up to get the full effect, but I won't be offended if you don't. Again, I have to credit Amber for this heinous but most excellent photograph.

Two Months of Darlingness

Happy two month birthday Emiko!! You are an angel, a dream come true. Who knew that an infant could be so EASY!? We love your big smiles and patience when your big sister mauls you. We love how you graciously accept the many 'gifts' Mayumi piles on top of you.

We are impressed with how strong you are; you are already holding your head up, are comfortable on your stomach, and rolling over (if unintentionally).

Thanks for joining our family--we love you!!

Now--a sneak preview. As the few followers of this blog undoubtedly already know, we had a HUGE storm this weekend, receiving over 28 inches of snow! Crazily enough, another is headed our way this moment, with another 12 inches predicted. I'll be posting fun pictures and unbelievable video clips in the next day or two. But for now...a sneak preview! Here is Mayumi sitting on snowbank (created by Nate's expert shoveling) in our front yard.