Emery Tracker: 2.5 Years

The Story

Alright, alright- I give up.  I had been holding off typing this post until I got some pictures but CLEARLY that has been a major hurdle.  So I'm going to go ahead and write the post and if we're all lucky you'll get some pictures added later.  Maybe.

On September 6th our elder angel turned 2.5 years old but if you deal with her on a daily basis you might confuse her for 16.  I'll do my best to capture all the hilarity and nuances of living with Emery at this age but trust me when I say I know I won't do it justice.

First let's go over some of the milestone-y stuff she is up to, huh?  In the past 6 months she has nailed her colors.  I was pretty concerned that she had zero interest and would call everything red for the rest of her life, but luckily she's proven me wrong.  Pink appears to be her favorite.  When asked what color tile she wanted for her new bathroom she demanded pink.   I like to believe her 15 year old self will thank me for not indulging that request.

She can count to at least 10, most days 20.  Don't ask her to tell you how many there are of something though- there are always 2.  If you ask her to count something she starts at 4 so there usually wind up being about 7.  Her mother has never been a superstar at mental math though, so I'm going to count this as a victory.

She's starting to get some letters down- namely "E," "B," "M," and "D."  Why those?  B for Brynnie, M for Mama and D for Daddy.  If you ask her to identify an E she will say "E for MEEEEE!"  It's really stinking cute.

Another exciting milestone-y thing, for me anyway, is that she has started referring to people as her "friend".  Until this point nearly every day on the way home from school I would ask her what she did and if she played with her friends.  Usually met with silence (thanks Dad for those genes).  Then I would ask, "Is *insert name of classmate* your friend?"  Her response?  "No."  So I was pretty sure I was raising a narcissist.  Everyone can call off the dogs because some people ARE her friend according to her now.

The MOST exciting hurdle we passed in the last 6 months?  Ladies and Gentleman... drumroll please... she will now give kisses or hugs on demand.  When I say "on demand" I mean when she's in a good mood.  Sometimes.  But it's a VAST improvement.  Let's not get the PDA confetti out just yet though because when you say "I love you Em," her response is "Ok."  Again- thank you Daddy.

Personality wise she continues to be pretty feisty and strong-willed.  Not sure where that comes from?!  We have regular stand offs regarding saying sorry, bed time, getting in the bath... basically anything you can name.  It's exhausting, hilarious and exactly the karma my parents probably hoped for me. She likes to be in charge.  The easiest/quickest way to get her to do something is to make her think it was her idea or her choice.

She loves to help.  "I be a helper" is a common refrain around our house.  I hope she always loves to lend a helping hand because there's nothing more endearing than watching Ryan walk by with a load of laundry (yes- we each still do our own laundry thanks to a laundry dispute about 2 weeks into marriage) with his little helper in tow carrying a smaller load behind him.

She's also turned into quite the hostess.  She can be found in the fridge quite regularly "getting a deer" (beer) for our guests.  Sometimes the "deer" is a Sprite so you need to be color specific if requesting one.

My very favorite thing about this child is how much she loves her sister.  Knowing Emery's personality I was very concerned about how she would handle being a sibling and if she would warm up to it.  She has exceeded all of my expectations.  Em loves to make her sister happy, doesn't like when she's crying and is actually PRETTY good about sharing with her.  Watching the two of them run around after eachother turns me into the biggest pile of mush.

I could clearly go on forever and ever about how much fun Emery is at this age, but I suppose I should wrap it up.  Just know, sweet lovebug of mine, that you are the light of Daddy, Brynnie and I's lives and we can't imagine our family without you.  You make us laugh, pull our hair out and keep us on our toes.  We are all so, so, so proud to call you our's!

The School Stuff
Emmy Poo Pots moved up to Early Pre-School II (EPS II) when the new school year started in August.  This was the first transition in class since she started that I don't think she missed a beat.  Her teachers did such a great job of preparing her to move up.  We all talked about it for about a week beforehand and she was so excited to move up to her new class with new toys.

So as I've stated before Em likes to be organized and in charge.  One thing that 3 separate parents (yes, 3) have mentioned to me without prompting is that Emery will help their child either put their backpack up upon arrival in the morning or get their backpack for them to go home in the evening when she sees their parent walk in the door.

The Stats

• Height: ??  
• Weight: 32 pounds (if you ask her, for reasons I can't understand, she will tell you she was 245)
• Diaper: Size 5 pull ups and night time diapers (some day I'll get my butt in gear for potty training)
• Shoe size: Size 7s holding strong
• Clothes:  Size 2Ts and 3Ts