Fun-uary

Emma has been really getting into dramatic play. She has fun dressing up to go to the ball like Cinderella. She also likes to host dinners, go to restaurants (like Audies Burger Hamm, just two twists away on the twisty chair), have parties, and travel to Seaberry Beach (with Strawberry Shortcake and friends). The third picture doesn't show it too well but Emma is stirring walnut stew on her kitchen stove. The funny part is that she is actually stirring almonds in the pot. Emma also enjoys playing with her doll house. She was laughing in the second picture because of something that she put in the refrigerator- the baby doll from the house! (Should we be worried about that?) The final picture shows Emma playing with a doll's towel in her playroom in the basement. Having a mirror to admire herself in is the prefect form of amusement!
The first picture shows a rare moment for this month: Emma outside. Apparently Emma is not as excited about playing in the snow as I am. It is a struggle to get her to go out and play outside. One night Aunt Susan was going to go walk along the street by our house and Emma asked to go with. To encourage her to be outside I was eager to let her go. So we bundled her up and off they went. But oh yeah, Emma got to ride in the wagon. So much for getting exercise! At least she was outside.
And today, on the last day of the month of Fun-uary, we just got some new snow. There is plenty to play with and lots of fun to be had! Emma is asking me right now if she can.... watch a movie. :(

Chubby Snowman

Scene: dinner time; bright kitchen on a chilly January night; Emma, Mommy and Daddy sitting around the dinner table; everyone is eating and it is quiet....

Emma: A chubby little snowman had a carrot nose. Along came a bunny and what do you suppose? That hungry little bunny was looking for some munch. He ate that little snowman's nose- nibble, nibble, crunch!

(Mommy and Daddy are speechless for a moment with smiles on their faces.) Then...

Mommy and Daddy: Emma, that was wonderful! Did you learn that at preschool? What a lovely recitation! (Clapping and laughter fill the kitchen)
Emma (looking shy): yes!

(more accolades and exclamations of praise)

Emma: A chubby little snowman had a carrot nose. Say it with me!

Everyone: A chubby little snowman had a carrot nose. Along came a bunny and what do you suppose? That hungry little bunny was looking for some munch. He ate that little snowman's nose-nibble, nibble, crunch! (repeat 2-3 times)

End scene

Notes: After hearing constantly for the last few weeks that Emma does not want to tell us about preschool it was pretty amazing to hear this recitation for the first time in perfect form! It was a bright spot of the week!

Christmas 2010

Our first Christmas celebration occurred when we visited Emma's godmother's house the weekend before Christmas. Emma had fun checking all of our vital signs with her new doctor's kit.

Aunt Susan went back to CA for the holidays so it was just the three of us plus Chloe. We enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve by going to church and having a simple dinner. The next morning Emma was up early and wanted to wear her blue Christmas dress right away before going downstairs. (She requested a dress to go with her silver shoes so I made her a blue, crushed velvet dress with silver accents. She loves it!)

Santa was good to Emma and brought lots of toys. Emma was thrilled to discover that the milk, cookies and carrot were nothing but crumbs that morning. "Rudolph liked his carrot." After opening presents and eating breakfast we loaded up the car and headed to Great Grandma's. I, of course, forgot the camera. We had a wonderful time visiting with Great Grandma and her nephew, Chuck, Jude his wife and their son Marc.

We let Emma sleep by herself in the guest bed while we crashed in our sleeping bags on the living room floor. It actually worked out quite well. It was the best night of sleeping it Great Grandma's house since Emma was born! Yahoo!

Welcome Chloe!

After waiting for a long time, paying to be on the waiting list with the breed matching program (and having one dog, Miss Ranger, not work out) we finally got an encouraging call in September from the Dane County Humane Society: we have a 6 year old lab who loves kids. Really? Sounds to good to be true.
When I got the message I promptly called Steve and emailed Susan- we might get a dog! Can we all go meet her ASAP? I think it was that same day that we headed to the DCHS and met Chloe. Chloe's previous owners had fed her tater tot casserole, which caused Chloe to become ill. The family was struggling financially and ended up not being able to afford the vet bills so they had to surrender Chloe. It is such a sad tale, especially considering how awesome Chloe is!

When we went into the small room to meet Chloe, she seemed at ease with all of us right away. And she seemed interested in Emma. Chloe is a large yellow lab who at the time weighed 95 pounds. Emma was of course a bit nervous at first but she gave Chloe hugs and toys by the time we left. We took Chloe for a walk and decided that she needed to come home with us. (WE asked Emma if she liked Chloe: "Yeah. I want to take her home. Can she come right now?"

So we adopted Chloe and kept her name. Emma and Chloe are the best of friends! Emma hugs her, rests on her, plays with her and orders her around, too. And like all small children, she also sometimes pulls Chloe's ears. Time-outs have become somewhat regular around here for dog abuse infractions and other three-year old behavioral oddities. :) But through it all, Chloe still gives Emma kisses and wags her tail. I even think that Chloe misses Emma when Emma is not around.

Thanksgiving 2010

Still traveling back in time....

For Thanksgiving we rented an SUV to carry the dog and 4 people up to St. Louis Park to celebrate with Emma's Aunt Margaret, Uncle Dominic and baby Patrick. It was also Patrick's baptism weekend. What a fun time we had! Except that poor Emma got sick towards the end and missed a day or two of preschool if I remember correctly.

Going back to Emma's third birthday

The weekend before Emma's birthday we celebrated with Great Grandma and also took Emma to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. That was a grand time! Emma loved the dolphin show the best. We took a self family portrait while waiting for the show to start. There was some Hawaiian theme for the day so the first so-many people got real flower leis. Sometimes Emma still retells this part of the day: I said there was a seal swimming in the water and Mommy and Daddy said no there wasn't. But then Mommy looked and said, yes you are right Emma. There is something swimming in the water. It's a sea lion." We were walking up from the basement display area and hidden in the walls along the stairway was an aquarium area for the sea lions. If it hadn't been for Emma we would have missed them! (This is also an example of Emma's crazy good memory. It is actually shocking sometimes how well she remembers things that have happened a long time ago.) Emma got a new dolly from Great Grandma that she promptly named Baby Abby.

On Emma's birthday we had a small gathering of immediate family only. I tried to make a Jell-O aquarium with dolphins and a turtle but it didn't turn out like I had hoped. Did that phase Emma? Of course not! "What is that swimming in the Jell-O? A dolphin!" squealed Emma as she reached her hand in the fish bowl to pluck the toy out. After cake (Emma requested white cake with chocolate frosting so I made a triple layer cake to account for her three years) Emma opened presents. We gave Emma a book about a baby dolphin and the dollhouse that Great Grandma and Grandpa built and gave to me when I was a little girl. Emma loved it!

Happy new year

Emma helped ring in the new year at her godmother's house this year. She made it all the way to midnight and actually slept in somewhat! She was obviously tired and bit cranky, but the house was full of older kids who all stayed up, too. She would not be the first one to sleep! Emma seemed to have fun with the girls, playing dress-up and putting on singing shows on stage. It was really fun to watch!

And actually, Emma loves to sing. She makes up songs all the time and then asks everybody to sing with her. The noise would shock most people I think since no one knows the words or the tune; it's quite the scene. Thankfully there is no documentation of such occasions!