The Mini Mom

I have been meaning to post about our little Emerson being a mini mom.  Its fun watching Emerson take care of Violet, the purple puppy dog plush that sings and talks to her.  Violet is Emerson's best friend and goes everywhere with her.  We gave her a different baby doll in the stroller we got her, but she prefers to push Violet around the house and says things like "Come on Violet" and "Where did Violet go?" when she can't find her.  We don't let her take her in bed because she would want to stay up and play with her but she is used to this and before going upstairs will tell Violet goodnight.  She has also recently been putting Violet in time out.  In a pretty serious voice she will tell Violet that she is in timeout... usually the conversation is something like "Violet in time out, okay? Timeout Violet.  Stay there Violet" as she makes sure she is sitting up on the step.  It is pretty funny and cute.  She has a really good imagination it seems and is always telling us something.  We don't always catch the whole bit, but try to play along.  She is growing up very fast it seems... I can't slow time down and it seems to go by faster every day!  Here are some more pictures of the mini-mom.

Giving one of her dolls a bottle.

It was cute how she copied Daddy.  :)

Emerson always wants me to take pictures of Violet when she sees that I have the camera.  The flash is so bright though that she is squinting in all of them.  :)

This is unrelated, but I liked this picture of her with her pumpkin from the Arboretum.  :)

Here she is with Violet walking in our backyard.  Such a pretty girl... she loves being outside.

Earlier tonight she used a sticker as a bandaid for Violet.  I noticed she put it in the same place the nurse did for her earlier today when she got her 1st flu shot.  I was a little worried she would be really upset, but she calmed down right away after the shot... I was proud of her for not getting too upset.  I guess she was really paying attention to the bandaid though since she was putting one on Violet.  :)

At some point I may post about this whole "Terrible Twos" situation... I don't like that phrase though... I think it is more appropriate to say the Troubling Twos... although that is not good either.  At any rate, little Emerson has definitely entered that phase of childhood.  Along with her active imagination and greater cognitive understanding comes a more challenging personality.  We tell her countless times each day how much we love her, but have really had to get on to her when she acts out.  No one likes to be told not to do something... Emerson's reaction to that right now is to say no back, go limp and collapse to the floor, or to start crying/whaling.  When this happens it is still a little shocking because we think "What?  What just happened???" since usually it is something so small... Where these little blow ups used to happen once a week, they are now daily or more!  :)  It is just a phase... and it isn't all the time.  Most of the time she is still the sweet little angel... only some of the time she gets upset.  And because time is already passing too quickly I will not say I hope this passes quickly... I'll just hope I can continue being patient and consistent with her so she will understand boundaries.  :)

And again unrelated, but since there is no monthly update on Emerson alone, I will comment about one thing she does with me that melts my heart...  When you ask for a hug she will usually say "No Mommy" (which is no joke her favorite phrase right now!), but if I get down close to the ground with her and hold my arms out and say "Pleasssssssseeeeeeeee" she can't resist and comes running and giggling to give me a strong hug.  It is fun doing that... I do it every day.  And she also will asks me to hold her, but she says "Mommy can I hold yah" when she wants me to pick her up... which comes from me asking her if she wants me to hold her.  That always makes me smile too.