Emma takes her shot at Dancing with the Stars

Emma just loves to dance so of course she loves to watch Dancing with the Stars. She does a great job imitating some of the moves and giving it her two years old best shot. Too cut not to capture on film. She did great considering she is fighting the flu and a 101F fever. Usually she is even more enthusiastic.

Here is the longer audition.

Super Emma

This is a cute ritual Emma does each morning. She takes her legs out of her footed pajamas and runs around saying she is Super Emma. It is definitely something that we had to capture on film. The funny thing is on the next turn she lost her diaper but of course I would never publish that so thank God for editing features.

The Big Move; Emma gets a toddler bed! 10.13.09

This Saturday we decided to convert Emma's crib into a toddler bed. Dad with a little help from his dad put it together. Emma was uncertain of it at first but by bedtime she was having fun trying it out. In fact she slept pretty well for the past two nights only waking up once around 4:45 Am or so. Believe me that is an improvement since she has been having sleep issues lately. She stays in bed, does not wonder around the house and is pretty content in it so it went a lot more smoothly than we both anticipated. My baby is no longer in a crib...it makes me a little sad...she is growing up so fast.

Fast asleep or just pretending?

Emma Chows Down Nov 12, 2009

Emma likes chicken but what she really loves is dark meat. I always cut it for her but this time she wanted the leg from her dad and she certainly went for it. Adam though this should be a Kodak Moment so I quickly grabbed the camera and so we have Emma eating her first chicken leg. Go Emma...Dark meat is better!

Emma's New Favorite Book Nov 11, 2009

Emma has recently really started to like the counting book "1 to 10".
She also loves "Kaczka Dziwaczka" which translates to "The Odd Duck" and "Krolowa Sniegu" which translates to "The Snow Queen". Of course she adds to her favorites all the time but the most important thing is that she really loves to read and have books read to her.

Here is a picture of her all time favorite "Odrobinka"

It translates to "The Tiny One".

Some More Halloween Pictures. 10.31.09

Here are a couple of Halloween day pictures. Emma was a turtle but everyone thought she was a frog because she spent a lot of time in the stroller and people couldn't see her shell while we were out trick-a-treating.

The turtle walk

Pudgy Turtle

The weather was warm and humid in the mid 60s but it was cloudy and the treat of rain was thick in the air. We went with my friend Ula and her five month old daughter Emilka who was dressed as a flower (one of Emma's past costumes). Of course Emma was much older when she wore it but then again she is short like her mama...
Turtles love their mom

The turtle has a dad!

We collected a lot of candy but we were the only house in our neighborhood who gave out full sized candy bars...I guess the recession hit everyone although we certainly did not have a lack of trick-a-treaters. Dad stayed home to give out candy; he gave away more than 130 candy bars! We got caught in the rain so we had to cut our trip short. Emma still got lots of candy most of which we hid from her. Trust me too much sugar and Emma do not mix well.

Park, Sushi, and mystery solved?

It was a busy Monday for us all. I am leaving for a conference bright and early and had to get a rental car. Since we only have one car, we needed to have our car at home so Adam can drop Emma off to daycare tomorrow. My sister Agnes picked us up this morning at around 9 AM. She dropped her daughter Ashley off late since Cheshire Academy is having a swine flu outbreak. The sick kids are quarantined and the rest of them are starting classes an hour late so that they can get more sleep and hopefully this helps prevent more flu outbreaks. So we dropped Emma off at daycare and Agnes dropped me off. At around 4 PM Agnes picked Emma up from daycare with Ashley and they took her to Hubbart park where Jaime's two boys A.J and Alex were also playing with their uncle. So she had a great time running around with Ashley and the boys. Later she tried to drop Emma off at my house but I locked them out accidentally by locking the door from the garage since I left from the front door. Since I was just leaving work, we decided to meet for Sushi. Adam joined us shortly thereafter. We had fun eating sushi although all Emma ate was 1 piece of Salmon sashimi which she usually loves and some Miso soup. Didn't have much of an appetite I guess. She did eat three small sandwiches when we got home though. Agnes also got her this Dora doll and blanket. Emma of course loves it- it is one of her favorite cartoons (see people I do let her watch TV even if it's only on weekends!)

After we got home, we gave Emma a bath. I always brush her teeth while she is still in the tub since it makes it easier. I can threaten her that it is time to get out of the tub is she is reluctant to open her mouth. In doing so I noticed the place where her molars are supposed to be we see a white bump but no teeth yet. Since this is a telltale sign they are coming we checked out the top of her mouth and sure enough her left molar is already in and the right one is starting to break through. Maybe this is why she has been up crying at night! The poor thing is probably in pain but didn't know how to tell us because she is probably feeling a lot of pressure and doesn't know quite what it is...

Enjoying the last of the warm weather this year!

Sunday was a beautiful day in the 60F and sunny and warm and no wind! We took full advantage of it of course and tackled the yard. Mommy and Emma raked the front yard, weeded and cut spend flowers in all the flower beds, and finally ripped out all of the dill in my garden. It was like a green carpet in there. In the meantime, dad tackled the leaves in the back hill (where most of them are) and mowed the lawn, cleaned the lawn mover for winter and put Emma's outdoor toys in the basement for the winter. We only got about 6 hours in before it got dark but still accomplished a great deal. Fertilizer spikes are in but we still need to mulch the roses and perennials, till the garden and tackle the sprinkler system. Hopefully this weekend will be nice so we can finish everything.
As a result of all of this busy work with some playtime mixed in, Emma missed her regular nap time. We ate dinner before 4 PM and got Emma to our bed for a nap. It took some time but she finally fell asleep at 4:40 PM. We tried to wake her up after 7 PM but she was having none of that. So we changed her to her PJs and put her in her crib. She was out in 5 minutes and slept until 4:25 AM and she only woke up because she got cold since we didn't cover her with the comforter because the windows were open during the day so it was warm in her room but overnight the temps greatly dropped and it was cool. After covering her up, she was out again in 5 minutes or less and slept until 5:50 AM. She wouldn't sleep after that but who can blame her she slept a long time. Making up for the last three weeks waking up all the time I guess. We took advantage of Emma going to bed early and watched the movie Australia which is almost 3 hours long. We would never have time to watch that if she didn't go to bed early.
Today at nap at school I figured she would go to sleep late. Wrong she was out by 1:15 PM, her usual time, and they had to wake her up before 4 PM so she could have snack! Hopefully she sleeps tonight because I have to get up real early to drive to New Jersey to present my poster for a conference.

Emma the Artist! Oct 26, 2009

On Monday morning Emma sneaked downstairs while I was getting ready since she joins me in bed at wee hours of 5 AM. Another rough night crying. She was using the Magna Doodle. She showed me the picture she drew. I couldn't believe the detail!
Here is a picture up close.

Emma is very proud of her creation! Great job Emma!

As for her rough sleeping the last couple of weeks, things took a turn for the worst. She is definately not improving. On Monday night it was really bad and I finally made her talk and she pointed to the closet and said "MONSTER". I couldn't believe my ears. I thought this was more of a problem for 4 years old kids not 2! So we have decided to switch gears. I am now staying with her until she falls asleep and go to her as soon as she starts to cry at night. Before we didn't stay with her and let her cry for 5 minutes before we went to her at night and some times not at all. Last night was the first night. She went to sleep quickly, woke up twice at night but fell asleep pretty quickly after we went to her. She then woke up after 5 AM and I told Adam to bring her to bed with me. It took a little time but she fell asleep and slept until 8:15 AM. Tonight took over 45 minutes for her to fall asleep. We shall see if she wakes up.

Emma's First Halloween Party! Oct 25, 2009

I made some Halloween treats- not bad for a first time!

We went to Sean Finn's house for his second annual Halloween bash. Emma was a bit too young to take part in all the games but sure enjoyed the pizza and cupcakes.


We decided to skip the haunted basement since Emma is already having nightmares at night so we don't need any new material for her to dream about...thanks Finn family we had fun.

Saying good-bye to Grandma Oct 21, 2009

Bye Bye Grandma Ella and John!

We had a dinner on Wed to say good-bye to grandma Ella and John. They are moving to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We went to Fratelli's in Wallingford, CT. Aunt Agnes, uncle Edgar and Emma's cousins Ashely, Angel and Alex were also in attendance. We all had a good time and ate too much. Emma really enjoyed the fresh baked bread and ended up eating almost nothing for dinner. We will miss them but not for long since we are all going to see them for Thanksgiving...

Emma uses the decorative flower to decorate her hair

Enjoying the park Oct 10, 2009

We took advantage of the break in bad weather and headed to the park. Emma had a blast going from one thing to the next.

She did however have a complete meltdown when it was time to go home...Ah toddler hood...

Celebrating Uncle Edger's Birthday Oct 9, 2009

Edgar turns 36!

We celebrated uncle Edger's 36th Birthday at the winery in Wallingford, CT. It is really beautiful there. We all had a nice time, although mommy couldn't have any wine since she was still taking medication for her shoulder :(. Emma was great first playing with Sean and then by herself during the party. Mom and dad had time to socialize and have fun. Thanks Emma for being so great at the party. Afterwards, Emma was so great, we left her with her cousin Ashley and joined 5 other couples for a movie. It has been quite a while since we saw a movie, even longer for a night movie, and forever for a premier night of the movie. Wow what an accomplishment! We saw "Couple's Retreat". The movie was quite funny but way over the top in some places.

Cake in the face courtesy of Ashley, his 14 years old daughter.

Just the girls

Emma finally braves the roller slide - Oct 8, 2009

div>There is this playground that we like to frequent in my town. Emma is always brave enough to go on the big kids play scape and use the regular slides but was always too hesitant to go down the roller slide even with mommy. It took a lone trip with dad to get her to do it and Daddy got it on camera!

First the small one at the 2-5 years old play scape

Here is Emma braving the big kid play scape roller slide!

Proud Emma at the bottom!

Animal Love... Sept 15, 2009

Emma has gotten into this new routine where she plays with our cat Vinny every morning. I am not sure who enjoys it more. You can observe their love for each other. She is speaking in Polish and says "Vinny really likes Emma".

Emma's First Zoo Trip - Sept 5, 2009

On Saturday Sept 5th, 2009 we took advantage of Corporate Days at the Bronx Zoo which gives certain corporate employees free zoo admission. We too the 1.5 hour ride down to the Bronx and it was well worth it. Emma really loved the trip a lot. To this day she talks about the animals we saw there and when we read her zoo book, she says Emma saw the giraffe, Emma saw the lion and so on...

Oh what big ears you have....

Emma's favorites were monkeys, all types, especially when they had their babies on their back.

Don't I make a cute Bumble Bee?

Emma and Grandma's First Mini-Golf Game - Aug 30, 2009

On our last day of camping the weather finally improved and we were able to catch a game of mini-golf before we left.

Here is Emma taking an aim even if her club is facing the wrong way...

Here is Emma deciding it's easier to just put the ball in the game rather than hit it!

Let's see what else I can do with this club...Oh yeah ride it!

Emma is too tired to finish the game, the heat and the lack of nap finally wore her out. It is 18 holes after all! She observes how Grandma does.

Emma's final sentiment over the game...

Emma's Second Camping Trip - Aug 27-Aug 30, 2009

On my birthday we decided to go on our second family camping trip to camp Odetah in Connecticut. This is Emma's Second camping trip. Her first was almost a year ago on Labor Day. We were also joined by Emma's grandparents. It was Grandma Jasia's first camping trip ever at the ripe age of 61. They both did great despite the fact that we had heavy rain for most of it. On the really bad day we went to Mystic Aquarium so we were able to enjoy the day. We still cooked our own food, had fires and marshmallows every night. Emma also did a much better job sleeping at night than she did a year ago and she didn't take any naps...

Here is a photo of Emma camping last year.


And here is a couple from this year that are similar. What a change a year makes...

Here are some family photo shots. The first is of Grandpa Antoni and Grandma Janina with Emma, and the second is of our little family.

Here we are enjoying some ice cream time at the lodge after some dancing...only grandpa and mom participated. Dad and grandma refused...I guess they forgot their dancing shoes.

Here we are enjoying the fire.

Grandma gives Emma some knee rides that Emma calls "Hopsa-Hopsa".

Emma gets her groove on in Jamaica

Here are some older videos of Emma during our Jamaica trip.
I finally figured out how to add my digital photo camera videos to YouTube. Who knew Picasa did that for you?

The first video is of Emma dancing the night away during an after dinner show courtesy of Sesame Street at the Beaches Boscobel.




This second video is of Emma showing off her musical talent during an impromptu performance during dinner. I am not sure if you can see it but her shirt actually say "Call My Agent"...

Gardening and poop oh my!

The potty training is not getting any better. Still doing great with number 1. Getting no where with number 2. She still poops in her underwear and even pooped in the bathtub the other day. I guess she would go anywhere besides the toilet! Believe me I tried everything I can think of. She is at least doing much better with the constipation. Going every other day so hopefully this means no more horrifically painful episodes. This should help with the training. She did go #2 in the toilet once and I made this BIG deal out of it. We cheered, clapped, sang, called Daddy, got stickers but unfortunately this did not help her continue to do this. I was sure that once she went at least once this would break her but no. I am still being hopeful it will happen soon.

Yesterday we did some much needed yard work. I have had no time to tend to the garden or weed the flower beds so we had a whole bunch of crab grass, weeds and spent flowers to clear out in addition to trying to get the vegetable garden in a semi-decent state. We removed the old salad mix, the dill, and weeds but the garden still doesn't look that well. We have had so much rain and cool weather followed over this past week and a half with very hot humid weather that our tomato plants are huge and so heavy that they bend the heavy duty tomato cages and bend the bamboo sticks we tie them to. The cucumbers all now balling up due to the hot weather and we also got rid of the yellow ones we didn't have time to pick when they were still good. A lot of our large tomatoes got in-rot do to the wet summer- I hear everyone in CT and surrounding areas is having similar issues. Emma really enjoyed eating the cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes and she had no red blotches from them at all. They are much less acidic than the big tomatoes so that may have been why. She loves eating things from the garden. She even tried to bite into an eggplant! Cucumbers and snow peas are still her favorite though. I think next year we will reduce the amount of vegetables I plant because I don't have time to tend to them and pick them when they are ready and a lot of it ends up not being eaten.

Weekend Update

Adam's cousin Monika came with her husband to visit us this past weekend. It was good to see her since months have past since we last saw each other. She liked the new colors of our kitchen, e. On Saturday, we also made a quick hour stop at our friend's the Finns. It was baby Mia's baptism that day. The party was fun but we only stayed a short while because we had to go put Emma to bed. Emma took a mini-nap before we got home since she refused to take her nap that day despite of being in her crib for over an hour. But she went to bed without any problems. living and play room. On Saturday we just talked, had dinner, and caught up on things. During this time my uncle, my mother's brother, came to visit us unannounced from Rhode Island. I have only seen him twice in my life; my wedding and Emma's baptism. We keep in touch by holiday cards and the like so it was really good to see him and his wife. He showed us pictures from his visit to Poland. I hardly know anyone from my mother's side of the family so it was nice to see who there were even if it was just on pictures. We must go visit my uncle in RI sometime.

This weekend was really hot and humid so on Sunday, we went out to breakfast and then to my friend's Ula's house to have some fun in the pool. It took a bit of coaxing but Emma finally went in and once she did she did not want to come out. We were there from 11 AM to 6 PM and Emma spent most of that time in the pool! She again missed her nap and gave us a really hard time at night. I guess there is a such a thing as being overtired; too tired to sleep. In fact I think I may have slept a good 3 hours. Finally at around 2:30 AM we took her to bed with us but she was still scared. She held my hand, would drift off to sleep, and wake up screaming for mama. I would shush and reassure her I was there and she would drift off again. She did this on and off until 4:30 AM when she finally fell asleep for good as did I. Adam transferred her back to her crib before 6 AM and she slept until 8:15 AM that morning. The next night she woke up twice, once for a half hour and the second time she went right back to sleep. Last night she slept all night long without waking up so I hope she is getting back to normal because we all need our sleep.

The dangers of balloon play!

You know how every young child loves balloons and loves playing with them and you think to yourself "what's the harm, the worse that can happen is that it will pop and scare the child". Yeah I thought the same thing until this weekend when we went to Emilka's baptism. Emma was playing with a regular balloon that was not blown up with helium but by human lungs. The first one she played with popped and it scared her a little but not enough to curb her desire to have another one to play with. After bouncing the balloon back and forth a few time, the balloon fell on the ground and Emma lounged for it and that is when it popped. This time it did more damage than just scare her. She laterally got branded by the balloon. She has a perfectly formed J imprinted in the crook of her arm. It swelled up red and puffy and it must have hurt something awful because after calming down from crying after an ice application, she wanted to go home when the party was still in full swing.



This picture was taken right before bed after most of the swelling has gone down. You will notice the perfectly shaped J. So the next time your child wants to play a balloon just remember that they are not as harmless as they seem.