Emma was tagged!!

1. At her two year check-up, Emma was 32 inches tall (95th percentile), weighed 25 pounds 12 ounces (38th percentile), was right on track with her physical skills- except for jumping, and was almost a full year ahead in her vocabulary skills- except that she needs some work mastering pro-nouns still. In other words, she is tall and skinny, perfectly healthy, and smart as a whip! The doctor was really impressed with her language skills, especially her sentence construction. He was even more impressed when we told him that we rarely coach her repetetively on words or sentences. He said her use of mimicking is really accurate and advanced- that's my girl!! 2. Emma has two loves in her life, and they usually come together when she gets to visit Grandma Jones's house. Puppies and bubbles. I don't like her to watch too much tv, and we don't let her blow bubbles in the house, because we don't want the sticky soap all over the carpet. This means that when she gets to watch puppy movies and blow bubbles to her little heart's content at Grandma's house, it really is special and exciting- which is how Grandma's house is supposed to be, right?. Whenever Emma sees Grandma Jones, she starts smiling and clapping and yelling, "Puppies!!! Bubbles!!"

3. Emma has been going to nursery willingly and even happily for the last few months, which has been really nice for Ross and me. We have been able to thoroughly enjoy our meetings without her, and the added spiritual boon has been WONDERFUL. As great as this is, we are not very happy with some of the bad habits she is picking up from the other Nursery patrons. She has learned to say, "NO!", and most recently, "But why?" She also learned to throw things when she is mad and to pick her nose, and eat her findings. I think the most frustrating thing for us is that while she is coming home with all of these new habits that we have to try and eradicate, three mothers have thanked me for Emma's good influence on their kids. She has taught them, "Thank you." and "Sorry." NOT a fair trade if you ask me.

4. Emma LOVES the temple. She loves to sing "I Love the See the Temple", and she really enjoys our drives to the temples around here. Ross and I have always enojyed going to the temple grounds to sit around and have meaningful (or not so meaningful sometimes) discussions. This winter, we used to drive there and chat in the car while we waited for Emma to fall asleep. The cutest addition to her temple addiction came when she started calling the little Disney castle icon a temple- so so cute! Whenever we watch a Disney film, she jumps up and down and points at the screen saying, "Tempo! Tempo!" We aren't really sure if we should correct her on this- it does look like a temple- it even has a little flag at the top that looks kind of like Moroni from afar!

5. Emma is a great snuggler! She is a very affectionate child. She loves to cuddle, and gets really jealous if Ross and I are cuddling together without her. It doesn't matter how much fun she is having with her toys- if there is cuddling happening in the house without her- she MUST be a part of it!

6. Lately, Emma and I have been going through a little ritual a few times every day. It goes a little like this. . .
Emma- Mom!
Me- What, Honey?
Emma- Look at Baby, Baby Cue (cute)
Me- Yes, the baby is very cute, and so is my Emma Girl!
Emma- Yeah, Mema (Emma) cue and Baby Sorr (Sara) cue.
Me- That's right- my girls are cute!
Emma- Mom!
Me- Yes?
Emma- Mommy cue!
Me- Yes, Mommy is cute too.
Emma- and Daddy!
Me- Yes, Daddy is VERY cute isn't he!
Emma- Baby and Mema and Mommy and Daddy cue! Cue fammee! (cute family!)
Me- Yes we are a cute family aren't we?
Emma- Yeah!

We do this probably 3 times a day. It is a nice little ego boost for me- my daughter thinks I'm cute!

7. Emma is a Daddy's Girl!! She has that man wrapped around her little finger! They have such a cute relationship- it is really wonderful. Nothing makes Emma happier than when Daddy comes home. He gets lots of loves and kisses, and he really enjoys it! They are so fun together.
8. This last one is a little weird! My mom has given Emma a lot of the little Fisher Price sets that include animals. She has a Nativity, a Little Drummer's Boy Barn, a Noah's Ark, and an ABC Zoo. This means that she has a plethora of little animal figurines. I LOVE this because they are quiet toys that really teach her. Do you know what an Uriel says? Emma does! Anyway, a few months ago, she started this weird thing of lining up little toy armies in random places around the house. We are not sure why- but she loves to do it. We ge really surprised sometimes at the weird places she chooses. Below are some of the toy armies I have caught pictures of.