9 Month Peds Appointment

Emily had her 9 month appointment today. I felt like a traitor not taking her to Dr. Jay but I think 4 hours is a little too far to commute for pedi visits. :)
Stats-
Weight- 18lbs8oz (50th%)
Head- 17.5 (60th%)
Length- 27in (40th%)

She's still a shrimp! The pediatrician remarked several times how "spunky" and "assertive" she was and how she has a very "big personality" . Tell me something I don't know! :) I told her about Emily's recent hunger strike against baby food-- she said not to push the baby food-- to feed her very healthy table food and periodically try baby foods-- she may come back around. Also, she recommended Stonyfield Farms Organic Vanilla yogurt-- I told her the Yo Baby multipacks weren't working for her because we can't use the banana flavored because of Em's reflux. (We eliminated banana items from Emily's diet and now she is completely OFF the Zantac!) She said there is some sugar in the Stonyfield Farms but she thinks it's best-- plus, they make a whole milk variety and it was only $3.99 for the big big tub...so a lot better price-wise than the little Yo Babies. She said Emily looks great and is in perfect condition. She said we should just be patient with the teething (I'd be willing to bet this woman has no children, lol!) and let her do as she wishes for a little while. All in all, I really like the new doc and I'm glad we found someone who isn't super pushy about anything.

9 Months Old!

Emily is nine months old! Incredible! I am always amazed at how quickly the months go by...
New developments:
- Emily cut her first tooth (finally!) It's the bottom right one if you're looking at her. It's not sticking all the way up yet, but it is through the surface. I am so excited!
- As stated in the previous blog, she mastered the pincer grasp and is now feeding herself. Sweet, sweet relief. Now I don't have to hand her the little puffs and Cheerios!
- She can replace her own pacifier, and is really only using it to go to sleep. I think weaning her from it will be a cinch (haha, I know-- famous last words!)
- She waved "bye bye" to a lady in Bath and Body Works the other day, but so far has refused to wave to anyone else, including herself in the mirror.
- She loves standing up and is now trying to stand up and hold on with only one hand. Uh oh. Cruising is probably not far off.
- We had her feet measured at the Striderite store in the mall (I was planning to hit up a huge baby consignment store and was going to specifically look for these shoes, but I ended up skipping the sale). The lady said Emmy is a size 3....uh, what happened to size 2?? She's been a 1 forever so maybe she finally hit a growth spurt-- this is great because she has SO many pairs of shoes and never wears any because they were all falling off. Her current favorite (and mine too!) is a pink pair of Robeez from Dr. Jones back home in WV. Dr. Jones, you were exactly right-- they DO NOT fall off!
- Emily has suddenly become very DISinterested in baby food! I have even tried to trick her into eating it by putting it on my plate first, but she is too smart! If it is the same texture as her baby food, she doesn't want it. Last night she ate probably 20 good bites of chicken breast, but she hates the baby food chicken. Do we just let her move to table food? Why does she want to grow up so quickly?
- She has a "boyfriend". Her babysitter Jamey's little boy, Derrick, and Emily like to cuddle a lot and have been seen sneaking little kisses. Paul is not thrilled about this, haha!
- She has gotten herself from lying down to a sitting position a few times, but not on a regular basis.
- Crawling....ok, she's still not QUITE there. But she's getting closer every day. However, her legs are getting so strong that we wonder if she might just skip the crawling and go straight for walking. Time will tell...

SO...that's our update. Hope you're having a great summer, and thanks for checking on our girl!

We Are Pincing, Baby!

Emily has a new trick-- she can use her thumb and forefinger in the pincer grasp!!! Basically, this means she can pick up an item as small as a Cheerio and feed it to herself! I was feeding her out of my palm today (she refused her baby food AGAIN-- we think her tooth/teeth might just break through at any moment) so I was sort of begging her to eat and allowing her to snack outside her high chair, which we never do. She plucked the puffs and cheerios out of my hand and popped them right into her own mouth! I was even able to get a few pictures of it!
Also-- today marks Week 38, Day 4 of Emily's life, which, coincidentally, is how pregnant I was when I delivered her. Seems like my pregnancy went by so quickly in comparison to how long she's been in our lives!
Tomorrow we go for her 9 month pictures...I can't even wrap my mind around how fast the time goes.

All Moved In!

Well, it's official-- we live in North Carolina now! Paul went back to WV for the week to finish at work but he'll be here Friday or Saturday. It's weird to be in such a big place, but we're learning!

Da Da! Da Da!

Yesterday Emily melted our hearts by saying, "Da Da! Da Da!" over and over again. It was so precious! She started outside when Paul asked her to say it and didn't stop all day long!

Today we met my family in Charleston for lunch at the Quaker Steak and Lube- the food was yummy and the company even better. We gave Pop (my dad) his Father's day gift since we'll be in NC on Father's day. They brought tons of presents for Em and got to feed her and play with her. She certainly didn't disappoint as far as hamming it up goes...she laughed and played and generally showed off as much as she could!

Tonight we were playing on the floor with her and she transferred toys from one hand to the other. She also will put toys in her fishbowl if you show her how to do it first. She's just cruising right through the milestones, one by one! She is also SOOOOO very close to crawling! We tried yogurt today for the first time and it did NOT go very well...she is not a fan. I tried to mash some peach pieces and mix it in to improve the taste but she wasn't having it. Little does she know that YoBaby Yogurt comes in 6 packs, and Mommy hates to waste food..so this isn't the last of the yogurt by any means! Haha!


This Friday we are heading to NC and Emily and I will stay permanently. Paul has to head back on Sunday night so he can work a few days but he will be back with us on Saturday the 14th. We're planning a trip to Myrtle Beach so be looking for beach pics soon! :)

7 Months Old!

Emily turned seven months old and celebrated by....getting her first cold! :( She and I had taken another trip to NC (the last one before the move-- hooray!) and she woke up on Tuesday the 20th very congested and didn't seem to be feeling well. Tuesday night was TERRIBLE- she was up all night long and even me sleeping with her didn't help-- the poor thing was miserable! Paul and I think she actually has the "Perfect Storm" of allergies, teething, and maybe a little cold too. Poor baby. Every day she seems to be feeling slightly better so hopefully we'll be through this soon!

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Princeton- Paul's Granny Laura passed away on Thursday morning so we joined the rest of the family. While we were in town for a sad occasion, it was definitely uplifting to see Emily and Jack (Paul's cousin Lorrie's son) interact with each other-- Jack would give Emily hugs and kisses! Emily was very interested in his hair and also made several attempts to take his paci from him!

Emmy is growing up so quickly! She is raking small objects with her hands, rolling all over the place (maybe she'll roll instead of crawling?) and loves to babble and to play in the tub. She is now eating 3 meals a day about 3-4 days per week. She gets oatmeal in the morning, a fruit for lunch, and usually a fruit and veggie for dinner. She is still taking formula, just smaller amounts if she's already eaten a meal shortly before. We've also graduated to a sippy cup for juice...and you can just tell that she thinks she is SOO big when she uses it! Emily tried the Stage 2 Chicken the other night and was NOT pleased at all with it. I even asked Paul to get her some peaches too so we could alternate, but she ended up crying and refusing to eat either food! Of course Booker was right next to us while she was eating it because the chicken smelled exactly like his canned food...wonder why Em didn't like it? GROSS!!

A new favorite activity for Emily is having me put a bunch of toys in a basket and setting the basket next to her-- she will reach in and pull out all the toys. We're still working on cleaning these messes up...she seems to be much better at making messes than repairing the damage!

I got a jogging stroller from Craigslist.com while I was in NC the last time-- the family selling it used it just a few times. It retails for $140 and I paid $35...not bad!! :) I can't wait to use it with her- I bet she loves being in it while we're running!

The last big of big news-- I have a job for next year!! I was offered 1st grade at an elementary school about 7 miles from our new house. While I will be very sad to leave Emily, I really like our new sitter in NC- she is only going to have Emily, her own son, and up to 2 other kids. I think not having Emily in daycare will really help to ease my transition back to work!

Finally-- I am ordering a baby pool and a "pat mat"-- this is a toy that you hook up to a hose and it squirts water up in the air. I can't wait to take pictures of Emily enjoying her summer toys! We're going to the beach in late June, too, so I'll be buying her a float to use in the pool. I can't wait to see her reaction!

Sitting Up, Reaching, Mimicking, Growing Up!

Emily and I returned home from a week in North Carolina yesterday and she very proudly showed off for her Daddy- today she sat up, completely unattended, for over 5 minutes before losing her balance. She wants to sit up all the time now and can hold toys, watch TV, look around, and pet the dogs all while maintaining her balance!

For round 2 of tricks, she decided today to start reaching for us! What a Mother's Day present!! She was sitting on the couch and I stood up, turned to her, and said, "Are you ready?" and held out my arms-- she reached hers right out to me! Paul rushed over and she did the same thing for him...she melts our hearts!

For her final trick today, we were in the car coming home from dinner and she was babbling in the backseat. Paul said, "Can you say DaDa?" and instantly we heard, "dadadadadadada" from the back of the car! Then he changed it to "Mama" and she did it again- "mamamamamama". Hooray!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I am in awe of how this day feels now that I am a parent. Emily is so, so very special and loved and I am just so thankful that she is in our lives. It's funny- last year I was 14 weeks pregnant on Mother's Day and it felt a little special...but nothing compared to how it feels this year. I am as excited about Mother's Day as I was about Christmas! Raising this little girl has changed my perspective on mothers and I really respect the jobs that mothers do. Happy Mother's day everyone! :)