Looking Back... Emma is 24 Months Old!

Yes, yes... I know. I'm late. Again. Deliquent blogger. Deduct two points.

Michael is on a new sleeping schedule. He now falls asleep promptly at 8:30, right after dinner, and snoozes soundly until 1:30 am. Then he's up, happy, and primed to play. Until 6:00 am. Then he conks out again. Yeah. It's not workin' for me so much. Today I finally, finally got a chance to see my esthetician - it was long overdue - and I actually fell asleep during my wax. That should give you some idea of just how tired I am. I FELL ASLEEP WHILE HAVING HAIR RIPPED OFF MY BODY WITH HOT WAX. That's just not right.

Damn good thing the kid is cute. I'd contemplate sending him back to where he came from if he weren't so f'in big. Ouch.



And on to Emma's two-year old recap. OH MY GAWD - MY BABY IS TWO YEARS OLD!!!!
Even more surprising is that I am the MOTHER of a TWO YEAR OLD CHILD!!!

Like I said, I'm very tied. Much of this is likely going to be in point form.

YES!!! Emma finally learned to say YES!!!! Okay, I know what you're thinking... she could say "disgusting" last month, but not yes? No dumbass. Of course she could say 'yes'. She just DIDN'T say yes. Last month everything was "no".

Do you like music class?
No.
Do you like mommy?
No.
Do you like Esther?
No.
Do you want a bath?
No.
Do you like chocolate?
Yes.

Okay, well there are exceptions to every rule.

But now... now it's all different. Part of every successful conversation involves a little give & take. We now have just that!

Do you want a hot dog?
No.
Do you want chicken?
No.
Do you want an egg?
Yes.
Do you like gym class?
Yes.
Do you want to go to the park?
Yes.

See what I'm sayin'?!!! This one little word has opened up a whole new world of communcation for us. No more guessing... Does she like this shirt? Should I buy it? Now she flat out tells me! Amazing. Except when we disagree. Like, I'm more partial to the clothing that's on sale. She's not. Go figure. My daughter through & through.

A biggie this month has been her obsession with the colour red. Every day she wants to wear her red shirt. Every night she wants to wear her red jammies. The unfortunate thing here is that the red shirt is the very same red shirt that make up the red jammies. You just try explaining how that doesn't work to a two-year-old. Coupled with her love of the purple sport socks... you can see how problems are going to arise.



Trucks, busses, dump trucks, big trucks, small trucks, yellow trucks, blue trucks, cement mixers. These are all big on Emma's list of likes this months. Every day, as we're driving along, she stares out the window and points out all mightly machines she sees. Although they are all classed as either 'big trucks' or 'dump trucks' with their associated colour. Hell... that's pretty much the extent of my knowledge there too. Soon enough I'm sure Michael with teach us.



We've caught Emma not only dancing, but SINGING to songs on the radio. You don't know what cute is until... Oy. I could eat her up. But I won't. She's too skinny, likely wouldn't be very tasty. Have I mentioned she's still only 21 lbs??? I'm actually getting a little worried about this. She hasn't put on any weight in ages. Fortunately she is getting taller - I know this because her pants are getting shorter. Duh. Thank God for pants. We have her two-year check up on the 17th. I'll let you know what the doctor says. My saving grace last month was Emma's love of peanut butter. I may have mentioned that - I used to have to cut her off. She was eating it by the spoonful, literally cups at a time. I was thrilled cuz she needs the protein, nevermind the fat. This month she can no longer stand it. I am becoming my mother. Find something the kid likes, feed it to her till she's blue, and she'll never look at it again. Welcome to my childhood.

But back to the singing & dancing... she especially loves Jack Johnson's "Better Together" - and refers to it "Emma Favourite Song". In the car, we have to listen to it again & again & again. I'd keep it on 'repeat', but she only really likes the first 20 seconds, so that's what I have to keep playing. Over and over and over. As soon as it goes too far, I get an "Emma Favourite Song Peas" request from the backseat. And she's just so adorable that I oblidge everytime. Occasionally, I'll put on something else, anything else, and she'll pipe up with "Mommy's Favourite Song". Everyone's entitled to their favourite. The kid is fair.

She now repeats EVERYTHING you say. And clearly at that. "Thank you" is now "thank you". No more of this "tank you" crap. Even her "hello" is said like a total girl - very sing-songy - "helll-oooo!". And with her new found enunciation skills came her very first "Oh Shit!" And that was courtesy of Bubbie Barbara. Who tried despretely to convince her she said, "Oh Sit!" Didn't work. It was followed by a string of "Oh Shit Oh Shit Oh Shits" in the crowded restaurant at lunch time. Again, here is a glimpse into my childhood, and the woman behind the potty mouth I have today. She'll deny everything. But she makes a mean taco salad.

A couple days ago I was giong to write that Emma refuses to count past 3, even though she knows up to 5. That she won't give in to actually saying 4 and 5 on her own. But then, out of nowhere, while playing with her new cash register toy, she counted up to SEVEN. No prompting. No nothing. Just did it. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Then two days ago she was standing by Jeff's "Wall of Ties" and again, out of nowhere, she counted up to TEN!!! She missed five, but that's okay. She still got the other nine numbers down just fine. Yippee! The kid is brilliant! Mensa here we come!

Except she still doesn't know her alphabet. At all.

And she's still not potty trained. At all. She's not interested, and I'm not pushing it. Basically we're both just being lazy.

She easily strings together 4, 5, 6 word sentences. Seriously. You can carry on a full conversation with her. Of course right now examples of longer sentences are escaping me. You'll just have to take my word for it. However today, for instance, she offered me a bite of her cookie in Loblaws. Actually held it up and said "Want a bite?" What two-year-old SHARES a chocolate chip cookie?!

One of the biggest wows for me this month came in KinderGym class. All the kids were playing, getting toys out of the big box Donna, the teacher, had set in the middle of the room. Of course, there are those that push their way to the front of the crowd, and those that stand back, waiting for their turn. That's Emma. She waits. Sometimes I wish she'd be more assertive, more vocal in getting what she wants, or what is deservedly hers. But unless you really piss her off, and coming from her peers that takes alot, she'll put up with all sorts of crap. Anyhow, this one day all the kids are going for the box of pom-poms, and Emma was waiting nicely. I noticed Donna watching her.

D: Some kids are very pushy. Others are so polite
A: Uh-huh. She's very polite, very reserved. Sometimes I wish she were more forceful.
D: I've been teaching for a long time, and I see tons of kids. The ones that are pushy at 2 are even pushier at 6. It doesn't get better.
A: I'm worried she's going to get taken advantage of...
D: Don't worry about that. She'll be fine - her confidence will come in time.
A: ...
D: Every so often some kids stand out as being special. Emma is one of them.

If only I still got my period, and was at all premenstral, I would have burst into tears right there & then. As it was, my heart just swelled to the point of near explosion. Any more and a difibulator would have been necessary.

Happy Belated Birthday, Little Emma.
I love you.