Visit with Grandma and Papa

I've been way behind on posting Emily's adventures lately--the end of the year is always our busiest time at work, and this year has been even more so. I've been working late almost every night after Emily goes to bed, which means I've fallen behind on some of the things I'd rather be doing this time of year.

We just signed a new contract with Mission Hospital in Asheville, which is about 30 miles from my parents' house. Last week, I needed to be at the hospital for part of the day Wednesday and Thursday, so I took advantage of the trip and took Emily with me. We got to Grandma and Papa's around 10:30 Wednesday morning, and I left shortly after that to head to Asheville. Emily was excited the whole trip, and when we pulled up in the driveway, she squealed "Grandma's house!"

She certainly seemed to have a great time, playing with some of the same toys I played with 30 years ago!


She also enjoyed taking a walk down the mountain and throwing rocks in this creek across from their house.

Then she took a turn on the piano and organ with Papa.

As usual, Grandma was taking the pictures, so she didn't end up in any of them!

We headed home Thursday afternoon, and will hopefully be able to plan more of these quick visits in the future!

Dance! Dance!

Check out Em's dance moves--I would have recorded longer, but my battery died!

The Next American Idol

Emily is quite the little performer these days—she loves to sing and dance, so we often find ourselves hoping no one is peeking through our windows as we have after-dinner dance parties in the living room. It seems like some of the Christmas music has really pushed her into high gear—we got in the car one afternoon from school, and she was asking for “Mr. Grinch! Mr. Grinch!” I had to purchase the song for my iPod so she can hear it on demand now. Frosty and Rudolph are also some favorites, along with Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey—very silly, but Emily loves it. She knows “Old MacDonald” and although her favorite part is the E-I-E-I-O, she loves to choose the next animal on the farm, so halfway through the verse, she’ll yell “COW!” or “CHICKEN!”

Her memory is amazing to me—she had a little rash on Monday (turned out to be a reaction to switching soap), so I picked her up early to take her to the pediatrician. We were in the exam room, and I told her we were waiting for the doctor—she laughed, pointed her finger and said “no more monkeys jumping on the bed!” If that doesn’t make sense to anyone reading this, there’s a kid’s song about five little monkeys jumping on the bed. When one falls off and bumps his head, Mommy calls the doctor and the doctor says “no more monkeys…” You get the idea. We haven’t sung that song in a while, but we also don’t normally talk about the doctor, so she evidently remembers it well.

We are certainly never at a loss for entertainment :).

Christmas Outing

This afternoon, we went over to Blakeney (our frequent spot) because Santa was visiting. We didn't stay in line to try to sit in Santa's lap again, but now we're considering going back out tomorrow because Emily had a fit to see him! It's just hard to tell if the wait will be worth it, or if she'll change her mind at the last minute. I didn't have my camera, and my phone doesn't take great pictures, but here's a shot of Em and Daddy with Rudolph,

the big snowman,

and checking out the big tree where Santa and Mrs. Claus were.

It was getting late--Em was tired and hungry, and we needed to get home or we might have stayed!

First Haircut

I've been thinking about getting Emily's hair cut for a while now--it's getting so much longer, and I know it will grow better and be healthier with the dead ends cut off. So sort of on whim, we went to Pigtails and Crewcuts, this cute little kids' salon that we pass by all the time. We were a little unsure of how she'd react, but she was sold when she saw the airplane!

Surprisingly, she loved it!

She sat up in the airplane in front of the mirror like such a big girl.

They had a special package for first haircuts where they saved a lock of her hair and took a picture at the end.

So neither grandma is panicking, we didn't cut off all of her curls--it still looks beautiful :).

Can Hardly Wait!

The boxes are just killing me! We ordered Emily a play kitchen for Christmas and had it shipped--I've put the boxes in an inconspicuous place so Emily doesn't get curious, but I'm just dying to put it all together.

Christmas Eve might be more fun for me than Christmas morning will be for Em :).

Echoes

Emily's vocabulary is expanding so quickly we can hardly believe our ears. One of her favorite words to repeat is "exactly," and she'll say it whenever we do.

When I picked her up from school yesterday, she hugged me and told one of the other parents "my mommy!" And she certainly knows how to say "I want my daddy/mommy," depending on what she wants.

Last night, Mick took her outside to see the moon and twinkles while I was cooking dinner (she LOVES going outside to see them), and it was a little cloudy, so they couldn't find the moon. Mick came in laughing because Em was outside saying "where ARE you Moon?"

She also enjoys talking on the phone more now--I don't want to be one of those parents who thinks everyone who calls needs to talk to her on the phone, but we do let her call one of her Grandmas or Papas sometimes, and she can carry on a conversation!

Other times, she'll just sort of echo what we say, or she'll pick out the word we put the most emphasis on and repeat it. Even though she can identify most everyday objects, it seems the most popular thing for her now is pointing and saying "whatsat?"

Boyfriends

Emily is quite popular with the boys in her class--Declan has been one of her favorites for a while now, but he apparently wasn't giving her enough attention since she's now completely focused her attention on Ben.

I have to give it to her--she always seems to choose the cutest boy in her class! Essence and Brandie say that Emily and Ben will get a book and go over and sit together and read, or just talk and hug each other. It's the most adorable little thing. Declan is jealous now, so he's following Emily and she wants nothing to do with him--it's amazing to me that at 20 months old, they're already playing the same games adults do!

Sometimes when we get to Gateway in the morning, Emily will get out of her carseat saying "Benny!". I have to admit, I've also coaxed her into brushing her teeth by telling her that Benny wants to see her pretty shiny teeth. Hey, it works :).

Daddy's Birthday Weekend

We went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN years ago with Mick’s family for Christmas and had so much fun that I thought it would be fun to go for Mick’s birthday this year. His birthday is December 4, so we planned to take Monday the 5th off and go for a long weekend. I was talking with Robbie & Stacy a few weeks ago, and they decided to come with us, so we rented a cabin in Pigeon Forge, and we’ve really been looking forward to the trip. I forgot to take a picture of the cabin, so I borrowed the one from the website :).

The whole area is Christmas overload this time of year, which is part of the reason I was so excited for Emily to see it. We left Friday afternoon and picked Emily up a little early from school. She took her shoes and socks off to get comfy, and played on Mick’s iPad most of the way up until we got into the mountains.

Shortly after we put it away, Emily started crying—we thought it was only because it was a little past dinner time, and we knew she was tired, too. We were wrong. We were almost all the way up the mountain, and Emily threw up—we realized then that she was carsick. The roads were so curvy that even I felt a little queasy, but this is the first time she’s ever been carsick, so we just weren’t expecting it. We pulled over and got semi-cleaned up. Luckily, we were at the cabin within 5 minutes, so no one had to ride far after that.

Robbie, Stacy and Zachary had gotten there a little ahead of us and had brought dinner with them, so we ate and got Emily in bed not too far off her schedule.

Saturday morning, we got up and decided to go to Dollywood.


Emily and Zachary were both difficult to stop long enough for a picture :).

We got there an hour before it actually opened, but were still able to go in, and it gave us a good opportunity to take some pictures and check everything out before the crowd started. Emily immediately found a snowman and told us he was ready to "walk away!"

We stopped to eat lunch and were surprised by a visit from Santa! Emily loved him from afar, but wanted nothing to do with him up close!

We found the kids section and spent most of the afternoon there--

we played games, rode rides,

and Emily practiced her dance moves with Uncle Robbie.

Some of the kids' rides had steering wheels and buttons to push to play music, and of course, those were her favorites.

She was completely mesmerized when we went into Santa's Workshop with the enormous toys!


There was a huge white board on this wall with a Christmas picture on it--all Emily had to see was markers, and she was there. She loves to color!

We had a lot of fun at Dollywood, and left just as it started to get dark. We had pizza for dinner at Mellow Mushroom, and we're now convinced we don't even need a sippy cup for Emily when we go out--she just wants milk with a straw like a big girl!

Sunday, we went out for breakfast and then to a store called The Incredible Christmas Place--it really is incredible, but there's so much it's almost intimidating.

We gave Santa one more try since the line wasn't long, but believe it or not, this was our best shot. We do know now that we won't bother with Santa at the mall--Emily was clinging on to me so tightly that I couldn't have put her in his lap if I tried!

We spent the afternoon in downtown Gatlinburg--unfortunately, Robbie, Stacy and Zachary had to leave a little after lunch to get home for work and school on Monday, but we stayed and had a great time. Emily loved the sleigh,

the phone booth,

and the choo choo with a little bell!

We also went to the Ripley's Aquarium,

which we knew she'd love. The walk through tunnel with "big sharks" and "fishies" was very popular,

but not quite as much as the crawl through tunnel in the Penguin Playhouse. Emily must have crawled through the tunnel five times (and she made Daddy go with her at least twice). The penguins were swimming all around her, and she was thrilled!

She had to give a hug before we left.

I thought this was a cute feature outside.

Em is getting so big!

Sadly, on Monday, it was time to head home. We spent about half the day at the outlet mall in Pigeon Forge, taking advantage of some of the great sales! Em's winter wardrobe is now complete--and it's a good thing, because we felt like we had to break every dollar we had for change to ride all the little cars and carousels outside the stores!

We had a terrific long weekend, but it's always nice to come home. Gracie and Bella were starting to get lonely!

20 Months Old: What's Happening

Knowing that Emily is so close to 2 years old feels a little surreal, but when we see all the things she’s doing every day, it doesn’t seem hard to believe at all.

Her vocabulary is growing so quickly. She’s using a lot more word combinations and some simple sentences too, like “I want Mommy read book.” The other day, Mick told her “Emily’s a pretty girl,” and she patted him and said “Daddy’s a pretty girl.” Instead of saying “cookie,” she’ll say “I want a cookie.” When Julie was here before Thanksgiving, she drew a picture of a snowman and drew boots on him. She told Emily that the snowman had on boots so he could walk away. Now, Em tells everyone that snowmen “walk away!” whenever she sees one. It’s hilarious.

By far though, her favorite thing to say right now is “Emmy do it!” She’s very independent and wants to do everything by herself, from eating and drinking to putting her shoes on or getting undressed for her bath at night (she’s a pro at taking shoes and socks off especially). Just last month, she would ask for help with almost everything, and now she doesn’t want anyone to help. She's now an absolute pro on the iPad.

We’re still working on manners—she is a very consistent “thank you” user, but not as consistent with “please” unless we remind her. She’ll pretty much say thank you for anything that’s handed to her. We’re also working on sharing, which she’s doing well with so far. We practice sharing at her Play & Learn class on Saturdays, and I know she gets more practice at school too.

This month, we’ve learned that Emily is crazy about all things Christmas—snowmen, Santa, Christmas trees, snowflakes, angels, lights, you name it. She also loves princesses right now, but really only likes to look at them or read stories about them—she doesn’t seem interested in being a princess yet, and still won’t let me put bows or barrettes or rubber bands in her hair. It’s a shame, because her hair is getting so much longer that it would really look adorable if I could make it girly :). That’s okay—I can be patient. It’s so curly in the back that it always looks cute anyway.

This month, Em has really started to pretend play--even if she's playing by herself, she's constantly talking and pretending with her stuffed animals or toys. The sweetest thing is the way she acts with her dolls though--I caught these without her knowing I was behind her as she put her baby to bed.

My dad made this little wooden cradle for my dolls when I was little, and my mom kept it all these years, hoping there would be an Emily to play with it one day :). She made a little mattress, pillow and blanket to fit it, and Em loves it.

We’ve also experienced some new things with her sleeping this month—she’s started wanting me to stay with her at night until she falls asleep. I’m still not sure if she’s afraid of the dark, or she just wants someone with her, but if I leave her room too early, she’ll cry or call me back. I should probably be trying to break her of it, but I know the day will come too soon when she doesn’t need me at all to go to sleep, so I’m taking full advantage of this. She’s also starting to dream more, or so we think. Sometimes, she’ll wake up in the middle of the night saying “no, no!” or just wake up and call me. She doesn’t seem to be completely awake when I go in her room, and goes back down pretty easily once she knows she isn’t alone.

I’m a little afraid she’s going to want tattoos by the time she’s 12—she’s really into drawing on her skin, and always wants a happy face and a heart on her hands. At her Play & Learn class, she gets Gymbo stamps at the end (Gymbo is the Gymboree clown, and the instructor has a rubber stamp that she stamps all the kids with when class is over)—Emily always wants Gymbo on her hands, feet and tummy.

Emily has learned her full name this month, thanks to Daddy—if you ask her “what’s your name?” she’ll say “Emmy Jackson!” She also knows her middle name is Claire, even though it comes out a little more like “Care” because she’s still a little challenged with L sounds.

I guess the last thing I'll mention (I have trouble narrowing down to just a few) is how loving Emily is--she has really turned into a kisser and hugger--she wants to kiss anything she likes, and must have kissed every ornament on our tree!

It's really precious, as are these pictures from Thanksgiving, when she kissed her sweet baby cousin and then her Aunt Julie.


She also she says "I love you" back to us all the time now, even though "love" sounds a little more like "wuv." I hope she continues to be as sweet and caring as she is now...although I'd be okay with cutting back on the kisses :).

Thanksgiving - Part 2

On Thursday morning, we got up and decided to head out to the beach. Of course, it turned out to be the coolest, windiest day of the week, but we bundled up and Emily still had a great time running along the sand

and seeing all the dogs and people fishing.

We walked out to the pier and saw some pelicans up close

then Em had a good time practicing her driving skills in the arcade by the pier.

We got back to the house and had a traditional Thanksgiving lunch, which was delicious! Oddly enough, Emily’s favorite thing was the green beans.

After lunch and naps, we tried getting a picture of Cody, Emily and Chase together, and it was tougher than we expected :).

The weather warmed up in the afternoon too, so we enjoyed the screened back porch.

Friday, it was time to head home…already! The week passed by so quickly. We packed up the cars and left by mid-morning. Emily acted silliy with Aunt Julie all the way home.