Dear Emilia,
We took you to the Minnesota Zoo today! There was so much for you to see!
You laughed at these guys. . .
. . . helped mom feed a giraffe. . .
. . . and watched the gibbon walk around like a trapeze artist . . .
You also thought the tropical fish aquarium was pretty amazing, you pressed your hands and face up to the glass and watched the fish and sharks swim silently past.
We’ll go back again soon!
Love, Dad
Dear Emilia,
For your first Independence day we headed up to the cabin like we often do. This brought all sorts of new experiences and lots of time with family. First of all, compliments to Gert, one of the clinic assistants at my work- you were outfitted in red, white and blue.
We didn’t go to fireworks because they would be too loud and your bedtime is 7:30pm, but you did get your first experiences of swimming in the lake. The water was a bit cold, so we sat on the beach for a bit where you tried to eat seaweed and sand. We then filled a tupperware bin with water and let it warm up on the dock. You had your own personal and solar heated pool!
After a while you got tired, so we laid you down on the bench of the boat. It was cool and dark under the boat lift, and you seemed quite comfy.
After a week at the cabin, the water warmed up a bit and we were able to swim in the lake at Aunt Gail’s and uncle Dale’s beach. Dad would sit you on the edge of the dock and count “one-two-three,” at which point you would tip yourself forward into his hands and he would dip you into the water. This was always followed by an erruption of giggles from you. We are so happy that you enjoy the lake so much already.
One thing you clearly did not like was your life jacket. Whenever we put you in it to take a boat ride, you would either cry, or go completely silent and then fall asleep. Hopefully you will enjoy boat rides a little more when you get bigger. 
The best part of the week was just relaxing, and hanging out with family. Here we are with Great Grandma Colianni by the Bocce court. 
It was a wonderful week and of course we found time to take lots of pictures of you. The cabin was surrounded by tons of wild daisies, so we did a little photo session of you in the flowers. 
We look forward to lots more memories up at the lake, and don’t worry- we’ll go to fireworks when you get a little older.
Love, Mom
Dear Emilia,
We are going to open a frequent flyer membership for you soon, since you have now taken four plane rides in your first seven months of life!
We hadn’t been to Chicago to visit your Uncle Kris and Aunt Andrea for a while, and it happened that the Minnesota Twins were in town to play the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Would this be your first Twins game, and first Cubs game, rolled in to one? Your mom and I tried to go to Wrigley Field once before, but the game was rained out!
After a completely uneventful trip down to Chicago in which you mostly smiled at everyone sitting around us, Aunt Andrea and Uncle Kris picked us up at the airport, and we headed straight to Portillos. You are much too young for sandwiches, let alone portillos, but you were happy to sleep in the back of the car while we got our food.
The next morning, it looked like rain, and instead of dragging you to the field and risk getting rained on, we decided instead to go to the Art Institute of Chicago to see the new modern wing.
So, we hopped on the L on the brown line for your first train ride. You had a great time looking out the windows.
We went straight to the museum, and checked out the new area. You loved looking at all of the paintings with the crazy shapes and colors (we were in the Modern Wing, after all…)
We couldn’t help but notice a beautiful blue sky, (in contrast to the rain when we left in the morning) and the park was calling. We looked at all of the big buildings…
And all of the small flowers…
Inexplicably, a horde of zombies showed up and you weren’t amused…
We hopped back on the train and went home. You were very impressed with all of the sites and sounds of the big city!
The next day we had a great breakfast at the Southport Grocery. (As you will learn when you are older, the main focus of trips to chicago is food.)
When I think of you on this trip, I will remember how you were so observant! You love to examine things. We’re having so much fun offering you new things to look at and play with.
We can’t wait to take you on trips to show you more of the world!
Love, Dad
Dear Emi-
It seems that we blinked and already you are 6 months. This has brought all sorts of new adventures as you learn to do new things. First off, you have started solid foods (though I am not sure why they call it “solid” when it is basically mush- but it is much more solid than your previous liquid diet). You started out a bit slow at first, spitting more back than you swallowed. With time, however, you became a pro and have showed a preference for orange foods such as sweet potato, squash and carrots. You also love avocado. Here are some pictures of you in your dining finest:
Besides trying new foods, you are also trying all sorts of other new things. While you rolled from your front to your back at 11 weeks, you have just begun to roll the other way. This will be helpful when you are ready to crawl!
You are sitting very steady now are are happy to sit and play with toys. You especially like reaching for Yeti whenever she is near you. You also have a very happy scream that you let out whenever you are excited. When you get talkative, you also yell something that sounds like “Hey!” People think you are saying hello to them which makes you seem very advanced for your age.
We have also discovered how much you love swinging. At first you were a little tentative and we only pushed you a little bit, but now you giggle uncontrollably when we give you a hearty push. 
You have also started to enjoy bouncing in the jump-up, when before you would just use it to spin.
We just love making you smile and laugh which you do readily with tickles, funny noises, zerbert kisses on your tummy and many other things. The only thing you don’t seem to like is napping. Everyone comments on what a happy baby you are and we can’t agree more. We are having so much fun watching you learn how things work and seeing more of your personality.
Love, Mom
Dear Emilia,
You went to your first wedding on May 24th, for your cousin Angela. You wore this beautiful dress that Grandma and Grandpa C. bought for you in Italy.
Recently, you’ve learned to sit for a little while on the ground, (if we prop you up first), and I knew that there would be a nice place to take a few pictures of you. This one is my favorite picture of you.
It’s hard to understand how quickly you’re growing. These last couple months have been a flurry of activity and new discoveries for you. Before we know it you’ll be walking around and telling us what you think of this world…
Love,
Dad
Dear Emi-
Over the past few weeks you have found something that you like to play with from the moment you get up until you fall asleep . . . your feet. Here is a picture of you playing with them at bathtime.
Love, Mom
I love you too!
-Dad
Dear Emilia-
Today was a very special day. It is Easter Sunday, and also your baptism. We got up early to get you ready; you wore the same dress that Grandma K had made for my baptism. You also wore the bonnet that Grandma C brought back from Thailand. When we got to the church, your Godparents, Teri and Diane brought you a special present from Teri’s mom – a beautiful cross for you to wear on your special day. You were very excited about the kite that they were waving during the ceremony and were happy to look around the church most of the time.
Here you are with your Godparents:
And here you are with us and your grandparents:
Here is you being baptized:
You were surprised by the cold water, but quickly forgot about it and were happy to celebrate. We told the Vicar, Aron, that you liked baths, so he was surprised when you let out a loud wail! Then, Teri and Diane received your light.
Afterwards, we went to Grandma K’s for brunch to celebrate. You were full of smiles again! Teri and Diane gave you a glass window of beach glass butterflies to remind you of the importance of transformation. The beach glass is transformed by the sea, the caterpillar by emergence from the cocoon, and you by God’s love.
Although you may not remember this day when you get older, we hope that you remember the love that surrounds you always.
Dear Emilia,
This week was your first week at daycare. I was very sad to leave you after we had spent four months together at home. I cried when I dropped you off, but I felt better knowing that you were going to love it at Theresa’s house. She has all sorts of wonderful toys and books and kids’ music, a stroller for walks, and a huge yard for playing. Plus, your new friends William and Hudson are there. Since they are 8 and 5 months older than you, they are lots of fun to watch and learn things from. The report from your first day was: “Emilia had a great first day 🙂 She seemed to enjoy observing the busyness of the boys playing, listening to a variety of kids CDs, grabbing at and chewing on toys, etc. She is such a delight!” By the end of the week you had been on lots of walks, played in the exersaucer, and learned to knock over blocks with the boys. The best part of my day is getting to pick you up and seeing how happy you are and all the new things you are doing. Here are some pictures of your first week. 
We are so happy that we found Theresa to help us take care of you while we are at work. You seem to love it there and are going to learn so much! You’ll be walking and talking before we know it.
Love you, Mom
Dear Emilia,
Quick on the heels of your first plane trip, we packed up again for a trip to Mexico for spring break! We met your friend Maddy and her dad Matt for a week. It was Maddy’s first birthday, but unfortunately, you’re too young to enjoy some birthday cake…
We stayed in a beautiful location right on the beach. I took this picture from the balcony one morning when you woke up early.
by
dad
by
mom