Ma-ma, Da-da, who?
That’s what it felt like in Hawaii. Emma really wanted to nothing to do with us. She was all about Grandma. She wouldn’t do anything without Grandma – Grandma had to take her to the potty, Grandma had to give her her showers, she had to sit on Grandma’s lap to eat her food.
Emma had a blast in Hawaii. She loved the ocean and playing in the sand. Every day we would get our umbrella on the beach, bring her toys down and then she would run down to the water, scoop some water up in her bucket and run back to the umbrella. She loved it!! She also loved taking showers at the beach to wash off the sand but the funny little girl would run right back into the sand and then say she needed to take a shower a minute later. This routine got quite tiresome but it was cute.
We also went swimming in the pool everyday – she is such a water baby!!! She loved going down the water slide with Jamey. She is still taking her swimming lessons and every Saturday she says “pool time!!” She really loves the water.
Emma loved being in Hawaii with the entire family. She was so happy and was on her best behavior everyday. She slept till 5/5:30 which was a blessing considering how early she woke up last year. She did have a bit of a hard time with the babysitter – she liked her but she didn’t want us to leave. I loved how attached she is to us but it was good for her to be with the babysitter. She did well each night so again that was an improvement over last year.
Emma has a new nickname – bossy pants. She definitely knows how she likes things and in her mind knows how they should be. If I try to put a hairband in my hair she will tell me no and try to pull it out. If I am wearing a shirt and she doesn’t like it she will tell me to put on another one. Sheesh! Little miss bossy pants!!
We took Emma to her 2 year-old doctor’s appointment and she was such a trooper. She didn’t care that she was there but she had no interest in getting weighed (Jamey had to hold her) and she didn’t want to stand under the ruler to get her height measured (they had to lay her down). She wasn’t a pain about it but she just wouldn’t stand there. It isn’t uncommon so the nurse just went with plan B. The doctor said Emma looked great – she is in the 40th percentile for weight (she weighed 27.5 lbs) and 60th for height (she is 34 inches tall). The doctor said that she is advanced in her speech for her age which made us happy. Emma had to get two shots which is always nerve-wracking. Jamey held her in his lap and I was trying to distract her showing her videos of her party. She didn’t want to watch the party because she was more interested in looking at what the nurse was doing. She got her two shots and she didn’t flinch – she couldn’t care less about it. She didn’t cry until the nurse put band-aids on her. She did not want band-aids!!! Once we figured out that she was hysterical because of them we took them off and then within a second she stopped crying. She then turned to the band-aids and said “bad band-aids!!!” it was hilarious.
Everything is so “silly” right now. If she falls down, she will say, “silly Emma.” If I put on Jamey’s sweatshirt she will laugh and say, “silly Mama, daddy’s sweatshirt.” It is so funny to hear her saw silly to everything. Jamey has also graduated from Da-da and is now officially Daddy. It is really sweet to hear her say it. She puts an emphasis on the D at the end so it is dadEE! Jamey is kind of sad that he is no longer Da-da but Emma is growing up which is a wonderful thing.
I had to go away for work for a week and Grandma Barbara came to visit to help Jamey take care of Emma. She loved having Barbara there. Then Grandma Marcia and Grandpa Bob came to take care of Emma and Jamey met me in Vegas for the weekend. It was the first time we left her for two nights. It was really nice to get away but I was so excited to get back and see Emma. What was really great though is since Emma is talking so much now when I called to say hi and check in on things she and I had a conversation. It was a first on the phone for me!! She said good morning, told me that she was good and slept well, and she ate cereal and milk. She is such a big girl.
When I came home on Sunday, I have never seen such an amazing reaction from Emma. She was jumping up and down for joy!! She couldn’t stop jumping in excitement. It was the best homecoming ever!!
Emma continues to go to swim classes and loves it. She is always talking about going in the pool and looks forward to it every week. She is getting better at listening and following directions. She still likes to drink a lot of the water but she has a smile on her face the entire time she is in the pool.
Emma is also getting more and more stubborn. She wants to do things on her terms and her way which is starting to create some problems. An example of this is on Sunday I took her to the market – it was just the two of us. A quick trip to the market turned into a 40 minute nightmare. When I went to put Emma back in her car seat she wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted to drive and so I let her go behind the wheel and play for a little bit. Well when I was finally done with her playing she wouldn’t get in her car seat. She went limp noodle every time I tried to pick her up or put her in her seat. It was beyond frustrating!!! I called Jamey and told him to get in a taxi and come help out. I was beside myself. I didn’t know what to do and I totally understand now why people drive with their kids not strapped in. Finally, after taking her out of the car and letting her roam in and out of the store, climb up and down stairs and telling her that we will go to the park and see her friends she finally got into her car seat. I was so frustrated with her that when I got home I wanted nothing to do with her.
But on the flip side she is just so cute. Monday when I got home her friends were over. She plays so nicely with them and is so lovey too. She is also quite maternal towards Niko who is only a few months younger than her. It was hilarious to watch her. Niko was coughing so Emma went up to her and started patting her back to help her. Then Emma brought Niko’s water bottle to her and was giving it to her. Niko took some water and then Emma kept shoving the bottle in her face for more. It reminded me of what we do to Emma.
We just love this little girl – for all her good and all her bad. When she wants to be sweet she really is just the sweetest. She runs around the house like crazy person, loves to call people on the phone and loves to Skype with Grandma and Barbara. It is amazing to watch her navigate the iPhone – she knows how to get to her Elmo apps, she knows how to get to the pictures and videos so she can watch them and knows how to call people. The iPhone really is intuitive and easy for kids to use.
A recent phase Emma seems to be going through is when we try to take a picture of her she puts her hand up and says no pictures. It’s as if she thinks she is a celebrity or something and we’re paparazzi. I’m not listening to her so I am still taking the pictures so when she is older and looking through them she will see what a crazy lunatic she was being.
