It’s been awhile since I did a post where I just updated you on some of the things in my life, and thought today would be a perfect day to do one of these. Also, please stick around till the very end, I’m going to be introducing my newest sponsor! 🙂
Tag Archives: update
Happy Thanksgiving & an Update on Emmett?
Since there is no greater time to be grateful than Thanksgiving, I decided that I wanted to share an update on Emmett, since he is one of the top people I am MOST thankful for, day after day.
When I originally started my Dear Emmett series, my goal was to capture everything that I could, while Emmett was an infant, and early toddler. It eventually became a big hit and quite a few people looked forward to those updates. Since he’s turned two, his major milestones have slowed a bit, which doesn’t really give me enough to write about every month – however, I don’t want to forget the developments that he IS hitting. So, I decided to started a semi-regular series to track what Emmett is into every few months or so & to update you on his progress. Plus, I love sharing stories about my little!
Every morning when he wakes up I feel like he is doing something new and different that he hasn’t done before, or something that he has done before but is now better at. He amazes me!
He’s been talking for awhile now, but it continues to develop. Back in Sepetember, Emmett and Seamus were on the phone with his grandparents, he was getting bored, so Seamus told him to look out the window. He did, and a few seconds later he turns around to us, and very seriously says, “Oh my gosh!! This moon!” We laughed so hard!! It was just one of those moments that you couldn’t recreate, even if you wanted to.
On that note, he does say oh my gosh and oh my goodness A LOT! That’s the phrase they must use at day care, or maybe I use it a lot (but I feel like I’m a bit more direct with, oh my god), because everything is an oh my goodness. The other day we were sitting on the couch watching TV And his little car fell between the cushions, he looked up at me with wide eyes and said, “Oh my goodness, Momma. My car felld.” I couldn’t help but grab him and cuddle, because he is just TOO cute!
So, yes, he is speaking mostly in full sentences. We don’t always understand everything he’s trying to say, but eventually we can figure it out. We’ll either ask him to point to what he wants, or he’ll repeat the phrase until we get it. It really doesn’t take that many tries. I am MUCH better at translating Emmett, than Seamus is. I have no idea why that is, though.
Halloween was a lot of fun this year! I talked more about it in my post a few weeks back, but Emmett was Flint Lockwood. It was the perfect costume for him, because he hates putting things on his head, and this didn’t require a head piece, just messy hair. And then Seamus found him a tuxedo t-shirt at Kohl’s, so he wore that with jeans and the white lab coat we got him.
We got out to trick or treat, but our first house pretty much brought an end to the fun. When they brought the candy out for Emmett, their dog snuck out, too. Very nice dog, he was just interested in sniffing us and Emmett, but since Emmett isn’t often around dogs, he got startled and very upset. We calmed him down, but that was pretty much it, every house after that he would get scared and say no doggie, no doggie. After about 6 houses or so, I asked if he wanted to go home, he said yes, so we called it a night. No big deal! It was his first Halloween out, there will be plenty more!
Oh man! He is SO into cars and trucks right now and has been for quite some time. It started with trains, and has now progressed into cars and trucks. He has SO many matchbox cars for a 2 year old (don’t worry he’s never left alone with them, because of the small parts). He loves holding them, looking at them and racing them around his track (that’s meant for trains, but works for cars).
I don’t mind him being into matchbox cars, because they’re a pretty cheap prize for him. Lately Wegmans has been having them for 99 cents, so we’ll grab a couple to keep on hand. I’m thinking, if he sticks with the cars, it will be a great reward when it comes to potty training. Which will have to come eventually, but I’m in no rush! We’ll do it when E’s ready.
Emmett’s been going in phases with his night time routine. We always do bath, lotion, PJs, book, bed. But every so often, Emmett will switch and not want a book, and just want his bed. I was really surprised when this started happening because he has always been a cuddler. But, his likes and desires so going to change frequently. An example of this, is that 2 weeks later, he was done going right to bed, but was ready to read again.
Oh yeah! And with his bed time routine, we used to do a cup of milk while we cuddled and read books. I was beginning to worry that he’d never give that crutch up, and I was going to start researching ways to wean from a night time bottle (he wasn’t sleeping with it, just having it before bed). When, low and behold, he didn’t want it any more and hasn’t since.
This kid amazes me with his ability to just wean himself from things. He knows what he does and does not want. It started with breastfeeding, he had no desire to nurse after 14 months. I offered him my boob on a couple different occasions and he whined and pushed away, so we just stopped. Now with his milk at bed time, it was the same thing. It is because of these two situations, that I don’t worry whether he’ll ever give up his binky, or whether he’ll ever be potty trained. He’ll tell me when he’s ready. I trust him.
We have begun letting him watch a bit more TV in the evenings, but ONLY educational. His current favorite is Team UmiZoomi, if you don’t know what it is, it’s a Nickelodian cartoon, with these 2 kids and 1 robot that go around “behind the scenes” and fix things that aren’t working or are causing problems. It’s super cute!! I thought it would be a little advanced for him, but he gets it, based on his answering of their questions that they ask. Previous favorites have been Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Handy Manny, Bob the Builder and Chuck. I would say that Chuck is probably the least educational out of all of them, but he just loves trucks SO much, so we let him watch it on occasion.
So, I’ve obviously never had another child, so I have nothing to compare it to, but Emmett is really smart! He knows all of his colors and can recognized them, he knows most of his shapes and is pretty good at naming them, and is slowly learning his numbers. He’s great at counting when you do it along with him, when he does it alone, he tends to start around 3 and count up. Either way, I was very impressed when I realized he could do this. He also can recognize the letter “E,” and knows it is the first letter of his name, and can also recognized M, for momma, G for grandma and D for daddy, about 80% of the time
Oh! And his memory is exploding! He is beginning to remember things you tell him in the beginning of the day, or even days before. For instance, we went to Trader Joe’s and they gave him stickers, now, every time we go he knows to ask for stickers, and we don’t go there that frequently, maybe once every two weeks. I love it! I just need to be MUCH more careful of what he is promised. haha
WOW! This is long!! I’m going to go ahead and publish anyway, this post is partially to provide my readers with an update on the person that was the inspiration for this blog, but also as a way to remember everything that is going on with him. He’ll love having this later in life and I look forward to reminiscing with him. 🙂
If you’re interested in reading all of the Dear Emmett posts, just click on HERE!
I also want to wish all of my readers a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope that you ALL have an amazing day and enjoy being surrounding by those that love you most.
Your turn!
What are some of your favorite memories of your two year old child??
How do you celebrate Thanksgiving?
Share in the comments below!
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2014 Intentions – 3 Month Update
My New Year’s Intentions – Update
Can you believe that it’s April already? That the first quarter of the year has sped us by? Me either!
Since it is April, I should probably update my 2014 intentions, and share what I’ve done in regards to them (or not done). I want to be honest, though. I haven’t looked at my actual intentions since the beginning of February, so my guess is that I haven’t met or accomplished that much in regards to them. I slacked big time in early February, and then March was spent packing and then moving.
Without Further Ado – My 2014 Intentions Update:
Grow My Blog – My very first goal was to get myself a notebook, or find a new favorite app to keep track of blog ideas as they hit me. Because they literally come at the craziest of times and I was finding that I had nowhere to track them. Update: I went ahead and got myself a moleskine notebook that I keep tucked away in my purse at all times. I use on an almost daily basis, throwing down a have thought out idea, so that I don’t lose it when I have time to actually sit down and create. I love having it, and will forever be keeping a notebook in my purse until the end of time. J
I also wanted to dedicate 30 minutes a day to writing. Update: I was doing really well with this for the first few weeks of the year, then I started getting lazy, then we moved and now I need to stop with the excuses and “Just Do It!” When I was consistently forcing myself to write for 30 minutes, I loved the content I was coming up with. The whole point of those 30 minutes was meant to truly just focus on the words flowing out of my head. No grammar checks, or other edits, and no searching for photos.
Stop being obsessed with my numbers – the number of unique views, pages views, clicks, etc. Update: Still obsessed. I just can’t help myself! Upon opening my personal laptop, the first site I go to is google analytics. I am constantly trying to increase my readership and I just don’t know how to do that without knowing my numbers. Maybe I should stop caring about my numbers?
Create time management – Update: I’ve been working diligently on this one. I now have a blog checklist that I use on an almost daily basis, which helps me stay on task with the blog. And I’ve managed to also ensure my other household responsibilities are maintained. It feels good to have a strong handle on life. I still need to squeeze in working out, though (see below).
Take My Health Seriously – I stated that I wanted to lose weight and be healthy for Emmett and any future children. Update: I’m still really struggling with this; in fact I’ve blogged a lot about it. Sharing my admission to Binge Eating Disorder, and the struggles I face while having BED. Every attempt I make at getting healthy is thwarted by my obsession with greasy fast food. I joined Genetix, and then never followed-thru, which is most likely because I’m afraid of the effort that is needed to lose weight. The good thing is that my webpage, on their site still exists, maybe they’re willing to still work with me, despite three months passing without any contact.
Focus on ME – I decided that I wanted to focus more on what I think of myself, and shut-out the outside voices and opinions. Update: I’m slowly but surely doing better with this. I actually read a fantastic quote the other day, “It is none of your business what others think of you.” This hit me like a punch in the face. BAM! It is so true, and since I read that in February, I have been making every attempt at reminding myself of this when I start feeling insecure, or worrying about whether someone likes me or not. Sometimes the simplest of thoughts, hit the hardest. I am thrilled I came across this quote!
While the first quarter of the year has passed, there are still 3 quarters that remain. This leaves me with plenty of time to work on the goals that I’ve started but stalled out on.
Your turn!
Did you set intentions at the beginning of the year?
If so, how are you doing with accomplishing them? If not, are you thinking of setting some now?
Working on Those Resolutions
We’re almost a month out from January 1st, which means I should have been working on my resolutions for just as long. You can read the details of my resolutions here.
The first one was to be happier. Well I am happy to report that I have been feeling a million times better over the last two weeks. I have to admit that the first couple weeks of the month were rough, there were some dark days in there but things are definitely looking up! I’ve been walking more or trying to do something active every day, in addition to eating better. I truly believe that these are the primary reasons my mood has lifted. The other portion of this is that now that Emmett is 6 months old, I believe my postpartum depression has started to dissipate, which is obviously leading to a happier momma.
My son the sock-topus!
The second was to invest more time in me. As mentioned above things have been going very well for me in this area. I have been trying to walk at least twice a week or do some other form of activity. I’m certainly not perfect nor am I at the level of fitness that I am aiming for, but I’m getting there. I’m realizing that the time I take and dedicate to myself is making me more content with life.
My eating has also been tremendously better. I’ve been eating breakfast at home, bringing my lunch and eating dinner at home, which leads to all healthy choices. I am also so pleased to share that I have lost almost 4 pounds since the beginning of the month. I realize that it isn’t the huge numbers the Biggest Loser contestants are pulling in but all I want is to be a lower number at the end of the month than I am at the start and for my first month, I am receiving that. I couldn’t be happier!
Finally, I resolved to stop mourning the past and I actually started tackling this one today. I took all of Emmett’s newborn and 3 month clothes and put them in a bin, which is now safely placed in the basement for future children. It was difficult and I took some time in the beginning to look at the tiny newborn outfits before packing them away. I really didn’t enjoy doing it but his room is now neater and his drawers are less stuffed which in the end makes my life easier. Time to move on and embrace the beautiful 6 month old I have.
How is everyone else doing with their resolutions?