Sorry for the delay on posting. The week of Emma’s bday was a whirlwind, a good whirlwind, but crazy nonetheless. The house invasion began on Wednesday night, with the Johnson clan coming down. Thursday the ladies split off and went shopping while we hung out. Nothing overly exciting, other than it was hot and this summer . Friday we enjoyed a morning of pictures with the grandparents and grandkids. A little note on Emma. You know how some kids are the types who when they see the camera, they turn to the camera and cheese it up? Emma is NOT that child. The lady taking pictures didn’t grasp this and had Emma sitting the longest of the grandkids, so that process was lovely. Saturday morning we headed to wonderscope with the kids. They seemed to have fun, so it was a great way to start the day.
So Saturday afternoon was the party. Let me tell you something about my wife. She takes this stuff very seriously, she wants to put her touch on it and make it special. Even though in 25 years when Emma has just started dating (I am a firm believer that if you say something enough, it will become reality) she isn’t going to remember what happened at her 2nd birthday, it’s important to Lela that everything is perfect. Year 1 bday party wasn’t so seamless, I’ll be honest. We were literally running around until the moment people walked in, putting things up after people arrived, it was a cluster. This year was much better. Lela also likes to put her touch on everything, and as she is a phenomenal cook and baker, she likes to make things for various events. Side note, Lela doesn’t think she is very good and generally thinks her food only tastes okay, but as a foodie wannabe, I can tell you she makes a lot of really good food. So the point I am trying to get at is we got all the food made that Lela wanted to make, and it all seemed to taste good, without the insane scramble that was year 1. Did I mention we had about 10 kids ages 1-5 there? I think when you become a parent, you get dulled to the craziness that is kids, because it didn’t seem nearly as insane as you would think. Of course when I spent 3 hrs cleaning up all the toys and dishes on Sunday, it probably also proved that it was crazy, and we just didn’t notice. Anyway, it was a great party, it was great to share it with friends and family and get to see all the kiddos play and allow the adults to mingle. We love to get everyone who has and will continue to mean a lot to us and to Emma together in one place, and missed those who are in that category who couldn’t be there.
Tuesday we had Emma’s 2 yr appt. Everything is going great, per the doc. Emma has shot up to around the 75th percentile for both height and weight, which the doc attributed to a likely growth spurt in recent weeks. After 2 min of being around Emma, without me saying a word, the doctor went into her “here’s how to potty train, change to a big girl etc with a strong willed/stubborn child.” So it’s that obvious, huh? Of course 90% of the time Emma is the happiest, most loving little girl ever, but she also has very strong opinions. Like about how she wants string cheese when she walks in the house and how I am not supposed to open it. Or how she wants to enter the bath. Or how we aren’t allowed to help her with something unless we have asked and she decides she doesn’t want to do it. Oh and on the hugging thing, should I be concerned that toward the end of the party Emma went around to all the adult guys in the room and hugged them. Then she reluctantly went to the women and did the same after having to be prodded? Not cool Emma, not cool.
This summer I also got back into soccer a lot. Other than intramural 3 on 3 in college, I haven’t played soccer a lick in my life, so my obsession is probably odd. But ever since I moved in with random guys in Iowa City in 2002 and got up at 3 am several morning with one roommate to watch the US world cup matches in Korea, I have loved it. This has grown some over the years and I loved having the women’s world cup this summer. The matches were mostly midday, so if I went to the Sprint Gym over lunch or around midday, I could watch something other than Sportscenter repeats, it was great. Plus there is that whole Abby Wambach miracle goal stuff and my overlooking the whole “they are playing for something bigger” garbage about how we should be happy for the Japanese. Emma’s part Korean, go read about what the Japanese have done to the Koreans over the years, we are disallowed to be okay with anything Japanese. . besides our Honda’s that are in the garage I am also kidding about most of that, though I was literally mad about the US losing for about 4 days. I need some Hawkeye football to get here so I can be mad about a 19 year old losing a game and ruining my life for 6 days rather than 25 year old women, you know, much more important. Anyway, I am now obsessed with getting Emma in soccer lessons. I think it’s a great sport that translates well into all other sports. She likes kicking the ball okay now, and what is likely going to happen is the fact that I would love for her to be the Wasian Mia Hamm is that she will not like soccer at all and will make me go to dance recitals all the time, something I have nightmares of from having a sister. No, I am not dramatic at all, those things were like monthly (in reality probably once a year, but that seems too frequent to a 10 yr old) and they never even had snacks there, of course I have nightmares. . .. I will have to post once she gets going how soccer is going. Anyway, that’s a random musings paragraph, but I wanted to get it in.
Oh yeah and then there’s that whole last post I put up. So the baby is due to arrive Jan 16. The accountant in us thinks, hey, if you came 17 days early it wouldn’t be bad as then we could get the tax break and get all the insurance this year. The Dad in me thinks, this needs to happen after Jan 5 or so, so the child can celebrate his/her bday at school. I always felt bad for the Christmas break birthdays, because their half birthdays are in the summer so they get hosed often times, plus there is the whole overlap with Christmas thing. Well maybe I didn’t care back then because sympathy wasn’t a strong point for an adolescent Mike, but because it could now have implications on my child clearly its important Anyway, Lela is doing all right for all who have asked. She’s been squeamish at every meal, never to the point of throwing up (tmi and I don’t care) but enough where no meal goes fully enjoyed. Lela also likes to pretend she is not pregnant and fights going to bed and getting enough rest. We are now somewhat the opposite of other families as Emma now requests her bed and her mom won’t go to it. We are excited about the new addition (for some reason saying that makes me think of the band New Edition from the 90s), we find out Aug 30 the gender and my prediction is another girl,. . .who I will try to make into the next Mia Hamm, but we’ll see!
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