More Pretend City Photos!

Water is always a hit. The marina area had boats and ducks and fish. The kids could use nets to catch fish or steer the boats through obstacles. Emma, of course, manned a squirt gun for as long as possible and thoroughly enjoyed shooting water to make the water wheel spin.


Emma was at her happiest when she got to sit in the art studio and just color away. That's my girl. She loves to "make crafts Mama!"


"Look what I made!" ~ Emma got to create her own Olympic Medal. :)


"No! Its MY medal Mommy!"


Painting on the plexiglass wall.


Taking a break before deciding which part of the city to explore next...


Yep, Emma definitely knows what she likes to shop for. Even when the food is fake, she wants fruit and ketchup! Not necessarily together or anything. They are just both items she thinks we should have in the house at all times.


The ONLY kind of dog Emma is comfortable with! Very comfortable, apparently...

Pretend City!

Gassing up to head off on another road trip maybe?


My pretty girl! She was actually on stage here playing with the musical instruments.


My little girl taking after her Grandpa she never even met! Emma really liked playing with all the buttons and dials on the radio switchboard!


Baby Bobby Fisher planning her next move...


We had a breakfast of tea and egg soup!


Emma really enjoyed watching the baby chicks in the incubator.


"Here, Mommy. This will only hurt for a minute." ~ Emma giving me a shot in the wrist... Man, my arm looks weird here!


Emma did NOT like having all her guts on the outside!

We headed out to Irvine today to meet up with some of our playgroup friends and check out a place called "Pretend City." Its a miniaturized city where everything is scaled down for kids to play. They have a store, a construction site, a farm, a doctor's office, an art studio, a post office, and even a beach! It was really cute, although a bit overpriced at $10 a person. Emma was in a bit of a mood again today too (surprise, surprise) so she seemed reluctant to really get into the play centers and just wanted to stick close by Mommy. Oh well. Maybe we can try again another day with TJ and Karen and maybe she will feel more liberated with her best bud by her side. We still had fun though. Any day spent hanging out with my girl is always a good day.

Emma's 1st Felony!!! (& a BF update)

I was loading Emma into the car this morning to head to daycare and she said, "Look at my pocket Mommy." This kid loves her pockets so I wasn't surprised and I distractedly commented, "Oh yes. How nice that you have a pocket." Then she giggled and again said, "Look INSIDE my pocket." I saw her pulling out some yellow fabric and I thought she had grabbed an extra headband on her way out the door. Then more fabric came out and I actually thought she had an extra pair of panties in her pocket. Then she pulled it out all the way and I saw that it was a little baby doll tee shirt I had never seen before. I asked her where she had gotten it and she proudly told me, "At school." Great. My kid's a thief. So we had a little talk on the way to school about how taking things that don't belong to us is not okay and how school toys have to stay at school. Then I told her that she was going to have to give it back to her teacher and say she was sorry when we got to school. Emma got kind of quiet then and, as we were getting out of the car, reached for me saying, "Mommy?" in a very uncertain voice. I told her it was ok. I loved her and her teachers still loved her and I would go with her to talk to Miss Janice. So we went inside and Emma handed the shirt to Janice and very quietly whispered, "I taked dis. I sorry." Miss Janice smiled at her, told her it was okay she had made a mistake, and thanked her for bringing it back. Then Emma smiled, kissed me, and ran off to go play. I couldn't believe she had actually swiped something, but the other part of me was proud of the way she accepted responsibility and actually seemed to feel a bit bad and apologized. The funny thing about that is that my current psychology classes have been stressing to us that current practice is NOT to have children apologize when they do something wrong because if we prompt them, then the apology is insincere. WHAT-EVER!!! I didn't agree with that philosophy when I was told it and I don't now either. How are kids supposed to learn remorse and how to remedy a situation if we don't explain it to them and show them how to make ammends? And this type of no-fault, feel-good parenting is why I keep having a class full of 12 year olds who take whatever they want whenever they want!

On a side note, Emma is not weaned. I guess I jumped the gun with the previous post. She had been off the boob for a week so I thought we were in the clear. Now she is asking again. I was going to try to hold her off, but have thought more about it and decided, why should I? I'm not offering, but if she's asking, then she must be needing something, whether its nutritional or comfort or whatever. And if she needs it, then so be it. We'll focus more on weaning as the time goes on. This stage won't last forever...

She's finally done...

Well, Emma is weaned. "Finally," I guess. Or so people like to say. I am okay with it, pretty much. I had always assumed I would be a very hands on Mom and, especially after Emma was here, I adopted a pretty AP style of parenting. Attachment theory just seemed to make the most sense to me. I have had no problem toting my little one around with me, carrying her or walking. We also co-slept and tried to do some alternative therapies, like chiropractic, when possible for her asthma & illnesses. And it has worked for us. Along with all this, she has been a breast fed baby. She never took a pacifier or had a blanky, she never developed a taste for formula or enjoyed a bottle. All she has ever wanted is just her "Mama milk." I've gotten some smart-alec remarks from people as Emma has gotten older, but I just figured I know what works best for my family and I'll BF her as long as we are both comfortable with it. Plus I figured she had to still be getting some of that "good stuff" that is so touted during their first year. I mean, why would breast milk just lose all its nutritive value just because the kid is older? Although she hasn't really been doing it for nourishment for quite some time. Its more of a bonding/ quiet/ wind down time before bed. But when Emma got sick last week she, for the first time EVER, did not want any "Mommy milk." Usually when she is sick, that is all she wants. This time, she just wanted to snuggle with me and drink tea. So I just did what we have been doing for months... don't deny, but don't offer either. And since I didn't offer the breast, she didn't ask. This has just been a developmentally remarkable month... Emma has weaned herself and been potty trained (mostly on her own too, with very little help from me) all within 5 weeks. It's been a week now since she last nursed. I know she was ready, and on most levels I was too. But there's a little part of me that is sad to see this last stage of babyhood end...

**Update... Well, as an old friend of mine used to say, "The only thing constant in life is change." Just when you think you have something figured out, life decides otherwise. So after posting this today, Emma asked for "Mama milk" again this evening. First time in a week. I told her, "Oh we don't do that anymore. It's all gone." She just looked at me and gave me that impish little grin of hers as she sang, "I just want some Mommy milk, pleee-eeese!" So I told her "Let's snuggle" and she did. Then she asked once again before she went to sleep and I again distracted her. I kind of feel bad about denying her this, but I just think it will set a bad precedent if we do this on and off, back and forth thing too long. She's been fine for a week, so we just need to continue...

I DO NOT love Southern California Weather!

I spoke too quickly earlier this week. I should have known what happens whenever our weather fluctuates this dramatically, this quickly.My kid gets sick. The same thing used to happen to me when I was her size and, luckily, I have outgrown most of it. Emma has not. She started wheezing a bit Tuesday night. By Wednesday afternoon daycare was calling me telling me that she was coughing so much, she couldn't even fall asleep for nap time. So I left work to bring Emma home and do a breathing treatment with her nebulizer. I decided to skip class that night as well so I could monitor her more closely and, by 1 am, she had a 102.7 degree fever. The fever has lasted on and off since then and is now accompanied by a runny nose and diarrhea. Now its the fever that always throws me for a loop. The wheezing, coughing, gagging, and subsequent vomiting (the latter of which we have had 6 bouts of today thus far) can all be explained by the asthma. But it seems that whenever she has a flare-up, it just lowers her immunity or something and she winds up having to fight off a virus as well. These past couple days have been somewhat rough around here. Emma stayed home Thursday and Friday but I am pretty much out of sick leave so Grandma watched her for me. Thank God for Moms and Grandmas! Where would we be without them??? Its such a relief to know that she is in such good hands when I can't be with her myself. So now we have just been snuggling in bed most of the evening as Emma tries to doze in between coughing fits. I feel so bad for my girl when she is sick, but I do love how snuggly she gets when she is. Seems like being sick is the only time my little whirlwind slows down. So, I think we will stay close to home this weekend. Lots of juice, crackers, movies, and cuddle time. Hopefully she will make a speedy recovery.

I love Southern California Weather!

We have had a couple days now of beautiful weather here in SoCal. It's been a nice break after all the rain and Emma was thrilled to wear shorts to school again after months of winter wear. She thought she just looked too cute this morning with her new barrettes too, hence the bit of a sassy attitude in the pictures! The bottom picture just makes me laugh as it was what Emma gave me when I asked for a "pretty smile!" She's such a goofball!

A Crafty Morning

We had the day off from work (again), this time for President's Day, so Karen & I decided to do some art with the kids. Emma & TJ had a great time using all the different stampers and colors of ink. Then we decided to make a flower vase using a jar, masking tape, and acrylic paint. The kids helped me tape all over the jar and then sponge on glittery blue paint. It turned out pretty cute. Now we just need to go for a walk & pick some flowers to go in our vase. We had to take their shirts off first though as Emma prefers to paint both herself and her cousin, which TJ does NOT appreciate! Eventually she got him into it too and they sat there poking each other with blue fingers. So craft morning ended with bathtime!

Friendship Bracelets!

Emma is in love with bracelets lately. She has been begging her older cousins to let her wear their beaded bracelets whenever she sees them. Last week, while I was working at the Children's Center on campus, I learned how to make some easy twisty friendship bracelets. The teachers there were making them with 4 and 5 year old kids, but I thought, "My kid can do this." So I dug out the old bin of embroidery floss Karen & I used to use when we were little to make bracelets. Back in our day, you had to repeatedly tie individual knots on multiple strings and the bracelets took at least an hour to make. These ones work on twisting... you hold a few strings together and twist, then fold the entire thing in half and twist the opposite way. At the end, you shake the whole thing and, as it tries to untwist itself, it actually winds up more! Definitely easy enough for a two year old to help with. We also use it as an excuse to practice our numbers. I tell her, "Okay, we have to twist till we get to 20," and then we count! Emma loves choosing out her colors of embroidery floss and helping to twist and then shake the result. We have made a few this week and we took the materials to the Valentine's playdate at Sophia's house to show our friends too. Then this weekend the cousins spent the night and the girls (all four of them, from age 2 to 15) sat together weaving bracelets. Awesome...

Emma's Valentine Card 2010

I don't usually buy photo cards for Valentine's Day, but I was able to get an awesome deal on some from a coupon website my friend Erin hooked me up with. So how could I resist making some cards for Emma? I just loved her rain pictures and this seemed like the perfect way to use them, what with her being all dressed in pink! :)

Valentine's Days!

We have been celebrating Valentine's Day for 2 days now and it isn't even V-Day till Sunday! Yesterday we went to a Valentine's playdate at Erin & Sophia's house where Emma had a great time playing with her friends, as usual. The kids were so cute exchanging their cards and candies. We also made friendship bracelets, which were a big hit with all the little girls. Jen & Hayden brought cupcakes too, which everyone enjoyed. Then we went home and finished addressing/ labeling Valentine's cards and candies for all THIRTY of Emma's schoolmates and all TWELVE of her teachers. Emma loved hand delivering to each teacher this morning and telling them "Happy Valens!" She is so cute. The kids had a sugar overdose at school today though. Lots of parents brought in goodies, so the kids had a party early in the day. I got there to pick her up just in time for snack, which was more goodies. They were actually giving my kid a cupcake AND a popsicle for snack! She was also sent home with an overflowing goodie bag. Emma really is a sweet child, if you catch her at the right moment, and she was happy to share some candy with TJ. So they each had a lollipop and I have now hidden the remainder of the candy to slowly dole out over the next few days. The bottom picture was Emma's guilty smile as she came into my room AFTER I told her no, she could NOT have a cupcake from the fridge! (Note the obvious smear of frosting on her lips!) She has been having a blast so far. I think we will do some Valentine's crafts tomorrow and keep the fun going. Emma is so in love with Valentine's Day! And, for the first time in a long time, I'm not hating it. Its amazing the perspective you can gain when you decide to see the world through the eyes of your 2-year-old...

My Valentine's Card from Emma

This is the Valentine's Card Emma made for me at daycare. I think its so cute the way they used her handprints to make the heart shape!

Park Picnic

We had the morning off from work and daycare today since it was President's Day so we decided to go to the park. We met our friends Sarah, Zach, and Ava for a picnic too! Emma was very excited to carry her own lunch box full of goodies and she actually ate really well and without even clamoring for Zach and Ava's french fries. She just happily ate her sliced tomatoes, cheese sticks, hot dog, and tangerine. Then the kids enjoyed some time on the playground. The swings were a big hit (as usual) and Emma also brought her tricycle with us. She did very well with sharing and let Zach take turns zooming around the playground with her. We had a great morning!

A Worldly Palate...

Emma loves her some sushi! As we were driving home from Baron's birthday party yesterday evening I was talking with Emma and mentioned that I really wanted some sushi. She calls out "I want sushi tooo-ooo!" I laughed and said, "What do you know about sushi little girl? Do you even remember sushi?" She said yes and said something about "sticks." I asked if she meant chopsticks and she started giggling and said "yes!" So I asked Emma if she would like a California Roll for dinner and she started chanting "I need a Cadafonya Roll! I need a Cadafonya Roll!" So we stopped and got takeout for dinner. It was delicious and Emma loved using her chopsticks, especially with the little adapter thingy they gave her to keep them together. The pictures are kind of blurry, but you can see she did pretty well with them! I guess my 2-year-old has an adventurous palate. I hope it lasts...

Baron's 2nd Birthday Party!

Emma has a little friend at school named Baron. Baron is about 4 months younger than Emma and they have been inseparable since they were both on the infant side of the day care center. Even when he was a tiny little guy, Emma would love on him and try to keep all the other kids from getting too close. They have been to each other's 1st birthdays and Baron went to Emma's 2nd birthday party too. Baron turned 2 years old last week so we went to his party yesterday. He was so excited to see Emma come to his house! Baron was smiling so big and kept chanting, "Emma! Emma!" It was too cute. Emma decided to be shy for a bit and it took her about 10 minutes to warm up. But then she saw the little indoor jumper Baron's parents had set up and she was good to go! Running up and down the hall and bouncing away. The little ones wanted to go outside too, but it was too rainy and muddy, so we had to stay inside. The kids had a great time anyway though!

Tales of a Two-Year-Old

Just wanted to jot down some of Emma's thoughts and quotes and "accomplishments(???)" from the past few days...

On a light note, Emma sure does make me laugh sometimes! Its amazing to me to watch how that little girl processes information, blends it with what she already knows, and comes to her own conclusions. A couple of days ago we sitting down to watch a movie. I can't remember now what it was, but whatever it was, it was distributed by Universal Home Video. So the opening credits are starting and there is a close up shot of earth, rotating around on it's axis as the camera zooms out. Emma asked (like she does with EVERYTHING), "Mommy, whats that?" I told her it was the world. She said, "The world?" I told her, "Yes, thats the world. Its where we live." She thought for a long minute then said, "yeah... its small. Where's the boats? We ride the boats on the world." It took me a minute to catch up with her when I realized that she was talking about the Small World ride at Disneyland, which she calls "the boats." I guess she knew the actual name for the ride all along, but just preferred to call it "boats." So now that she's seen a picture of the world getting smaller, there must be boats on it! So smart, my girl!

On a more serious note, Emma gave me quite a scare yesterday. We came home early yesterday afternoon because we have both been fighting colds for the past few days and needed some extra rest and down time. So I put on an Elmo DVD and we snuggled for a bit. After a few minutes, Emma got up and was playing with toys on my bedroom floor. Apparently I was more tired than I thought because I dozed off for about 10 minutes. When I woke up, I noticed that she had some white powder on her face and asked her what it was. She said (proudly, I might add), "I took cold medicine Mommy!" I looked around and saw the now empty bottle of children's cold tablets sitting on the floor. She had climbed up to my dresser, got the bottle, opened it, and ate the entire bottle. Normally, these pills are kept with the rest of the meds, out of reach. But I had been carrying them with us a couple days ago and had absentmindedly left them on my dresser when I emptied my pockets in the evening. There were probably about 40 or 50 pills in there! So I immediately called poison control (you better believe I was glad I memorized that phone number years ago when I used to babysit!) and told them what had happened. Luckily, the only meds I generally give Emma are all natural, homeopathic blends of vitamins and minerals. They told me she would be fine and that there was nothing to worry about. In fact, they said that there is such a small amount of active ingredient in this particular tablet, that they NEVER worry about accidental overdoses... which leads me to question why I'm actually buying it if it doesn't have much in it! So, luckily, Emma was okay. We had a serious talk about only taking medicine if Mommy or Grandma or Auntie Karen gives it to her and Emma actually looked like she understood. She was very serious and told me she was sorry and won't take medicine again. Here's a bit of something to think about though.... today was the first morning Emma woke up and wasn't snotty or coughing... Maybe she took enough of the active ingredient in her overdose to actually have an effect???? Hmmm...

Aquarium of the Pacific !

We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific again yesterday. The organizer of one of our playgroups had arranged an awesome deal so we could get a group rate admission of only $6.00! Plus Emma is under 3, so she was still free! This was too good a deal to pass up, so Grandma, Karen, and TJ joined us as well. The little ones had an awesome time. The touch pools and play area were big hits. No surprise there ~ these little ones love any excuse to play with water and get a bit wet. The sharks were very appealing as well this time. Ema & TJ really liked the display table one of the aquarium docents was manning. I think they were intrigued by these because they were able to touch the animals here but they didn't move back! We also took time to check out the 3D movies this time and they were pretty cute. Only 15 minutes or so, so very toddler friendly as well. The only problem was that the animation was actually a bit TOO good and Disney-esque, so Emma & TJ kept asking when Nemo would be on the movie and they were very upset to find out that they didn't get to see him. After we explored the aquarium for a couple hours, we went across the street to Bubba Gump's for dinner. The food was good and it was great to have a meal with just us and the babies. TJ and even Emma were pretty well behaved for the meal and Emma was just excited to get some "chrimp (shrimp)!" She loves her "chrimp and fench fies!"