Emma: 23 Months

Skills: This month Emma has really started talking in more phrases.  Definitely not to many sentences unless we prompt her and she repeats us.  My favorite has to be “I am a big girl” but imagine this all slurred together.  She will go get her own diaper and when she comes back, she is so proud and will usually say “I’mabiggirl”.  This month we have also worked quite a bit on “happy birthday” which often comes out as “happy day” and “Merry Christmas”.  After my birthday, we have been telling Emma that her birthday is next.  We would ask her how old she was going to be and she would say 3.  We would say “Emma, how old are you going to be”.  Then, she would say two, while holding her fingers up.  She will also say “I’m sorry” and “are you ok” if she accidentally hits one of us or (not so accidentally) if she hits Everly.  She learns new words everyday and we are constantly amazed at how much she knows.  My favorite word that she says is still Eh-bah-leah followed by blueberry and Clementine.  

She can and does throw overhand when throwing a ball (which according to babycenter is a skill, who knew? J).    

Likes: Emma’s favorite foods this month have been blueberries and steak.  She will literally prance around “dancing” saying steak if we tell her that is what we are having for dinner.  Other constant favorites are cereal, soup (especially taco soup), pizza and strawberries.  Dare I say, that my child might actually enjoy eating out in restaurants?  We ate out two or three times with her this month and they were all pleasant experiences.  I am still in a bit of shock.  She is obsessed with stickers, especially these number and letter stickers that we have at home- she will take them out and put them everywhere!  She likes to take baths again!  I am so thankful because this makes bath time so much easier (she went on a strike there when it was so cold, she would just stand there and whine the whole time).  Her favorite place to be is outside running around- we try to ensure that she gets her toddler energy out each day!  

Struggles:  Our biggest struggle this past month has been the hour between when I get home from work and we eat dinner.   Emma just wants me to hold her and take her to the kitchen (I often tease Wes that he must starve her all day).  She wants to sit on top of the island which is always just a disaster because that is where Wes normally preps our food.  I will normally get her a snack, and then she freaks out when I have to feed Everly.  Then, because I have given her a snack sometimes she eats dinner and sometimes she doesn't.  And of course, we always struggle with sleep.  I hope by the time that I write her 2.5 year post (because I am giving up on monthly updates when she turns 2), the posts says what a glorious sleeper she is and that waking up in the middle of the night is a thing of the past.  We can dream, right?

Miscellaneous: Teeth- yay! Glorious teeth!  Emma has had two more teeth pop through on the bottom giving her a total of 10 teeth + 4 molars.  I think all we are missing now is two teeth on top + her two year molars.  Lord help us all when those teeth come through.  I am ready to be out of the teething stage with this child.  Emma is still in size 3 diapers and has moved mostly to 2T clothing.  The 18 – 24 month dresses are actually getting a little short on her!  I am excited to see how big she is when we go for her two year checkup.