Sweet Sixteen

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!

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

It is Paul's birthday today but we found it difficult to squeeze in time to properly celebrate.  Poor Paul got the raw end of the deal because his birthday fell in the middle of a busy work week.  We both had to teach today and both have work to do yet tonight as well (but that isn't stopping him from watching the Phillies game right now!).  Emmeline and I did manage to take Paul out to dinner at the Washington Street Ale House this evening and I also took him out last Saturday night with some friends.  A few minutes ago we just ate some cake and he opened a few presents. We will have to stretch out our celebration, I think, through the upcoming weekend.  We are having some friends from the Birth Center coming over for crock pot chili on Saturday; I am sure they won't mind sharing some cake with us!  Also, a trip to Ramsey's pumpkin patch and corn maze is in order for the near future.

I didn't get any pictures taken today, but here are a few pictures of Emmeline and Paul enjoying the park last Thursday and Saturday:

A chip off the ol' block

Hi, daddy!

Playing in the sand right before dusk

Happy birthday grandma Jeanne!

Happy birthday, mom! I will post more tomorrow about this important day but for now am bushed. We all love you and miss you!

Happy 88th Birthday Great-Grandma!

My grandmother, Alice Margaret, turns 88 today. She was born in Aneta, Minnesota on a farm in 1920. German was spoken in her home when she was a child and still remembers snatches of phrases and numbers in German. She was married in 1944 to Frank Jacob, also born on a Minnesota farm though he came from a Czechoslovakian home. She bore seven children, has fourteen grandchildren and I don't know how many great-grandchildren...but Emmeline is one of them. Emmeline's name is partly derived from my grandmother's mother's name: Emma. When grandma first learned of Emmeline's name, she said "My mom's name was Emma. Did you know that?" She says this every time I have seen her since Emmeline's birth.

Grandma is living an interesting life: born during the roaring 20's (though Minnesota farms knew nothing of that), came of age during the Depression and witnessed a bother and a son go to war, WWII and Vietnam respectively. She never learned to drive or ever received a paycheck. She has raised men and women that teach, make machines and cars work, make sure the cities operate correctly and efficiently, and, more importantly, she has raised her children to be good parents and thoughtful people. Most of her grown grandchildren own homes, have college degrees and children of their own. A few of us grandchildren even have graduate degrees. A lot of my mom's wisdom has come from her own mom. More often than not, when I get into a tough spot with Emmeline, she will say, "Well, I am going to tell you what my mom told me...".

I was named after my grandma and I have always felt a special connection with her not just because she is my namesake but because she has been in my life everyday of my life. I hope she knows how much she means to me and how much I love her.

Happy birthday grandma. I wish I was there with you today and every day.

1-2-3-4! I can't take it anymore!

We saw this new rendition of Feist's "1 2 3 4" on Sesame Street a few weeks ago and since then Emmeline has asked for it over and over again...thank goodness we have it taped!  In a pinch I can play the original on our iTunes and it works just as well.  Hopefully I can get a video of her dancing to it and post it for you all to see.  So funny!  James Blunt was on the day before singing about "My Triangle" to the tune of "Beautiful."  If anyone finds out where I can buy these songs, let me know...

Cyber-Shot Shenanigans

Yay!  Thanks goodness we have a camera in our house again!  It is horrible to feel like you are missing out on capturing precious and important moments.  But on the other hand, it was kind of nice to not worry about taking pictures all the time.  Well, in any case, I am back in photographer-mommy mode.  I hope you enjoy our latest:

Trying out the new camera: Emmeline

looks as if she forgot what to do!

 

Our neighbor just adopted two new kittens.

Boy are they fun!

Our friend Micah had a going-away pool

party in his dad's back yard yesterday.

Micah is moving down to Bethany Beach

and, incidentally, just gave me my first

surfing lesson a few weeks ago near his new

bachelor pad!

Emmeline, me and Estella enjoying the last

vestiges of summer...

Yes, I know I post a lot of pictures of Emmeline

in the swings, but she loves them.  This evening,

at our new favorite park near Emmy Lou's school,

I was trying out our new camera's "sports mode"

and "Super steady shot".  In this picture you can

see Emmeline doing the sign for "again."  Paul

was serenading her as she swung.

And in other news, we have started interviewing people for Emmeline's part-time nanny.  We actually found one very nice young lady who was an English major at UD.  Unfortunately her schedule ended up not working out so we will start interviewing more people soon.  Emmeline and I are both sick again, probably as a result of all the new germs she in coming in contact with at school.  Just one more thing to complain about at her new school...

Daycare-shmaycare

Today was the third time I left Emmeline at her new school and it was the hardest day so far. Last Monday Paul and Emmeline went for an hour together to play.  Afterwards he told me that I needed to be prepared when I was to go with her on Wednesday.  He said that it was incredibly chaotic and Emmeline didn't stray far from him.  On Wednesday I stayed with her and played for about an hour and a half.  I helped with lunch and after the other toddlers were starting to lay down for their naps, I felt like I should leave.  I knew that if I didn't at least attempt to leave her, Paul would be looking down his nose at me later that night.  One of the teachers (Bev) was finally able to take Emmeline by the hand when the others toddlers were napping and she lead her around the school.  Emmeline took her hand and when they were around a corner I dashed out.  I came back and half an hour later and she was napping on Bev.  I could see that tissues were strew about around them and knew that she must have gotten a bit upset.  Bev laid her down in a pack-n-play and she stayed sleeping so I decided to go.  I came home, ate lunch and went back after about an hour.  She was still sleeping so I played with the other toddlers and read books to them. When she woke up we stayed to play for a while and had fun on the playground.  I took it as a good sign that she didn't want to leave when I told her it was time to go.  On Friday, I dropped her off at around 11 but stayed until about 12:20 when she was eating lunch.  She whimpered a bit when I left but when I called around 1:15, they told me that she fell asleep and did just fine (later I found out she only slept for 15 minuets). I had a meeting on campus so Paul picked her up around 3:30 that day. Paul said that when she saw him she barely gave him a glance and went back to playing.

I was glad that she didn't seem mad at us or emotionally traumatized but there are definitely things that I don't like about her school.  One major thing is that there are three teachers to upwards of 14 toddlers and they are all in the same room.  I wish that there were less kids per teacher but most centers and home day-cares have a six or seven to one ratio.  Also, there is one teacher there who is particularly gruff with the toddlers.  She really is a crabby old lady.  I have talked to the director about this teacher because I didn't like the things that she was saying to the toddlers or the way that she was saying them.  She certainly did not seem to be in compliance with the school's positive reinforcement policy.  I told her that I think Emmeline is too little to be talked to like that; she wouldn't understand much of what this teacher expects them to do.  And as a rule, I believe that being gentle and understanding go a lot further than harsh scolding.  The director said she also had noticed this teacher getting gruff with the kids and planned to talk to her. Well, today I didn't notice a difference...and it was a rough day.

Today I brought Emmeline at about 8:30 as I had a meeting on campus at 9:15.  She was crying when I left and I was devastated leaving her but I had to make it to the meeting.  Plus I start teaching tomorrow and she and I have to try to get used to this whole thing.  When I picked her up, the teachers assured me that she had a fine day and that she *just* started to cry when I pulled up.  I am sure they are telling me the truth but I just wish I knew more about her day today.  When I arrived they were transitioning from lunch to naps and it is incredibly chaotic. Plus the kids are fussy because they are all very tired.  I wanted to ask more questions about her day, but they were so busy trying to sooth several toddlers, wiping noses and changing diapers.  And there were three teachers today plus the owner in the toddler room.

Paul and I have done plenty of research, sent out emails, scoured craig's list, toured three centers and interviewed two women who were interested in watching Emmeline part time out of their homes.  The school that we picked seemed like the best option because, among other things, it is the closest to our house and less costly.  Most centers and home daycares will not take kids part-time so that ruled out quite a few. One of the women we interviewed seemed really nice but taking Emmeline to her would mean an hour-and-a-half drive to drop her off and then to get to campus.  I just can't afford the time.  I feel like it is more important to spend more time with Emmeline even if it means if she is going to daycare center closer to home.

But my feeling right now is that this school cannot be our best option (and this is probably because the day seemed to be so rough for her).  I feel like she needs more one-on-one attention.  I do like that she is getting more interaction with other kids and that she is learning things, singing songs, and doing art projects, but ideally I want her to be cared for by someone only watching one or two other kids.  Is that to much to ask?  Oh, and it has to be affordable and close to home, too.  There needs to be better, affordable options for families out there.  I just feel sick thinking about tomorrow.

P.S. New camera has been ordered and is on its way...hooray!