Mommy Kahdib

Dear Emerson (49 months),

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 _____________________________________

Dear Ham,

You seriously cannot get enough of the camera when it is pointed at you...you pose, click, pose, click, pose like it is your job. You pose and change pose more than some of the models we've worked with and that is crazy. I was shooting a bunch of kids from playgroup, I think there were 6 of you under the age of 4 all on a couch together and out of the corner of my eye I see Chase chatting on a phone cannot be bothered that I am taking pictures and out of the other corner of my eye I see you smiling and posing away. So yes, you're my little ham bone and I'll take it!

You're also becoming quite the little master baker. You love to do it all...you actually get quite bossy in the kitchen and sometimes even YELL at the recipe reader that YOU WILL POUR and YOU WILL MIX and YOU WILL CRACK THE EGGS. We're working on the Iron Chef attitude a bunch, but I could probably walk away from from the whole cooking thing and still wind up with yummy muffins and breads in the end because you'd just DO IT YOUR-SEEEELFFF! There is a rumor that when I was little no one could help me or tell me what to do because I wouldn't listen I would just stomp my foot and say, "KATIE-DO," well I am currently feeling the backlash of that from you and Chase simultaneously. I don't know if he is the instigator and you're following his independent lead or if you're just falling into it on your own at the same time. It is testing my patience and my playful and unconditional parenting, but we'll muddy through it, we always do.

You're also my superstar gardener. You like to help me water it, weed (and most of the time you're picking the right weed!) and harvest....although a lot of what you harvest ends up in your belly but I guess that can be expected when we're picking yummy green beans and cherry tomatoes. Might just mean that next year we need a bigger garden...and that would be ok since you love to weed and water. You get so excited every time we go out to visit the baby veggies and you'll hold big heaping handfuls of beans while I get things sorted out.

Speaking of superstar...you have turned into a dunking fool. The funny thing is your favorite place to dunk is in the bathtub with about 10 inches of water (yes we fill it deep) and you'll go under and stay under for around 5+ seconds. You blow bubbles, stick your whole face in (eyes, nose, mouth, even ears) and come up making sure that someone, anyone, saw you. The funny thing is you just finished up session one of swim lessons and in the pool you tell your teacher every time that you don't want to blow bubbles. I finally found out today that you think that the water tastes funny...so your teacher Caroline told you that if you just wipe your lips after you blow bubbles you won't even taste it...and if you did taste it it just tastes a bit salty. Not a minute later and you were showing here what an Emmie bubble blower looks like and I don't think she had believed me when I told her that you do blow bubbles at home in the tub because man was she surprised! You also were a little hesitant to lay on your back while she held you to float until I asked you to just show her your mermaid hair and voila, your head was all the way back and your hair was floating all around your head. You're a funny kind of stubborn and it is all about finding the right buttons to push.

Today we had your 4 year checkup and you're a healthy little kid and rarely see the doctor because you're ill...for a while there you were terrified of going. It happened after one bad ear infection where you just decided that maybe them looking in your ear is what was killing you. I remember when you were 2 and 3 your checkup was miserable and you were a velcro baby sitting in my lap clinging to me like a baby monkey...but in the past two years you've been to so many doctor's appointments with Chase and you've grown up and changed and today you sat on the doctor's table all by yourself in your little Looney Tunes johnny and you answered all of her questions on your own and I was stuck holding a sleeping Chase so you did the whole exam on the table just you and the doctor and to be honest, you never even glanced my way. Sniff...how are you 4!!??

Last thought...you decided yesterday when I was changing your sheets that you were done with the silly bedrail...that you really didn't want to have that until you were like 16 or something (your words) and we could just take it off already. Could you maybe slow down on the growing up all at once? Maybe that's what's making you so cranky? Or maybe today it was because you woke up at 4am for the day and you were hungry and then after a snack you were too awake to go back to sleep...thank goodness that doesn't happen often!

Ok little munchkin, I love you...even when I'm tried and cranky or you're tired and cranky or we're all tired and cranky...even when you push your brother over or when you and him play with the ice maker while I'm taking a shower and I'm frustrated to find 50 ice cubes in a puddle of water and I yell a little bit...I love you love you love you.

Hugs and kisses,
Mommy