Emily at 2 1/2 Years

Emily turned 2 1/2 years old last month (Oct. 8th).  She's going to be 3 before I blink my eyes.  3 years old sounds so old...we're not going to talk about that right now.  For now, here are a few updates on our adorable TWO year old.

Emily at 2 1/2
Food:
Likes:  cheese sticks, mustard, most any fruit, absolutely any kind of sweet, Chick-fil-A
Dislikes:  PBandJ
*Eating meals is a BATTLE at our house.  She is really not that picky of an eater, but often will REFUSE to eat.  One night she will gobble up a plate of spaghetti, but the next time we have it she'll take one bite and then says she's done.  Sometimes she'll eat great, but more often than not we have to play a "game" with her to get her to take bites.  You sometimes feel like you have to stand on your head and hold your breath just to make sure this child does not waste away.

Sleeping Habits:
Emily naps once a day for about 2 hours. She sleeps 11 or 12 hours at night.  She is potty trained during the day, but wears pull-ups (she thinks they're called "night time panties") at night.  She sleeps in her toddler bed with her bunny, blanket and bear named Cordy.  She must have her sound machine on the rain setting.

Other Random Facts:
-Emily likes to do things herself  (getting in the carseat, climbing into her booster seat, and putting her clothes on).  I often hear "I can do it myself."
-She loves to read books together.  She's memorized parts of several books and likes to read those books herself out loud to Hannah.
-She keeps close, close tabs on her sister and she's not afraid to tattle.  This morning she said "No, no Hannah!!"  Then she looked at me and said "Mommy, Hannah tried to get my blanket....I tell her no, no!!"
-She is scared of her video monitor.  She insists that it is going to "get her."
-She loves all things Dora the Explorer!
-Emily talks all day long....not joking....all day long, and I love it!
-She loves making up songs to familiar tunes.  It's really impressive.
-She loves to color.  She'll "color" with crayons, markers, pens, or pencils.  If she catches you using a pen  you better watch out b/c she's going to be saying "Can I see dat, pwease!?!?"
-She's beginning to have quite the imagination.  She'll mostly just switch people around.  Ex.: She'll say "I'm Hannah, and that's Emily"....with a big smile on her face.:)
-She loves boots.  Kayley Harmon passed along several pairs of boots to her back in the summer and she literally wears them all day long.  She'll go from one pair to the next.
-One day last week Emily walked up to me out of the blue and said "I don't wike (like) Hannah."  It totally took me by surprise and I have no idea what made her say it.  I honestly kind of chuckled when she said it, because she is usually so loving towards her.  She tells Hannah all the time that she loves her and gives her kisses and hugs when it's time for H to take a nap.  Oh well, I know they'll make each other mad, probably more often than I will like, but I pray that they will love each other well.
-She's started naming all of her dolls.  She has dolls named Emily, Hannah, Millie (cousin's name), Billie (cousin's name).
-She pretends like she's talking on the phone all the time.  She'll use whatever she has as a phone.  She talks to lots of different people, but her absolute favorite person to "call" is Papa Stan.  She probably "calls" him 90% of the time.  She'll tell him about what Hannah's doing, what she's done that day, her latest boo-boo, etc.  The other day she had a 3 minute "conversation" with him.
-She's starting to have some fears.  A few weeks ago (while we were in our house) she heard a train and ran to me and said "Oh no, dat train is going to hit us!!"  She's done this several times since then.
-She can recognize all the letters in the alphabet and knows the sound that most every one makes.  (We love the Leap Frog Letter Factory!)
-She gets orange and red confused.
-Emily loves to be outside.  She particularly loves our front yard.  I think she really likes the feel of the grass under her feet and she'll say "I go jump."  She doesn't get very far off the ground, but she loves to jump.
-We check on the girls every night when we are going to bed.  Bert checks on them most every night (it takes me a little longer to get ready for bed).  Sometimes Emily will wake up when he is covering her back up and she just looks up at him and says "Hey Daddy" and falls right back to sleep.
-When Bert is tickling Hannah, Emily will often say "Daddy, play wif me....play wif me!"
-She has good friends at church and it is just about the cutest thing to hear the girls saying hey to each other after we arrive.
-She loves kids that are older than her.  I am pretty sure she thinks anyone less than 5 feet tall is her age.
-She is very helpful and she loves to please.
-She's very good at saying thank you, but still has to be reminded to say please.  We're working on "yes ma'am and no ma'am" but we're not there.
-We went through a stage a few months ago where she thought it was soooo funny (especially in front of other people) to call Bert and me by our first names.  Thankfully, she rarely does that anymore!
-She likes to help carry things to/from the car.
-I often call her "Emily Bimily", or sometimes just "Bimily".
-Bert often calls her "Emmy".
-When we pull into the church parking lot, Chick-fil-A, etc. she shouts "I FOUND IT, I FOUND IT!!!"  It makes me smile every time.
-She calls the remote a "framote".  I have no idea why she calls it this, but I usually don't correct her.
-She loves music anytime.  When we are in the car she asks me to turn it up and says "Mommy, will you sing wif me?"  She really doesn't care what we're listening to...she just likes music and likes to try to sing along.
-If we go to Chick-fil-A she will talk about it for a week.  She loves that place!
-When someone is in her way she'll say "Sorry! Sorry!" instead of "Excuse me" and keep pushing to make her way through.
-When someone in the room asks about the time she almost always pipes in with "it's about firdy firdy." (thirty thirty):)  This afternoon Bert asked me what time Hannah last ate and she answered for me with "firdy, firdy, Daddy!"

Emily Bimily, I am so thankful for you.  You make me want to pull my hair out one minute (especially during meal times:) ), and the next you are melting my heart.:)  You keep me smiling and laughing all day long.  You get excited about the wind, trees, planes, cars, the sun being out, etc....you absolutely love life!  I am so thankful that you call me Mommy.  I love you with all my heart!