Emma's First Day

 

Well, Miss Emma.

Today was your day and you were sooo excited.

You didn't make us work to get you ready. You listened and were eager to get dressed, put on your new shoes and wore your backpack all around the house half hour prior to leaving for school.

 

Emma is going only 2 days a week and has Mrs. RedBow (Lily's 2yr old teacher) and Mrs. Super. They are both wonderful and Emma loves them especially Mrs. Super. She is definitely a teacher that does not hesitate to pick Miss Emma up to give her hugs. She talks with her and makes her feel very important and safe. Thank goodness!

 

 

 

Emma took her cat, Pinka, to school today (along with a baby, hairbrush and little Dora doll in her backpack she snuck in without us noticing). We stayed a bit to make sure she was ok this morning and she waved, blew us kisses and smiled as we left. She didn't cry at all, reports were all good until 10 minutes before they left the room to come to the awaiting parents down the hall. She had met her limit and wanted us, but she made it. She kept saying, "RedBow said, 'We'll read a book and then go see Mommy and Daddy'" to make sure we understood their day.

 

Since coming home after school she has wanted to play school. "Pretend school, Mommy". She wanted to take me to pretend school, drop me off and she would leave saying, "I'll be back in a little bit, you'll be ok Mommy." And, two seconds later would return and say, "I'm back, Mommy!".

 

Our baby girl did good! She received flowers from Daddy, a special baby she named Chloe and a little art desk so that she won't steal Lily's art stuff. She definitely deserves it!

 

And, if you're interested here's what Emma's day looks like:

 



 

8:55-9:15  Arrival Time/ Table Toys

9:15-9:30  Library on Mon and Chapel on Wed

9:30-9:50  Creative Play

9:50-10:00 Clean-up and prepare for outdoor play

10- 10:30  Outdoor Play

10:30- 10:45 Washing hands, potty and diapering

10:45-11:10 Snack

11:10- 11:40 Art Activity and Center Time

11:40- 11:50 Clean-up

11:50-12:00 Story and Good-Bye Song

12-12:05 Backpacks, Coats and Stickers

12:05 Dismissal

 

On Wed: 9:35-10 Music

 

Yes, as Mike and did house projects we had this schedule on the kitchen table to know what our baby was doing. The three hours were easier than I thought they would be and I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my 6 hrs a week without kiddos but I'll definitely be fine.

 



Stickers!!!

 

Yep, a sticker chart that Emma loves.

I'm really thankful this is working.

 

We are decreasing Emma's Binky time.

 

She was doing great without it during the day and only using it at night and naps but then she got sick. And, since then she's been pretty attached to it and I haven't had it in me to pull it away. So now we do the stickers. She earned a little present pretty quickly and we are working on filling up a much bigger chart now and really hoping that's all it takes.

 

Sweet girl Miss Emma. Oh, she chose a small Doc McStuffins doll :)

 

 

Summer Photos

Is It Friday Yet??

Oh, Miss Emma.

You really are not yourself this week.

It has taken all week to get back on schedule and we still aren't even close to what used to be our routine. You took one nap all of last week and that was when you passed out on Grammy's living room floor watching tv. You did catnap in the car a few times but nothing to cheer about.

Because of this, taking naps and going to bed are difficult.

You're strong willed, passionate and adamant personality traits are shining through this week. And, this is putting it in a nice "teacher comment" kinda way.

We all can read between the lines on this one.

We love you Miss Emma.

But, please, do all us a favor and get some SLEEP!

Emma's Quilt

So glad that my Emma has a quilt now!

I made Lily one the summer after she turned 1 and making one for Emma has been on my to-do list. So, I was determined to get this done this summer. Only took me two days :)

Since this one is slightly larger than Lily's quilt she has requested a new one.

As I am crossing one thing off, I'm adding another one right to it.

An Upgrade for Emma

The converted crib to toddler bed did not go over very well with Miss Emma.

Neither did staying in her own room.

We moved her toddler bed into Lily's room a few weeks ago and Emma only woke up in there to walk into our room at about 2am. Yes, our darling little Emma stopped screaming for us to only get herself awake enough to grab a few friends and her pillow to walk into our room saying, "Hi Mom".

Hahaha...

We decided to go ahead and get Miss Emma a twin bed.

Why?

Well, when she wakes up in the middle of the night it is much, much easier to take her back in there and lay down with her instead of just letting her in our bed. And, I'm sure she doesn't feel as confined in this bed like she did the toddler bed. She even slept with Lily for about a week before we got this.

So far, so good.

Finally!

Piggy Tails!!

Emma has been requesting "bands like Mia" and finally I pulled her hair back.

To my surprise and Emma's thrilled delight, it worked!

She has been requesting pigtails ever since :)

And, the plus side...she'll sit for however long it takes me to do them!

Yay for growing blonde curls!

Sweet Emma

It's been a few months since Emma turned 2 and she has grown up so much!

-She is truly a little girl instead of a toddler. She is sweet, emotional, attached, independent, extremely friendly, kind, talkative, somewhat demanding, opinionated, strong-willed and very smart.

-Talks and sings all day long. She is constant and asks tons of questions, her favorite is "Why?", she frequently uses hand gestures to make her questions and statements more effective. She always wants figure things out and always has answers as well. Her most frequent answer is "Because, I dunno" or she comes and tells us how she's feeling "I..." sad, sited (excited), happy, scared.

-Completely potty trained! We could probably let her sleep without a diaper on too since they are constantly dry at nap and over night but not ready to do this. Once we let her one time, there is no turning back with her.

-She is still petite but tall. She just hit the 25lb mark when she had an ear check a few weeks ago. Woo Hoo.

- She follows multi-step directions but you have to sometimes make it seem like her idea. She loves being called  "A Big Girl Helper" and to show Lily that she can do the same things. She helps set the table, loves to sit on the counter to "help" cook, likes to help put laundry away (even if I have to re-do it all while she's in the bath) and will clean up the playroom.

-She still refers to Lily as "Mia". I have heard her a few times, without prompting, call her by the correct name and my heart sinks a bit. I love hearing Emma call Lily, Mia. It's so sweet and I know one day it will finally end.

-She has become very cuddly. She will rub our faces to try to get us to go to sleep and whisper, "I take care of you, Mom" or she will rub Lily's back or head if Lily doesn't feel good or is tired. She loves taking care of puppy when she thinks he's sick.

-She is so unfazed by Maci's grumpiness. It really is funny. Lily would just walk away from Maci when she gets grumpy but Emma will just stand her ground and say, "Stop Maci, you're so grumpy" or "Maci, just stop, you're ok". They have also been pretty good buddies during meals. I quite frequently find Em sneaking Maci food and then Emma getting down to pet her and give her a quick little hug. When Emma gets back on the chair or catches me watching them, she smiles and says, "May-May is a good dog. I love her."

-Emma's manners are very impressive! She says please, thank you, you're welcome without prompting. She is very considerate (most of the time) and is finally understanding the no hitting/biting/being skunky things work. She hasn't been to the mat very often because the "we're a family and we don't do those things..." works pretty well. She is very quick to say sorry too.

-Emma is so outgoing and friendly. She will introduce herself to anyone, tell them that she is 2 and that her sissy is 4. She asks kids in the library, doctors offices, the mall, pretty much anywhere, "Wanna play?" and she will continue to ask them until they say yes!

Oh, how excited we are to watch you grow Miss Emma.

We love you to pieces!

-

It Was Time

To give her a "Big Girl" Bed!

We have been going through a "phase" with Emma.

We all very well know that there are phases, that eventually end, with kids.

Good and Bad.

Although, I'm not sure we realize it's a phase when it's good but we certainly notice it and claim "phase" when it's not so good. So here we are calling this thing Emma is going through a "phase".

Emma could be having dreams, getting scared of the dark or feeling a bit closed in by the crib. All are very rational explanations and warrant the "MAMA or MOM" screams at 2am.

We started leaving her door open a bit and she has felt better seeing "Mama's Door", we have rocked her back to sleep when she wakes up and we have also pulled her in bed with us. Both have their pros and cons, but I do have to admit I pull her into bed more often than not especially between the hours of midnight and 5am.

When Emma started whining and saying "No Emma bed, Mama's bed" when we were still brushing teeth, we became a bit more aware of the situation. She really didn't want to sleep in her bed and told us over and over again. So...

We, without much thought, switched her crib into a toddler bed.

With Lily, we planned things out. We overthought things. We thought of ALL the possible "domino effects" and then chose what we thought could avoid it all. Then we realized, not everything is as monumental as we make them out to be. And, this was one of them and we are really glad that we switched her. She has been very happy, willing to go to bed (most nights) and has been a very big girl.

BUT.....

 

it happened.

It took our Sweet Emma five whole days to figure it out.

She can get up!

On night five, shortly after bedtime she started crying for me and I didn't go in. Figured she would get the last bit of energy out and go to sleep. But, as Mike and were in the den and heard her cry get closer and closer we realized she had gotten out of her bed and then her little head poked around the corner. HA.

Lily NEVER did this.

That same night at 330am, I woke up from Emma crying and a little bit after realized she was standing outside our door in the hall. When I called her name, I heard "Yeah, Mom?!?" Like I was asking her to do something! She ended up sleeping with us that night but every other night has been in her big girl bed.

And, a sweet Lily story.

Lily was so very excited for Emma. While Emma was trying to choose the blanket she wanted to sleep with the very first night Lily ran to her room. She went to get the quilt I made her so that Emma could use it until I make one for Emma. She said, "Emma, you can use my blanket. I don't need it for awhile so you can use it until Mommy makes one for you." Guess I know my next thing I have to do this summer! Love you Sweet Lily.

Starting Off the Summer

smiling, sick and matching jammies.

Lily had "a horrible, really bad" ear infection quoting her doctor.

Was put on meds and an inhaler for bronchial spasms.

Emma had fevers on and off, as high as 103 and as low as 99.

She didn't want to eat and quoting the doctor had a "really gross looking" throat.

Every test negative, so we waited it out.

Me...I waited waaaay too long to go to the dr.

I ended up having a whopping of a sinus infection, fluid on my ears and

bronchitis :) Nothing a week or so of naps and a zpack can't take care of.

Since, I'm backdating...we are all really happy that this upper respiratory sickness

 thing has passed and is out of our house.

And, nope, Mike came out of all of this with nothing.

A Month In...

Actually, a little more than a month into this and I was a little reluctant to post it but...

We are DONE, mostly, with diapers :)!!!!

Woooo Hooooo!!!!

The week Emma turned two in April I finally just bit the bullet and let her wear undies. Yes, I was hesitant and not at all ready but she was. She had been ready since January and February and I was nervous. And, she did it! It was really easy. We went cold turkey and did not do the one to two week at home stay like we did with Lily. She was out and about and I was prepared for anything but needed nothing. The only times she wears diapers are at nap and bedtime which now she is fighting since she does NOT like wearing baby diapers.

And, Lily. She is out of nighttime diapers!!

She's had a few accidents here and there but nothing we can't handle and definitely worth it to be done with those huge diapers.

Gotta love being diaper free!

Although now, we are attached to the travel potty.

Guess there's always a trade off :).

Ahh....

Emma loves watching the clouds.

Emma and her ABCs

Emma has been doing great with her letters. She needs to be redirected sometimes but when she "wants" to sing and say her ABCs, she does. This morning she got distracted by the jar of jellybeans for the J and you can hear her as she points out the purple ones. Very proud of you Miss Emma and I'm sure you'll be singing this by the end of the summer all by yourself :).

Soccer and Swings

Today was Lily's last Soccer Shots session at school. She has had so much fun and will probably do it again in the fall. They had a certificate and medal "ceremony" that the kids loved at the end. Lily has been attached to her first medal, so proud of you Lil!


A few nights ago after we roasted marshmallows, Emma surprised us (once again) on how fearless she can be. We've never seen her do this, Lily just started to do this a bit ago and Emma caught on pretty quick.

Letters

Emma is loving her letters. She is a lot more active than Lily was at this age so I have been surprised in how interested she has been in her letters, words and books.

Every night for bedtime, Mike or I, have to read her favorite books. She has a few Dora books, Super Why, I Spy Books or an Arthur flap book that she loves. She is beginning to show signs of the fabulous memory that Lily and Mike have and says parts of the stories with us. If we read, then stop she'll finish the sentence(s).

She can go through the entire alphabet and tell us the letters. She may not be able to sing the ABC song along with melody, although she tries, but she does know all of the letters. She is getting pretty good at identifying the letters in isolation and knows her name and how to spell it too.

Emma also loves practicing writing. When she sees Lily writing, Emma of course wants to join in. She is thrilled when I help her write words. She gets so excited when she thinks she wrote her own name, or Nana's name or Pa's name or Molly's name, which are the only ones she really wants me to write with her.

Here is Lily at age 2 with her letters. Guess I'll have to get a video of Emma now since watching videos of them is the best thing EVER.

Familiar Territory

Well..it was double appointment time once again.

We also attempted to get the same picture as last year, but this was as good as it was going to get.

Not much to report, everything is pretty status quo.

Their stats and measurements are a tad bit off, in my opinion, so we'll be doing a bit of our own measuring in the days to come. But here are their measurements as of now...

Lily is now in the 85/90th% in most all categories.

39lbs (which I believe is waaaay off) and 41 3/4"tall (off again).

Emma is in 25th% for weight at a whopping 25 lbs (generous weight :) )!

and measuring 34" tall (waaaay off).

They also had shots and a finger prick today. :(

We decided to separate them so that they wouldn't be too scared watching the other one as they waited so Emma was first. I took Lily out to the waiting room so Mike could hold Emma down. She's tiny but super strong and difficult to hold on to. But, as Lil and I walked back into the room, there were no tears, we heard no screams and Mike said she just sat there and watched the entire thing.

Lily on the other hand, well that's a different story.

She screamed. She cried. She was ok but she did not enjoy this as much as Emma did at all. I had to hug/hold her down on the table. Gosh, what a gut wrenching feeling watching your girl's eyes well up with tears and absolute fright and there's nothing you can do about it because she needs the shots. Ugh. Didn't like that at all.

When we all got into the car on our way to get our treat Lily said, "You know, that wasn't that bad. I had my mommy and she gives me hugs when I need them. Thanks Mommy."

**brought tears to my eyes** My sweet Lily.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Wow. Miss Emma, our sweet, sweet girl, Happy 2nd Birthday!

Thought the interview would be fun even if she could only answer a few * questions.

Just like Lily, an entire post dedicated to how grown-up you are is in order.

But, for now, your birthday...

First, you woke up to all of us singing Happy Birthday.

You were excited, started jumping up and down and yelled "party, party, party".

And, without any chocolate milk you dove into the pile of presents Lily and I wrapped.

We were worried about you not feeling special since you weren't going to have a huge party like Lily did but we soon found out that a few balloons made your morning spectacular.

I'm pretty sure this balloon party lasted about 45 minutes :).

And, I think you loved every second of it.

Decorations. Last night as Mike and I were doing this we came across a new Check Bday Tradition. TP'ing their chair. Hahaha..Emma loved it. Although I'm not sure she really sat in it all day.

We also took the girls to Cinema Cafe for lunch and Chipwrecked. They loved it, Emma made it through 3/4 of the movie before she realized that there was a lobby and it was a lot more fun to have Daddy chase her.

We then had made plans to have dinner with Amy, Matt, AJ and Logan this week and Thursday seemed to work out the best so we made it into a mini-bday party for our girl. She loved the Hello Kitty pinata and especially the cupcakes and ice cream. We loved having our friends over and made the day that much more special for our Emma:).

Busted!

Emma's two new favorite things in the bathtub:

1. Lining up all the princesses like they are going somewhere.

2. And sneaking a sip of bathwater when Daddy isn't paying attention. I've told her not to, taken the play cup away (she just bends down and laps like a dog), gave her a cup of "suitable to drink" water from the kitchen, she still does it. Not continuous, just once or twice a bath. I think she is just loving to test us!

Bribe Reward

Last night, the sickness bug hit our Mommy. The sore throat, tired, achy body stuff that just makes you feel blah. Not sure why this happened, I was always under the impression that moms were not allowed to get sick. Unfortunately, I had to go to work and couldn't miss the day due to some meetings I had scheduled. I told both girls that we could get a special treat if they helped Mommy and listened.  In true fashion, Lily (as most days) was her usual helpful self.  Emma on the other hand decided that meant to get up early (6 AM, usually sleeps until 7:30) and then have one of her "I do what I want" days. Since Daddy making dinner takes longer than normal, we went up the road to get Frosty's instead of Dairy Queen.

As you can see, I'm all talk.  Emma got her Frosty. Between the hair and the (now) stained shirt, she's a mess.

Return to Routine

Today was a big day. After missing the last two school days due to being sick (which is a week when you go only three times a week), Lily was finally able to get back to school. Need less to say, both girls were in a much better mood.  Lily got back to her friends and Emma got her morning "Mommy time" back.

Today was also a big day because it was soccer day.  Lily's school runs an afterschool program through a company called Soccer Shots. A quick, 30 minute soccer clinic that is held on the field behind the church.  Last week, we watched from a distance since we didn't want to distract Lily on the 1st day.  This week, Sara and Emma hung out on the sidelines to see our little girl in action.

A little "action" shot ...

... and being the line leader on their way back in ...

... and telling her friend AJ all about it afterwards ...