Did You Hear That?

Yep, that was the sound of my heart breaking this morning as I walked away from Emma. I dropped her off this morning and she was pitiful. She stuck her lip out and gave me the sad eyes and then started in with the wimpering. Then her teacher came over to her and Emma went to her all the while looking over her shoulder at me while she teared up. I thought it was a good sign that she did immediately go to her teacher, but it is still enough to break a mom's heart!

On a brighter note, she had her best day yet yesterday. They said she did great and was so happy. She had a really good time coloring and they told us they were impressed with her coloring ability (I'm sure they say that to all the parents!). She ate a little more lunch than she has been but still no breakfast. Josh picked her up for me yesterday because I had to work and they were able to have some good daddy/daughter time. Josh said she was really playful and happy all night. The only bad thing is that she woke up at midnight and was up for about an hour. She finally did go back to sleep and never made another peep afterward until I gently woke her up this morning.

Until Further Notice

...Emma is on a hunger strike and she wants everybody to know it! All she ate at school yesterday was some corn. But again her teachers said that she had a great day and was in a good mood. She just didn't want to eat. We tried to go out to eat for dinner but she wouldn't eat anything. Instead she just threw tantrums and we had to get our stuff to go and come home. She never does this when we go out. I think since she hadn't eaten all day it threw her off and every little thing was upsetting her. I know I'm grumpy when I don't eat, so I expect her to be no different. So, also until further notice: this family of 3 will only be dining in!

When we got home, we tried to feed her some of her food and she did eat some but not as much as she normally would have. I think it's a combination of the adjustment period along with that toddler appetite that can spike up and down.

I never could get the video of her twirling to upload that I mentioned yesterday. I hope that fixes itself soon. In the meantime, here are two pictures from last night with her holding her two new favorite toys (a little whisk and a plastic knife):

Twirl

Yesterday Josh picked Emma up from daycare and he said she looked pretty happy. But then he looked at the board - which tells you how much they ate at each meal/snack, how long they napped, and how often they had wet/dirty diapers (all MUST know stuff). The board said that she had eaten nothing all day! WHAT?! Seriously? He was so astonished that he forgot to even look at how she napped. The teachers said that she was really good all day but that she just didn't want to eat. And the crazy thing is that they had french toast for breakfast and fish for lunch. She loves both of those.

Of course I think she's going on a hunger strike but I know she's just adjusting and she'll eat when she wants to. Apparently dinner time is as long as the hunger strike could last. She ate two eggs, some fruit and some of a whole wheat tortilla that Josh made.

She was in the best mood all night though. She gave us kisses left and right and smiled and laughed all night. She also danced and twirled for about 10 minutes. Since I haven't done a video in a while, I thought I'd put one up of her twirling:
{looks like the videos aren't uploading right now - I'll try again tonight}



On another note, we have a small victory! She did not cry at all when Josh dropped her off this morning! Thank God for small miracles. :)

Times Have Changed

I remember the days when I would wear high heels shoes 5 days a week for 8 - 12 hours at a time. Oh how times have changed! Those days are far behind me. This past week has been a rude awakening to my feet which are used to flip flops. By the time Thursday rolled around, I had blisters forming on both feet in several spots even though I had switched to flats. At least Friday was jeans day and I could wear sandals! I think shoe shopping for some comfortable shoes is in my very near future. I'm sure my feet will toughen back up soon enough, but for now, it's miserable.

Minor Panic

I had a minor panic yesterday. Emma did not do as well on Tuesday as she did on Monday. She didn't eat breakfast at all, only ate some of her lunch and took less than a one hour nap! When I picked her up she looked so sleepy. I was in panic mode because all I could think was that Monday was a fluke and she was now miserable all day long. In my mind, it was like she thought Monday was just a one time thing and then it would be over. But then the next day when we dropped her off again, it sunk in that this was her new reality.

I realize now that this scenario is probably not realistic because I'm not sure an 18 month old could go through this thought process (although you never know!). Instead, she was probably just trying to adjust to getting up earlier, eating and napping at different times and being away from her mommy most of the day. I think that is much more likely. And that was reinforced today when I picked her up and her teachers said that she did so much better. She ate all of her breakfast and most of her lunch and took almost a two hour nap on her nap mat. Her demeanor was playful and sweet and she interacted well with other children. Yay!

I know some days will be better than others just like they were when she was with me all day long. My panic has subsided (for now) and I'm so thankful she did well today. I'm praying she continues this trend!

Beginning of Beautiful Relationships

Today was the day! The first day of Emma going back to daycare. She has been out for 10 months so although I knew she'd eventually adjust, I was worried about that adjustment period.

Here she is as we arrived at school:


And here we are walking in as daddy lugs all of her stuff and takes a snapshot:


It turns out that I had nothing to worry about! Her teachers said she did amazing and made lots of new friends. Of course there were a few times where she was fussy but they said they would expect that with such a new schedule and surroundings. She is also on the meal plan for the first time and it is such a weight off my shoulders not to have to worry about her breakfast or lunch. It was always stressful for me to make sure she had enough vegetables, fruits, grain, etc each day. Today on the menu they had french toast for breakfast, fish sticks with baked beans, carrots and fruit for lunch and then pretzels for a snack. They said she was a good eater (shocker) and ate all of her breakfast and almost all of her lunch.

Another adjustment I was worried about was that they don't sleep in cribs during naptime in this classroom. They sleep on mats. It was hard to picture Emma napping on a confined space with no barriers around her since she squirms and rolls all over her crib. We laid it out on Saturday to introduce it to her so she'd at least be familiar with it...and well, you could say she took to it pretty well...

She LOVED it! When Josh and I went into the kitchen, she followed behind us with her nap mat in tow. Then she proceeded to lay it out and lay back down on it. We put it in her crib during her nap on Sunday so that she would understand that she was supposed to sleep on it. I guess it worked because they said that not only did Emma go right to sleep with no help, but she slept the whole two hours and the teachers had to wake her. She said Emma did not want to wake up which I wasn't surprised at (she gets her need for sleep from me!). She normally sleeps about 2.5 hours at home.

All in all a success! And my week is starting off well too. I'm going through my own adjustment period though and I can only hope that mine goes as smoothly as Emma's!

First Day - DONE!

Today was my first day back at work. It was surreal while at the same time comfortable. Sometimes it was as if I had never left even though I have been gone for ten months. I am glad that the beginning of the pay cycle began on a Friday, because it meant I would only have a one day work week and then have the entire weekend to spend with Emma and Josh. The day went by fairly quickly and it was great catching up with all of my old coworkers. There is a lot of work that lies ahead in the coming weeks, but I think everything is going to go smoothly.

Although it will be extremely hard to be away from Emma, I know that this is the right direction and path for me. I know that even though I am a tax manager now, I will always be Emma's mom first. I know that I will think of her throughout every day and miss her more than she'll ever know. But I also know that this will be an amazing experience for her and she will be in an environment where she can flourish, learn and make new friends. I can't wait to see what lies ahead for my whole family and I thank God for all the blessings in my life and this new opportunity.

Quality Time

I'm trying to squeeze in quality time with Emma before I start back to work on Friday. So today we just stayed at home to relax and play. Here is a peak into our day.

Today was a great day because we had no agenda and nowhere to be. Since we had time, I made her favorite breakfast -- cheesy eggs and toast. She gobbled it right up and then asked for more. But if I made her another one she wouldn't have eaten lunch!

She recently has become obsessed with my makeup. She saw me putting it on earlier this week and now she always wants to go play with it. I caught her this morning with my makeup and brushes. Thankfully she can't actually open any of the makeup, so for now she just acts like she is putting it on. She had so much fun playing with it and then putting it all into a bag and taking it all back out. Now my stuff is strewn all over the closet, but it made her so happy that I didn't care.




We also had a good time playing with her Slinky and all her toys:


And then she figured out that she could crawl through her table. So she did it over:


And over again:


Another thing that she is obsessed with lately is putting socks on her hands. Don't ask me why, but drinking her milk the other day with her socks on her hands and her pink hat on her head made her a very happy girl.

Movies: Take Two

The countdown begins to my first day of work which is Friday! I only have a few days left so I'm trying to squeeze in some fun. So today me and Emma went back to the movies and saw 'Monsters versus Aliens.' It was supposed to start at 10:00 but they didn't start rolling until 10:15! Don't they understand that there is a room full of children and we wanted to get the show on the road? I thought we might have to leave before it even started but thankfully when the lights went down and the music started, Emma became very still and interested.

Here are Emma, Colton & Lily ready for the show to begin:


She really loved the popcorn but she didn't want me to help her hold it. Anytime she noticed my hand touching it, she pushed it away. She wants to do everything all by herself.


We pose for a quick picture as Emma shovels in popcorn:


In the end she lasted through about an hour of the movie. I thought that was pretty good. It was fun, free and something different that we could do with our friends. Definitely well worth it!

7 Year Itch?

Nope - not here! Just 7 wonderful years of marriage. I can't believe seven years have come and gone, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend them with anyone else! Josh, you are the husband I always prayed for and the amazing father to our daughter that I knew you would be. Thank you for loving me and putting up with me. I look forward to all the years to come.

Seven years ago today:

Monkey See, Monkey Do

In the set of food and pots that we got to go with Emma's new kitchen were two round sausage patties. Last night Josh was playing with her and (don't ask me why) he decided it was a good idea to stick one of the patties to his forehead. I could hear her laughing from the other room. She thought daddy was so funny. I told her not to encourage him but she wanted him to do it over and over. Right afterward, it was dinner time. She had some cucumber and THIS is what I glanced over to see...Emma with a piece of cucumber stuck to her forehead:

This monkey stuck that cucumber on her forehead and thought it was the funniest thing. She mimics everything we do now!

At the same dinner, we gave her some watermelon. She was so happy about it but she was SO messy by the end of it.


Today we went to Martina's for a day of fun in the water. Here are the kiddies in the pool:


Then shortly thereafter, here is where Emma ended up. She felt it was too rough in the pool with the boys going down the slide. She was much more comfortable on solid ground.


I like this picture because from their faces, it looks like they've been caught doing something bad.


I took this picture during dinner tonight. I cut her corn off the cob for simplicity and she ate nearly all of it. But when she saw me eating it on the cob, she just HAD to have mine. She was proud of herself for holding it like a big girl. Priceless.

Big Girl Toys

When I was a little girl I had a Strawberry Shortcake stove and fridge. My Aunt Vanessa kept it all these years for me and gave it back to me recently so that Emma could play with it. How sweet and special!

Emma adores the kitchen and we play in it all the time. I went and bought her a little set that had some pots, pans, and groceries in it. She already had the shopping cart, so now she continuously takes things out of the fridge and puts them in her cart and then vice versa.

Here she is on 4th of July weekend playing in it. She always goes for the apple juice first!



I think it held up quite nicely for being about 28ish years old, don't you?


Mimi & Papa got Emma this couch (which is surprisingly comfortable even for adults!) and a basketball goal.

She loves lounging on it at night and drinking her milk.


It also folds up so she can sit on it like a chair. This was after her check up appointment yesterday. She had to get 3 shots so I let her watch a little Mickey before her nap to relax her. She looks pretty comfy to me.


Do you think we have enough 'basketballs'? These are just the ones downstairs!


Now the downstairs is full of big girl toys. As they get bigger, so do their toys!

18 Month Stats

We went for Emma's 18 month check up yesterday. She is doing great and on track with all developmental areas. Here are the stats:

Weight: 25 lbs. 9 oz. (50-75th percentile)
Height: 32 in. (50-75th percentile)
Head: 19 1/4 in.(95th percentile)

I couldn't believe that she only weighed in at 25 pounds! She looks and FEELS heavier than that. The nurse who weighed her couldn't believe it either, but she double checked. Emma is just very sturdy I suppose. :)

No matter how much time passes between visits, Emma NEVER forgets how there is a clear jar of tongue depressors (to her it is just a big jar of sticks) on the counter. As we walk in the door to the exam room, she is already asking for one. I always give in and eventually give her two because she wants one for each hand. This time she got greedy and wanted another one but I said, "Emma, you already have one for each hand. You don't need another one." So do you know what that little girl did? She handed one to me and then proceeded to ask for another one. I thought it was pretty clever of her to do that. She was like 'now I only have one - so can I have another now?' haha Just for the record, I didn't give in. I didn't want to start a chain reaction of her wanting 10 the next time we went in.

Children's Museum

Emma and I spent the day with Papa on Friday and went to the Children's Museum. Emma had a fantastic time exploring everything it had to offer.

I had to tear her away from the WaterWise exhibit. She was soaked all down the right side of her body by the time I dragged her away.








On the Pirate Ship looking overboard:



Turning the big wheel on the ship:



The pirate ship even had a kitchen inside of it...which of course, Emma enjoyed opening and closing the cabinets fifty times before we could move on.


Then we headed to the grocery store. It was fully equipped with grocery carts, baskets, foods of all kind, and two checkout aisles.



We finished in the infant/toddler area. They had several of these beach balls that Emma collected and brought to me.


These chairs were the perfect size for her. She backed right into it and sat for a few minutes while she played.


A little boy was throwing a ball up in the air and Emma thought it was the most hilarious thing. This is her laughing at him each time he threw it up. (These are also good shots of the adorable outfit that my mom made for her.)




Then we headed to lunch where she had a fun time with some crayons:




We ended the afternoon with a cupcake...it was delicious!!


Then she slept for 2.5 hours and afterward we headed to the pool for a little while before we met Johnathan, Blythe & Jay for dinner.

Aren't Emma and Jay cute?


Here they are in their hats:


Thanks Dad for a fun day!! We miss everybody already!