emme at 2.

i never seem to have a format or organizational structure for these posts.  it’s really hard because i start writing about one thing and it makes me think of 57 other anecdotes and then i just spiral off.  i will attempt to summarize emme at age 2. 

physical: i am still stunned when i see pictures of this little monkey from even a few months ago.  her hair has grown so much and she is definitely turning in to the taller and leaner girl she is becoming and less of the slightly chubby baby i have been in love with for so long now.  that last little thigh roll is on its way out – a fact that makes my heart ache just a little bit.  as far as who she looks like, i think we still get comments on her resemblance to kk the most.  i occasionally see a picture that makes me think she is me as a small person.  but there are definitely many moments where she looks EXACTLY like jb – even if it’s just the expression.  she is busy and active all the time.  she loves to hang on stuff – the oven door, the freezer drawer, the dishwasher handle, and any other reachable bar that can support her weight. 

emme is still a champion sleeper, a fact i am thankful for daily.  she sleeps roughly 12 hours at night (7:30-7:30 or so) and takes 3-4 hour naps when she’s at home most days (2 hours is pretty typical for school).  she’s a great eater, another thing that i relish because it makes life SO much easier.  i thought she wasn’t crazy about spinach, but she recently started loving creamed spinach, so that’s back on the list.  most days, she will try anything.  she definitely has meals where she’s not interested in food at all, of course.  she is a toddler, after all.  but in general i do not stress out about her growth or nutrition, which is lovely for a worry wart like me. 

we are also so fortunate that ek is such a healthy kid.  after the ear infection battle last winter/spring, we have not really had an illness to speak of.  the tubes are doing what they’re supposed to be doing (yay!), and her immune system seems to be pretty robust beyond that.  i’m sure this winter (if we actually get a winter) may bring a few bugs to our house, but i hope we can avoid most of them.  she does get a persistent little cough every so often that i think is allergies – when it gets really bad, i give her zyrtec before bed and that knocks it right out.  most other nights i rub eucalyptus oil on her feet and that does the trick! 

if i had to pick a favorite outdoor activity for this little bug, i would go with sliding.  she can spot a slide from miles away – it is nuts.  she gets great joy just from pointing them out to us – especially the “twirly” slides.  inside, she loves reading.  it’s how we start and finish most days, a routine that i love.  she also is obsessed with her baby right now.  she is very nurturing and sweet with baby, but it can get a little intense.  initially, i set a whole lot of boundaries with baby – no baby at the table, no baby in bed, no baby in the car, etc. – but i have bent on most of those.  fortunately, she is somewhat reasonable (most days) about letting baby take a nap when we have something else pressing.  she does also tell us “i’m a good little mama” when she’s giving baby a bottle or whatever.  so cute. 

finally, under this category, is the potty situation.  she has been (what i would consider) potty-trained since mid/late october or so.  it’s amazing.  we definitely have accidents here and there (more at school than at home, where i am reminding her all the time), but i can count on one hand the number of poop accidents we’ve had.  she also totally understands when she has an accident and why, which is great.  i did a brief bribery attempt about a week in to the training where i would give her an m&m each time we had a successful potty trip (i did this because she was randomly resisting and i wanted to motivate her to push through).  so now, she still asks for a “special treat” after most trips to the potty at home.  it’s really funny.  we still diaper her at night and probably will for a while longer.  she is just so little and sleeps SO well.  and, let’s be honest, i am not interested in changing all her bedding several times a week.  she has dry diapers 2-3 nights a week, but that is not enough for me to take the plunge quite yet….

mental/emotional: emmeline is a talker.  i am amazed and entertained by her daily.  she sings and tells us things constantly.  she knows the full alphabet song – she went from a few letters and lots of mumbling to full articulation of the song and chorus in a matter of a couple of days.  it’s craziness.  she counts to 15 or so (maybe higher – she usually loses interest or starts giggling around 15), but it’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, eleven, 8, 9, 10, 11….cracks me up every time.  she’s also associating counting with numbering objects (as opposed to just naming the numbers from memory), which is fascinating to me.  we have that book click clack 123 and she counts the animals while pointing to them up to about 7 or 8 (which is the pigs, who she likes to point out are naked and then laugh).  for books that we read frequently, ek loves to complete the sentence.  her favorite right now is madeline (especially the page where madeline says “pooh-pooh” to the tiger at the zoo).  she’s really in to the night before Christmas right now, since we’ve been talking a lot about santa, the holidays, etc. 

emme is very attached to her “buddies” at school.  she talks about them and gets randomly fascinated with various ones each day.  she is obsessed with “bo-bos”, our word for small injuries.  she will invent a bo-bo on her own body and tell me about how one of her friends fell and got a bo-bo at school.  she will also try to doctor what she perceives as bo-bo’s on me…little does she know, most of it is just scars or random skin flaws i’ve acquired over the past 31 years.  anyway…i love that nurturing aspect of her little personality. 

i can get super frustrated with certain aspects of her school, but as a whole, i cannot say enough about what a montessori education has done for emme and our family.  i love seeing her curiosity and her engagement with the world. 

personality: emme kay is spunky and stubborn and a blast.  she is dramatic and silly.  a few stories to illustrate:

last night, we were wrapping up dinner and she had stolen my fork and had her fork.  she grabbed justin’s hand and asked if she could “cut his nails” with the forks.  then she started singing “where is thumbkin”, which is the song i sing to her when cutting her nails.  it was so endearing. 

also last night, we were winding down and getting snuggled up to read bedtime stories.  justin was still messing with her a little bit – pretending to bite her baby’s foot and growling.  she put her hand on his hand/baby and looked right at him and said “no, daddy.  it’s time for bed”. 

lately, when she is not in the mood to play/wrestle, she will tell us no and that we’re hurting her.  so dramatic.  when she does want to play, she will thrust her foot toward our faces and demand that we “bite the foot” and immediately erupt into giggles. 

she still points out every object in the sky and now we talk about where that object goes – helicopters and planes go to the airport; birds go to their nests; the moon gets bigger/smaller, etc. 

she could sing ring around the rosey a thousand times a day and thinks falling down is the greatest. 

she likes to be up on the counter exploring while i cook.  
she bosses the dogs around - excuse me, ollie.  kicked off, etta.  she is definitely not scared to tell them what to do, but also gives them lots of affection.  

i could think of a billion other stories and notes, but i am guessing this has already long bored anyone who is not in our immediate family.  i just have to say that parenting this child for the last 2+ years has been more fun and rewarding and delightful than anything i could have ever imagined.  even whenever she frustrates me (with the two of us as stubborn as we are, it definitely happens), i feel so so so lucky that i get to be her mom.  i want time to slow down immediately so i can fully immerse myself in everything she is doing each day, but at the same time i am so excited to see what’s around the corner.  i know people say it all the time, but each age is my favorite age yet.  i adore this little mosquito. 

now, on to the overload of pictures….