School School School

So, today was meet-the-teacher at Emerson's new school. It went really well. Her teacher, Miss Tracie, seems really nice and seems to really, really know what she is doing. The class sizes at Emy's school are really small and I love that. Her class only has 5 kids in it, herself, 3 other girls and one lonely boy...Although she played with the boy the entire time today so maybe he won't be so lonely.


Emerson was on the waitlist to get into this school for 14 months. I am told that it is the best. It is also the cheapest- sweet! I am thrilled that she finally got in and even more thrilled that she will be going 2 days a week instead of 1 day. I truly believe that 2 days for her will make for an easier transition than 1 would.


See, the thing is that I have to keep reminding myself how thrilled I am because inside I am FREAKING OUT. No, I am not one of those moms who cannot leave her child. I am fine with having time away from Emy, in fact I really, really like the time away. However, time away from her normally means she is with Steve or a grandparent whom she loves. No big deal.


Anyone who has read this blog more than once knows that Emerson has a big problem with seperation anxiety coupled with the fact that she is terribly shy. The thought of her in a new classroom with a bunch of strangers screaming in fear because she thinks mommy has left her brings tears to my eyes- literally. That is the thought that keeps popping in my head. Over and over. Every day. Everywhere. I can't make it go away.


I try to fill my mind with all the good things about school like how this will likely encourage her to talk more, that she will have so much fun playing games and learning new things, that she will eventually come out of her shell a little and learn to trust others. There are SO MANY great things to come from this. I know she is the perfect age to start. It is perfect timing for our family. It is the school I have wanted her to get into. Everything is perfect except the fact that I am FREAKING OUT.


All I can do is pray. Lord, please don't let her cry to long when I leave. Please let her adjust quickly so the crying does not last weeks and weeks. Please give me the strength to just walk away like the teachers say to. And most of all please help me not to cry in front of Emerson...that would quite possibly be the last straw for her.


And for fun, here is Emerson smiling because she just got a handful of nacho cheese doritos- as if you could not tell from her crusty teeth!

9 random things

There have been so many moments with Emerson in the past couple weeks that I have wanted to blog about. I wish I had a great excuse but the truth is I just keep forgetting. By the end of the day my brain is fried and I am exhausted. Does anyone else feel like this?

Anyways, I am going to try to remember as many of those moments as possible and put them all into this post:) I apologize ahead of time about the randomness.

1. Emerson finally figured out how to say "hi". She is so proud of herself and keeps peaking around corners to say "hi" and then runs out of the room again only to come right back in to say "hi" again.

2. She is really into opening and slamming doors right now. I really hope that this is just a phase that she likes because she just learned to open and shut. It is pretty bareable except for one particular door. There have already been several time outs from this one door.

3. Emys favorite song is "The wheels on the bus". She is learning the motions. Her favorite motion is the babies crying "wah wah wah" and rubbing her eyes. She runs around saying "wah wah wah" and then follows that immediately with "ssh ssh ssh" (the mommies). It is really cute

While I was typing about the song a door just shut.

4. She is still in love with her baby. There were a couple weeks that baby had a little break but it is definitely back to baby. Emerson's current favorite activity with baby is swinging with her. Since our new swingset has 2 infant swings, Emy sits in one and baby sits in the other.

5. Emerson is starting school next week. She will be going Wednesdays and Fridays from 9-12. I am starting to freak out. There will (hopefully) be an entire post about this tomorrow.

6. We finished swim class today. Praise the Lord. It was a complete beatdown. I will be thinking long and hard about taking it next summer.

7. As I type this Emerson is sitting in the rocking chair, watching Sesame Street, sucking her thumb for what I think is the first time. I hope she doesn't suck until she is much older than she should (like her mommy).

8. Emerson has always been a great eater. Loved to try new foods, enjoyed foods that most kids didn't, ate all her meals, etc. However, she is now a typical toddler- picking at her meals and won't eat anything unless you bribe her. I can make up a meal of her favorite foods and she will just pick at it. For example, for lunch today she ate 1/2 of a chicken nugget, 2 slices of cheese and 1 bite of peas. This really annoys me but I know it will pass and she will eat when she is hungry.

9. Emy had her first bank-teller lollipop today. Of course, it was blue- the messiest of all colors. And, because I cannot post without pics of Emy, here are some pictures of the moment...

Tillery Park

We went to a great new park today. This place was so great. It is huge and set up so kids can exlpore over and under everything. There are also little surprises hidden everywhere- like tic tac toe, mirrors in tunnels, paintings, bridges, even musical equipment. The best part is that the entire park is in the shade!

This is the view from the park

Uncle Scott

My brother-in law came to visit this weekend. Emerson has only seen him about 6 times in her life because until June, he lived in China.

Well, he moved back to the states in June to start grad school this fall. With him being back home, Emerson has seen him several times this summer. Each visit has been with the grandparents and others around, so it was never one-on-one time. Emerson never really warmed up to Scott--- until this weekend!

Emerson warmed up to Scott almost immediately this time. She has been trying so hard to say him name. She runs the S and the C together and it sounds like she is trying to hock a loogie. It is hillarious.

Emy got to spend lots of time with Scott this weekend and they were like best buds. Everything he did she wanted to copy. She is just smitten with him. I am so thankful that they had this time together because Scott left early this morning for Long Island to start grad school.

Trying to take a decent picture outside of Joe T's is too distracting

Bad picture but cute moment- reading stories Friday night

New Greatness

Last weekend was like Christmas for Emerson. Some of our friends had an old little tykes outdoor playset and said that if we came to get it we could have it. So, we went out there and spent the morning with them last Saturday.

Emerson had a blast playing with their kids, especially their almost 5-year old girl who has tons of baby and princess toys. When Emy walked into her room, she was squealing with joy and didn't know what to play with first. It was heaven to her. She totally wore herself out- within 5 minutes of leaving their house, she was fast asleep.

When we came home Steve assembled the playset in the backyard so that Emy could play with it after she woke up. To say that Emerson loves the playset is an understatement. She is in complete bliss. Since them everytime we tell Emerson taht we are going to go outside and play she screams and runs for the door. It is precious. John and Kat- if you are reading this...Thank you so much for the playset and all the other toys. Emerson loves them and has definitely been enjoying them all.

New Pictures

Ready for picture overload???? Our friend Amber took some 21-month pictures of Emerson yesterday. Of course, we did not get too many smiles, but Amber still got over 150 amazing shots! If you live in FTW and need a great photographer- let me know!

The many faces of Emerson

Compliments of Granmom...