sign language

When we signed unborn Emma up for daycare, the school told us all about the curriculum for the infants and toddlers. I'm not sure about Mike but most of that went in one ear and out the other for me. I didn't know how to take care of a baby much less that they were actually supposed to be taught anything. I seriously wasn't thinking beyond having the baby and learning how to take care of her. So when she started picking up on sign language around 9 months to a year with the sign for "all done" I thought -cool. Then she signed "milk." Convenient I thought. Now all of a sudden the kid is a sign language machine. She signs "please," "thank you," "more," "milk," "eat," and this morning I caught her doing the sign for "yes." She is also trying to say the words when she is signing them too. Now I'm sure there are plenty of others that she is doing that I just haven't learned myself yet. But it is fantastic. Babies are so much easier to understand when they sign that they want to eat or that they want more than just figuring out why the kid is screaming. And it is teaching her manners at such a young age. It really does make me glad that we sprang for child care with a curriculum!

Where did my baby go?

In the blink of an eye it seems that my precious little infant is gone. In her place is an equally precious and silly little girl. I was putting away Emma's laundry last night and like I do every time I was double checking that all of her clothes in rotation still fit etc. I ended up cleaning out most of her 12 month clothes (she's 16 months so this isn't a surprise) but I also ran across some of her teething bibs and a stack of burp clothes that I leave in her closet because I dont' want to have to search for them when we have another one. It is so amazing and a little sad how fast time goes. People always say enjoy every minute etc etc. but it is really true. Emma is at such a fun age now and we love it but I do miss the helpless little baby who needed us for everything. Now, except to reach things that are too high, pour milk into her cup and provide her nourishment and diaper changes, she is fine on her own and prefers to do things herself. Oh where did the time go?

Still, we are so fortunate to have a toddler that is healthy, happy and mostly well-behaved. Now, if only we could get her to stop eating food after she lets the dog lick it!

NO! Swimming and Organizing

Ahh it's finally happened and practically overnight too! Emma's words have come in, specifically No and NoNo which are the words she probably hears most often these days. She has also begun calling me Mummy on a fairly frequent basis with somewhat of a British accent. No idea where that came from but it is adorable I must say. She is also working on many other words like ball, bubbles, book, cat, stuck, thank you and many more I can't remember at the moment. She just gets cuter every day.

There have been two particularly funny instances this week. The first was Tuesday night. Mike and I were outside with Emma so she could play with her Powerwheels. She drove it down the drive way and into the cul-de-sac. Then, she got off and went back to the garage and Daddy pushed her in her Cozy Coupe out into the cul-de-sac where she got out, went back to the garage and came out with her no-peddle tricycle. She pushed this into the cul-de-sac. Next she went back and got her little push walker toy and pushed that into the cul-de-sac. All of her mobile toys now out in the cul-de-sac, she commenced moving them one at a time up the street. First the Cozy Coupe to the mail box, then the tricycle, then the walker toy. Then she repeated this process moving them a little further each time. At one point, she had moved maybe 10 steps away from her tricycle when she looked back and then walked back and readjusted the trike to a better position. This continued for at least 15 minutes. Then came the Powerwheels. Instead of riding the thing up to the other toys which were now 2 houses away, she tries to push it and gets frustrated. So, I put her on it and hold down the button to make it go and we get it with the other toys. At this stage, she's exhausted having just moved her toys one at a time at least 2 houses away! So we had a break down and she started crying and searching for a place to throw herself down on the ground to throw a tantrum. Unfortunately, we weren't even close to our house but you could totally see her looking for somewhere to have a tantrum.

The second thing that is new and fun is swimming in the bath tub. She loves it. She flips over onto her belly and holds herself up with her elbows and kicks and kicks and sometimes she even sticks her face in the water- usually to get a drink but still adorable. Those swimming lessons at the Y were worth every single penny!

No More Rash

Emma has been diaper rash free for over a week! We eliminated citrus fruit from her diet and the diaper rash went away. Poor kid loves manadrin oranges and pineapple and even peaches are off limit now. But, we are substituting applesauce, dried fruit and melon so that seems to be an okay swap. I'm just happy the kid can sit in the bathtub again!

Daycare

In the Toscano household lately we have been struggling with daycare issues. Emma recently transitioned up to the Toddler room and the transition has not been a smooth one. It took a full week for me to figure out the teachers' names because they never talked to me. And Emma's normal routine is unknown to them and I never knew how her day had been. I was on the brink of looking at Goddard across the street but decided to talk to the leadership at Primrose about my concerns. They were very receptive and things have improved. Still though if Emma's favorite teacher Ms. B isn't in the room in the morning, Emma's preference to be held while daddy makes his exit is not honored. I know the world doesn't revolve around my kid but it breaks my heart. There is enough guilt associated with putting her in daycare anyway without making it worse by a bad transition. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road for us.

Time Flies

Things have been crazy busy lately and I haven't had a chance to update my blog. Why is it every weekend is filled to the gills with events? I love it but I hate it at the same time. Anyway, on to Miss Emma. She has truly turned into a toddler. Today is her last day in the Young Toddler's room at Primrose. On Monday, we will drop her off in the Toddler room. It's time. The other day she climbed on top of her kitchen set and when I told her to get down she gave me a look that said I'm going to do what I want. She has no fear except when she is completely afraid. This week she was very clingy because daddy was away and she knew something was amiss at home. We went for a walk and to the playground and she was afraid of the swing and the slide! Turns out Miss E was coming down with the stomach flu so this too could explain her odd behavior. I bought her some new Stride Rites and they are almost too small at a size 4. It was just a month or so ago that they would have been too big. Where does the time go? Where is my little baby peanut?

15 month old check up

It's hard to believe but peanut is 15 months old! She had her check up yesterday. She weighed 20 lbs 1 ounce and was 28.5 inches tall and her head was 18 1/4 inches. She is in the 5th percentile for height and weight and 60th percentile for head. Baby big head indeed! She has consistently been sliding lower on the charts for a while going from 25% to now 5% but the doctor says she is just going to be petite. But even Dr. T said she is a pistol and that she is about 3 months ahead developmentally for her age! Yay Emma.

Of course, sometimes she is too smart for her own good but the mischief is contained for the most part. Last night she thought it would be fun to splash an entire bowl of dog water all over the floor. I was watching her do this mind you but she was so cute and laughing and so I couldn't stop her. This is what is going to get us in trouble- she is just too cute to punish!!