My Little Lollipop Girl

The dance season ended in June and our little ballerina had a recital to end the year.  The studio had a big show at the biggest theater in town, the historic Fox Theater.  Emmy was so excited for the show so she could finally show everyone her great dance routine.  She danced to Lollipop and did a fantastic job.  My once shy girl took to the stage like a natural, not even the slightest bit frightened.  She rocked the routine and shined!

A Never Land Party

This year we decided to have a big party for both kids.  A great idea in theory, but can be difficult in theme to keep both kids happy.  We decided on a Never Land theme which can deffinitly satisfy all. 

The party went perfect with pirate lessons, a sword fight with Captain Hook, and a treasure hunt through the neighborhood.  The kids all had a blast!

The house was decorated into parts of Never Land.  Pixie Hollow in the playroom was decorated with large blades of grass and big flowers. That way our flittering fairies would feel so tiny.  We had Pirate Island for all our pirate friends, including a ship banister!  Peter, John, Micheal and Wendy were flying overhead working their way to the clock. 

We had an amazing cake made by Whisk Me Away.  She made us an amazing creation-a perfect treasure chest cake.  It looked amazing an tasted great too!

The kids all dressed up in their favorite Never Land character.  We had Tinkerbelle, Rosetta, Tiger Lilly, Peter Pan, Hook and lots of pirate boys.  They all looked so cute!

Rosetta

TinkerBelle

Tiger Lilly

Pirate Peyton

Pirate Riley

Captain Hook

Our Little Jake The Pirate

Peter Pan

Pirate Princess Paisley

Little Hook Sean

Following the Treasure Map

There's theTreasure!

Our Whisk Me Away Cake

My Shy Girl is Blossoming into a Social Butterfly

My little Em was a really shy girl.  She was getting sent out of her Sunday school class because she was so freaked out.  That's when I knew I had to help her along.  We started being far more active and social.  I signed her up for dance class, made sure we went to church every Sunday (even if they were going to kick her out), we signed up for MOPS so she would be around other kids and I could show her by example how to socialize, and started going to Story time on a more regular basis. 

It took a few weeks of crying when I dropped her off at dance, hiding under the table in Sunday school, and sitting on my lap at story time, but 6 weeks later she has changed.  She has become so social on easy going around others.  When I take her to church we don't even get a goodbye before she runs into the class, at story time she is sitting with the other kids singing and listening, and at dance class she is dancing! 

It is not even just those area's that her social skills have changed.  Yesterday at her eye doctor's appointment, she walked up to another girl and said hi!  She was never the initiator before.  She has been more loving to others besides me: grandparents, daddy, cousins, and other friends all have noticed how she is more accepting of their help and even showing off all her new dance skills. 
This was a struggle to get her here, but I will reveal my tips tomorrow!

SITS back to blogging- Happy Birthday Emily

Ok so it's not her birthday. I'm doing a blogging challenge this week in hopes to with Thelma and Louise, a washer dryer set offered by SITS, Westar, Standards of Excellence appliances and Florida Builder Appliances.

So today's challenge is to post your first blog post. Emily had just turned 2 and my first blog was about her birthday party.

Emily turned 2 August 4. I can't believe how fast my little girl is growing up. We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party, her favorite show. All the kids got their own ears and we had a good time.

Pillow Case Dress

This was my first attempt at sewing one of these super cute dresses.  I have been seeing them everywhere and love them.  So, finally I got the time to try it out for myself.  I have to say, I was such a great sewing project, so easy and fast.  I love things I can sew in just minutes. 

I didn't use a pillowcase (I sadly don't own any cute ones that I want to cut up) so I used some extra fabric I had in my stack.  Cute, girly, and pink... what more could she ask for.  I think this would have been amazingly fast if I had the pillowcase, but easy regardless.  I used a pillowcase to measure her, folded it where it was too long and too wide.  Once I had the proper measurment I used the folded pillowcase to cute a piece of fabric.  Sewed it up on the sides and bottom, and voila- a Em sized pillowcase. 

So for the top, I cut out arm holes by using a template from Everythingsewing.net which was a print and use thing.  So using that I cut areas for the arms and finished the rest of the hems.  Then after adding ribbon into the top, I was finished! 

I even made a matching bow to finish the whole thing off.  What a great project!

Tiny Dancer

Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band
Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man
Ballerina, you must have seen her dancing in the sand
And now she's in me, always with me, tiny dancer in my hand

~Elton John

Em had her first dance class this morning.  She was so excited to go.  A little shy at first, she sat out the entire tap portion of the class, content just to watch from the corner where I sat.  Then she eased her way in, and joined the class.  She danced and played along with the other girls, even following the rules without a fight.  She was so cute and so proud of herself.  Every time she did something good she would look to the corner where I sat and just smile so big.  She is going to love dance class.  

This is how she eased her way in- bottom first

Parenting Shy Kids

My daughter is such a sweet girl.  She is so desperately shy sometimes though, that she hardly has a chance to show people who she really is.  As a recovering shy girl, I had hoped she would not be like me, but now that she is, I understand her more than my husband (Mr. Outgoing) can. 

We went to church this last Sunday morning.  It has been a while since we have been able to go, things are always getting in the way in our busy life- work, travel, illnesses etc.  So I dropped Em off at the child care place where she could play with all the kids her age.  She usually liked it before, but mostly played alone.  This week though, she just screamed and cried until they finally paged me to come and get her.  She has become increasingly shy and anti-social. 

I am wondering if my decision to not put her in preschool was a bad decision.  So now I am scrambling around thinking of ways to socialize her a little more.  I think as a kid though, I was forced into many things I was terrified of and was really unhappy about it.  I don't want to force the shyness out of her but rather nurture it out of her. 

Why are some kids shy?  Research shows shyness is inherited, they are born to be more sensitive new people and situations.  I do see the truth in this with Em.  As a baby if we went to large events, I would have to stand away from the crowd where it was quieter and calmer until she was adjusted enough for me to join the party (still holding her of course). 

So how can we gently nudge them into socializing?

Prep them in advance.  Days before an event, such as, birthday parties or a new dance class, talk to them about what is going to happen.  Emily will be starting a couple new things in the next week, MOPS and dance class.  I am afraid to overwhelm her and have her tense up and sit in the corner alone.  So I should start now by telling her that when she starts dance class, mommy can't go with her, she will have to be brave and make mommy proud by making a new friend.

Give them a chance to tell you why they are so scared.  Talk through the fears and maybe even tell them about how you were once shy too.  This might help them not feel so afraid and alone.  I try this all the time but all I ever get out of her is "because I scared".  One day I may get a better answer.

Sensitive parenting will be helpful.  Be aware and sensitive to their feelings and nervousness to help ease them into situations.  Don't respond harshly or sarcastically to their fears and shyness but work with it and realize that it makes them special. 

Be a social role model by being friendly and outgoing.  This one is a bit hard for me too, but I have lost a lot of my shyness as I have gotten older.  So when we are out in social situations, we will show Emily that we can be friendly. 

Develop relationships with other care givers and teachers.  This is important so they can be comfortable with them also.  When I leave Emily with any of our friends to babysit she has no problems.  So maybe if we had her Sunday school teacher over for dinner one night, she would be happier in her care at church.

Practice.  This idea seems silly to me but it might help. Practice pretend situations where your child needs to make new friends.  Teach them to introduce themselves to other kids and ask them their name. 

Shyness is not a bad quality, it can be limiting but if we nurture them though the roughest time, they will be able to manage their shyness and maybe even grow out of it. 

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I had one of the sweetest conversations with my 3 year old that made me so happy and thankful to have raised such a sweet and caring little girl.  I must have done something right, as she can show such compassion and caring.  Here is our little conversation:

Me:  Ouch baby, don't lean on my tummy.

Em:  Does your tummy hurt mommy? (She says with a sweet little pout)

Me:  Yes, it does.

Em:  Do you need a banban?  (that is her way of saying band aid)

Me:  Um, I don't know if a band aid will help.  What do you think?

Em:  Yes mommy, you need a banban, they help ouchy's.

And off she went to go find me a band aid to fix my stomach ache.  What a sweet little angel she can be.  I am so thankful that I have managed to raise a caring kid. 

Happy Thursday Everyone!  Think about something your are thankful for today!

Emily is 3

We had a great birthday for our little Miss yesterday.  It is so weird to think she is 3 already, the years are flying by.  It was so fun making a special day for her though.

We started off the day with a living room full of balloons.  I really wanted them in her bedroom but she was having a rough night of nightmares that night and I didn't want to scare her even more.  So she woke up and came out to a colorful display of balloons.  She thought it was so fun.

After everyone was awake, we called Mickey Mouse.  Disney has a number to call Mickey so he can wish you happy birthday.  So we called (Mickey and Minnie are her favorite) and she talked to Mickey.  Really she was so excited all she could manage was "Hi Mickey".  It was cute though.

We took her and her friends out to dinner in the evening.  We had a great dinner out, and it just happened to be kids eat free day!  What a great coincidence.  The kids had a great time and Emily finally got excited that it was her birthday.

When we got home from dinner, we had her present sitting in the middle of the living room so it was the first thing she saw when she walked in.  She looked at it and got so excited!  "MY BIKE" she yelled!  Really its a scooter, but she uses both names for it.  So she rode around and played with her friends.  She loved her helmet too, she wouldn't take it off all night.

Then we had cake, and I was so blown away at how she has learned just what to do with birthday candles this year.  Last year at her birthday she still didn't get it and Andy and I had to blow them out for her.  This year though she waited for us to sing and blew them out all by herself.  She was so happy.