Birthday Recap

I know it's been almost 2 weeks since Emma's birthday so I figured I should really get to her birthday recap. To begin with, here are some pictures from her party.



Emma's celebration really lasted 3 days. Since Michael wasn't going to be home on Friday the 15th, her actual birthday, we gave her her present on Thursday night. This was a doll accessory set - stroller, carrier, pack n play, high chair, diaper bag. She loved it. She's all about playing pretend with her Baby Chou Chou and bears right now. Goes hand in hand with her kitchen and play food. Michael did make it home for an hour Friday, so we gave her her other present, which while wasn't quite as exciting, she liked Mrs. Potato Head and didn't really care about the clothes. Sidenote, she now calls Mrs. Potato Head Mr. Noodle Head.

Saturday evening was her Dora birthday party. Emma was really into it. As our family started arriving Emma was going nuts. She was so wound up and had so much energy she was just running around in circles squealing and hugging everyone and talking up a storm. It was hysterical. Had a lot of fun opening her presents, although I kept having to turn her around so everyone could see her because she'd sit facing me with her back to them. She could sort of sing the Happy Birthday song, she got about half the lyrics right. She was afraid of the candle on her cake but had no problem eating it. Michael's Dad made Emma a beautiful cradle for her baby dolls. Michael mom made a mattress for it and gave Emma a magic bottle. You can see Michael feeding the Baby Chou Chou in one of the pictures above. He took over for Emma. :) She also received some summer clothes, a Magna Doodle, puzzle, a book, Dora movie and Sit n Spin. Emma was frightened by the Sit n Spin at first (as well as Mr. Noodle Head) but came around a few days later. Now she loves it and says "It's fun!" every time she rides it.

It's hard to believe she's two. It's gone so fast. And when I look at Mackenzie I can't even begin to picture her as big as Emma even though I know that will be here before I know it!

"Take a picture!"

This morning we're in the kitchen - Mackenzie in the high chair, Emma at the table and I was at the sink cutting up strawberries - when I hear Emma say "She's smiling! She's smiling! Look!!" I turned to see her pointing at Mackenzie, then she says "Take a picture!" She's SO my daughter!


In other news, Emma is no longer afraid of her sit-n-spin. We had a breakthrough today. Thank goodness! I don't have to feel guilty about her receiving a birthday gift that frightens her.





But for every two steps forward she takes one backwards - she's afraid of her Flinstones vitamins. Seriously. A vitamin. :)

2 Year Pictures

Today we had Emma's 2 year pictures taken. Oh, what an experience that was. She's not really into the whole "sit and smile for the camera" thing. Let's just say that were it not for fruit snacks it'd would've been worse. At least I had those to bribe her with!





Birthday party recap to come soon!

Two.

Emma 2/17/06 (2 days after she was born, but best picture of just her without someone holding her. Unless you count the naked-right-after-birth shot and that one wouldn't really work.)


2/15/07

2/15/08


Happy birthday to my big girl!

The Wednesday before the big '2'

Emma's birthday is coming fast. And I'm trying to get down as many details about her during the week she turns two as I can. I feel like there are so many little things about her I'm going to forget, because as anyone who knows me can attest to, I have a terrible memory. I need this blog for the near future (for my scrapbook pages) and for the distant future, so I can look back on it. I already keep remembering things that happened when Emma was a baby that I know I didn't write down/scrapbook and I'm afraid I won't keep remembering. (For the record, Emma used to sweat like crazy when she drank her bottles, I remembered this because Mackenzie? Not so much.)

She loves to color. Unfortunately not just the coloring books. So she doesn't color as often as she'd like. It's why we got her the AquaDoodle for Christmas. But Monday night we sat at her table with her and colored. And she did well. Stayed in her seat the whole time. Only got a little crayon on the table. But that's what it's for, so I'm not concerned about it. By the end of our coloring time, she just wanted us to color and she watched.



Have I mentioned lately how much Emma LOVES Mackenzie. Here, as you can see, she's giving her a hamburger. Today, she tried to give her ice cream and tea. In case you can't tell, it's not a real hamburger. She really wants her to eat her play food. And really, all food in general. When I'm nursing Mackenzie, Emma usually says "Mackenzie's eating" but tonight she said "Mackenzie's eating a jelly sandwich." Um, not quite Emma. (This and the next picture are from Tuesday)


She also really loves to hug/touch/pet/kiss her. As evidenced by this picture.


Today when I picked her up from Kid Park at the fitness center I heard Miss Rhonda say "No Emma!" And when I looked, I saw Emma leaning over Mackenzie who was playing on the floor. When I told Miss Rhonda how Emma can't keep her hands off Mackenzie, she said "Emma can't keep her hands off anyone or anything." Yep. Pretty much.

I was at the fitness center taking the Rock Bottom fitness class with my friend Lisa. We were both just doing cardio and weights but decided to try this class on Wednesday mornings. I used to take a lot of classes but hadn't recently. Last week was our first class. Let's just say that Lisa doesn't dance (her words) and I'm no kick boxer. At all. I took a kick boxing class once and hated it. I was totally embarrassed by my lack of kicking skills and never took another one. We only do a few minutes of kicking in this class but it's enough to remind me of that horrible experience everytime. As for Lisa, well, she doesn't mambo and grapevine so well. But, man, she can kick! I told her she should be in a Tae Bo video. Me, not so much. Oh and for the record, I hate jumping jacks and it's going to take a loooooong time, if ever, for my bottom to be rock-like.

The car completely knocks out Mackenzie. She fell asleep leaving the fitness center today around 10:30 and didn't wake up until almost 3. Almost every time she falls asleep in the car, she sleeps like that. She is so funny. Laughing a lot. And now that she's discovered the toys on her car seat, bouncy seat, and play mat, she loves to grab them and play. So cute. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. :) She snores, by the way, sometimes really loudly. I just mention this because I can hear her snoring through the monitor as I'm typing this.

Emma really likes to follow Michael when he snowblows the sidewalk. But she won't go off it. She won't go in the yard. And our little dare devil who rode every kiddie ride at the fair this summer? She refuses to get in her sled and let Michael pull her around. In fact, not long after I took this picture Monday, Michael said it was time to go, Emma refused. Michael asked her if she wanted to get on her slide and she immediately said "Inside!" and went for the door.

Emma is so strong. Seriously. And if you don't believe me, belive her. Because she says is all. the. time. Like when she was carrying her piano in the family room today. So Strong. When she carries her Weeble Wobble Castle. So Strong. When she carries an animal train car in each hand. So Strong. Even when she carries something that's not so heavy. So Strong. And sometimes, Mommy and Daddy are So Strong, too.


For some strange reason, she also likes to put one cup in another cup and drink from it. Don't really get this at all. (That cup by the way, it's a Cleveland Indians cup from 1996. Seriously.)


She's actually not doing so bad with her toys back in her room. Tonight she went to bed within an hour. And only played with her toys for a half hour or so before getting in bed. Although once in bed, she started doing her fake cry and saying "watch Dora Halloween" over and over again. We can't of course, because it's back at the library. (Yesterday I took the case back, without the DVD. I didn't realize this of course until I got home and Michael tells me they watched Dora Halloween. I say ok. He's says it again. THEN I realize why they is meaningful. Oops.)

Watching Yo Gabba Gabba today. Michael thinks it's dumb. I like it. So does Emma. We've gotten a lot out of it. Dancy dance dance dance dance dance. Wiggle wiggle wiggle go, wiggle wiggle wiggle stop, hold still! There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy. And many more.


These pictures of Emma in the green shirt and red Chatterbox shirt were all today. Many days we go through two outfits. She's a messy kid.

Oh, yeah, got the haircut and highlights and I love it. Although Michael says the color is exactly the same, which it isn't of course. He was trying to get Emma to say "Mommy I like your haircut" for when I got home but all I got was "Mommy! Mommy! Haircut! Mommy!!" I'm taking Emma in for her first haircut within the next two weeks. Her bangs are just at her eyebrows and once they start getting in her eyes, it's time for a professional. I tend to get them a tad crooked.

Our new cell phones came today. I know have a charger for inside our house. Michael told me tonight that I'm not allowed to touch his charger. Ever. And if I lose mine again I'm out of luck. I've got to try REALLY HARD to not lose it.

A toddler who doesn't say "NO"

That would be my toddler. Seriously. What (almost) 2 year old doesn't say no? Everything thing you ask her she answers with okay and right. And if she doesn't want to do something, she just gets mad,flaps her arms and makes this grunting squealing sound. Everytime she does it, we tell her to just say no. So she does. And the next time it's back to the arm flapping. So strange.

Speaking of strange, she is frightened by the monitor. We've noticed a couple times that she got a weird look on her face when she hears Mackenzie or us through it. But today we were down in the basement and Mackenzie started crying. The monitor was turned up kind of loud and Emma freaked. She started crying, her face got red, her eyes got big and she kept saying "turn off, turn off!" I tried to explain what it was but she really wasn't interested. She just didn't want it on.

I put some of her toys back in her room today. Just a little test to see if she can handle it. She's down for her nap and I actually think she might be sleeping. I thought for sure she'd spend 3 hours up there playing with her Dora house and Little People Farm. Granted, she could just be playing really quietly.

Micahel was off yesterday because of the cold and now we're getting tons of snow so his game is cancelled tonight. Good for me because I'm getting my hair cut and he can stay with the girls instead of my neighbor. Not so good for Friday when the game is rescheduled, that's Emma's birthday and he'll be gone all day. But good in that it's not Saturday during her party.

Hmm...that whole paragraph I wrote about Emma being asleep. All lies. I hear her now. I thought it was too good to be true.

Weekly Recap

I've decided since I never get to all the blog posts I think up in my mind, I'll do a recap each Sunday of all the little things I meant to blog about during the week. So...

Mackenzie is starting to enjoy her Bumbo. Abby and Marty were so nice to loan us the Bumbo since Claire no longer needs it. Took this picture tonight. At the same time as Mackenzie was sitting happily in her seat, Emma was jumping over Michael's legs. Sometimes she actually jumped, other times she climbed over. But each time she counted - 1, 4, 6,7,8,4, 2, 1, 4, 6, 7, 8....



Emma's discovered the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. One night while trying to get her to stay in bed and go to sleep, I mentioned the stars. I made a big deal about how cool they were and now she can't wait to see them. Some nights she even forgoes a book just to see the stars. I stand at the door and we say "1,2,3 stars!" and I turn off the light and shut the door. Sometimes it works and she stays in bed and goes to sleep rather quickly. Other times, not so much.


Friday night Mackenzie sat next to me in her highchair while I sat at the counter eating cookie dough and drinking milk. Every time I looked down she was smiling at me. So cool.


Monday was our playdate with Lisa and her daughters Bree and Ava. Bree is 16 days older than Emma and Bree is 2 months older than Mackenzie. I met Lisa in a prenatal fitness class but we didn't become friends until the summer after we had our daughters and realized we lived in the same developement. We had our first playdate that June and have been friends ever since. The girls are into Ring Around the Rosie now. And Emma, not wanting to leave anyone out, decided the stroller should also play.

All four girls together. Still can't belive we actually got this picture.


Yesterday we went to see this:

I LOVED it! Marty, Abby and Claire came over and stayed with Emma and Mackenzie while Michael and I went into to Cleveland to see Wicked. We went with Tara, John, Shelby, Michael, Rachel and Mom. It was just fantastic. Now I want to go see it again. The actress who play Elphaba had the most phenomenal voice and the actress who played Glinda was hysterical. Now I need the soundtrack. I wish you could get the entired musical on CD, dialogue and all but I don't think you can. At least I couldn't find it online.

Today I ran some errands while Michael and the girls napped. So much easier and faster when I'm by myself. One of my stops was Old Navy. They're having a great baby/toddler sale - everything is 40% off. Among other things I picked up this for Emma. Hee hee. So perfect.


As well as this for Mackenzie.


Mackenzie wore her first 3-6 month outfit Saturday. She's outgrown a few 0-3 month outfits and the rest fit perfectly. Which means soon we'll be in to all 3-6 months. Which means that she definitely will need a lot of new clothes this summer. Most of Emma's summer clothes were 3-6 and while I think Mackenzie will fit in those the beginning of summer, by July, she'll definitely have outgrown them.

Emma will be 2 Friday. 2. We've been practicing saying "I'm 2" and "I'm 2 years old." Too bad she doesn't know that's what she's supposed to say when you ask her how old she is. I ordered her cake tonight - Dora, of course. I'm excited about her party and to give her her gifts. I'm going to keep track of everything she does and says this week and take a lot of pictures so I can do a mini-album about the week she turned two. One thing I'm sure I'll be including? Emma's new name for Mackenzie - Bazenzie. She says it all the time. It's pretty cute.

Tomorrow is a snow day for about 500 schools in NE Ohio. Actually, it's a cold day. We're not expecting a lot of snow, it's just going to be too cold for the kids to be out. It's now a three-day weekend for Michael. I haven't scrapped all week, maybe with Michael home tomorrow, I will.

Next week Emma moves to the 24-months-and-up room. She'll be there until Fall when she moves in to the 2-year-old Sunday School Class. We attend a really large church and the have the Sunday School classes set up like school. The classes have a cut-off date of October 1st. If you turn 2 after October 1st, you have to wait until the next year to start Sunday school. So Emma will be in the 24-months-and-up room until then. That's the room Michael works when we have nursery duty. And by the time October 1st comes, that room is FULL of 2 year olds running wild, all waiting to move up to Sunday School. We had nursery duty today and learned that starting this week, they've implemented a Sunday School-like lesson for that room instead of a free-for-all play hour. Next week Emma will get her first lesson. They sing a song, read a book and do an art project. For example, today they learned how God created all the colors then tore up construction paper and glued it onto paper. I'm so excited for her. I can't wait to see what she's learned and discuss it with her. And by the way, Michael and I totally think she's going to eat the glue.

On the way home from church today, we passed a pond with a duck stuck on it. Frozen to the ice. But he was still moving his head. I told Michael when I headed out for my errands I'd drive by and see if he was still there and if he was I'd stop at their house and tell them. Well, I forgot. But this evening I did go to the grocery store. And I did remember. But it was 5 hours later and the duck wasn't moving anymore. I started to cry. I felt sick to my stomach. It was awful. I turned around and went to the house that owns the pond. I rang the doorbell and when the woman who lives there answered I told her "You might thing I was crazy, but did you know there's a duck frozen in y our pond?" She didn't. And was upset about it. She said they'd been downstairs with their new puppy and hadn't looked out there. She was going to have her husband check on the duck when he got home, that maybe he was just tired out and sleeping. I'm pretty sure he's dead, he had lots of snow on him and his beak was on the ice. And it was horrible. I felt awful. I should've stopped after church when he was alive and maybe they could've saved him. You can be sure I'll be stopping next time I see something. No more putting it off. So in order for this to not be bothering me for the next 3 days, I keep telling myself that it's part of nature. Animals die. There are lots of ducks. Blah blah blah. I also will not be driving that way all week because I don't want to take the chance that the duck will still be there. I'd rather just think they saved him.

In happy news - the WGA strike is over!!!

For Marie

You are a dork. Those were both pictures of Mackenzie. But, for your viewing pleasure, here are side by side pictures of them in the super cute 3-month shirt.

Emma is on the left, photo taken 5/23/06
Mackenzie is on the right, photo taken 2/5/08



What do you think?

Double Duty

Renee sent these fantastic shirts when Emma was born. And now we get to use them again for Mackenzie which makes me very happy. I love them so. :) Thanks again Renee!




Mackenzie really smiles a lot now. Except yesterday. When I was trying to take pictures. So Michael tried to get her to smile, which didn't work so well until then end, then I got the above picture.


And Emma made a few attempts as well. She'd alternately hold her hand and make her funny face.

3 months old already

Mackenzie turned 3 months old on the first. I tried getting some pictures today but she was a bit tired and not so cooperative. We'll try again after naptime. She's turning into a great sleeper. Slept for 10 hours last night! She fell asleep about 10 pm and I woke up at 7:40 this morning and realized she hadn't woken up to eat around 5 like she normally does. I actually had to wake her up to nurse at 8am. She's smiling all the time now. Especially when hanging out in the highchair when we're at the kitchen table. For some reason seeing her Mommy eat makes her laugh. She's getting big, she's out grown a few 0-3 month items and fills out the rest completely. We'll be on to the next size by the end of the month, I think.



This big girl will be TWO in 11 days! That's just crazy. This morning we went over to Lisa's for a play date after the fitness center. I'll post some of those pictures soon. Her latest thing is "I love it!" As in "Banana. I love eat banana. I love it. I love it!" Just insert broccoli, church, kid park, Dora, jelly sandwich and you get what we hear many times throughout the day.