Fun at the museum

Emerson and her best friend Hayden played at Kidspace last week. Kidspace is part of the science museum here in Fort Worth (temporarily in the Cowgirl museum due to construction). It is the big indoor play area geared toward toddlers...A grocery store, house, trains, cars and more. We had never been before but heard wonderful things about it.



I was fearful that Emerson would be overwhelmed and try to stick near me the entire time and not really enjoy what the experience had to offer. WRONG-O! She took off. Literally SQUEALING with joy. It was absolutely hillarious. She could not stay in one place. She kept running from one activity to the next and then back again.


I tried to take some pictures but it was really hard. So, here are a few just for the record.

Mommy advice needed: Potty Training and Pacifiers

Ok, I need some advice from moms with toddlers and older. Anything would be great, words of wisdom, recommended articles or books... anything at all. Here is the deal:

Pacifiers: Emerson is allowed a paci in her bed at night and naptimes and *sometimes* in the car for long trips. It really is just a sleep aid. I am totally fine with this because she does not use it during the day and therefore I have been in no hurry to get rid of it. However, in the past few days, she is showing a stronger attachment, ie. throwing a tantrum when it is time to wake up and leave the paci behind. That being said, I think it might be time to get rid of them. Advice? Should I wait and see if this passes? Should I take them away cold turkey? Anything?????

My big hesitation with taking them away now is that she is going to be in a major transition in the next couple months- starting school 2 days a week. I am afraid that she might *need* it then to emotionally get through the transition...

Potty Training: First of all let me state that I am NOT ready to potty train. I did not think that Emerson would be ready for a good 6-12 more months. In fact a couple of weeks ago I read a magazine article on potty training readiness and became even more convinced that Emy was no where near being ready. That being said, she has peepeed in her potty 6 times in the last 4 days. We let her sit on it before bathtime at night and she has been going and then a couple of other times I caught her pulling at her diaper in the middle of the day and when I asked her if she wanted to go potty she said yes. Sure enough, each time she sat on the potty and peed. So, what the heck??? Is this normal? Do I just roll with this casually or should I really pursue it this early?

My big hesitation here is that she can't (won't) talk yet and therefore can't verbalize when she needs to go to the bathroom.

Any advice or encouragement would be great!

Facebook

For anyone that might care, I finally took the plunge and joined. So, if you are into that sort of thing, look me up. Oh, and I can use some tips on how to navigate- it is very confusing. I feel like I keep going in circles and circles... ssgebhardt@gmail.com is the email I am listed under.

And for fun, here is a random pic of Emy and I swimming the other day. This is her fake "smile for the camera" smile.

Music Class

Emerson loves music class. In class she is quiet and shy and generally keeps to herself. Don't let that fool you though, she soaks it all in and save the "show" for home. At home she does the motions to songs, dances to the music from the classes CD and does a lot of the repetitive things that they teach. She gets so excited about music.

We just finished our 3rd semester. I finally remembered the camera. These pictures are not the greatest, but they show her engaged in class and playing with the instruments, which is the point. Basically this post is just for record keeping and those that want to see new pictures of Emerson.

PS- What is going on with blogger lately? It won't let me cut and paste or move pictures around anymore...anyone else having a problem? If you know something- please pass the info on.

Budding Artist

Emerson got to play with fingerpaints for the first time today. To say that she loved it would be a vast understatement. She was completely content playing for at least an hour which is an eternity in toddler-world. It was so precious to watch.

I got out the paper, paints, paper towels and paper plates. I stripped her down and explained her the "rules" and showed her how it worked. She watched patiently and nodded that she understood. When it was her turn, she was a little hesitant at first. Then she went to town.

I honestly thought that she would like it for the first 5 minutes but then get distracted like she does with crayons. Nope, this was very different. She did two pictures and really wanted to keep going. Things were getting a little crazy (ie- paint all over the place) towards the end so mommy finally called it quits and threw her in the bath to clean up.

PS- Blogger is being weird and won't let me rearrange the pictures so these are posted in reverse order...

Drama with a capital "D"

Emerson has not had her picture professionally taken since she was 6 months old. Oops, I sure did mean to do that every 3-4 months but somehow she is already 20 months and we missed quite a bit of time. Oh well.

I finally got the appointment made. I knew that it was going to be tough for Emerson due to her extreme shyness. I knew that she was not likely to smile. I really was just doing this to get some new pics for the family and move on. I had no idea that it would go down like it did.

This morning Emerson slept until 9:10!!!! What?!?!?! I took that as a good sign because she would be bright eyed and happy for our 10am photoshoot. She woke up in a great mood. (bonus). She quickly ate breakfast, dressed and we were out the door. We got to the studio early and there were several other kiddos having pics taken. Emy liked watching them and playing with the toys in the lobby. At this point I figure she might just do okay because she seemed to be warming up to the atmosphere- I mean she was wondering around the lobby by herself and everything. Wrong.

Elisabeth, the photographer, came out to get us and we went back into the area. Emy was cautious but okay. Then everything collapsed. You would have thought a stranger was trying to kidnap her. Emerson started screaming in terror. Why? Because poor Elisabeth put out a little chair for Emy to sit in. (Keep in mind that Elisabeth did not so much as touch or come near Emy in any way). Emerson kept trying to grab my arm and drag me out the door. She kept screaming and pointing to the door. This went on for 15+ minutes. At one point I just about caved and walked out. Her eyes were red, face splotchy and snot running from her nose--- perfect look for pictures.

Elisabeth must be an angel because she just sat there while Emy screamed. The only thing that got her to calm down was a soccer ball from the prop kit. After about 30 minutes of playing "soccer" Emerson was all smiles- OFF camera. She is such a stinker. The second she is off the backdrop she is happy, playing and laughing, even with stranger Elisabeth. Then we put her on the backdrop to take a quick shot and Emy either stares blankly or starts crying again. Okay, back off the backdrop- all smiles, back on- tears. Back and forth.

I must admit, it might have been the longest hour of my life- yes, we tried to get a good pic for an hour. I did end up buying a couple of poses-mainly because I felt like I had to with what they put up with... of course none of them have smiles though.

I will try to post the pics later when I get the energy to scan them in. Just wanted to share the drama.

Fourth of July Recap

For us, the Fourth of July is a week-long holiday. We headed down to San Antonio on Tuesday to spend some extra time with family. We celebrated the 4th with the 3rd annual family trip to the river. This year was extra packed with people as our sweet nieces were in town for the festivities too. We took so many pictures, but here are a few cute ones for now.

Emy enjoying her first ice cream cone.

Messy and so good!

Sitting in one of her favorite chairs at the grandparents.

Posing with the dog

Patriotic beads

Naked baby- It was too hot for anything else

Family dinner on the 4th.

Enjoying corn on the cob all by herself. Again, messy but so good.

Taking a break in the "cool" tub after dinner.

Modeling Grandad's hat

Hope you had a wonderful 4th!