January - February What we did and what we have planned

Just a quick update. No photos....

It has been cold, and wet. I haven't felt like doing anything. I am so ready for spring!!!

Some things that Emily says:

• "Momma, why do you eyes look like that." She says this when I am really mad and fussing at her!
• So many times when I discipline her she laughs at me!! She will say, "Momma, why are you mad, I was only having fun." She is definately a discipline problem!!
• She loves to wear Maw Maw's lipstick. The other day I was explaining to her that she had to be a grown up before she could wear lipstick. and she answered, "but my lips hurt if I don't wear lipstick!"
• Poor thing, she doesn't understand that her uncle is gone forever. She keeps asking when he is going to come home from heaven.

Here are some accomplishments for January:

• We are now potty trained!!! and to think it only took 18 months!!
• We are now in the big kid tumble class. we have had 2 classes and poor little thing looks so lost. You can definately tell that she is an only child and I stay home with her. She really struggles socially with children her age.
• We have had several playdates at Chic*Fila. She loves to go there and play.
• Emily and mommy are doing preschool at home. She really looks forward to this everyday. I have been getting worksheets off the internet and I have several dry erase workbooks. The basic things that we have been working on is cutting, shapes and colors, sorting, which is bigger, letter sounds. I have been working a little with putting the letters in alphabet order, but I think I am too early for that skill. We both are getting less frustrated with one another than when we started. Neither one of us has "quit," so I guess that is a good sign!!

What we would like to do February:

• More playdates.
• Find a Mother's day out program. I really am rethinking this one. I would like to do it only 1 or 2 days a month, but I don't think that is enough for the socialization that I am looking for. I think I just need to be patient, the socializing will come as she gets older.
• Go to the zoo.
• Chinese New Year and Valentines Day. Both are the same day this year. I had hoped daddy and I would go out for VD, but a family night out for CNY sounds more fun!!
• better weather and trips to the park!!
• Both Emily and Daddy are in a wedding in Feb as well. Stay tuned for photos.

SPRING, SPRING PLEASE COME QUICKLY!! I CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE OF OLD MAN WINTER!!

PINK BABY

Emily has a pink blanket that is silky on one side and extra soft on the other. She calls it

Pink Baby. She calls all of her baby blankets baby, but Pink Baby is special. Pink Baby happens to be the first thing that I bought for her once her paper work went to China and the buying frenzy began. It was my prayer that this blanket would be special to her, and it definately has been. As far as calling it Pink Baby, that was Emily's doing. The dog loves his blankets and we call them his bankies, so we knew we couldn't call them bankies. But in true child fashion she decided what she would call them.

Now that she is 3 she doesn't "need" Pink Baby as much. But when she was younger, She could not go to sleep until she had Pink Baby. Her other blankets she named Flower Baby (pink with flowers), Polka Baby (pink with polka dots), Mommy Baby (another pink blanket), and White Baby (you guessed it, white blanket). In the height of our baby dependence, she would make sure that she had all of her babies. It was so cute, frustrating, but cute!! She still sometimes wants to be sure her babies are in bed with her. She puts them at the foot of the bed, "In case I need them," she says. She also used to drag poor Pink Baby around all day!! Still when I wash it, she panics a little, but I just tell her that Pink Baby is getting a bath and fluffed and dried!!

Here are some random OLD pics of Emily and Pink Baby. I know it isn't Tuesday, but you get the Idea. I saw a picture on the computer of Emily and Pink Baby, and I have always ment to Blog abut PB, so here it is.....Enjoy!!

Emilyisms

She just cracks me up! Here are a few things that she says:

Gomeups = grown ups and yes she says it as if it is one word!!
The dog talks "dog english."
I made the mistake of calling her prissy missy. When she says it it comes out "p*issy missy."
Her and I were talking last week and I asked her what my last name was, and she said "Harry Garza." And then just died laughing. I don't know where she came up with that, but you can ask her what mommy's last name is and that is what she will tell you.

Emily's ability to communicate is just amazing. If we don't understand what she says we just tell her we didn't understand, and she tries until we finally get it.

Her sense of humor is also incredible, and always has been. She is too funny.

WE HAVE JUST BEEN HANGING AROUND

This is Emily's latest trick. Since she saw the big kids do headstands at tumble, she has been trying to do it. It is almost scary to see her try to do it on the floor - looks like she is going to break her neck!! But it is scarier to see her try to do it off the coffee table. She figured out that she could do it in the chair and use the chair back for support!! I like this method much better!! Next week she starts the "big kid" class at tumble. The 3 year old class is just the child, where under 3 is the mommy and me. She is so ready. The last month or so I have pretty much been just stepping back and letting her do. I think the toughest for her is going to be the listening and accepting help.

Preschool is going really good. It is a learning process for both of us. We both get a little frustrated at times. There are times that she just plain walks away. I wish I could too!! LOL. I try to show her how to do it, and she wants to do it her way. I have to keep reminding myself to not frustrate her, it has to be fun for her and whatever she learns now is laignape (something for nothing French saying used alot here in south). So far we have done worksheets that I have found on the internet. The other day I wrote her name and she traced it. It was amazing!! We have been doing worksheets on squares and circles. She loves to do mazes, but she just doesn't have the concept of how to do them.

Emily also loves to play games. She got several board games for her birthday and Christmas. Her and Daddy played M#nopoly last weekend. She was determined that she was big enough to play!!

I am also tting to get her in a Mother's Day Out program. I am looking for a place that I can just drop her off 1 or 2 days a month instead of the 2 days a week. My main objective with the Mother's Day Out is to give her playmates and an opportunity to play with kids her age. I have looked into 1 place so far, I need to get out the phonebook and see what I can find. It has just been so cold that I haven't felt like doing anything at all.

WE ARE READY FOR SPRING!! WE WANT TO GO TO THE PARK AND ZOO!!!!!

I'M A BIG KID NOW

Emily is truly growing up so fast. She was so excited to turn 3. She now considers herself a big kid. We did have a little bit of a tough time with the transision. She would have days where she acted like a baby all day long. I recognized it as a transisioning period, and just let her. The last "baby" hurdle to jump over was potty training. Oh the will of a two/three year old!! But, I am proud to say, that we have been in pretty panties for 3 days now!!! This is the longest we have been. In her defense, I started way too early. I started when she was 20 months old. My goal was to have her potty trained by the time she was two. Oh the will of a 2 year old!!

it has been cold here, so we haven't done much of anything. I am also battling the winter blues...yuck!! We have started on some preschool things. She is so excited. She recognizes all of her letters of the alphabet, so now we are focusing on their sound and putting the alphabet in order. We have also learned our phone number!! It took her all of 3 or 4 days!! I set the goal of her knowing it within 6 months.

I know I have promised pics from birthday and Christmas. I will try to get up soon. Just haven't felt like doing it.