Growth Spurt

This kid must be going through a growth spurt. Let me give you the run down of what she ate for dinner one night this weekend:

-several generous handfuls of green beans
-an entire egg
-a piece of cheese
-an whole box of raisins
-and a bag of bunnies (which are basically the equivalent of organic goldfish)
-still managed to drink down all of her milk that night too

I would even be full after all of that! Josh was feeding her that night and he said that she just kept asking for more. He was scrambling trying to find stuff because he was not prepared for her to eat that much. It is a strange array of foods but it didn't seem to hinder her eating in the least!

LOVE!

I have told Emma that I love her several times a day even dating back to when she was still in the womb. After 20 months, she finally said it back! We were sitting on the floor of the kitchen playing with the fridge magnets last night (I know this makes you jealous of what we do at night!). I said, "Emma, I love you." It was music to my ears when she turned to me and said it back. I was alone in the room with her but Josh was a few rooms away and he yelled, "I heard that!!" I was excited that somebody had heard it and was able to corroborate this. She gave me a ton of hugs afterward too. Such a sweet baby girl!

She's not only sweet to me and Josh, but to Nala too. They absolutely adore each other! Here is a picture from tonight - she is giving her Nala a sweet kiss. Please notice how puckered up those lips are.

A Little Advice...

...Do NOT underestimate your toddler's desire or ability to open your mascara. Here is how I learned the hard way:

I was running late this morning (shocking, I know) and I scooped Emma up in my arms. I noticed that Emma had my mascara but I in the midst of my mad dash I told myself that she couldn't open it. It had to have been less than 10 seconds when I looked down and saw black ALL over her hands, face, and clothes. How did she get it open and all over her so quickly? She gets that destructive side from her father. After a lot of scrubbing, we both required clothes changes. And apparently I missed several spots on myself because her daycare teacher told me I had a few "battle scars" left on my neck. After cleaning that off, I had to deliver some returns to a client. Thankfully he also has a toddler so it was no surprise to him when he saw I had mascara all over the back of my arm. Embarrassing!

It was one of those mornings that makes you feel like you should crawl back into bed and try again the next day. I think tomorrow I will get Josh to drop her off. In the meantime, I decided to swing by and get a pick-me-up on my way to work:

Going Greek

This weekend we went to the Greek Festival downtown. They had authentic Greek food and live Greek music and dancing. We decided to try it out...

Since we waited until the last day to go, all the gyros and baklava were sold out! We decided to try something new, so we got some loukoumathes which are fried doughnuts dipped in honey. Tasty!!

Then the music and dancing started. Emma is never this still. She sat like this for at least 10 minutes and watched.

Then, as she felt more comfortable, she got down and got as close to the stage as possible:

Now she was really into it and she was trying to move her feet like the women on the stage.

Once the women were done with their set, Emma took it upon herself to climb up on stage and take a go at the dancing:

Then some other children also got up and she quickly left me and ran towards them:

All she saw were friends. At first the girls were a little unsure of Emma because she was so much smaller...

But within minutes, the girls were literally fighting over who would get to hold her hands during the songs:

At the end of the day, she made friends, had some new interesting food, worked off all the doughnuts, and had a great time. Sounds like a good afternoon to me! Next year though, I plan to go in time to get a gyro and some baklava! And we'll also have to take John (the Godfather) with us because he is actually Greek...so maybe he can show Emma a few new moves.

The Celebration

As an update to my earlier post, Josh's doctor visit went well. He isn't contagious and he should be better in a day or two. His sickness is due to all the dust at the job site in Dubai along with the extreme temperatures there. He is already feeling better and by tomorrow he should even be back on our time zone.

Here are some pictures from our night:


Emma helped Daddy blow out the candles:


The Happy Birthday plate that we use each year:


The cake:


I think Emma enjoyed it more than anybody else!


Here she is saying "more" with her words and her sign language. She REALLY wanted to get her point across.



Of course you can't have cookie cake without washing it down with some milk:


Happy Birthday, Josh. I hope you had a great 30th birthday! LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday!

Today is Josh's birthday and he's turning the Big 3-0! Happy Birthday!!

He has been working in Dubai for over a week and we were overjoyed to see him last night when he finally got home. It's so great to have him back in the United States.

Since Emma got the refrigerator magnets, she and I decided to put them to good use. Isn't Emma advanced in her spelling skills? :)

Unfortunately, he caught a pretty bad cold while he was overseas. Therefore, he is currently at the doctor's office. This is probably only the third time that I have ever known him to go to a doctor in the nearly 11 years that we've been together...so I KNOW he must not feel well. He was starting to feel a little better by this morning but he wanted to go to the doctor to make sure he didn't catch something really contagious that he could spread to Emma. Please pray that his symptoms clear up in time to celebrate his birthday a little bit.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH! EMMA AND I LOVE YOU!

Potty Update

Emma has been doing great with the potty! She goes nearly every day now at least once. It may not sound exciting to you, but it is extremely encouraging for us! She understands the whole concept now. She has begun to realize the feeling that she has when she has to go and she tells us. She gets this deep thought look on her face and then points to her diaper...that is Emma code for "potty time!"

She is also talking up a storm. She picks up several words a day now. Her favorite thing right now is to make an elephant sound where she does the noise and raises her arm up and down like the trunk of an elephant. So cute!

My nephew, Jay, called this weekend and when Emma heard my mom say, "Bye, Jay" she mimicked her right away. She started waiving bye-bye and said "Bye Jay, Bye Jay." I love that she's talking in sentences now instead of just a word here and there.

Jaime came over last night to visit and when she left, Emma said, "Bye Jaime." Of course when the door closed behind Jaime, Emma started whimpering and crying. She loves her! I had to distract her with allowing her to push the buttons on the thermostat...the girl loves buttons!