Emily is three months away from her 2nd birthday but we are already headed into the terrible two's. She isn't a terrible child or one that cannot be contained or controlled but she has her moments where you just want to pull your hair out in frustration. I haven't really pushed the potty training on Emily despite my own mother advising me to on almost every occasion I see her, but after this past weekend, I am definitely not buying any more diapers. If Emily doesn't have bottoms on with her diaper, such as shorts or pj bottoms, then she has a tendency to take off her diaper and walk around butt naked. When this happens it almost aways ends with an accident with a mess that I have to clean up. This past weekend she was watching a movie in her room when I heard her scream. When I went to check on her I immediately noticed a foul smell as I walked in her room. There was Emily standing in her crib with no diaper on and poo smeared on her hands and crib. She had taken her diaper off and pooped on her mattress. Once she figured out what had happened she tried to clean it up and ened up smearing it on her sheets, crib and bear. So gross! Needless to say, Pull-ups are on my next grocery list.
Every morning I bring Emily to my bathroom, sit her up on my counter and start combing her hair into a precious ponytail or pigtails to make her presentable for school. In the afternoon when I pick her up her hair is always down and crazy looking. Before Emily takes a nap or falls asleep she likes to run her hands through her hair. I always thought that at school she was pulling on her hair before naptime which just ruined my masterpieces. Come to find out, Emily is pulling off her hair tie as soon as half an hour after I drop her off. Her teacher says they try and put it back on her but she just ends up taking it off again. I saw first hand this morning what they speak of only it didn't happen at shcool, it happened right before we left the house when I am most anxious because I'm trying to get the girls out the door and me to work on time.
Emily goes through phases, like most children, when it comes to likes and dislikes. One month she has to have a certain food and then the next month she won't want it. Last month she was into cheese slices but if you hand her one now she won't take it, although she still has to have it in her turkey sandwiches. Bananas are a favorite and so are fruit snacks. I really have to watch her closely though because she doesn't know how to intake food moderately but instead shoves large portions in her mouth. I'm always scared she is going to choke, but as many times as you tell her to stop putting so much food in her mouth she still does it. Juice boxes are still a nightmare, I always have to squeeze the juice into a cup. Just as I think she is old enough to have a juice box, she squeezes the last remnants out on the floor because she can't get to them with the straw.
Emily is currently into The Little Mermaid, Dora the Explorer, Tinkerbell, Olivia and Elmo. Aside from loving to watch these movies and shows, she is learning all the names of the characters and can point them out on the screen when she sees them. Her recognition of people and characters has grown and is developing really well. She knows which groups of family members go together, such as grouping Ama, Apa, Alex, and Andrea, and will also recognizes when Andrea and Garrett are away at college. There is a book her Nonna reads to her called "Three singing pigs say la,la,la" and Emily can follow along as her Nonna reads the story and she responds with the sounds of the animals, it's amazing.
Another amazing thing Emily can do at this young age of hers is work my iPhone. I have an application for Wheels on the Bus that she enjoys playing and can get to on her very own without me having to find the application. Brian didn't believe me but ultimately had to when he saw her do it with his own eyes. Most adults would say that iphones are not difficult to work, but when it comes to how many steps it takes to get to an application from turning on the phone to getting to the start screen, finding the application in a group and then pressing on it to start, can be many steps for a child Emily's age. She observes so much that after seeing me do it so many times, she finally figured out how to do it herself. Simply amazing, now I can understand how a young toddler can work a computer better than an adult.
Funny quirks this month include shrugging her shoulders to say "I don't know" and wearing mom and dad's flip flops around the house. Emily has gotten so good at wearing big shoes that she doesn't trip as much and can even run in them. Now that summer is here, we are outside alot and in the pool. We recently bought the girls a kiddy pool with a a slide and they both love it. Of course they only want to play in it for 15 minutes but nontheless, they love it. Emily especially loves playing with the garden hose and really likes putting her face in the water. Fun, fun, fun!
