Emma at 28 Months

Emma is definitely working the two vibe now, and gets a kick out of holding up her thumb and pointer finger to tell people she is two.  This two year old is not held back by age or height, and I am constantly putting her feet back on the ground.

I will support her in other dreams, but climbing is not one I plan on encouraging at this age.  As you can see, Mt. Counter holds some of the best views of snacks in the house.

Fortunately, she has other interests besides climbing.  She has definitely taken a liking to our summer harvest, and enjoys watching all of our various produce as it grows.  Pears...

 ...blueberries...

...and peaches.

Not that she really eats them.  She is more of a Cheerios and meat kind of girl, which seems to be working for her.  She has grown almost two clothing sizes this summer and we even had to buy her some new summer jammies this past month as she had outgrown all of her other ones.  Here she is below, proudly modeling new-to-her Dora jammies that we so luckily found at our local children's resale shop.  We were on a mission to find her Dora jammies that matched Lucy's coveted nightgown and would you believe it that we found one, mid-season, in her size?  The only thing better would be if there had been two, as if I wash them, I have to wash and dry them between when she wakes up and when she goes to bed, as she refuses to sleep in anything else now.

And lately, I will dress her in anything she wants if it will ensure a smooth transition into sleep.  I'm not sure what kind of phase is happening with her right now, but she takes forever to fall asleep.  We've tried moving the nap times, eliminating naps, and moving bed times but unless we skip her nap all together and deal with a cranky girl for the last five hours of the day, she doesn't go to bed before 10:00 p.m. most nights.  It is getting really old, especially since on the days that we try eliminating the naps we can't drive anywhere in the car after 3 p.m. or she will fall asleep and not go to bed until midnight.  So you can see why I've taken so many pictures of her sleeping this month.  It is a big deal.

We went for an evening walk the other day in the hopes of tiring out Emma who happened to have taken a nap that day.  It had just finished raining, and you could hear the water rushing in the storm drains.  Emma went to investigate closer and ended up having a conversation with the "Man in Hole" as she is now referring to it.

The conversation went like this:
Emma: "Who in there?"
Man in Hole: "Who in there?"
Emma: "Who IN there?"
Man in Hole "Who IN there?"
Emma: "WHO. IN. THERE."
Man in Hole: "WHO. IN. THERE."
Emma:  "Mom, there a Man in Hole.  I not like that man."

Other things Emma has been chatting about this past month include:
-"It's not fair!"
-Emma: "Lucy's licking my face!"  Will:  "Why'd you put flavor all over it?"
-Emma, when asked if the food tastes good or is too hot: "It's not too bad."
-Emma, after FINALLY doing what I asked her to do: "Mama, you happy now?"
-Stated before viciously grabbing an object from her sister: "Actually, that's mine."
-"No poop talk at the table!"  Emma proudly yells this at every meal.

This little chatter box has also fabricated her first lie.  Lucy was complaining that Emma took her gum.  I found Emma hiding at the bottom of the steps to our backdoor with a half-opened piece of gum.  Needless to say she tried to convince me that she did not open the gum.  She just opened the top part.

And yes, I still have a "baby talk" accent when I talk to Emma.  I can't help it, she still looks just like the little baby we brought home from the hospital almost two and a half years ago.  Maybe once she loses her chubby cheeks I can talk normal to her?

Emma is getting less and less cuddly, and so I have to soak up her cuddles when she gives them to me now.  Usually it is in the middle of the night when she sneaks into my bed, but I will take what I can get.  I love to ask her, "Who loves you Emma?"  This past month she changed up her usual response with, "This lady" while pointing to me.  She will also tell me during our bedtime routine snuggles, "I'm kicking you out of my bed.  I need water."  To which I will respond, "You are trading in snuggles with me for water?"  And Emma heartlessly responds, "Yup, get out."  Here is my grown up baby girl taking a picture of ants at Story Time.  What a widdle cutie.