2 birthdays today!

Not only is it Tanner's 10th birthday today, but Emily is 20 months old! I. Know! So much has happened this month.

• Two things stand out more than the others this month. First, Emily started school. I have been dreading her first day since she was 2 or 3 months old, when I first signed her up last year (and then pulled her the day before school started because I just couldn't do it). But Emily is officially enrolled and attending school this year. She seems to really enjoy it. Her teachers give her the best reports at the end of each day. And she stopped crying after day 4. (We've been 7 days now). This makes me feel relief and sadness at the same time. I think the hardest thing for me now is making my work schedule work. I want to drop her off and pick her up, but my schedule has been so busy that I haven't been able to do either. I don't get to see her at school, I don't get to hear how her day was, I don't get to ask her teachers the questions I want to. It's hard. And I don't like that at all.
• So enough about me. Moving on...well, the second big thing has to deal with me, too. So let's be quick. I left Em for the first time ever this month and went on a girls' trip to New York. I missed her every second, but had a wonderful time. Best of all, Em didn't forget about me. She missed me and asked Donnie, "where's Mama?" often.
• Now onto Emily. This little girl is sassy! She's become quite...hmm...particular lately. She says, "no, no, No, NO!" or "noooooow" (a drawn out no that has such a high pitch it sounds like now) or "no Mama" a LOT. And this just in, she's added "no way!" as well. Whew, we're in for a wild ride. We may be introducing time-outs soon!
• Em understands everything, and repeats so much. I am amazed that she understands things like, "Em, let's do [this] first and then we can do [that]." Her memory is equally amazing. She came home from school today, looked at her art project, and told me, "pat, pat, pat." That's what her teachers told her to do with the pieces she glued on the paper (so I'm told. Because remember? I never get to pick her up).
• When she sees a commercial for football or a big stadium on TV, she cheers. Then she will do the touchdown sign with her arms.
• Her favorite books are those with flaps. She knows where all the hidden things are and shows me. She'll point to a bear sleeping and say, "night, night." Then she'll move on to one with his eyes open and tell me, "no night, night." Genius, I tell ya! She does the same thing with glasses. "Sahsah." "No sahsah." And she's very good with her I Spy books, even her new ones.
• Auntie Tina came to visit for almost a week. Emily loved hanging out with her. She calls Tina "Tata" :o). After Tina left, Em would point downstairs to the guest room saying, "Tata, Tata." We would tell her that Tina wasn't here. Days later, I asked her, "where's Tina?" Her response? "Tata not home." :o(
• When she doesn't want me to do her hair, she will yell, "Ow!"
• She's obsessed with my purse because she knows I keep "caca", or candy, in there. It's usually one of the first things she does when I pick her up from Gran's (another thing I am rarely doing these days) or come home from work. She has even learned that restaurants keep their caca by the door, and she tries to make her way towards the door several times during the meal. I'm certain she gets her love of candy from Tina.
• She pulled the B and Shift keys off of my laptop. That makes for quick posting.
• Somewhere she picked up that frogs say ribbit. And I guess they hop, too. Because when she sees pictures of frogs, she does this funny thing with her arms (moving them up and down) and says, "reeb, reeb, reeb." It is very cute.

Still, Emily's sweet moments greatly outnumber her "noooo" moments, and I hope it stays that way. Here are some pictures of all her sweetness.

Okay, so this is a "no" moment. But I still think it's sweet. Why was she crying (with no tears, mind you)? Oh, because she didn't want her dad to take her picture.

This is the best we can do these days. The girl does not like to smile for the camera. Rather, she likes to look at herself on the display.

Cheese! She thinks this is her camera, and she'll tell me what she sees. Like Dora, birds, and roars.

Daddy's in charge of bathtime? Yay :o)!