Better late than.....

 

 

 

 

...even later. :)

Here are some 2nd Emma birthday photos. In all of my rush to pack the house for moving day, i managed to pack the camera. Which is insane as i have the camera near at all times. You know, just in case something happens or my cute little 'terror-tot' does something REALLY special that only a photo could capture!

Today was Emma's second year wellness doctor appointment. All went very well...she's 33 inches tall (35%) 22.8 lbs (21%). My favorite part of our appointment is when the doctor was looking in Emma's ears and Emma asked her "What are you doin'?" I could barely stop my laughter. Emma was chatty and interested in the room and in the toys that they gave her to play with. The best part of the appointment was finding out that we (okay, that "I") was apparently incorrect about Emma having a lazy eye. It seems that when a child has a broad bridge nose, that it sometimes appears that they have a lazy eye. Our doctor had a flashlight thingy that she spotlighted on both of Emma's eyes and the white dot was in the middle of both of them! Yeah, there is a really fancy name for the optical illusion of the lazy eye thing, but i can't remember it. It seems though, that this happens with many Asian and Latino children. So, good news for us...but we are following up with an eye doctor at Vanderbilt at our doctor's request.

Of course, i was chastised (and rightly so....sigh) about Emma still having a night-time bottle. Yes, she can drink from a sippy cup....she does it all during the day and at preschool. But i haven't stopped the night-time bottle. I did, however, get praise for Emma's teeth brushing routine (in the am and in the pm after the bottle) so it wasn't a total 'bad Mommy' visit for me. Emma even showed the doctor how she brushes her teeth! :) Robert or i read to her before bedtime and then she cuddles on my lap with a 6 oz bottle. She holds my hand, pats my face, looks into my eyes...afterwards, we cuddle for a bit on the big rocking chair and then go brush teeth. Then it's off to bed. I have to admit, it's one of my favorite parts of the day with Emma....

I really thought a lot today about why i haven't changed our night time bottle routine. I finally realized that i so want to enjoy and remember every single moment that i am holding Emma back. Emma will more than likely be my only child-but i'm not doing my job by not letting her advance the way she can. I remember growing up, my Mother always wanted me to slow down, to stay home with her or to not do something that i thought would be so 'great' to do. Now i see why...but my job as a mother is to prepare Emma for the world and not keep her in a glass house. I am sometimes breathless when i look at her little face--so innocent and beautiful. But by keeping my arms around her tightly, i fear that i will make her be like how i was growing up--always fighting for room to grow. Or maybe that is just how children push away from their parents to learn how to grow into young adults and towards their own lives?

Lots to think about....