Defiance, Part 1 of a Series, I'm Sure!

See those new teeth in the picture above? I got to know them up close and personal tonight when Emmy BIT ME!!! That’s right folks....our very first episode of complete defiance. We’re so proud (not!!) She was attempting to pull books off her bookshelves so I kept telling her No. Finally I put my arm up to block her path and in an instant, she was biting me! What on earth? What’s a Mommy to do? I am sure this is only the beginning of her continual quest to be independent and in control....oh joy. :)

Emily Claire, Child Genius!

It’s official folks-- Emily is one smart cookie! Last night she picked up her night light again (I forgot to plug it in again) and she looked like she was going to try to put it in the outlet again. I said, “Emily, NO! You need to give that to Mommy”, and put my hand out. I was totally shocked when she crawled across the room to give it to me! She came over, put it in my outstretched hand, and crawled over to play with some other toys. Brilliant!!

10 Months Old!

I know I sound like a broken record but WHERE DOES THE TIME GO? I can’t believe that Emily has been here for 10 months already. I also reeeeeally can’t believe that in a mere 2 months we’ll be celebrating her birthday! (And celebrate we will-- I am already planning her first birthday bash! Look for invites soon!)


As for milestones...let’s see. Emily is pulling up on everything, shakes her head no for “no” and bobs it up and down (but I don’t think she understands that the motion she’s making means “yes”. We know for sure that she gets “no” though....funny how she already knows no! She said “D” at the babysitter’s the other day (Jamey’s son Derrick goes by “DD” so she was probably saying his name!) Also, little missy has decided that baby food is for well, babies....and she won’t eat it AT ALL anymore! The past few times I’ve tried to give it to her she has gotten so angry that she won’t eat anything else or take her bottle. Nice, huh? She totally gets that temper stuff from her daddy and not me...right? ;-)

Also, Miss Jamey is “walking” Emily around during the day- the other kids there can walk and it frustrates Emmy so much so Jamey lets her try to walk. She is so good to Emily...I couldn’t be hunched over like that all day helping her! Emily also crawls like lightning now.



Tonight in her room she was playing and I was putting away laundry in her closet-- I heard a scraping sound against the wall and poked my head out to see her with the night light in her hand, trying to put it in the outlet! EEEEK!! (For some background, I leave the nightlight on until I feed her in the middle of the night, then I unplug it so the room is as dark as possible. I usually plug it back in when we play after dinner in her room, but tonight I forgot.) After a very stern “No” from me (to which she responded by shaking HER head no at me!!) she put it down and speed-crawled away. I would have never guessed that she knew what to do with the light!

Granny bought her a tiara months ago and we tried it on tonight...the pics are priceless! Enjoy!

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!