Never a Dull Moment Around Here

Today, my sister asked me what new and exciting things Wyokiddo was doing these days.  What isn't she doing these days?  Here's my list of recent funny/cute Emily antics...

• Emily is obsessed with looking down my shirt.  If I'm wearing something even remotely loose-fitting, she's pulling it out and trying to stick her hand down my shirt.  It's sort of like a Friday night in the Cowboy in college.  
• Emily is also obsessed with the back of my pants.  She loves to lift up my shirt and inspect my underwear.  Sometimes, if I don't nip it in the bud, she'll try to stick things in my waistband.  Like magnetic letters.  Or little people.  Or a carrot.
• Mommy's clothing notwithstanding, Emily's new favorite activity is playing in her playpen with every single stuffed animal she owns piled around her.  Sometimes she wants me to throw in laundry, too.  Or binkys.  One day it was my shoes.  Hey, it works!  She's confined and entertained and I can wander around the house getting some things done.  
• A few months ago, Emily was obsessed with climbing on the couch.  After the 6,000th time I put her on the couch one afternoon, I figured she could do with a stool to help.  So I bought a little step-stool. And it did help her get on the couch, but not to get off the couch.  After the third time she bailed off the couch like a lemming off a cliff, I put the stool in the closet until she was older and more concerned with her own safety and well-being.  It's been buried in her closet ever since.  On Thursday, though, Em was playing in her room, throwing all her stuffed animals in her playpen.  I was in the kitchen when I heard her banging in the closet, then saw her sneak into the living room carrying what I assumed was her Cowboy Joe Pillow Pet.  The next thing I know, I see her sitting on the couch, which she still can't get on unassisted.  Then I realized she had found the step-stool, took it out of the closet to the couch and used it as a means to chillax on the sofa.  Uh oh, she's starting to understand the use of tools.  Crap.
• One of my favorite things she does is come grab my finger and pull me toward what she wants.  Usually she wants me to pull the crib away from the wall so she can rescue the binky that fell behind it during a nap.  Yesterday, after a particularly frustrating round of baby charades where I for the life of me couldn't figure out what she wanted, Emily threw her hands in the air, grabbed my finger and drug me to the bone dry dog's water dish.  I'm afraid the toddler and the hounds may be in cahoots...
• Emily loves to give 'mooches.  To me.  To Daddy.  To the dogs.  To Aunt Mindy.  To the bear on the Super Golden Crisp Cereal Box in the supermarket.  She's an equal opportunity 'moocher.
• Her newest word is hush.  We love to read "Goodnight Moon" and she'll finish the part about the quiet old lady who whispers "hush."  Makes my heart melt every time.
• I finally got around to starting her family photo album.  We "read" it several dozen times a day.  Each time she excitedly points at someone in the family and claps or gives them a 'mooch.  She's a people person!