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!

Strawberry Shortcake cookbook

Sometime last year Nanie sent Emma a book that I had as a girl. (I was annoyed that she didn't actually send it to me but I will let that go.) It is called Strawberry Shortcake's Cooking Fun by Michael J. Smollin. Emma had us just read it to her like a storybook on a semi-regular basis. Every once in awhile she would say something about making a recipe and we would say, sure, someday.
Well, a couple weeks ago she made Daddy remember the recipes she wanted to try so he could tell me all about it.  He did and the next morning Emma checked in to make sure that Daddy had done his job. We marked the recipes with some sticky notes and I promised that we would make it happen soon. That weekend I added the necessary ingredients to the list. Sunday night we made "Berry Good Sundaes" with Neapolitan ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream, and crushed chocolate graham crackers. Emma was all smiles as she crushed the cookies into her glass.  I have to admit that I was just as excited. (I remember loving the book and dreaming about making the recipes, but I have no memories of actually using the book.) It was a magical dessert!

That week Emma helped me make "Roll-Up Sandwiches" for her lunches in two varieties: peanut butter banana and cream cheese and jelly pinwheels (cut roll-ups).  For afternoon snack we made "Apple Snackwiches" and some "Crackerwitch Castles."  It was a really fun week!

Swim lessons

Last week Emma had her first swimming lesson since last year. I didn't have enough to eat before hand so I was a little cranky, and late afternoons have Emma a little cranky, too. Watch out swimmers!  The class was similar to the previous classes, except that the kids start kicking, floating, holding onto kick bars and scooping with their arms on day one. Emma couldn't stop smiling! Except when she took a huge jump off the side and I didn't get my arms to her fast enough. Even with the waist floaties, she completely submerged before I pulled her up. Oops! She coughed a little and I swallowed the urge to coddle and went with pride instead. "Emma, you did so great! That was a huge jump! Just keep your mouth closed next time." She shook it off quickly but was very careful not to jump quite so high from then on (including today).
Today she did an amazing job of kicking and scooping. I lightly held my hands under her to gently push her back up if she needed it, but she was swimming on her own most of the time! (She did have the waist floaties on but still.) She might be part fish.
She really wanted to do everything by herself like choose a toy, grab the kick stick and the noodle. But the best part was that she can pull herself up on to the side of the pool all by herself! You could tell how proud she was of herself.

I'm the Big Sister

Our California vacation this year was awesome! We only visited family in the southern part of the state, but we enjoyed every second while we were there.
Our trip started in San Diego where we spent half a day touring San Diego Zoo. That was awesome! We saw a hippo, elephants, panda bears and lots of other animals. We met my cousin Russell and his wife Carrie for dinner at a local Italian place and stayed the nice at their beautiful house. Emma loved their cats! She kept saying that their house was more fun than our boring old house.
Back in Santa Barbara, Emma particularly enjoyed helping out down the hill in the barn with Grandma. Emma was in charge of feeding the cats and counting and collecting the eggs. She gave the daily report to Uncle Mark every evening.  After several days of watching Grandma milk the goats, Emma attempted milking Lainie, a favorite mama goat. It was really great to watch, and Emma did manage to get a tiny bit of milk in the pail.
Grandpa and Uncle Mark amused and instructed Emma on the ways of honey bees.  She eagerly shared her knowledge of the queen bee with me and pointed out the queen amongst the mass of bees inside the capped honeycomb.
Aunt Karen Anna graciously shared her American Girl dolls with Emma as well as the old bucking bronco horsey she rode as a child.  Aunt KA also instructed Emma on how to handle a dog on a leash and very quickly Daisy and Emma became fast friends. They cuddled on the couch all weekend, when they weren't playing or walking around that is. Emma was able to bunk solo in Ladybug Cottage, Aunt KA's bedroom. She loved the decor and the big girl bedroom.
Aunt Lauren, Uncle Paul and Charlie provided many hours of entertainment and hilarious moments. Emma liked watching Charlie do everything, especially take his bath.  Baby Katie took to needing a nap or her diaper changed in Charlie's room as often as possible.
G-Bugga took us all down to the breakwater where we enjoyed the fresh salt air. Daisy and Nora came down, too, and that was when Emma really lit up. We watched the surfer boys for a bit; Emma was interested in what they were trying to do.
Grandma and Grandpa took the whole gang to the Museum of Natural History, which was quite fascinating. The science explore and play area was a real hit with all ages. The "underground" tunnel with puppets and holes for popping out of was great fun for Grandpa, too. Emma said afterward that her favorite part was the tarantula.

Grandma and Grandpa also took us all (minus KA and G-Bugga) to the Sea institute (or something like that). Emma got to pet a small shark and examine lots of interesting marine animals. In-N-Out was a delicious lunch! Emma was spoiled with her own strawberry shake.  (A typical 4 year old moment must be shared so that you don't start thinking it was all smiles and joy.  Emma had taken the lid off the shake so she could dip her french fries; this was something I had shown her how to do in San Diego- my mistake!  Emma picked up the shake container and was attempting to do something with it so Uncle Paul started trying to help her since a major spill was imminent. She got angry and started trying to yank the shake away from Uncle Paul. As I opened my mouth and said Emma No (you are going to spill it)! The whole thing launched out of their hands and splatted on the floor in a huge mess. Emma cried. I tried to explain that the whole thing could have been avoided and that Uncle Paul was indeed stepping in to help. And despite my efforts to keep her from having a replacement shake, a full strawberry shake arrived promptly. Lesson learned? probably not.)

Vacation also marked the end of the first trimester. We told Emma the news that she was going to be a big sister one Sunday morning. I had made a couple of shirts that said "I'm the Big Sister" on them, but of course she refused to wear them.  So plan A of having Emma go out for breakfast wearing the shirt as a way to announce the news had not be aborted. Plan B- we got dressed and shared the news ourselves. Everyone was very excited. Emma was subdued about the whole thing.  Towards the end of the trip she started to talk a bit more about the baby, and we were cautiously optimistic that she didn't throw a tantrum when we told her.
Overall the trip was relaxing and fun. And it was wonderful for Emma to have a chance to bond with the family and be "on her own" for over a week. :)  The only major downside was the on Thursday night Emma woke up and couldn't go back to sleep due to pain in her ears. It turned out that she had a double ear infection and bronchitis! We started her on antibiotics and she was ready for the trip home.

BACK STORY:  in mid-December we found out we were expecting but wanted to wait until the 12 week mark before making any announcements, even to Emma.  Due to intense and constant morning (all day!) sickness, I failed to keep up with the blog, talk to friends, or cook home cooked meals. Consequently, there were a few times during the trip when I had to excuse myself from the dinner table and go lie down. Thankfully, Emma never noticed and nobody commented until after we spilled the beans.

Another milestone

Emma is reaching new heights! She can not only reach the bathroom faucets without a stool, she can now (as of last week) pull them on. If her hands are soapy she still needs help, though. I wish I could put books on her head and keep her from growing so fast. :)

Little Miss Independent stills needs to be snuggled every now and then. At nap time today she said, "I want to sit on your lap." Once there, she snuggled right up and nuzzled my chest and legs. She tries to get into as small of a ball as possible, which is really cute. But she has gotten so big that there is no way for her to fit completely on my lap any more! If she doesn't sit on the bed/floor between my legs I can't see over the top of her head!