Zoo fun

We decided to forgo church and have some much needed family time on Sunday. The weather was perfect, so on the spur of the moment we decided to go to the zoo. It really was a great time. We went when the zoo first opened so all the animals were out and frisky. Emerson had a blast.

All dressed up and ready to go

First stop was the gorillas and monkeys. The gorillas have a huge exhibit area but when they are fed they go into this little play room area. Anyways, look how close this guy was to the class. It was incredible- he was just staring right at us.

Hi gorilla!

The crocodiles. They were so still that Emerson didn't understand what we were looking at until they started swimming around. Then she thought it was pretty cool.Checking out the zebras from daddy's shoulders

Family photo

Riding the carousel for the first time. Emerson thought this was the greatest thing. She thought it was hillarious that we kept going round and round and would see daddy at the same spot every time.

Copycat

Just a quick little note...Emerson is in a copycat phase, especially when it comes to eating. It is great because she wants to try everything that we are eating. The funny part is when it is something that she genuinly does not like. Take mushrooms for example. If Steve and I are eating mushrooms for dinner, she will beg for them. Then I give her one and she puts it into her mouth and then instantly spits it back out. The funny part is that since we are eating them she thinks that they must be good, so she keeps trying. She will put them in and spit them out like 5 or 6 times before giving up. It is pretty cute.

Crayons

We have been working on crayons. Slowly but surely Emerson is grasping the purpose, how to hold them, the different colors they make, etc. Well, earlier today we had the jumbo coloring book and crayons out. She was not that into it so we stopped.

After naptime she was having a snack in her play area and I was on the computer. She was awfully quiet. I look and she is coloring with the stuff that was still out from earlier. She finally got it! She was so proud of herself too.

I went back to the computer for a few minutes. After I finished what I was working on, I got down on the floor with her to color and she gives me a big smile... her teeth, lips and mouth are covered in crayon bits. She instantly started giggling as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. Apparently she had finished her snack and decided to try crayon.

Purple was her color of choice. Go frogs!

I just can't relate

Seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety are normal parts of a child's development. I know this. Emerson's kicked in around 6 months- right on cue according to the "books". However, according to the "books" it should have gone away and then come back at 9mo, 12mo, 15mo and so on...Emerson's has not gone away. In fact it has gotten worse.

If you were a fly on the wall of our house, you would never know it. She is bubbly, silly, chatty- basically a typical toddler. However, you bring someone new into the mix or you put us outside of the home and she freezes- no smiling, no talking, clinging to my leg and often in tears. In fact when I went to the doctor last week to get a steroid shot from a sinus infection, she screamed and literally clawed at me the entire time. No one even touched her. She was in my arms the entire time.


I just don't understand. It has been really difficult to me to see other kids happy and interactive and then to see Emerson in such a state. It is hard not to think that I have done something wrong to cause this. Many times I have thought that it is because we are not out enough- she is not in Gymboree, she is not in mothers-day-out, etc. We do plenty of things though. We are in a music class and she goes to the church nursery (for as long as they can handle her). We have play dates and go shopping. So, we are certainly not hermits.


I want her to enjoy kids and fun activities, not be terrified of them. I want her to venture out, not cling to me. In fact, I truly think that this is an underlying issue in her not walking. Anyways, in the past few days I am coming to grips with the fact, that it is not me or our schedule, it is just her personality. She is just shy.


It is really hard for me to relate though. It is hard for me to not get frustrated with her because I am not shy and I don't understand her feelings or what she is going through. I know I need to be sensitive to her while at the same time encouraging her to try new things and venture out, but I am not sure how to balance that fine line.


Any advice?

Here is proof that we do stuff. These are pics from a playdate last week.

Emy and Rylie (yes, Ry is wearing a bathing suit)

The gang- Emy, Ry, Hayden and Makenna

Have a great week.

Unimaginable

Can you imagine taking your child to the pediatrician for an ear infection and black eye only to find out that she has cancer and then within 3 weeks she is gone? It is completely unimaginable. That is what Cora's parents have gone through in the past month. They lost their baby girl. Not even a year old.

In memory of her short and precious life, a playground is being built in her honor at Grace Community Church in Newton, Kansas. Tons of people are raising money to support this cause. A good portion of the etsy community is helping too. I have added a special listing to support Cora's playground.

Monday is the kickoff of the benefit sale. If you search etsy using "Cora" you will find all the items that are going towards the playground. There is a bunch of cute stuff at great prices. Pick something out for this amazing cause. If it were your child lost, wouldn't you want others supporting you?

I need advice!

How the heck do you drop a morning nap? I am so frustrated!

Here is our current situation: Emerson is waking up about 6:15am and then shows signs of being tired around 9-9:15. I let her nap for about 45 minutes. She is a little reluctant to fall asleep, but when she does I always have to wake her up when the nap is over. So, she is up by 10am. At 1pm I put her down for her nap (lately it is a little harder to get her down, but not too tough) and she is getting up, mostly on her own, between 3:30 and 4pm. Then bath at 7:30 and bedtime at 8pm.

The signs that I think she is ready to drop her morning nap are the fact that she is waking so early in the morning- she used to be a 7-7:30 am waker. Also, she is a little harder to get down for naps.

So, I need help as to how to achieve this. If you are a mom who has older kids and you have been through this, PLEASE post a comment with some advice.

My biggest question is how to kick-it all off. I mean, if she is waking up at 6am, there is no way that she will stay awake until noon or 12:30. So, how can I get her to sleep in a little later so that we can get the ball rolling?

Thanks!

Update and Feb goal

First of all, a big congratulations to Amanda and Curtis! They welcomed to their family a new baby girl on Tuesday. She is so precious. You can see her here.

Some stuff that Emerson has been up to lately:

- She is off of all liquids, meaning she wants nothing to do with milk, water, juice, nothing. It has been really fun trying to get her to drink something. She must be sneaking it in somewhere though because she is still having wet diapers.

-She has learned to "tickle". I use the quotes because it is not really tickling, but cute still the same. Here is what it looks like. I start tickling her around her neck while saying "tickle Emy" and then I stop and say "tickle mommy" and she proceeds to touch my neck with a sly look on her face. Of course, I start laughing as if it really tickles and she thinks this is hillarious. Cute.

-Emerson is all about the salty foods. She will choose a goldfish over a cookie any day. Definitely gets that from daddy seeing as I could have an IV of sugar and it still would not be enough for me. (speaking of, it is time for my dr. pepper and cookie snack)

-She is still not walking

-She is trying to give up the morning nap! NOOOOOOOO! When will I ever shower?

So, on to my Febraury goal. I am really stumped here. I have so many things on my goals list that I cannot narrow it down. I guess I will choose organization because it is fun, albeit expensive. While we have a ton of things that need to be organized the ones in the biggest need of organization that are causing me to lose sleep are the hall closet, the guest bathroom and the sewing room. I have "before" pictures to show you, but I absolutely refuse to show them until I have the projects completed. They are horrifying.

So, in February I am going to organize these things...oh and DO OUR TAXES.

Yes, the faster you get taxes out of the way, the faster you get a refund (hopefully). So, I will get our taxes done this month too. This will be interesting since I have to do them for my small business. I have never done that before, so if anyone has any tips or websites to look to for that, let me know.

This is how Emy holds a phone when she talks

Blue eyes

This is the cutest outfit I have ever created. I am in love with it. You will likely see it for sale in the shop toon.

Happy hump day.