Things I'm Grateful For

In the past year, I've heard two stories through Facebook about families dealing with some of the most horrible things you can imagine. This has made me think about some of the little things in life that I am grateful for and I thought I'd share a few....

** I'm grateful for the little voice across the hall that calls out for "Mommy" in the middle of the night or early in the morning. This means that Emma feels safe and knows that if she calls out, Dave or I will come in to get her.

**I'm grateful for afternoon snack time. Emma and I get to sit quietly and snuggle while she (okay, we) eat goldfish and watch Dinosaur train. It's so rare for Emma to sit still, that the 30 minutes of quiet and cuddles is nice. And before I know it, she won't want Mommy snuggles anymore...

** I'm grateful for all the messes that I get to clean up. These tell me that Emma is having fun, learning, and exploring.

** I'm grateful that one of the last things I do at night is to tuck Emma in a whisper that I love her. Hopefully, she hears that and it helps make her dreams a little more pleasant.

There are a million little things that Emma does that make me smile and get added to the list of things to be grateful for, the little unexpected hugs, saying thank you, a kiss just because... but, all of these are parts of an ordinary day... and I'm grateful for those too.

Sweet Girl and the Greedy Dog

At 23 months (today!) Emma has turned into a very sweet little girl most of the time. One of the sweet things she does is share... She shares almost everything, but especially food. Her favorite person to share with is Susie, the dog.

Prior to Emma coming along, Susie didn't get a whole lot of people food (but if it hit the floor it was hers). All of that has changed.... Emma will purposely drop things so that Susie can enjoy them. Knowing this, Susie sometimes gets a little greedy and tries to take things before they are offered.

Yesterday, Emma's desire to share and Susie's desire to take ran into one another. I got mad at Susie for being greedy and Emma got mad at me for getting on to Susie. Here's what happen...

Emma had a chocolate chip cookie and was sitting on the stairs enjoying it. I was sitting with her and Susie was at our feet. Emma was sharing her cookie with me and Susie. The first couple of times she wanted to give Susie a bite, she let me break off a piece and put it on the floor. This worked because it let me make sure there wasn't any chocolate and it kept Susie away from the big cookie. Well, Emma decided she wanted to try. She broke off a little piece for Susie and then leaned over to offer Susie her bite. The Greedy dog saw this little bite in one hand and half a cookie in the other.... You can guess which she chose. She grabbed the half cookie and took off running. As I lectured Susie about being a "bad dog" and not stealing food, Emma was apologizing to Susie....

So, today when Emma had her cookie, I sat with her again... But, this time we didn't share. Since Susie resisted the temptation to steal (okay I was right there blocking her, but we're all for positive reinforcement) she got a treat of her own once Emma was done.

Letter to my Neighbors

Dear Neighbors,

I sincerely apologize for running the snow blower at 6 o'clock this morning - I know it's annoying. But, you see, there really wasn't any other time for me to clear the driveway. Dave had an 8 o'clock meeting and because of all the snow, he needed to leave for work earlier than normal. And with Emma being an active little girl, I needed to be showered and dressed before Dave had to leave. For all of the pieces of the morning puzzle to fit into place, I had to head out early to take care of the snow while Dave got ready for work. Then, he took care of Emma while I got ready for the day.

I didn't really WANT to get up at 5:30 AM, put on multiple layers of clothes, and head out into the dark and cold, but there really wasn't another choice. If it makes things any better, I did clear the sidewalks for the houses on either side of us to help everyone out.

I promise to do my best to avoid running the snow blower so early in the future.....

Potty Training Progress

We are well into week #2 of potty training and Emma is doing so great! She is wearing underwear almost all the time and we only use Easy Ups for nap, bed time, and outings. We've gotten to the point where Emma has about one accident a day, usually in the late afternoon or evening when she is too busy playing or eating to tell me she needs to go in time for us to get to the bathroom. Emma is even keeping her Easy Ups dry during outings. At first she seemed to just be holding it, but when we were at Target on Saturday (after going out for breakfast) she told us that she needed to go and actually used the public restroom with me holding her up. On Sunday, we left home a little after 2 to go to a couple of Super bowl parties. Between us encouraging Emma to go by taking her and her asking us to go, she was able to use the same pair of Easy Ups until it was time to put on PJ's for the trip home.

When we started the potty training process, we were glued to Emma's side and were with her nearly every second of the day. We were also constantly reminding her to tell us if she needed to pee or poo poo. Now that we are into week 2, we have been able to graduate to my being able to do a few other things while Emma plays. I just need to be close enough to hear her if she tells me she needs to go because she doesn't stop playing, she just says "poo poo" and that's the signal to go. I also don't have to remind her as often, but I still feel a little bit like a broken record.

Dave and I are both very proud of how well Emma is doing and we are telling her that frequently. Fingers are crossed that she continues to do well.