La, la, la, la, la, la, laaaaaaa!

Emer is in music class!  I was looking around for something new and fun to do with Ems when I came across some information about the Indianapolis Children's Choir.  Well Emer loves to sing and is usually right on tune with whatever she's listening to or singing along with.  So I figured this would be a good fit for her!  I talked to Steve and we both agreed we'd give it a shot.  It's a 6 week class that meets one time a week at Butler.  Emer's first class was last Wednesday, September 19th.  Here's how it went:
* She was very excited to go sing!
* Once we got there she was pretty shy at the start (typical for her!)
* She sang all by herself!!
* She learned to drum with her hands on a brand, new drum!

I think it was a good experience and I can't wait to see what comes in future weeks  :)

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In other news, I am sorry I didn't finish this blog in a timely fashion.  I started it 2 weeks ago b/c Emer has her 3rd music class tonight.  So I might as well post a few pics from our recent camping trip with our friends Amy, Alex, and Sammy.  It was down at Lake Rudolf in Santa Claus, IN.  We spent 3 days there enjoying all the festivities.  We will definitely do it again next year!!

Emer enjoying the campfire:

They had a carnival on Saturday!!

(Here is Emer and Alex sliding down the blow up slide!)

They have Trick or Treating on Saturday night!

 

And before we left Santa Claus, IN we stopped in the Christmas Store and met Santa!  He was working on his Nice and Naughty Lists:

Preschool!

Yep...Tiny is in preschool now...can you believe it?!  I can't!  She was so excited to start school.  I took about 10 pictures of her and I think this one sums up her feelings perfectly:

On Monday we went to her very first School Open House.  We got to meet her teacher, Mrs. Sorrells, and decided that we should enroll her in Spanish class.  The class is taught by a woman who Steve had 2 of her daughters in class; the time was perfect to help me get to work on time (new job teaching water aerobics!); and we thought it would be helpful for her to have exposure to a second language so early in her life.  She has been listening to my Italian CD's in the car for a while and so far I am realizing that Spanish is a lot like Italian!  So I'm actually going to add learning Spanish on livemocha as well as Italian.

Anyway, as of this writing Emer has had 4 days of preschool.  The first day (shown above) she was so excited and just walked into the room.  She wanted to show me her cubby.  We had found the cubby at Open House but Ems wanted me to know she remembered where it was.  She then settled in playing with playdoh.  On the drive to school had I taught her a few simple schools rules which she kindly repeated to Mrs. Sorrells. Apparently we were spot-on b/c Mrs. Sorrells gave me a big thumbs up and a Thank You before I left!

Day Two we began Spanish.  We were a couple minutes late (8:30 is more difficult to get to school than 9:05!) and Emer was a little confused.  We had talked about how her Spanish teacher would walk her to Mrs. Sorrells' room after Spanish but she was not sure about being left in this class.  She was crying when I left.  It was heartbreaking!  I did call later that morning, though, and was assured that she had settled down quickly and Mrs. Sorrells hadn't known anything about her being upset.

Day Three began with Spanish again.  Emer was a little reluctant and hesitant but her teacher took her by the hand and led her into class.  She seemed fine and later told me she learned "Buenas Nochas" today!

Day Four - While I was talking to Virginia (we asked what to call the Spanish teacher) Emer gave me a hug and kiss and walked past us into the room.  I think she likes it there!

I'm stronger writing this now than I was that first day.  I literally had tears in my eyes driving her there and had to fight to hold them back as I left the school.  The whole drive I was picturing her as a college kid and thinking how it wouldn't be that long from now that I would be driving her to some college and dropping her off at a dorm.  Why can't life slow down?  Ug, why do we wish it away as kid, especially as a teen, and then wish for it to slow down as an adult?  I distinctly remember being a kid and having adults in my life telling me to stop wishing away life.  It's a cycle that never ends, I suppose...and it has begun again with my Emerson.

STOP Growing!!!!!

Oh my goodness...we had Emer's 4 year Well Check last week and she's doing awesome!  The doc said she was near perfect  :)  I have to agree, of course!  So first, the stats:
Height: 3ft 4.25in.
She has grown 2.75 in since last year and is now in the 58th percentile for height.
Weight: 35 lbs exactly.
She has gained 5.25 lbs since last year and is in the 49th percentile for weight.
At her appointment we went over a lot of different developmental stages and Em is right where she needs to be.  She's ahead in a few things and smack in the middle in others.  A couple of the things she excels in include:


* make believe!  This girl can tell a story!  She will talk for hours by herself with a few toys, silverware, whatever is around and make up stories with them.  She does voices with each character and has people do bad things or good things.  The good things are rewarded.  Usually the bad things are changed into good things but sometimes the people are left in trouble for a long time!


* wanting to work!  Her writing seems to be on level for her age but she really enjoys sitting down to write.  Just today she asked if she could work on the number 6.  I asked her why, b/c 6 was one of her best numbers when she first learned to write them.  (Now that I write this, I bet that's why!)  We spelled s-i-x and write the number.  Then she proceeded to make up a story about the number 6 and drew characters, haha!  Back to the first thing I said she was excelling in!

* I personally think she excels in cute-ness  :)  What do you think?


(By the way, she made this picture for me while at Child Watch at the Y.  But she wanted to bring it in and show Dr. O'Nan.  She also drew a picture of herself on the back.  She said it was her in school and she was smiling!)


Speaking of school, I can't believe she starts pre-school in less than a month!  But I'm sure she is ready.  Having had a fantastic time at camp I know Emer will make friends easily and have a great time.  I am also sure that she will talk up a storm and have to be reminded to listen quite often.  I wonder where she gets that from?!  :)  At any rate, I'm not worried.  Just a little sad to see her growing up so quickly...


*** And in other random news, we got a new kitty!  Her name (thanks to Ems) is Mrs. Claws.  Isn't she cute?! She and Max get along really well, which is good. I was worried because he's so used to being on his own since we lost Demitri.  In fact, this might be something else that Ems is excelling in - understanding loss.  She has been telling people all about how Demitri is in kitty heaven and so now we have another kitty to keep Max company.  And now, the girls and boys are even in our house!  :)

The next blog will probably be a recap of her first few days at pre-school so stay tuned!  Thanks for stopping by today  :)

Almost 4??? How did that happen?!?!

WOW!  I can't believe that 4 years ago today I was sitting around talking to my pregnant belly and asking the kid inside to wait a week before joining us in the world.  Of course, we all know, she didn't listen!  And that's fine.  Because I feel so lucky to have such a firecracker of a daughter that I don't even mind she didn't listen!  (By the way, today she listens a little better, haha!)

This blog entry is about the past year and how things have changed so much.  I have been amazed at the transformation that has taken place before my eyes in 12 months.  The first year of an infant's life is amazing - it begins with eating, sleeping, poopying, and doing it all again.  But as the year progresses we see physical growth, we add a few foods, cries become sounds resembling words, and infant becomes a baby.  The transition from baby to toddler is less dramatic because, well, because it is!  That first year is the beginning of a new life for both mother and baby and it is difficult to describe in words.  After that we chart milestones and words, and growth.  And then Age 3 hits.  It kind of snuck up on me.  I knew the first year would be full of change and growth but I figured it would slow down and even out after that.  I just cannot believe how much happens in the 3rd year of life!  So let's take a minute to recap, in both words and pictures:

 This was Tiny, enjoying her birthday cookie at her birthday last year.  Now, when I start adding more photos you are going to say, "What's the big deal?  She hasn't changed at all?!"  And you know, physically she has only grown taller and that's it!  The change is all emotional and intellectual.

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We have spent the last several months tackling one letter each week: we practice writing it, we practice saying the sound, and we find words that begin with that letter. She can now recognize every single letter of the alphabet and write them! We are now working on numbers. She has been practicing counting for a couple years so our number lessons consist mostly of practicing writing the numbers and simple adding and subtracting. Adding is much easier, but I think she gets the concept of subtracting as well. Anyway, writing the numbers is not as easy as you would think! But she works hard and enjoys practicing "school work". I am holding on to that love and fostering it for years to come!

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      Over the past year Emer has gotten to do a lot of Firsts:

She went to the PartyLite conference in Minneapolis with me and hung out with Auntie Kelli during the days, exploring the city.

She got her own pool!!

She went flying in Poppy's airplane for the first time!

She went to Texas to visit Aunt Connie and Uncle Mike!

She had 2 dentist visits.  No cavities at either!  But has been advised to ditch the bink.  She told Dr. Germain she was going to give it up when she turned 4.  Only 2 more days!!!

She was able to meet Condeleeza Rice!

Gigee taught her to cook, heehee!

 The Super Bowl came to Indy!!  This was the best week EVER!!  I was down there working or partying nearly every day and even took Emer down to hang out a bit.  Here she is showing off her muscles compared to a running back's arm!

She and I got to go to California for the first time!!  And we went to Disney Land.  It was awesome!!

 We went to PBS Kids Day at the Park again this year and suddenly she was Ms. Brave walking up to WordGirl all by herself!  She also enjoyed a giant slide, a blow-up obstacle course, throwing the Colts football, and running around like crazy!


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One big brag I have to share is how far we have come with swimming. Emer has always loved it, but had some fear. This was good but hindered things at time (jumping in, even though I was there to catch her). Over the winter Emer and Hayden took Beyond Parent/Child swim lessons. She had a blast jumping in from the diving blocks! Now that it's summer she has become unstoppable! Auntie Kelli and I are going to the pool every Monday with Ems and today she swam half the width of the pool By HerSelf!!! She's lifting her head out of the water to breathe, kicking, and reaching her arms out as well. I'm so proud of her!!!!

We're going to the lake for her birthday and she got a new life jacket for it. I told her she will be super fast with it on and wear me out trying to keep up, haha!

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I know Emer is growing up. It's going too fast. And it won't slow down, I know. I've watched her go from

"Please don't let her have an accident today!" to


"Oh, when was the last time you went potty? That long ago!"


And


"Having to help with everything from dressing to wiping to cutting up food" to


"Where did Emer go? Oh, just heard the potty flush...and now she's dressing!"
She also has small chores now! She takes her dishes over to the sink after eating each meal. She helps clean up the family room. She often helps feed Max.

She's just so dang independent! I love it and am proud of it. Even when she uses this independence to show me up ("I told you!"). She can entertain herself for hours and that makes for lots of entertainment for me listening to her! I feel like I could just keep writing little things Emer does but it would get long, very long, and I don't have time for all that. Nor do you have time to read through all the very tiny things she does that are so amazing to me, as her mom. So I will conclude with a pic (give me an hour here to pick the best one!...

                                         ...Here it is!

Happy Birthday Tiny!  I Love You Tons and Tons and Tons!

Another first!

Emer had her first hair cut this week!

A friend has been cutting her daughter's hair for months and we finally decided to have a Spa Day for Ems, her friend Sophie, and the moms. We had about 12 nail polishes for the girls to choose from. We trimmed up and painted their nails so pretty :) Then it was hair time. Emer sat in a chair in my kitchen, nearly still, and got a nice little trim! I would post pix but I didn't think to take any, haha! I'm terrible at remembering this stuff. I did save a lock of her hair, though.

The funniest thing about this, was the next day at Story Time in the library. The librarian was asking something about visiting doctors or dentists or something. Emer raised her hand to share that she had had her hair cut the day before! LOL! Not really a doctor story, but whatever. She is so happy with herself :)

And she makes me so happy. I love being her mom. I've had a tumultuous last few months trying to make a new job work. It was a work-from-home position that changed into a traditional work-from-the-office job. This change was really hard for us all. I went from doing a couple hours of work 6 days a week to being in a building for 8 hours 2 days a week and 4 hours a third day. Between that, Emer's gymnastics, and teaching Wed. and Sat. mornings I wasn't able to see Ems much. We only have 1.5 more years before she's in school (boo hoo hoo!) and I feel like I should take advantage of not having to work (other than PartyLite, of course!) for that time. I should be Mom. It's the only job I've ever really been successful at anyway.

So here I am, working as Mom and loving it. Had you told me , even 3 years ago, that I would be so happy being a mom and living off of someone else's income for a few years I would have told you that you don't know me at all! I've come to embrace change and, maybe even thrive on it! In case I haven't said it already, "Thank you, Emer, for changing my life so fantastically!"