Visit from Grandma and Papa

My parents had to be in Charlotte all week for a conference that ended early on Thursday morning, so they were at our house when we got home that afternoon.

I don't know why I'm so bad about taking pictures when anyone is here, but this is literally the only picture I got with either of them in it.  Part of the reason was that Grandma had curlers in her hair Saturday morning and wouldn't let me take any pictures.

Em stayed home from school on Friday with them and had a great day.  When she woke up from her nap on Saturday, she wanted to see them again--I had to remind her that she said bye-bye to them earlier that day.

It was a quick visit, but enough to make Em very happy!

Strawberry Festival 2012

I can't believe it's been a year since we were at the 2011 Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill, but we decided to go again this year.  We went in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day and got pretty worn out--it started to cool off around the time we were ready to leave!

We had to get another picture with the strawberry--Em was a little more shy around it this year until we walked away.  Then she decided she had to go back to give him a high-five.  At least she didn't chase him across the festival like last year--she can really move now, so it would have been tougher to catch her!

We went through the arts and crafts booths and got some dinner--we had brought a thin blanket, and there was a big grassy area in the shade where we sat and ate and relaxed a little before heading to the rides!

The lines were so long at the kids' rides, but Em spotted this little caterpillar train and wanted to try it--it was a 10 and under ride, so she had to go by herself and was so excited.

There was almost no line for this one, and it gave Mick and me a chance to stop for a few minutes, so she must have ridden it six times!

She liked the car in the very back, and I think she would have stayed and kept riding the rest of the night if we'd let her.  It was so sweet to watch how thrilled she was with her independence.

Looks like the Strawberry Festival will need to be an annual tradition for us!

Little Songbird

Emily loves to sing--we sing in the car, while she's sitting on the potty, taking a bath, and pretty much any other time things get quiet.  She sings a lot at school too, so she knows so many songs, there's never a dull moment :).

Dentist Visit

Em had her dentist visit for her 6 month checkup on Thursday.  I'm not sure what has happened recently that has caused her to hate brushing her teeth, but it's literally a battle every morning with her--nights are a little better, but I usually end up holding her arms down and forcing the toothbrush in.  Because of that, I was a little worried that we weren't getting them clean enough, but the dentist said her teeth looked great.

Em didn't cooperate for a cleaning, but did lean back and open her mouth for the little mirror, so the dentist got a good look at them and brushed some flouride on.

On the bright side, we switched dentists to Bird Pediatric Dentistry, primarily because I wanted her to have an in-network dentist for our insurance, but also because I found a lot of outstanding ratings on Angie's List.  Em had a blast in the waiting room, and liked Dr. Bird.  I'm hoping this anxiety about oral hygiene is just a phase, because that's a non-negotiable for Mommy :).

Temper Tantrum

Here's a nice little clip of one of Em's temper tantrums from last weekend.

We'll ask her if she's ready to be a sweet girl, and she'll sometimes say no if she's not quite done with the squealing.

I hope she looks back on this and laughs :).  Or feels bad for putting us through this in public!

Beach Festival

I heard about the Matthews Beach Festival on the radio on Friday, and it was only Friday night and Saturday.  Matthews isn't far from us, so we decided to check it out Friday night. 

It was a fairly small festival, but we ate dinner and Em loved the rides--she LOVES the ones that fly, so we had to go for the helicopters first!

We were impressed at how well she did after her bedtime,

 although she did get very silly!

She rode the spinning strawberries with Daddy--I think it was rougher on him than it was for her!

It was a nice change of pace for Friday night.  We thought about going back on Saturday, but Mick was on call and had to work most of the day, and I cleaned the house while Em took a record-breaking 4 hour nap!

Sliding

Okay, last one of Em's first afternoon with her new playset.

Swinging

For some reason, I'm only able to post these one at a time, and they're really short, but sweet :).

Loving Her Present

Here's the video of Em's initial reaction to her playset.  She came in looking for her surprise, since we had been talking about it on the way home from school.

This little squeal is her new thing when she's excited--and it's just as piercing as it sounds!

Better Late Than Never

We decided more than a month ago that we wanted to get a playset for Emily's birthday--we thought about it for a long time, and agreed that if we invested in something we really liked, she could not only enjoy it now, but could continue to grow into it.  We went to Charlotte Playsets several weeks ago to look around--they have a huge warehouse with the playsets set up, so Emily loved testing them out.  We liked the fact that we could start with a more basic setup and add on to it (a clubhouse or monkey bars, etc.) as Em grows.

Delivery and installation was Friday, and it looks great.  More importantly, Em was SO excited when we got home--I had been telling her I had a surprise for her when we got home, and I had the video camera ready to capture her reaction.  I'll post that later.  We were outside for a couple of hours Friday night, and then all morning on Saturday!  She's just thrilled, and we certainly know we made a great decision.

By the way, yes, that's Gracie on the ground in the front of the picture--and no, she's not dead, just rolling in the grass :).

The Charlotte Fair

I saw a billboard on my way home Friday advertising The Charlotte Fair, so we decided to go on Saturday afternoon.  We waited until Em woke up from her super long nap--it was about 5pm by the time we got there, but the weather was perfect and we knew we weren't planning to stay long.

It was much smaller than the state fair, which was good since it was late in the day.  Still, there was plenty to do, and Em wasted no time plotting out our route!

There were lots of kids' rides, and she wanted to try them all.

And she loved the petting zoo!

She had to touch everything, so the hand washing and sanitizing stations were much appreciated :)

There were a few circus acts too, and Em clapped for the man on the tightrope!

 She loves the rides that go "way up high" like the bumblebee and the flying elephant.

We left around 7pm, and Em was exhausted!

Stickers!

Em is becoming a sticker fanatic...and I'm not sure anyone can appreciate that quite like I can (except for maybe Aunt Julie).  We were so crazy about stickers when we were little--we both had sticker collections, and we'd trade them back and forth.

I still have my collection, and wasn't quite sure why I was saving it all these years, but now I know.  I'm passing them on to Em, little by little :).  They make a great little reward for when she goes potty.

Seriously, I looked through my collection the other night, and there's one with a note that my best friend in kindergarten gave it to me.  Yes, it's ridiculous, but how many people can say they've had something like that for over 30 years :)!?

Wacky Hair Day

Friday was Wacky Hair Day in Em's class, and I hadn't planned ahead, but found some colorful stuff to weave into her hair after putting it up into three little ponytails.

You really have to see Em acting silly to be able to appreciate the face in this picture :).

She was very proud of her wacky hair!

Transitions

Monday was Em's first official day in her new class!  The Toddler 2 class made her this poster as a going away present, and she loves it.  It's upstairs in her bedroom now.

This was the picture I snapped with my phone on our way in on Monday morning.  She's doing so well in the class, and loves Ms. Monica, her teacher.

She's glad to be back with Declan and Benny, and really seems much less frustrated when she gets home in the afternoons now--she was to the point where I think she was bored with the younger todders and would get upset or antsy on our way home.  I think she's excited to be challenged again, and be doing things that make her little brain work!

This class is the official start to preschool too--it's Pre-1, and she'll be in the class for about 6 months before she goes to Pre-2.  One of the things she's jumping in and trying in this class is the potty!  She's been very interested in it at home, but we haven't pressured her--she'll want to sit on it and sing songs, so we do, but nothing had happened yet.

When I picked her up on Monday, her daily sheet said that she peed in the potty!  I asked Monica about it, and she said she normally doesn't even try to introduce the potty for the first couple of weeks in her class, but that Em jumped right in and wanted to try it.  We were so proud!

On Tuesday, she pooped in the potty!  Monica said she got up and looked and said "I no like that."  So she didn't want to try at all on Wednesday, but at least tried on Thursday and Friday.  When we got home from dinner Friday night, she wanted to sit on the potty before her bath, so we were sitting there making up songs, and she pooped!  She's definitely unsure of it--she got up immediately and said she didn't want to flush it (we thought that would be a big draw since she always wants to flush, but we tell her only when she does something in the potty first)

We know this is still going to take a while, but she's done great this week, and we're just going to stick to her pace and let her tell us when she's ready.

Easter

We went to church on Easter Sunday, and there was a brunch and butterfly release afterwards--we weren't sure what to expect, but Em knew she had to be there to see the butterflies!  It was really crowded in the courtyard because all the kids wanted to see!

This lady is the Director of the Children's Ministry and has taken a liking to our little Em--she spotted her trying to get a better look, and asked her to come up front.  She didn't have to ask twice!

We ate lunch at home and gave Em her Easter basket, which was filled with mostly non-edible goodies (Dora coloring books, Beatrix Potter books, a chirping baby chick, curly bunny straws, etc.).  Her Grandma Lala had also sent her an Easter present.  Daddy helped her read the card,

and she loved her bunny--guess it goes without saying that he's Peter Rabbit now!

She took a great nap on Saturday and woke up raring to go.  Mick told her the Easter Bunny came while she was sleeping and left eggs in the backyard.  We thought she'd tear the door off to get outside--it was so funny!

The weather warmed up considerably that afternoon, so she grabbed her basket and got to it.

 She had a great time, picked up all the eggs,

 and then of course dumped them out again :)

Excitement

It's springtime for sure, and the weather has been perfect! Blakeney, the shopping/dining area we frequent, has started their summer concert series again, and it's nice to get back outside and have something to do that we all enjoy. Saturday night, we went for dinner and the live music, and Em had a great time. When we got ready to leave, there were a couple of fire trucks parked near our car, and the firemen were standing with them talking. Of course, Em had to go over and introduce herself. The even let her sit in the truck and "drive!" It made her night.

When we got home, she was in a silly mood and didn't want to go to bed.  We let her choose one piece of candy from her Easter goodies from school on Friday--she chose this lollipop and only ate about as much as you see in this video :).

You're Tops Award

Em brought this award home today for being a good, compassionate friend!  We're so proud!

Busy Bee

Em truly talks nonstop, and continues to surprise us with some of the things she says. I'm usually not lucky enough (or quick enough) to catch her on camera. We were on our way to dinner the other night and I caught a little performance.

We had told Em we'd go somewhere and eat outside under an umbrella--you'll hear at the end when she sees the red umbrellas and gets a little distracted. Then I ask her if she's going to finish, and she gives me the famous "uh...no."

2 Year Checkup

Em had her 24-month checkup this morning, and it was nice to know going in that there were no shots coming! She was excited to see Dr. Downing because I told her she was going to tickle her belly and give her goldfish when we were done.

She did great--talked nonstop, and showed off her bunny hopping and even her dancing. I think Dr. Downing was thoroughly entertained for her first appointment of the morning.

Em has moved up some with weight, and she's in the 60th percentile at 27.8 lbs. She's in the 95th percentile with height at 36 1/4 inches! Her head width is also in about the 60th percentile at 19.

Her top left two-year molar is coming in, so Dr. Downing said the others will be following soon. Em has a dentist appointment next month, so we'll see how much progress they've made.

I didn't take these pictures today, but just a couple of our silly girl acting like herself.

I picked her up early this afternoon and took her to get a haircut--the thick bangs had to go! Mick called while she was in the "beauty shop" chair, and I let her answer the phone--she said "hey Daddy! I get a hair cut!"

As hard as it is to believe she's two, all you have to do is spend a few minutes with her, and it's undeniable :).

Early Easter

I don't think I've mentioned in any of my posts that we've found a church we like and have been going for about three weeks now. The church was having an Easter egg hunt today at 10:00, and our neighborhood was having one at 9:00, so we had decided to try to make it to both.

Then our plans changed when we woke up and it was raining. We found out the church was moving theirs inside, so Em and I got ready and headed over.

There was an Easter egg hunt

and several different craft stations, including this one where the kids made Get Well cards for children in the hospital.

There were also plenty of other kids for Em to play with, so she had a good time, even though it didn't turn out quite like we'd planned.

There was an ice cream social at the end, so Em's dress didn't last for the rest of the day since it had ice cream and chocolate on it!

I found these bunny ears on the $1 rack at Target, and Em says she looks like Peter Rabbit with them on :).