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Emma is one year old as of 9:25pm this evening. We celebrated early, of course, with a red velvet cupcake which Emma swiftly determined was not, in fact, food. (Flaw: too red to be bread.)

She’s running all over the place now, as sure as ever that she can climb the stairs, carry the heaviest object in the room, and discuss diverse and diverting subjects over the phone with her aunt. She’s a threshold toddler, and she seems to flash a new facet of her emerging personality every day. Lately she’s taken to roving through the living room, turning on a dime and rushing back to one of us, laughing, then departing for a brief moment of repose on the first step of the stairs, after which she thrills her adoring public with an encore performance.

She’s brilliant.

Emma and I on our last night in the house. As you can see, Emma was soundly sleeping and not at all concerned about the impending move. She will happily go wherever Andrew and I go (and a few cats thrown in for entertainment doesn’t hurt), which is a good lesson for all of us.

This game was fun, until Mel popped the ball.

After a long week of goodbyes (to our loving family, the friends who have kept us sane, the fantastic folks at Gretchen’s House, the town in which Andrew and I fell in love, the house to which we first brought Emma home), we have quite a backlog of pictures to post. Let’s start with this one: Emma and Mel, playing ball in the backyard. Eventually, Emma does throw the ball.

Ever the stylish baby, Emma models her matching hat and swimsuit before cooling off in the pool earlier this week.

Emma’s walking skills (not skillz, a term which Emma reserves for referring to her preternatural abilities with nunchuks) have come at the cost of bruises and bumps, but bipedalism does bring with it some unexpected benefits. Who knew how easy it would be to climb into a toy bin once you can walk? Here we see Emma after her latest conquest, contemplating her dad, who looks like a little ant from her vantage way up there in the bin.

This bin goes to 11.

A little nonny nonny, a warm grandma, and Emma’s off to dreamland. What could be better?

Emma was thrilled with the stones on the lake michigan shore. Just after this picture was taken she sat down and picked up a small petoskey stone. Amazingly, she did not put any stones into her mouth. That’s what 11 months of wisdom will do for you.

The domino–nice to look at, pleasing to hold in your hand, good for banging against things, and fun to shove in your mouth making your poor, bedraggled parents lunge after you, certain you will choke to death on the tiny, spotted object. Who doesn’t love a good game of dominoes?

Emma misses her daddy, and the lake.