Another First...

This afternoon while playing with Emma, we were giggling and tickling each other. Just playing like us crazy girls do. I noticed the strangest look on my little girl's face. She stopped laughing and just stared at me with her wide grin. She was studying my face and she looked so happy.... and I've never felt more loved, ever. It was one of those moments where everything just seemed clear (because I admit I have been strugglin' with all my jugglin').

It seems weird to say, but I felt honored that I was the object of her adoration (if only for a fleeting 10 seconds). It also scared me a bit. It was the first time I thought "my daughter needs me." I mean I know she has always needed me, but now maybe she knows it too. I don't really know how to put it into words. It also reminded me of myself as a little girl and how I worshiped my own mom (and still do). It's hard to describe, but it was awesome to experience. I have to say it lifted my spirits up just when I needed it. Fuel for another day, or two. This must be what rock stars feel like...... :)

A mother understands what a child does not say.
- Jewish proverb

The soul is healed by being with children.
-FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY, The Idiot

"Uh oooH"

This word strikes fear in my heart. Not because Emma has done something she didn't mean to, but rather she did exactly what she meant to do. I try to tell her that Uh-OH is only when there is an accident. I think it translates into "job well done" in Emma language. This is how we started this Friday morning off.

What? We have to leave in 10 minutes? No problem.

You eat your cereal off the floor. No, mommy is not

having a nervous breakdown. Ants are our friends.

licking cereal dust off her fingers=one classy lady

Bye Daisy, we have to go. P.S. Thank you. P.P.S.

I promise to give you ham after Dan goes to sleep tonight

To cosleep or not to cosleep, that is the question!

Emma will be a year and a half in two weeks, and she is still sleeping with us. I think she slept a total of 5 nights in her own crib and that is probably a generous estimate. It was totally worth all the money we spent on the crib and bedding. That's a few hundred dollars I should have used to invest in a bigger bed!

Cosleeping is pretty controversial so I'm just going to state my experience/opinion. I'm not saying it is the right thing for everyone, but for a long time it was right for us. First there are dangers of soft bedding, pillows and exhausted parents to a newborn that I am aware of. Emma did sleep in a bassinet for a long time because of this. When I went back to work I was tired, and it just was more convenient for her to be in our bed for feedings. I also had some working mommy guilt and felt like that was our special time to cuddle. I couldn't be there for her during the day so I wanted her to see me and feel me next to her at night. I wanted her to feel secure, and I missed her.

In my opinion, this created a very strong bond between Emma and myself. I was comfortable, she was comfortable. That is not the case anymore! She is kicking, spinning and doing a little karate in her sleep. None of us are waking up rested. It's true, if she was already sleeping in her bed we wouldn't be dealing with this now. It's true, she is older and has a stronger personality. There are some draw backs such as I think it encouraged her to wake up in the middle of the night for milk (which she still does) and she now REALLY wants me to be there when she wakes up.

So we are starting the transition to her own bed. I think it is time. Emma is starting to sleep in her own bed. Okay, it is really her mattress next to our bed, but it is a start. I wish it wasn't so cold. I worry about her. And I check on her a hundred time during the night, because I never got used to her being on her own either......and I have to put her back after she falls off the mattress at least 5 times every night.

Stay tuned for updates on our latest challenge! (P.S. I just realized the outlet cover is missing in this picture and it has been replaced!)

Wordless Wednesday

W-E-I-R-D-O

No. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Emma is wearing my bra around her neck like some little brazier super hero. She does this every time we fold clothes (and I do try to hide them).

I think this is another case of her almost (but not quite) getting it. She walks around with my bras and says "mommee" "boobies" like she is taking them out for a walk. As if they are detachable!!! Well, I guess she isn't completely wrong considering most of my bras are padded. :)

She also loves to wear underwear on her head. I must be doing something wrong.....

It's a Mystery!

How is it that after a weekend of cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning my living room looks like this?!? A serious madwoman plays here (with her muddy-pawed shedding like crazy sidekick).

Friday Night Fun

Tonight we came home and tried as hard as we could to distract Emma from her latest and greatest obsession (Shrek). Lately she eats dinner and begs nonstop to go into bed and watch it until she falls asleep (a painful repeat of the first 30 min..every night). Tonight I couldn't take the sight of that green Ogre so Dan took a turn :)

Emma is quite a toddler these days. It is so exciting to see her develop but part of me gets a little sad about how fast she is growing up. She is NOT a baby anymore. Ahem, she has her own "opinions" now. I even got a little nostalgic today and looked through her baby pictures, back to the days where she couldn't speak, yell, cry, or steal the yellow mustard out of the fridge and dart all over the house with it yelling "NO! MINE!!!"

Tonight Emma ate mac & cheese (nana Riggs recipe, yummy), ham, green beans, half an apple and juice for dinner. She can seriously pack away the food. She now says "Umm!" when she likes something. Other new things I want to get documented before I forget:

@17months
1. Emma weights 29.2 lb and is ~33 inches tall (97% for both height and weight)
2. Says new words of Momeeee (no more mama), opple (apple), peassse (please), Taaaank yeeeee (Thank you), EAT! (also does the sign for eat), toes, belly, donnKEY! (donkey, Thanks to Shrek), car, ball, ouch, brrr, and hot (as she licks the outside of the oven door)
3. can tell you what a hyena says (high pitch laughing that her daddy taught her)

4. she is now starting to sleep through the night without needing a "baba" (sippy cup with milk, don't even try to trick her with water!)

Emma hopes they will be best friends forever.....

Daisy hopes Emma will drop that apple slice

If this picture doesn't speak for itself,

I don't know what else to say!