Introducing Tayla and Allah and Quinda and LOTS more.

So, I am sure you are confused by the title. I promised I would talk about Emerson in my next blog and update you about what is going on in her life. Tayla and others (too many to count and all with names I have never heard of) are Emerson's imaginary friends. Evidently having imaginary friends is a sign of high intelligence. Well, I sure hope so because recently I saw an episode of Oprah featuring a 7 year-old schizophrenic whose early symptoms included hundreds of imaginary friends with weird names. Keeping my fingers crossed.....just kidding. At least she can entertain herself. This year was especially hard coming up with Christmas gift ideas because she spends most of her time playing and talking with her imaginary friends. One of the crafts Emerson brought home from MDO was a turkey that the teachers wrote all the things Emerson was thankful for on each feather. There were five feathers: mommy and daddy, brother and sister, Tayla, apples, my red ladybug. I couldn't stop laughing and proceeded to call Jamie at work. I really don't know why she put apples and her red ladybug. She rarely eats apples and the red ladybug is some random stuffed animal she hardly plays with. It just makes you wonder what is going in her head.

It is hard to imagine that in about 6 weeks my little girl is going to be 4. I still have such a vivid memory of the day she was born as if it were yesterday. She has brought me so much joy and I don't know what my life would look like without her. The main thing I am thankful for this year aside from welcoming Pierce into our lives to complete our family is the peace of mind I received at Children's 2 weeks ago. Contrary to what we have been told over the last 9 months, anemia is actually very common in 2-3 year-olds because they are such picky eaters. And Emerson is not only a picky eater but she eats like a bird, snacking on a few bites here and there throughout the day. Among her favorite things to eat are strawberries, yogurt, chicken nuggets, ice cream and her main food group is CHOCOLATE (just like her daddy). I can't even get her to eat macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, hot dogs, spaghetti o's, all of which most children love. She refuses to eat anything that appears to have orange cheese on it and she won't touch anything that has different items mixed together such as a casserole. It makes cooking dinner very limited. And the bad part is her sister is starting to become really picky too. Hopefully this phase will pass soon because the only iron you have is from the foods you eat. The hematologist told us to put her back on iron therapy for at least another 3 months and we will check her hemoglobin levels again then. In the mean time I will be trying my best to increase the amount of iron-rich foods she is getting. Fortunately this week she tried iron fortified cream of wheat and loved it....YAY! She won't eat any sandwiches so I was trying to come up with a way to get her to eat Iron Kids bread and bought Nutella (the chocolate spread). I know it is mostly sugar and sounds nasty but she liked it and got her iron from the bread. We are taking baby steps.

So, a few other things about Emerson right before she turns 4:

~she fights sleep more than any child I have ever seen (I think she stopped napping at 18 months)

~she still comes to sleep in our bed with us in the middle of the night (totally my fault for allowing this to happen for so long)

~she ADORES her aunts and future uncles

~she LOVES to sing and dance (crazy freestyle but hated ballet/tap class)

~she is such a big helper when it comes to her sister and brother

~her best friends are boys

~she is starting to become interested in Disney princesses

~she has a remarkable memory (she remembers exact word-for-word conversations that happened months ago)

~she is terrified of doctors (who could blame her?)

~she doesn't appear to have a clue about volume control

~she LOVES baths where she "practices her glides" she learned in swim lessons

~she is still my snuggle-bug

I am amazed daily at just how smart and observant she is. I am so proud of the independent, sweet, caring, helpful and well-behaved little girl she has become. And I can't wait to see what is in store for all of us at age 4!