Emma moments cont'd

Emma, listening to her walkman on the plane to Kansas last April, rocking out with hand motions and signing out loud: "Life's what you MAKE it, so let's make it ROCK. Make it Rock!" Yes - that is Hannah Montana - the only song she has of HM, so she of course wants to hear it OVER and OVER. That's why we love the headphones.

A cognitive switch:

Emma is READING! Tonight we played a game, called "school" and she read: at, mat, bat, sat, cat, hat, fat, pat, it, sit, mit, pit, hit, lit, bit, get, bet, met, pet, let and more!!!!!!! It just happened this week kind of out the blue; it's nothing I've been focusing on with her. I've just been introducing phonics now and then and talking about what sound letters make. It was like a switch was flipped inside her little brain!

A spiritual switch

Emma's prayer life has been un-inspiring lately. [In a positively droll tone] "Dear God thank you for the day, thanks for having fun...Aaaamen." So - Scott and I have been working on this with her, both at bedtime prayers and throughout the day. But bedtime prayers have still been quite a forced issue. But tonight - oh tonight - Emma prayed: "Dear God, thank you for this day, I REALLY enjoyed it! And I hope that...I want....um.....things.......[big breath with LOTS of emotion and sincerity] I hope things are going well [for You]. Amen!"

And yesterday in the car we re-visited creation. She asked the question again: If God created everything, did He create Himself? So I asked her, "Well what do YOU think?" (Thanks Aunt Mary Anne - that's a very useful tool.) And she said, "I think He did.....but how did he do it if He didn't have any hands yet? [thoughtful pause] He must have been invisible, and He made his hands FIRST."

A style girl

Emma's hair is FINALLY long enough to have a hairdo. She is so THRILLED! She has been WAITING for braids and buns and curls. So - her latest favorite - one half ponytail on the side. While I was doing her hair she said, "If I had this hairdo and a pink turtleneck with polka dots and my sunglasses - I could really get into that style." And has said when feeling all put together, "I'm all styled up." And when I put a stretchy headband in her freshly blow-dried hair to pull her way-too-long bangs out of her face for teeth brushing she said, "Ooooooooh - this is like a TENNIS style. I LIKE this one!" (Followed by lots of posturing in the mirror)