Nelson Family Blog: Emma's 3rd Birthday

Things have been pretty crazy and busy in the Nelson household lately. First of all, my little sweetie, Emma, turned 3 on Monday, How in the world did that happen?!

Emma is at such a fun age right now, and she can say just some of the funniest things. She knows all of her letters and can recognize them all. Most of my t-shirts have words on them, and she loves pointing to letters and asking me what they are. So, of course, I say the wrong letter, and Emma giggles, says "No mommy" and then tells me the right letter. This usually happens at least a couple times a night.

Emma also loves to sing. She will just break into song, and that little girl can sing with more passion than you would think imaginable. Her usual rotation of songs includes, Let it Go from Frozen, Doc McStuffins Theme Songs, I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, If your happy and you know it, Old McDonald had a farm, Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty from Big Bang Theory, and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. She really loves singing, and then begs for mom and dad to join in, but sometimes she scolds us to stop singing as well.

One of Emma's favorite things is to play outside. She is such a summer baby. She can spend hours with a little kiddie pool and some water toys. She also loves digging around in her sandbox, sidewalk chalk, riding her bikes, and just spending time exploring outside.

Emma is becoming quite the negotiator these days as well. Today, she tried to convince me (after I already told her she couldn't have any M&Ms) that her knee hurt and I needed to make it feel better for her. When I asked her what I could do to make it feel better, she said to put M&Ms in her mouth. Haha. She cracks me up.

Overall, Emma is usually pretty well-behaved and well-mannered. We have worked hard to teach her to say "please" and "thank you". She does a pretty good job of listening to mom and dad, but like any toddler, she can throw her fits at times. She doesn't like to be told "no". Also, if it were up to her, she would eat strictly goldfish, M&Ms, fruit snacks, chocolate, and cheese. So, when we make her eat something like fruit or veggies, we are the most terrible people on the face of the earth.

Bedtime is getting easier with Emma. She doesn't usually fight it too bad. Our routine is a bath, one episode of Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, or My Little Pony, go potty, brush teeth, read two books, and then it's lights out. I will usually lay with Emma for about 5 minutes, and then I tell her goodnight, and leave the room, and she falls asleep on her own. It is heavenly. And she sleeps all night! Yay!! Got one sleeping, now just need to work on the little man...

We are still working on potty training. Emma has been doing really great for the most part, only pull-ups overnight and underwear the rest of the time. The last couple weeks Emma has been having more accidents than normal, and I'm not exactly sure why. She is moving rooms at daycare soon, and they are transitioning her, so that may be some of it. We also have stopped making such a big deal out of it when she goes potty, so we are trying to go back to rewarding her a little more. Oh, the joys of potty training.

So, that's pretty much Emma in a nutshell. She loves to give hugs and kisses, even to Elliott. She also loves going shopping or on a car ride with mom or dad. She is very adventurous and social, she will say hi to just about anyone.

For Emma's birthday, we ended up taking her to Chuck E Cheese after work. We met Jim, Barb, and Jeff there ate some pizza (which was nasty!) and watched Emma have a blast playing games and riding the rides. Luckily, it was a Monday night, so it was not very busy. Emma basically had her choice of any ride or any game all evening. She really enjoyed herself. Grandma Barb and Grandpa Jim also spoiled her with some birthday presents to open. She was in heaven.

Elliott also enjoyed the experience, and stayed awake for more of the time. He watched the lights, rode a ride with Emma, ate some carrots, drank some milk, and then passed out for a little while. He did really well.

So, my little girl is somehow 3 already, time needs to try and slow down a little. I'm a little sad that she is turning into such a little girl already, becoming so independent. She is one lucky little girl as well, she has two birthday parties yet as well. We are having a Doc McStuffin themed party at Rachel's house this weekend for my side of the family, and then next weekend we are having a Frozen themed party at our house for John's side of the family. We have some celebrating to do in the next couple weeks!