5

Emma is 5! She's a big girl, but still a little girl. Now that she's five, she has to take care of herself. The big rules are: dress herself, brush her teeth, and wipe herself. It's been a week and so far, so good! All I have to for her is her hair. She has even figured out how to get her socks on. The only setback is that she doesn't always put on the clothes I have laid out for her. She thinks pink and red look good together . . . ugh! Here come the battles.

She is a better big sister now than ever. She and Libby get in to trouble together, though! They shut the bathroom door and Emma played in the sink and Libby played in the potty. A whole roll of toilet paper was shredded, dipped in the water, and scattered around the bathroom. I have no idea what I was doing! When Libby needs help, Emma helps her and talks to her and brings her toys. This morning I needed to pull a splinter out of Libby's thumb and Emma brought her blanky to her. How sweet! Libby is almost two and Emma has finally accepted her. They still fight, but it's not as often. It is more violent, though. Libby can take more and dish more out these days.

I registered her for Kindergarten. I had butterflies in my stomach that day! She was very excited and is ready for kindergarten. She peeked in every door and checked out the cafeteria. We go back in May for orientation, and again in June for her screening tests.

We had a butterfly birthday party at the firehouse to celebrate both girls' birthday. Their birthdays are just three weeks apart, so we just did it all at once and got it overwith. My friend Julie took all the pictures, so I don't have any to share yet. We had 52 people! Emma has met so many wonderful little friends that it's hard to decide where to draw the line. Believe it or not, we did not invite everyone we wanted to.

I can't believe five years ago Chucky and I had a five pound premature jaundiced little girl, no sleep and a prayer. Now we are a family, we feel like a family. It's a great feeling!