Emma -- 4 1/2 Years

We Have an Almost 4 Year Old!

Emma's fourth birthday is right around the corner, and she has become so grown up lately.  She now weighs 36 pounds and is 40.5 inches tall.

Emma loves doting on baby Mia and they are developing such a close bond.  Emma likes to teach Mia new things - just the other day she taught her to grasp onto things.  Whenever Justin or I are tending to Mia, Emma is right there by our sides doing the same things with her babies.  She mimics us to a tee.

Needless to say, Emma loves playing babies.  Big sister Emma also loves playing pretend with Hannah.  They have the cutest little conversations together, and Emma talks to her like a mommy and calls her 'sweetie pie.'  She also loves to draw, play with Play Dough, practice writing her letters, and watch Frozen, Dora and Team Umizoomi.  Emma knows how to spell her name, and how to write most of it.  She rides her bike very well now, and zips around on her scooter with ease too.

Emma had fun at her preschool summer camp a few weeks ago, and is missing school and all of her friends and teachers now that she is on summer break.  I've been trying to keep her busy with play dates, visits to the library, splash pads, etc. until she gets to go back in August. We are trying not to melt in this AZ heat!

We hope everyone is doing well.... Emma sends love and hugs your way!

3 1/2 Years Old!

Our caring, affectionate Emma has grown up so much lately.  Her little spirit is so precious and so many of the things she tells us just melt our hearts. She has learned how do pedal her bike, and her favorite thing to do these days is ride her bike outside on the patio.  Of course, she still loves her scooter as well and has gotten really fast on both.

Emma still loves preschool, and is so proud of her "prizes" (artwork) she brings home each day.  It is displayed proudly around the house wherever she chooses to hang it up.  She did wonderfully in her fall and winter concerts/plays that the school put on.  It's fun watching her come out of her shell and gain confidence as she becomes more and more comfortable there.  

In January Emma started up swim class again.  It's taken her a while to get comfortable in the water again after several months off, but she is finally starting to really like it and is learning a lot.  She loves to do "super girl" arms when she jumps off the side of the pool, and also likes to practice her floats.  The bathtub is her favorite place to practice at home! 

Emma is still such a loving sister to Hannah, and is so patient with her.  She reads, plays, sings and cuddles with her every day. Every night before bed she tells her how much she loves her and to have sweet dreams.  Em can't wait for her new baby sister to arrive too!  She talks about holding, feeding and helping Mommy change the new baby's diapers.  She is going to be such a big helper, and amazing role model.   

Emma says to tell everyone hi and that she misses them!  

3 Years Old!

Emma Grace is three!  It's hard to believe how quickly she is growing up.  She had her checkup at the doctor's office today, and weighs 34 pounds, 6 ounces (84th percentile) and is 39 inches tall (90th percentile).

Now that Emma's been in school a couple of months she loves it and has made lots of new friends (mostly boys-haha).  She talks a ton now, and forms really good sentences.  Emma is so sweet and compassionate and always thinks of others, especially her 'baby Opo' (as she nicknamed Hannah). When one of her friends or teachers is sick or hurt, she always makes sure to pray for them before bed.

Emma still loves to read, and really loves her nursery rhymes.  She has memorized many of them and can recite them.  Of course Dora shows and books are still popular with Em too. Dancing and tumbling are some of her favorite things to do.  She gets to do both every Wednesday in her little dance class!

Now that the weather is cooling off, we've been going to the park more, and Emma loves to swing and go down the slide.  At home, she loves to ride her scooter on the patio.  She got a bike for her birthday, so she is learning to pedal on her own.  It's a challenge because she says she wants to be pushed instead, like she is used to with her trike...lol!

That is all for now, but we hope all is well with all of our friends and family.  Love to all!

Officially a Preschooler!

Emma Grace is 2 months shy of being 3 years old and just finished her first day of preschool today! She is in Mrs. Hayes class, and loves it already.  After picking her up, she excitedly told us how she painted and did play dough today.  She will be going two days per week from 9 to noon, so it should be a perfect intro to school.  Em loves numbers and counting (one of Daddy's traits for sure!).  She told the man at Safeway today that she will "be 46 really soon." LOL!

Emma is such a little talker now, and her sweet little personality melts our hearts more and more each day.  She is so compassionate and loving.  One of her favorite people to give love and hugs to is Hannah (Baby Opo, as Emma affectionately named her).  No matter how big Hannah gets, Emma tries to hold her daily.  They are playing a lot more together these days and learning all about sharing.  ;)

In her free time, Em loves to do somersaults ("flips"), dance, watch Dora, swim, read books and nursery rhymes, and of course - play with Hannah and have play dates with her friends.  She has a definite sweet tooth and loves her chocolate!

It's hard to believe that next time I post Emma will be 3 years old! We are so proud of our smart little angel.

Our Almost 3 Year Old! (32 Months)

Where does the time go?  Our beautiful Emma Grace is almost three and has changed so much since the last blog post.  She is now talking in complete sentences and sounds so grown up!  She says her ABC's, and counts to 10 in English and Spanish.

Emma loves everything Dora.  She watches the TV shows, reads Dora books, has several Dora and Boots dolls, clothes and even a new swimsuit with her on it!  Her love of books continues to grow as well.  She is perfectly content (most of the time) with a stack of books.  When she goes to sleep, she insists on having huge stacks of books piled next to her in bed.  It is the cutest thing ever! 

I can't forget to mention another love of Emma's: babies.  At the gym she stares at them, rocks them in the swing, puts their binkies back in their mouths, and tries to make them laugh.  She's asked on several occasions if she can "bring the baby home?" Haha! She's been trying to pick up and hold Hannah more lately too, which doesn't work out so well since Hannah is only 6 inches shorter than her. Em can hold her sitting down for as long as Hannah will let her.  It's priceless to see her do this.  She is so loving and gives kisses, talks in a sweet, soft voice and tickles her toes.

This June, Emma is continuing to take her Baby Divas dance class.  She loves it....especially the tumbling part when they get to do somersaults.  Lately she's been practicing them a lot at home, and showing her baby sister how to do them!  In July she's going to be taking swim lessons, and then in August she starts preschool, so she has a busy fun-filled summer ahead.  

2 1/2 years old - Little Miss Independent!

Emma is halfway to three years old, and is showing so much independence lately.  She will say "Mommy/Daddy, go" when she's in the bathroom because she wants to do it all by herself.  It's hard to believe she is growing up so quickly!  She even sleeps in a big girl bed now!

Our big girl weighs 31 pounds, and seems to be going through a growth spurt where she is getting taller lately.  She's been hungry constantly, and will eat 2-3 Go-go pouches at a time!

Emma now can say her ABCs and count to 10 with some help from Mommy or Daddy.  She loves reading "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and can recite most parts of them all by herself. Her favorite TV show is Dora, and she is content as long as she gets to watch at least one episode per day.  Emma loves listening to music as well and we listen to "Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" over and over in the car.

Sweet Emma Grace is very social and full of life.  She has play dates regularly and loves the park, bounce houses, trampolines and her weekly dance class.  Another love is babies.... she recently held a friend's 4 month old baby for almost an hour. She also totes her baby dolls all over the house and feeds them, rocks them to sleep, etc.  Another love is her dogs.  She takes Winston with her wherever she goes in the house, and feeds them handfuls of treats at a time (she's quite popular with them to say the least!).

Emma is changing so much these days and we love our sweet, compassionate girl to the moon, stars and back!

28 Months - Such a Smarty Pants!

Our lively, loving big girl is growing like crazy!  She is 29.8 pounds and getting quite tall.  Emma loves learning about the world around her.  She is almost self-sufficient now on the potty chair, and dresses herself for the most part.  We are still working on putting tags in the back and shoes on the correct feet!

Within the past couple of months she has started stringing together words and talking in short sentences.  Some of the things she says are so sweet and funny!  Emma is learning her ABCs and how to count.  She loves watching the ABC song on the iPad during meals and always asks for it if I forget!  She also likes to count toys, rocks, or anything else she comes across.  We enrolled her in preschool for this fall, which she is so excited for (she loved touring preschools and jumped right in to participate at each one).

Recently Emma started dance classes.  Her group of two and three-year-olds is called 'Darling Divas.'  She is still getting used to the structure and format, but participates more each time.  It is so adorable to watch her perform at the end of class!

We are just so proud of our Emma Grace.  She makes us laugh and smile each and every day and brings an infinite amount of joy to our lives.

Ready for her Third Christmas - 26 Months

Emma Grace continues to amaze us each day, as she is always learning something new!  She is 29.8 pounds and really growing taller and leaning out lately.  She has a smile that lights up any room and her laughter is contagious!  Emma loves to run and especially jump.  Every time she wakes up she loves to jump on her bed with Hannah.

Emma is talking more and more and is now stringing together words. She will say "Hannah diaper wet" or "Dada work," and more.  Emma loves learning to count (right now she says one....ten over and over).  We are working on the numbers in between!  haha  She loves watching/playing her counting games on the iPad and says "I count" every time she eats a meal.  

It still impresses us what an amazing big sister Emma is.  She shares her favorite toys with Hannah....even Jack!  She helped teach Hannah how to crawl and wave.  They play together more and more now and it really is priceless to watch.

Emma is really excited about Christmas this year and talks about "Sanka" all the time.  She looks forward to finding Elfie every morning and opening the advent calendar each evening.  We will be home for Christmas, so it'll be fun to have Santa come down her chimney for the first time!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our Sweet Emma Grace!

It's hard to believe it's been two years since our little angel entered the world.  It's impossible to imagine life without her.  What a joy it's been to watch her grow into such a smart, loving and vivacious little girl.

At Emma's 2 year check-up with the doctor, she weighed 29 pounds and measured 35 inches long.  She impressed Doctor A. with the fact that she was potty trained by her second birthday!  Mommy and Daddy are so proud!!  Now she goes without even asking for a reward and wears big girl underpants all day except for when she sleeps.

Emma is talking more now, and is starting to string words together.  When she goes potty she loves to say, "I did it!"  She is learning colors and her favorite at this moment in time is yellow.  Emma can point to many objects and tell us what they are.  She has some of her favorite books memorized and can 'read' them to us with some of the basic words.  It's so funny because she has her favorite pages in several books that she always turns to.  Physically, she is very active, running and jumping around the house.  Chasing the dogs and playing "get you" with them is still one of her favorite things to do.

Our sweet big sister still loves to dote on Hannah.  She brings her toys, plays with her, and gives her plenty of kisses.  She is very protective of her when we are out and about.

Emma is taking art classes at Gymboree and we are loving the fall/holiday crafts she's been making!  She still loves music class at the library, so we do that regularly.  Lately with the cooler weather she's gotten to go the the railroad park and pumpkin patches.

Last weekend we celebrated her second birthday with the family.  She had so much fun with all of her grandparents!  She got an adorable kitchen, helping tower, and bounce house, which kept her busy nonstop!

I'm sure I forgot something as it seems that she is changing so much each day, but I think that covers most of it! :)  Love to all.

22 Months!

We can't believe our little angel is almost two... where has the time gone?  She now weighs 27.8 pounds, wears size 2T-3T clothes and size 7 shoes.  We are having a hard time keeping up! :)

Emma is so much fun to be around.  She is so full of life, love and laughter.  Her smiles and giggles are truly contagious.  Of course dancing is still a favorite activity of hers.  She's also been taking an art class at Gymboree and has become quite the little artist!  We love putting her artwork on display around the house.

Since the last blog post, Emma's gotten to see both sets of grandparents and has been quite the little traveler. We did road trips to San Diego and Telluride in July. She had fun in San Diego with all of the family, swimming, jumping on the trampoline and going to the beach.  In Telluride she got to hang out with her little friend CJ (same age), go on gondola rides, play at the park, and go on lots of walks in the cool mountain air!

Over the past couple of months Emma has continued to learn many new words and now is stringing more of them together in phrases.  One of our favorites is when she says, "I love."  So sweet!  She is very concerned with making sure Hannah is taken care of and tells us when she needs a "ba-ba," binkie or burp rag.  Every time Hannah spits up, she very dramatically says, "Oh no!" and runs to get Mommy a burp rag.  She even fed her a few weeks ago (with some help of course)!  She really spends a lot of time taking care of her baby dolls now too, which is just so precious to watch.

Hard to believe we have a 2nd birthday party to plan very soon!  We will keep everyone posted!

Emma's July Memories

20 Months - Our Little Dancer!

Emma Grace is now a vivacious 20 month old toddler whose favorite activity is dancing!  She also loves reading, singing, playing peek-a-boo and 'get you' (Daddy runs around and chases her around the house).  After reading a book to her, she wants the book and will sit there and 'read' it back to us.  It is priceless!

Emma now weighs 27.2 pounds and loves getting on the scale here at home.  She is already wearing 24 month and 2T clothes!  Not to mention that she is outgrowing shoes like crazy... must be going through a growth spurt!

Her vocabulary is growing daily and she is saying more and more words.  One of the cutest things she says is 'Oh no!' in a very dramatic tone of voice when something goes wrong.  She says names quite well, and says Mama, Dada, Emma and Hannah all the time. She is also learning manners and loves to say 'Thank You,' sometimes saying it over and over when we respond 'You're welcome.'

We try to keep Emma busy and get her out of the house almost every day to socialize and play.  She loves going to Gymboree, the library, splash pads, and on play dates at her little friends' houses.  On Thursdays when Daddy is home, she's also gotten to go to the Phoenix Children's Museum and Arizona Science Center!

Emma is a very sweet, loving and helpful big sister.  She hugs, holds (with some help), kisses and burps Hannah frequently.  When Hannah has play time on the floor, Emma likes to be in charge of Hannah's toys and holds them up for her.  She is protective of her when we are out and about, and never wants to leave her  behind.

18 Months - Almost a Big Sister

Our baby girl is becoming quite the independent little toddler!  Emma definitely knows what she wants and is figuring out how to let us know. :)  She loves dancing, playing outside, coloring, drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing with Play Dough, blowing bubbles and walking the dogs.  She will go pick up the dog's leash and bring it to us to put on one of the dogs so she can walk him/her around the house.  Feeding the dogs is another favorite daily task that makes her feel like such a big girl!  We still have to watch her closely to make sure she doesn't try to sneak a bite for herself. ;)

Emma is talking more and more.  We have been working with her on parts of the face, and she can now say eyes, nose and mouth.  One of her favorite things to do is look at herself in the mirror or pictures of herself on the wall and say 'Emma.'  When you ask her, "What is your name?" she responds 'Emma' in the sweetest little voice with a huge smile on her face.  It never gets old!  Of course one of her very favorite words is still 'Daddy.'  She's such a little Daddy's Girl... each morning when she wakes up she wants to hang out with Daddy the whole time he gets ready for work.  On the weekends she loves sitting on Daddy's lap and looking at pictures/listening to music on the computer.

It will be fun to see Emma as a big sister in a couple of short weeks.  Hopefully she will adjust well.  We have been practicing a lot with her baby dolls - walking them in the stroller, feeding them, rocking them to sleep, etc.  She is so sweet and loving by nature, she will be an amazing big sister.

16 Months and Growing Up so Fast!

Our little Emma Grace is getting so big so fast....she seems to change daily and is getting quite independent!  At her most recent doctor's appointment, she weighed in at 23.8 pounds and was 31 inches tall.  

Some of Emma's favorite things to do are dance, play outside with the rocks, read Wheels on the Bus and Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and play with her little friends at school.  Of course, she still loves playing with the dogs.  

It has been a lot of fun watching Emma learn to talk.  Her favorite two words are 'no' and 'up.'  Her answer to almost everything is no, emphasized by shaking her head.  She also says: dada, dog, mama, baby, down, and nose.  

Like any toddler, her food preferences change almost daily; one day she will devour something and the next she won't touch it. It's been fun trying new things with her though.  One thing she loves consistently are scrambled eggs and Daddy's pancakes on 'Pancake Sunday.'  Like her mommy, she also still loves fruit!

As she gets closer to becoming a big sister (in just a month and a half!), we talk about mommy having a baby in her belly.  Sometimes Emma will put her hand on her own belly and say 'baby.'  It's quite funny!  She has been practicing pushing her stuffed animals and baby doll around in her little baby stroller too. :)

We hope everyone is doing well and will update you when the new baby arrives.  

Happy Holidays!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  It has been a while since I posted (largely due to the fact that Emma took off walking in the last month!), so I decided I better update everyone on our busy lives.  Emma is now 14 months old and weighs 22 pounds, 8 ounces.  She took her first steps on her first birthday, but was very cautious when it came to taking up walking.  She didn't really take off until she was 13 1/2 months.  Now we have a hard time keeping up with her!

The holiday season has been a fun one for Emma, beginning with a trip to see her mommy's side of the family in Alaska for Thanksgiving. She had a great time spending time with her Gramma and Pa, great grandma and meeting the rest of the family.  Emma didn't seem to be too bothered by the cold (15-20 degree temperatures) and even made her first trip to the Mendenhall glacier.  For Christmas, we took a trip out to San Diego to see her daddy's side of the family and her mommy's uncle Linus. She loved being surrounded by her Grammy, Papa, aunts, uncles and cousin Tyler. Emma got lots of fun new toys and books to play with over the rest of Winter Break!

Emma is at such a fun age and is changing so quickly.  She is getting several more teeth in and is trying more and more 'real food.'  So far she hasn't been too picky, and will try pretty much anything we are eating.  She's a fan of spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, and chicken noodle soup.

Before I go, Emma would like to make an announcement (for those who don't already know)... she is going to be a big sister!!!  In April her baby sister will be born and we are so excited for Emma to have a little playmate. :)

Happy New Year to everyone!  We wish everyone a year full of blessings in 2013.

"Littles"

Littles 2 (click) - "let them be little"

Year in Pics

Emma's 1st Year(click to play)  -  monthly pics from her first year!    

1 Year Old!!!

On October 19th, our sweet Emma Grace celebrated her first birthday!  We had two parties for her - one with the family and one with friends.  She got to have both sets of grandparents come out for the special occasion.  She loved all of the attention at her parties, but wasn't a fan of the cupcakes Mommy made her, or the cake.  She totally refused to eat any part of it - even the frosting!  Emma's birthday was also a special day because she took her first two steps on that day.  She is very cautious and hasn't taken more steps than two at a time yet, but she is doing a lot of practicing on the furniture and holding our hands!  She is also babbling more, and tries to say 'no' and 'dogs.'

Emma is eating more 'big girl' food now, and is a fan of Mommy's cooking.  She's eaten everything I've made her so far!  So far she's tried everything from spaghetti to salmon with mashed potatoes and has liked it all!  It seems like she's not a picky eater so far, just like her daddy.

Daddy also celebrated his birthday in October and Emma and Mommy threw him a little party at home.  Emma loved helping Daddy open his presents and blowing out his candle!

During the middle of October, Emma took her first trip to Moline, Illinois to see where her daddy was born and spent the first part of his life.  We all had a great time at Brendan and Jenny's wedding and spending time with the whole John family when we were there.  Emma even got to go to the John Deere store and see all of the big tractors.

Towards the end of the month, we took Emma to two pumpkin patches.  She got to go on hayrides and pick out a pumpkin at each!  It was so much fun... Emma's favorite thing to see were the animals in the petting zoos.

Before we knew it, Halloween was here.  Emma celebrated during the day, at school, by dressing up as a princess, and dressed up as Baby Minnie Mouse for trick-or-treating that night.  We went to our friends' neighborhood to join them and their twin girls to trick-or-treat.  Emma loved going from house to house and looking at all of the kids dressed up.  The first two pieces of candy she got, she clenched on to for the entire time we trick-or-treated!

September 2012 - 11 Months Old

Fall is here (even though it doesn't quite feel like it in Phoenix yet) and Emma is almost a year old!  She is getting so big and it seems like she learns something new every day. As of today she weighs 22 pounds.

Emma started standing on her own this month.  It's so funny to watch because she'll use something to stand herself up and then will let go, but once she realizes she's not holding on to anything she sits down.  She uses her push walker to 'walk' around the house now too.

One of Emma's favorite things to do is to play with her doggies, Winston and Jersey.  She talks to them, follows them around and even stands herself up on Winston.  Just this morning she played with each of them for at least 10-15 minutes and it never got old!  They are so patient with her.  When Winston is laying on the couch, Emma will stand in front of him and open up her mouth for kisses.  Mommy and Daddy get kind of grossed out by it, but she loves it!

It is a busy time of year as we get ready for Emma's first birthday, Halloween and a trip to Moline, Illinois for Brendan and Jenny's wedding and to see the John side of the family.  We are doing a Minnie Mouse theme for her first birthday party... she loves the giant Minnie Mouse doll at her daycare so we thought she'd like that.  For Halloween (we're keeping her costume a surprise so check back at the end of October!) we'll get Emma dressed up and take her Trick or Treating for the first time.

Sending love your way from the John family!