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!