Catching up...

The last two weeks have been gorgeous and Emma and I have been gardening and having picnic lunches on the deck.  I dig the holes for our new plants, then Emma chops the clay soil into little bits for me; she loves "chop-chopping" as she calls it.  We are working on clearing out and renovating the back section of our property so we have a little more yard space that is in the sunlight and not so swampy for Emma to play in.  Emma loves digging, carrying around her spade and wearing her Hello Kitty garden boots.  We have a rain barrel and she also loves filling up her watering can to help me water plants.  She is truly mommy's little helper in every moment of the day and right now, I am taking advantage and letting her do everything she can, as long as it's safe.

We bought an outdoor playhouse, one of those big box, plastic monstrosities and she of course loves it.  She has a few chairs inside the house and a kiddie broom, plus we usually bring out her picnic basket, a baby and her baby's high chair so she can play house.  I am so glad we upgraded our deck last year because we are spending about four hours a day out there, it's truly an extension of our play space.  Speaking of kiddie brooms, she LOVES to broom.  Right now all of the trees are dropping berries and pollen, so we go outside and sweep almost everyday.  At first the concept of sweeping was difficult, but the other day, she finally got it.

Emma can now pedal her tricycle, but hasn't quite grasped the steering part, but she can pedal forwards and backwards.  Our driveway slopes too much towards the street, so for right now, she only rides the bike in the garage or on the deck.  We need to take her to a park walking trail so she can ride freely.  There are several parks with asphalt walking paths that would be perfect for riding on until she can ride safely.  A few weeks ago, we bought a bike trailer for her to ride in while we pedal, so after dinner we have been taking her in the trailer or in the wagon, but it makes her sleepy.  The other night she was singing along, "the ants go marching on, hurrah, hurrah", then suddenly she was dead quiet.  I turned around to see what was going on and she was slumped forward, passed out cold. 

I believe Emma is going through a growth spurt because she is constantly hungry.  Several times over the last week she has asked for second helpings.  Last night/early AM, she was experiencing night crying, which usually comes with teething and growth spurts, but all of her teeth are in, so it has to be growth.  She's been waking earlier, around 7:30am the last few weeks and still taking 2+ hour naps in the afternoon, which is when I can really focus on working from home, so I am grateful the naps are still needed.  She falls asleep within 5 minutes of laying down and if she happens to not get much more than hour, those evenings are looonnngggg.  95% of the time, Emma is extremely happy and joyful, but if a nap isn't long enough, "unreasonable" is her middle name.  Emma won't fall asleep in the car for more than 25 minutes and won't sit in a stroller, let alone sleep in one anymore, so naptime at home is our only option.  Her room has blackout curtains, white noise and a music player that plays lullabies for 20 minutes, so the cave-like atmosphere is the only way she can sleep well.

Over the last week we have tried some new foods.  Emma has had her first crab cake and a BLT.  She LOVED the crab cake, devoured hers before I even finished mine.  We are very lucky to have such a good eater (as long as the dinner table isn't overstimulating with a bunch of people talking loudly).  There are some textural things she spits out, ie apples, raw carrots and mashed potato's.  We attempted corn last week again, but it still disrupts her digestive system for a few days, so we are just going to stay away from it.  I can't eat corn either, makes my stomach literally hurt for days.  Corn is not exactly the most nutritious vegetable, so it's not like we are missing out on vital nutrients by not having it.  We are still the anti-sugar parents and really monitor what is going in on a daily basis.  No fruit juice, capri suns, soda, high fructose corn syrup etc.  We really notice a change in her behavior when she has had these things...she truly gets wild and loses the ability to control herself when she has eaten something too sugary.

Emma is talking up a storm and still asking us, "How was your day...?" when we sit down for dinner.  This past week she's been telling me a lot, "I love you mommy" or "I love my mommy" accompanied by a neck wringing hug...I love it!  Last night, we had family craft time and painted bird houses...on the way to work this morning, Emma told me she was going to have a bird when she was older...she is going to do a lot when she is "older", which is one of her daily phrases, "when I'm older...".  I asked her what color she wanted her bird to be and she said, "a pink one and I want two of them".  Whenever she wants something, she has to have two...she must not like odd numbers like her momma! 

If Emma is not the center of conversation, she does not like it.  We try to explain to her that mommy and daddy are talking and allowed to talk.  One day, we pretended to be "praying", just so we could finish a conversation, lol.  We literally bowed our heads, clasped our hands and finished our conversation.  We have explained until we are blue in the face that we take turns talking and put her in time out, but she is stubborn...I am assuming she will outgrow this phase because nothing is working right now that isn't considered illegal (duct tape).

The past few days, Emma wants to to know what the name of everything is.  She asks, "what's that's name?" as we walk around the house, yard and in stores.  D and I constantly ask one another, is it normal that she talks this much at 2.5, because we are so blown away by what she has to say and how clearly we understand 90% of the time.  However, as her sentence length is increasing, it is getting more difficult to understand, so it can be like solving a puzzle.  Sometimes I have to ask her 2-3 times, "say it again", but she doesn't frustrate easily and will keep repeating until we understand, but she does give us a look, that reads, "geesh, dummies, this is what I am saying".

How waz your day?

Last night at dinner, Emma asked D., "How waz your day Daddy?".  We both nearly fell out of our chairs in laughter.  Of course because we laughed, it turned into 5 minutes of asking both of us again and again.  Every morning while Emma is on the potty, I ask if she slept good and she now asks me every morning if I slept good too. 

Emma is 100% potty trained and even stays dry most nights.  What a blessing this is for a 29 month old to be potty trained so easily, definitely not the norm for most toddlers.  I was mentally preparing myself for a battle and dreading the process, but it has been a dream.  She is so proud of staying dry all night and as soon as I walk in the bedroom, Emma says, "I stay dry mommie!".  The first couple of times I didn't really believe her.

The weather is warming up abnormally early this year, so we have already had a few days outside and D. took her for a ride in the jogging stroller yesterday.  A day in the outdoors usually comes with the price of sneezing and drippy nose, for both of us, so I'm thinking she definitely has some outdoor allergies.  Her eczema is under control, but only because of due diligence with no fragrance washes/lotions; allergies and eczema usually run hand in hand, but not something we can investigate until she is a bit older.  Our home is surrounded by trees and the allergies I thought I outgrew returned when we moved into our home.

E's last 2 year molar has surfaced and is pushing through very slowly.  Hopefully once this tooth has pushed through, the night crying will subside for good.   At bedtime, stalling is definitely in her toolbox now, which usually results in prayers being said 4-5 times, plus numerous other tactics like going to the potty and throwing microscopic dirt from the floor into the kitchen trash can.  Emma says, "now I lay me down to sleep, amen".  She can say the whole prayer, but now refuses since the luster of it all wore off; Daddy is not allowed to put his hands in prayer position, he has to hold them wide like a football goal.  If D. tries to clasp his hands, E. stops the prayer and says, "no, no, no". The last few weeks Emma is definitely a momma's girl and only wants me to put her to bed, but once D. gets her to the stairwell, she stops fighting the process and forgets about me.

Emma continues to soak in everything we teach her and she can say her whole name plus our names too.  A lot of the time, she will say her Chinese name is her first name vs. Emma.  As time progresses, I will not be surprised if she decides that her middle name is her first name.  She can also state the first number of our address and the street we live on.  Her language development continuously amazes us, when we take in consideration how many children from China usually need OT for speech.

We have been giving Emma little tidbits of her background from the very beginning, starting with keeping the photos of her in the orphanage on our refrigerator.  We will walk by them and I tell her that is when she lived in China.  Emma now tells us she is from China and that mommy/daddy flew on an airplane to bring her to the US.  We give her a little bit more each time we talk about China but only details that she can mentally process for her age.  When we talk about China, I can now see her little brain thinking about what was said and storing it for later.  We ask that no one besides us starts these conversations about China, unless she brings it up and to not makeup answers if she asks questions that don't have a real answer.