Naughty or Nice?

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So the moment of truth arrived the other day. Up until now Emma had been talking a tough game with her Mom and Dad. But as she stood there in front of old Saint Nick, the sunlight majestically illuminating his rosy-red cheeks and bushy white beard, Emma could not help but to be humbled. When asked by Santa if she had been “naughty” or “nice” this year Emma looked down and sheepishly whispered the words she knew she had to say, “nice”. Santa then retrieved a red book and pencil to add her to his list and then in astonishment, turned the book to Emma and said, “you are already in the ‘nice’ book”. And sure enough, Emma’s name was already there. Emma gave Santa a big hug and off we went.

Emma is really excited about Christmas this year. She has been watching all the Christmas specials and has thus been introduced to “Frosty the Snowman”, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, and “Santa Claus”. Elena and I look forward to sharing this holiday with her and reliving the wonder and joy that Christmas brings.

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

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That’s right boys and girls, Christmas! It’s just around the corner. Now that Emma is 2 years old and has a better understanding as to what Christmas means to her (Toys, Presents, Fun, etc.) we have been using the phrase, “Santa is watching” liberally as a disciplinary tool to keep Emma focussed on being good. Of course as a terrible two-year-old she has been calling our bluff and when asked if she is going to be naughty or nice she responds, “naughty”. It doesn’t matter that we remind her that Santa doesn’t bring toys to the homes of bad girls and boys, she insists that she is going to be “bad”. Hopefully Santa will be forgiving to our little brat.

In November Emma’s cousin Jessie came to visit for five days, and my parents came for four. It was nice to have visitors and Emma was extremely happy to see her Grandparents whom she had not seen in six months.

Emma’s vocabulary continues to impress us. She seems to express herself with new words every day and Elena and I constantly look at each other in wonder as we try to figure out where she learned a particular word or phrase.

“The Little Mermaid” and “Lady and the Tramp” have been played with such frequency that the DVD player no longer requires either disk as it can play them from memory.

Elena and I have been very busy ramping-up our business and are excited with where we are and how far we have come. That’s pretty much why I have been rather silent on Emma’s blog lately. Hopefully that will change as things stabilize.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Me, Elena, and Emma in front of Christmas tree

Elena’s feeding Emma at the moment and in 6 minutes I will start my nightly walk with Emma. Just thought I would take this free moment to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Elena is getting excited about contributing to the site. She has been searching for a more appropriate theme and I have been investigating other enhancements. I also modified the system so you have to log in to leave a comment. This will prevent people from having to retype their name and email address each time they want to leave a comment. Anyway, my time is about up. Until next time.

-Mark

Emma with her new phone

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Just got “picture upload” working. Thought I would share this little gem of Emma with her new cell phone taken Christmas morning.