Negotiations (Anna)

Emma continues to enjoy a good negotiation.

Mumma: Ok. I think I heard Mummy say you have ten minutes. So ten minutes it is and then it's bed time.
Emma: I want five minutes. Not ten. Please, Mumma. Five minutes?
Mumma: Well, alright then.

Snapshots of a toddler's mind (Anna)

Four snapshops of Emma's endlessly fascinating mind:

1)
Emma: Mumma, when it's Christmas, I want a scooter. I will stay at home and you and Mummy will go to the shop and buy me a scooter. I won't look.
Mumma: Oh yeah? Why do you want a scooter?
Emma: To ride. [duh]
Mumma: What colour scooter do you want?
Emma: Umm. Red.
(I should add that the desired colour of the scooter changes each time this conversation is repeated, cycling through red, pink, blue, purple and green. But given that she was sveral months short of 2 years old last Christmas, we're a little surprised that she has such a sophisticated understanding of Christmas presents)

2)
I just got back from being away for a few days. We were all snuggling on the couch, when Emma said, happily, "I cuddling with my family. *sigh* I like it when we all in the same place."

3)
Emma: Mumma, what are you doing?
Mumma: I'm wiping this crayon off the wall.
Emma: Oh. Is it from me?
Mumma: Yup. That's right.
Emma: Did Mummy do it?
Mumma: Actually, I'm pretty sure you did it, Em.
Emma: Oh. (pause, then with complete sincerity) I sorry, Mumma. I didn't mean to draw on the wall. I draw with my crayons on the paper next time.

4)
Emma: I have a cookie when we get home? (referring to the cookies she made with Caroline over the weekend)
Mumma: No, I don't think so. Cookies are a treat. We're not having cookies today.
Emma: But I made them!!

Don't flush (Anna)

Emma: Mumma-Mummy, my underwears are wet.
The Mums: Why are they wet?
Emma: They were in the toilet!
The Mums: How did they get in the toilet?
Emma: They swimming.
The Mums: How did they get there?
Emma: I don't know.
The Mums: Who put them there?
Emma: Ummm....Emma!!

I know how you feel (Anna)

Emma (wayyy past bedtime): I waiting for sleep to find me, Mummy. He hasn't come yet...

leaving on a jet plane

Granny Heath and Grandad left yesterday. After they left, Emma stroked my cheek and said, "I know. Mumma is sad 'cos your Mummy has flied away on a big plane."

Emma knows about being sad because Mummy has flied away on a big plane, so I knew it was genuine empathy. And very sweet.

In other news, Emma has developed a new phrase. "never, ever". As in "I'm not going to bed, never ever ever ever again" or "I not eating my dinner ever ever ever again..."

Family (Anna)

Having a wonderful visit with my parents, Emmy's Granny Heath and Grandad. And, only two more sleeps until Caroline gets home from Europe!

I am like a Mumma bird, with a strong desire to have all my chicks tucked up safely in the nest.

Other stuff (Anna)

Since I posted the 1/2 birthday photos yesterday, I've been thinking about all the things that Emma loves that aren't captured in the photos. Just a few in addition to the photos...dancing (together and by herself), doing somersaults, being swung upside down, swinging on the swings, singing, building towers, playing with her animals, baking cakes, arranging plastic tubs, hiding in small spaces like blanket forts under the dining table, playing with her friends, helping to cook and do housework, spinning in circles, jumping on the bed, walking and running in the forest, being carried in the carrier, her stroller, playing in the bath, going naked, having picnics, swimming and floating, talking to her grandparents on Skype, reading reading and more reading, playign with her magnetic letters, playing in the playhouse, riding ont he back of my bike wearing her helmet, playing with cars and construction toys, watching Thomas the Tank Engine and Caillou, raosting marshmallows over a campfire, playing music, paddling at the beach, and and and...

In fact, there is so much she loves and she just epitomizes joy and life. I love that about her.

Tonight, as we got ready for Granny Heath and Grandad's arrival tomorrow, Emma danced around the house singing "Ohhh, ohhh, the pokey pokey. Ohhh, ohhh, the pokey pokey..." It's very cute.

In other news, the fact that Emma's daycare teaches her Americanisms is driving me nuts. I have a daughter who says "garbage can" instead of "rubbish bin" and when she recites the alphabet, I have to correct her "zee"s to "zeds" so much that I've almost started referring to monkeys as "chimpanzeds." (Canadians, for the record, say "zed" no "zee" so this is a more legitimate complaint than most of the other things, which are actually Canadian and which I am simply going to have to get used to.)