Breakfast for Dinner

Don't you just love those nights when you come home and don't want to cook, so it's breakfast for dinner?  Em is such a terrific helper, and loves cracking the eggs or stirring anything.

It certainly makes everything a lot more fun with her helping in the kitchen :).

New School

We've been thinking about moving Em to a different school lately--there has been a lot of teacher turnover at Gateway, and she just moved up to Pre-2 and has another new teacher, Ms. Monnica started.  Emily (for the first time ever) told me every day that she didn't like Ms. Monnica because she was "not nice."  It really bothered me, partially because I didn't really connect with her either.  The fact that we have to leave Em in day care for 10 hours a day is bad enough without worrying if she's receiving the best care with the best people.

I took half a day off to go look at another center near us that has terrific reviews, and just received a NAEYC Accreditation, which very few schools have.   It's called Rainbow Station, and we know several people who have moved from Gateway to there.  In fact, I saw Em's very first boyfriend (Evan) when I was touring, and another of her very early friends (Cameron).  I loved the school, so I decided to go talk with the Director at Gateway.  I found out that Ms. Monnica had been terminated, which was great...but that meant another new teacher...which wasn't great.  The decision was made.

Friday, September 21 was Em's last day at Gateway, and she started at Rainbow Station on Monday the 24th.  This was her first morning--we kept talking about her new school over the weekend, and she seemed excited.  Surprisingly, she wasn't nervous about her new classroom.  She was excited because everything was new--the classroom is decorated with owls, which she loves.  They have a color and a theme every week, and Fridays are "show and share" day, when all the kids bring in something in the color of the week to show their friends.  There's a newsletter, a PTA, and all kinds of ways for us to get involved, which is just what we want.

Another cool feature of the school is The Get Well Place, which is a separate wing of the school where full time registered nurses are on staff--if Em was ever sick and something happened where Mick and I couldn't take off work, she can stay there in her own room with someone taking care of her.  Granted, we hope we won't need to use that, but it's certainly nice to know it's there.

We're looking forward to the change, and think we've made the right decision.

Here Comes Fall!

Fall is my favorite season for lots of reasons, but one of them is all of the fall festivals that happen--I love festivals in general, and the weather is usually so nice in fall.  The first one around us happened this weekend, and it was pretty small, but there were some features that we knew Em would love.

Her favorite (no surprise) was the petting zoo--it was also small, but was just enough for her.  This bunny's name was Chocolate Chip, and Em called him the Velveteen Rabbit.

The goose was a little more intimidating, so she kept her distance.  Looking forward to lots of fall festivals this year!

Playing Games

Emily loves to act silly, and she's in a great mood most nights when it's bath time.  She usually sits up on the counter while we dry her hair and brush teeth, and lately, she's decided some of her bath toys need to come with her and "swim" in the sink while she gets ready for bed.  One night, she told me she wanted to get in with her toys--I thought she meant she was going to put her feet in, but she didnt.

She was really proud of herself!

Music Lady

Emily really has a thing for music, and has quite a collection of instruments now, including a drum, harmonica, maracas and recorder.  She's especially talented at playing the air violin though--we have a CD for the car that has a song about different instruments and the sounds they make, and she's learned to play the violin like a pro!  She normally assigns Mick and me other instruments so we don't take hers (she can be very bossy).

She's Got Personality

Emily has more personality than any two-year old I've ever seen.  She's so talkative and will really just carry on a normal conversation like she's an adult sometimes.  She's started making up nonsense words to amuse herself (and us), and will give silly answers to questions she knows sometimes--then slap her leg and say "that is so funny!" and laugh like she's just the most hilarious thing on the planet.

She'll come home in the afternoons, fold her arms and tilt her head to the side and say "Mommy/Daddy, how was your day?"  And she's also decided to start naming her favorite or best friends.  So sometimes she'll tell us "guys, you are my favorite friends," or tell her baby dolls "you are my best friends ever." 

She's gotten much more into playing with dolls--aside from books (still her favorite), her babies are her favorite right now.  We bought some tiny newborn diapers for her to use with them, because she loves changing them and getting them dressed--they always seem to be going to the beach, but are usually wearing crazy outfits and winter hats.  She puts them in a stroller or her little grocery cart and rolls them around the house (or outside sometimes), and when she puts them to bed, they're always face down and completely covered with a blanket.  She's so funny to watch.

Tea parties are a favorite activity now too.  We had bought her a Disney Princess tea set last Christmas that I had decided was a waste, but it's now one of her most played-with toys!

Her coordination is pretty good too, for someone who never stops moving!  We signed her up for a program for two-year olds at school called Soccer Shots, and she starts Monday.  If it's as big a hit as Tumblebugs, it will be money well spent.

Big Girl Bed

This weekend, we decided to convert Em's crib to a toddler bed--we had ordered the rail a couple of months ago, but were waiting until we felt like it was the right time.  She really never tried to climb out of the crib, but she's doing so well with potty training that it's not out of the question to think she'd get up and go to her bathroom on her own.

She was SO excited when Mick put the rail up, and is really proud to be such a big girl!

Working at the Carwash

Mick got a new, smaller van for work, which he was really excited about--we've always had a little bit of a battle with parking his commercial vehicle in our driveways when we live in a neighborhood with a HOA.  Fortunately, Rosemont has never said anything to us--he parks behind his truck and covers the logos with white magnets so you really can't see them.  Still, the smaller van meant there's even less chance anyone will notice it because it's completely hidden by his truck.

The day he brought it home, he decided to wash it, and Em was more than happy to help him out!

She was excited to be in charge of spraying the water whille he washed.  She's quite the little helper!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend always brings the Matthews Alive Festival--it benefits local non-profit organizations and is always a lot of fun.  The problem is that it seems like every year, it's still so hot outside on Labor Day!  We went anyway, on Saturday afternoon--Emily had a great time, of course. 

There was live music, so she danced every chance she got.

She and Daddy went down the Super Slide, and I got the helicopters and carousel.

After only a couple of hours, it was really too hot to stay much longer, so we headed out--we had dinner, and Emily had her first ice cream in a cone for dessert.  She was a fan immediately, and did really well with it considering the lack of practice.

After dinner, we went to hear some more live music, and Emily cleaned out my pennies when we got to the fountain.  She has a pretty good arm!

On Sunday, it was still really hot outside, so we spent the morning at the pool.  I uploaded some videos, but didn't take any pictures.  I did, however, catch this one during our water gun fight in the backyard Sunday afternoon!  Emily was hilarious, and we all had fun (and were soaked by the end).

We got into dry clothes and decided to go back to the Matthews Alive Festival, since the weather was cooling off some.  It was much nicer Sunday evening, so we had festival food for dinner (yum!) and rode some more rides.  We headed home with a very sleepy little girl.

We didn't do much on Monday, except a few things around the house and yard.  It rained some, so Em took advantage of the weather and played with her umbrella--she gets so excited about using an umbrella!

Overall, it wasn't a tremendously busy weekend, but we had a good time and enjoyed the extra day for sure.

Friday Night Fun

 

Every weekend should be three days long! We originally planned to go camping this weekend, but it turned out to be much hotter than we expected, so we stayed around home.

 

Friday night, we decided to go to Barnes and Noble at the mall--they have a kids' story time at 7pm, and we thought Emily would enjoy it.  We had a rare junk food dinner at Chick-fil-A, which she was so excited about she could hardly finish her chicken nuggets!

We got there a few minutes early, and Em found her seat and waited anxiously!



Once the story actually started, her attention span shortened a little.  I guess it's like asking someone to go to a candy store and only have a piece of gum with all the other great stuff around--she was distracted by all the other great books.  Emily and I could both stay in the bookstore all day!

We stayed a while, picked out some books to buy, and headed home after doing a little more shopping.





Reunion Weekend

 

This weekend, Mick's family was having a reunion down in Jekyll Island, GA.  We took Friday off and left that morning to drive down.  Em was so excited to go to the beach and see Grandma and Papa, her uncles and cousins.

I've just never seen a more beautiful little face than this :).



Em was happy all afternoon and besides a 30-minute power nap on the drive down, she refused to rest all day.  We were a little surprised at how well she did without sleeping.

She got in plenty of hugs and kisses with everyone--we had a dinner and birthday celebration for several people on Friday night, so she was up way past bedtime.

 Here's Grandma with all three grandchildren and their celery/carrot cigars.

On Saturday morning, we decided to take Em to the Georgia Sea Turtle Museum--it wasn't quite what we expected, but she still liked seeing the turtles (sea turtles are her "favorite friends" right now, she says), and the man working there brought a tiny little baby turtle over so she could see it up close.

We had some time for a round of mini golf, where Em took Daddy's club and said "Daddy, let me teach you."  Hilarious!

 

We got back together with everyone that afternoon for some time on the beach.

She started to get wet, so when Grandma pulled up her pants legs, 

 Em pulled up her dress to show off her Dora underpants :).

Sunday came quickly, and we had to head home, but not before Grandma and Papa gave Emily presents!

As always, the books were her favorites.

But she was pretty excited about her princess set too--glittery shoes, jewelry, a tiara and a "magic wand!"

 

 

Monkeying Around

We don't let Em watch much TV, but when she does, it's still usually Dora the Explorer.  One morning, the episode she was watching was all about a special day for Boots the Monkey, and he had a banana crown to wear.  Our silly monkey decided she needed a banana crown too, so we broke out the construction paper and made this one. 

Em loves cutting and gluing, so she was excited to get to do it first thing in the morning! 

Fun Saturday Afternoon

We wanted to get out this afternoon and do something different, and Em said she wanted to paint, so we headed to Dish it Out, a paint your own pottery studio.  She walked through and looked at everything, and then decided on these doggie-shaped salt and pepper shakers.  She had a great time painting them, but seemed to enjoy the project I was working on a little more, since it involved me painting her hands and feet for prints :).

We'll pick up our masterpieces in about a week after they've been glazed and fired.

When we were done, we headed out for cheeseburgers for dinner (another request from Miss Emily), and stayed out long enough to hear some music, dance a little, and throw some pennies in a wishing well.

More Potty Updates

Em has been about a week and a half now with no pee accidents--she has quickly become a potty master in that department!  We haven't gone back to diapers at all except for naps and nighttime, and she's usually dry when she wakes up from naps.
The poop has been a different story--she'll choose to go in her underwear instead of the potty, and although I've heard this is pretty common, I just can't understand it.

Last night, she started acting like she needed to go, and I got her to sit on the potty long enough to go--we made such a big deal out of it, and gave her a new book from the top secret prize closet.  She was really proud of herself, and has kept the trend going today with the exception of one accident.

Hope we don't run out of prizes before she gets this down :).

Summer of Sick

This has been a strange month for us--I took Em back to the doctor on Sunday because she was still coughing, and told me her ear hurt and had goop in it.  She just finished a round of Amoxicillin for an ear infection about a month ago, and we were disappointed to hear that she had another one!  The doctor said her lungs sounded great, but gave her a stronger antibiotic and said she'd show improvement over the coming week.

Speaking of a relentless cough, this was the start of my seventh week of a cough that just wouldn't quit.  I had gotten the bronchitis diagnosis about two weeks ago, and the doctor gave me some stuff to control the coughing, but said it would typically go away on its own.  She said my lungs were fine at the time, but wanted me to go back in for a chest x-ray if I wasn't better in a week.  So over the past couple of weeks, I could tell the cough had moved into my chest and had gotten worse, so I went to the doctor on Monday.

The chest x-ray showed I had clinical pneumonia!  It's so weird, because I haven't felt sick at all--just the cough that's getting really old.  So now Em and I are both on the mend...we hope!

Yummy

We normally cook breakfast at home in the mornings, but Saturday, Mick had found a few garage sales he wanted to check out, so we decided to make a quick stop at Krispy Kreme for doughnuts.  This new KK opened several months ago and is only a couple of miles from us, but I'm proud to say this was the first time we gave in to it!

Em loved watching the doughnuts, but wasn't that crazy about eating them (luckily).  She had a few bites, but didn't finish one.

Day 3 - Potty Power

I guess today was really day 5, but since it was Em's third day away from home with no diapers, I'm counting 3.  She has done such a great job!

Each day since Monday, she's had two accidents (so yes, I'm washing more clothes at night!), and we were prepared--we took five changes of shorts and underwear for her.  She'll pee on the potty when she gets up in the morning usually, but there have been a couple of surprises.  Yesterday, she sat down and peed about a teaspoon and told me she was done.  I knew better, but she got dressed and then wet her pants on our way out the door!  Today, she sat on the potty and did the same thing--I was sure she'd have an accident in the car, but we got to school and she made it to the potty (impressive holding!).

We decided to skip using pull ups--I've heard such mixed reviews by people who have used them, and feel like it might be more confusing than anything for her.  While it would certainly not be as messy as changing her clothes with every accident, it also doesn't make her completely aware of every accident, immediately.  She's a pro at taking a diaper off, so I don't think one that she could pull down would make a difference in helping her go.  She really seems to get excited every time she uses the potty, and we're continuing to celebrate every success (we've gone through a lot of stickers!).

Potty Progress

We haven't really rushed the potty training, but lately, Em has become more aware of when she's going--she'd tell us (wearing a diaper) when she was "going pee pee" or would get in the bathtub at night and want to stand up and pee in the tub (I wasn't a big fan of this).

I've noticed that she's going more and more at school though--some days, she'll use the potty 4 or 5 times in a day!  Friday when I picked her up from school, Ms. Cathy told me that she was catching on so quickly, and she wanted to know if we were ready to try big girl underpants.  That's a little bit what I've been waiting on--she's there for so many hours of the day that I knew it needed to click at school and at home for her.

So on Saturday, we decided to give up the diapers and put on Minnie Mouse panties!  She went all day with only two accidents, and we even went out shopping and to get a haircut.  The biggest thing for us is keeping track of time and telling her when it's time to sit on the potty instead of asking her if she needs to go (because of course she never does).  Whenever we got to a new place, we'd make a pit stop, and then again before we got back in the car.  I made sure one of our stops was to stock up on cool new panties for her--including (of course) some with Dora on them.

She's done a great job all weekend!  We'll still stick to diapers at nap time and bed time for now, but she's definitely more ready now than she was in the past, which is making it much easier.

Monday, we'll be taking several extra changes of clothes to school and keeping our fingers crossed!

Rhymes

I've posted some new videos of Em "reading" some of her favorite nursery rhymes--click on the link in the upper right corner!

So Silly

Em loves to play with stamps--she was playing at the kitchen table tonight while I was cooking dinner, and I could tell by her giggle that she was up to no good.  I went over to check on her, and she had ink everywhere, including her lips!

I went to get the camera, and she thought she was in trouble--she said "no, Mommy!  Don't wipe it off!"  She thought she was really hilarious when I took pictures instead of cleaning her off.