Thankful Tuesday

Silliness, silliness, silliness ... that's on the top of my mind today as I think about what I'm thankful for. So thankful that the girls' antics (and especially Emery's) can bring levity to days that feel long and tiresome at times. Here's what else is making me smile this week:

• Warm, sunny afternoons even as Christmas decorations begin to surface everywhere 
• Not having to travel anywhere but to the grocery store (a couple dozen times, but only because I cannot make a good list or keep track of said list to save my life) for Thanksgiving.
• Elevator rides in the curtains ... Emery wrapped herself in the drapes the other day and said she was going on the "edebator" to Henny's craft room.
• Another kind neighbor who brought the girls back goodies, including some darling purses that will be much loved, from his recent trip to Vietman and Cambodia. Seriously, do we live in the best neighborhood ever? YES!
• A recipe for cabbage that's worth repeating. I'm not a big cabbage fan, but when the occasional recipe does call for it, I'm all kinds of frustrated at what to do with the remaining half a head of cabbage sitting in my fridge. Coleslaw is not always the right answer. This though, is. 

Thankful Tuesday

In an attempt to blog more regularly, I'm going to try to institute Thankful Tuesdays. Note I said, try. I'll be thankful if I remember to do this two weeks in a row.

Right now, I'm thankful for:

• An unexpected deluge of well-cared-for secondhand toys from a neighbor
• Matt's birthday tomorrow. Who doesn't love birthdays? It might be tricky convincing Emery that it's not her birthday, though.
• The new iPad we won at the health fair Matt's work sponsored. He should be thanking me for dragging us all there every year in order to get free flu shots, because look what that netted us this year! And he is.
• Play dates with friends 
• Little Green Pouches - Anna Kimball has recently made the 10-month turn toward ridiculously picky eating habits, but she hyperventilates with excitement over eating out of a pouch, so slowly but surely I'm sneaking in a wide array of foods to supplement her diet of waffles, rice and cheerios.
• Reading books with Emery and her rapt attention to them all
• Not really having to be anywhere in the morning, or afternoon for that matter, and the chance to enjoy this season of freedom with the girls.

200, 212 questions a minute

Emery: "Mommy, where's Anna Kimball?"

Me: "In bed, napping."

Emery: "Mommy, where's Anna Kimball?"

Me: "In  bed, napping."

Emery: "Mommy, where's Anna Kimball?"

Me: "Anna Kimball IS IN BED. NAPPING."

Emery: "Mommy, where's Anna Kimball?"

Me: "I just told you! What did I just tell you when you asked me a second ago?"

A pause ...

Emery: "What's Mommy doing with the spoon?"

I don't think I need to go on any further to make my point. Emery asks me an innocent question, then persists in asking it over and over again until I truly cannot think straight anymore.

I'm trying to get better about only answering her question once and then ignoring the subsequent inquiries, though that doesn't do much to suppress her wonderings. Turning the question back at her also helps.

I know, I know, I know this is just part of toddlerhood, endearing and annoying all at once, and I am grateful for her superior attention to detail and her growing curiosity about, well, everything.

Just remind me that there will come a day when I'll miss hearing 200,212 questions a minute? Or will I not?

A happy Halloween

This was the first year we anticipated Emery would really "get" Halloween and, happily, the day did not disappoint.

On Halloween morning Emery found the snowsuit she wore when she was not even 1 year old and for a moment. Later in the day she tried it on again and I feared she would prefer to be a purple snow bunny rather than a pink fairy ... and then how would I explain it all to Henny, who bought her the fairy costume?

That afternoon we headed up to the attic for a little costume fun with Anna Kimball, who's been fighting a cold and fiercely fighting her naps. She was due for a 5pm meltdown and a 5:30pm bedtime, so she had her Halloween fun VERY early.

Fortunately our pink fairy decided to make an appearance, despite the fact that by then she had officially acquired Anna Kimball's cold and was a bit droopy by the end of the day.

 I don't know what melts my heart more ... this picture or,

this picture. AHH!!

According to Matt, Emery didn't really get into the whole affair and wanted to come home after one house. He managed to cajole her into visiting several more houses before returning to the homefront to hand out candy to quite literally hundreds of trick or treaters. Actually, 104 to be exact. And I ran out of candy after just one hour.

Here Emery is with our dear neighbors. Sadly, not too many children recognize Lucille Ball these days.

Considering Emery only visited about six houses, I didn't have a huge dilemma on my hands when it came to determining how much to let her indulge in her loot and how much to reign her in. This morning, she wanted to look at her candy right away and was particularly intrigued by the Ring Pop she snagged from a neighbor who had a basket of "special" candy for the trick-or-treaters she liked most.

Well, this neighbor sure knows the way to Emery's sweet heart. She licked away on her cherry diamon for a few hours this morning and then we had to put it away for a bit. After nap it immediately returned to her finger, where it remained until bathtime this evening. And there is still a sliver of ring left to be licked clean away in the morning!

I feel like I can be a little too strict at times when it comes to things like treats and candy, so I give myself kudos for letting her dig in at 7am this morning. Maybe tomorrow she'll get Skittles with her cereal instead of raisins ... or maybe not. I'm not that laidback.

This one and that one

This one,

Wears lipstick like war paint.

Will pose (kind of) with pumpkins,

And is still rarely without her shades. 

Emery is now 2 1/2 and we are definitely hitting a turning point in her development. She's still pretty agreeable and easygoing, but on the other hand, will not hesitate to kick and wail "I can't want ME!!!" if she sees I'm about to pick her up to drag her to bed, bath, out of the car, you name it. Though this sentence structure doesn't make a whole lot of sense, she is becoming more and more articulate and will carry on imaginary phone conversations that include her favorite nursery rhymes and just today told me that "Mommy don't swing. Mommy's too old."

I think she likes her sister, though sometimes will protest "She can't like ME!!!" (Yes, Emery, she can.)

Her new favorite activity is puzzles - puzzles that are a little too hard to do by herself. It's pretty fun to see her frustrated and then very quickly elated when she gets a piece in place.

That one,

Is following in her sister's footsteps by showing no signs of crawling any time soon,

And is still too big for her britches (but that won't stop me from putting her in leggings almost everyday). From the looks of her reading material and "this one's" progress with the potty, I have a feeling Anna Kimball might be in panties before Emery, sigh.

Anna Kimball, who frequently goes by just Kimball these days, continues to be a happy baby, except when I leave the room, and delighted by her sister's antics, except when they involve stealing her toys.

 Her smiles are contagious and I can't get enough of her chubby legs and jelly belly. Thankfully she's an extremely cooperative cuddler.

Though "this one" and "that one" are quite a bit of work these days, I wake up everyday truly excited to see their smiling faces. This was all the more true today, when I actually got to sleep in until ... 6:50!

Quotable Emery

"She's a queen," said Emery when she saw my wedding pictures yesterday. Thank you, Emery. I will take that compliment any and every day!

A "new Sally"

Several weeks ago something tragic happened in the playroom: 

     

Sally, the most beloved of all our dolls (at least in my opinion), had a terrible fall and is beyond repair. I, who never gave dolls a passing thought when I was Emery's age, have developed a fondness for them in my "old age," and really had begun to view Sally as a member of our family. I thought of her as the oldest sister among the dolls and a gentle leader of her peers. So I tried to keep a brave face for Emery when I told her it would all be OK and that we would just have to get a new Sally.

Well, fast forward a few days and we were in a children's consignment store looking for a new Sally and I came across a $12 Discman. I quickly began to rationalize the good sense it made to replace Sally with something that could potentially provide hours of entertainment and enrichment for Emery ... and, merely incidentally of course, hours of peace and quiet for me.

So I proposed the idea to Emery and she got on board quickly. And ever since, this is what's been occupying her attention far more than Sally (bless her soul), ever did:

So while I'm deeply sad to have said goodbye to Sally (actually, I haven't disposed of her yet. I don't have the heart to. She's hiding in a cabinet that I'm hoping Emery isn't clever enough to get into yet), I'm equally thrilled at the ROI of the "new Sally."