D-D-D-D-Dora the Explorer!

These days Emilia is all about Dora the Explorer. I never knew I would become one of those parents leaving a smart phone or iPad in their children's hands to bribe them to be quiet in public places. We do it occasionally and I cannot help feeling embarrassed when a passerby gives Emilia and us a glance. I know that look. I used to give the same look too.

I never knew either that I would be one of those parents who buy their children TV character merchandise. Now she has at least 6 Dora colouring and sticker books, a Dora jigsaw puzzle, a Dora doll (a gift from her uncle), and eats Dora graham cookies. We bought VIP tickets to the Dora the Explorer Live show in December, which cost us $95 each person including Emilia, but the VIP tickets will give Emilia a chance to have a photo taken with Dora and a Dora-themed backstage party before the show. The other day I was shopping for Dora underwear (but couldn't find any so didn't buy). My brother just told me two days ago that he had bought some Dora toothbrushes for Emilia.

I start to wonder whether it's me who is fueling this frenzy by surrounding her world with all kinds of things Dora. Yes, she's a kid and she can be crazy about Dora, but am I feeding her desire and getting her hooked more and more on Dora? Naturally I want to give her what she likes and make her feel happy.

Any way, it's too late now. Emilia is absolutely crazy about Dora and there is no way we can back track it. We don't even show Dora shows too often, but Netflix made it very convenient for us to show it to her at any time we want and Emilia also knows that it's on Netflix anytime she wants. Right now, Friday night is Dora night for Emilia. We play 2-3 episodes and log out of Netflix. Of course, turning it off creates such a drama, to put it mildly. There will be about 10 minutes of crying and screaming (she cries "Doraaaa... Booooots...Dooorraaa...Boooots") until she gets distracted by one of her Dora colouring books. I need to give credit to Dora though. Emilia picked up quite some words and phrases by watching the shows, including, to our dismay, some Spanish words. I wish the Canadian version Dora would teach kids French instead.

I hope this is just a phase... or is Dora simply going to be replaced by another TV or movie character? As my husband says, maybe we should be thankful that she's not into Thomas and Friends, which would have cost us a fortune to collect all the toy engines.

Halloween - First Trick or Treat

On Oct 31, the weather was terrible so despite having bought her a Halloween costume, I didn't want to take Emilia out for trick or treating. Past 6 pm, kids started knocking on our door and I asked Emilia to assist me with the job of handing out the candy to the kids. After 4 times of answering the door, she started to realize that it was CANDY that was being given out, to OTHER KIDS!! She started to make her trademark sad face (such a cute one), not knowing what to do. She didn't want to give up the candy but mommy kept giving it out to strangers. She kept saying no and refused to give the candy. So, eventually, even though it was rainy and windy, Daddy took her out, just to 2-3 houses across the street and she came back with a beaming smile. She spilled the content of her little bag on the floor (10 candies) and did an inventory and put everything back in the bag, just to take them out and count them all over again. She named each candy, like Red Candy, Triangle Candy, Green Apple Candy, Purple Candy, etc. She called the candy "trick or treat". She went to bed with her "trick or treat" and when she got up the next morning, she even took it to the day care. Luckily she has not eaten any of it yet. She traded 3 of them with me for a cereal snack and the rest is still in the bag.

Oh, so what did Emilia dress up as? A cowgirl, complete with a cowboy hat and pink boots. Here are the pictures.

Emilia is a big sister

Lots of things are happening with Emilia. First, on Oct 10, Emilia became a big sister to Olivia. Emilia was a bit sad and jealous for the first week or so. After that was a phase of ignoring Olivia's existence altogether. She acted like it was still just three of us in the family. These days she kisses her little sister and pats on her head and says "pretty". I think she is amazed by Olivia's little hands and feet. She likes to squeeze and tickle them.

 Nonetheless, everyday she comes into the master bedroom, where Olivia's crib is, to claim everything that belongs to Olivia. She points at everything from body lotion to nail clipper, calling them "Emilia's". When I gently tell her they are Olivia's, she retorts "no, it's Mommy's" - I think she would rather see they belong to mommy than Olivia. Any way Emilia gets a bit clingy sometimes but she's been a trooper. I am certain she will be a good sister to Olivia.

When Olivia first came home

Emilia, corrected age two

Emilia is two years old, corrected. Actually I have dropped the "corrected" part for a while now when I tell people how old she is. I am now comfortable to tell people her actual age because I know they won't ask any questions regarding her age. She looks and acts like a 2 year old.

Last weekend, on the day she turned two years old corrected, we got her photos done at the same studio where we had her 1 year old photos. This time the session was so much longer and harder, which was expected, but being 33 weeks pregnant, I think I was more exhausted than Emilia herself.

Today, we were visited by the York Region Early Intervention. The EI was not concerned with Emilia's growth and development. She did all the things that she was expected to do, including putting 3 words together in a sentence. I always felt that Emilia's language was behind, but finally in the last few months, she has shown a lot of progress and we can now have a meaningful 2-way communication with her. It's so much more fun reading books and playing puzzles together now that her vocabulary is expanding.

Her PT was also visiting us 2 days ago, and she is being referred to orthotics. Emilia might need special shoes or even brace for her left foot/leg. Her high tone issue in the left left/foot is not very visible to others but to us, being her parents, it's noticeable and is always a concern.

The Early Interventionist said this morning that Emilia seemed like a very strong-willed, determined kid and that is why her outcome has been so great. I truly believe so. Every single day, when we look at her face, we cannot help but feel awed by how well she's grown, how beautiful she is, and how clever she's becoming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't remember what a 30 week preemie looks like

I've just hit 30 weeks in this pregnancy. Initially 30 weeks wasmy goal but now that I looked at on my own blog what Emilia looked like around 30 weeks, I now realize that I do need to keep this pregnancy going as long as possible. I pictured a 30 week preemie was going to be a huge baby (compared to a 25 weeker like Emilia) but looking at the pictures from July 2011, I can see how small the baby is still.

Any way, this time around, I got into the third trimester, which I skipped entirely with Emilia. Each passing week since 25 weeks was something to celebrate.

So, does Emilia now know she will have a baby sister? I don't know. She rubs my belly and calls it "baby". She also kisses on my belly saying "hi baby". But still, I don't know if she really knows what's coming. Regardless, I am sure she will be very upset the first few days after the arrival of her sister.