Archive for February 2011
Valentine Surprise, For Mommy…
I wanted Emme to have a pacifier. It was part of how I imagined my baby girl. I remember vividly in Ethiopia trying to get her to take it. They had no “toe-toe’s” (The Amharic word for Pacifier) at the orphanage. To me it was a another way to share my love with her, especially when I was not with her.
Fast forward to now, and things are a little different. We had been successful quite some time ago in making the toe-toe just a nap or bed time thing. As time went on, I knew the day was going to come when I was going to have to take it from her. Her Doctor had recommended by age two, so I came up with what I thought was the perfect plan to anticipate saying goodbye to toe-toe.
It just so happened that a fellow Ethiopian family was going to be bringing their baby son, Luca home sometime in February. Emme and I started having discussions in November about how, “Baby Luca is coming home from Ethiopia, and he is going to need a toe-toe, because he is a baby..and you are a big girl, big girls don’t need toe-toe’s, but babies do.” We would have this conversation every night, and slowly I could see that Emme was understanding what was going to happen. I was so proud of myself, and felt like such a good Mommy. In my mind it played out exactly as I hope transitions in life will be for Emme. Me by her side, using love and logic. YEAH RIGHT!!! Life had another plan.
Saturday evening, Emme was just finishing up coloring, and got VERY excited when Daddy suggested getting the play dough out. She ran to get the cookie cutters & rolling pin out of the cupboard, and was running to her child size table when….Crash!! She fell & she fell hard. Mike was right behind her, so he saw the whole thing, I was in the kitchen and the moment she hit, my heart SUNK! All I could hear was Mike saying, “She hurt, she is hurt bad!!” We both ran to her and scooped her up. We could see that she had cut her top lip, just inside from where her lips meet in her mouth. After a moment of chaos, we got the pediatrician’s office on the phone, and luckily they were able to get us in right away. We did, and thank god, she did not need any stitches & her teeth were fine.
We came home that evening and put her to bed, but when she woke up in the morning, we could see that her mouth had started bleeding again. We cleaned her up, but after nap time, it was the same thing. It was obvious to us that the toe-toe was preventing her cut from scabbing over.
So we made a decision, it was time to say goodbye to toe-toe. So all afternoon we talked about how Dr. Wolmouth had called, and said that the toe-toe was bad for her big owie, and that she could not have it anymore. (OK, that was a little white lie, but I see it smaller than Santa or the Easter Bunny.)
So as we got closer to bedtime, we prepared for what we were sure was going to be a rough night. I was already giving myself positive feedback. Mike and I were already saying to each other, “It’s going to be tough, but it is the best thing for her.”, and “It will not start to heal while she is still sucking on that thing.” So we were ready when bedtime came with our tough parenting armor on. We did our normal bedtime routine, made sure we put on her favorite jammies, and especially made sure she had bunny, her nighttime snuggly. We gave her big kisses and hugs, and yelled “LOVE YOU!”, as we closed her door like we do every night. Then we held our breath for what was to come………
Except…it did not. We listened on the monitor, as she quietly played with her Bunny, and eventually fell asleep. My strong little girl handled the saying good-bye of toe-toe like a little trooper.
So this afternoon, as I just put her down for her nap, again without toe-toe, I am thinking, “Thank you for the Valentine Surprise, Love Bug.”
Enjoy the pics of her baking her first Valentine Cake. just ignore the big ol’ fat lip and the mean table her gave it to her. 
Heart Hair
1 comment February 14, 2011
Happy Birthday Emme
First off, I apologize for my blogging absence. While waiting for Emme, I saw it happen so many times. The blogs I loved to follow would become silent after kids come home. I fully admit my guilt and blame Mark Zuckerberg for creating such an easy way to stay connected. Although Facebook is quick and easy, it does not serve as a journal, which is my intention for Bringing Emme Home. Moving on….
Now for the good stuff. Emme’s birthday is tomorrow February 8th. My Ethiopian Princess is turning two.
She is such a bright shining star. Her language has been developing at an alarming rate, and at 2 she is saying 4-5 word sentences on a regular basis, and every once in a while I will hear a 6 word one. She says her ABC’s, counts to 15 (at least), and is working on recognizing her shapes and colors. If I was to pick one thing that is her favorite in the world, it would be singing. She LOVES to sing, and will do it every chance she has. Her favorites are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, ABC Song & Ba Ba Black Sheep. These are often belted out with every inch of herself, and although not quite in tune yet, they are full of soul.
Emme is one of the most social kids I have ever met. She makes sure to say “Hi”, usually a very dramatic, “HHHIIIIIII!” to anyone that she comes across. This is quite entertaining when we are doing something like grocery shopping. I love seeing people’s reactions to her friendliness. Just today at lunchtime, she was saying , “Hi” to our dog Sadie. frustrated that Sadie was not responding, she said, “Sadie, I talking to you!” When I told her that Doggies don’t talk, she was perplexed. I could see her little mind thinking. I went on to tell her only people talk, not animals. She started saying, “Cows no talking?”, “No Darling.” “Hmmmm, Roosters no talking?” “No Darling” “Hmmmm…Kitties no talking?” And as you can imagine, we pretty much had to go through every animal that we knew. 
It was a big deal to her that not everything talked back, or responded to what she said.
Did I mention how fun she is? She will prefer to crack up over anything else. Of course the person who cracks her up the most is Daddy. She never knows what Daddy is going to do next, and always says, “Daddy Funny!!” Her favorite place to be is on Daddy’s shoulders. Every time she goes up there, she gets this smile that I only see then.
She definitely has the classic Ethiopian strong personality. I have no worries about her becoming the strong independent woman who I hope she will be. Emme knows what she wants & when she wants it. Right now this part of her personality proves to be challenging, in the midst of the terrible twos. We take each day at a time, and I follow the concepts in the book, “Parenting Your Strong Willed Child”
http://www.amazon.com/Parenting-Strong-Willed-Child-Clinically-Six-Year-Olds/dp/0071383018
I highly recommend it. Now that she is two, she is old enough for me to start using its tools to the fullest.
Enough talk about Em, let me show you.
Enjoy the video of her Birthday Party.
Selam!
2 comments February 7, 2011
