Doing Stylish

Late this afternoon Emma was riding her scooter around and around the kitchen table saying, watch how fast I can go! So I said, why don't you see how fast you can go outside? Emma replied very enthusiastically, OK!

So we went outside. She places one foot on the seat and pushes the sit-down scooter with her other foot. She can get going pretty fast. And then it didn't take but 10 minutes until she was ready for a break. She politely asked for her Winnie-the-Pooh chair, which I placed on the front stoop.

Emma: This is our house. I'll sit here and you sit there.
She pointed to the chair that always is on the stoop. So I sat.
Then she went inside and when I was really beginning to wonder what she was doing, out she came, wearing some slippers and carrying some odds and ends of her things (bracelet, hair ties, silly bandz).
Emma: This is our house and these are my things. And this is my basket.
She placed the things in her upside-down helmet. Then we sat there for a few minutes and she asked me if I was making dinner.

Mommy: No. We are having leftovers, but maybe I should make more rice. I think I should. I'll go inside and be back once I start the rice. Dinner won't be too long from now.
Emma: OK.
When I came back to check she had gotten some bright chalk, some sticks and a pine cone.
Emma: Look, Mommy!
Mommy: What are you up to?
Emma: Well, this is my house.
Mommy: OK, but what is that pile of sticks?
Emma: That's my fire.
The sticks had been placed on top of a patch of orange with a pink edge.
Emma: Those are the flames. (Pointing to the pink edge)
Mommy: How creative.
Emma: Here is my marshmallow that I am roasting.
Emma picked up a stick and jammed the pine cone on the end of it and shoved it at her fire. I chuckled. She is so imaginative!
Emma: Here eat this!
Emma shoved the marshmallow at the door and I made eating noises.
Emma: Come out here.
Mommy: I will come out once the rice is covered and simmering.
A few minutes later I went back to the front door. Now Emma was intently drawing something off to the side of the fire.
Mommy: What are you drawing?
Emma: This is my smore! Look!
Mommy: That's awesome! It looks so tasty.
Emma: Come out here Mommy.
I went outside and sat and watched her. After she completed the smore (a purple and green creation) she drew a pink table.
Emma: Am I doing stylish?
Mommy (smiling at the use of the word): Yes, that is a stylish drawing.
Emma: Yeah, it is. I am going to draw a person right here.
She drew two vertical lines, humphed to herself and said, "I am going to draw me as a toddler."
So then we talked about how old a toddler can be.
Emma: This is me as one to three.
Mommy: You are so cute and colorful.
Emma: I am, aren't I?
I don't know if we were talking about the drawing or the real-life Emma! She was covered with chalk at this point. :)  And so stylish!

Big Sister

Emma started making this sound the other day with Steve. It's her version of the what the baby's heartbeat sounds like. She just randomly busts out with it.

Say What?

Setting: Emma and Mommy outside on a sunny, blustery day in late April (today, 4-27-12)
Mommy is sitting on the deck. Emma is playing in the sandbox.

Emma: Mommy, I'm making a lemon meringue!
Mommy: That looks delicious! Great job.

Emma continues to build the lemon meringue while Mommy stares off into space. Then Emma starts to cross the grass carrying her creation. Mommy smiles at Emma and she smiles back.

Emma: Here is my lemon meringue.
Mommy: Wow! It looks fantastico! When do we get to eat it?
Emma: Well, it has raw eggs in it.
Mommy: Oh, OK.
Emma: Well,  it doesn't have raw egg in it. Here, try some.
Emma scoops out a bit of sand on her finger and holds it to Mommy's mouth.
Mommy: Mmmm, so good! Thank you.
Emma: I haven't baked it yet.
Mommy: How long does it have to bake for?
Emma: 50 degrees.
Mommy (smiling): OK.
Emma takes her creation down to her play house. Once inside she says, "Actually, I already baked it. Now I am just going to set it on the windowsill."

Emma comes out of the play house and heads back to the sandbox. 
Emma: Mommy, now I am making a lemon parfait!
Mommy: Wow! That sounds amazing.

Emma continues to pick dandelions, presumably for their lemon flavor and creates another dessert. Mommy ponders the wonders of a 4 year old conversation and imagination.

Remember how much I love you

Yesterday morning was a bit rough. I woke up with a horrible tummy ache and cold symptoms. Emma woke up with a cold as well. So we struggled to maintain civility. I had little patience for anything, which I regret.  At one point I asked Emma to find her water bottle so I could put it in her lunch. She looked everywhere but could not find it. I was frustrated that every morning we waste 10 minutes searching for something- water bottle, coat, shoes, etc.  I finally lost it and she of course got upset and almost cried. I cringed. So then I remembered how one day last week I think we couldn't find Baby Katie and for some reason I opened the front door and there she was on the front porch. So I asked Emma, did you take your water bottle outside by the mailbox? I suddenly remembered that she had it the day before when she got out of the car and went to get the mail.  She looked out the window and said, Yes it is by the mailbox. So out she ran to get it. It should have been funny. It is amusing right now. But at the time I was just annoyed.
Upstairs we brushed teeth and while I was in my bathroom, I could hear Emma in hers. When I went to check she had a sheepish look on her face. I looked all around and my eyes found the icky, white smears on the fresh, clean hand towel. What is that? I asked two or three times; not politely I confess. She finally answered, "soap."  I didn't handle it very well. But I calmed down and went back and apologized for getting so upset over nothing. Emma said, that's OK Mama. Then she gave me a heart sticker and placed it on my shirt. "Now you can look at it all day and always remember how much I love you."  I almost cried.

Emma the Ballerina

Yesterday was Emma's last day of pre-ballet so the parents were invited to watch.  Emma had a little cold so I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable with a drippy and stuffy nose. I was amazed at how closely she watched her teachers to try and get the movements just right. She is also incredibly flexible! In butterfly stretch her knees almost touch the ground!
After warm-up they went right to practicing their animal movements/positions. From one corner to the diagonal opposite corner the line of girls hopped like bunnies, fluttered like fairies or swung their arms and legs like elephants. Emma was confident enough to do each movement; the first time I watched, she was too nervous to try some of them.  I was impressed with her form and secretly amused when her legs crossed the wrong way. I happened to be sitting at one corner so I was right in the mix of girls before they headed back to the other side. Emma gave me a snuggle hug every time!
Then the class looked at a painting of Starry Night by Van Gogh. They talked about how they could make their bodies look like parts of the painting. The girls came up with most of the elements- looking like a tree, the moon, moving like water or stars. Then they acted it all out. When it came to the moon, Emma promptly sat on the ground and twisted her legs and upper body to make the curve of a crescent moon. I was so impressed! Her teacher commented on it as well. Such a creative young dancer!
The class lined up at the end to their super secret special dance for us. The girls supposedly choreographed it by choosing the order of the movements. Emma's curtsy is so cute!
On the way home Emma told me that her favorite movement was the bunny because she jumped so high so almost touched the ceiling! I captured her completely air-born with the camera. Emma and Daddy watched the short video clips and looked at all the pictures when we got home.

Update for Still Spring Break

While Emma was playing for 5 minutes of fun she asked, "Mommy, did I hear you say something about skipping brushing my teeth tonight?"  Steve chuckled and said, "She doesn't miss a beat." I chuckled and said, "well, I was only repeating what the hygienist had said but it is technically past the 6 hour cut off." (The watermelon fluoride "paint" is fine while eating and drinking but not while brushing or flossing, says the hygienist. So they like there to be a no brushing period of 6 hours.)  Apparently they skipped teeth brushing.
This morning I flossed Emma's teeth using the nifty flosser we got from the dentist. I don't like that it is a disposable piece of plastic so we'll see if we can manage without the device in the future. Emma was happy that her gums didn't bleed!

Still Spring Break

Wednesday and Thursday were tough days. Emma kept asking about when it was going to be Easter and school days again. And she made some poor choices. And I didn't handle that very well. :)
Today, however, was much better. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and Emma said that she wanted to decorate more cookies. (We baked some Easter-shaped cookies yesterday afternoon and evening.) She happily decorated a family of sheep and ducks, utilizing her creative skills to the extreme. (It gave me some time to wipe down the kitchen cabinets.) Then it was off to the dentist. She watched some cartoons on the monitor while my teeth were cleaned, and she minded her manners quite well. But when we had to wait for 10 minutes for the dentist to inspect my teeth it started to get dicey. "Too boring," she said of the commercials that came at the top of the hour. "Change it," she demanded. I used her water cup to rinse my mouth and she huffed and puffed while dumping out the water and throwing out the cup. "You used my cup. That one was for me, not you," she declared. So we ended up wasting a cup anyway. Thankfully the hygienist showed Emma the stylus for signatures and things turned around. When it came time for Emma to hop in the chair, she was an angel. IT was her first dentist appointment so Jenny M. showed her all the tools before hand and tested them out once first, too. When the hygienist showed Emma the water gun and the suction hose, I said that was my favorite part of the dentists. "No, it's my favorite, too, " says Emma.
Emma guessed that she had 500 million teeth, but there were only 20.  She looked a little nervous during the tooth polishing and rinsing, but she always said she was fine. (Emma chose blue raspberry tooth polish.) The flossing caused one area to bleed a bit and I thought she was going to cry. However, she held it together and was fine after rinsing. She was a brave girl and I was so proud of how she handled the whole experience. We took home a flosser, toothbrush, a Dora sticker (that she promptly put on my chest), and a mini yellow football.
Since we left the dentist's at just before noon, we called Daddy and asked him to join us for lunch. When we picked him up he suggested Crema Cafe- a favorite, local breakfast and lunch spot.  Emma got her usual Gobblette plus a juice box. We had the best, well-mannered lunch out! Emma was sad that Daddy had to go back to work. When Steve got up to throw trash away Emma asked, "Did Daddy leave?" I said that he didn't and that we needed to give him a ride to work. "Oh yeah, because he can't take the car because then we would have to walk all the way home. How would we figure that out?"  She got quite the chuckle out of that scenario and it cheered her up that we drove Daddy back to work.
At home Emma asked why her mouth bled when it was flossed. So I explained that once you floss regularly it usually isn't a problem any more. "So are we going to floss my teeth?"  Yes I said and she was happy.
After following her sleep rules she played in the basement while I did some rearranging. While I made dinner she played outside on the play structure. When Steve came home she was still outside and we heard a horrible sound so we went running. She had hit her head on a beam and fallen off the ladder. There she was sitting on the grass with tears streaming down her face. Thankfully she had not fallen on the dog poop pile that was very close by; that would have just added insult to injury. Emma was fine, but Daddy carried her in anyway just because. (I hate that I can't pick her up!) Inside we determined that she sort of slid down the curved plastic climbing ladder, which meant she avoided a serious fall and potential injuries. Whew.
We enjoyed a delicious home made pizza feast. Despite my protests that the first pizza was bland, Steve and Emma both claimed to like it. Emma's declaration made me smile. Unfortunately a poor choice involving the bracelet I asked her not to play with at the dinner table meant she didn't get dessert. A bowl of fruit took some convincing and when she said, "I'm still hungry," she had another slice of pizza. She sang some lovely made up songs while finishing up. It was very dear.
For five minutes of fun we had a jamming session. Emma gave me the tamborine, Steve got vocals since he needed his hands for doing dishes and Emma relented when he said he couldn't hold the microphone. Emma took drums and the harmonica. It was quite the sound! Then it was off to bed, off to bed. What a great day! Good night; sleep tight; I love you. Ditto.

Spring Break

Emma is on spring break this week so we are staying busy and trying not to kill each other.
Yesterday we had some errands to run that included going to the nature center to purchase a gift for Emma's cousin. While we were there we took advantage of the great spring weather and went to the pond. There was another mother there with her 3 year old and 11 month old boys. Emma and older boy were dipping with small nets and trying to catch aquatic insects. I caught them some water beetles and a damselfly nymph. Emma kept taking the containers and filling them with water and "more nature."  Emma called the dock her boat and after dipping for awhile we stretched out our legs and enjoyed the wind and scenery.
All of us decided to do a little exploring so we headed to the bridge and then beyond the "turtle station." Emma and Lian and raced up and down the hill and the drainage ditch. We saw some cool tracks and saw the sandhill crane fly over head. Emma and I stopped at turtle station and talked with Nathan (a naturalist) who showed us the cool things they had caught. We saw a water strider, water spider, and a huge predacious diving beetle! That was awesome!
Then we all went our separate ways. Emma convinced me to also buy some maple sugar candy on our way out!

Today we went back to the nature center for picnic lunch with Daddy, who met us there on his bicycle. The wind was a bit chilly, but overall it was great. Emma hid in a low-hanging tree and made Daddy horsey gallop back and forth. After Steve left, we explored the shack that was empty. Emma pretended we were coyotes; the shack was our den. She taught me how to jump and tilt my head back to howl. From there we headed down to the pond again. On the "boat" Emma watched her head shimmer in the water. The wind made her reflection wavy. We walked farther past the turtle station and saw two turtles sunning themselves. (A group of visitors also found two baby turtles that they let Emma hold. She liked that!) Emma had me do a count down for her while she raced up and down the hill.
The best part (for me) was when we picked up sticks and played Poohsticks off the bridge. Emma kept saying that the sticks were Eeyore, "What are you doing in there, Eeyore?" She was Roo and I was Rabbit or Pooh depending on the moment. Her stick (Eeyore) came out the other side first. Mine got snagged on some plants right under the side of the bridge. After that Emma tried to get me to buy more maple sugar candy; I didn't have any money. She also wanted to visit the shack again but the campers were there. So we headed home, filled with fun nature center memories!

Bad Girls

Emma has been coming home from preschool talking about a game that she plays with another girl named Charlie. It is called Bad Girls and they try to catch the older boys, Ben and Spencer. One day she even came home and used her jump rope as a gun. We very quickly redirected her and hopefully we won't see that again anytime soon!  Emma does not watch those kinds of movies at home and she never watches TV so obviously this influence is coming from the other kid(s). I guess we can't keep her sheltered forever!
At parent teacher conferences we brought the subject up and the teachers said that the one child does talk about vampires and killing bad guys and even named the Nickelodeon show that it all comes from (I can't remember the name). One teacher said she won't allow her 10 year old girl to watch the show. And there is a 4 year old who has watched it enough to encourage other children to act it out with her? Yikes!
Sometimes the nature of the game leans towards having super powers. Steve tells Emma that everyone has super powers when they be themselves. So the other night at dinner it was just Emma and I and she started telling me about how she was pretending at school to have super powers. Before I could say anything she said, "don't say what Daddy says, Mama. Don't tell me to be myself." I had to cover my mouth so she wouldn't see my smile. And then I proceeded to tell her my own version and that Daddy is a smart man who tells the truth. She gave me a "are you kidding me?" look. And then Emma said, "I told you not to tell me that!"
Emma continued with her story about how she likes to play bad girls who chase the bad boys. I asked her who plays (her and Charlie). I asked her what some of the other girls do (a few chase Preston and one girl "does nothing").  Then I asked her what Ben and Spencer do when the girls play this game. Emma said with a silly grin, "They look at me with astonishment and say 'what?'"  And yes, she did use astonishment all on her own! I was astonished!