27 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 27 Week Birthday to Emily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This little turkey is finally starting to cut her first tooth!  Trust me, I'm in no hurry for Emily to grow up any faster than she already is.... but I feel like she's been teething for 3 months already and hope when the tooth finally pops out she will get a little relief!  Between the soreness of her gums and the non-stop drool that causes chapped skin on her chin {despite my applying cream several times daily!}, she could use a little break I'm sure.  I know I've been saying for weeks, even months, that her first tooth is imminent, but as of Tuesday I can actually feel the sharp little edge in her gums so it really should be any day now.

Crawling could also be any day now!  She lifted up her right arm several times in a row the other day while she was up on all fours, so she's definitely getting closer!

Emily tried sweet potatoes {which she looooooves!} and avocado {which she doesn't} this week!

I *think* she's finally getting past her 6 month growth spurt / mental leap.  For the past few weeks she's been extra fussy, waking up screaming multiple times a night, and impossible to put down in her crib for naps or nighttime even if she's fast asleep.  The second you lay her down, her eyes pop open and the crying starts.  The other night I sat up holding her for 3 hours because each time I put her down she woke up and immediately started screaming.  Shep thought she was having nightmares.  I think it was either her teeth or the mental development she's been going through {known as "wonder weeks"}.  Either way, she's been a little bit easier to put down {*knock on wood*} the past day or so, so hopefully the worst is behind us!  Of course I probably just jinxed myself.  Shep and I have been practicing our ninja moves though just in case!  Escaping a sleeping baby really should be an Olympic sport!  If you haven't seen this video, it's pretty funny, and oh so true!!!

Our little butterball has her 6 month wellness visit next week, which means she'll get measured and receive some more vaccines, including her flu shot.  Hopefully they won't be too painful for her this time around!

6 Months Young!!!!!!

6 MONTHS ALREADY!?!?!

I can't believe how quickly time has just flown by!  Our little girl turned 6 months old this past Saturday!

Here's a quick video of the half-birthday girl!  :)

Emily has changed so much since her last monthly update!

• On 11/12, she weighed over 16.5 pounds (73rd percentile), was 25.75 inches long (54th percentile) and had a head circumference of 41.5 cm (29th percentile)!
• Started eating solids!  She loves her oatmeal in the morning for breakfast and her sweet potato puree!  She leans forward to get the spoon in her mouth, and we can't feed her fast enough!  We tried avocado once too but she wasn't a fan -- we will try it again though!
• Celebrated her first Halloween!
• Met her Great Aunt Nancy & Great Uncle Gary for the first time!
• Has been practicing her "up on all fours" maneuver in preparation for crawling!  She does this really cute thing that Shep has named her "frog leap", which is a little like the baby version of the "downward dog" yoga pose, and gets excited when she thinks she's getting somewhere!
• Hates having boogies cleaned out of her nose, but also doesn't like having boogies in her nose.  Go figure.
• Loves being cuddled for a little bit with her head on my shoulder when she wakes up.
• Still not sleeping very well -- waking up several times per night and taking ~3 x 30-40 minute naps a day.
• Loves grabbing my lips with her hands.  Shep likes to joke that's her way of telling me to keep quiet.  ;)
• Kicks her right leg around while I'm holding and feeding her.
• Is sleeping {mostly} in her crib for naps and nighttime!
• Can sit up with support, but doesn't sit still long enough to really balance all on her own!  She'd much prefer to stretch out onto her back or belly!
• Loooooooves her Sophie teether, and putting anything she can get her hands onto into her mouth!  ...Except a bottle or pacifier.  ;)  She especially loves chewing on the plastic books she has.
• Laughs when I sing "The Wheels On The Bus" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes".
• Gets SUPER excited when Daddy comes home from work, and smiles when she hears his voice on speakerphone.
• Loves kisses from Mommy:

• Finds a way to get her limbs stuck in her crib, despite the mesh bumpers we have:

Is getting a little tired of the paparazzi woman who keeps following her around taking photos of her in all her cuteness:

• Is still very amused with trying to get under the couch:

• Newly fascinated with looking at and grabbing my fuzzy slippers and socks on my feet.
• Has experienced some pretty chilly days!

• Started making an adorable little smirk that causes her to look even cuter than usual, which I didn't think possible!

• Gets bed head just like her Mom!

These past six months have been some of the most tiring, but most exciting, of our lives.  Though we wish we could slow time down and soak in all of Emily's adorableness forever and ever, we can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us!  This little girl is growing up way too fast!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Today is a day for giving thanks, and there isn't anything I am more thankful for in this life than my husband and my baby girl.  These two turkeys make all my days happy!

 

We were all set to head North to visit Shep's mom for Thanksgiving, but thanks to a foot of snow and power outages up there, we had to change plans last minute.  I couldn't let Emily's first Thanksgiving get cancelled by a little snow though!  She was already wearing her pre-dinner outfit and practicing her sprinker dance moves!

So, I put on my boots, went to the grocery store at 11am, and grabbed whatever I thought I could cook in order to cobble together an edible meal.  Considering I once forget to drain the water out before adding cheese when making mac & cheese many years ago, this isn't as easy as it might sound to you Julia Child types...  In fact, Shep was verrrrrry, shall we say, skeptical.  Heck, I was even skeptical!  But I didn't let it show.  I walked in the door, proudly announcing that dinner would be served before 4pm, and quickly got to work.  Shep was on Daddy duty while I was on kitchen duty.  Just me and my little 3 pound butterball.  Nope, that's not a typo....

Luckily, I'd bought a roasting pan on sale last month, which I didn't know would come in handy so soon!  This picture shows you just how tiny our turkey for two actually was:

But, I'm proud to say it all worked out!  We ate a proper Thanksgiving meal after all!

We even whipped out our formal wedding china and set the table!!!  We're so fancy.  ;)

And Emily sat right alongside us in her big girl high chair...

 wearing eating her own sweet potatoes!

When she finished those, she looked around for more.

She was still hungry, so she ate her washcloth!  {I was going to lie and pretend that she was wiping her mouth like a lady but I figured nobody would believe that one anyway...}

From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Oh Snow!

It's beginning to look a lot like.... wait a minute -- it's too early for that!!!  Calendar aside, it looks like winter has arrived a bit early this year!  It was 72 degrees and sunny on Monday and today it precipitated of the frozen variety.  Though it wasn't enough where to stick or go out and play in where we live, Emily saw her first snowflakes today!!!  Of course, she was snow excited to look at the white flakes through the window, so I took some photos of her smiley face to capture the occasion.  This kiddo is snow adorable and gets cuter by the day, I swear!  ;)

After posing next to the window, we got down to business.  First, Emily practiced her crawling technique a bit more...

And then we had a rousing game of peek-a-boo using a soft green blanket.  :)

She loved it.  I loved watching her.  It was a win-win situation.

The only thing I wish I could've changed about today would be to remove the 2 gigantic gashes scratches Emily inflicted on herself {despite the fact that I filed her nails last night before bed and again this morning when she woke up}.  Oh, and the one she gave me to match... #twinsies.

Ouchie!

Happy Snow Day!!!

26 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily turned 26 weeks young on Thursday, and was super excited about it!

This week has been filled with smiles galore, a couple bumps, drooling, gnawing on Sophie, not enough sleep, and lots of almost-crawling going on!  Not only is she up on all fours, but she rocks back and forth too!  She is sooooo close.  Now I'm wondering what will come first -- a tooth, crawling or sitting up by herself!  It's anyone's guess!

Fooooooood!

Someone had a taste of "real" food this weekend!  We fed Emily oatmeal cereal, and although she was a little skeptical at first, she quickly got excited about it!

Here's Daddy giving Emily her first bites...

Then Mommy had a turn with the spoon!

And here she is on Day 2.... definitely getting the hang of it quickly!

Emily got more cereal in her mouth than on her bib the second day, so we'll take that as a victory!  ;)  Overall, I think the weekend was a success!

25 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Little Em is getting soooooooooo big!  This week she took her first ride on mass transit!  I don't think she knew exactly what to make of being on the train...

Emily and Mommy coincidentally had a coordinating pajama day...

Notice the light blue, animal, polka dot similarities!

And Emily worked on her crawling technique.  This afternoon she got up on all fours for a full second or two!

It's only a matter of time now before she's really mobile!  Watch out world, here she comes!!!!!

Halloween Scares

Halloween has always been a fun holiday for me.  When I was a kid, my cousins, friends and neighbors enjoyed making our own costumes and trick or treating around the neighborhood. Sometimes we would get so much candy we would come back home, empty our bags and then head out for a second trip.  My hometown also had two other unique Halloween traditions-- one where all the store owners along our Main Street would let the kids paint Halloween pictures in their windows, and then award a prize for the best (sadly, they no longer do this) and also a pumpkin decorating contest at the Elementary School.  I won that one a few times!

Nicole, on the other hand, hates Halloween.  She says it's because when she went trick or treating as a child, her mother "forced" her to wear long underwear under her costume because it was always so cold out. Nicole says it "ruined" her costumes (particularly the princess one) because the white long shirt showed under her sleeveless princess dress.  She also had to wear her coat over her costume.  Suffice it to say, this remains a hotly-debated topic between Nicole and her mother to this day.

I was excited to celebrate Halloween for the first time with Emily.  What's Halloween without a few spooky pumpkins?

This was not Emily's costume, but rather her Halloween pajama outfit.  Yes, I carved that giant pumpkin (and carried it home for a mile after work -- 18 lbs and I almost keeled over doing it).  We actually took Emily to three Halloween parties (not all in the same day, thank God):  one in our apartment building, one at a nearby restaurant with other local moms, and one at Nicole's job.

Nicole's job has a big Halloween party each year-- kids are invited and they have a big costume contest.  We decided to bring Emily since she is a bit too young for trick or treating.  Well, we had our first Halloween scare half way there.   On the way to the office, someone -- not mentioning any names -- made a HUGE poop, which leaked out of her diaper ALL OVER her pants.  The pants she was supposed to wear under her Halloween costume.  Yeah.  It was like the biggest poop she's ever made. Nicole and I had to change her in the back of our car in the parking garage of her office building, where all the parking attendants watched us while they laughed.  I think we went through 800 wipes.  Sorry to be gross, but that poop was EVERYWHERE.  What a mess.  All over her.  All over the changing pad.  Even on Nicole and me! We almost ran out of wipes!!  Needless to say, it was an event.  We were pretty late, but we thank our lucky stars that she did it BEFORE we got inside.... that would've been some introduction to Nicole's boss!  She was so good the entire visit, even though she missed several naps.  Shockingly, she fell asleep in Nicole's arms at one point while she was having a conversation with her co-workers. Unheard of for this non-sleeping baby!  Just goes to show how tired she was.

And without further ado, Emily's costume:

That's right, an ice cream cone!  Nicole had mentioned in previous posts she looked delicious.  Now you know why.  The only thing is that costume was hot (foam and all) so we took it off Emily and changed her into some Halloween-themed clothes about half-way through the party.

Emily had a great time and then came home for an early Halloween night's sleep.

Happy Halloween!

24 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And cuter every day!

It was another fun-filled week in Emily's world!  Of course last Friday was Halloween {special Halloween post to come soon, I promise!}.  We paid a visit to my office where Emily met a bunch of my co-workers for the first time!

Then last weekend we had a great visit from Emily's favorite set of twins!

Other than that, not too much to report from this week.  On Monday, Emily and I enjoyed a nice fall stroll.  Snug and snuggly!

Then on Tuesday, she voted for the first time!  Well, technically I voted but she was in the booth with me.  :)

She tried on a pair of hand-knit booties...

We did some laundry...

Took a selfie together...

And of course made the move to her crib for night sleep.

You already know how night #1 went.  Night #2 was a bit less successful, and night #3 was a total bust.  She woke up 4 times before midnight -- once every hour -- screaming.  Finally we caved and put her in the Pack n Play at around 1 am after getting her back to sleep.  I know that probably wasn't the smartest move, but Mama has to sleep too!  She slept marginally better in there, but still woke up every 2-3 hours.  Hopefully we get a bit luckier tonight!

My Crib

Guess what?!

Mommy was nervous at first, but I did pretty well for my first night!  I fell asleep at 7:15 pm in Mommy's arms, and she slipped me into my crib without me even knowing!  She was a bit scared to take such a big step on her own {Daddy was working late} but since I've reached the weight capacity for my Pack 'n Play bassinet the clock is ticking!  I took 2 good naps in my crib during the day, so Mommy thought it was as good of a time as ever to try it out for night sleep too!  I woke up at 10:52 pm and was a bit confused, but Daddy picked me up and hugged me a bit before handing me over to Mommy to feed me.  I needed some extra reassurance that everything was okay since though I woke up in a strange place, so I stayed in Mommy's arms nursing for a lot longer than I usually do.  But, once I fell back asleep at 11:30 pm she stealthily slipped me back in my crib!  I slept until 5:22 am -- over 5.5 hours in one stretch! -- before I woke up hungry again.  After a quick early breakfast I slept for another hour and was awake and ready to come out to see Mommy & Daddy at 6:40 am.  Overall, it wasn't the best sleep I've had in a while, but by far definitely not the worst either!

Mommy and Daddy were pretty impressed with my first night in my big girl crib.  They said they hope I sleep even better tonight!  And maybe Mommy will sleep better tonight too.... she was too nervous to sleep well last night, that silly Mommy!