2 1/2 ... and PROUD of it.

Emma was eating her dinner PAINFULLY slow one night (which is unfortunately quite common). Greg went over to help her finish. He said to her, "good eating sweetheart" and then mumbled under his breath, "not that you should need my help at 2 1/2 but whatever".

Not 10 minutes later we were both cleaning up the kitchen, when Emma proudly held up 2 fingers and shouted, "I'm 2 and a half"! Greg's comment had helped her discover that she was MUCH MORE than just 2 and she was very, very proud. Now she exuberantly tells anyone who asks that she is 2 1/2.

She turned exactly 2 1/2 yesterday, July 11th. We had a bday party for some of Greg's family last night and I jokingly told his Mom that it was Emma's half bday as well. Being the ever doting Grammie Lou that she is, she added Emma's name to the family bday cake and bought her some cute presents at the store. Wish I had pictures but my camera battery died. Stupid batteries.

In honor of my sweet and sassy 2 1/2 year old I thought I would write down some of my favorite things that she is doing these day (read: VERY LONG POST BELOW). Mostly for my memory, so I can capture this absolutely darling stage (read: EVERYONE ELSE CAN SKIP OR SKIM). She is SO. MUCH. FUN. Is it weird of me to worry about a new baby cramping all of my fun play time with Emma? She is such a great little buddy and we have spent such a wonderful summer together in pools, classes, stores and with friends. Just love this little girl and her precious, happy personality.

• She has really taken to swimming. She was petrified at the beginning of the summer, but now proudly goes "under" all by herself and loves to be brave while swimming with Mom and Dad. She has 2 swimsuits, 1 which I prefer (SPF in the top and bottom) and 1 which she prefers complete with tacky strawberries and ruffles. Guess which one she wears 95% of the time?
• She is now "scared" of things and has insisted that we now keep her bedroom door open (much to my dismay). It started after her first and ONLY viewing of Monsters Inc. - thanks a lot cartoons. She woke up the other night screaming for Greg and insisting that there was a "lizard" in her bed. He had to show her 3 times that her bed was vacant of critters.
• When asked to do things she (mostly) proclaims "SURE!" and "OF COURSE!". It is so freakin' cute. Of course she also screams "NO!" and "DON'T SAY DAT!" as well. Not so freakin' cute.
• She can now ride her tricycle. Poor thing has her parent's athletic ability, so she has been a little slow in gross motor areas. Of course now it's too d*** hot here to ride any wheeled metal item around anywhere.
• Emma walked out on our patio the other day without shoes and found out the hard way that really hot sun on pavement equals burned feet. She was screaming bloody murderer and seemingly stuck in her spot. At least she learned her lesson. She will now not leave the house without shoes on her feet and if I go out barefoot she yells, "Mom, careful you burn your little feet".
• She loves loves loves SYTYCD and proudly points out Cat DeeWee when we watch the show. She carefully watches each dance and then tries to mimic their moves on our red rug. Some of the sultry ones are quite humorous to watch her recreate. She also watches the costumes closely and will say "Dat girl naked as a jay bird Mommy". Very true my modest little friend. Very true.
• The other day I was watching her do something and she looked up at me and angrily exclaimed, "don't be crazy at me Mom". WHAT? Where in the world did she get that phrase?
• Emma LOVES to buy things for her Daddy at the store. She will anxiously wait all day until he gets home to show him what we purchased. We bought him a few ties many months ago and now when he wears ANY tie she says, "I buy dat tie for you daddy. You're welcome."
  
• She is Miss Bossy Pants USA. She bosses around anyone and anything she can find. It's funny and embarrassing all at the same time.
• My Mom often says that I "raised myself". I often have wondered what that meant until the other day. Emma threw food, told me she was going into time out, sat there for what she thought was the appropriate amount of time, came out, asked herself why she was in time out, answered her own question with "I throwed food", asked herself if that was a good or bad choice, again answered her own question with "bad choice", told me she wouldn't throw food again and went along her merry little way. I kind of just sat there dumb struck. Uhhhh... ok.... is that good or bad parenting? Still not sure.
• She LOVES to do things as a family. She will happily say anytime we are doing anything, "we all eat dinner together OR we all ride in the car together OR we all wear flip flops together!" She also loves to find things in common with other people/children and will use the same phrase for that as well, "we all wear pink together OR we all go swimming together." I think it's just her social nature that she loves to be with and around other people and finds great joy in this. Like mother like daughter. :)
• Her memory never ceases to amaze me. I wish my inadequate memory could recall more specific examples, but almost every day she will see something or someone that spurs a memory (some short term, some long term) and she will excitedly say, "Mom, you member when...?" We pulled into Arizona Mills Mall parking lot on Saturday when she looked around and said, "member when we came here to see the fishies together Daddy?" We had taken her to the aquarium a MONTH previous and there were absolutely no signs of the fish or the aquarium anywhere near where we parked. She just recognized the parking lot. Seriously?

• She LOVES sweets. I really try to limit her intake, but the other day I went to Paradise Bakery for a sandwich. They give you a free cookie which Emma spied immediately. I told her she could hold it in her hand, but could not eat it until AFTER her lunch. I looked back at her in the rear view mirror and saw her SMELLING the cookie, but very obediently NOT eating the cookies. I felt so bad for her that I told her she could have a few bites. Evidently, we need to work on the definition of "few" because when I looked back again, the cookie was gone. The only evidence was the chocolate smeared all over her face and a huge grin (see pic above).
• She is still our singing wonder and we LOVE it. It keeps us entertained all day long, every day. She now knows at least a dozen Primary songs completely by memory and will sing them for anyone anytime (if you bribe her with a cookie). Her largest audience was our family reunion last weekend where she proudly stood on her chair and sang "As I Have Loved You" full voice for 30-40 family members. Clearly gets her stage presence from her Daddy. She also knows at least 15-20 other kids songs that she just loves to BELT around the house. Our current favorites are "Hakuna Matata", "Together At Last" from Annie, and the "Hokey Pokey". She still thoroughly enjoys also making up her own songs and will frequently be caught singing to her stuffed animals or just to herself while she plays.
• Speaking of music, she also still loves to help her Mother with the church choir. Last month we sang "Teach Me To Walk" which is one of her favorites. She ran down to the pews during rehearsal, stood up on the bench, and started waving her arms in circles and singing the song with the choir in FULL VOICE. The choir had a hard time focusing so we had to tell Emma to stop. :)
• She is STILL almost DAILY reliving the wonderful moment when she was reunited with Greg after our trip to Kentucky (in May). "You member when I saw Daddy in his green shirt and screamed and ran to him saying Daddy! Daddy! I miss you."
• Emma has a bedtime routine that if broken can be disastrous. And she reminds us every night. She gets on her pajamas FIRST, then she drinks some milk while reading books/scriptures, then we say prayers, then she brushes her teeth, then she goes to sing songs with Daddy and go to bed. She still sleeps with a myriad of animals and insists on "roll call" with them every night to make sure they are all there. JJ and Zac watched her a few weekends ago and when they put her to bed they didn't know what she meant by "roll call", so sweet Zac made up a song using those words to pacify her. :) It worked apparently and she went to bed, probably a little confused, but satisfied. She loves to give me kisses all the way up every single banister railing and she still still droans like a monk right before she actually falls to sleep. Been doing that since she was an infant. We call her our own little "Moaning Myrtle".
• Emma has a new found appreciation for personal hygiene and LOVES to put on my "doderant". She takes off the cap, and rolls it up her entire inside arm and arm pit. I told her once she only needed it in her arm pit and she retorted, "no, I think I need it on my arm, too. I smell so really better now".
• She is obsessed with chewing gum. Obsessed. I've worked on teaching her to "chew" the gum, but inevitably she is turning around asking for another piece.
• She LOVES to pretend to talk on her princess cell phone. She most often calls her cousins Ben, Ty, Aliya and Anna - but will also make calls to Grandparents, Laura and other various family members. She has complete conversations where she can often be heard saying "well..., maybe..., really?..." and other such phrases that she SURELY hears from her Mother. She OFTEN invites the other telephone party to join her at the pool or movie on "Saturday". If she can't find her phone, she'll use any object that fits up to her ear.
• She loves to hide from us and will be heard saying, "where'd your baby doll go Mommy"?
• Emma is still infatuated with books and reading. She could read for hours a day. She has a handful of her shorter books somewhat memorized and loves reading to us. She is so happy reading to her stuffed animals or just browsing her books alone on the couch. Of course she also loves to cuddle up to Greg or I for a good reading session as well.
• I bought her some pipe cleaner and beads the other day at Michael's and she spent the better part of the afternoon stringing bracelets for herself and other family members. She was planning on giving at least 2 to Greg when he came home from work, but when I tried to take them from her she said, "Um... actually I think these are for Emma." :)
  
• As evidenced by the pictures below, she just got her VERY FIRST real haircut. When she was itty bitty, I used to cut her mullet to ensure that she didn't look strange, but once it got long, I just let it grow and only cut her bangs. (SIDENOTE: one of my biggest pet peeves in life is children's bangs in their eyes so I was a little nutty about making sure that you could always see Emma's beautiful blue eyes under her hair.) Anyway, her hair was getting REALLY long in the back and starting to get a little stringy. So, I took her to "Cool Cuts 4 Kids" and got her hair trimmed about an inch and a half. They were SO great. Let her pick her own car to sit in and her own movie to watch while they cut. The stylist even did her hair in braids and put sparkles in it like a "princess". Emma was pleased as could be and reminds me every day of the time that she went to get her hair cut in the fire engine. I paid about $10 more than a cut at Fantastic Sams or other such establishment, but I think it was worth it for her first trip. Now we'll see if I fork it out for other future trips?? I may have ruined her forever.

WE LOVE OUR SWEET AND SASSY 2 1/2 YEAR OLD! Thanks for bringing so much joy to our lives little "baby doll".