Little Bird

Dear Emma,

I was thinking of you while I took my shower today. I was thinking of how you're my Little Bird – you know, that's what I often call you in my mind. You flit all over the place. Actually, your feet rarely ever both stay on the ground at the same time for more than a few seconds. Sometimes this constant motion bothers me, but you are very agile because of it. You love life and it shows in every single thing you do. Last week you started to fly in the word world. I bought a book for you, and you fell in love. Now you're trying to read everything you see. Did you know, that at this time, a year ago, you didn't even know 5 letters of the alphabet? And of those letters, you didn't even know all of their sounds. I love that I can watch you spread your little wings and soar. There really isn't a way to describe the joy and excitement I feel when I watch my little ones learn how to read.

But it's not just your new discovery of reading that I was thinking about this afternoon. I was thinking about your little phrases and how I love your originality. Like when you ask me for an after school snack by saying, “Can I please have a good afternoon snack?” Or when you would like me to get to you and you want me to know you're happy to wait patiently, you say, “Mommy, when you get in a minute can you...” I was thinking of how you let so many negative things just roll right off of you as if you don't even see or hear or feel them. But I know you must notice some of them – sometimes I don't understand how you can continue on so cheerfully as if those negative thoughts or words never even happened.

My little Blue Bird – that's what you are really. With your bluest blue beautiful eyes. You may have brown hair, but if you ever hold still long enough for someone to SEE your eyes... well, that's all they will see – those dazzling blue eyes with little flecks of ice sparkling in them. The other day you asked me if I liked your smile 'because it's so cute' and you screwed up your face into what you were sure was the loveliest of smiles. I told you I thought your smile was beautiful, but I didn't tell you that I was thinking of your spontaneous smile rather than the posed one you were demonstrating just then. I love how you're so confident of yourself. You know who you are, you love how you are, and you leave it at that and look to see what you can love about someone else. Don't ever lose that, Little Bird.

You're athletic, and I have rarely seen you wear yourself out even though you seem to never stop moving. I think it's actually impossible for you to really hold still. But it's not just your body that is always going. You are always thinking, scheming, planning, organizing, dictating, executing, demonstrating, talking, singing, debating, challenging. Your mind is always going and it's one of the strongest things about you, and you are a very strong little girl. You have a will of iron too. Maybe steel would be a better word choice. You can move mountains if that's what you want. My challenge is channeling that will of yours. But once you've made up your mind, there's no easy swaying of it either, and that can be a good thing too. You never hold a grudge, you are quick to forgive, and you do so unreservedly.

You love to create your outfits, and you have a definite talent for color coordination. New clothes make you bubble with excitement. And you love lotions and perfumes and *gasp* nail polish! I think you like anything sparkly – but so do I, so I can't hold any judgment there. I love that you appreciate other peoples' outfits and say so. I just need to remember that your noticing, probably means you long for others to notice yours too – and say so. Actually, I think that what I love, is how you manage to make everyone you know, feel special and important. You make everyone you meet, feel like they matter - and that, is a special talent.You have figured out a way for each person that you meet, to matter and be important to you.

Well my little bird, tomorrow will be a busy day for us, and I should have gone to bed long ago so I can enjoy it with you. I just wanted to write this before it got pushed away into the back of my mind and forgotten forever. I love you, Emma. I love you from your wispy brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes all the way to the bruises and scabs that cover you from head to toe – tribute to your constant motion. I love you from your stubborn will to your sweet forgiveness. I love that you remind me how much there is to love about everything around me. And maybe tomorrow, I will remember to tell you a little bit of how much you brighten my life!

Love,
~ Mama

"O Happy Day!"

A few weeks ago, on the drive home from school, PC said to me, "Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be a Christian so I can tell people about the Lord Jesus." "PC, if you are saved, you are already a Christian." I told him. "And you can tell people about the Lord Jesus even when you're a kid." "But I want to tell people about the Lord Jesus every day for my work." He explained and then after a minute he asked, "Do you think if I tell a policeman about the Lord Jesus, he would get me?" "You mean, would you be arrested?" I asked. "Yeah." PC answered. I almost laughed, but realized he was very worried about this."No," I told him, "it's not against the law to be a Christian here. Some people won't like to be told about Him, but you won't be arrested for telling people that God loves them."

So, since then one of PC's main projects has been to convince me to take him out to pass out gospel tracts. He's been diligently folding and trimming tracts every chance he gets. When we get 100 finished, I told him, we'd walk through the neighborhoods and hand them out. But his other concern was Emma. Almost every day, he would tell her she needed to get saved. He'd tell her exactly what she needed to do, but she would just agree with him and not make any profession. This has been going on for months and many times, PC would come to me in tears because he was afraid she wouldn't accept his Saviour as her own. Every time, I would tell him to just keep praying for her.

This morning, Emma came up to me and said, "Mommy! I said to the Lord Jesus, 'O, Lord Jesus, can you please wash my sins away? Because I is a sinner. Now I can sing, O Happy Day!" She could barely hold still. "Did you tell PC?" I asked her and she dashed off to tell him the very same thing she'd told me. Now they're all singing, "Oh happy day, oh Happy day! When Jesus washed my sins away!" over and over and over at the tops of their lungs. And it's wonderful!

"Pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
James 5:16

"And they brought unto Him also infants, that He would touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein."
Luke 18:15-17

Standing Fast

I started working on a post this morning, but I'm still not very far into it. So, I thought I'd finish this one instead. It's been sitting in my draft folder since the 26th of January.

Last night at the prayer/reading meeting... this was just before the Sickness-That-Will-Not-End started working its way through our family. Sir had gotten stuck at work that evening and so I ended up going in with the kids alone. As I was juggling them right, left and center I caught a few phrases of the reading meeting and apparently Emma tuned in at the same time.

"And you'll notice, the scripture is, 'Stand fast in the Lord'. It doesn't say, 'Stand fast in the MEETING.' the focus is the Lord."

Just then Emma who was doing her best not to fall off of her chair, leaned over and whispered to me, "Yeah! We is not upposed to stand fast at meeting. We're upposed to SIT on our chairs quietly! Isn't that right, Mommy?"

4 Years Already

"I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk..., I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head."
Ezekiel 16:10-12

Emma got to get her pictures taken on her actual birthday which was a huge hit for her because it meant she got to dress up and go to a store which was almost a present in itself. (She would like to wear gorgeous clothes everywhere we go, but sadly she has a more practical-ish mommy who won't let her.)

I was surprised at how red her dress turned out in the pictures. In real life it's more of a purple burgundy and less of a scarlet burgundy, but I'm not going to complain about something being too red. We went back to the same studio that did Ricka's pictures and to my delight, the same photographer was able to take Emma's pictures as well. She took one look at Emma, and came up with about six stunning pictures in less than three minutes. That always makes it hard to choose when you have to narrow it down to only one or two poses.

But narrow it down, we did, and I ended up ordering a sheet of wallets in two different poses from the package pose. This picture with the white background and the big one in the collage below.

Emma is always busy - usually organizing her siblings in complex plays or playing dress up/quick change act where she appears waltzing past me in a different outfit every 5 minutes. Some days (usually when the older kids are at school), I'll be at my computer and suddenly I'll notice she's on some great story/narrative with Butler as her faithful assistant - him either being the quietly listening audience or (on cue from her, of course) interactive participant. This is when I try to type out as much as I can hear/understand. Here's one I recorded last week:

Emma: Ok, Butler, can you get dat wittle chair?
Butler: Yah.
Emma: Ok, come with me. Hurry up! Clickaly! (quickly, they march to the living room with plasic chairs from the bird room)
Ok, go on that side, it's meeting time. Sit down. I gonna get hats... (she darts off to the bandanna basket)
Butler: I get hah too!
Emma: No. You don't need a hat.
Butler: K.
(they get seated at the coffee table)
Emma(whispering): Butler, pick a song.
(he starts whisper-singing 'Jesus Loves Me')
Emma: No! wait, we have to pray first. (He stops singing, she prays)
Emma: (in a strong preaching voice): A man told Noah to put da animals into da ark.
And da elephants went into da ark first.
Can you hear me?
(aside to Butler)No.
Butler: No!
Emma: And nobody did could unnerstand.
It was very sad. Nobody was laughing.
Butler (sympathetically): Yah.
Emma: Noah was right by da other people.
He was dare and Noah put da animals in da ark.
God made a rainbow and...
(voice change and volumed as to be coming from the back of the congregation)
30.... Chapter 1.
(another voice change - closer to the front)
289!
(normal voice again) Ok!
(and they sing something resembling a Gregorian chant).

And it's time to go get the kids from school... so I should post this before I get distracted again.

Emma's opinion on my outfits.

August 16, 2011

Yesterday:
"Mommy, I'm gonna tell you a pretty secret."
(dramatic pause as she tiptoes to whisper in my ear)
"I love your skirt and your shirt."
I thanked her, gave her a squeeze and as she scampered out of the room, she explained, "...they're vwerry beautiful and I just love them!"

August 1st, 2011

Last week:
Emma: Mommy, do you want me to get your new red shoes?
Me: No, Emma, I already have tennis shoes on, I don't need to wear my new ones.
Emma: I think you should wear your red ones, because if you wear them, you will look nice.
Me: These ones are just fine Emma.
Emma: Because, these shoes.. (she leaned in as if she was revealing something very special) they don't go with your outfit, but if you wear your red ones, they will go with your outfit, and you will look vwerry beautiful. For real.

September 23, 2011

Our little Freckles*

"Mommy! There's a green spider in the bathtub! Do you want to come and see it? Come on, Mommy! It's a green spider and it's MOVING!"

Since this was such an urgent and exciting matter, and Ricka had eaten enough to fall asleep on the job, I put her in her bassinet and followed Emma to the kids bathroom. She did a little dance in excitement as I peered into the bathtub at her latest find. "Can you give it to me, Mommy?! Please, can I have it?" she begged. I scooped the badly maimed grasshopper up and carefully put in in Emma's outstretched palm and then went to find my camera.

Emma slowly followed me, never taking her eyes off her treasure. "Isn't he nice, Mommy? He's soo cute! Don't you think he's cute Mommy?" I assured her he was and took a few pictures of her. Then the rest of the kids came in and Emma proudly showed them her bug.

"Can I hold him?" Dolly asked as she was already trying to get the insect from Emma's shirt sleeve to her own. When Emma realized she was being relieved of her pet, a short scuffle ensued and order was restored once the bug was returned. Dolly tried a different approach, "Can we keep him, Mommy? We can put him in a little cage, and give him grass to eat..." Emma's eyes lit up and suddenly they were best friends on a mission.

("Oh! That is a real one.")

Then PC came by... "Oh! That is a real one. The other ones don't have wings. Let's feed him to the chickens - they would like to eat him!" "No!" both girls screamed in protest and then Dolly remembered that we don't have any chickens. "It's ok, Emma, We don't have any chickens, so he can't do that." After that they all traipsed outside to 'make a house'.

Home sweet home - complete with flowers.


They named him Charles.

*As in Gene Stratton-Porter's book character.

Quotes from today...

So while I'm planting the rest of the tomato plants in the garden, I wonder where the kids are. I'd been hearing something rubbing on the cardboard house that sounded suspiciously like a steak knife. After a quick scan across the yard, I spotted PC in the Little Tykes car (which he was driving while it was tipped on its side "so he could have a side window" or something along those lines).

"PC, where are the other kids?" I called from the back fence.
"They're in the house." he answered without even looking up from what he was doing.
"Both of them?" I asked, wondering if he meant our real house, or the cardboard one on the deck. "Who's in the cardboard house?"
"Emma." PC replied
"What, PC? Emma joined the conversation.
"Emma's in the house with Butler." PC clarified.
"Yeah, Mama, I is in the house with Butler!" Emma called out to me.
"What are you doing? What is that sound?" I asked her.
"Butler and me is coloring the window with our crayons. And he's not crying. He's happy. And he want to throw someting at me, but he didnent. And he didnent pull my hair eider! And I lub you."
"Ok, I'm glad you're being good." I said and went on with my planting.

Then a few seconds later Emma called out to me, "I lub you and I gonna gib you a hug - in just a minute."

I love you too, Emma. :)

"Almost Big" - Emma

Blogging slumps... so easy to fall into and so very hard to get out of! My last post was a month ago and it's not like I haven't had anything to blog about. Sir reminds me often of my ghost posts that haunt my draft folder. But that's what happens when you have to write a 'perfect post'. It doesn't get written and then it's too late to write it, and then you can't remember what you were going to say and it gets left for ever and ever and ever after.

But that's not what I was going to write about today, and if I don't get my act together I'm going to miss getting even one post up in January!

Back in September, on the 22nd, Emma turned 3. I took forever getting her pictures scheduled, and then she went and split her chin open one fine October Sunday (I think it was the 24th), and ended up getting stitches. After another couple weeks for her chin to heal, I finally got her pictures scheduled (for November 20th I believe it was..) and then it snowed all day long the day before her appointment so I cancelled it. By the time I'd rescheduled and we got her pictures taken, it was the very last weekend of November - two whole months later than the ideal plan. But we got them taken and she was not bruised, scratched, cut, or any combination of those possibilities at the time! At times, I am convinced that child is set on destroying herself!

Anyway, Emma wants to be as big as Dolly, and so she's "Almost Big". Whenever another child tells her she can't do something because she's too little, she gets all upset and after finding me, makes sure I still believe that she's 'almost big' despite what other kids say. Being 'almost big' is very important to her.

For her last picture I went with the portrait shot for the package choice. It's the first time I've done that, and I'm not too sure I like it all that much. It just seemed that all the full body shots that were taken that day, just weren't as good if you wanted to get a good look at her face. The day we got her pictures taken, Sir and I hauled a van load of wood that had been posted on Craigslist the night before, and the whole day seemed rushed because of it. I didn't put very much thought into Emma's outfit for getting her pictures taken, and instead of requesting we keep taking full body pictures, I settled for the first one we got that I thought might work. In the end, one of the 'other poses' turned out to capture more of her personality. Below is the package picture. I did get a single full body picture as well, but you have to know her more to see her character from a profile point of view.

"Then said Jesus, I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."
John 10:9

Of course, being unorganized and all, I didn't have a verse picked out that sort of summed her up or that I'd like for her to become more like, so I chose a verse she'd learned for Sunday school earlier in the year. This was the first verse she learned well. Well enough to recite all the way through without any help. She was (and still is) very proud of this accomplishment. Many times since, when she's asked to recite or practice the current memory verse, she'll try getting away with rattling this verse off instead.

Emma is still just as complicated as she ever has been. She loves that her hair is finally starting to grow. When she's self conscious, or trying to charm someone, she'll bounce her curls and tip her head without realizing what she's doing. Not too long ago, Sir told me about part of a conversation he had with her one morning after dropping Dolling off at school. It started out a bit like this:
Emma: Daddy,
Sir: Yes,
Emma: A long time ago, when I was a boy... (she paused, probably because that didn't sound quite right that way)
Sir: When was this?
Emma: A long time ago, when I didn't have long hair... um... (and I never did find out what she was trying to tell Sir, because I was too busy trying to memorize that part of her conversation to blog later.)

She's probably the most bossy of our children, and she has the most opinions (or at least the most outspoken ones). Emma loves to play with Butler, and is very good at keeping the games at a level he can enjoy. She loves to sing, dearly loves to color and she's probably the one I hear "I love you, Mommy" from the most. At least I seem to always be saying, "I love you too." back to her more than the rest. One of these days I'll manage to say it first. Most of her days at home are spent in complete dress up attire, and when she can't be in dress up, she's usually negotiating with me about when she can be. "Mommy, when we get home, can I put dress up on me?" Don't worry, she does wear regular clothes too, because dress up is not allowed at the table at mealtimes.

In her own way, Emma is also the most challenging of my children. She always has her own agenda, and is happy to fit what I've told her to do into it, but usually when she feels it most convenient for herself. We're working on that. She often tell me, "Mommy, I like your baby in your tummy." This has been ever since I took her with me to a prenatal visit and she got to hear the baby's heartbeat. Actually she was terrified at the time and told me later that she thought there was a lion in my tummy and she was scared it was going to eat the baby. And the smile she beams is priceless when you surprise her with a hug or give her an unexpected smile.

Well, it's getting late again, (ok, it's been late for a while) and I need to be getting to bed. Someday I'll actually wake up and want to get up - that still happens doesn't it? Besides, this post is getting more and more sporadic the more I get written.

Below is the full body version of Emma's 3 year old picture. She was trying so hard to be good for her pictures that day... you can see her curled toes where she was concentrating hard in order to stand 'just like the lady told her to'.

I love you, Emma!

Thumbs Up! *

I had great plans for today. You shouldn't do that you know, make great plans. They always get changed. Instead of getting a zillion things done, I spent 3½ hours at the emergency room, took a nap, and made dinner. At least I did get a nap :).

Some days the kids and I drive Sir to the sky train or the bus stop in the mornings. Today we took him to the bus stop and since it's less than a 15 min round trip, we usually eat breakfast when we get home. Only when we got home this morning, Emma closed the sliding door of our van on her hand.

Thankfully, it was just her thumb, and I was able to get the door open almost right away, but the door had completely shut and her little thumb was pretty sore. I couldn't tell if she'd broken anything, and the immediate swelling didn't help matters - especially since she wouldn't let anything touch her thumb if she could help it.

After we got in the house, I threw some wet paper towels in the freezer to chill for a minute, and tried to get Emma to keep something cold on her hand, but she kept taking everything off. I called our doctor's office and asked them if I could just bring her to them to look at (I didn't think there was much that could be done for a thumb injury, much less a toddler's thumb), but they told me whoever saw her would want x-rays, and they recommended I take her to the hospital.

I tossed some bread in the toaster and while the older kids ate their toast, I made babysitting arrangements, nursed Butler and grabbed some snacks and books for my bag in preparation for the ER. The whole while, Emma kept bursting out in crying fits and that in itself reassured me I wasn't overreacting. Emma is my toughest kid. She takes knocks right and left and keeps on going with the best of them. So for her to keep complaining meant that it really hurt a lot.

After I dropped Dolly, PC and Butler off, we headed to the smallest hospital around here. Its usually less crowded than the bigger ones, and you get seen faster. Except today they had a whole waiting room of patients arrive pretty much all at the same time so it took us an hour before we even saw the triage nurse. Then while we were waiting after triage, an inpatient slipped and fell in the main lobby and the ER department had to CALL an ambulance so they could get a stretcher to move the injured patient. I saw him go by later with his head all wrapped up in a huge bloody bandage - he was probably in his 60s or older.

When all of that settled down, we were finally sent down the hall to wait for x-rays. Emma did really well holding still for the pictures and from what I could see, her little thumb bones looked fine. Of course, you have to go back to the ER and wait for the Doctor to read them and tell you that you can go. Emma was pretty good the whole time, and I was really glad that I'd packed the snacks and books. She was the only kid there during our visit, and I think that might have had something to do with all the charmed employees. The triage nurse gave her a coloring book and crayons, the charge nurse gave her a teddy bear, a paramedic gave her a SECOND teddy bear, and the doctor who treated her, gave her a popsicle after he drained the blood that had accumulated under her thumbnail to relieve the pressure. Nobody wanted her to have bad memories of her visit - I just hope she doesn't have too many fond memories, since I can think of a lot of other places that are more convenient for me to have her visit!

Anyway, Emma turned out to be fine. She'll just have a really sore thumb for a few days. By the time we got out of the hospital, I was sure Butler was going to be starving - at least I hoped he was still starving. He wasn't, but he was happy to eat again when we got home. The rest of the day was pretty dull compared to the beginning, but naps, grocery shopping and dinner are never that exciting anyway.

So, my great plans of prep work and packing for our move never happened today, but tomorrow is another day, and I'll need to make the best of it, if we're going to be ready to move in 23 days. Just remind me not to panic. :)


*(perhaps 'Out' would be more appropiate..)

Next month She'll be 2½

Emma came into my room while I was getting dressed this morning.
"Wook! what I dound (found)!" she exclaimed with a big grin. She held up a little doll. "Nice!" I responded before proceeding with my dressing routine. Since I seemed to be busy, she sidled toward my night table where I keep a flashlight, chap stick and water bottle.

But I noticed. And when she started to help herself to my chap stick I immediately told her to put it back. Of course, she thought I was really too busy to deal with her, so she stared right back at me, took the chap stick lid off and began to apply it on her lips. I stopped what I was doing, walked the two steps to where she was, and took the chap stick away from her. "I said, 'Put it back', Emma." She dropped her chin in a scowl and didn't say anything as I put the chap stick back on my nightstand.

I went back to dressing and a few seconds later she said, "Mommy, pease you go away," while longingly looking at my night table. "No, Emma, I'm not going away, although you can go out of my room instead." "But I prithy sthick" she explained as she leaned back onto my bed and looked longingly again at the chap stick. "Then go lie down on your bed and get better." I suggested. Evidently that wasn't very appealing either, so she went out to see what else she could do.

Here are a few other pictures of this little character of mine:

Curls, anyone?


My outfit? Why, I think it's great!


Posing so pretty.

Emma at Two

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments."
Psalm 119:73

To be exact, this is Emma at two years and 7 weeks. I almost got her pictures taken earlier - twice - but had to cancel both times because Emma seems to think she can do anything the older kids can do. She can.... but she usually has some mark to prove it when she's finished.

The little rhyme goes, 'Sugar and Spice and everything nice - that's what little girls are made of'. I would say, Emma has a very healthy dose of 'spice'. Life has never been, and will never be boring with her around. She's a born leader - she'll make sure things happen the way she thinks they should. Usually, she'll manage to make everyone else think it was their idea to start with too.

Emma is very independent - she can do it herself, she does not want to need help and if she does need help, asking for it is one of the last things that crosses her mind. Unlike her sister, Emma is not a people pleaser. She doesn't care if you don't like it. She does - the end. She has very strong opinions, and does not change her mind easily. This does not mean she does not change her mind, just that she won't change her mind until she's fully considered all the options, pros and cons, and has found the solution most favorable to herself.

Re-reading all of the above makes Emma look willful and manipulative - and she is, but she's also very charming, mischievous, and lovable. Her laugh is bubbly and contagious, her sense of humour is priceless, she has an expression for every thought that enters her head, she's smart as a whip and very protective of her own.

It has been quite the adventure watching this little girl grow for the past two years. She's definitely the exception to the rule when it comes to raising kids. I guess, the best way to stay on your toes is to be thrown a curve ball once in a while and I think Emma is ours. But you know, the harder it is to do something, the prouder you are of it. Some of the things we've learned with Emma have been the hardest lessons to master, but they're so worth the end result!

Victory

Sometimes its the little battles that make parenting so trying or rewarding. Well, I guess to be more accurate - usually its the little battles that make parenting so trying or rewarding.

Today was a victory for me. Yes, a small one, but a victory nevertheless. Emma ate her lunch. Yesterday she didn't want her baked potato, sliced ham or green beans that we all had at lunch time. She stalled, and found creative ways to make things 'disappear', she fussed and protested and did not eat her lunch. Even when PC and Dolly were getting ice cream or cake for dessert, she would not swallow her pride and start swallowing her lunch.

So, she had it for supper last night while the rest of us had soup and hot bread. Emma fussed and wailed and pushed her plate away over and over, but would not eat more than the two or three bites I finally fed her. And after over an hour, I took her food away again and she went to bed.

This morning I forgot about the plate in the fridge and gave all the kids a cookie as we rushed out to the car to take Sir to the skytrain station, but I remembered as I was serving up their waffles for breakfast when we got back and exchanged Emma's waffle for her twice rejected former meal. Which she again refused to eat. Yes, she suffered her way through another couple bites, but would not just eat her food preferring rather to fuss and complain and generally resent this new cruel treatment from her mama. She waited for me to get busy doing something else and then abandoned her plate at the table still unfinished.

While the rest of us had cheese sandwiches this afternoon, Emma was faced with her yesterday's lunch again. She had to have been getting hungry, and it was agony for her to watch the rest of us eat one of her favorite foods. So, after much fussing and complaining and weeping and wailing, she tucked in her lip and ate her lunch. Just like that. Then she had a cheese sandwich like the rest of us.

I was so glad she finally ate. If I gave in, I knew the problem would only get worse. Emma is by far our most strong willed child (so far), and though she may be the most challenging to train, I have a feeling that being successful with her will be the most rewarding. As the children's hymn tells us, "Each victory will help you some other to win;" we must keep in mind the theme of that very hymn, "Look ever to Jesus, He will carry you through!"

Fleeting Baby Days

"For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands."
Psalm 92:4

My baby is a little girl now. 18 months old already. Sniff. A little girl who talks in sentences, tries my will to the breaking point in many areas, takes the outside stairs with ease(Dolly was just slightly older, than Emma is, when she fell off the outside stairs), vaults over crib rails and baby gates (our baby gate happens to be blocking the inside stairs), bosses and terrorizes her siblings, can do very amazing things to a computer in under 10 seconds, can get to the top bunk three different ways - using the ladder, climbing up the back, or by pulling herself over the railing after hopping from the top of the rocking chair back, she loves to dance to nearly anything and sings almost all the words to many of the children's hymns.

There is so much more too. Emma has always been my snuggly one - thankfully, she hasn't grown out of that cuddly-ness. I would miss it dreadfully. She is my second lefty - so much for the 7 to 10% chance of left handedness when it comes to our family!, she learns her memory verse right along with the other kids and thankfully, she eats just about anything. Sometimes I get so tired of dinner-time battles. But there are other things too... like how Sir or I have to check on her every three minutes or less every time we put her to bed. Or how it's the thrill of strategizing and manipulating to get a certain spot on the couch, a chair or kitchen counter space. Emma is our calculator - she's littler than everyone else, so she has to figure out how to get them to do what she wants without them realizing it. But on the other hand, she can play by herself for long periods of time which is pretty nice.

I love these pictures of her. Just three days before her scheduled pictures, she tripped over a mattress and crashed into the corner of a dresser. The result was a vertical split and a massive egg on the right side of her forehead. If I'd had butterfly stitches handy that night, I would have used them, but we had to settle with a band-aid. We were not going to wait hours in an ER just to find out that the cut had been open too long for anything other than a band-aid anyway.

So, I had to figure out how to hide the band-aid in her pictures. In the end I settled for the hat - after all, she still doesn't have much hair, so it would add a little change to her appearance than the standard bald feel. Sir said she looks like a little French Paratrooper in the pictures. Below is the extra pose. You can see the band-aid peeking out under her hat.

And I need to go make lunch before my munchkins decide that I'm never going to and start raiding the refrigerator - you can just guess who'd be the mastermind behind the crime!

Being Nice

Scene 1

EMMA sitting on my bed hoping Daddy will let her watch something on his computer.
DOLLY enters and hops up onto the bed beside Emma.

EMMA (speaking sharply)
Dolly! No! GO A-WAY!!!

SIR
Emma, you be nice.

EMMA (in a much softer tone)
Pease?, GO A-way!


Let's just say, I don't think she's quite grasped the concept of BEING nice.

Emma at One Year.

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

And now that Emma turned 1 year old three months ago, I'm finally getting her picture posted. At least I had it taken reasonably close to her actual birthday (I think I was a week and a half late this time). Anyway, today Emma is 15 months old.

She is quite the character - assessing people and situations very seriously for, perhaps not 'lengthy' amounts of time but, at least longer than I'd expect someone her age to do. I can always tell if some stranger behind me is trying to get her to smile because suddenly her eyebrows are closely knit and perched on the bridge of her nose. At a glance it looks like she's glaring multitudes of evil thoughts at some poor victim, but if she thinks they're ok, she'll instantly switch and give them the most charming smile. Or she'll release the glare, and then do her best to keep herself from smiling and that's almost as amusing as the 'eyebrow' look.

Emma can say a lot of words more clearly and accurately than PC can, but her vocabulary is still far behind his. Among the words that she uses, here are a few of her favorites: Owie, Hehwoah (hello), Mom-Mee!, Mama, Pease!, NaOh!, Nana, thAydeh (thank you), DaDee, dThat, Ohwuvh (Olive), yes, hi-EE, up, dow (down), bay-bee, bah! (bad), back, cug-el (cuddle), joo (juice), deh (drink), purble (purple), moruh!, hat, bonk and MINE! There are a lot more, but I'm having trouble listing them here AND keeping the peace in the living room.

Other than that, well, Emma is by far my most cuddly/snugly one. I love it when she comes up to me and just hugs my legs or if I'm sitting, she'll start sucking her thumb and put her head in my lap. When I pick her up, she almost always tucks her arms down in front of her so that they're wedged between her body and mine, and gives the most intense no-arm hug as she snuggles down as close as she can get. I'm doing a poor job describing this baby love, but it melts my heart every single time, and I love it! As far as quirks go - well, she's a thumb sucker, she is very happy to play alone, but interacts just as well with the other children, she LOVES to dance, and will start swaying, spinning or tipping from side to side within three seconds of the opening note. Another favorite activity - brushing her teeth BY HERSELF. She also does a great job playing 'lion' and has the most ferocious growl roar that she emits as she persues her prey at high speeds on her hands and feet.

She loves the cats and dog, and will spend lengths of time just petting them, or snuggling with them. Her nicknames include, Yum-yum, manna, and most often - Baby. Oh, and her favorite foods are: Crayons, sour cream, crayons, cheese, grapes, pomegranates, juice of any type, cheese, crayons, salad dressing, avocados, tomatoes, cheese, olives and crayons. Did I forget the crayons?

And now I must restore order to the ranks.