Today you moved up into the ‘big kid’ class at daycare.  You put on your new school uniform and off we went.

We put your new ‘big kid’ backpack…your first reaction: “Mommy, what’s that smell?  It stinks!”  Then I explained to you about that ‘new backpack smell’.  I don’t think you believed me.

When we arrived at the daycare, it was packed.  Many parents were lingering as they dropped off their new Pre-K’ers.  We arrived just in time for a group photo.  As I looked at the group of kids, some of which you’d been with since you were an infant, I couldn’t believe how you all had grown.

Some kids were sitting around looking shell-shocked, others had tears running down their cheeks, and then there you were my bright, shining star, my Emily; sitting there with a big grin on your face, bouncing on your knees with excitement.

I hope you have a great first day of Pre-K.

My Dearest Emily,

Another year has passed, and I cannot help but sit back and contemplate all the things you have done in that time. Over the past year, I have watched you transform into a little girl. Gone is the toddler with unsteady feet and words. Instead, in her place is a child who is well articulated and steady. You have blossomed over this last year. You can count to 30, you are beginning to put letters together to spell words, and your vocabulary has increased dramatically. Never did I think that my 4-year old would look at me and say “That is correct, Mother”.

On your birthday, you asked to go to the Mac store to play Dora. The Mac store! You are more like your father every day.

You take great pride in picking out your own clothes.  You always have a counterargument ready when your mother tries to modify what you have picked out.  “But Mom, they both have flowers!  They match!”

You love all things pink and purple. You love wearing dresses and playing dress up. You love to sing and talk all day. You love fairies and princesses with abandon.

Your favorite shows are Dora and Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

You love drawing and cutting and all things art, even when you yourself are the canvas.

You are quite the mother hen in your class with all children smaller than you, regardless of their age.

You went to the dentist for the first time and had your first real birthday party with friends.

Your best friends are Tori, Taylor, and Mackenzie at daycare. Liza, Sonja, and Phoebe are never far from your mind though when not at school.

You love your teachers Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Ana at daycare. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth should either of them dare to take a personal day. And you consistently call me Mrs. Ana at home, almost as much as you call me mom.

You call me Mother, M-o-m, Mama, and Mommy depending on your mood and if I’ve done anything to aggravate you. Sometimes it is accompanied with an eye roll or two.

This year we began hearing “You just don’t understand”, “It’s not fair”, and “Leave me alone! You’re aggravating me!”

You  made your first snow angel and had your first snowball fight.  You managed to dump tons of snow down Mommy’s back.

You had your first dance recital; it was 15 minutes long and you refused to wear your tap shoes. At the break, while all the other little girls were changing into their ballet shoes, you skipped around in circles becoming the star of the show.

You begged to be in ‘yogurt’ classes because your best friends were doing so. You seemed to really love yoga and continually ask if it is yoga day.

I look at you and am continually amazed at the little person you have become. Your personality has really bloomed and you have opinions about everything! You are stubborn and strong-willed, but you get that honest. My mom was right; the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Your beautiful curly red hair and blue-green eyes catch the attention of everyone around us. We can’t go anywhere without someone complimenting you on your hair and how cute you are. Then you smile and shyly hide your face. You don’t hesitate to let someone know you like their shoes or clothes. You even compliment women on their painted toe nails. I can already tell you are going to be the death of us when you are a teenager. But we wouldn’t trade it for the world.

You capture the hearts of all you meet, strangers and loved ones alike. We are very lucky to have you. And while we may get mad and cranky, as most parents are apt to do, remember this:  we’ll love you forever, we’ll like you for always, Aa long as we’re living our baby you’ll be.

…our baby, our little girl, our Emily.

Now you are two. My how those two years have flown. You have grown so much in these past two years that it all seems like a blur. I can remember carrying you in my womb, giving birth to you, and bringing you home for the first time. You have come a long way since then. It seems like yesterday you were beginning to crawl and taking your first steps. We have since moved on to first words and now short sentences. It will not be long before you are telling us exactly what you think about everything when you think it. Although I look forward to the many firsts we have yet to encounter, it is bittersweet at the same time. I miss the little Emily wrapped up in a fluffy towel snuggling into my lap right after bath. I miss the Emily that I could carry and swing around with the greatest of ease. These days, your legs dangle past my knees when I pick you up. I am glad you are a happy, growing girl but the time is going by too fast.

I watch you every day and try to committ it all to memory. I don’t ever want to forget the way you come running up to me after a day at school or the way you smile and laugh with your father. I especially love the wrestling matches and tickle fests that you and your dad engage in. Every morning I look forward to seeing your smiling face and hearing your sweet voice. Even though I know the day will certainly have its share of tears and “no’s”; I know that your infectious laughter will also be plentiful. I love the way you are surprised at the simplest thing, like bugs and water, and how you shout “Airpane!” when you look up at the sky-even if there isn’t one. One of my favorites is when you see something you find amazing, look back at me with a surprised look on your face and say “Whoa!”. You are becoming imaginative and starting to pretend on your own. That process has been amazing to watch. You make me laugh at so many things and appreciate things even more. Seeing the world through the eyes of a child is a wonderful thing.

I jokingly say to friends and family that you can’t be my child because you don’t like to get dirty or paint or play in the water. But the truth is, you are my child, and I would never change that. You are mine, your father’s, you are ours. That will never change, no matter how much you might wish that when you are a teenager. I now understand all those quotes and stories about motherhood. You are my heart. Letting go is and will be the hardest thing I ever have to do. Already I have had to let go of the baby you use to be and accept the strong-willed toddler saying “Help” at the top of her lungs, which is your equivalent of saying “I can do it myself”. Come August, we will be letting go of the little girl in diapers and accepting the big girl who no longer needs them. Even though I try to encourage your independence, it is a double-edged sword. Part of my job as a mother is to ensure your health and well-being as a child, and help you grow into a mature, well-adjusted, productive adult. However, that part of my job conflicts directly with the other part of my job, to love you and protect you from any number of things, no matter how big or small the threat. I only hope that you one day will understand these things for yourself.

It is amazing to me to see the parts that your father and I passed on to you. You have my nose and your father’s eyes, and our red hair. You have many of your father’s personality traits, including his stubborness, and my inability to sit still for more than five seconds. It is interesting to see the results of your father and I squished into one tiny little person who also has a personality of her own. I look forward to watching your personality develop and I cannot wait to meet the person you are destined to be. But for now, you are mine, and I will treasure every minute of it.

You are my little girl, my baby, my angel now and forever.

I love you, Emily, so very much. We both do.

Happy Birthday.

Hats off to Geof who took the pictures. They really are good

Enjoy!

Chillin’ with the Creekmores

So, behold the cute that is our daughter. Shield your eyes if the cute gets to be too much

The last one is my favorite picture. The photos didn’t turn out too badly considering I used my iPhone.

Stay tuned for more pictures. Our friend Geof was over with his spiffy new camera last night. I’m pretty sure he got a few good shots of all of us, even the dogs. I’ll post a link to them when he gets them uploaded.

Until then, this will just have to do

What’s so special about this photo you might ask. Well, look closely at the outfit she is wearing. When we were visiting my parents over Christmas, my Mom found some of my infant clothes buried in her cedar chest. Naturally, she passed them on to me, well, the ones that would have a chance of fitting Emily. Today is the first time she has worn that outfit. I must admit, I was afraid it would be to small for her, but as you can see, it fits perfectly. She looks like a little angel. It’s very special for me to see her wearing something that I wore back in the day.

Of course, the response from Jonathan and many of my friends has been the same: “How old were you when you wore this?” I’m pretty sure I was much older when I wore it than Emily is now. I will have to defer to my mother to get the real answer.

Hope this fills your cute quota of the day

Anyway, here’s the list, complete with my stats.

1. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (10 books)
2. The Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon (15 books)
3. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton (1 book)
4. Black Jewels by Anne Bishop (7 books)
5. Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris (1 book)
6. The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward (1 book)
7. Guardians of Eternity by Alexandra Ivy (2 books)
8. The Shadowdwellers by Jacquelyn Frank (4 books)
9. The Hollows by Kim Harrison (1 book)
10. Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs (1 book)
11. Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong (1 book)
12. The Breeds by Lora Leigh (1 book)
13. The Midnight Breed by Lara Adrain (4 books)
14. The Carpathians Series by Christine Feehan (2 books)
15. Psy-Changelings by Nalini Singh (1 book)
16. Riley Jensen, Guardian Series (2 books)
17. Lords of the Underworld by Gena Showalter (2 books)
18. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyers (2 books)
19. Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs (1 book)

Like I said, it was mostly romance novels. I managed to read 22,953 pages over the course of 2008. This comes to a disappointing average of only 62.71 pages per day. I read a page or more per minute so that’s about an hour of reading each day. Of course, I go through phases on the reading. I may read several books in a week for several weeks straight, then take a hiatus on reading for a month or longer. So, in the end, I guess the average isn’t all that bad considering I did not really read every day.

After Emily was born, my extracurricular activities have definitely declined. All through the year, I have seen my ‘Mommy’ friends read, cross stitch, crochet, or the likes. And all year, I have constantly wondered and asked them when they had the time to do so. Reflecting back on all that I have read this year, I now know why I haven’t had time to do some of the other things I enjoy. This year will hopefully be about balance. I intend to get back into the cross stitching again; I really miss it. Perhaps I’ll make time for the scrapbooking I once started and that is now collecting dust. I guess we’ll just have to see where the year takes me.

Of course, the most important goal is to read more than Jonathan. A little competition is healthy…right

We almost got run over by a large deer,
Driving home on the twenty-third.
You could say we got quite a surprise,
but thankfully we missed the herd.

We’d been driving for what seemed like forever,
With a screaming toddler at our backs.
We had no toys or way to entertain her,
And then we ran right out of snacks.

Eventually our dear child went to sleep,
Then Jon and I finally got some peace.
When suddenly a deer came out of nowhere,
And caused our heart rates to increase.

Luckily the child remained asleep,
After getting bounced around the back.
Jon let out a curse and slowed down to a creep,
To see if the deer left a crack.

There was a scratch or two on the fender,
We also lost a running light.
Nothing on us was really tender,
But I bet the deer was quite a sight.

So be careful when you are out driving,
Especially in the dark of night.
You never know what might be out conniving,
To challenge your car to a fight.

15 Month Stats:
weight: 24 lbs (75th percentile)
head circumference: 47 cm (75th percentile)
length: 31.5 inches long (90th percentile)

And now, her 18 Month Stats:
weight: 25 lbs (50-75th percentile)
head circumference: 47.50 cm (75th percentile)
length: 34.75 inches long (97th percentile)

Wow, our little girl is huge! At first, the nurse measured her at 35 inches. That’s nearly a 4 inch difference in only 3 months! I couldn’t believe it. I said as much and she remeasured her to 34 3/4 in. I figure why argue about a 1/4 of an inch. My daughter certainly doesn’t need to. Me, on the otherhand, would argue until I was blue in the face over 1/4 of an inch

Well, those are the stats. Everything else was good. She has all of her teeth and is done until the 2-yr molars hit. No shots today, either. Yea for no shots! Emily won’t go back for another 6 months. She still cried when the doctor came in, even before he touched her. He also had a med student in with him. Emily really seemed to like her, she would wave and smile at her while she’d frown and scream at the doctor. It was pretty funny.

I think that is all in the way of news concerning Emily for now. We are just trying to keep her somewhat contained since she is in to everything these days. Her new favorite word is ‘no’ or shaking her head no at you. Oh well, we knew it was coming.

Until next time…

Ah, there is nothing quite like waking up to fresh vomit in the morning. Well, I guess technically Jon and I didn’t wake up to it, but Emily sure did.

I had headed upstairs to wake Emily up so that we could get her ready to go to daycare. When I walked in the room, I almost fell over from the smell. As I neared the crib, I found my child covered from head to toe in vomit. Apparently some time during the night she tossed her cookies, and then slept in it. Emily did not make a sound all night so we have no idea when she got sick. I felt so horrible for not knowing though. Her hair was plastered to her head and the sheet was soaked. Note to self, cranberries look the same before and after.

Poor Emily takes a while to wake up so she was quite stunned when we put her straight into the bath tub. She just looked around and had a very confused look on her face. I bathed Emily while Jon took care of the vomit clean-up. Luckily the mess was contained to the crib, which was pretty amazing considering the mess. Needless to say, we decided to keep Emily at home today. After a round of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ to decide who would stay home this morning, Jon headed off to work and I got Emily ready for the day. So far, she hasn’t eaten anything but she’s been drinking pedialyte like it is the best thing since sliced bread.

I have no idea what set her off. Perhaps it was her staying up late last night, or maybe what she ate (chicken nuggets and berry bits). Or maybe it was all the election excitement. She was very enthusiastic about coloring in the map as the election results came in. Who knows…as long as we don’t have yet another illness to contend with. Seven weeks of suffering from various diseases is more than enough for me. Hopefully this will pass quickly and without any more vomiting. Even though it may just be an isolated incident, I can tell Emily isn’t quite right. She’s not eating and does not really seem interested in it at all. And so far, her playing has been subdued compared to her normal activity level. We all certainly hope she returns to her normal, happy self soon.

We’ll keep you posted on her progress. Hopefully tomorrow she will be back at daycare and we’ll all be back at work.

Well, I’m off to change a diaper…

Update: Emily went to the doctor and she has another ear infection. She just got over one a couple of weeks ago. My guess is she never fully recovered. The doc said she had a lot of drainage going on so that is probably what caused her to toss her cookies. We kept her home again today since she was running a fever yesterday afternoon. She seems to be feeling much better today. She is not nearly as pitiful today. Now, if only the rest of us can get well…