Emma Hadassah 2 Years 6 Months

How do we have a 2 ½ year old?! Emma is such a big girl! She knows it and she will tell you.  This month has been filled with fun Holiday activities and we got to welcome baby Will (as Emma calls him) into the world! Here is more fun information about miss Emma J

Emma still does not understand who Santa is and what it means for you to tell him what you want for Christmas but she was excited to see him (especially his reindeer) and when asked what she wanted for Christmas she responded with “a purple present!”

Emma has enjoyed getting lots of attention from her GiGi and Paps. She greatly enjoys going on dates with them.

Emma got to decorate her first gingerbread house this month.  However, she does not like it when her hands get dirty so she basically ate the candy and then told me where to put it.

We made sugar cookies one morning and Emma discovered how wonderful the dough tastes. I am pretty sure she asked 100xs to have “just one more taste.”

It has been such a joy to see Emma with her little brother. She loves to hold him, kiss him, and give him hugs. She thinks it’s a bit odd that he eats and sleeps all the time but enjoys helping Mark and I with baby Will in any ways she can.

A few days before we went to the hospital we would talk with Emma about how her baby brother was going to be here and that mommies belly would start to go away because baby boy would be out.  When she first came to meet her brother my belly hadn’t gone down much so she said “momma, baby Will is out here…..who is in your tummy now?”  I am happy to share that since being home she comes up and tells us “Baby Will is not in your tummy any more, he is out here and your tummy is going down!”

According to Emma: “Baby Will cannot eat spaghetti because he eats from you momma.” Yes, you are correct sweet girl J

Emma got to hold Will the other day and she told me “momma, you can rub my feet while I hole baby Will or you can just go sit over there…on the couch.”

Since Emma doesn’t totally understand the whole gift thing at Christmas we have been explaining a lot about how it is Jesus’s birthday and how we give gifts because people brought Jesus presents when He was born. We also explain that God gave us His son which is the greatest gift of all and He gave us Jesus because He loves us. So, we give gifts to show we love each other.

Fun Things We Did This Month:

Emma got to see Santa!

We made gingerbread houses for the first time. It was a super fun time with cousins and Gigi.

Emma got to see live reindeer for the first time!

Emma became a big sister this month which has been the sweetest thing to watch.  She has proudly taken on the role of big sister and loves her brother so much.  It has been such a joy to watch them together!

Tot School:

Let’s be real….it’s the Holidays and we just had baby….a scheduled Tot School was not organized but we have still been trying to take advantage of any learning opportunity we have with Emma.

Fun Pictures From This Month:

 

 

 

 

 

Emma Hadassah 2 Years 5 Months

Our baby girl is turning into more of a big girl nowadays! Here are some fun highlights from this month J

-Emma is now using much longer sentences. I am pretty sure she tries to put in as many words as she can…

-Emma can now get up on the potty, get off the potty, and flush all by herself!

-She likes to play a game where she will say “momma, look it’s a bird!” (M) “Oh, a bird?” (E) “Nope, not a bird”, “momma look it’s a cat” (M) “Oh, a cat!” (E) “Nope, not a cat.” This goes on for about 15 mins.

-Emma still loves helping in the kitchen. She has helped her GiGi (Kenzi’s mom) make pumpkin pancakes, cakes, and cinnamon rolls. Her favorite part is mixing J

-Emma ALWAYS has a song in her heart and loves to perform for people. She also makes sure her audience claps for her at the end J

-She has been learning more how to put puzzles together. They are still a little hard for her but she is getting the hang of it.

-She loves to jump on anything and everything, mattresses, pillows, etc.

-Emma is now wearing 5T clothes! 4T fits her perfectly, 5T gives her a little room to grow….hoping these clothes last more than 3 months! #TallGirlProblems

-Emma loves animals! Big or small, she thinks they all want to be her friend.

-Since being in Oklahoma, Emma has been able to spend lots of time with her cousins.  It has been super fun to see her play with them and see all of them use their imagination when playing.

-Emma loves celebrating birthdays. This past week we got to celebrate Kenzi's mother's birthday and one of Kenzi's best friend's birthday. We also had a baby shower for baby boy which we described to Emma as a birthday party for her brother. We said since we don’t know the day he will be born we are having a party for him and we get to open all his presents. She thought that was fun J

-She is still a huge fan of books! She will sit for longer books now which is fun. Her GiGi has made sure she has lots of books from the library to enjoy. 

-She loves to talk to people about her baby brother and will point to my belly so everyone knows where he is.

-We were driving past some cow pastures in Ok and Emma ‘’asked” the cows if they wanted to drink coke or water. According to Emma, they chose coke.

-We ordered Pizza on the phone one day and had it delivered. Emma thought it was super cool and would pretend to call the Pizza guys on her pink phone and then would open the door when they were supposedly here.

-Emma has been a bit spoiled at GiGi and Pap's house. She loves getting in their bed in the evening and watching cartoons. She also gets a few M&Ms from my mom when she goes in there. 

-Emma is obsessed with Christmas Trees! Her face lights up every time she sees one :)

Fun Things We Did This Month:

-We flew to Oklahoma! This was the first time we only needed two long flights. Normally its takes 3-4 flights for us to get to Oklahoma. Emma did awesome on the flights! She slept pretty much all of the first flight.  The second flight she enjoyed watching lots of movies and eating the food, especially the ice cream J

-We have been speaking at a lot of churches since we arrived in OK. At the first church we spoke at, we were all still adjusting to the time difference. After the service, Emma almost fell asleep on the carpet in the foyer.

-Since being in town, we have been to two baby showers, two birthday parties, and about 5 different parks. Emma loves going down the big slides and thinks the climbing walls at the park are pretty cool.

Tot School (Oct.-Nov. 2016):

-We have slacked off a lot with Tot School. With prepping to leave, flying to the States, and a crazy speaking schedule, we have not kept up with our routine. But we are still working on letter recognition, putting puzzles together, sharing toys, and expanding imaginations!

Fun Pictures From This Month:

 

 

 

 

 

Emma Hadassah 2 Years 4 Months

This month has flown by! Emma was on a pretty good schedule this month which made our lives a little easier :) She continues to produce more and more sentences and loves to make us laugh.

-Emma loves to sing and dance! She has started to sing some Swahili songs we sing in church and likes to make up her own songs. Her favorite kind of dance party is when she can climb on the coffee table and dance to Alvin and the Chipmunks.

-Emma has a great memory of people who visit us or that she sees on a daily basis. She will randomly ask where grandma, grandpa, and miss Carolyn are (they all visited at the same time), where Mr. Jim and Mrs. Shawn are, and where Mary (our house help), Martha (language helper) and Joy (co-worker) are :)

-She tries to bargain with us now. For example, if she wants to stay in her bath longer she will say “ok momma, two more minutes” I’ll respond with “no Emma it’s time to get out” she then says “ok momma, one more minutes and Emma will get out.”

-Emma loves to help when we cook! Her favorite thing to do is the mixing.

-Emma calls the town we live in Hudududu (Nyahururu).

-She is a bit fearless. She loves to jump from our coffee table to the couch. The other day she fell twice and hit her head on the couch and table. After a few tears she wanted to get back up and try it again. I admired her desire to keep at it even though she fell and got hurt.

-Emma enjoys clearing the table and carrying dishes to the kitchen.

-Emma will ask when we are going to “Niwobi” to check up on baby brother. She is always concerned about him and ask if he is awake or asleep and likes to put her hands on my belly.

-The other day Emma was on my lap in the car crying because she thought someone sat in her carseat.  All the sudden her baby brother kicked and she smiled and said “Bubba kicked me!!” It made her day and she stopped crying.

-When we told Emma we were going back to America in Nov. one of the first things she said was “and GiGi and Paps will take me for donuts!!” Girl after my own heart :)

-A new favorite phrase of hers is “oh that sounds fun!”

-Emma’s favorite song to sing is “Hakuna Matata.”

-Emma has been watching the Lion King lately and the other day she was scared to go into the kitchen because she said there were hyenas in there. I told her the hyenas can’t get her because Jesus was with her and would protect her. She goes “Oh!” then went in the kitchen and said the ‘hyenas’ “Jesus is with me, go away!”

-At night when it’s time to put on her jammies, Emma likes to strip down and run around the house naked yelled “naked baby buns!”

Fun Things We Did This Month:

-This month we had both pastor appreciation day and bishop appreciation day. Emma enjoyed playing with all the kids and eating her weight in chapatis.

-Took a trip to Nairobi to check up on baby brother! While in Nairobi, we took Emma to play on a new playground. She LOVED it! It took her a little bit to warm up to the big slides and to get the courage to do things on her own but after two hours we had a hard time getting her to leave.  When we were ready to leave Emma did not want to go so I asked if she wanted some ice cream…she wasn’t interested. Next, I asked if she wanted and smoothie and she said “Yes!” and was ready to leave :)

-We have been soaking up the warmer afternoons here. Emma has gotten to play in her little pool almost every day. She really wants to learn how to swim but sadly her pool is only ankle deep. Maybe one day we will have a bigger pool kiddo!

Tot School:

-Tot school was great this month! Emma learned her days of the week and months of the year. I have figured out that if I turn something into a song she will catch on quickly.  We are working on recognizing numbers and letters now. She still loves the art part of tot school. She loves to paint and color and just being creative. 

Pictures from this month:

 

 

 

 

 

Emma Hadassah 2 Years 3 Months

It has been so much fun to watch Emma grow lately. Her personality is coming out more and more each day. Here are some fun highlights from this past month. Hope you enjoy :)

Emma has started to say more Swahili words. She doesn’t always know when to say them but it’s cute watching her try. Her favorite words right now are Kuja (come), Karibu (welcome), Asante (thank you), and Tuonane (see you).

Emma LOVES to play in the water. Since the days have been much warmer lately we pulled out her little pool and surprised her one day after nap. She was over the moon excited and now ask to go swimming every day.

Saturdays are dance day! Emma started taking ballet classes in Nakuru last week. At her first class she hung out on the side with me and watched the other kids. Every once in a while she would try and do what the teacher was doing. I think after she gets use to the other kids and the teacher she will be prancing all over the house :)

While out in the village one day, Emma enjoyed chasing the little kids around and pointing out who her mommy and daddy were.

She loves to know peoples full names. She can say her full name and on occasion calls me, Kenzi and her dad, Mark. She also knows her baby brothers full name.

Emma woke up one morning yelling “Mark! Mark!” It was cute.

She loves airplanes and points them out in the sky when she sees them or hears them.

Emma gets super excited when we have visitors over to stay or just for dinner. She will say “they are coming to see me!”

When Mark goes outside to feed the dogs, Emma runs to her room, climbs on her bed, and looks out her window. She then yells at the pups to come see her.

One Sunday, we met with our married couple fellowship group from church at Lake Olbolosat. Emma got to take her first boat ride! She was so excited about it! We went out looking for Hippos, didn't see any, but Emma had a blast on the boat!

While at the lake, Emma would hold her friend Joy like a baby.

We took Emma out to try frozen yogurt for the first time. She especially enjoyed adding all the toppings!

Fun Things We Did This Month:

This month some TMS staff came to visit us! Emma loved having Mrs. Shawn here. They would read together, play with her toys, and do puzzles. Emma was in heaven. It was super sweet. She also got to go and get ice cream with Mr. Jim!

We went to Nairobi to check up on baby brother earlier this month. While in town we got to visit with our friends Sonia and Sonji. Emma loves playing at their house because they have blocks and a monkey doll named Sally who she gets to play with.

We visited Home of the Good Shephard (children’s home with GGFAN-our Kenyan partner organization) one evening and the kids all sang for us. Emma thought it was the coolest thing and kept trying to sing with them and do the hand motions too.

Tot School:

We are back in a routine with Tot School! Emma and I both have been loving it this month! We are in our third week and she already has learned her months of the year, can tell you what month we are in, can say the sounds for the letters A, B, and C, and knows her bible verse. She has loved the art projects and singing all the songs for the month. Our theme is Apples and soon we will be making an apple pie together :)

We have been working on counting to 20 and recognizing alphabet letters. It is so much fun to watch her learn! 

*Sorry for no Tot School pics this month! We were having too much fun to grab the camera :)

 

 

 

 

 

Emma Hadassah 2 Years 2 Months

This month has been super fun as Mark’s parents and our friend Carolyn were in town. Emma LOVED having them around to play with her and chase her around the house with the broom. Here are some fun things from this month.

Emma talked her grandpa into coloring in her big box with her. She very much enjoyed doing this every evening while the rest of us made dinner.

We have been working on recognizing the alphabet while we sing it. I made a felt ABC board for Emma and she has really enjoyed it :)

Emma is forming more and more sentences. Her new favorite phrase: “There, that’s perfect!” And when she eats will say “Mmm, that’s good!”

While watching the Olympics Emma would look for the Jesus statue and say “Where did Jesus go?” When they showed it again she would say “There He is! I found Him! He’s Alive!”

Emma likes to put her hands on my belly and say ‘hello bubba!’ I love you!” and kiss it :)

She loves to take pictures of us with our phones and her play phone.  The majority of the pictures are of our feet, the ceiling, our hand….you get the idea.

She loves singing. Most of her songs are about what she sees while she is singing.

Emma is getting pickier about what she wants to eat. However, if there is ketchup she can dip her food in she will most likely eat it.

Her imagination is growing every day. She likes to ‘make’ us chocolate cake and tea and likes to pretend we are sleeping so she can cover us with blankets.

She is scared of my blow dryer and will close our bedroom door, the hall door, and her tot school room door (our house has a million doors) so she can’t hear it.

Fun Things We Did This Month:

We got to pick Mark’s parents up at the airport in Nairobi with a fun sign Emma decorated. We got to hang out with them for two weeks. Emma LOVED having them hear and playing with them.

We had our 20 week ultrasound and found out Emma will have a baby BROTHER in Dec!!

We had some friends over for a cooking day! Emma and her friend Mary enjoyed eating the cinnamon rolls.

We visited an orphanage and school and did medical checkups on the kids. Emma enjoyed helping Grandma and passing out the suckers at the end.

Tot School July/Aug:

This month we have been working on singing the alphabet and seeing the letters at the same time. We have also been working on color recognition. Emma is doing a lot better with her colors and 8 times out of 10 gets it right. We have started to count to 20. She generally tells us ‘no’ and makes us start back at 1. We did a fun science experiment this month where we got to watch yellow and blue make green! Emma loves to draw circles and loves to count just about anything. However, she usually only counts to 5.