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...