Emerald is four years old now, and is a strong-willed, stubborn, sensitive, beautiful child. Her nicknames are still Em, Emmie, and Emmie-Lou Darling, though she does insist more often than not that her name is Emerald and that is what she would like to be called.
Her favorites:
Games--She is very fond of the Hungry Caterpillar Game, Memory, and Candy Land currently, though any game you are willing to play with her is a game she is excited about. Lately, she has been getting into the old school games like hopscotch, tiddlywinks, jacks, and pick up sticks, all of which I am hopeless awful at.
Activities--Emerald is a great helper around the house. She loves to make Benjamin smile or laugh, so she plays with him a great deal. One thing she particularly enjoys doing is putting on puppet shows for Ben, singing silly songs and telling goofy little stories. Dressing up is a new-found favorite of hers as well, and she recently acquired several wonderful new pieces in which to fancify herself. When she has been especially good, sometimes Daddy will reward her by taking her to pick out a comic book from the comic shop and to get ice cream from the ice cream shop.
TV Shows--She is agreeable to watch pretty much anything, though "Yo Gabba Gabba" and "Pinky Dinky Doo" are always top contenders. Others she is enthusiastic about are "Sesame Street", "Dora the Explorer", and "Angelina Ballerina". The only thing really that she is uninterested in are things that Gabriel has watched unto death.
Food--Emerald is still pretty much a junk food kiddo. She loves pepperoni pizza, corn dogs, and the typical "kids" stuff: grilled cheese, hot dogs, ranch, fruit snacks, goldfish...before we go grocery shopping, I help her draw a picture list of some of the things she would like to get from the store, then help her pick them out once we are there. I show her how to tell if the fruit is good or not, how to pick things based on price (though she is still struggling with that concept, obviously) and how to pick between two similar items that we don't need both of (goldfish and cheese-its for example). This has gotten her excited about shopping with Mommy and helps her feel more important because she now has responsibilities. Also, it has cut down on her asking for everything in the store!
Movie--Barbie movies are a big hit with her, "Swan Lake" and "The Magic of Pegasus" being up there with her favorites. "Princess Hello Kitty" is a big hit as well, and the Disney princess movies. The biggest treat for her is letting her lay in bed and watch a girly movie all by herself or with mommy and daddy in there as well. Gabriel tends to dominate what we watch out here because he is so much more particular than Emerald, and she doesn't get to just be a girl and do girl stuff as much as she would like. Sometimes, instead of taking naps, her and I set up in her room after the boys go to sleep and we watch a movie together while I paint her nails or braid her hair.
Songs--Emerald's interest in music has taken a shift to pop-y songs like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus, but is majorly dominated with church songs. "The Fruit of the Spirit" song, "Day 1", and "My God is so Big" are all common requests and are sung by her nearly every day, but loves to sing any song you would find at church.
Books--Emerald has two favorites right now--"Periwinkle Smith and the Twirly Whirly Tutu" and "God's Little Princess" are delicately feminine in a way that Emerald cannot get enough of. They are pink books and about little girls that dance and dress up and have tea parties, just like her, and she absolutely loves every minute of that. She has taken to memorizing books and "reading" them back to you or Benjamin, which I am told is a pre-reading skill. Reading is still a major interest for her--I read aloud to the kids from their own books as well as from whatever I am reading. They don't understand all the words, but they like the sound of my voice.
Toys--This one is nearly impossible to tell, because we just had Christmas and she has many new exciting toys that have grabbed her attention. Overall, she loves Disney princesses, Barbies, dolls, make-believe toys like tea sets, magic wands, and dress up clothes. She is positively obsessed with accessories and wants to pick out what shoes, hat, and jewelry she wears with every outfit. I wish she had more little girl friends so that she could have someone to dress up with; I myself am not very good at it, though I try my hardest, and Gabriel and Benjamin remain totally uninterested.
Emerald loves her daddy and her brothers, praying and playing church (as well as going to the real deal), and snow. Her favorite color is pink as she will tell you many times, and she has an opinion on everything. Overwhelmingly, she is sensitive and wants other kids to like her and want to play with her, wanting to make them happy and not get them into trouble. She digs in her heels quite often when she doesn't get her way, but she is getting better. She is beautiful and intelligent, sweet and patient and kindhearted, all around a wonderful little princess!!
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