Miss Independent

Kelly Clarkson must have known Emma was coming into the world when she performed these lyrics:

Miss Independent, Miss Self-Sufficient, Miss Keep-Your-Distance, Miss Unafraid, Miss Out-Of-My-Way, Miss On Her Own, Miss Almost Grown...

She is now 25 months... and I do believe I jinxed myself by writing in our Christmas Card that we hope Emma turning 2 does not turn her "terrible". Is she truly "terrible"? Of course not. But she has certainly decided that she is her own person and has an opinion on EVERYTHING and can do ANYTHING on her own.

She insists on dressing herself, putting on her own socks and shoes, getting in and out of her car seat by herself, and pretty much any activity. We hear the phrases, "I do it I Myself" or "Mommy No Help" or "Emma do it" hundreds of times a day.

We still love her dearly and have tried to "step up" our parenting skills. Here she is with her Valentine craft projects done in her art class. I just love her precious grin.

Emma has recently begun "Mickey Mouse" and "Horse Racing" obsessions. This is one passionate child. When she likes something, she REALLY REALLY likes it. She found a few Mickey Mouse books and soon started to fixate on this adorable large eared rodent. Go figure. The horse racing ADORATION began after watching the movie "Dreamer" with Laura and my Mom. I guess it's just her Mother's Kentucky heritage shining through. She talks about horses racing all the time now and BEGS to watch the movie. She asked Greg tonight if she could have a race horse. We're thinking a 10 Million Dollar Thoroughbred would be appropriate.
She now screams. And I mean screams. "NO!" Multiple times a day. It is just so lovely and endearing. (UGH!)
When she wakes up, the first thing we hear from her crib is singing. After about 10-15 minutes of her darling refrains, we generally hear, "Mommy/Daddy where are you?" She will repeat this multiple times until we come to her room. When I knock on her door and ask, "Emma, where are you?" she will reply, "I right here!" - As if she really had any other options of where she could be. :)
For any of you "Three Amigos" fans out there, we affectionately have named her our "Singing Bush". She seriously NEVER stops singing. EVER. It is really so cute. Most of the time it is made up songs, or a medley of her favorites. If you think I'm kidding - just come over for an afternoon and you'll experience the phenomenon of continual singing. It's really quite amazing she has the fortitude to maintain the music. And for the record, Christmas never dies in our home, because Emma is still singing "Jingle Bells" and " Away in a Manger". Happy Holidays!

In the continuum of music stories, the ward choir director, must report on my little assistant. A few weeks ago after carefully watching me lead the choir for 15 minutes, she promptly walked up to my podium, hopped on, positioned her feet just like mine, and proceeded to wildly wave her arms and sing at the top of her lungs to lead the choir. I tried to make it through the piece of music, but had to stop because I was laughing/crying so hard, I couldn't see the notes. And never mind the choir members who were also laughing and having a hard time knowing who to watch. She was even singing some of the right notes and some of the right words. She will however need to learn to "follow" her choir directors for cut offs, because when I cut the rest of the choir off, she held the last note out for an extra 3-4 beats. Guess she is already wanting to audition for the choir solo. Must have gotten that from her Daddy.

We have also been told that she leads the other nursery kids in singing time and wanders around the nursery room waving her arms and singing at the top of her lungs.
She still copies most things we say. Emma will frequently turn to me and say, "Mommy, we don't say that." I also over heard her telling her dolly, "One more dolly - you've had enough." When Laura was taking a picture of her she told Emma, "Say Cheese and Look up Here" to which Emma promptly retorted, "Cheese and Look up Here!".

Emma is really starting to "take care" of her toys and stuffed animals and dolls. If you have 36 seconds, view the following video where she is "reading" to her doll. We can't understand much when she is reading to herself or others, but she is reading "Snow White" which is why she keeps saying, "Hi Ho".