The Kids Updates

It has been awhile since I have updated on the kids progress and stories, so I thought I better write some of the gems down, before I forget!

Emma is 4 and 3 months and she is such a delight to have around the house (most of the time).  Her behavior has drastically improved from her 3-year-old non-sharing stage and with her maturity comes the ability to sass her parents even more when she feels spited. 

• Emma is constantly telling us that she wants 5 kids when she is a Mom, so that she can drive a mini van like her friend Whitney's Mom.  And she longingly stares at mini vans on the freeway, pining away for the day when we can also own one.  We keep telling her that our family may never be big enough to need one, but she is ever persistent.
• She was THRILLED when Spring Break was over, so that she could return to preschool.  She asked me every day if Spring Break was over yet.  And we did fun things every day!  This girl just loves preschool so that she can interact with lots of children.  Reminds me of myself.  I never wanted to miss school for fear that there would be conversations or social events that I would also miss.
• Emma was sad one day when a little girl would not play with her on the play ground.  (Emma is VERY troubled when other kids will not play with her.  Fate worse than death for this little socialite)  On the way home we talked about what she could do to work through this dilemma.  I suggested that she go find another friend or just play alone next time.  She thought for a moment and then said, "Mom, what would you do if JJ told you that she didn't want to play with you?  Would that make you sad in your heart?  Well, that is how I feel when my friends don't want to play with me."  I have to admit.  It made me stop to think that I can not flippantly give her advice without realizing that her feelings for her friends are as as strong as mine.
• She told me a few mornings ago that she wanted to be more "spontaneous".  I think she learned the word from a Tinker Bell movie, but boy did I laugh when she used it appropriately in a sentence.
• We are currently working on "learning to read in 100 lessons" work book.  We are about half way through and I can proudly say that Emma is doing an excellent job at easy reading.  She is about 3/4th through the phonics of different letters and she can read full paragraphs in our book.  We work on it each afternoon together with writing lessons afterwards and I am really impressed at how quickly she is learning.  She should be reading easy books by the time summer hits, and she still has one more year of preschool.
• I made her an educational CD with lots of learning songs that teach different concepts.  She learns exceptionally fast when learning through music (I think most people do) - but it has been fun to learn together.  Her favorite is "Fifty Nifty United States" and she can now name all 50 states in alphabetical order.  I learned this one as well.  :)  She can name the continents, the oceans, the planets, some of Europe and South and Central America, all 15 prophet and apostles,  Count by 5's, 10's and in spanish... and we are still learning.  This CD has paid for itself a million times over.  So glad I made it.  It helps make all of our driving around town more tolerable and productive.
• Emma gave her first Primary talk last month.  She was so excited.  We printed off pictures about the Prophet and Apostles and she memorized about 12 sentences worth of information to share with her Primary friends.  She was really proud of her efforts and did not even flinch when she marched up to the podium, grabbed the mic and started into her talk.  She definitely LOVES to be in front of people and performing.  Strangely familiar.
• When my friend Krisha told Emma that she was moving into our ward, Emma let out a GASP and said, "you have got to be kidding me!  That is so great!".  She is a little copy cat of so many of my expressions.
• When I ask her to do something (when she is in a good mood) she says, "sure Mom!  I would be delighted."
• She can be SO moody.  Some days she just wakes up on the WRONG side of the bed, and it is literally an entire day of belligerent behavior.  We had one such day yesterday.  Greg and I were at our wits end.  I had to leave stake conference 15 minutes early and bring her to the car so that she could scream her brains out without interrupting the rest of the stake.  When we put her to bed, she very calmly told us that she was going to behave better tomorrow.  She said, "I kind of had a rough day today, didn't I?"  Yeah.  To say the least babes.
• She will cuddle up with us in bed when she wakes up in the 6am hour and very sweetly ask Greg or I (mostly Greg) if she can hold his hand while she sleeps.  So sweet.
• She still LOVES and ADORES and IDOLIZES her father.  Every day is just one day closer to Saturday and Sunday when he gets to stay home all day with her.  She asks every night for the count down to Saturday.  When he had to go to work for a few hours last Saturday she was SO disappointed.  So he invited her to come along.  She brought the IPAD and the DVD player and watched videos while he work.  She was also introduced to the free fountain drinks at the law firm, which she thought were pretty amazing.  My Mom used to send us to work with my Dad on Saturdays and I still remember the free soda.  So incredible as a little kid that comes from a soda-free home.  :)
• Emma is very adoring.  To everybody.  She loves to give hugs and kisses and she LOVES to tell people how much she loves them.  She probably tells me at least 15 times a day, how much she loves me as her Mom.  It is always so sweet.  Today on the way home from dance, without any prompting, she said, "Mom, thanks so much for taking me to dance class today."  Melted my heart.
• She is still dressing up in princess costumes almost every day and LOVES to wear dresses.  Tom and Laura bought her a dress for her birthday in January... if she could wear it every day she would.  We have to put restrictions on how many times she wears it in a week.  She loves to look pretty and is very conscious about what matches and what does not.  I can VERY easily get her to switch her outfit around if I tell her something doesn't match.  She would rather DIE than go out in public in something that doesn't match.
• She LIVES for having friends over to play.  When we have to take them home she is very melancholy and tells me that her heart is always sad when she has to say goodbye to a friend.
• She still takes naps about 3 times a week.  I generally let her decide if she would like to stay up and play with me during the afternoon, or take a nap to play a little longer with Greg in the evening.  She knows when she is tired and will tell me that she is ready to take a nap that day.  It works out pretty well.  If she fights a nap, it's not a big deal, we just put her down to bed a little earlier that night.  She is still a champion sleeper and will frequently take longer naps than Grant.
• She is such an amazing big sister.  Really she is just wonderful to Grant.  She is great about sharing and always gives him some of the snacks she is eating.  Of course, he is not really stealing anything that she REALLY wants yet, so we'll see once he wises up and starts to take the toys that really count.  :)

Oh, sweet, precious, happy little Grant.  What a blessing of joy he is in our home.  He is 15 months old.  Greg, Emma and I just ADORE him.  He has been the easiest, most delightful toddler.  Besides his complete destruction of our home on a regular basis, we just love him.  We call him our human tornado, because in a matter of minutes he can cyclone through our cupboards and pull everything off of the shelf.  Mr. Destruction is also a nickname we use often.  I had NO IDEA how different boys and girls could really be.  NO IDEA.  Wow.  It is really amazing.

• He is signing using baby signs really well.  He can sign and say: dog, ball, car, dad, mom, please, thank you, train, eat, water, bath, book... and probably a few more I can't remember.  It really helps communicating with a toddler.  And I much prefer the singing over screaming fits.  Much prefer!!  It is great bc Emma remembers the signs from when she was a toddler and uses them with him all the time as well.  I think this has helped a LOT.  We also love the baby signing times videos, but he hasn't watched them all that much.
• He is obsessed with cars and balls.  OBSESSED.  He must sign and say those words at least 100 or 1000 times a day.  Such a boy.  I have to admit, it is very hard for me not to buy him every ball and every car in every store that we shop at.  He is so convicted about his requests.
• He loves to give kisses.  Generally they are open mouth.  It's delightful for those of us in his immediate family, but I think a little disconcerting to others.  Such a sweet, sweet little boy.
• He had a strong of 4 ear infections one right after another during the months of January, February and some of March.  It was not fun.  He was still a fairly good baby, but I knew he was hurting and it was frustrating to have the same illness come over and over and over.  The doc says that Emma was probably bringing viruses from school and passing them along.  UGH.  Glad to have the summer almost here, so that the colds are gone.
• He is STILL not totally walking.  The most steps he has taken is 5.  But he prefers to crawl and mostly does this funny school where he is sitting on one of his legs and pulling his body with the other.  I'm in no hurry, except that he really hurts his knees on our backyard rocks.
• He LOVES animals.  LOVES.  When we are outside he is on hyper alert for any sounds of dogs or birds in the neighborhood.
• When he hears the train come by our neighborhood, he gets super excited and signs and says, "train, choo choo!".
• He is giving me a head ache with his eating.  He has some kind of strange sensitivity to texture and still prefers his food pureed.  Maybe I waited too long to transition him to table food?  He just won't eat table food very well.  So frustrating!  I should not still be spoon feeding him baby food.  UGH.  I try all day every day to give him table food, which he refuses or spits out.  I'll keep trying.  He's got to give in some day, right?  I can't go with him to kindergarten with pureed carrots.
• He LOVES his Daddy and Sister.  Whenever they come into a room, he lights up and smiles from ear to ear kicking his legs.
• Grant generally prefers men.  He is happy to go and play with anyone... but if there is a woman and a man standing next to each other, he ALWAYS chooses the man.
• He is in a very difficult stage at church.  2 1/2 months until NURSERY!!  Crazy that it is so close.  Always seems that it will never come soon enough, but I am kind of sad to send my baby into nursery.  That is the point of no return!!
• He still smiles and waves at everyone he sees.  He is hardly ever grumpy, and when he is it is usually because I haven't fed him enough or did not lay him down in town for a good nap.
• We love our Mr. Bubbers!!!