Our dearest Emmalyn Jane turns two years old today. It is hard to believe that the baby of our family is no longer a baby and not really a toddler. She is a full blown girl. This second year has been all joy. She has the funniest and sweetest personality. She loves her family. She even has names for all of her siblings! Edmund is Moh moh. Nathaniel is Nahnee. Clara is Wear wah. She calls herself Mehma or Me and always pats her chest when she is talking about herself. She is sweet natured and is extremely outgoing with her family. She is cautious and shy around new people, tilting her head to the side and looking down. She is the perfect book end for our family.
Oh, where has the time gone? The pictures from the beginning of this year show a darling little cherub and she has transformed into a little girl. It's breathtaking and brings a tear to our eyes. How did her hair and her limbs get so long? It's joy mixed with a desire for her to slow down just a little bit. It doesn't help having three older siblings to keep up with.
Taking a look back at this year, we would like to share one highlight from each month, along with a picture to share with you the growth. (We also included the link to each month’s update in case you wanted to check it out.)
Month 13
Highlight - Taking first steps, apple picking, church harvest party and all things fall
Link - emmalyn jane at 13 months
Month 14
Highlight - Birthday party with family, cub scout camp out, and Emmalyn is walking!
Link - emmalyn jane at 14 months
Month 15
Highlight - Trip to Indiana for Thanksgiving and beginning of Advent.
Link - emmalyn jane at 15 months
Month 16
Highlight - Christmas in Minnesota and Indiana with family
Link - emmalyn jane at 16 months
Month 17
Highlight - Loves baths, dancing, tea parties, and hanging out with her siblings
Link - emmalyn jane at 17 months
Month 18
Highlight - First time sledding, beginnings of COVID-19
Link - emmalyn jane at 18 months
Month 19
Highlight - Beginning of quarantine 2020, first time getting stitches
Link - emmalyn jane at 19 months
Month 20
Highlight - Starting to pick up lots of words and has a name for everyone in our family
Link - emmalyn jane at 20 months
Month 21
Highlight - First smore, playing at the pool, watched our caterpillars grow
Link - emmalyn jane at 21 months
Month 22
Link - emmalyn jane at 22 months
Month 23
Highlight - Become more daring and vacation to Charlevoix with friends
Link - emmalyn jane at 23 months
Emmalyn at 2 years
Highlight - transition from toddler to girl
Loves
Here are things that Emmalyn loves at one:
Songs - Baby Beluga, Party Freeze Game, The More We Get Together
Food - Bread, Cheese, Pasta, Blueberries, Yogurt
Shows - Whatever the kids watch prior to nap. She is scared of Curious George.
Books - Olivia, Love From Me To You, Any Lift a Flap Book
Toys - Play food, her Stella doll, pulling things out of the kitchen set, Mickey Car
Activities - Going on walks, being pushed on the swings, splashing in the bath tub, keeping up with her siblings, swimming in the pool, picking flowers
Shows - Whatever the kids watch prior to nap. She is scared of Curious George.
Books - Olivia, Love From Me To You, Any Lift a Flap Book
Toys - Play food, her Stella doll, pulling things out of the kitchen set, Mickey Car
Activities - Going on walks, being pushed on the swings, splashing in the bath tub, keeping up with her siblings, swimming in the pool, picking flowers
Other Likes - Watching movies with her siblings, snacking and mooching food from people, waving hello, playing peek-a-boo, climbing on everything, dancing
Dislikes
Here are things that Emmalyn is not a fan of at two:
Loud noises, being excluded, being squeezed too hard by her siblings, and being told no.
Nicknames
Emma, Emma Jane, Lynnie, Janey
Emmalyn loves to help. She loves to help mom when she is cooking by stirring things. She is an expert taste tester. She loves to take a quick sample of anything that she is stirring. She also likes to help fold laundry, although it mostly looks like unfolding. This is a lot like her siblings, so mom tries to let her help as much as possible.
Emmalyn is such a funny little doll. She has this funny smirk that she makes when she thinks she is doing something silly. She can be mischievous. She can often get into things. She likes to climb on things and get into things that she is interested in. She is very upset when we take her down or tell her no. She loves to dance and loves to watch other people dance. Her dance moves are intense. They are usually a lot of twirling or a lot of bouncing up and down combined with arm waving. She also likes tickling an being tickled. She likes making tickle noises when she does it. She really does have the best laugh and it is hard not to tickle her to hear her cackle.
Emmalyn is social but shy. She loves being around people that she knows, but is very shy around people that she doesn't know. She puts her face down and stands very still when she is around people that she doesn't know. She takes a bit of time to warm up, but once she does, she is very social.
She is artistic. Emmalyn loves to draw and to color. She always wants to be involved if the other kids are doing art projects. If they leaves any writing utensils around within her reach, she draws on everything. She draws on walls, furniture, and herself. She also loves to create food in her play kitchen. She likes to feed it to her baby doll and to herself and will happily share with mom or dad.
Emmalyn is nurturing. She loves taking care of her baby dolls and taking care of her stuffed animals. She especially loves her koala, who she sleeps with every night. She can be found feeding them in the toy room and walking around holding them. Sometimes she puts them into her stroller and pushes them around. She loves kissing them, squeezing them, and singing to them.
We would like to thank God for blessing us with our sweet Emmalyn. She is our continued answer to so many prayers and miraculous healing. Thank you for healing her brain in the womb. Thank you for making her sweet, funny, strong, and loving. We have always wanted four children, and we feel so blessed to have our sweet girl. We could not have asked for a more perfect addition to our family. She has brought so much joy to our family. We all adore you. We pray that God would continue to help us parent her. That she would grow up industrious and curious. We pray that she would know and love Jesus, and follow Him all the days of her life.
Thank you to all of you for being part of our lives and for celebrating Emmalyn with us!<3 Eric & Anna (Edmund, Nathaniel, and Clara)
In case you wanted to see prior updates, here they are.
