A few weeks ago now, because I'm so terrible at actually updating, Emma and I had a wonderful moment. She had woken up to go to the bathroom, and as I was tucking her back in, she started crying, mostly because she was tired and confused about what was going on. I calmed her down, but she asked me to stay and hold her hand for awhile. Sitting on the floor and watching her doze off was so peaceful, and reminded me what a special little girl she is. It's amazing how easy it is to see how you should have handled a situation after the fact, and I do look back and wish I had just accepted my fate with her first year of life: with a colicky baby up every hour of the night, for just about the first entire year of her life, I should have just realized I wouldn't be sleeping much and enjoyed the cuddles when they came. Instead, I was obsessed with trying to get my poor little girl to sleep when I wanted her to, or at all, and would put her down almost as soon as she dozed off, hoping she'd stay down long enough for me to get a few minutes of sleep. I do wish I had held her more and watched her sleep, but we are making up for that now. She loves to cuddle and I make sure I always have time to hold her.
While Jesse and I joke that we kept Emma that first year because she was cute-- it was that challenging of a year for us, we were so clueless-- she is such a wonderful little girl now. She is such a joy.
These past 6 months especially, while Emma has started talking a lot more and being more independent, she is always making us laugh. She has become more cuddly and loving, trying to interact with Kaylee and following Lily's every move. Those two butt heads as they both are forming strong opinions about how life should be and who gets which toys, but such is life and growing up close in age with your sister: they are already best friends and just assume that they always go together. One Sunday morning, I was dispersing the girls to their separate class/nursery rooms before church and we dropped Lily off first. Emma had been all excited about Sunday school until we dropped Lily off and she realized that she would be in a different room than Lily and had an absolute meltdown. Another night, as I was holding her hand, she heard Kaylee crying. Emma looked at me and said, "Kaylee is crying, Momma. Go hold her." Such a tender little heart.
Emma has boundless energy, even when she's exhausted. Her favorite mode of transportation is apparently bouncing and hopping from A to B, and we may need to invest in a good pogo stick or trampoline. My vote is for a trampoline (and are pogo sticks still a thing?). She seems to have a low threshold for pain and emotions, definitely a much more sensitive child than Lily was at this age. While she is sensitive, she is also so adventurous. Lily is more timid the first few times before she will dive in to do something alone and typically, Emma needs to be shown just once before she's off. It's so fun to watch how different these two are, and I know it will be interesting to see how Kaylee fits in as she grows older.
She is at such a fun age. I feel I don't talk about how awesome she is often enough because she is so strong willed and can be such a handful. I've been wanting to reiterate how fun she is for awhile, but time to blog doesn't always work out with having a desire to post anything. I always joke that I have "middle child syndrome," and while I don't feel I was ever overlooked as a child, I want to make sure I don't overlook my Emma, either. Lily had the time to be an only child and Kaylee has gotten a lot of solo parent time, but Emma got tossed in and hauled all over the place with Lily from day one. I probably am extra paranoid about making sure I give Emma individual attention since she tends to just get shuffled along with Lily. Jesse had the other day off work, and he was planning on going to the store for a few things while I took Zeke to the vet. He had originally planned on taking Lily with him, and I would take Emma and Kaylee with me, but when Lily announced she wanted to go with me instead, Emma and Daddy had some special time together.
Figuring out how to parent is certainly an adventure, and while I wish I had been more understanding and forgiving of Emma her first year, I'm glad Jesse and I have been able to see how special she is and are quickly (ish) learning how different she is from Lily.
And, to emphasize my point about Emma being shuffled along in with her sisters, I went to find some pictures of her to share, and my entire memory card is filled with pictures of Kaylee.
Once the weather/sun/children cooperate, I will hopefully have some new pictures to share!
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