The rest of the weekend (in a nutshell!)

Even though the genius weather forecasters predicted rain for the entire Labor Day weekend, we saw brilliant sunshine pretty much all Saturday through Monday, with temps in the mid-70s. Perfect weather, in my book. When you've got an active young child and you're given the gift of this kind of weather, it means you spend a big chunk of time at the park, which is what we did.

We are blessed with an abundance of beautiful parks where we live. We probably have at least 30 great parks to visit, all of them with their own special appeal. I think we ended up hitting five or six of them over three days. These days, the number one thing Emma wants to do at the park is ride her bike. So we got plenty of that in.


Emma got her "big girl" bike for Christmas. When we first took the bike out this spring, she was pretty cautious and I would walk at a medium pace beside her. Now she's so confident that I really have to go at a slow jog to keep up with her (not that I can't use the exercise!)


Today, we headed to a park we'd never visited before...it was lovely. The park is built around a lake and we walked around the entire thing.


Emma does spend a lot of her park time on the swings. I've probably taken 100 photos of her swinging and I've never been totally happy with any of them. Capturing the perfect picture of a child on a moving swing is difficult at best. But here's my latest attempt.


This picture might have been the one if Emma had been looking at the camera smiling. But there's always one little thing that keeps me from snapping the elusive perfect swing photo...maybe someday.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we did!

The long weekend...so far

There certainly was a time, when Emma was a little baby, when the prospect of a long holiday weekend without any concrete plans filled me dread. Don't get me wrong, I loved the time we spent together when she was a baby. But she was so little and couldn't play by herself or walk or really do anything, and that can make for a long three days. That time, however, is way past. We have a three-day Labor Day weekend and no real plans, but we can always seem to find something to do now. A four-year-old child is so much fun.

It was a bit overcast on Saturday, with temps in the mid-70s, so we headed to the zoo. I didn't take many pictures, but managed to get a decent shot of Emma in the vicinity of the elephants.


They have these little stone animals all over our zoo and Emma had a good time riding the hippo...

We probably walked three miles by the time the afternoon was over, but the weather was so pleasant that it didn't seem too much effort. I'm so happy the hot weather appears to be gone. I love fall and hope we're in for a long Indian summer.

I guess we should enjoy our nice leisurely long weekend, because the next several weekends are crammed with activities. It's feast or famine with us, and we're definitely feasting the rest of September!

Em-matisse

From the time she was a baby, Emma has loved artistic activities. She loves to color and paint so much and I really think she's got a talent for it. She started coloring in the lines when she was like two years old and her teachers at school have praised her skills in art class. Ugh, I sound like the worst kind of delusional bragging parent. It's just something she loves and is pretty good at.

Anyway, Target had this Parent Magazine art desk marked down this week and I bought it for Emma. Now she can sit on the couch or in bed and color to her heart's content. She's so excited!

It's good to be clean!

Second day of school (not so good)

Okay, so our second day at the new school didn't go so well. It's kind of like it sinks in on the second day that we're going to be doing this every day now. When we got to her classroom, Emma started crying and wrapped herself around my legs and would not let go! I literally had to pry her off of me and make her sit down with the other kids. She was wailing "Mommy, I want to stay with you" as I made a beeline for the door. Not fun. I know she likes the school and her teacher...it's just getting used to it again. But mornings like this make you feel like the worst mom in the world.

First day back at school

Today was Emma's first day back at her public Montessori school, after spending all summer at her other school. I don't care how many times we make these transitions, I'm always so nervous about everything. Will she still like her teacher? Will she have good kids in her class? Will she rebel at having to wear a uniform again after a summer of wearing brightly colored dresses and shorts? She was pretty clingy when I dropped her off, but her teacher was great. I've been particularly worried because Emma's best friend at this school last year is no longer in her class. But she was happy to see her friend Quierra from last year.

I was worried all day about how she was doing and was tempted to call at one point. But I figured her teacher had her hands full on the first day and I didn't want to bother her. I did leave work a bit early to pick Emma up. She was happy to see me, but seemed to have a very good first day back. We'll do it all over again tomorrow!

Proud mama

Friday was Emma's last day at her summer Montessori preschool. When we were saying goodbye, one of teachers said "Your daughter is so smart, sometimes it takes my breath away." Wow! What parent doesn't love to hear something like that?

Sure, I love it when people say Emma is cute (who wouldn't?) But the compliments that really make me glow are the ones that praise her intelligence or kindness or how well-behaved she is. Maybe it's a bit of narcissism on my part...I obviously had nothing to do with how cute she is...and I can't really take much credit for how smart she is. But the fact that she's so sweet and kind and seldom misbehaves...I'd like to think I played a small part in that.

Baking with Emma

I have always loved to cook...baking with my mom when I was a little girl is one of my fondest memories. So during the long wait for Emma, one of the things I dreamed about was cooking in the kitchen together when she got older. I even bought several children's cookbooks when I was still months away from referral.

I'm happy to report that Emma loves to help me cook and bake. For Christmas this past year, my sister got her an Easy Bake Oven. Naturally, it's quite impossible to overstate the joy of spending 2.5 hours using a light bulb to bake a cake the size of a hockey puck and the consistency of a sponge. Nonetheless, I think we both prefer real baking using the big oven.

Earlier tonight, Emma helped me make cupcakes to take to her school tomorrow (it's her last day there this summer.) She really did almost everything but run the mixer.


And, of course, we know the best part about baking is...LICKING THE SPOON!


It was a fun, if not a little messy, evening. I really treasure the times we do things like this together.

Baby shower (update)

So last night, when I told Emma it was bathtime, she said she wanted to take a SHOWER instead. I'm thinking "Are you kidding me? You're four years old!" When I told her I thought she was too young to take a shower, she said "Mama, as long as I get clean, I don't think it matters whether I take a bath or a shower." Sigh...it's not easy living with the preschool debate champion of the world.

So I let her take her first shower. I stood there with the shower curtain wide open, water spraying all over the bathroom, while I tried to wash her hair and scrub her down. This is slightly less relaxing than our usual bath routine, where she plays in the tub for 30 minutes or so while I sit on the toilet (lid down) reading Entertainment Weekly magazine and chatting on the phone with my mom. I can only hope the novelty is over and we go back to baths tomorrow night!

UPDATE: Last night, when I told Emma it was bathtime, she hopped right in the tub...no mention of taking a shower. WOO-HOO! No water all over the floor and I got to catch up on all the latest show biz news!

A day on the farm

It was a nice day on Saturday, so we headed to a local farmstead with our friends Kathryn and Allison. It's a really cool place that had all kinds of animals and activities for the kids. Of course, the first thing we had to do was hit the pony rides...Emma got to ride one of her favorite horses, Sadie.


Then we went to the fishing pond, which is loaded with about 20,000 fish, each averaging about three inches in length. The girls were fascinated by Kathryn's attempts to bait the hook with a big fat squiggling worm (I was way too busy taking pictures to assist in this endeavor.)


After putting the fishing pole in the water, it took approximately four seconds before we got a bite. If you get out a magnifying glass, you might be able to see the Moby Dick-like monster we managed to land.


After that, we wandered around and looked at the prairie dogs and the turtles and bunnies and all the other animals. Emma and Allison had a great time on the nature hike.


All in all, a very nice adventure...so long from the coolest kid in the world!

Bike Chickie

Just a typical evening at home...mommy makes dinner and cleans up the dishes, while Emma rides around on her bike in her underwear.

What we're reading now

Emma and I have just started reading the Junie B. Jones books. For the uninitiated, Junie B. Jones is a rather high-strung kindergartner with VERY definite opinions about everything. Some parents really despise these books because Junie B. can be a bit of a brat and says whatever comes into her head (her favorite word is "dumb.") I have to admit, I was a little concerned about it at first, but I don't think Emma is going to start running around calling everything "dumb" just because we're reading these books (at least I hope not!) And we've talked about how Junie B. sometimes says things and does things she shouldn't. The main thing is, Emma thinks the books are HILARIOUS (Emma's current favorite word.) We really laugh while we're reading them together in bed every night. And if it makes her laugh, I figure it's all right...

My daughter, the feminist

Interesting conversation with Emma this morning on the way to school...

Emma: Mama, why do Biggie and Papa (grandma and grandpa) not work?

Me: Because when people get older and after they've worked a long time, they don't have to work anymore.

Emma: Will you get to stop working when you're older?

Me: Yes (when I'm about 80, according to my financial planner - I didn't say that part to her)

Me: What kind of job would you like to do when you grow up?

Emma: I'm not going to get a job...I'm going to get married.

Me: (trying to remain calm) Well, most grown-up ladies get married and go to work too.

Emma: Not me. I'm going to be one of those mommies who stays at home all the time.

What a relief...I guess I can stop saving up for Stanford now!

Post-vacation blues

Well, we saw my sister and her family off this morning before we headed back to work and school. We're very sad they're gone. Emma was sobbing when I dropped her off at school - she kept saying "I want to stay with you" (words that drive a knife through every mother's heart.) I'm sure she was fine once I left, but it doesn't make the week start off on a bright note.

So after four days of non-stop fun, now I'm looking at the wreckage of the things I didn't get done this week. They include:

No laundry done (I had to wear my "only-as-a-last-resort" underwear today.)

No groceries in the house (I can probably scrounge up something for dinner tonight, but after that, we're in trouble. Which means a trip to the grocery store after work on Tuesday - I don't think there's anything I love more than trudging through the grocery store after a long day at work.)

The lawn hasn't been mowed (I'm sure the neighbors love this one, especially those who have their houses on the market right now.)

Dirty house (I'm pretty sure the rug isn't supposed to crunch when you walk across it.)

I should have tried to start tackling some of these things last night when we got home, but we were both exhausted and hit the sack at 8:30. I guess I'm also a little bummed that summer is winding down...although cooler weather sounds good right now.

So anyway, I need to snap out of it and get back to the routine...sigh!

Water play

My sister and her family go back home tomorrow...we've had so much fun with them this week. Today we went to a local water park and had a blast. While Emma and I obviously didn't get to ride on the big water slides and thrill rides, there were a lot of areas for kids too.


Shockingly, Emma's favorite part of the park was the wave pool, where bigs waves hit you like every ten seconds and pretty much knock you over. She loved it! This was a pleasant surprise, since Emma is not the most adventurous child on the planet. Anyway, she had so much fun, especially hanging with her cousin D.J.


We are going to miss everyone so much when they leave tomorrow...but we had such a great time!

Merry-go-rounds

I swear, there are very few things Emma loves more than merry-go-rounds. Just the sight of them sends her into flights of joy. Yesterday, we went with my sister and her kids and my parents to a local mall that has a merry-go-round, so we had to hop on it the first thing when we got there. She was in absolute heaven.

Emma's first MLB game

My sister and her family are in town this week and Emma is having such a great time with her cousins. Last night, we all went to the baseball game - Emma's very first Major League Baseball experience. I used to be such a baseball fan and have probably been to at least 50 MLB games. But I haven't been since I got Emma, so this was so much fun!


As you can see, Emma is crazy about her cousin Brennan...


We lasted until the 7th inning, but then headed home. We all had a wonderful time and I'm sure it won't be our last game.

Sweat city

Okay, it's official. I'm totally over the heat wave that has gripped our part of the country for the better part of a month now. We've had weeks of temperatures around 100, with a short two-day respite where the mercury plunged into the lower 90s. This weekend was horrible. We actually went to the zoo on Saturday with a friend and her two young boys. The kids did fairly well, but my friend and I were pretty close to being hospitalized for heat stroke by the time we left. We spent as much time as possible in the air-conditioned kids area.


Today was a little better, only because we spent it at the pool. But we did have to go to the grocery store and Target this afternoon, when it was excrutiatingly hot. I can't wait to get my electricity bill this month!

On the bright side, my sister, brother-in-law and their two kids, and my parents, are all coming for a long weekend visit. So we're really looking forward to that. Unfortunately, there's not supposed to be any break in the heat. But hopefully we can find something cool to do.

Emma's school

The other day, I realized that despite practically photographing Emma's every breathing moment, I had very few pictures of her at school. During the school year, she goes to a public school here that has a Montessori preschool program (and is therefore free - YES!) In the summer, she returns to the Montessori preschool where she has gone since the age of 1 year and 1 day old. I like both schools for different reasons. She has a lot of fun at her summer school...she and her little friends are so adorable. Every day, when the parents come to pick up their kids, the girls all have to give each other big hugs - like they aren't go to see each other for ages, instead of the next day.


Another reason I really like her summer school is that the center's kindergarten teacher is this incredible single dad...all the kids are crazy about Mr. Matt, including Emma. She'll be in his class next summer, which I'm thrilled about. Being a single mom, I'm always looking for male role models for my girl, and you can't do better than him.


Emma will be at her summer school for about three more weeks, then it's back to public school. I'm always worried about the transition, but she seems to handle it well.

Emma and Helen

We had a little playdate this week with Emma's friend Helen. It's very odd, because Helen is a very sweet girl and of course, we know Emma is the sweetest girl in the entire universe (MOST of the time!) But lately, when the two of them get together, they are EXTREMELY competitive! It seems whatever they do, it's a contest to see who has the biggest cookie or who finishes first or who draws the prettiest picture. I know it's just a phase (I hope). Helen's mom and I just roll our eyes when the girls get going. We try to curb the behavior, but it's pretty comical at the same time...

Scratch scratch

So it appears I have somehow developed a case of poison ivy. I did some weeding on Saturday morning before the heat got too bad. I took a shower as soon as I came in (primarily because I was concerned I might have come in contact with something, but also because Emma wrinkled her nose at me and said "Mama, you're STINKY!") But by Saturday night I had developed about 25 red welts all over my legs, which were extremely itchy. So far, it's manageble and I haven't gone to the doctor. Hopefully they'll just go away after a week or so. Several summers ago, I got a horrendous case of poison ivy that took two rounds of steriods and a couple of months to get under control. I don't think this is in that league. But I'll be happy when it's gone.

Keepin' cool...

The Great Decluttering Project - Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, the time is long overdue to go through all of Emma's toys, books and clothes to weed out what is no longer played with, read or worn. So this weekend, we started with the books. I took our pal Mary's advice to get Emma involved in the process, to let her help decide what stays and what goes, and to help her understand that the things we are getting rid of will go to kids who don't have all the nice things she does.

Well, initially things didn't go exactly as planned. She decided she wanted to keep EVERY book she had, even the ones she hadn't touched since she was like two years old. But eventually she got in the spirit of things and started to pick out some books she could part with (my little Mother Teresa doesn't look thrilled in this picture though!)


I would have tossed a lot more, but eventually we ended up with a pretty significant pile of books that I will take to a local bookstore that collects children's books to distribute to low-income families.


Next weekend, we'll tackle the toy box, which should be a REAL challenge!

Toyland

You know, I really think it's time once again to go through all of Emma's toys and throw out or give away the stuff she hasn't played in awhile. Unfortunately, she's one of those kids who NOTICES when her toys disappear. But I have to get rid of some of this clutter!


On a totally different subject...not to brag, but I made the most fabulous dinner tonight. Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob...m-m-m-m! This almost makes up for the previous night's feast, which consisted of a Lunchable (Emma) and a microwaved Hot Pocket (me.) Bad mommy!

Aquamarine

Emma's latest obsession is the movie Aquamarine. She watched part of it when we were at a friend's house last week and I finally rented it from Netflix so she could watch the whole thing.

It's a pretty harmless movie about a mermaid who lands in a swimming pool, becomes friends with two girls and has to find true love. It's really aimed at the preteen crowd, of which apparently Emma now considers herself a member. Her new favorite role-playing game is "Pretend I'm Aquamarine and you're Raven." I'm actually supposed to pretend I'm RAYMOND - the hunky boy in Aquamarine - but that name is unfamiliar to Emma, so she just substitutes Raven, because she's heard of the Disney Channel program "That's so Raven."

I always have to be the boy in these pretend games...it's "pretend I'm Liesel and you're Rolf", "pretend you're Troy and I'm Gabriella", "pretend I'm Ariel and you're Prince Eric", "pretend I'm Annaliese and you're Julian." I could go on and on. It would be nice to get to be the girl just once. Sigh!

The social whirl

Emma got invited to two pool parties this week...we were only able to make it to one of them. Frankly, it's a little depressing that at the age of four, Emma has already been invited to more parties than I have over my entire lifetime. Anyway, Emma's classmate Grace turned four, so we went to her soiree on Saturday morning. Grace and her older sister Frances are beautiful and sweet girls and Emma had a great time at the party, even though it ended up being a little cool for the pool. I don't think anyone lasted longer than an hour in the water...it was just too breezy.


Good lord, after looking at this photo, I realized what an atrocious job I did trimming Emma's bangs the other day. I'm no better at cutting hair now than I was at age six, when I gave my sister Jody the hatchet job of all time. Well, I'd better get out the scissors again and try to repair the damage (to Emma...Jody's hair grew out quite a while ago.)

Sleeping Beauty

Greatest inventions of all time (according to ME)

Yes, it's a new semi-regular Emma's World feature where we give a shout out to the greatest inventions of all time (in my not-so-humble opinion!)

Today I'm lavishing praise on the relatively new spray-on sunscreen (or "sun scream" as Emma calls it.) Specifically, Coppertone Sport spray-on sunscreen. As anyone with a child can attest, slathering a squirming kid with sunscreen lotion is no picnic. They generally hate it and you end up missing spots anyway. But this new spray-on stuff is fabulous. You spray it all over and you're done in like 10 seconds. And it seems to stay on longer.

Plus, as a single mom who seldom if ever has someone to help put on MY sunscreen, this is great. I can even spray my back without missing a spot (which never happened with lotion.) My back was always a patchwork of glaring white (where the sunscreen was) and lobster red (where I missed.)

So anyway, we love this stuff...it's the best!

Disclaimer: I am in no way being compensated by Coppertone for this endorsement (I wish!!!)

Elena

We got together with some friends on Saturday...a single mom with two daughters from China (I don't know how she does it!)
Emma absolutely adores the older daughter Elena, who is ten. Elena is such a special girl. She's so sweet and has this zen kind of personality. Nothing ever seems to bother her. I'm sure in a couple of years, she'll be a great babysitter for Emma (like I ever go anywhere and need a babysitter!)

Guilty pleasure

I have to admit that I am completely hooked on Project Runway. The only other reality show I watch is American Idol, but I find Project Runway much more entertaining.

Season three just started this week and it's too early to tell what designers I like, but as with most reality shows, it's easy to pick out the villains. After one episode, I already know I'm going to love to hate Jeffrey (that tattoo!) and Malan (that accent!)

In the void that is summer television, Project Runway is going to totally rock!

Booster Club

Well, Emma has finally made the leap to a booster seat. I've been checking out boosters for a couple weeks now and finally decided I couldn't put it off any longer. I was totally lusting after the Britax Regent, and almost bought it, but it costs $250 and Britax doesn't allow retailers to mark its seats down. I just couldn't justify the cost. So I ended up going with this $79 Eddie Bauer High Back Booster. I don't love it, but what are you going to do? We can't always get what we want.

I did throw out my back while installing this thing in the car. I was so mad, I was practically yelling at the car seat! I kept thinking "this never would have happened if I'd gotten the Britax!" Of course, the only critisism of the Britax is that it's heavy and is hard to install. So I might have strained my back anyway.

So the seat's in...Emma loves it, mainly because she now has her own cup and snack holder (which she has already filled with rocks.) Kids are so easy to please...

Emma and Jenna

We met with some friends over the weekend for a play date. I met these three women at an adoption seminar five years ago - we were all single and paperchasing for daughters from China. We've become great friends, as have our girls. Anyway, we spent the day with them on Saturday, at a McDonald's Playland and then walked over to one of those quasi-educational play centers. Emma and her friend Jenna were in a goofy mood and I took some funny pictures...






It's been so much fun to watch the girls grow up...it's so amazing when you look at pictures from 2-3 years ago. They're not toddlers anymore...they're little girls (sigh!)

Party from h*ll

Emma and I went to a really disastrous birthday party for one of her little friends the other night. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say there's a good reason you don't invite 20 KIDS to a 4-year-old's birthday party. This mom apparently never heard the standard recommendation that the number to invite to a kid's party is your child's age plus one.

Anyway, I took a couple of snaps at this extravaganza...here they are and then I'll try to forget the whole thing...

Our 4th of July

We had a pretty laid back holiday...we spent a good part of the morning scouting out booster seats for Emma. Although she weighs just 28 pounds, she has outgrown her car seat height-wise. I can't believe how rusty I am when it comes to buying baby gear! During the long wait, I spent countless hours researching and shopping for strollers, car seats, high chairs, play yards, cribs, etc. But I haven't done much since acquiring all those essential items. So I spent a couple hours Monday on the web looking at ratings and prices for booster seats and then we hit Target, Walmart and Babies R Us looking at seats and trying them out. No purchase was made, but I'm close to deciding what we're getting.

Since it was almost unbearably hot on Tuesday, we, of course, decided to go to the zoo in the middle of the afternoon (I find the zoo is truly enjoyable only when it's 90 degrees-plus with 95% humidity!) But we had a pretty decent time. The zoo had reopened the pony rides and much to our delight, Emma's favorite pony Dustin was there. Emma first rode Dustin when she was about 15 months old (he looked like a friggin' Clydesdale the first time she was on him) and has probably ridden him 20 times since. I worry because Dustin is like 20 years old and I always wonder if he's gone to horsey heaven during the winter months. But he was there on Tuesday and Emma rode him a couple of times...


We trudged around the zoo for a couple of hours, stopping for awhile so Emma could eat the world's most obscenely big popsicle...she ate this entire thing!


Anyway, we had a good time despite the heat...one of us fell asleep in the car on the way home (unfortunately, it didn't get to be me.) We were too pooped to go to any fireworks, so we conked out pretty early. Not our most memorable 4th, but I can't complain about spending the day with my girl...

Happy Independence Day!

Emma the aquatic star

Emma and I spent much of the weekend at the pool, which is nothing new. However, what IS new is what pool we've been hanging out in. Although we've ventured into the big pool a few times, the vast majority of our time has been spent in the kids' pool. But Emma decided this weekend, out of the blue, that at age 4, she's too big for the kids' pool and wanted to stay in the big pool. So yesterday and today, we stayed exclusively in the big pool. Emma's not the most adventurous child, so imagine my surprise when she wanted to stand on the side of the pool and hurl herself in my general direction to be caught. She also started putting her head under water.

I'm proud that she's gotten so comfortable in the water. But to be honest, I don't think going to the pool is going to be the relaxing experience it has in the past. Trust me, it's much more calming to sit in a pool chair reading People magazine while your daughter splashes in 9 inches of water than it is to have your child leap from the side of the pool 37 times in a row! I was pretty tired when we got back this afternoon.

Anyway, I didn't bring the camera, so no pictures of Emma's new diving form in the pool. I did take a photo on Friday of her on her scooter at bike day at her school. So that will have to do for now...cheers!