It has been a while since I have updated you all about what is going on with Emmeline so I thought it was high-time to catch you up. She turned 16 months old last Wednesday the 22nd and she is as busy as ever. She is never more happy than when she is running towards a playground or squatting in the dirt and/or sand. Needless to say, we spend A LOT of time at the park. We go at least once a day, sometime twice depending on if I have to go to campus or not. But Paul and I don't mind in the least. It is the perfect time of year for outside play in Delaware and the fall is our favorite season. Right now our weather is hovering between 60 and 70, with a few mid-50 days scattered in. The sunshine is still bright and warm in the afternoons but it is pretty chilly in the shade.
Emmeline is talking up a storm and entertaining us hourly with her new words, quips and requests. A few days ago she started saying her own name; it sounds like "Eh-mine". Up until that point she referred to herself as "baby." She asked for chicken tonight at dinner; I didn't even know she knew what that was! We have been working on her manners and her "please" and "thank-you" are becoming automatic. Sometimes she will need a reminder, but for the most part is very quick with them. She has also learned that if she asks for something "PEAS!" that she will probably get it; she is just too darned cute to refuse! (It is even more cute because she couples the verbal word with the sign). Her adorable manners have been difficult for me to resist lately as we have been working on weaning.
For about a month now, it has been my goal to nurse her only in the morning when she wakes up, at nap time, once when I come home from campus, and at bedtime. We have also weaned her in the middle of the night so she is no longer waking up (yay!). I was worried that the weaning process would be rather difficult for her, but she adapted very well. I have to admit that I knew that if she didn't adjust well to weaning, I would have let it go and tried again when she was older. I wanted us to both be ready. I didn't want to emotionally traumatize her or have her mistrust me, but she has done very well. One of the main reasons we decided to start weaning is because she wanted to nurse when she wanted to cuddle; very rarely was she hungry. She would say that she was done eating and drinking but then immediately want to nurse. She also became increasingly clingy and anxious when she was at her day-school; this led to her wanting to nurse all the time even after we had withdrew her and had her back at home. At the beginning of our weaning process, when she asked to nurse ("MI PEAS?!") I would hold her tight, tell her that I love her and offer her milk in a cup, then a snack. I wanted her to know that we could still be close and not have to nurse. She still asks to nurse more often than those four times a day, but it is getting much easier to distract her with other things. She also asks for it less often and less forcefully.
In mid-September we withdrew Emmeline from her day-school and hired a part-time nanny to care for her at our home. We made this switch because we feel it is important for Emmeline to have one-on-one attention at home where she is most comfortable. Since this is really the first time that she is being separated from Paul and I on a regular basis, we feel like this is an easier and more beneficial transition. Emmeline adores Tara and asks for her quite often: "Ti-Ti?!" She is thrilled to see Tara walk through the door three times a week. We are very grateful to her for working so lovingly with our little daughter. Tara is an education major so she values learning and loves to work with kids. She works with Emmeline on all of the standard things (numbers, counting, colors, manners) but they also have dance parties and are silly together. A few weeks ago, I was giving Emmeline a bath and she holds out her hand ands says "High five!". How cute is that?!
Paul is now reminding me that I have other work to do so I suppose I should sign off for now. This post is ridiculously long anyway. I must apologize for posting more pictures of Emmeline at the park. I forget about the camera until we are on our way out of the house...and most of the time when we are leaving the house as a family, we are on our way to the park!
C'mon! Let's go play!
Here I come, mommy!
She loves playing in the sand, much to
my chagrin.
Nothing cuter than my hubby operating a sand
crane with the diaper bag on his shoulder.
Look! A pretty, red leaf!
And a pretty red ball!
Thanks for following my adventures
on the playground! Bye for now!
Emmeline is now nestled in her crib sleeping soundly after her first trick-or-treating adventure. It is silly, I know, to take a toddler out for trick-or-treats when we aren't even letting her eat candy yet, but we all had a blast. In fact, Paul just said: "This has been one of the best Halloweens ever!" We were like two proud peacocks watching our adorable little daughter take delight in Halloween traditions that we have always loved. I thought that she would be annoyed by her tiger costume and pull off the hood but she wore it the entire time we were outside. I also thought she would be more interested in rocks and dumping out her pumpkin than in walking door-to-door. But I think the whole event was such a novelty and out-of-the-ordinary that she had fun playing along. She loves to say "hi!" and "bye-bye!" to everyone she meets so she had a great time interacting with so many new people. She also had her friend Estella to look up to and take notes from. It was so fun to watch them together.
