Emmy Update

I actually felt like I had a few things to blog about but definitely decided that updating our family and friends on what Emma has been up to is the most important.  Many people that are so dear to us do not get to see us often and sometimes just with the craziness of our lives and their lives we don't even seem to get much time on the phone.  I want her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends to feel involved in her growing up as much as possible even with the miles between us.  So below are just some of the things Emma has been doing this last week... she is changing into such a big girl each day.  I can't believe she is already almost 21 months old!!!

We have two local parks that we visit often and at each one Emma has her favorite things to do.  At one of the parks she loves to watch the ducks in the pond and throw bread at them.  They usually don't eat it but she still thinks it is so much fun.  At the other park she loves to slide and swing!  In fact she probably asks to slide and swing at least 20 times each day so we try to make the park visit at least 3 times a week.  One of the biggest joys  in my life is to see how excited Emma gets when we turn on either of the park roads.  It is crazy but even a toddler knows directions!  She kicks, screams with excitement, and claps... I actually have started avoiding these roads unless I plan on stopping to let her play.

Emma also loves to have school time each day.  I have been reading so much about sensory buckets and letting kids explore their world so I finally made Emma's first sensory bucket.  It is a play aquarium with rocks, shells, play sea animals, play seaweed, and water.  Of everything in there her favorite is the rocks.  She will scoop rocks and put them in cups or bowls over and over!  Great entertainment for her play on the kitchen floor while I make dinner.  I plan on changing the aquarium this week and turning it into a jungle with the animals that Grandma gave her for Christmas.

Some other fun simple school time activities for Emma involve pipe cleaners.  I found a huge bag of these at the Dollar Store and knew that we would be able to get a lot of use out of them.  In one picture above Emma loved fitting all the pipe cleaners into the empty spice container... the holes were just the perfect size and she was able to take the lid off and put it back on all by herself making this great independent play.  We also made Emma her own pair of glasses the day that Daddy had an eye doctor appointment.  She was so concerned that Daddy had to go to the doctor for his eyes and that he had a "Boo boo" so we made her own glasses to show her what the doctor did with Daddy.  And, let's face it, this is probably the inevitable for Emma since neither her mommy or daddy can see anything!

Emmy also had her second surgery for her ear tubes this past week.  Her tubes were no longer working so they put new ones in, cleaned her sinuses, and removed her adenoids.  I hate having to see her go into surgery (this is her 3rd in 8 months) but I think she feels like a new little girl now!  She can breathe and taste things she probably never tasted before.  We are praying that the tubes will help with her hearing which in turn will help with her speech development.  She tries to talk so hard and knows what she is wanting to say but unfortunately it all sounds the same since she can't hear.

And finally I had to add this last picture because I thought it was too cute.  Emmy and I went to hang out with Daddy at a Campus Crusade Conference for the cadets this past weekend.  It was a great time of fellowship for Trey and also for us to see how God is moving with these young men and women but also how much prayer is needed for them to continue to be a light in a dark place.

Well there is an update on what Emma has been up to lately!  All those other random thoughts I had to blog about will come in the next few days...