Emily has started being more fearful. She is afraid of bad dreams and doesn't like to be anywhere in the house alone. Her doctor said that this is fairly common at this age because their imaginations are so much more active now. All of the sudden, things seem more real and possible. He said not to dismiss her fear but not to focus too much on it.
We have always been very careful about what she sees on TV. We quickly found out that even many Disney movies are out for Emily. We went to see the Winnie the Pooh movie and she was fine with it but the previews scared her. She still worries and stresses over the "big bad wolf" episode of Max and Ruby. We know that this too shall pass. She is so afraid of her dreams. I tell her that dreams are her brain telling her stories. They aren't real but they seem real and can be scary. We talk about thinking about happy things so her brain will tell her happy stories. We also pray a lot about her dreams. She is sleeping through the night without waking up most nights. We've had a few nights where she wakes up every few hours. I still lay down with her while she falls asleep and sometimes I end up sleeping in her room if she keeps waking up. Thankfully this hasn't happened much lately. We have started keeping the hallway light on which has helped a great deal. Barney loves to sleep beside Emily's bed. This makes Emily very happy. Sometimes when she wakes up in the middle of the night she comes into our room and says that she reached down and couldn't feel her Barney beside her so she got up.
Emily still loves to talk about anything and everything. She says the funniest things. Last night while on a walk she said, "My body is watering". I guess that is a good description of sweating huh? She is working on knowing when to say , "May I..". Sometimes she'll say, "May you play with me?". It's so cute!
Emily loves to play games, do puzzles, play doctor, play parties, play with Barbies and princesses, play babies, play with play-doh, "play" her keyboard, play restaurant, do art and read books. One of her favorite places to go is the library.
This is "Emily's Cafe". Emily and I shared the chef and waitress jobs.
Emily has a great imagination and loves to play but she likes to play with someone all the time. She is not good at playing independently. We hear "will you play with me" all day long. Because she doesn't nap anymore (unless she is really worn out or sick), we have a "quiet time" everyday and she has to be in her room by herself. She can play, color, read book and she always listens to her kindermusik Cd's. This is so she can have down time and I can have a break but also so she can be "forced" to play on her own. After all, she is an only child. She has to figure it out eventually right?:)
She loves to watch Max and Ruby, Peppa Pig, Team Umizoomi, Bubble Guppies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Miss Spider's Sunnypatch Friends, The Fresh Beat Band, Little Bill and Dora. We don't watch much Dora anymore but she did see the new "Dora and the Explorer Girls" movie on Sunday. She loved it. In this movie Dora is older and Boots only appeared at the end. She spent most of the movie with her girl friends (the explorer girls). I asked Emily which one she liked better regular Dora or older Dora. She said, "Older Dora, she is much cooler." Seriously, where did my little baby go?
Right now Emily will wear whatever I give her to wear. In the last two weeks she will every once in a while tell me she doesn't like something I pick out and she wants something" more pretty". Oh, I fear the tide is getting ready to change on the wardrobe front. I hope it won't change too quickly. I'm not looking forward to that.
Emily knows all her letters and the letter sounds. She can count to and recognize numbers up until 39. She can write her name and can trace her letters and is working on writing them on her own. She does her calendar each day and knows her days and months and the year. I am doing (very slowly) Hooked on Phonics with her in addition to our Zoo Phonics. We just finished the "at" family of words and she can read them and sound them out if she forgets. We have now moved on to "an" words. We do a word a day or every few days depending on what's going on. We are working on cutting with scissors and she is getting better each day. She still opens and clothes her mouth as she cuts...so funny:)
She can hop on one foot and balance on one foot.
When I was teaching pre-k we would have the kids write their name and draw a picture of a person at the beginning of the year. We would have them do it every few months until the end of the year. It is amazing to see how their writing changes and how much more detail a person will have by the end of the year. I had Emily do her name and picture yesterday and will continue to do this every few months until she turns 5. Here is what they look like now. Can't wait to see the progress.
Emily is a really good eater now. This time last year she wouldn't eat much at all. It's so nice to have a child who eats again. Her favorites are: fruit, carrots, cheese, yogurt, pasta, macaroni and cheese, pizza, rice, Japanese food and anything sweet:)
I know this is going to be a big year of change and growth! I hope it doesn't go by too fast.
Our kids share the exact same favorite food list!! Too funny. They would happily eat at the Japanese restaurant everyday- maybe mix it up with a little pizza :)
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