Emmett is three!

Life is so busy these days. I just can't believe how long it's been since our last entry!

Fall is off to an awesome start; the weather here has been mild and the school season brought new classes for me and Em's first year at preschool! Though he's only there a day or two per week while I'm working about twenty feet away, I couldn't ask to be a part of a better program and he just loves it. We also have a few friends that join us every week at our house for home daycare, so Emmett has grown so much socially in the past few months. It is truly amazing to watch. While he is certainly an indulged "only child" (and may be that way forever!), it makes our hearts so glad to see him being a kind friend. He has trouble sharing at home with his buddies sometimes, but he is such a generous little man for the majority of his day. He loves his friends with all of his heart and talks about them all the time.

At school, his teachers report that he is the best "cleaner upper" and direction follower they have! He is the first to pick up toys, use his manners, and line up at the playground. (Insert gigantic sigh of relief here. Haha!) Naturally, he wears out the stored up "brattiness" on Mom and Dad. :) As soon as he wakes up in the morning, he asks to see his best friends. Often times when they aren't joining us, he starts the day off with a good cry. Haha! Pictured to the left is one of Em's besties, Miss Bailey. Two fiery red heads with big hearts for eachother!

Emmett is growing taller everyday and seems like he is heading down the "long and lean" road, like his daddy! He is hanging tight at around 35 lbs, in a 3T clothing, and I'm not sure how tall he is, but we'll be finding out at his 3 year old doc's appointment coming soon. He is the master puzzler--I'm proud to say that he is also sight reading around 30 words, and smart as a whip. It amazes me the things that he retains. I believe he is going to be a piano player as he spends a lot of time plunking and singing away out there on the porch with the old upright.

The hair is still mighty red and curly and doesn't seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon. The strong will has not ceased in accompanying it. :)

Em announced he was going to be a skeleton for Halloween this year, but trick or treating didn't go so well. Carmen and I limited his looting to a few blocks because he was grumpy from the excitement of his birthday weekend and being a little bashful to the people doling out the goods!

We feel so entirely blessed to have such a unique and bright little boy. It seems impossible as a new mom to believe that you could possibly love your children any more than the day you deliver them--but the phenomenon is now a normal part of life for me. Every day I wake up I thank God to have such a miracle in my life and I know Emmett's daddy feels the same way. We love him so much!

Thanks for sharing his birthday with us! Special thanks to those who spoiled our little monkey with thoughtful gifts and cards. Check out the video "montage" of his birthday celebrations below. We love and miss all of you!

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THREE YEARS OLD!

Turn your speakers on to hear the videos and music!

Imaginary friends, using the potty and in general, terrible twos!

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been so long since our last update.

Emmett has been very busy performing death defying acts, like our first black eye pictured here:



He is also a bit of a showboat on his Power Wheels motorcycle; apparently just riding it isn't cool anymore. Haha!



New things are happening everyday--lately, Emmett has been discovering the joys of imaginary friends. He tells us that he has a little rabbit in his hand that is his friend, and he will ask you to hold it for him. Tip: Don't forget you have the imaginary rabbit in your hand. Trouble will ensue. :) He also loves doing puppet shows for us.



Emmett is such a sharp little man. He is beginning to tell tall tales. Today, on the way to the store, he said "Mom, remember the time I was swimming and a shark bit my arm? And you were so sad? Because you get sad when sharks bite me." To which I replied, "I guess I would be sad if a shark bit you!" HAHA. The kid is starting to fib and rationalize bad behavior. His manipulative skills scare me already!

We're on a Disney/Pixar kick over here, it's a different movie every couple of days to be repeated obsessively. Right now it happens to be "James and the Giant Peach" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". (Shhh....don't tell anyone, I know it's not age appropriate.) Emmett happens to have the entire musical score memorized though. He sings it all the time...too cute!

I can't believe that once the summer ends, we will be quickly looking at being parents to a three year old. Time is flying by, and much to my dismay, I can't take the pictures or the mental snapshots quick enough. So I apologize for the blog slipping through the cracks for the last 3-4 months...I've been swimming in the pool, wiping ice cream drips, laying in the grass and telling my son all of the stories I've long since committed to memory since my own childhood...and loving every moment of it. :)

Spring Has Sprung!

And boy...what a difference a day makes!

It's great to be able to get outside and play. Em has been having a great time!
He's learned how to peddle a bike well now, and he's your average little boy--addicted to mud, spider webs, bugs, and all the other dirty and grotesque things in the world!

He's thinning out like his daddy lately--we didn't get a height at his last doc's appointment, but he's only 33 lbs, and getting taller everyday! Everything is going great, but man...he sure is developing attitude lately. And humor!

On the way home from the circus a month ago, he informed us that the trapeze girl had "shown him her butt". HAHAH! His favorite phrase lately is, "Oh, nonononono, I can't do that". He uses this phrase when asked to eat his dinner, stop torturing the cat, or doing anything else that he isn't supposed to.

He's been an absolute ham to be around lately. I hope this phase lasts forever, because after a few weeks ago, when Emmett informed us that he "loves girls", I'm a little afraid of what the future holds! HAHAH!

Here are some new pics and video. Enjoy! :)



Here he is laughing and swinging with daddy the other day at the State Park!
And some more from the park, falling asleep eating icecream cones, painting shamrocks, and using the big boy swings!

The many faces of Emmettron!

Post-Christmas Mayhem!

...and good riddance! It was a joyous season, but we're glad it's over. This kids been on a wild ride, staying up late, Christmas afer Christmas, present after present! Haha!




Em in the tub the other day. My little cutie man! What a little performer we have on our hands. He has been singing full songs, and is even starting to sing in tune now! Since he has mastered the full ABC song in English, he has now moved onto the spanish ABC's and other more complex songs. He also has moved past shapes like circle and square and now is on to "parallelogram", "trapezoid" and hexagon. I will capture this on video soon and post. He is just too smart for his little britches! :)

And...he is a little daredevil lately. Looks like someone shares mommy's obsession with cold water in her youth!





Emmett has been cracking us up lately. He is saying all sorts of things that surprise us--and we can't figure out where he's picked them up. One of his favorite new phrases is: "OH, come on now!" Haha!

He had a great Christmas and he is such a spoiled child. How lucky he is to be so surrounded with love and generosity! Here he is with Amelia (Roger and Julianne's little girl). He wanted her to come and walk with him...too cute!



Grandmas and Grandpas spoiled him rotten this season. He's also developed quite the sweet tooth (we went through this over Halloween) and seems to want to survive on chocolate. Speaking of eating, we had an interesting conversation regarding the bird and the cat the other day. I was explaining to Emmett that he shouldn't put his hands into the bird cage because by lifting the gate, he was risking the bird getting out. I explained that if the bird got out without mommy to help, the kitty could eat the bird. He thought about that for a second or so and then called out to our tomcat, "BILLY! TIME TO EAT!!!!!!!!"

Haha!

Here Emmmett is at the playland at the mall. He just loves to play with the other kids!



And finally, a few goofy videos. Hope you enjoy! :)

Mama, will you leave the light on?

Emmett asked me this the other night for the VERY first time. It kind of broke my heart! He has a nightlight so we turned that on. Can't believe my baby is big enough to ask me that!

Speaking of bedtime, I've always sung this little made up song to Emmett while I rocked him in his room. He loves this song and often sings it to himself when he is quietly playing or calming down. Here is a cute audio clip of us singing it together:

Oh My Baby Song

Also, thought this was cute, Em loves to sing Jingle Bells:



A cute pic of him and Erica making balloon animals :



In other news, Emmett is now trying to eat out of the sugar bowl on the regular, and has decided that torturing the animals is quite entertaining. He is super excited about Santa, and ALMOST old enough to behave in order to make it on the "good list". Hahaha!:)

Monsters!

I never expected it to be so soon, but (thanks to Aunt Erica and Monsters Inc at Grandma's house) Emmett is talking nonstop about monsters! Haha. Currently he finds them to be very amusing and not scary which I hope continues for a while. They are everywhere, according to him; under the bed, up his nose, in the closet, on the porch, and most recently, in his pants. Just thought I'd share this new development.