23 months

Emma is still 1! It is amazing to watch firsthand the growth and development of my little girl. God has surely blessed us. We are thankful that she is healthy and developing well.

She is talking away. So many new words every day I can't write them here. She says new words throughout the day - during meals, while we are reading books, during everyday conversation. She recognizes most of the letters of the alphabet and several numbers too. It is fun to see her interests. She also says 3-4 word phrases/sentences. She got a blister on her ankle and one day after her nap I saw she had picked at it and made it bleed all over her sheet. Now before bed and when she gets up she says "no pick owie". She also is saying words more correctly. Instead of 'feeta" she says something closer to elephant. She has started saying the 'k' sound as in cow and cat. Communication is so awesome!

Emma loves the park. When I ask her what she likes about the park she says "running". She also has taken a liking to slides and playing in the rocks. She isn't too keen on swinging yet. She sometimes likes going on the merry-go-round a little bit. I get quite dizzy though!

She still loves dogs. She is still cautious around most dogs, but has become braver and will go right up to some. Usually the owners are pretty good about knowing their pet and knowing how to handle her with them.

We went to the farm for a day and visited my grandma. She has a cat who came out from hiding but didn't get too near. Emma loved to see it go here and there. It was great visiting Grandma Nina (with a long 'i'). Emma took to saying Nina really well. She still says "Namma" for grandma.

Emma's favorite foods I would say are goldfish crackers, chicken, watermelon, yogurt, most fruits. She will eat pretty much anything - eggs, pizza, hamburgers, frozen veggies, etc. She asks for fresh spinach and lettuce when I am eating it and takes a bite but usually doesn't eat it. Of course she likes cookies really well! She calls anything sweet 'cookie'. She is nursing 1-3 times per day. I can tell it is very important to her emotionally. I am feeling like I want to be done but I don't want to stop too soon before she is ready.

She is learning how to pretend with her baby dolls. She will feed them 'applesauce' or 'beans' with the dolly bowl and spoon. She LOVES babies. Real babies. There is a real baby in the nursery on Sundays at church. When we ask her about the nursery she always says 'baby', 'hi baby' with a squeal. She was almost obsessed for awhile. She has been very gentle with the baby.

She also likes to color and watch us color. Most restaurants give color crayons and a paper menu so that has occupied her for a little bit.

Her hair has grown and grown curly. It is a bit unruly. I'm not a person who loves to spend much time or money on hair or hair products so I might have to learn a bit on what to do with naturally curly hair if it continues. She wears a pink baseball cap "hat" whenever we go outside or to the park. That helps her head not get sunburned. I don't really want to slather sunscreen on her head because her hair is still thin enough for her head to get sunburned. A result of the hat is that nobody can see the unruly hair, but it also causes 'hat hair'. Oh well. She's still cute.

And that is what so many people say when we are shopping, etc. They look at her and say 'she's so cute' or 'aren't you a cutie". It is fun and interesting what people do and say around little ones. Most little ones are cute!

She also has grown taller. I'm not sure how much but she's pretty much in mostly 24 month clothing. Just a month ago she was in 18-24 months. She sleeps well at night and naps for about 2 hours in the afternoon. I still appreciate that she sleeps in until 9 most mornings!

Emma listens pretty well but she also has her own mind which is good and challenging. I will ask her to get her shoes so we can go somewhere. She will get them but then goof off and move her foot when I try to put them on. I then ask her if she wants to go the park. Her: "Yes".  Me: "Then let's get your shoes on". Her: "Yes" and then proceeds to move her foot away again even though we are going somewhere she wants to go. Oh the joy!

If you ask her about the library she will say "big fish". They have an aquarium with fish that she likes to see. We've gone to storytime a few times and it is fun to see her watch the other kids. She hasn't joined in the actions during the songs too much yet. We have checked out mostly board books and that is fun for her to enjoy some new books for awhile. 

Emma loves reading. Not only us reading to her but she likes reading the books to us and to herself. She can't get enough. She is usually carrying 5-10 books at a time from one room to another. One book is about big and little. Each page has 2 of the same type of object - one big, one little. She 'reads' that book to us with great accuracy. She was playing with Blake yesterday and brought him 2 balls. She said "big ball, little ball." And she was right. It is so fun seeing her apply things that she learned in books to things in her everyday life. I have been told by friends that she is a "student". Maybe, but I think most kids her age usually are.

We love her and who she is. We pray that she will be a woman after God's own heart and will fulfill His purpose for her. May He be glorified.