Thursday, September 30, 2010

Flashcards

I guess I want to start posting some of Emma's favorite things. I got her these Alphabeasties: Flash Cards a while ago and she loves going through them and learning the animals. She will bring one to you no matter where you are and tell you what the animal is and she will not walk away until you tell her if she is right. She loves to get accolades. The great things about these is that you can put them all together to create one large image. They are awesome and she has used them so much I need to buy some more. Apparently redesigned and made to look hip flashcards are all the rave b/c while I was at Anthropologie the other day I saw how there are so many to choose from now, from Charley Harper to Eric Carle to Lisa DeJohn. BTW, I just discovered Lisa DeJohn and I heart her animal prints and really loved her alphabet cards. Grandma did buy her some Eric Carle number flash cards as Emma loves to count. I have been teaching her to count her toes and it is so cute to hear her count in another room. She will sit down and start with her pinkie grabbing each toe and work her way up to the big toe. She doesn't get the numbers right and for some reason she loves the number nine, so this is how she counts"nine, six, nine nine nine" Too cute!

I've compiled some of my favorite Flashcards. I really love the bilingual ones by Sarah Wilkins.

Alphabeasties, Charley Harper, Lorena Siminovich, Lisa DeJohn, Art baby flash cards, Eric Carle , Sarah Wilkins

Emma's gifts


Well Emma did really well at her party and I feel she got more gifts than she knows what to do with. It seems the older they get the more toys they receive. She did get a lot of PJs which is great b/c she really needed them. Apparently my amazonian daughter is now wearing 3T pjs. Emma still loves to color and her favorite present was her mini crayola twistable crayons which are really great for small hands. They don't break and last forever!!! Well, at least for a really long time. She also got an Olivia dress up kit that comes in its own cardboard trunk, just like on the show and Emma loves to play dress up. She kept going back to the box each day to put on the tutu and ballet slippers. She is such a lil' diva. She loved all her gifts and each day it seems she will focus on a new toy or book. She really is into Dora these days and got two interactive Dora books, one with a "cd player" and one with a Xylophone. Emma just loves making music. The one gift that took the cake was her talking Jessie Doll. She is probably the size Jessie would really be in real life and Emma just loves her and her hat. She has learned to say Bulls Eye, the horse, and apparently is looking for it. I now have to find a stuffed Bulls Eye so the set can be complete. It really is true how all parents want to make their kids happy and I love how Emma is happy with not just physical things but with experiences such as being outside, watching movies and reading. I don't want Emma to place her happiness on material objects and I know it will be hard to find the right balance as you want your children to have everything you had plus more.

the popo

I shall go willingly, I dont want to cause a scene


ill write you from the slammer

My brother is a police officer, much to our dismay, and for some reason he really loves Emma. I say this b/c even though we are Irish twins we are not at all close. It does make me happy to see him treat Emma with such kindness and go out of his way when he can to entertain her. Anyway, my friend and I will go into these long chats about Emma's alter ego and how she is a ninja warrior who can speak so many languages and has so many Macgruber-esque skills. Pretty much she is a super brainy baby fighting machine. So when he came over one day in his squad car I thought it would be funny to take a picture of Emma being whisked away by the popo. You must also understand that my friend and I will joke about how Emma is an internationally wanted fugitive and uses many aliases and is on the FBI most wanted list. I guess you will just have to wait for the book to come out!!!
So here are some pics of Emma getting into the squad car...kinda of unnerving how she kinda felt at home back there.

sorry and sharing


About a month ago this girl bumped into Emma at the playground and Emma said "im sorry". It was so sweet and a proud moment to hear Emma start using her manners. This morning the swifter mop fell and the handle hit emma on the head and she just looked up at me and said "sorry" I love how she knows sorry is some sort of response to a not good event, yet I need to work on her understanding of when to actually use it.

She also loves to share her food and drink with everyone and her dolls. She will walk up to her dolls and make that fake drinking noise and this morning she went up to her toy box where her lamb was hidden underneath some bears and Emma as always called her lamb baa but this morning she went "sheep sheep". I was impressed she could not only see her sheep but that she used the proper name for it. She really has a good heart and loves to share.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

happy happy 2nd birthday


It came and went and as all big events I am left feeling a little sad now that it is all over...months of preparing and in a few hours it is gone. Emma is now two going on three but really going on 18. She is such an independent soul. I have tons of pics to post but i just want to jot down some adorable things miss e is doing now. She shushes dogs when they bark and babies when they cry. She is a fan of Dora and I had to buy her a dvd since we don't have cable. She still loves to read but now also loves to brush her hair and your hair...and her dolls hair and pretty much anything else, feet, walls , counter tops. She will repeat things unexpectedly, and yesterday she said "oh man" after Swiper said it on Dora. She will also take you by the hand and take you to the place where the item is she wants whether it be a snack or a toy that is too high. And she isnt subtle about it either...she just grabs your hand and says "come moma". If it is something that I don't want her to have she will then move onto parent number two and ask papa for help and while we were in Tampa and both of us would tell her no, she would then go to find grandma and take her hand and bring her to her object of desire. I guess some kids will just point but Emma at least makes an effort to physically bring you with her. We are trying to get her to say please when she wants something and it sounds so cute, "peas" . One evening my mom and I went for a walk and she was in her stroller and then all of a sudden she just grabbed my hand and we walked hand in hand for a while. It was so sweet I wanted that moment to last forever since she will only hold my hand when she needs something from me.

She is really good at lowering her voice when people are asleep. One night I was trying to get her to sleep so I pretended to be sleeping and Emma was reading outloud to herself. Once she realized that I was "asleep" she said "mama night night" in a hush hush tone and then continued to read her book in a hushed tone. Then I lifted my head to look at her and she looked at me and pushed my head back down and said "sssh mama, night time mama" as if she were trying to get ME to go back to sleep. It was sooo funny. I love how aware she is of her tone and how she is courteous to those who are sleeping.

This pic is one of her in her partial bikini and new boots and her hat and Easter basket. She was somehow obsessed with her cousin's toilet seat. She is too stylish.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

trouble

just found this great site for this wonderful french clothing shop and they ship world wide...oh no


and I so want one of these dolls!!!! I have a soft spot for rag dolls and I do not know where it comes from. Maybe from a song my mom used to sing to me as a little girl about an ugly rag doll that lived in an attic and would cry because she thought nobody loved her and then someone sings to her how not to cry because the broom and dust pan love her. Kinda depressing now that i think about it but I guess I grew up thinking rag dolls were the underdogs and needed extra love. Too bad this one comes with a hefty price tag...but I can dream no? (lucky for me that they are currently sold out) She comes from yet another to die for store....I am such a francophile it hurts. I bleed blue!!!

Happy almost birthday Emma




big smile!


"emma"




planning some grand scheme







I really cannot believe it is almost here. This Saturday miss E will be two. She is so tall that I just cant remember her ever being tiny. I love how all of a sudden when she doesn't want me to leave she decides to lay on my arms as if I were cradling her. She is too much and I love her so. This past weekend was a fun filled weekend. I got together with some dear friends at Prospect Park in Brooklyn and had a mini bday party for her. Just a simple pot luck picnic but it was nice. Emma got to run around and ride the carousel. The best part was the moment when we all sang happy birthday to her and she just froze and sat there.Her face just lit up with a huge smile. She listened to each out of key chord being sung with such glee that I melted my heart. She truly loves attention and loved that we all were singing to her. I have been trying to teach her each day to say she is two years old and tell her about birthdays and parties. I got her a Dora and YGG birthday book to get her preparted for her own party and she seems to understand that hats and balloons equal party-now if she understand what a birthday is, I highly doubt it. She loved all her gifts including her books from Tita , her "dog" from Heather and the Buzz interactive phone from us. I cant wait for Sat, to be home with family and other wee ones as I try and pull off an Olivia themed bday party in an outdoor venue. Fingers crossed. I did test out my cupcake toppers and it was s success they are uber cute and I cant wait to see it all come together.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Things I want Thursdays!

How cool is this? A scratch map! You scratch off the places you have been. Granted this is from a British site, but it might be worth the extra in shipping costs. I love this idea....In mine, Europe would be mostly green. I feel seeing this map would push me into getting over my fear of flying and visiting far off places. Ok, who are we kidding, the only thing holding me back is $$$. This map would somehow be comforting to look at, reassuring you that "yes you have been to some fabulous places and there is still so much more to see." Up next on my travel wish list is India, Peru, Cambodia and Croatia-in no particular order.

Things I might buy...

how ingenious are these things?! If I ever have another baby, I might splurge on this plush-tho it is more approriate for my Parisian baby.

From Oeuf- a lovely yet slightly over priced store.

cute things she says

The other day I was in the kitchen while emma was playing in the living room and my phone was ringing. I was too busy preparing supper that I just let it ring and then all of a sudden I hear emma cry out "mama!" " mama phone"
It was so sweet how she was telling me that my phone was ringing. She is my little helper. She will also repeat words like a parrot only to never utter them again. She loves to sing and it is so wonderful when she serenades me! She loves to sing the name game and will go through all her toy's names and will also sing the Olivia theme song! She really is a happy child. She calls her poop "yuck yuck yuck" and last night she actually showed interest in her potty. She sat on it and kept saying peepee pee and yuck yuck yuck, but nothing happened. Then she started throwing her Mike doll in the little potty saying "Mike peepee" and then proceeded to try and drop him in the big toilet. I need to keep an eye on that one as i see a lot of clogged toilets in my future! oh miss e! She also has gotten really good at recognizing certain colors, she has azul, purple, yellow and orange down. She is also very smart, she doesn't have green down but she knows that green is the color of trees and every time i ask her what color a green thing is she repsonsed by saying "arbol".
She really loves to dance and will watch most of swan lake. She knows that tada means an arabesque kick and every time she hears classical music she goes "tada" or "kick kick" . She even has Buzz and Jessie dance while humming the tune of Sleeping Beauty. It is quite lovely. On the drive this morning we were listening to Claire de Lune and emma started going "ssssssshhhhhh". It was her time to relax.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

it has been a while

they grow up so fast...

her helping actually gives me more work



da ninj on da loose


she loves her sweets


exhibit A-party favor bags


Trying to get back into the swing of things. Emma will be two next week and I just don't know where the time went. Where is my little baby that couldn't even sit up, let alone roll over? Now she is flying. She tries to slip into the drivers seat of the car when I get out and at the playground she attempts to do the monkey bars and other older kid tricks. She is trying to communicate more each day and Im trying to wean her from her throwing things during tantrums routine. It is surprising how some books have been able to give me the perfect advice.
Some cute things she has done since I last left this blog are:
Emma was scolding the cat this morning, I just heard her say "Gato down, nononno Gato." She has taken it upon herself to be the proud founder, VP, CEO and sole member of the safety committee at the playground. She loves to go around telling smaller kids, NONONO! She has even made a kid cry by simply telling him no.
She is really good at sharing and always makes sure that every one is equal. She still wont kiss me but rather she puts her head down for me to kiss-however Papa always gets kisses from her. She has learned to blow kisses and loves kissing herself in the mirror. The other day at the Banana Republic fitting room she started kissing her reflection. I still don't know whether to be worried or amused. She loves to feed her toys and even the characters in her coloring book as she eats and even makes the pretend eating sound.
She has learned to put her finger up to her lips and say "ssssssshhhhhhhh" when she hears dogs barking and loves to talk with her hands, as if she were a lil'mobster from 1920's Brooklyn. She is really good a learning proper names and can say Ephraim-our foster cat, 'onnie-her new sitter, atrina-my boss and Mike-a new toy and character from Monsters Inc. She loves to yell out her toys names when she is looking for them, as if they were to somehow magically respond to her. And yes, she is still very much obsessed with Toy Story. She has a Jessie, Woody and Buzz doll, I call them the trifecta and they cannot exist on their own . At times i only know where one or two are and when I go to give them to her she quickly asks where the missing ones are and will not be calm until all three are happy together. She is just pure love and loves to give my gray hairs. That girl is going to age me!
I am going into hyper drive now that I am planning her party! It is next sat and I want all the little things to be done before I fly down. I said last year I would keep it low key but i just cant. Party planning is in my blood! Her Olivia extravaganza! This weekend Emma gave me a mini coronary. It all of a sudden got quiet and I know that when i hear silence trouble is a brewin. I call out for Emma and can't see nor hear anything. I look in the kitchen, bedroom, living room and Emma is nowhere. Then I hear the sound of pots clamoring and I realize Emma is on the counter hidden from view by the fridge, clinging for dear life to the microwave. She had pushed her ratty step stool to the counter and tried to get up to open THE cabinet. (She knows were we keep her chocolate milk.)With the microwave on the counter, there is little room for much else and Emma didn't calculate how she would need room to stand up, so she was only able to kneel down and hug the microwave. She was scared and after I realized that no one had came into take her, I started laughing. She really is resourceful and self sufficient. I wonder how much longer I will be needed. Yesterday she grabbed the puffs, opened them and poured them into her little cup. Granted she still doesn't have the control to stop pouring and they all ended up on the floor, but I applaud her initiative and independence.
I do miss her lots while I am at work and this week we are starting with a new sitter/temporary(?). I wish I could be the one to stay home with her and hope that is not too far off in my future. I'll try and upload some pics soon and finish our Mexican adventure!