Emily told me that she feels that this blog has changed recently in that the focus no longer appears to to be centered on here. I apologized profusely and promised to write this entry as a peace offering. She tentatively accepted my apology.

I can’t believe it’s only been three months since Emily moved into a big-girl bed. It seems like three years. In the beginning, Emily would wake up in the middle of the night and eventually sneak into our bed. This wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t insist on sleeping horizontally. Jan’s having a hard enough time sleeping as it is so something had to be done. So I pitched tent in Emily’s room. For the past month, I have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor of Emily’s room. Now, when she wakes up and goes for a walkabout in the middle of the night, I’m there to intercept her and settle her back into bed, leaving Jan undisturbed and capable of getting the much-needed rest she and her little bun need. I must admit that I enjoy the connection with Emily that our new sleeping arrangements have induced, but I wonder how long these sleeping arrangements will last.

I’ve also fully taken on morning duties. I wake up with Emily and get her ready for school – we have breakfast, play some games, and get dressed together – and then I drop her off on my way to work, whereas I used to let Jan handle all that and I’d get some extra sleep in the mornings to help me get through my long work day. Now I have coffee 🙁

Emily likes to draw. She draws airplanes and pussy cats and dinosaurs and snowmen, but you’d have a hard time telling which was which. Well look at this. Emily drew this yesterday and it blew our minds. She has been drawing happy faces for a long time now but this was the first one that actually looked like a happy face:

I try and take Emily to school on a bicing whenever possible. She loves it! There’s no place for a child seat so I just plop her into the bag rack attached to the front of the handlebars (probably a little bit illegal). She sits there facing out with her legs dangling singing songs, pointing to let me know which way to turn, encouraging me to chase cars and motorbikes, and shouting, “Faster! Faster!” Sometimes she reaches around and rings the bell next to the handle. Pedestrians get a real kick out of seeing her glide past them. Instead of the 20 minute walk to school (at her pace), we’re there in under five minutes. Then I cycle the rest of the way to the train station and head to work. I love the fact that she’s a little adrenaline freak and has no fear. How old do you have to be to start snowboarding?