Emily's 2nd Birthday Party

Emily's 2nd birthday party was a Tinkerbell themed splash party that went off without a hitch.  As the summer has gone and fall is here I thought it would be nice to have one more good time with water before the cool air starts to travel down from the north.  We placed a splash pool in the backyard and borrowed a friend's blow up slide and let the kids go out and have fun.  Everyone had a great time but the most surprising was that Emily did not want to go anywhere near the water even with her cousins coaxing her to play.  It wasn't until an hour into the party that I finally got her to play a little in the splash pool.  Last year as everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" Emily started to cry and I was hoping we weren't going to have a repeat of events, but instead of crying she just shyed away from everyone.  It was a little windy outside so we had to pretend to blow out the candle.  Overall, Emily had a good time and got some great gifts from all who attended for which we are greatful.  She kept saying, "Wow", to evey present that she opened.  A big thank you to Aunt Rachel and the girls who got Emily her Sally doll (from The Nightmare Before Christmas) which she loves and placed in her collection of stuffed objects she sleeps with every night. 

Sassy Girls

Emily at 24 Months Old

Emily Mae is now two years old and we are feeling the wrath of an independent toddler.  This child wants to do everything for herself and she doesn't care if you don't have the time or the patience to stand and watch her struggle.  I know it's all part of the learning game but when momma is running late and trying to rush out the door her independence can try my patience.  Emily is also testing mom and dad on whether we will come through with our threatening punishments.  Time out is what Emily gets at school when she doesn't listen or does a bad deed so we try and implement the same punishment to her at home.  It works most of the time and then there are those times when she likes to see how much further she can take her behavior.  These are the moments in parenting that I hate.  I am a patient person so I don't get mad very easily but she sure knows how to almost push me to my limits. 

The "mine" phase is still going strong and she doesn't only do it to items that belong to her but with everything she gets her hands on.  Now that little sister is getting wiser, she isn't so easy to push around.  Emily towers over Avery but that doesn't really matter now that Avery has learned how to fight back and play at Emily's game.  Tug of war is often what I come across when there is a fight between them, of course Emily is the strongest so she always wins but Avery has learned to retaliate by pinching or biting.  This behavior is condoned by us but I have to chuckle a little inside to see that Avery has learned to defend herself.  Mommy and daddy punish Avery for her bad behavior just as we would Emily, but I also teach Emily to step up and tell sister, "No, bite!".  Instead of a short, "no bite" Emily has to draw in out to a "No, no, no, no, noooooo bite Avery!" all while wagging her finger at her little sister.  I laugh now as I imagine it because it is such a funny sight.

Emily's favorite song now is "The Alphabet Song" which she can sing all by herself up to the letter I.  She makes mom sing it over and over again while we do bathtime.  Emily can also count up to 10 and participates in the counting while watching her favorite show, "Dora the Explorer".  Reciting prime colors is something we do everyday and it turns out that yellow is Emily's favorite color, or at least favorite color to say.  She can't quite say all of the colors names correctly so they come out sounding like, "bue, lello, popo, orase, geen, and red".  We are very proud of how much knowledge she has gained from school. We try and read to her everyday and repeat everything she has learned to help with memorization.  Right now her favorite book is still "Moo, Baa, La, la, la" which she can almost say by heart.

Emily's athleticism is still developing so she still gets off balance when she kicks a ball or when she jumps up and down but dada is helping her out.  He and Emily like to go and kick her big ball around the back yard and fight over who gets to it first.  This is great for mom as it helps to get that last remaining energy out of a worked up toddler before bedtime.  Speaking of bedtime, we have come to the place in our child's life where she gets out of bed every 5 minutes to see what's going on or to waste time.  When her crib was converted to a toddler bed we were fortunate to have two or three good weeks of her staying put and falling asleep.  Now it is chaos every night and sometimes she stays up until 10pm when mom and dad and ready for bed.  It takes a little pushing and coaxing but she finally stays in bed for the night.  I'm hoping this gets better as times goes on.

As of her 2nd birthday Emily was still drinking from the bottle but the day after her birthday party I decided it was finally time to start weening both girls off the bottle.  I started after school with giving the girls the same color and type of cup with milk in it and although we got some protesting they finally took the cups.  As bed time approached and the bottle was asked for I just placed milk in their cups and said, "Okay, here's your milk in a cup.  One for Avery and one for Emily."  Seeing that both got exactly the same thing makes it better and helps with the transition.  So far we have only had a 2 minute break down but we have had almost 4 days with no bottles and I'm hoping with help from the grandparents that this might break them of their bottle habit.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Hats, Hats, Hats

As dada is working nights. momma is trying her best to keep the house in one piece and keep the girls occupied.  What does momma come up with to peak their interest?  Dress up time with hats!  Of course Emily is all for trying on hats but not suprisingly, Avery doesn't want anything to do with it and refuses to cooperate.  So enjoy the funny pictures of Emily and the blurry ones of Avery.

Avery at 13 Months Old

Avery is blossoming and aborbing information like a sponge.  This month brings big boosts in vocabulary due in part because Avery watches and listens closely to her big sister Emily.  For the past couple of weeks Avery has had a nasty cough that she can't get rid of so mommy had to take her to her pediatrician.  After our appointment was over and the doctor handed me the perscription to be filled, she waved goodbye and I told Avery to say "Thanks you" and loud and clear she recited, "Tank tu" to her doctor.  The pediatrician was floored and could not believe her ears, she thought Avery was so smart and I was so proud of my baby.  Avery has actually been saying thank you for about a month now.  Thank you is one of the expressions that is being taught to her in sign language and her teachers enforce the words and gesture whenever the opportunity arises.  Avery doesn't do the sign yet but she sure can say the words clear enough to decipher what she is saying.  Other words she has learned are: up, again, open, and all done.

My stubborn little girl isn't walking yet and has not officially stood by herself although I have seen her stand without support for a good 3 seconds and then she will either sit or grab something nearby.  If I try and make her stand solo she will not have it and automatically sits down.  Eventually her confidence will build and then she will learn that if she can stand by herself then she will be able to walk by herself.  Patience is key and that is why I practice all the time with her but am not pushing her to walk, walk, walk.  Plus she is still getting practice at school.  I'm just going to cherish these last days of having my little one crawl everywhere.  As much as Avery seems a little timid in walking she isn't timid in trying to do other stunts.  The other day I caught her standing on a little box of books just wide enough for her feet.  She kept getting up and down and experimenting with standing on one foot.  I had to take a snapshot of her acrobatics and then I quickly went to snatch up her before she fell.

Sisterly love is growing rapidly and no one can make Avery laugh as much as Emily.  Big sister loves to tickle her little sister and it does the trick to making Avery laugh and laugh and laugh.  Of course mommy has to watch carefully because as quick as one is to laugh the emotion can quickly change to one crying.  The girls are not aware of flying limbs and body strength quite yet.  Bodily harm aslo happens when someone doesn't get their way. Recently Avery has learned that if Emily is being too rough all she has to do is try and bite her and it gets Emily to stop.  Emily will shout to me, "Momma, sissa bite" and I'll say "Tell sister no biting".  I ove to see and hear Emily wag her finger and then shout, "Sissa, no, no, no, bite!"  Besides biting Avery has also learned about pinching, from where, I have no idea but if she is upset or doesn't get the attention she seeks she pinches my arm.  Goodness, I hope I don't have a bully on my hands.  I've gotta nip in this the bud right now, but it is really hard not to laugh sometimes, especially when the bad behavior comes from someone so small and looking harmless.  It will be done though, I promise!




Still wanting her baba!!



Careful....

Look mom..I did it!

Now look, one foot!

Holding on for dear life...

Avery loves riding with her big sister

Emily at 23 Months Old

With summer days fast going past us and fall days ahead, schools are now in session and Emily's preschool has shifted their ways from fun filled splash days to lessons to be learned.  Emily's teacher started a weekly newsletter to tell parents what their children will be learning that week.  It includes vocabulary, color of the week, number of the week, and letters of the week.   My parrot repeats everything she hears in order to learn new words and as a way of comprehending.  Her vocabulary has grown and she is now putting small sentences together.  Most of her sentences are three word sentences but are clear and precise as to what she wants or is needing.  With all of the words Emily says her little sister is also picking up new vocabulary and is now understanding that words are the way to getting what she wants, of course she still fake cries too.

Potty training is here to stay and we have now gotten rid of all of Emily's diapers and have begun to buy only pull-ups.  We are not going back to diapers no matter how hard the potty training process hits us.  Emily is getting used to sitting on her potty but she has yet to actually potty in it.  She always makes me sit on the big potty as she sits on her trainer and then after we are all done she flushes the big toilet.  Getting her familar with a potty routine is our starting point. Now if only she would let me know when she needs to go potty before she has actually gone.

Emily's transition to her toddler bed has been pretty easy and we haven't really had any problems with her coming out of her room too often.  There are times where she has come out to the living room and screamed MAMA as if we were playing a game of hide and seek.  I then have to lead her back into her room where she will usually stay all night.  Last night as daddy and I were falling asleep we heard a bang echo in our quiet home which made daddy leap out of bed.  Lo and behold he found Emily playing in her room with her baby stroller which she had banged against the wall, and suprisingly not waking up little sister.  She ran into our room and screamed MAMA with a big smile on her face.  I'm hoping that was a rare situation.

The new learned ability of the month is keeping her foot on the accelerator of her Jeep.  Emily now loves riding her Jeep around the yard although we still have problems with steering, meaning she does not know how to steer at all.  Mommy and daddy get a good workout pushing that Jeep around when it hits the fence and gets stuck.  Avery loves when Emily drives her around the yard even if her face looks as though she is scared out of her mind. 

Mine!  Mine!  Mine! is all I hear nowadays.  When listening to Emily and Avery play I can hear Emily tell her sister, "NO, sissa, NO, mine, mine!"  This whole "mine" phase has hit really hard, and I believe it was picked up from a close relative of ours (no names will be mentioned).  Emily has been through this phase before but it was short lived, this time it seems have come back wih a vengance probably because she understands what mine means now.  Oh well, lets see what next month has in store for us...Emily with be the big 2!




Playing with Nonna's reading glasses



Little Speedsters