may

Mom, Emily, and Sarah finally get a chance to have a playdate with Miss Jennifer, Kaeli, and Cameron! Kaeli is a Purple Coyote on Tues/Thurs and she had Emily have become friends this year even though Kaeli is 18 months younger! Em and Kaeli drew with markers, explored Kaeli's room, and played tag all throughout the basement. They were having such a good time that I left Em there while I took Sarah to Fisher, then came back and had lunch before taking Emily to Fisher too! 5/5

Somehow the ViewMaster made it to the car without the picture cards. Em is looking at it anyway, and I tell her we will have to find the cards so they can use them. Em says, "No--we like to use our imaginations." 5/8

Em is getting dressed to go out in the snow (?) today and she cheers when she sees her favorite "hockey" mittens. She asks, "When I grow up, can I keep these just for a remembering?" Her scrapbooking, packrat mother says, "Yes!" 5/10

Emily makes sure I have a wonderful Mother's Day. She and Daddy let me sleep in this morning, then she helps get ready a pancake breakfast in bed! When I go downstairs, I see a Mother's Day poster that Emily and Christine worked on together. Emily has a gift for me, too: at school they have worked on a "cookbook" for all the moms. The teachers asked each kid what they liked to make with their mothers and how did they do it. Emily chose chocolate chip cookies and said, "You put the chocolate chips in a bowl, cookie batter, then we cook it in the oven for thirty minutes, then I play while it is cooking. We let them cool, then we get to taste just one!" 5/11

This one is for Grammy! We go out to dinner tonight for Mother's Day, and while we are sitting there, the lights get turned down. Emily tells Daddy, "Now we're 'dining!'" 5/11

Emily's school sheet said, "With just a little encouragement, Emily is playing more in the dramatic play area and the block area. She had fun building buildings and pretending to be in a Mexican restaurant. I had Emily be Juju's special friend on the playground. Juju has been feeling shy about being outside with the other children. Emily has been a big help." 5/12

Em, on dictating a letter to me to send to Grace: "It's like talking on the phone!" 5/15

Em, on counting to 100: "It's like counting 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, except the numbers get bigger." 5/16

We all had a great time at Daddy's "Finished with THE PROJECT" party. Emily spent almost the whole evening playing bocce with the various teams. She got to throw the palina, the little white ball that the other balls are aimed at, each round. She also played with the other kids, all of whom were younger than she! She especially liked having 10-mo-old Ryan hold her fingers while she tried to walk. She stayed up late with no whining and fussing, and finally was ready to stop running around and cuddle on my lap with a blanket and little pillow. When I kept "talking too loud" and "bumping my knees," though, she just lay out her blanket and pillow on the concrete patio and fell asleep there!! She woke up right at 7 the next morning, but did fall asleep around 5 in the afternoon while she and Daddy were having a quiet time on the big bed. 5/17

Em, on what the Tooth Fairy does with the teeth she collects: "Maybe with her magic wand she turns the teeth into batteries, for her light up wand!" 5/19