Yard Work

We had a gorgeous weekend and took advantage of the nice weather to get outside. Mick had been wanting to do some yardwork, and Em was so excited to help him! We went to Lowe's and she even got her own spade and trowel that thrilled her. She moved dirt and mulch back and forth with her "shovel" and got completely filthy--it was great :).

I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures over the weekend, but Mick had a few more things to do tonight when we got home, so Em put her sandals on, grabbed her shovel and started helping.

She's such an outside lover, so it's fun to see how much she gets into things like this. She gets so proud of herself, and loves spending time with Daddy getting dirty.

Stress Reliever

Monday night when we finished dinner, Em seemed to have a lot of energy and was in a silly mood, so we decided to try something different before her bath. We had some old magazines ready for the recycle bin, so we got on the floor and started tearing. Somewhere in the middle, Em dedided to get loud, so we took turns screaming as loud as we could, and she had a ball!

We got out a little trash can and used balled up magazine pages to shoot baskets, and then she danced in the middle of our huge mess. It was a nice change of pace, and let's face it--we all have Mondays when we want to rip things and scream at the top of our lungs, so I think it did all of us some good :).

Of course she was okay with helping clean it up though.

Go Fly a Kite

Mick was hitting some golf balls in the back yard this afternoon and Em wanted to try--we needed to get out for a little while, so we ran over to the toy store to get her a play set of golf clubs. It was such a cold, windy afternoon, we also decided to get a kite!

The wind was strong, but pretty inconsistent, so it was tough to get it to stay up long, but it was fun for all of us to try it.

Every time it crashed, Em ran over and beat on it with her golf clubs :).

Cooking and Cleaning

Em has become quite the little helper around the house. She always wants to stir when we're cooking anything, and she now knows which button on the oven to push to turn the light on, so she'll get down and anxiously announce whatever we have in the oven--"biscuits!" or "pizza!" or (this morning) "cimanon rolls!"

Notice the lovely artwork on her feet.

This afternoon, I asked her if she wanted to clean the windows with me so we could draw pictures with her window crayons--of course, she did. So when Mick walked in the door, she jumped up and excitedly told him "I'm cleaning!" It was so funny--she actually did a great job on the window, and had so much fun that we never got around to drawing pictures. We've realized that now she likes to make messes in order to clean them up. She thinks it's particularly fun to pour milk on the floor from her cup, and then clean it up. We are not amused.

Consignment!

When Em was a newborn, I really didn't want hand-me-downs. She was so little and new, so I wanted everything new--plus,the clothes are so much fun to buy! I'm still picky about second hand clothes, but there are several consignment shops near us that have some great deals and really cute stuff. There's a church that we pass on our way to day care that has been advertising a kids' consignment sale this weekend, and it started last night. I worked from home today, so I had a chance to go by the sale this morning. I found some really adorable spring and summer clothes for Em at terrific prices--I didn't pay more than $4.50 for anything!

All of this, plus a few little presents for Em, for less than $100!

Her favorite was this little pocketbook with Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster on it. Inside was a bag of plastic jewelry--beads, bracelets and rings--and she has had SO much fun with it this afternoon!

Mr. Moon

Emily loves the sun, moon and stars (or Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon, and Twinkles, to her). Most nights, before her bath, we'll either take her outside to see Mr. Moon, or we'll turn off the lights and she'll go to a window with a great view.

This window in our bedroom closet has been the best place to spot Mr. Moon and Twinkles lately--we'll lift her up so she can stand on the window sill, and she tells them all goodnight!

New Friends

Mick's mom sent Emily a Valentine goody box, and these two little friends were in it--I asked her what she wanted to name them, and she's named the frog "Broccoli" and the monkey is "Craisin."

Easy to tell what two of her favorites are!

23 Months Old: What's Happening

Only one month away from her second birthday, and Emily is growing so, so quickly. She is talking nonstop (still), and is really putting sentences together like crazy! Her teacher told me today that she said "Emmy tickled Mommy Daddy...in the afternoon!" When I picked her up from school and we were walking to the car, she told me "I saw Benny today;" when I asked where, she told me "outside!" I knew that meant they had a little rendezvous on the playground :). I'm working on refinishing a cabinet in our kitchen that holds all of Em's art supplies and had it in the garage tonight--she pointed to the empty wall and said "want colors back!" I asked her what she wanted to play with, and she asked for her crayons. It's so fun to see what she's going to say next.

She's even more into reading books than she has been (and it was already a lot), but now she'll ask for the ones she wants specifically, and remembers details about each one. Her favorite right now is Peter Rabbit, so I bought some more Beatrix Potter books for her Easter basket. And speaking of Easter, Em has developed quite a sweet tooth--she doesn't often have a lot of sugar--even at school--but her eyes light up when she thinks she's going to have a cookie or anything chocolate. I shared my Reese's cups with her yesterday, and she'd take a bite and say "Emmy got chocolate!" and then come back and ask for "mort!" Yes, she always puts a T at the end of more--not sure why.

I finally did get the video of her singing her ABCs all the way through, but won't be posting it because of the brief nudity (it was after her bath). She continues to love music and singing and dancing, and knows the words to a lot of her favorite songs. We've decided to look for something a little different for her weekend activity--she seemed to be losing interest a little in the Gymboree play classes. She recently moved up to the next class and we decided to cancel her enrollment--so she's enrolled through the end of March, and then we're considering a few other ideas.

Her teachers at school give us lots of compliments on everything from Em's empathy to her terrific manners, which is wonderful to hear, since we don't always get the best behavior from her all the time! She's such a wonderful, sweet-spirited little girl, but she's becoming so much more independent and opinionated, so she feels very strongly about what she does (and doesn't) want to do.

We also still feel really lucky in the eating department. Em will sometimes go on a several-day stretch where she really doesn't want to eat much of anything, but she still drinks a lot and will eat enough to keep us from worrying. Then she'll come out of it and eat like herself again. We're thinking it might have to do with her molars coming in, because she'll also usually tell us her teeth hurt around those same times. The doctor had warned me that she'd go through some eating strikes, so I haven't worried much about it--I know she'll eat when she's hungry. Mick and I both stick to our guns about junk food (no snacks if she didn't eat dinner, for instance), and I feel like that has helped.

I know it's disappointing to have no pictures in this post--I will get busy and take some more and get them uploaded!

Bows!

Emily is finally getting into the bows and barrettes, and my new favorite hobby is making cute bows for her hair. I'm starting small because I don't want the bow to overpower her hair--these are the first few I made.

And they really look sweet in her hair--when I clip one in, she'll sometimes reach up, touch it, and say "thank you Mommy!" So adorable.

They started out more functional--her bangs were so long that they'd hang in her eyes if I didn't clip them back. She got a haircut today though, so now the bows will just be decoration!

Kiss Kiss

How adorable is this little kiss?

They made these at school--all the kids took a picture with these sunglasses on.

Rainy Day Fun

We had cold, nasty weather on Sunday, and Em woke up in a grumpy mood, so I decided to go do the grocery shopping on my own. This is what I came home to!

I would have loved to have taken a better picture, but didn't want to wake them up with the flash.

Em was in a much better mood when they woke up, so I took her to the open gym at Gymboree to let her play for a little while.

Gymbo is always her favorite part.

She goes barefoot in the gym because it keeps her from slipping on the mats. Taking her shoes and socks off is a favorite pasttime these days, but she also likes to attempt to get them back on. The shoes are a breeze for her--the socks, not so much. But look at the determination on her little face!

We went out for lunch and walked around the mall a little that afternoon, and then came home and painted masterpieces.

Not bad for a cold, rainy Sunday!

Little Valentine

I'm obviously a little behind with posting pictures of our little Valentine--we had a rushed morning on Tuesday because I was leaving to go out of town, so I had to recreate Em's V-Day look this weekend!

They did have a Valentine party at school, and Em traded valentines with all of her friends and boyfriends :). Her teachers gave everyone cute little gift bags with play doh, goldfish (for Em) and candy (for Mommy).

Sharing Grandma

My mom has been staying with Jason & Jenn for a couple of weeks, and they stopped by on Friday night to break up the trip back to Brevard. Emily gets very jealous when anyone gets close to "Emmy's grandma," and don't even think about Mommy or Daddy holding baby Chase or hugging Cody!

She seems to do much better when she can share Grandma.

She had a great time reading with Grandma and Cody,

and I think she likes to feel like a big girl around baby Chase!

They left early Saturday morning, so it was a short visit, but better than none.

COLD Season

We had a little snap of really cold weather over the weekend, and it's been our first taste of winter all season! It ended quickly, but seems to have brought the cold bug to the Jackson house. Emily struggled a little with a cold over the weekend and was having trouble sleeping well because of her cough. She felt great during the day, but night was the worst--we spent several sleepless nights taking turns holding her so she could get some sleep. When she was in more of a sitting position, she could rest because the coughing subsided. I finally got creative with the Boppy and a pillow in her crib, which worked okay to prop her up some.

She has improved drastically over the past two days, which is a huge relief. The problem is that now she's passed her cold to me, and it's miserable! I had to be out of town for work the past couple of days, and airports certainly don't help. Hopefully tonight will be a good night of rest for all of us!

Ummm....

I've read some that it's common for kids to stop saying "no" to everything around 2, and change their answers around some. While Emily really never went through a "no" phase (could still be to come, I'm sure), her thought process is really changing.

I like to ask her about her day when I pick her up in the afternoons--sometimes she just wants to listen to her music, or wants her paci and burp cloth to hold, but some days, we'll talk the whole way home. I used to ask her yes/no questions a lot, but now all the questions are open-ended, and I just love her answers. She'll tell me if she painted or played outside or ate mac & cheese sometimes. Recently, she started using "um" when she's thinking about a question before she answers. I know that's a bad habit to start, but it sounds so adult-like, and for now, I think it's so cute :).

Concentration

Emily is developing a longer attention span and can really focus when she wants to. She loves sorting shapes, playing with puzzles and matching things right now. This little cash register has a key for the drawer, and it's pretty small, so she really concentrates when she's locking and unlocking it.

I love how proud she is when she accomplishes something.

It makes it worth waiting a little longer for "Emmy do it!"

The Bedtime Crew

Emily doesn't particularly care about most stuffed animals yet, but she certainly has her favorite few, and these three have become her must-haves for bedtime. She's had the little Elmo for probably 9 months or more and has recently added Spot and Grover.

When we get her out of her crib in the morning, they all have to come with us--quite an armful!

Groundhog Day

It doesn't feel like we've had any winter yet, so hearing that 6 more weeks are coming sounds okay!

We'll probably have snow in March now :).

Artist of the Month

Em was the January Artist of the Month in her classroom, so her picture stayed up all month with this beautiful sunshine picture.

Bye Bye Benny!

Emily has been a little sad this week because Ben turned two and is transitioning up to the next classroom. The transition week means he spends half-days in each classroom so he can get used to the new teachers and environment. Several days this week, her teachers have written notes on what a tough time they're having being separated, and Emily has told me a couple of times that "Benny sad" or "Emmy sad."

They really have become two little peas in a pod, and seem to really enjoy doing the same things, so they're together a lot.

She was excited about celebrating his birthday this week with cupcakes, and getting to spend a little extra time with her Benny.

First love...too cute!