I'm woefully behind!!

Where do I begin? I certainly can't recap everything that Miss Emma has done over the past five (!) months. So I guess I'll just pick up with where she's at now.

Emma's speech has improved tremendously in the past few months. She attends childcare four days a week while I go to school, and being with the other kids has made a world of difference. She's stringing two and three words together, and repeats everything, clearly in an effort to speak more clearly. I'm so darned proud of my little girl, who is working so hard to speak well. One thing she likes to say often is "very well," something she hears all the time when she's told that she's doing "very well" with her speech.

She's having more tantrums, and is developing quite an attitude, but I'm happy to say that she and I can, together, talk her down from a tantrum. By the way, the technique I use with her is from "The Happiest Toddler on the Block," by Harvey Karp, M.D. You validate their feelings to calm them, then you talk them out of the tantrum. I swear, it works on a regular basis. God bless Dr. Harvey Karp!

Fall is here, and Emma has been enjoying the leaves that have fallen in the backyard. This past week, I raked them all into a big pile, and the boy next door, who is 6, came over to jump in the pile with Emma. Emma loves playing with the little boy, and he's great with her, so it was lots of fun. I'll be posting some of the pics here for you all to see.

I'll try my best to keep this blog up to date from here on out...

Emma playing in the leaves 

Emma was snacking on a piece of focaccia tonight before dinner, wandering around the room with it in her hand. It had some red pepper flakes on it, but not too many, and since she didn't fuss, I figured the bread was fine. When she finished it, though, she started wiping her tongue on her hand, her sleeve, my hand, anything she could reach. When none of those things worked, she bent down, got on her hands and knees, and wiped her tongue on the family-room carpet!! My stomach is still hurting from laughing...

Thirteen!!!

Emma can count to thirteen. And since she can, she does, all the time. Before doing anything - getting down from her high chair, sliding down the slide, jumping off a step, etc - she counts to thirteen. She counts as follows: "eh, boo, dee, fo, die, ssss, nnnn, eh, ya, deh, eh, duh, dee-dee," and off she goes! And she expects that I, or whomever is helping her to jump, step, slide, will repeat what she says immediately after saying it, but she counts very quickly, and it's actually hard to keep up with her. How funny is that? I have trouble keeping up with my two-year-old's counting, because she counts so quickly!

Unfortunately, she has a cold right now. But that has led to her new skill: she can blow her nose. She will blow, then immediately clap for herself and say, "Yay!" See, now everyone should be like that: their own personal fan club!

Emma's first "no," and birthday stuff

Emma has been saying "no" for awhile now, in response to a question, or when repeating something she heard. Tonight, though, Emma officially hit her two-year-old stride with a big "no" for Grammy.

Emma was looking at her Snappy Bugs pop-up book and was playing with a pop-up leaf on one of the pages. She was getting ready to bend it, so Grammy said to her, "Emma, don't do that or you're going to break the book," and moved Emma's hand. Emma looked at her and said, "No!" Well, she immediately realized what she had done. She closed the book, looked at Grammy, and said, "Yay!" trying to make up for her previous behavior.

I guess it's good that it took her this long to start saying "no" when she gets mad at someone. And it's a sign that she's growing up and asserting her independence. So I'll look at it as a positive, rather than the start of many, many years of defiance. Aaahhhh...

She had a fabulous time for her birthday. We went to the zoo on the 12th, and really enjoyed that. Friday the 15th I took her to Cincinnati to see Sesame Street Live. When Elmo came out, it was like she was seeing a movie star. She was beside herself the whole time. And we had great seats, on the floor and right next to the stage, so when the characters came down to dance on the floor, they would often make their way to Emma, shake her hand, rub her hair, or say hello. She was a little bit nervous each time this happened, but since she recognized all her favorite characters, she didn't get scared or cry. Such a little super star!

Saturday the 16th was Emma's birthday party. She played on the swingset with her friends, open presents, and had a birthday cupcake. She had a great time, but it took a few days for her to wind down and get back on a regular nap schedule. Fortunately, birthdays only come once a year, because Emma and Mama both were exhausted!

Reflections on a second birthday

Tomorrow, my baby is turning two. Tonight, as I rocked her and sang to her before she went to bed, I couldn't help holding her a little tighter, as if I could keep her from moving on into her third year. Like all mothers, I look at her and wonder where the time has gone, where my chubby little infant went. It's such a cliche, so I truly try to avoid saying it, but I suddenly can't help myself...how is this possible?

The truth is, that infant has evolved into an extraordinary little individual, with a fun personality that shows itself more and more each day. Already, she is my little buddy, someone I prefer to spend my time with over everyone else. Though difficult years are ahead, I look forward to what the future will bring in terms of development and growth for her.

What was my life like before she arrived two years ago? I don't remember. The truth is, Emma rescued me from, as the "Steel Magnolias" line goes, "a lifetime of nothing special." Emma made my life complete like nobody ever has before. Her birthday is a birthday of sorts for me, too. It's the day she came into my life, and the day I came alive.

Happy birthday, Emma! Mama loves you!

Digging in the dirt is fun! 

Ready to go wheeeeeee!!!!!! 

Kisses for the "wuhweh" flowers 

"Wuhweh" flowers 

Spring has sprung...and so has Emma!

Emma has grown! She has tended to wear clothes for months, since she's not very tall and doesn't grow very quickly. In fact, until just recently, she could still wear some of her 12-month sized pants. Not any longer! She's pretty much moved up into the 18-24 month range for pants, and I actually bought her a 2T top the other day...wow!

She's loving the Spring weather. We can go outside without jackets, and can often even wear short sleeves, which feels really good. She loves going out into the backyard, chasing her ball, playing with bubbles, digging in the dirt, and tromping around in the wooded area at the back of the property. We also take walks to the end of the street, since there's a playground there. Emma loves to "rock-a-rock" (swing) and "go wheeee!" (slide). Her favorite activity, though, is digging in the sandbox, and she would be happy to spend the majority of her playground time sifting sand through her fingers. There's a metaphor in that, I'm sure.

Daffodils have sprung up in the woods behind the house, and Emma likes to go and visit them. She touches them, gives them kisses, and then tells me that they're "wuhweh," which is "yellow" in Emma-ese. I'm happy to have gotten this on camera, as the sight of Emma with the daffodils is the epitome of Spring.

First comes love...

Emma has a boyfriend! A picture that I posted here recently shows Emma and her friend, Aidhan, playing at COSI in Columbus. Apparently, Emma has made quite a conquest with Aidhan. His mom called me a couple days ago to share the following conversation:

Aidhan's mom, while changing his diaper: "Aidhan, are you Mama's boy?"
Aidhan: "No."
Aidhan's mom: "Then whose boy are you?"
Aidhan: "Emma."

Emma is oblivious to how she affects Aidhan. When she's around him, she plays hard-to-get, like any respectable young girl should. Aidhan tries to kiss her, and she turns her head at the last second! It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, no exaggeration.

Of course, now my head is filled with visions of the two of them growing up together, going to prom, graduating college together, getting married...can a mom help it? And then we can all look back on the pics of the two of them from COSI and talk about how that's how it all began...