Updates

Why can't I be better about recording funny stories and sayings from Zane and Emmy? I feel like I forget them so fast and don't ever want to forget. I guess it's just an ongoing goal to keep track of them better. One thing I've been noticing so much lately is just how incredibly different Zane and Emerson are from each other. Maybe that will make them better friends some day. :)

Emerson:

Emmy is 15 months old now and is growing and changing by the second. We call her our "wild animal" because she is just all over the place all the time. She literally NEVER STOPS MOVING AND RUNNING!! My mom calls her a tank because she doesn't walk around things in her way, she just plows right on through, which means lot's of falls, bruises, and cuts. She doesn't usually cry when she falls anymore...it's like she's just gotten used to it. She can climb on everything now, the couch, our bed, chairs, basically anything (yikes!!). She's tough and seriously so strong. She could take Zane in any battle and does most of the time. She tackles him and thinks it's funny. She's also very loud and let's us know without a doubt when she likes or doesn't like something. She can throw one mean temper tantrum.

She loves to play "Duck, Duck, Goose," "Ring Around the Rosies," "Patty Cake," etc. She walks around several times throughout the day and just pats everyone's head, including her own, and says "duck." She knows how to do the motions for lot's of songs too, like "Wheels on the Bus," "If You're Happy and you Know it," etc. She brings us books to read to her and adds sound effects to toys she's playing with. She loves the playground and climbs up the stairs and goes down the slides all by herself. She loves swinging too. She also likes babies now and pretends they are crying, pushes them in the stroller, and pretends they are dancing, etc.

She's talking a lot more now and is getting more words, even though most are still probably hard for other people to understand. She says, "more" and "down" a lot for a lot of different meanings, but certainly gets her point across." :) She has a lot of animal names and sounds, foods, and body parts. She can say "Zane" "Woody" and "Buzz" too along with some other really random words. She also understands us and follows directions super well. She likes to help me put trash in the garbage can, put clothes in the laundry basket, bring me things, find things, etc.

She's starting to get picky about eating a little bit which is such a bummer because until recently, she ate anything. Her favorite thing to eat is probably yogurt - she begs for it day and night. She's been sleeping great. She sleeps from about 8 - 7 most nights and takes a solid afternoon nap. Hallelujah. Finally.

Zane:

Zane is such a big boy now. For one, he is totally potty trained - during the day. Now we just have to work on night time. Yipee! He starts pre-school tomorrow. He'll go two days a week from 9:30 - 1:00 and he's very excited. I'm looking forward to him being engaged and learning while I get to spend some one on one time with little E.

He's doing really good on knowing what letter makes beginning sounds of words. I can give him a word and he'll say the sound and give me the beginning letter. He also knows what sound the letters make if we ask him that way. He knows how to rhyme and does it all the time. He's starting to recognize some words when we're reading too. He can count to 20, but thinks the number "eleventeen" comes after 15 and also after 17.

His memory is just outstanding. He loves reading National Geographic Explorers - magazines that I used in my 2nd grade classroom. I'll read through one once, we'll talk about the pictures, I'll teach him what the vocabulary means, etc. and then a few days later he can repeat almost all of the information back to me or will "teach" or "read" it to someone else. He also memorizes books. He knows the title of almost every book we own and can read parts (or more) of most of them. He knows a ton of songs, ours and his, and sings all day.

He imagines, makes up stories, and plays with (and talks for) his people and stuffed animals most of his days. He tells remarkable stories now, and adds in sayings like, "I couldn't believe my eyes!" and "They were so upset, they just didn't know what to do." He likes coloring, playing outside, and play-doh, etc. but stories and imagination always trump everything.

Two of his favorite games are "The Giant" where he runs and hides from Giant. Sometimes the giant is nice and other times he's mean...it just depends. His other game is "Zurg" where he pretends he's Buzz Lightyear and Zurg (Dad) is chasing him.

He's going through a phase of really bullying Emerson, and only Emmy. He's so sweet and gentle with any other baby or younger kid, but he's been downright mean to Emmy. We started a star chart today to try to reward him when he does something nice for her or treats her well. 5 stars equal a "prize." It worked pretty well, but still not that well. Right when we started it, right after I explained it to him, he just kept giving Emerson hugs and looking at me for approval. We were cracking up. Later when I saw him resist grabbing a toy back from Emmy, I told him good job and that he could pick a sticker, but he told me, "Actually, I tried to take it out of her hands, but I just couldn't get it." I wish that innocent honesty would last forever.

He was helping me take care of our little cousin the other day and when Kalen started crying, Zane asked him, "Why are you crying, Little Mister? What do you need? Food? A nap? Your Mommy?" What a helper.

His pretend phone calls and text messages have really expanded. Now he tells me he has a lot of work to do and needs to make some calls, so he sits by himself and very seriously calls or texts people. Yesterday he told someone, "Just turn right on I-25, then left, then you'll be there."

He likes to tell me now, when I ask him to stop something or tell him no, "That makes my feelings hurt, Mommy. You need to say sorry."

He's starting to have nicknames for people (just like Zack). In New Orleans, he had one kid Brad, who every time he saw him he said, "There's my guy!" He also had another guy who he asked, "Where's my buddy?" He asks about people by name a lot - just randomly wants to know where they are and what they're up to.

He's been afraid of the dark, so we've let him go to bed holding a flash light and he learned how to read books with his flashlight before bed. Them he just tucks himself in and goes to sleep. So cute.