Love you

So last week Emma said "love you" for the first time...to the neighbor! (I was so happy to hear that but yet so much wished that it had been for me or Steve. You know that heart string tug I am talking about.)

When I called home on Monday to check in, Emma was just getting out of the bath. (Perhaps Steve can fill in the details and his perspective here.) So, Steve held the phone out to Emma at one point to say hi to Mama or say love you Mama. I said hello and love you and then waited. A couple of seconds later and the sweetest word(s) since Mama came crystal clear through the line. "Love you." I mentally scooped her up and smothered her with kisses! It was awesome!

Then Steve and I talked for a bit more. (I think Emma peed on the changing table at this point.) When he put Emma back on the phone she melted my heart again. "Love you. Night night."

That was one of the best nights ever!

Biking

Steve is playing Mr. Mom this week while I am learning in Stevens Point. Below is an exerpt of an email Steve sent to me on Monday.


Emma is back upstairs for another nap try....

We had a fun midday bike trip; we went to a park not far away, off of Onyx (just west of acewood). I brought pbj's grapes and hophops for lunch and we sat on a rock ate lunch and watched the world go by. We then continued on; I wanted to try to make it to Olbrich park; it looks like there is a nice back way, but didn't get far before emma started squawking. I asked if she wanted to go home and I think she liked the sound of that so we turned around; there's always next time... It's supposed to rain off and on the next few days though according to the latest weather reports. On the way home I looked back because I heard a strange sound; she had fallen asleep and her helmeted head was rubbing against the side of the carrier which was contacting the tire. It was scary for a moment but I think the noise woke her up and we rolled home safely.

But-ter

The other day Emma was having a rough afternoon. She was cranky and clingy and she would not let me cook dinner. She wanted "up" all the time. When Steve finally came home he jumped right in to help with dinner by buttering the bagels. Emma noticed the but-ter right away (Emma enunciates each syllable like it is written) and kept repeating the word while practically hopping up and down. When she wasn't saying but-ter she was saying up. Her voice was getting higher and higher. Her eyes were getting more and more frantic. She was over-tired and hungry. It was a crucial time. It could have gone from bad to horrible in a matter of moments. Then Emma would disappear completely and the monster would awake. :)
Since Steve had dinner under control I scooped Emma up and started to dance with her. She was still saying but-ter and trying to watch Steve. The dance turned into a but-ter chant that reminded me of the Native American dances around a fire. The chant went like this: but-ter, ch, ch, ch, ch. (the rhythm was like this: 1 and 2 and, and 4, for those of you musically inclined.) Every time we said but-ter I hopped up and down and then for the ch's I shuffled my feet and rocked her from side to side. Emma absolutely loved it! She calmed down right away and had an extreme shift in mood. She was no longer angry but happy and giggly. The monster went back to sleep, and Emma and I were doing the but-ter dance around the kitchen. It was the funniest sight!
Now the but-ter dance has become a sort of ritual and Emma associates dancing and hopping with the word but-ter. Just this evening during the apricot show we all started dancing and clapping about apricots. (Is this too weird?) Again, Emma loved it. She was so into trying to hop when we did that she actually caught some air and had her first official hop. :) It didn't take her too long to say but-ter while she was dancing and clapping. Just the image of her hopping around all nakey while saying but-ter cracks me up. Oh, the things we do to amuse our kids!

The day has finally come

Emma climbed out of her crib this afternoon, crawled safely down the stairs and surprised and scared me half to death when I saw her coming around the corner of the kitchen. Yikes!

Emma had been in her crib for an afternoon "nap;" the first 30 minutes or so were spent talking and reading and apparently planning her escape. When I thought that she had finally fallen asleep (using the monitor sounds for clues) I began to vacuum the back room downstairs. When I got close to the monitor in the kitchen I checked it for lights (indicators of volume intensity) and all was well so I kept vacuuming the couch. Then I thought I heard a somewhat strange sound- not quite a thump and explainable in hundreds of ways. A few seconds later I thought I saw Porter moving around in a strange manner at the base of the stairs, and at first that didn't stop me. Until my brain caught up with my eyes (it must have been the loud vacuum noises that distracted me :)) and I realized that Porter was doing her excited-about-something dance. Is someone at the door? (One explanation for the thump sound.) Oh, cr*# I better turn this thing off, which I promptly did and headed for the stairway. At the corner who should I meet but Emma- carrying the bathroom wastebasket that had been awaiting its return to the second floor on the stairs.

Emma was not crying and had no signs of having been crying anytime soon. She was not smiling either, but that could have been due to the shock and fear that she saw on my face. (My heart practically stopped when I saw her standing there. Flashes of the completely unsafe journey she had just accomplished, complete with images of wipeouts, bumps and bruises zoomed across my mind. I felt like I was in a dream or nightmare of sorts.) I scooped her up and asked her all sorts of questions like... How did you get here? Do you hurt anywhere? Are you a monkey? What happened? Are you okay? Intermingled were hugs and kisses and loving praises and my statements of how shocked and scared I was for her. All in all, not the best 5 minutes of my mommy life. But, the best news is that as far as I could tell Emma was unharmed by her monkey-ish skills. Whew. I just wish I could see it on video or know what she was thinking or is thinking about her escape.

It is not over yet, as far as escaping goes. Steve and I converted her crib to the toddler's bed after bath time. We tucked it into the corner, padded the ends, filled the gap along the wall with rolled blankets, and covered the floor with even more blankets. Then we laid her down, turned our backs, and waited. It took about half a dozen silent returns before Emma gave up climbing out of bed. After 10 minutes we left the room and Emma promptly came to the door. I returned her to her bed and waited at the door. 5 minutes or so later and she was committed to her new sleeping arrangement. She wasn't asleep yet, but that came shortly thereafter.

Thinking about the events of today makes me sad. Emma is growing so fast! Although I am so proud of her accomplishments (I also climbed out of my crib and shared my skills with my younger brother to the chagrin of my parents) and so amazed at what she can do and how much she learns, it also makes me sad that once it is gone, it's gone. The time and stage I mean. Well, my brain cells, too, but that's another story.

I am wondering if Emma will wake up scared because her crib is gone. If she will be prone to falling out of bed. If we will need to teach her to tell time for avoiding possible early morning wake up calls. If Emma realizes how much of a big deal it is to now have a big girl's bed. If this will start an avalanche of big girl things Emma must have or do. If I'll be able to get any sleep with all of this wondering.

Conversation pieces

Emma: M-L-E. M-L-E! M-L-E? (Stands for my friend, Emily, who visited us in May and who was not here for this conversation.)
Mama: Emily isn't here. It is sad, I know. Where is Emily?
Emma: Ca-go (Chicago! That is indeed where Emily lives.)


Emma: Grandma!
Mama: Great Grandma is at her house.
Emma: Grandma.
Mama: Where is Great Grandma?
Emma: Dinah (Medinah! That is where Great Grandma lives.)


Emma: Porter! (Exicted about watching Porter chase shadows and lights.)
Daddy: Yes, that is Porter. Who is Porter's friend?
Emma: Yandy! (Actually Sandy, Great grandma's dog.)


Mama: I am getting ready to play soccer. See, here are my socks, and there is my soccer ball.
Emma: Goal! (That's my girl!)