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!

22 Months Old: What's Happening

This month has been insanely busy for me at work, so I've really been slack with my posts here. It feels like whenever I'm not working or sleeping, I'm trying to squeeze in every minute with Emily and Mick, and we never have enough time.

Em is turning into such an independent little girl--she is very sweet and loving, but also has her typical toddler moments. We're working really hard on sharing, because that is not a strength of hers at the moment! She's very possessive of her toys, but especially of Mick and me. She doesn't like it if the other kids come up to give hugs when I pick her up from day care, and will quickly tell them "No--Emmy's mommy!" Her teachers have said a few of the kids will correct each other when they do something wrong, and we've noticed Em will sometimes even correct herself as she's doing something (but no, it doesn't usually stop her).

Her sense of humor is really coming alive--she amuses herself (and us) constantly, and will do silly things and just laugh at herself.

She really seems to like repetition--whether it's books or songs or just telling Gracie and Bella "no" when they get too close to her food at dinner time.

Em is nonstop, all the time. She loves running, climbing, and doing anything physical. She adores being outside, which is great since we really haven't had a winter this year, so we've spent a lot of time in the backyard playing.

Jumping is her favorite thing right now--she's been able to jump a little for a month or more now, but she's really perfecting the "both feet off the ground" jumps. Every time we take her mattress out of her crib to change her sheet, she wants to put it on the floor so she can jump a little :).

She still loves to cook in her kitchen, but her play doh is also a favorite, as are her blocks.

She wants to build a tower as tall as she can and then knock it down--she finds this hilarious, for some reason.

After her first hair cut, we really noticed a difference in how quickly her hair is growing and how thick it's gotten. She'll ask for me to put bows or barrettes in her hair, but won't leave them in. I wish she would, because her curly hair almost always looks like a mess, and her bangs hang down in her eyes.

One of these days, we'll get one to stay :).

All the Way to Z!

Tuesday night, Mick and I were upstairs with Em getting her ready for her bath, and she was in a particularly silly mood. We were all having a good time singing and dancing, and Em took off singing her ABCs...and went all the way through to Z! We were so excited and surprised that we didn't say anything for fear of distracting her and stopping her in the middle. We were all thrilled when she got to the end, but of course she wouldn't do it again when I got the camera.

We've been trying for a repeat performance all week with no luck.

Another Birthday Celebration

We headed down to Atlanta on Saturday morning for Zachary's 6th birthday party--it's so hard to believe he's six already!

The weather was terrible, and we got a little bit later start than we'd planned, so we got there a little after the party started--it was at the bowling alley, which was a perfect place because there was plenty to do. Em had a great time with Grandma and Papa, eating and playing games.

There was an arcade and laser tag, so truly something for everyone.

Of course, Zachary's cake had blue icing that she had to try :).

And her party favor included princess stickers that ended up (where else?) on her tummy.

Emily didn't sleep the whole way to Atlanta and we were a little worried about her not having a nap, but she hung in there until we left the bowling alley, and then was asleep in her carseat before we got out of the parking lot! We all had dinner at Uncle Robbie & Stacy's, and headed back to the hotel for a not too late bedtime. Em had a good time at the hotel--her favorite part was riding the luggage cart.

Sunday morning, we all had breakfast together and then headed home. The weekend was too short, but still fun. Uncle Stacy did much better taking pictures than I did, so I'll have to steal some of his!

Happy Dragon

Every time Em comes grocery shopping, we park and she yells "dragon!" because she knows she'll get to take a ride on Harry the Happy Dragon--the mascot of Harris Teeter.

She loves it! We just have to make sure we always have 50 cents on hand, or we park on the other side of the store :).

Double Birthdays

Uncle Jason and Aunt Julie both have January birthdays, so we decided to all get together for a long weekend--Em's school was closed for MLK day on January 16, so I had already taken the day off. Everybody got here on Saturday morning, and we had a really fun day just relaxing and staying at home. Jason had brought more than half a bushel of oysters, so he and Mick started the steamer in the backyard. The weather was chilly, but we spent the whole afternoon outside blowing bubbles,

playing cornhole,

and just enjoying being together.

Sunday, we decided to go up to Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville, just north of Charlotte. Cody and Emily had such a great time!

We all spent the afternoon chasing them around from activity to activity. It's truly the perfect place for kids--there was everything from an ambulance where they could examine patients to a water table (that Em loved!),

a bank with a drive-up ATM,

and a stage that she just had to dance on (but wouldn't put on a costume).

There was even a puppet show that she made herself comfortable and enjoyed!

She loved shopping in the grocery store, milking the cow and picking up eggs from the chickens too--just too many pictures to only choose a few!

It was a great weekend, and we topped it off with birthday ice cream cake on Sunday night :).