2.25 years old. wow.

when people ask me how old emily is, i say, "two." i used to say, "she just turned two," or "she turned two in january." now january is too far behind us. sigh. to celebrate emily's 27 month birthday, it's picture day at school. okay, not really, but it is picture day. and how stinking cute is she in this watermelon dress?! i can hardly resist clothes with fruit on it.

moving on, it's been a big month around here. we had spring break (she cried everyday that i told her there was no school), easter, lots of easter egg hunts, and(!) we made a decision about where to send em to school next year. to say that this caused me sleepless nights is a huge understatement. after lots of procrastination and a few tears, we decided to keep her in the KDO program at church but send her 3 days a week instead of 2. i am really happy with this decision as i just don't think i want her in school 5 full days (or even half days) a week.

in addition, we have "a yot" to report now that em is 2.25 years old.

• she understands everything. i am amazed, really, at her comprehension skills. there are very few things she does not understand these days. i find myself reading books to her that i used to read when she was a newborn and would lay in my arms for as long as i'd want. once she got a bit older, she wouldn't sit still anymore. story books like guess how much i love you (my absolute fave) took a back seat to picture books and good night moon. now i can tell her about big nutbrown hare and she gets it. she'll tell me she "loves mommy to the moon and back."
• the other day, she told me she had "daddy's heart in my pocket." so i asked her, "what about mommy's?" "i have mommy's heart, too. i put it in my other pocket." really, i could not have dreamed up a sweeter child.
• she still loves tanner so much and has a special voice she uses when she talks to him. "there's bobos! hi bobos! what you doing bobos?" here she is reading a book in his bed.
• our housekeeper found a christmas ornament (probably under the couch) and left it on the coffee table. em found it and asked what it was. i told her it used to hang on the christmas tree. and for days she asked where the christmas tree was and wanted to go see it. i told her miss martha put it upstairs. when d picked her up from granny and grumpy's house later in the week, she told d that "miss martha not see the christmas tree upstairs." (martha also cleans my parents' house). em remembered to ask miss martha about it!
• em still doesn't like the easter bunny.
• she does like to pick out her own shoes each day, though. which means she wears fancy ivory ballet slippers with a huge ivory flower on top or gold sandals that are too big or silver dress up shoes.
• i've sadly added more purple to her spring wardrobe. she loves it. me, not so much. i've found that with all the shades of purple, somehow, none of her 15 purple bows match. so sometimes she just doesn't wear them (gasp). one evening, after dinner and errands, em was sitting in her carseat and reached up for some reason. she discovered she didn't have a bow on. and oh. my. gawh. flipped out! "i need a bow. i need a bow. i neeeed a BOW!" then she cried all the way home.
• with all of the sweet things she does, we also have lots of fits. or in em's words, "not a bit bit, a yot." wow. can she throw a fit for no reason. i'm sure she forgets why she's crying, too, just like little pookie.
• (queue music) emily is sleeping in her crib. all. night. LONG. but the best part? she loves her crib. after we finish reading her books, she'll tell us, "go lay down in my crib." she likes to have pink (her baby), bunny (from steph and keaton), baby's blanket, nemo, 2 chee choos, and her milk. she usually does not fall asleep right away, but if i check on her 30 min. later and she's still up, all she does is smile and give me a kiss. she never wants out or cries. i'll take this over no paci at least for a little bit!
• she always wants to know, "who buy that for me?" or "what you doing?"
• when she gets excited or impatient, she'll clap her hands really fast at you (like 3 times). this makes me laugh.
• she's becoming terrible when she isn't sweet. remember when we tried to teach her "please don't do that," or "please don't touch me" because of school? well, it backfired on us. she loves to yell at us, "DON'T! touch me." or "DON'T! help me." this makes daddy very angry, and she's been in time out a couple of times because of it. lately, she's been adding "okay?!" to the end.
  
  
  em is upset here because she wanted to pull aaron home in the wagon by herself. since she wasn't making any progress, miss candy tried to help. this is em's "DON'T! help me. okay?!" face.

• she always wants to go to the park now that the weather is nice. "on your mark, get set, GO!"
• "booty booty" is sometimes "pompa" these days. she likes to check her babies' pompas. and she knows how to "shake her pompa!" lol.
• she needs to know everyone's name. "what's her name?" "what's that boy's name?" we were watching dancing with the stars the other day and she asked, "what's that boy's name?" i told her, "chad." "chad?" "yes. actually, his name is chad ochocinco." she smiled and tilted her head and said, "noooo! that's not ochocinco!" she looked at me like she knew i was trying to fool her! haha! i told her again, "yes, that is his name." "no, he's just chad."
• she says her name is "em-ah-yee kate boaten" or "em-ah-yee boaten kate." (she used to say her name was "emmy").
• she plays question and answer by herself. "who's keaton's mommy?" "stephanie?" "who's keaton's daddy?" "cott?"
• her favorite books right now are knuffle bunny, too and what's wrong, little pookie? she also liked reading her easter books. kids books always include a range of kids from different backgrounds. in good night, new york, there was an asian girl, and em always called her auntie tina. she had a little people girl that was asian, and em called her auntie tina, too. i never thought much of it until em saw a little asian girl and her mommy in her what is easter? book. she said, "that's me. and mommy." when i look at her, i neither see a caucasian nor an asian little girl. i just see my baby. i've always wondered what others see. usually, when strangers see me with her, they tell me "she must look like her daddy." but when people see em with donnie, they always ask him, "what nationality is your wife?" still, it's never occurried to me to think of how em might see herself. and i have to say, i just love that she thinks she's asian, like mommy :o).
• when she wants to get my attention, she'll say, "mommy. mom. MOM!" i do not like that.
• something else i don't like is lately, she's been saying, "i no want to share my ___ with ___." this could be her jump jump jump with aaron. or her pink chair with reesey and harper. or her bunny with keaton. she will sit there and repeat it 10 times over to herself. uh, okay kid.
• she doesn't like for us to break her mints or candy into pieces anymore. "i yike the whole ting."
• she also likes for everyone to have their own things. "i have my own? this is for you? you have your own and i have my own?"
• she always wants to pick flowers for mommy. my heart melts everytime. this is why mommies have little girls. well that, and to dress them up :o).

hiding her water gun in her pants!

taking her own picture

*sorry for this crazy long post. since it's hard to remember everything she does, i have starting writing this monthly post in bits and pieces...which makes for one long post! congrats on making it to the end.