31 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 25, 2014

Guess who finally started to cut her second tooth just in the nick of time for Christmas!  We didn't know it was the culprit at the time, but her new tooth kept waking Little Miss Emily up almost hourly the night before Christmas Eve, who in turn shared the fun with her loving parents!  I'm not kidding -- she slept from 8-8:45pm, 9-10pm, 10-11:20pm, 11:50p-1:20a, 1:30-3am, 3:25-3:40am, 4-7:30am, and then 7:45-8am.  We obviously knew something was up with so many wake-up-and-cry sessions, but it wasn't until Wednesday morning that I felt the tips of that tooth finally cutting through.  Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were pretty tired when it was time to get up and get packed on the 24th.  But, we somehow managed to pull ourselves together and make the 2 hour drive north to my aunt's house. We didn't get there until after 3 pm, but better late than never!  ;)  An early Christmas present from Emily to us is that she slept for well over an hour in the car on the way there!  It wasn't all at once -- she woke up twice and then fell back asleep a few minutes later -- but that is absolutely the most she's ever slept in a 2 hour period, and by far the most she's slept in the car!  After such a rough night, that was a pleasant car surprise!  She slept pretty well at Aunt Barbara's house too... woke up her typical 2x a night to nurse, but that was much better than she was doing the prior few days at home!

Emily also figured out this week how to bend her wrist and make a waving motion with her hand.  So far, she mostly does it while holding a toy.  She keeps practicing and practicing and practicing over and over and over again!!!  It's all just so exciting that those little fingers and chubby little wrist can bend and move!  ;)

And just in case a new tooth and new found hand control aren't enough, Emily reallllllllly wants to stand up independently.  The drive this girl has is incredible {and exhausting}, and very advanced for her age!

As for Christmas, she didn't pay as much attention to the Christmas tree or the gifts as I thought she would, though OF COURSE she tried to eat the presents, wrapping paper and ribbons!  She did really like her new toys though!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

7 Months Young!!!!!!!

Last Monday, Emily turned 7 months old!  Whoever invented the adage "the days are long, but the years are short" was sorely mistaken.  The days, weeks and months just keep flying by!!!  My itty bitty baby girl is more than half a year old!

All About Emily:

• Measures 18 pounds, 3 ounces and 28 inches long; head measures 42 cm around.
• Still wearing size 3 diapers.
• Wearing mostly 6 months/some 9 months clothing and mostly 9 months footie pjs.
• Over the past month, has started pulling on/caressing the front of her own hair when she's nursing and tired.  I guess that's her way of trying to go to sleep?  It is the most adorable thing to see..... it just melts by heart and brings a smile to my face!  She has also on a few occasions tried to eat my hair when she's really tired.  This girl has a thing for hair!
• Speaking of hair, hers is really coming in!  It's beautifully blonde, and oh so soft.
• Learned how to sit unsupported, sit up on her own from a laying position, crawl and pull herself up onto her knees while holding onto something all last month!  She also got her first tooth this past month and has her second tooth on the way in!
• Is eating solids!!!  Emily eats oatmeal for breakfast every morning, and eats a veggie or fruit for dinner too!  So far she's tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, avocado, carrots, peaches, pears, winter squash and sweet peas.  She's still a very messy eater, but she's getting better at it every day!  She immediately shoves her hands into her mouth after each bite of food, and she tries to grab the spoon away from us when we feed her!
• Still won't drink from a bottle and takes very limited sips of water from her sippy cup.  She mostly chews on her sippy cup or throws it on the floor.  She has gotten a few sips of water from her sippy cup on occasion and acts startled (not in a good way) each time it happens!
• Has mastered the art of throwing things off the side of her high chair to watch them fall!  Gotta love babies exploring "cause and effect"!  :)
• We've started teaching her a couple hand signs --- "milk", "food", "more", and "all done".  It's hard to tell if she fully understands what we're doing but I'm willing to bet she's going to surprise us one day really soon and sign on her own!
• Typically still waking up 1-2 times a night to eat.  She also babbles when about to go to sleep.  She surprised us a couple times this past month with some 6-6.5 stretches of sleep at night, and 2 nights of falling back asleep ON HER OWN IN HER CRIB two nights in a row {while I shushed her from the other side of the room for a few minutes}.  But now she's back into the throws of teething and all sleep has gone far out the window.  ;)
• Has gross smelly poop now that she's eating solids!  Ewwww...
• Had to slightly increase her Prevacid dosage earlier this month once she surpassed 18 pounds and started spitting up a lot more, even with the solid foods.  On this new dosage though her reflux seems to really be under control though -- knock on wood!
• Prefers to "sit spin" (basically, spin around on her bum while sitting, or do sit-kneel-sit scooting sequences) instead of crawling to get around her play mat.  She sits up as soon as she wakes up, and prefers to be sitting or kneeling on her play mat.  She also tries to get up on her knees, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of that trick.
• Has the CUTEST little baby smirk smile.  She did it a bunch before her first tooth came in, then stopped for a little while but is now doing it again now that her second tooth is cutting through.  She also makes blowing sounds with her mouth a lot while she's teething.
• Moves her feet like she's doing an Irish jig when you hold her up in the air under her arms and move her from side to side.
• Is able to pick up objects with one hand and pass them to her other hand.  Her finger control is getting better and she frequently spreads her fingers apart.  She loves pulling my hair, grabbing our lips, and sticking her fingers up our noses.  She isn't quite able to pinch things with her thumb and pointer finger yet, but I'm sure in the next month or so she'll have that pincher action down!
• Recognizes her name when it's called.
• Insists on trying to roll off her changing table at every. single. diaper change.
• Still loves reading books, but is now a lot more calm when being read to.  She focuses on the photos in the books and can sit quietly {for a little while anyway!}.
• Babbles repetitive syllables, uses her voice to express joy or displeasure, and responds to changes in the tone of our voices when we talk to her.
• Tries to put EVERYTHING in her mouth!
• Loves taking her socks off and playing with her feet.
• Laughs hysterically when we do silly play time and squeals with delights when we pretend to eat her belly.
• Loves to jump and has a blast in her jumperoo or jumping with help from Mommy or Daddy!  She also loves being {pretend} tossed up in the air, climbing up the torso of whoever is holding her, and scratching her nails against her crib sheet.
• Has recently learned how to play catch and gets very excited when she catches her ball!
• Has a wide open-mouth smile that is bright as the sun in summer!  The happiness on her face when she sees one of us walk in the room is worth all the sleepless nights in the world.