The Emma Report

In the span of one month, we’ve gone from this:

to this:

It has been unusually warm here over the past week. Our average daily temperature at this time of year is typically in the mid-teens (Celsius). This weekend, our outdoor thermometer was reading more than 29 degrees Celsius (85 degrees Fahrenheit):

The girls have gone from snowpants, boots, and mittens to shorts, sneakers, and tee-shirts in the matter of 7 days:

They managed to find a small patch of snow in the farthest corner of our backyard:

and had a great time playing in the snow wearing their summer clothes!:

We’re enjoying this wonderful weather while we get it and hoping that Mother Nature doesn’t have some more winter-like nastiness in store for us!

Over the course of the last month our home has been hit by plague, pestilence, and cranky, cranky children.

Seriously, over the course of the past 4 weeks, we’ve had:

4 nasty colds (2 of which Emma has had the misfortune to have)

3 icky flu bugs (of the gastrointestinal variety)

2 rounds of antibiotics, and

1 case of Strep Throat.

Oh, and let’s not forget the 125 cm. of snow. That’s 50 inches. More than 4 feet.

I give up.

Spring cannot get here fast enough.

P.S. Eric came back from a doctor’s appointment this afternoon with a new sickness to add to our ever-growing list. Sinus Infection. Lovely.

Big Sister announced this afternoon that her teacher is going to have a baby.

Apparently Mrs. F. showed the class an ultrasound image last week.

Clearly unimpressed by the blurry display, Big Sister complained:
“I couldn’t see anything in the picture, Mommy. It was too dark.”

I explained that the baby was still tiny and inside his Mommy’s tummy, so it was hard to get a clear picture.

Big Sister thought about this for a while, then offered a suggestion: “I think they need to get a flashlight in there.”

Miss Emma wishes everyone a very smiley Valentine’s Day!

We baked some cupcakes for Big Sister to bring in to her School/Day Care bakesale today.

Of course, Emma had to sample them:

Emma’s verdict: Finger-licking good!

It’s amazing the difference two years can make. Gone are the drama of respiratory emergencies, replaced by colds, runny noses and the occasional outburst — in other words normal two-year-old stuff.

Mom’s out tonight, and big sister knows that’s a good opportunity to negotiate for a DVD. “You picked the last one, right dad?” she attempted. It went something like this…

Dad: No, you did. Remember, we watched Barbie Fairytopia?

Big Sister: Oooooh, can’t I choose?

Dad: No, because you only want to watch Barbie Fairytopia or Barbie Island Princess, and we’ve seen them enough the last few weeks. Let’s watch something that Emma would like, maybe something with animals in it.

Big Sister: How about Barbie Swan Lake? We haven’t watched that in a long time.

Dad: No, that wouldn’t be fair to Emma.
Big Sister: Emma likes Barbie.

Dad (stupidly): Emma, would you like to watch Barbie or something with animals?

Emma: Barbie no animals.

Dad: Barbie OR animals?

Emma: Bar-bie.

Dad: Wouldn’t you…

Emma: Bar-bie! Bar-bie! Bar-bie!

Yes, folks, the new word of the day is Barbie. I’m in hell.

Sorry about our missing in action status over the past month…. No excuses, just not much blog-worthy has been happening ’round here.

I mentioned last month that our nanny abruptly quit just before Christmas (she had moved the month earlier and was finding her hour-long twice-daily commute too much to deal with). I’m happy to report that we were able to find a fabulous new caregiver (Liz) quite quickly. I’m even happier to report that Emma has adjusted to her new caregiver amazingly well!

Every morning as we bring her to Liz’s home, Emma happily toddles off to play, often without even a goodbye wave or backwards glance. Not a single tear has been shed! She clearly enjoys her time there, has learned several new songs, and has brought home a portfolio full of new artwork.

Liz has also been amazed at how well Emma has adjusted. She wrote in our daily journal last week that Emma is a delightful, sociable little girl and one of the most easy-going children she’s ever had the privilege of caring for. As a working mom, I can’t tell you the relief I feel knowing that Emma is receiving loving care (in a safe, stimulating environment) when we’re not there to give it to her…

In other news, Emma will be starting group speech therapy in a couple of weeks. While she’s become quite a “chatterbox” she’s still somewhat speech-delayed for her age (not uncommon for a micro-preemie) and I think she’ll really enjoy the group sessions and social interaction…

Finally, there was cause for big excitement at our house this week….Both girls have been taking swimming lessons and today Big Sister successfully completed Preschool level D, while Emma ‘graduated’ from Parent & Tot 2.

Summer 2020 Olympic Swim Team, here we come!

January

saw the arrival of Emma’s first tooth (finally!):

and her first experience of snow as a mobile baby:

February

We celebrated Valentine’s Day:

and had lots of fun at Winterlude:

March

brought Emma’s evolution from crawling baby (at Uncle Dean’s wedding):

to toddling toddler:

to Dancing Queen:

April

started with a freak late winter storm:

and ended with balmy summer-like weather:

May

we spent most of our days outside, enjoying the beautiful weather:

June

saw us working on Emma’s table manners

July

marked Emma’s first ‘official’ haircut:

and our annual summer vacation (this year, to southern Ontario):

August

we celebrated Emma’s 2nd birthday:

September

Emma was finally able to meet her great-grandmother who travelled from Germany to celebrate Opa’s birthday this month:

October

While Mommy returned to work (after being off for 2 years), the girls enjoyed playing in the leaves:

and Emma went trick-or-treating for the first time:

November

after we mopped up from the Great Flood (caused by a broken pipe in the kitchen), the girls had a bit of fun with the industrial fans the renovation crew left to dry out the floors:

we enjoyed the Santa Claus Parade while attending the annual Children’s Christmas party at Eric’s office:

but Emma was not feeling well and slept right through Santa’s arrival:

December

brought us a ton of snow!:

we celebrated Big Sister’s 5th birthday:

posed for some Christmas photos:

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and the girls were very excited to see that Santa Claus had left some presents under the tree on Christmas morning:

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!… May 2008 bring you nothing but joy, peace, good health, and happiness!

Dear Santa,

It’s not that Emma did not enjoy the gifts you so thoughtfully left for her under the Christmas tree this year. She did. Really.

Apparently, though, what Emma really wanted for Christmas was 24 cans of cat food.

No kidding. Over the past 3 days, Emma has been happily occupied, stacking the cans in various combinations while her Christmas gifts sit largely ignored in the playroom.

Perhaps next year, Santa, you might want to consider bringing Emma an empty cardboard box or two. She’d probably get a real kick out of them, too….

signed,
Emma’s Mommy

Seasons greetings to you and yours and best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2008!