school time

Isn't that just the sweetest smile you've ever seen?!

Emmy started with a new teacher at her day care about a month ago and we are so in love with her! She is a sweet, no nonsense woman. I have been looking forward to getting in her class because I've seen her with other kids and she is the perfect teacher. She is fun and joyful, allowing the kids to play and freely roam throughout her room. She is often found with two kids in her lap, reading them a book while the others go about their own interests. 

The thing I love most about her, though, is her stern side. She isn't mean and she never yells at the kids but she knows what they are capable of learning and she encourages them to be obedient, helpful and to listen. I noticed Emmy's behavior changing almost immediately so I asked her teacher to teach me as well. I want to reinforce her rules to make it easier on everyone. 

When we fix her bottle Emmy promptly sits down to wait for it. When she makes a mess, we point at it and say "Pick it up!" and she does. She runs around picking up books and bringing us toys that she wants us to play with or read to her. It's hard to explain how quickly her communication is developing now, she understands our requests and compliments and tries to repeat them leading to the sweetest mumbo jumbo of vowels and consonants. 

Everything is easier now. Joe and I rarely debate chores. We have  a routine that is comfortable for everyone and Emmy's sweet and silly nature make her such a joy to be around.

Most days go something like: 
7:00 Joe showers
7:30 I wake Emmy 
8:00 Joe takes Emmy to school
9:00 I leave for work
4:30 I leave to pick Emmy up
5:30 I get home and start dinner
5:45 Joe gets home and we eat
6:15 Family time
7:00 Bath and bedtime cuddling (better known as Emmy wallering time)
8:00 Emmy goes to bed

We are a little spoiled because of my work schedule. I like that I get some time in the morning to myself, to get ready without a kid pulling on my pants or curiously putting all of my makeup in her mouth to see what it feels like. It really makes me feel fresh and brighter about my day. 

I spend most days looking forward to the time when we get home and have our family time. I know this sounds cheesy. As I type this, I'm thinking.. who are you? and shut the hell up, no way is life this perfect! And it's not! Believe me. But today it was. Most days it is really great. Most of the time we are so happy and I can't imagine it will ever be easier and more enjoyable than this. Life really is laughing and loving for now so yeah, I'm going to be cheesy and I'm going to appreciate it because I know it won't last forever. 

 Here is a little clip of Emmy being goofy during cuddle time...

   

Bell doesn't even have to bark for her to give us her "surprised" look - if we mention Bell, she gives us this look and starts laughing which gets us all laughing too.

16 months & georgia aquarium

Life as a young parent isn't easy. Going out to dinner is pretty much out of the question for now. She only lasts 10 minutes in strollers and carts before she starts kicking and wants to walk. She is adamant about doing everything herself and "Emmy, no ma'am!" doesn't mean as much to her as it used to. 

Just this afternoon I spent 20 minutes fixing a special dinner just for Emmy only to watch her toss the whole bowl to the floor without a single bite. I wanted to yell but I knew that she didn't mean it as a personal blow. It turned out that her tummy hurt, she refused all dinner and went to bed early. We think it might be the 5 teeth she is working out all at once. Drool galore. 

Most of the time, though, she's really awesome. She is paying attention to us and understands our simple commands and questions. She has such a great sense of humor and sometimes laughs at the jokes in her own mind or just because everybody else is laughing.  

Joe and I decided to take a mini vacation and spend the day in Atlanta. We left the house at 8am and arrived at 11:30. The aquarium was already pretty packed but there were so many kids and Emmy loves to watch other kids so she was excited from the start.

 Hmm.. come to think of it, it may have been easier and cheaper to take her to the park. 

You might notice a little bear in many of these pictures.

I picked out several great "lovies" for her. Most were bunnies, all pretty much the jellycat brand with soft fur and adorable dangly arms and legs. She picked up this bear at Barnes and Noble a few months ago. We almost let Rufus have it because he kept stealing it and tossing it around but suddenly about a week ago she just... got attached. It's fine, it's cute, it's also discontinued and irreplaceable. Awesome. 

It was great having it at the aquarium though. 

"Mr. Beary" quickly comforted her and it made her a little more relaxed when in the stroller. 

The aquarium was fun. It was. But, it was also a lot of work for a kid who was probably still a little too young to appreciate it. In the picture above, she was being entertained by a sweet asian lady dancing in front of the glass. Her favorites were the large aquariums with lots of bright fish swimming around but mostly because there were other kids squealing and running around. 
So she was squealing too. 

The aquarium was really, really crowded. I think we picked a bad day - a Friday in the beginning of the summer. There were probably hundreds of kids in camp t-shirts and when I see crowds like that I go into survival mode. I caught myself running and squeezing between kids, skipping tanks to find one that had an empty space in front of it. I used Emmy to get close to the glass and stay there without feeling guilty. 

Joe had to remind me that we weren't in a hurry or on a schedule. He helped and I tried to but I still can't help it, it's hard to relax when you feel like you are going to get run over if you stand still. Oh, and I think the big stroller was a bad idea. I ran over an old lady... twice... and she glared at me something serious (she really should have moved to the side though at her pace) Ha! Obviously, we aren't ready for Disney yet. 

The dolphin show was amazing. We weren't allowed to take any pictures at all during the show but I managed to snap a few of the dolphins after the show on the backside of the stage. 

The show had maybe 5 performing dolphins doing jumps, backwards tail swimming (think Michael Jackson moonwalk, hugging and dancing with their handlers, etc. They had great music and lighting and sound effects to make the whole thing very dramatic. 

There was a story line with a fairly cheesy guy singing but it didn't matter, Emmy loved it and her clapping and laughing made me cry. Seriously. I choked up over the beauty of the dolphins and the joy I saw in my kid's eyes. 

I'm telling you, you only understand if you have kids.

By the time the dolphin show ended, Emmy was pretty much done. 

All she wanted to do was ride in our arms with her bear clutched in her hands. 

The photos came out pretty grainy. I'm not sure what was up with my trusty iphone but I'm guessing it's the low light. Next time, I'm bringing a real camera.