Emma turned 2 on March 27th! Her 2nd birthday was very nice even though Melissa and I were under the weather.
We had a pretty good turnout for the party. Melissa’s entire family, both sides, showed up as they usually do. 1 Cousin and 2 aunts could not make it. Even her 2 grandmothers, one 88 and virtually deaf and hardly able to walk, and the other 96 and suffering from Alzheimers made it. They are true to their family and it is admirable.
My parents, 2 sisters and families, and some members of my “new” family came. My “new” family is also very true to their family! They also brought the food which was delicious! A plug for Bacci Pizza, www.baccipizza.com!
Emma had fun with her cousins but really had a good time playing with Melissa’s cousin Paulie. Paulie looks a bit like Johnnie from Emma’s new almost-favorite show Johnnie & The Sprites. Emma kept flirting with him and playing peek-a-boo and eventually began grabbing his hand and giving him orders.
The presents Emma received were great. She received this year’s wardrobe–almost entirely by my “new” sister Mary– and several cute bathing suits.
Last year Emma cried when everyone sang Happy Birthday. For the 2 weeks leading up to her 2nd party we sang happy birthday to her a lot to try to get her used to it. When we were at Mary’s house recently and everyone began singing to Emma’s “new” cousin Sylvana Emma started to panic until she realized that everyone was singing to somneone else. Anyway, she began to cry just a little this year so progress was made.
What a difference a year makes. Last year Emma was still very chunky due to the steroids she took for her hemangioma. She wasn’t walking yet and couldn’t talk much. This year she was running all over the place and talking up a storm. Last year’s weather was mich nicer. It was sunny but pretty cool this year. people did use our patio to smoke, however.
We have had numerous requests to post pictures of Us and Emma on here. Due to privacy concerns and the sicko people that are out there we have declined to do so. We do, however, have photos and video clips that are online at another location. They require an invite to view–in fact I sent some invites to relatives today–and if you would like to view please contact us in order to do so. We prefer that friends and family do so and discretion with them is appreciated.
Today, Emma called me into the kitchen with something urgent. She proceeded to show me that the buckles on her booster chair were buckled up. I asked if she did that and she said “Yeah!” and smiled proudly. Well, I exagerated the great significance of this accomplishment as I always do and she proceeded to unbuckle them and put them together again. She had problems with the second one and got frustrated and threw it down–she does this now when she gets upset that she can’t do something. I encouraged her to try again and offered some assistance and she did it! There goes her smile and excitement!! Something seemingly so small means such a great deal to kids. I remember when I was a kid and got praised for something by somebody–what a thrill.
Well, it is good to be back in action again after being sick for so long.