Week at the beach

This past week was Andrea's spring break, so she and Emmett spent a bunch of it up at Stinson Beach staying at parents from her class' weekend house. Most of the time was spent in the hot tub from the sounds of it, but they also spent time at the beach, boated, biked, caught crabs and other sea life, and just relaxed. I was able to visit at the start of their week and then for a day at the end. In between I got a call from Andrea as Emmett wanted to tell me something. He got on the phone and kept saying "I staadrrd" or similar where I couldn't understand the second word, but I knew he really wanted me to know what he did. Finally Andrea clued me in that the second word was "started" and what he was talking about was the fact that while I was gone he figured out how to start on his pedal bike all by himself, so now he is completely self-contained on the bicycle. I had spent a bit of time explaining to him how to do it (I realized that it is something I couldn't describe well as I don't think about it all ever), and he was very meticulous in trying to act out my descriptions---even saying all of the steps out loud while he did it. Alas, it was not me that got him going, but his mom, and he is definitely very excited about his new skill. Today he and I took the bike to the park and he kept stopping in front of people and saying "watch me start!"

Today was Easter and Andrea had put together a little easter basket for Emmett. I was at work late last night and when I got home I played the role of Easter Bunny, hiding eggs around the house (these were plastic ones which were filled with treats---I forgot the colored real eggs from the fridge, and Emmett was not happy with the Easter Bunny for forgetting). Emmett had also left out a carrot for the bunny which I worked on eating at 2 in the morning until I realized that i could just make it look like I had eaten it and put the rest in the fridge (my brain wasn't working so hot). Emmett found all of the eggs and then later in the morning had a reprise of the egg search with Augie and Ethan at Augie's house. It was a nice way to spend a morning.

Not too much to report from my end as Emmett was not around so much this past week. I attended our parent-teacher conference while they were out of town and it sounds like they are going to let Emmett pass day care and go on to pre-school.

Speaking of day care, there were two girls in his class last fall (Paloma and Lucia) who were no longer in his class, but whenever asked who is in his class he would answer "Paloma and Lucia aren't" rather than who is (he did this at his three-year check-up when asked by the doctor). Anyway, Paloma is in his class once again and she loves Emmett. She arrives earlier than Emmett and is very excited to see him when he arrives. Emmett, however, has acted incredibly shy around her. Often she is outside when we arrive, so he and I will be looking at something or doing something when she finally realizes Emmett is there. She will come in, say "Emmett!" loudly, walk up next to him, and say "Hi, Emmett!", and Emmett will completely ignore her, but he has this look on his face that he really wants to look at her. It makes him seem older, like an awkward middle schooler.

I will attach some pictures from the past week or so. Emmett got a wet suit, so that is included. Also, there is a picture that was sent to us by Anne from the birthday party.