January 24th

Emma had an interesting weekend. We started off on Saturday morning with our usual routine which consists of Sesame Street, breakfast and gymnastics. After class we went to a nearby park that was hosting a "Snow Day". It was really neat and they had fun activities for the kids such as sledding and various snow areas. We didn't take advantage of the snow though since Emma wasn't quite sure about it. We went on the train ride and Emma also took her first ride on a pony! At first she did not want to go, but later on she was adamant that she wanted to ride one (of course there wasn't a line the first time around, but we had to wait awhile after she decided to ride the pony). She liked it a lot and has asked several times to go back. It was a fun morning!

There is a funny picture and video below of Emma that shows her "poofing" me and Chris. Out of the blue a few weeks ago, Emma smiled at me, thrust her arm out and said "poof Mommy". I thought it was hilarious! She "poofed" Lucy and she also "poofed" Chris. She did this for a couple of weeks and I mentioned it to her daycare teachers to see if she was doing it there (I was assuming that "poof" meant "go away" which I'm sure would not leave a good impression on the teachers). They were surprised because another little boy has been saying that for a long time (and they have been discouraging it), but they have never heard Emma say it. I think I'm suppose to tell her to stop, but to be honest it is just way too funny and she doesn't do it maliciously. Tonight she "poofed" me and Chris at the same time and she seemed quite pleased with herself :-)

I debated on posting the last pictures because I feel like they are a poor reflection of my mothering skills (or lack thereof). Emma has decided that she does not want to fall asleep in her bed. She will get up repeatedly every time I send her back to her room. I have been finding her asleep on the floor next to my side of the bed in the morning. At nap time, I tried to get her to sleep in her bed, but I gave up and eventually closed our gate upstairs thinking she might go to sleep eventually once she realized I wasn't coming upstairs. Well, after a while I could hear her breathing (I was downstairs and watching the tv on mute) so I knew she had fallen asleep. Sure enough, she went to sleep right in front of the gate (we just discovered she did the same thing tonight). I'm not sure what to do about it other than hope that this phase passes quickly. I never know what's around the corner when it comes to Emma Claire Giles :-)