At the moment we are between winter and summer,because in Texas our spring season is about a month or two long with weather varying from 50-80 degrees at any given time. Emily is also growing like a weed and I am in the process of buying new clothing, so I didn't have a dress for her on that 80 degree day, especially since I still had all winter clothes out in their drawers. "Mom, can you buy me more dresses?" Yes Emily I will buy you many dresses so I do not have to struggle with you every morning on what you are going to wear.
We are working on Emily getting used to her dogs and the backyard. We received a request to get a playground but will not buy one until Emily learns to play out back with the dogs present. She is just starting to request going to play in the backyard, but will only play for about 10 minutes before coming back inside. That is great progress but we aren't quite there yet.
At this age whining is bigger than ever and drives us nuts. Emily tries to use whining as a way to achieve what she wants with us and her sister. Avery doesn't pay attention and will ignore Emily but I can't stand to hear her whine. I don't give in to her whines and tantrums but I can't wait for her to get out of this phase. Discipline is being enforced in new creative ways so the girls follow directions and do what they are asked of them. Emily has a difficult time doing what is asked of her and will immediately start to complain that she is too tired to complete the task, this is especially done when asked to put her toys away. I have come up with the hands on rule, which is, if mom touches the toy it goes in the trash. That usually gets her going although I have thrown toys away so she knows I mean business.
Aside from tantrums and whines, Emily is really coming along at school with her learning. As a preschooler is subject to assessment tests and both so far have come out with her doing great. She is fantastic at vocabulary and letter recognition but still needs help with number recognition. Counting is no problem and she seems to be doing great a simple math. She still loves to paint and create art with her crayons. She has a big imagination and loves to pretend play. The biggest aggravation to her is when Avery doesn't listen to her instructions. She has become a little bossy! I still am amazed at her memorization skills especially when it comes to music. Emily can memorize lyrics to a song after hearing it only twice.
Emily is great at observing people and listening. We have to watch what we say around her because she will use it later when she is pretending. I have heard her use my phrasing when disciplining her dolls. Sometimes she will come home from school and use phrases she has learned from her teacher or her friends. Lately she has been using the phrase "nuts and berries" when she is denied a request.
"Mom, can you buy me a candy?"
"Not right now Emily."
"Oh, nuts and berries."
I can't wait to see what the summer will bring. Emily has already requested some beach action and I am researching some gyms to take them to start gymnastics class. I can't wait!
