The World of Emma

Tonight, it's time for a little update on my crazy, curious, creative, charming kiddos. I do alright at posting pictures of them, but that doesn't always tell the whole story about who they are & who they are becoming! Let's start with my BIG girl, Emma-nemma!

Emma is - well, there's just no easy way to sum up Emma. She is EMMA. That's rapidly become an adjective in our family, used to describe the many things that are unique to her. If I had to turn her name into an acronym, it would go something like this:

EMMA
E = Exuberant
M = Maddening
M = Memorable (some days, that would be "More Maddening")
A = Animated/Amusing/annoying/Amuck (see:running amuck)/Adorable/Absurd/Abnormal - AWESOME!!!

(Yes, I did google "list of adjectives" for some help on that last one...)

Emma is my girl of extremes. I can be so happy with her, and then she can switch me to pure anger in record time; it still surprises me how how fast my mood can switch on her. With Adam, I'm able to keep a calm head and deal with him rationally; but something about my relationship with Emma is so volatile & intense, it's just always been that way. I am totally aware of it (for those in my family who think I'm oblivious), and little by little I'm trying to change things from my end. It's a slow process.

The problem that this causes it that I'm frequently so focused on all the things about Emma that are driving me bonkers, and I get blinded to just how amazing this girl is! Colby is constantly bringing things to my attention to help balance out my perspective. So, let's share some of those things right now.

Emma's mind fascinates me. It's always working, always figuring things out, always thinking of ways to stump us. :) She is the master of giving me the impression that she's totally ignoring me, only to pull out that discussion days/weeks later and apply it to something else. I totally get my hat handed to me, realizing that not only was she listening - but she understood what I said, has been thinking about it & figuring out how it fits into her world. Humbling moments, for sure. It's really easy to get aggravated by her constant questions and observations and "Mommy... Mommy... Mommy... Mommy..."  - but it's all in the service of her growing mind.

Right now we're working on learning to read during the summer break, and she is doing so well! I watch as she starts connecting concepts, and as she herself gets very excited about it. Tonight at bedtime she successfully read a couple words in her books - and we both got so thrilled to see that she's really doing it! Neither of us really know what we're doing in this process - me most of all - but it's working out. :)

Emma is starting to show some really great improvement as a big sister, finally! Adam is no longer just a nuisance, a bother, or the person who gets 90% of Mommy's attention. She loves teaching him, finding little ways to help him, and most especially making him giggle & laugh. She actually seems to enjoy engaging him & playing with him! Their best playtime moments are still entirely physical play - wrestling, chasing, etc.; sharing toys, not so much... But really, toys are the very last thing you need to create happy memories & a happy friendship. So, I'm quite happy with it.

This is getting very long... I'll switch to a bullet-point format!

• Emma has a very interesting sense of fashion; we have had numerous discussions about what does & doesn't constitute a "matching" outfit. Still a long way to go on that front.
• Emma's uses grown-up words and phrases in the most AWESOME moments; I of course can't think of a great example at the moment - I'll try to write something down & post it on our "Comedy Hour" page.
• Emma should be an actress... she NEEDS to be an actress! She spends every part of the day in some character, be it human or animal; and by the end of the day her bedroom (see: dressing room) is draped in the dozens of costumes she's made her way through. It's honestly what fills her time, all day every day. I've gotta think of a way to capitalize on this...
• She's starting doing daily chores; we have a little magnet board that earns her either money to save up, or trade in for a new movie. (So far, that's where all her money has gone; Colby's daughter-much??) Nothing's really become habit yet; but it's going pretty well.
• Emma loves Strawberry Shortcake lately; listening to her sing the new, jazzed-up theme song is HI-larious! 
• Come to think of it, listening to her sing anything is hilarious. 
• Okay scratch that: listening to Emma at any given time during the day has about a 50:1 chance at being hilarious. That's pretty good odds.

Okay, 400 pages later this post still wouldn't be complete. Emma is without a doubt the most indescribable child I've yet come across. There, that's a good way to sum her up. :)