Emma {28 months}

On this sweet girl's 28 month birthday, she became a big sister. 

Emma @ 28 months:

Teeth:  Still no sign of 2 year molars..

Mealtime:  We've discovered an allergy.  Similar to myself as a child, Emma is allergic to tomatoes.  It seems like it's just developed over the past few months though.  It doesn't cause any sickness or trouble breathing or anything.  Her face just breaks out.  We still aren't sure if it's just a skin allergy where the juice touches her skin or if it's a reaction from actually eating them.  It's usually confined to just around her mouth but occasionally is down her neck or even her belly.  You wouldn't really notice it if you saw her eat one so that's probably why we are just now figuring it out.  Other than that she continues to have the same favorite foods.

Potty Training:  I expected potty accidents left and right with new baby, but she hasn't had an accident in a week.  I know it's common to have a setback in this area when a new baby is brought home, but so far (fingers crossed) she's done fine.  She is telling us when she has to go and agreeing to go when we ask her.  There are times when she waits until the very last minute and will go just a little in her panties, but those are becoming less and less.

Vocabulary:  Her vocabulary continues to amaze me every day. 

Differentiating between pronoun and verb usage and using them appropriately many times with no prompting.  For example: As I was eating lunch today and everyone else had already eaten she said, "Daddy ate, Emma ate, Mama is eating, and Nana ate." 

She knows everyone in our family's full name.  She's known her full name for a while.  And has called her daddy, Jonathan, for months now. But we realized that she didn't even know my real name.  The last time I tried to teach her, probably 6 months ago, she butchered it.  Much to my surprise, she says everyone's name very well. She has even mastered Benjamin and my middle name with no problems.

Her favorite new phrase when we ask her what she is doing, "I'm just...."

She has finally stopped singing "Joy to the World" and added so many more songs into the mix.  Even with the right words!  Her favorites...ABC's (everytime she washes hands), The Veggie Tales theme song (she knows every word), and Goodnight Sweetheart (her bedtime song). 

She says the blessing when we pray.  We do the short version of 'God is great'.  God is great, God is good, Let us thank him for our food...Amen!

ABCs, Counting, Colors, Shapes:  She has learned gold and silver.  She can count to 20.  I don't really see the need to surpass 20 at this point.  We practice going to 30 every now and then and she is actually picking up on the 20s better than she did the teens.  With the alphabet, we are working on recognizing lower case letters.  She's mastered the uppercase letters as long as it's not in some kind of funky font.  She is also working on B is for ball, etc.  Emma loves to color so we've also started on drawing basic shapes. She's a pro at circles and straight lines and now we are working triangles and squares.

Emma's Awesomeness:  I feel like she has grown up tremendously in just a week. She has been the sweetest big sister and is eager to tell anyone that will listen all about her baby brother. She is so kind and gentle and just has the sweetest little spirit around her new brother. I knew she would initially be excited and maybe the new still hasn't worn off yet, but I expected a little jealousy or something by now.  Other than that, she loves being a girly girl.  Picking out her own clothes and shoes and playing dress up.  She asks to take a nap, brush her teeth, and take a bath.

Love these sweet babies!