Onward with Year 3!

The days are hectic, fast, and consuming. Yet D and I pause every now and again to go "OMG, she's really 3 already!"

Emelia is amazing. Crazy, smart, ridiculous, demanding, obnoxious, adorable, funny, observant, and oblivious...right on track to being a wonderful, independent woman. Someday. She has also managed to NOT have a break from the daycare plague, with coughs and wheezes that make me freak out (reassured by 2 doctors' offices that she's fine). E has also shot up in height to now hovering below an even 3' with 26 entire pounds to her athletic little frame. 

 huge snow, means time to work!

2-10 hullllloooo!

2-10

E is showing great control in her writing, tracing letters at first shakily and now (today) with less effort and straighter lines. She knows words to songs, can sound out phonics (yet not quite read--sooooo close), and does the silliest dances at all times. At school, she got a glowing report for her age--my proudest part being that she expresses empathy towards the other kids. Can't teach that one! 

visit to butterflies! we go often :) 2-20

She is better at the potty (pee only so far) and can go in and out of there by herself unprompted (she can, but doesn't do it too often). Then she'll run out all proud to tell us she's wiped her butt and "girl bits"!

2-12

At E's 3rd bday party a couple weeks ago, we had so much fun with everyone joining in--kids running amok through our new apartment (E has her own room!! as she'll tell strangers on the street). Everyone was great, and we're so glad we had enough cake and cupcakes to go around! 

2-13 stairs going solo

sing sing sing

she's a dragon, apparently 2-13

The bummer was how quickly she crashed with yet another of her ongoing colds. Gram and Pop-pop made it in for a few days, and to E's delight they stayed here so she could over-run them constantly. In June, D & I are heading off to camp for a few days and she'll take over their place in Michigan. bwahaha. 

visits with Gram...plus naps! 2-19

pounds! 3-1

poor sick girl, 3-2

One of E's things is the random comments. She's apt to note out of nowhere that a stop sign is an "oggagone", or she spilled something 2 days ago, or she was running in the classroom and had to sit in gym...nothing has a reason for starting, it just flies out of her mouth. When we ask her about why she was bad/broke something/didn't listen, her reasoning is hilarious and boils down to "cuz I did it". The best was when D asked her (in reference to a DVD she broke) "what else did she break that we can't use anymore?" and her response was "Ezra" (her good friend, who I assure you, works just fine!) Where do these thoughts come from? Crazy, I tell ya.

diner trip is not complete without hot cocoa 3-3

earliest attempts with help by GrannyBunny 3-6

chopsticks! 3-18

Bedtime could be much better. As stated above, she now has her own room since our move the middle of March. However, this is both happy and sad, since she has such an extremely hard time falling asleep in there! Back and forth, in and out, her room and our room...She is falling asleep more often in her bed than ours now, finally, but we still get the middle of the night eye balls at the side of the bed. 

"reading" 3-20ish

nap 3-20

Pop Pop attack!! 3-20

lookit how clean she gets that darn pudding cup 3-26

too cool for school

teen in waiting

style

a pre-packed box!

at school--eager for something or other

careful, she can cycle thru youtube on her own now! 4-3

bday replete with E's fave person

whee! happy 3rd!

prezzies from our generous friends--Eli overseeing

Aiden and Jilly helping

E can now peddle her tricycle! This was perfected this afternoon, still requiring coaxing and encouragement, but she can do it by herself! Very cool. Soon I'll be busting an ankle trying to catch her, I am sure. Good way to start the summer.  

 4-9
She also went from needing hand-over-hand on buttoning to now she can do up her PJ buttons (soft fabric, but little buttons) all by herself. This, like getting dressed, is prefixed with a slew of "I can't"s, but she can and she does. Shoes she can do, but pretty consistently she puts them on the wrong feet, to the point of I believe it is now a habit.

silly goose, 2-21

 

cookies for the heck of it 2-21

visit with Rob, Eva, and Finn
(don't the kids look thrilled? trust me, there were giggles)

E is quick to run out of nowhere (always running, yup) and just give out hugs and kisses. I love getting her from "school", since that's the biggest hug of all. Gosh knows where she gets all that energy from, but we're so happy that she seems to be a happy kid who shares her joy of just being. Can't wait to see what this year brings us!

xo

 2-12

 2-15

Miss us?

taken by a friend 2-2 (Philip T.)

Hello one and all,

early snow

Been busy and swapping our schedules around the past few months. Which is for the good and actually leaves more time for us to be home and co-parents! However, being that I have less "alone" adult time, I have been slacking on my hobbies. Teh horrorz!
Meanwhile, Emelia has grown (taller and heavier) and is all the more active...active to a point that our lovely neighbors started a week-long fest of pounding to give us "gentle reminders" of exactly how they interpret E's pitter-patter of elephant feet.
 I think we've come to the conclusion of: deal with it, and we are aiming to save her plantar fascia by having her decrease her PSI with her every footfall. Now she does it just to be a jerk. Still cute in her own way about it though :)

leaves ROCK

Ah, yes, independence abounds. BOUNDS, I say. We've had some run-ins with the temper tantrums that left me at one point leaving an incident report with the morning teach so she would know why E had dinosauresque bumps on her noggin. That actually led to the thankful decline of self-inflicted damage. A few frantic calls for support from a fellow OT friend was life-saving as well. Now she mostly sits and kicks her feet or jumps (hoppin' mad hee hee). Much better. I think as words become her tools more and more we shall be dealing with wheedling and begging instead :)

bus ride from school with Daddy

first snow of the season in Dec

E LOVES school now. It's the bees knees. Fortunately, since she now spends roughly 8-10 hours there 5 days a week. All to the good for everyone involved. Except for the extreme downtime caused by the multitudes of germ exposure. Sheesh, that girl can run a fever. The fun part is teaching her how to cough and blow her nose politely...and to use anything except her sleeves and shirt-fronts. We've gotten creative in coming up with last-minute coverage so we can keep our jobs when she has to stay home! (thanks, Auntie K, Uncle B, Caroline, and Katie!)
Potty training and subsequent success eludes us. We are the meekest of trainers, so our expectations are low until we get into a groove. Having us both home was a new transition, albeit positive, giving us new perspectives and routines. Soon, I say.

Pie! at TDay

from October

Visits for the holidays have been lovely! Gramma n' Pop pop made it in town for Turkey/Duck Day and  for Xmas. Short but good times--more to come when the weather clears. Maybe as she is able to entertain herself more, we can survive car trips in both directions as a relief. Gram may make it in a few weeks by train, as long as the tracks aren't overcome by the recent weather we've been having. We are also planning to go camping this June for a week of decadence since the grands are wanting to whisk her away for then and make us child-free. I'm sure to be weirded out by it!

snow-coplapse 2-1-2011

Santa Claus had knees and ho-ho's available for E to enjoy, both at D's new gig and at Caroline's theater group. Super to see her actually engage both with the fat jolly one and other children.

Santa 1

We are thankful as well for the many cards and prezzies that we have received. I swear I WILL be doing cards. Before Epiphany is my usual goal...I stink at this stuff, what can I say? Since it's almost Valentines, I say I'm a tad bit behind here.




 

Xmas thing at D's work in November

at the frozen lake in December

in the hat that I knit. Later I made mittens and a scarf!

prolly watching One Big Dragon

free rides

lookit how she can write! Doesn't look like anything yet, but she can hash out a circle :)

when she reads herself asleep

around xmas time

where she is allowed to bounce and be loud

eating something she shouldn't ... not sure what it was

after a tough day at school

 

Santa 2

We fear she loved the spotlight a tad much

snore

Emelia's view

more snerg

SNOW the day after Xmas (the snow that made G&G have to leave xmas day booo)

The cats are more into her, getting fairly consistently fed by E helps tons. E is also into coloring still, playing with her animals (froggie on a clip is the BESTEST, but he's been hidden lately, then followed by "my friends" which are the Moose and Wolf itty things from Xmas), throwing and catching!, jumping on the couch, playing fort, and playing in the snow.
 A TON of snow from the past week...E finally tore herself away from the recent movie extravaganza (Sound of Musak, "puppy movie"=Best in Show). She is getting the hang of her puzzles, and plays blocks, and jumps into things. Really exploring her abilities both big and small. All good times, and rewarding in many ways for us all.

E with Friends 12-26-10

Benedix by Daddy Jan-23-2011

our very own tulek

ahem.

bonding

braving the tundra outside our door!

if they're tall enough, then it's time to work

 xo