J, Wesley, Ella Kate, Walker and Emma Nelson: Happy Birthday, Emma!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Our little Emma Kyle is 3 years old today and I can hardly wrap my brain around it! There is a whole lot of sass trapped inside her petite little body. She has plenty of opinions and doesn't mind sharing them. She loves to tattle on her brother and sister if they are doing things she knows they shouldn't be doing. Although she tattles often, she pretty much wants to do exactly what W and EK are doing at all times! She has become quite independent and likes to do things like dressing herself, brushing her teeth, and showering on her own (I obviously help her, though!) she loves her dolls and to play in her kitchen. She loves all food but her favorites include macaroni, rice, broccoli, green beans, and carrots. Now that she is 3, she has completed her therapy sessions with the early intervention therapists, but she will continue with our dear speech teacher at UMC as well as begin the process for services in the school district. She has done amazingly well in the eyes of all her therapist and they are so pleased with her progress. We still need more surgery to lengthen her palate and have a long road ahead of us, so we are just taking it a day at a time. She actually has an appointment with her surgeon on Tuesday to come up with our game plan of what to do next. A couple of funny things she does when she is trying to say something and people can't understand...1) she shakes her hands back and forth and says "no, no, no, no, no" and then will repeat until you figure out what she means and 2) if she tries to say something and it's a sound she physically can not make, she will grab your arm and put your fingers on her nose to hold it so she can say the sound (some sounds like B, C, and D go out of her nose because her palate doesn't reach far enough back in her throat. When you hold her nose, it forces the sound to come out of her mouth instead of her nose and it sounds correct. It's pretty wild!)

Emma is the happiest, most loving and affectionate child and I am so grateful that I get to be her mama. We are so excited to see God's story for Emma unfold. It's a pretty amazing story because He is the author and perfecter of it!!!

As I do each year which each child, I asked the birthday girl a few questions. This has become one of my absolute favorite things about birthdays at our house!!