Morning & Bedtime Routines

Daddy has to be gone all day at work, so his special time with Emma is broken up into segments. He is in charge of her bedtime routine. Once dinner is over and the table cleared, they head off for bath/bed time, as this is not a rushed affair! On a bath night, he is the resident "shampoo guy". They have pretend tea parties and splish splash.

This is followed by jammies and reading. Emma will let you read as many books as she can get, so at bedtime we have to set a limit. Usually it is two. Occasionally she can sweet talk her Daddy into more.

(She is holding her bedtime blanky, that she has taken to calling "nonna", but we have called "Boo Boo" all along. She can't make a "B" sound yet, so it will be interesting if it remains "nonna" or changes to "Boo Boo" later on. Not sure where or how she came up with it's name, other than she can say "nigh nigh" when it is bedtime.)

They have a favorite book they read most nights called "Amazing Ants". Martin has been reading it to her since she was super small and has it memorized.

Daddy is also in charge of Emma's wake up routine. Yep! The whole diaper duty and all! :) Here she is at the sink, using her new step stool for the first time. (These were taking the morning after the "nigh nigh" pics. Didn't intentionally do it that way, but clever aren't I???)

She thinks she is big stuff now that she can climb up and reach the water all by herself! Brushing teeth is something she loves to do! Good thing Santa is bringing her a new tooth brush and toothpaste! :)

Martin needs to feel connected to Emma, as much as she needs to have him as a daily part of her routine, so Martin doing the morning & bedtime stuff works for them and it gives me a bit of a break since I have her to myself the remainder of the day. Oh, and he LOVES to hear her say "Dah-dee"! :)