Emmett's busy life

Emmett continues to be an adorable, intelligent, giving child and I can't believe I had any part in producing him. Here's what we've been up to:

Friday: We hung out in the park most of the day with a neighbor Karin. Emmett made a friend there named Nicco and his mother and I are going to get together for a playdate. He is in love with his walker again and was very good about sharing. When Mike got home Friday night, we all went to Target to find a toy for Cooper's birthday. We also promised him a truck. We went (very carefully) through every aisle of the toys and he was having a hardtime deciding which toy to get. he finally decided on 8 trucks (in a package) and it seems he likes a plain white one the best. Emmett had a great time hanging out there. He was very interested in the entire store. We got Cooper a Superman cape that makes sounds when you move. (Like if you punch, it makes a "woosh" sound.)

Saturday: We went to a tree planting event in our neighborhood where they planted 70 trees. Emmett was very "into" helping and they even videotapped him for a documentary. He loves to dig and rake leaves. He's very into gardening and "helping". In these pictures, he was working with a little neighborhood girl named Lila. After that, I took him to Cooper's (his cousin) fourth birthday party at Making Music in Media. It was a pirate theme, and he was a little too little to get into the activities. The moms there were very mom-like and I felt drastically out of place. I felt like one of the moms was looking me up and down critically, but they were all basically nice. I probably shouldn't have worn my boots. Anyway, Emmett had a pretty good time. He adores his cousins.


Sunday: We went to church and Emmett gave his Nona a cookie for her birthday. My grandmother, Uncle etc. were there. The problem is, I am always in the bathroom with Emmett. He won't sit through the service at all adn they don't have childcare. It's ok. We came home, Emmett napped, and then Colin and Jessica took him out for 4 hours. (To dinner and the park). We went and picked him up around 9 and he was so happy to see us. But later, he started crying and hitting me which is something he does after I leave him for awhile. Mike and I got a massive amount acomplished while they had him.

Monday: We went to Playgroup in teh morning and Emmett wanted to walk with his walker (and not be in the stroller). This was fine, but he started gettting weird on the way there -- trying to go in the street, getting mad at his walker, demanding to push the stroller instead etc. I ended up forcing him into the stroller and he was flipping out. I was so embarassed. We got to Playgroup and he really played and was sort of interacting with the other kids. I was a real parent there -- talking to the other parents. We went to the park after that and played for a long time and came back and went to bed. Emmett was super hungry last night and ate 4 chicken legs and a piece and a half of pizza. It was insane. Mike took him to Home Depot after that and he came home and requested to sleep in my bed for awhile, so I let him. He kept touching my nose so I would move my head away really fast, and this cracked him up to no end. I love these moments in my bed because he is very snuggly. Finally, I told him it was time for bed and he happily went into his crib.

Emmett, Old Navy, McDonalds and his quirks

This week has been slow for us, since we got back from the cruise. But yesterday, we went out.

I took Emmett to Rite Aid to get invitations for his second birthday party and promised him a truck when we got there. He examined the trucks for quite awhile, and went through many choices, putting them back and changing his mind. He started with a tiny copper matchbox car, then moved on to this "car transporter" (ugly) with a matchbox car, and ended up with a blue truck. We went up to the counter to pay and he was happily clapping his hands in anticipation of receiving the truck. But then, the truck was broken when we opened it. So we went back and got a different one.

We went to Old Navy and I bought him a ton of stuff on sale for Emmett. He was getting kind of irritated and bored but I gave him a lolipop and that made him feel better. The cutest thing was that I picked this one monster t-shirt from Halloween, and I asked Emmett if he liked it. He had a very strong opinion that he didn't like the shirt. In fact, he said "I don't like it".

I got him a cat flashlight, tons of truck t-shirts, socks and a pair of jeans. When we got out, I took him to McDonalds for his first happy meal ever. It was kind of unexciting and uneventful and all I could think was how unhealthy it was. The fries tasted terrible, and I ended up getting new ones (which also tasted very badly freezer burned).

I brought him home and put him down for Nonnie (which means nap in our house). Before I did, I put him into my bed and pretended to go to sleep with him. He was cracking up, grabbing my nose and pushing my arm etc. etc.

During his nap, I sent out his invitations and tried to get our lives back in order (not done). And when he woke up, he was in a terrible mood. I rocked him for about 1/2 hour and he just laid on me. I gave him peanut butter and jelly and we played a little and he watched some TV while I made dinner.

As usual, dinner was a problem. He doesn't like fish and only ate potatos. But I read something somewhere about not forcing kids to eat what they don't want, so I let it go. He had potatos and bread.

Emmett Observations:

• Falling: Emmett is REALLY into "falling" on the ground dramatically.
• Shows: Emmett does spinning and falling shows when people are around.
• Words: Last night Emmett said "Bye Nana" for good bye Ana, and he never really put a name after the adjective. He also says a ton of other words and walks around saying "momma" a lot of the day. That word describes everything.
• Games: Sometimes we play a game where I'll say "Where's mommy?" and he'll point to "wrong" items and I'll tickle him.
• Toys: He continues to be obsessed with cars and trucks. He also greatly enjoys cleaning up and sweeping the floor.
• People: He LOVES Craig. It's so odd. He just loves him and always wants him to play.
• Food: This is becoming a problem. He doesn't want to eat dinner...ever.
• Sleeping: He still loves sleeping.
• Talking: It's the cutest thing. He says words thta don't mean anything but says them with inflection, shaking his head as he describes things he doesn't like and explains things that we don't understand. He kind of sounds like he's speaking Italian. For "more" he says "mas".
• Sensitive: He is very very sensitive and gets his feelings hurt.

The Haircut Story
I took him to get his hair cut the other day, and he was very gentle and quiet. I thought I saw a tear in his eye, as he was sitting there and Anthony and I were chatting away, but I didn't think anything of it. Then all of the sudden, I noticed it again, and I knelt down and said "Emmett, are you ok?" and he put his head into my shoulder and started crying so hard, strange little noises were coming out. He was totally scared. I hugged him and explained that I know it's scary to get your hair cut when you're little, but that it doesn't hurt and that everyone has to do it. That some people think it's fun. He felt better and I promised him a big pile of M&M's at the end of the haircut (this is bad. You're not supposed to use food as a reward). Anthony finished and I let Emmett go over to the big bowl and take a gigantic handful.

Emmett goes on a cruise.

This weekend was our family reunion cruise. 36 members of the P EL I S family got on a boat in Miami and spent 3 days at sea, en route to the Bahamas. Just to quickly talk about my feelings on this: I had a blast, but at the same time, I couldn't stand Nassau because all I could think about was the poor people and how "American" it was.

But Emmett has a great time. I don't know if every mom feels this way, but I swear, everyone loves Emmett -- including strangers.

Of notable events were the following:

Emmett LOVES his cousin Olivia. All he wanted to do was hug her and touch her. He kept requesting to be near her and watching her. This is Olivia:


My parents watched him most of the time and he slept in their cabin. He was really into "falling" off the window and onto the bed.

My sweet little boy.