Piggies

Emma fondly refers to her toes as piggies, probably because that is what Steve and I call them. When we take her shoes or sandals off she says "piggies" and wiggles them. When she walks on her piggies she says "barina" (ballerina) and is obviously proud of herself. If her toes are sticking out of her sandals in an odd manner she will say "piggies!" repeatedly until we notice the problem and fix it for her. When we tickle her feet she says "piggies" while giggling. And it is no wonder that she loves hearing what her piggies are doing (going to market, eating roast beast, or crying all the way home).

Rando pictures

Emma loves swimming! We knew that last year when I took her for swimming lessons, but we were reminded this year when we set up the paddling pool in the backyard. And Emma had a blast swimming with Aunt Darcy and her kids when Emma stayed there last week. So, two of the pictures are of Emma in our backyard on a swimming day.

Emma really loves helping out and imitating what we are doing. (I hope this turns into no more diapers soon!) The other night we made pita bread and she just had to help flip them over. It was really cute actually, until my arms got tired and I had to put her down. The tears were as big as the pita breads!

Please what?

Emma's verbal skills are growing by leaps and bounds. She is putting together more words and their meanings and then using them correctly later. She still has her moments though when you can tell she doesn't quite understand how to say something correctly.

Take this case in point. Emma loves to eat these Annie's Bunnies (graham crackers shaped liked bunnies, all natural to boot) for snacks or when we go shopping. If I accidentally forget to bring "hop hops" along with me when we go out, it is melt down city! Emma can recognize when she is hungry and wants a snack. She has also gotten very good at demanding whatever it is that she happens to see on the counter or in the pantry. Grapes, hop hops, cheese, etc. But sometimes in her frantic state all she can manage to sputter is "please!" She can say please a lot in a short amount of time! So, to calm her down a bit (and I have to admit, to bye myself a little bit of time) I started asking her "please what?" (Like, fill in the blank with what you want, Emma. I know you want hop hops, but I want you to truly ask for them first.) I try to explain the concept to her but she has not really caught on. Instead, she chants "please what!" "please what!" "please what!" And I say, "please, say what you want." Emma says, "please what you want!"

(If she starts to get too frustrated I will prompt her with the phrase I am looking for, like "please, hop hops." And sometimes out of pure luck she figures it out on her own, which is awesome.)