5 years old!

We officially have a 5-year-old now!  Emily continues to bring so much joy to our lives.  Here are some of her latest things:

Emily continues to be an avid reader.  She gets about eight easy reader books from the library each week and is through most of them by the end of the first day.  Some of her favorite series right now are Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, Henry and Mudge and Annie and Snowball by Cynthia Rylant, and Morris & Boris by Bernard Wiseman.

Emily also really got into Where's Waldo? this month. My sisters & I had the books growing up and loved Waldo.  I even dressed up as Wenda (Waldo's girlfriend) for Halloween one year.  That would have been the year there was a blizzard with 6 inches of snow on Halloween, so the town Halloween party got cancelled, and I didn't get a chance to compete for the "most original" costume (which I was sure I was going to win that year), and is probably one of the reasons I really don't care for Halloween.  But I'm not bitter or anything. ;o)  Anyway, Emily loves looking at the books my mom saved even though they are falling apart from many years of love.  It's even better with her new magnifying glass (see picture above)!  And she loves looking at the Where's Waldo? app because...

We got an iPad2 this month.  Emily loves playing with it (who wouldn't?!?).  She often claims she "has iPad work to do" because I say I have computer work to do.  I have been searching out appropriate educational apps for her to use.  We have some for literacy, handwriting and math facts.  Emily is starting to grasp addition. She also grasps the idea of passwords and passcodes.  She tries to lobby for or guess the passcodes to the iPad2 and my iPhone or my login password on the computer (which is exactly why they are in place).  She has her own profile set up on the computer with strict parental controls, so she knows her own password for that.

Emily became a bit more picky with eating this month.  She suddenly decided that she wasn't going to eat anything that smelled funny or strong.  Since pretty much everything has some sort of smell, this was a bit tricky.  At the beginning of the month she also declared that she was no longer going to eat any more PBJ sandwiches, which she called "wispit" (when you no longer do something).  Thankfully, a simple quesadilla in the microwave replaced the PBJ until she decided two weeks later to start eating them again. 

Emily went on a neat streak and kept her room very picked up for quite some time.  She even slept on top of her bed covers (but under a small quilt) for 2-3 weeks because she didn't want to mess up her bed and have to make it in the morning.  She also decided that her new favorite color is green.  We almost had a green frosted cake for her birthday, but she changed to butterflies at the last minute.

Emily also decided now that she is five she wants lace-up shoes.  I have very deliberately never purchased any kind of lace-up footwear for either of my children because it wasn't worth the hassle.  Since Emily already has bungee-band shoes that will last the winter, she's going to have to wait until spring.  She drew a picture of it, though (in her own Waldo costume).

"Pillow Pet" is also in her picture.  In addition to imaginary friends and stuffed animals, Emily has begun to personify inanimate objects.  She has a beaded bracelet that she named "Lacet" and treated as a friend for a week.

Emily also continues to be quite a talker, which means she says a lot of funny things.  Here are a few recent conversations:
While driving past cornfields to a friend's house...
Emily: Can we live on a farm?
Me: It's a lot of work to live on a farm.
Emily: I like to do work.  Maybe after Kindergarten I'll go be a farmer.

On "wear orange day" at preschool Emily wore a black shirt with an orange sequined pumpkin and black leggings.  I got her to change her navy headband to black and her bright blue socks to orange, but I didn't push for black over brown bungee-band shoes after Emily declared, "I can't wear too much black or I'll be angry."  I hope that means she'll never get into Goth!

One early morning Emily poked her head in the bedroom...
Emily: Mom, I just don't like life right now.
Me: Why, honey?
Emily: Because I'd rather have chocolate.
That's when I figured out she was talking about the cereal I had set out for her breakfast. (Life vs. Chocolate Frosted Mini-Wheats)

After Emily started watching The Magic School Bus on the Qubo channel again...
Emily:  Mom, I need to have a nappy.
Me: Why?
Emily: Because they said on TV that everyone should have a nappy.
Me: So you want one because everyone else wants one?
Emily: Yeah!

After a frustrating Google session, I finally figured out that she saw a commercial for a Happy Napper.  This is the same thing that happened with Pillow Pets.  The Pillow Pet thing actually turned out pretty well, so I let her spend her birthday money on a ladybug Happy Napper.  "Ladybug Beetle" is very loved and so is Emily!