A Sad Day...

Mommy is feeling a little emotional today- we spent the morning packing up some of Emily’s “baby” toys that she doesn’t play with much anymore (well, she hadn’t been until she saw us packing them up....then suddenly they were very popular again!) We are keeping all of her toys and clothes to use with siblings (IN THE FUTURE...not now!) so I’m not as sad as I might have been had we sold it all. We packed up her puppy play mat (see months 2-5 albums for pics of this toy), her papasan chair (newborn albums- it was a very comfy place for her to rest!), and her most beloved toy, the Jumperoo (look at any album from about Month 5 forward). I can’t believe we packed up the jumper-- that thing went back and forth with us whenever we visited anyone and I had to cart it to NC each and every trip we made. Without the jumper I would probably still be packing the WV house- Emmy spent A LOT of time in it because it made her so happy and I could pack boxes in peace (well, it was sort of peaceful. The springs clanging on the jumper were constant background noise, haha!) She simply hasn’t been playing with these toys much anymore and they were just added “things” in her room. Now they are being stored in the eaves next to her room. Ahh....growing up so fast.

Since I last blogged Em has developed the ability to pull up onto anything and everything and last night at dinner, she played peek-a-boo with us, and SHE controlled the napkin! Usually I will put something over her head and she will pull it off, but last night she was pulling it off AND holding it up in front of her face. She even waited for me to say, “Where’d you go?” before dropping it and dissolving into giggles. So stinking cute! She’s also experimenting with new words and sounds. Yesterday she crawled down the hallway to Paul’s office, peeked around the corner, and yelled, “Dad! Dad!!” It was adorable.

Time to Baby-Proof!

It’s official-- Emily has gone completely wild! Suddenly she is into EVERYTHING! She is like a tornado loose in the house! In the past two days she has crawled into the mudroom (where we keep Booker’s crate) and tried to pull up on it; pulled over all the toy baskets in her room; gotten tangled up in an electrical cord (this was a scary one!); attempted to explore and electrical outlet (again, scary!), and is now fighting me with all her might to not get into jammies at night-- she wants to play with her toys. She can crawl very fast and seems to have misplaced her “listening ears”-- she will not turn toward a voice or pay any attention when her mind is focused on getting to somewhere else. The mission for this weekend? Babyproof our house!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work with Mommy!

So we have officially made the transition to “two working parent family” status. I went back to work today and Emily spent time with Miss Jamey and Derrick. She seems to LOVE it there (she will hardly even acknowledge that I am there to pick her up!) so I am pleased about that, for sure. It is very hard to leave her but every day will get better, I’m sure. And I am making absolutely sure to spend all my evening time with her before she goes to bed-- no napping, TV watching, etc. is going on- we are just playing and enjoying each other’s company until it’s time for her to go to bed. It’s so weird to think of myself of as a “working Mom” but it is what it is. I am at a great school so I need to focus on the good parts and not on being away from Emmy. She is having fun all day long- and who wouldn’t want that for their baby?

9 Months old and Milestone Mania!

In the 8 days since Emily turned 9 months old she has been achieving milestones left and right! Here's a list of the things she's learned to do just in the last week:
- Crawling! Yes, finally! She still is not doing it every single time she wants to go somehwere (she can roll REALLY fast and prefers the most efficient way!) but she did crawl. I saw it!
- Clapping! She claps her hands together now.
- Sitting up in her crib!
- Teething! She has two bottom baby teeth!
- Getting from lying down to sitting up all by herself!

It is amazing how much she has developed in just the past few days...unbelievable!

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.