Sweet Little Pumpkin

We went to our local pumpkin patch on Sunday for the first time and Emma wasn't too sure about the surroundings.  She woke up with a mild cold or allergy issue on Sunday morning, so that may have been part of the problem.  We packed our lunch, took a few photos then rode the tractor to the pumpkin patch.  The hayride was E's favorite part, but I'm not sure if it was the ride or seeing all the mud that she liked more, because she kept saying, "mud".  We have had a lot of rain the past few weeks and the trenches of mud the hayrides made were fairly spectacular and a little smelly.  There was a discussion between two little boys how the mud looked like chocolate, but it didn't smell like chocolate, lol.  I told Doug the mud smelled exactly like what I crawled through during a mudathalon a few weeks ago...stinky!

Yesterday E. woke up a snotty mess, but in a better mood...I'm fighting the cold off with Zicam, but not feeling very victorious at moments today and feel stuffy.  This morning she woke up with runny eyes and a stuffy voice...I think we may need a Dr. appointment since this is the 2nd illness this month.   I'm having a really hard time deciding for myself if I have a cold or allergies and she isn't having night issues, only daytime, which is perplexing.  Despite her cold, she is still eating like no tomorrow and states that she is "hunger", asking for more, even when dinner is done.

The Negotiator

Emma has developed the art of negotiation. Example:

D&I: It's time to go to bed

Emma: Almost

Really? At 2? I guess we must say "almost" a lot, because that seems like a strange response for a 2 year old, but I guess "almost" is better than a flat out "no". There are numerous examples of when she uses "almost", but bedtime is what stands out the most. There is also a funny head movement when she says "almost"...she tucks her chin down into her chest and looks up at you through the top of her eyes. She must think the head movement makes "almost" more powerful or true.

Speaking of words Emma says... this is ALL D's fault...she said her first four letter word last night. Hint: another word for poop. She will repeat all of what you say or the last word...his last word was poop, so she repeated it. Swell.

The new change of schedule is going really well. It's nice to have extra family time in the evenings and Emma seems more relaxed when Doug comes home, not as clingy. After a day at the sitters, Emma returns home extra tired from the additional stimulation of being out of her comfort zone. Tuesday night she slept for 12 hours and took a 2 hr nap later that afternoon, plus it took a lot to keep her up until bedtime Tuesday night. E. was yawning before dinner and she fell asleep 20 minutes earlier than usual, with no fussing. I spoke to the sitter about an hour ago and the girls are wearing one another out playing. They have both been caught yawning several times this morning.

Emma leaving the safety net of her home and detaching from me a couple days a week is going to hopefully benefit our separation anxieties. We've spent the past year glued to one another, so now is as good time as any to give Emma some wings.

Fever and New beginnings

Well, we have had our first fever this week, unrelated to shots. I started off ill on Tuesday with a cold/flu like illness and Emma followed suit. She has run a fever anywhere from 100.7 to 102.7 since Wednesday afternoon. Emma woke up from her nap with the rosiest cheeks I have ever seen and I knew instantly she was sick too. The Tylenol kicks the fever down fast, within 30 minutes and she is still running around, eating, drinking and playing, so I am not too concerned. Our book says as long as she is not lethargic and eating/drinking, it is normal to run a fever for up to 5 days without calling the Doctor. I haven't been running a fever nearly as high and have at times lost the will to move around, but not her.

Since the Tylenol was working so well and she was in good spirits, we kept our photo session which turned out AMAZING! Emma was a total ham posing and following direction. I HAD to buy the CD because there was not one bad picture in the bunch...we don't get the pictures or CD for a couple of weeks, so I sent the link of photos to family. Emma is so stinking adorable...I can't believe how much she has changed since our first photo session last November.

D. was sent back to his Detective position, effective this coming Monday, so we are entering a new chapter of change. It has been a blessing to not have to send Emma to a sitter for the past year like most parents do. When I work in the office two days a week, Emma will be going to a sitter. We have one day arranged and we are testing out options on the second day before we decide what is best. It would be good for E. to be around other children in preparation for preschool, for at least one day a week while I work, to learn to share and to adjust to a load of attention not solely on her everyday.

This morning Doug had court, so we had a dry run of what it is going to be like to get ourselves, plus Emma out the door on the days I go into work. Last night I picked out outfits and decided what was for breakfast which helped the morning run smoother. Emma woke up earlier than normal because of all the movement in the house, so that helped speed things along. We were able to sit down to a hot bowl of oatmeal and time to spare before heading out the door. She was a little nervous with a change in routine, as was I and we both wanted to cry when we parted, but we will all adjust and she will benefit from getting outside her comfort zone.

MY TURN!

Emma is expressing her independence with every task by stating, "My Turn!". She is quite good at getting her pants and shoes on with no help needed. Of course her shoes are velcro, but 9 out of 10 times the shoes are on the correct feet. Shirts are still too much for Emma to put on, but she is getting closer by the day...it doesn't help that her head is larger than most shirt openings and children's long sleeve shirts are so tight...maybe they make them so tight so kiddos can't remove?

It is also "MY TURN" when buckling/unbuckling booster seats and the carseat. The booster seat is ok to let her help with, the carseat is a no-no. She unbuckled her carseat on our trip home from Gatlinburg which freaked me out. The car got really quiet, I snuck a peek and Emma had the harness off. Thank goodness I had a co-pilot to re-secure the straps and didn't have to park on the highway!

We have had a really busy few weeks and Emma has handled most of our new experiences really well and others not so well. There was a family gathering where Emma met a sea of new faces and while there she warmed up really well at the party, that nights sleep and next days nap involved a ton of the scary screaming and thrashing about. From 6am until bedtime, she was a clingy, crying and sensitive child and she doesn't normally wake up until at least 8am.

We were leaving for a mini vacation to the Smokey Mountains the following day and I was terrified to leave out of fear of what another change might do to her. She was picking her lips to the point of bleeding for 2 days out of nervousness and I had to buy Carmex while on vacation to keep them from scabbing. We felt like we had time traveled back to Fall 2010 the day after the family reunion.

While Emma has made great strides the past year, we have noticed that Emma's anxiety to new experiences/overstimulation is played out in eating, sleeping and lip picking for days afterwards. The reaction to the family reunion was more dramatic than her first Christmas, so not sure what the trigger was surrounding the family reunion, other than it was a bunch of all new faces versus the ones she is used to seeing at her Grandparents house for the past year. The Pediatrican said these are very common reactions to being overwhelmed in adopted children and the lip picking is the equivalent of thumb sucking as a way to cope.

The anxiety around leaving for the mini vacation was for naught. We headed to the Smokies with Emma, Kim and her almost 2 year old, to my grandfather's condo for four days. What was supposed to be a 5-6 hour journey turned into 11 hours and included a speeding ticket a 1/2 mile from our destination. We took a wrong turn that set us 77 miles in the wrong direction, then endured a 2 hour detour due to a UPS truck turnover. The 2 year olds handled the 11 hour car ride beautifully and once we arrived, the toddlers ran around the condo to burn off all the energy they had stored up.

Emma co-slept with me for the 4 days while we were away and loved it...this actually turned into a welcome break from the bedtime screaming fits we had at home, despite getting kicked to a pulp all night. In the morning she would wake up, see my face and give me the biggest smile while scrunching up her eyes. We had a great time at the Aquarium, taking a nature walk, driving nature road trails during naptime, playing in a park and outlet shopping. Emma likes to shop and says, "More shopping" when we exit each store.

When we returned home, Emma sort of snubbed Doug for a few days...I guess all the mommy-time and co-sleeping won her over. She is typically extra clingy when away from him, but she wouldn't even let him put her to bed until we forced the issue last night. It's been, "mommy...hug" when it's normally, "Daddy-hug" and "Daddy-night-night".

This past Saturday, I participated in a Mudathalon and Emma stayed with her Uncle Jeff and Auntie T. for the first time. On the ride to their house I explained that Mommy was going running and she was going to play/eat lunch with her Uncle and Auntie. She said, "home" and I thought "uh-oh", but it all worked out. She even napped 2.50 hours when we returned home and I had to wake her up so as not to ruin bedtime...YAY for 2.50 hour naps!

Sunday we went to the Renaissance Festival and with some "playing up" how fun it was to see people in costumes, wenches washing laundry and knights jousting, I think she had a good time and only nuzzled into my neck and said, "hug" a few times.

This week we are having pictures taken, headed to the Zoo for a Halloween special, going to a pumpkin patch and celebrating her grandma's birthday. I am tired already...