51 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes!!!!!  How is my baby almost one year old already?!?!?!?!

51 weeks young.  Technically, since I'm late in posting this, she's actually 51.5 weeks!  Just a few more days until the big O-N-E.  Eeeeeeep!

She crawls, she walks, she dances, and as of the past week she is a non-stop babbler too!

Emily started her 51st week making “ga-ga” noises all day.  She then moved on to “Dada”  {woohoo!!  milestone photo op!}  and in case there was any doubt in my mind from earlier in the week, she definitely said “oof oof” when we saw a dog -- so that’s also an official word now!

Walking and talking.  My newborn infant has turned into a toddler and I simply don't understand where the time has gone!!!  ;)

We've been blessed with some really nice spring weather, so we've been spending more time outside.  Emily is getting slightly more warmed-up to the grass, even venturing to touch it voluntarily!

The weekend was fun-filled with firsts!  Emily visited Long Island {where I grew up!} for the first time, and attended her first birthday party!  A childhood friend of mine had a baby boy just 3 weeks before I gave birth to Emily, so we went out to meet the adorable little Trevor and help celebrate his birthday!  We also got to see some of my extended family members after the party, and then celebrated our first Mother's Day as a family together the following day at home!

On Monday, I took Emily to a waddler gym class for the first time, where she experienced a ball pit, tunnel crawl, swinging rings, a balance beam, a trampoline, and a bunch of exercises and other activities.  She wasn't very impressed with the ball pit or tunnel crawl, though she did finally go through one little tunnel after a lot of prompting by me.  :)

   

She looooooved the rings -- it probably felt to her like she was a human swing!  The smile on her face was just pure joy.

Emily's appetite for solid foods is improving, and she is getting very good at feeding herself some finger foods!  She used to gag when presented with "chunky" foods, but this week she scarfed down an entire 6 oz jar of chicken with pasta stars PLUS 2 clementines for dinner in one night!  The following night she ate an entire banana following her 4 oz jar of puree!  She's a growing girl, for sure!  Here's a little video of Emily eating some grapes:

The way she moves her little fingers to her mouth, and purses her lips when she chews just cracks me up.  I love watching her feeding skills improve over time -- it's been such a remarkable difference in a relatively short amount of time!

Well, that's about it for Week 51!  We have one B-I-G birthday milestone coming up in just a few days!!!!!!!!!!!!

11 Months Young!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's pretend it's still April 22nd, shall we?  ;)

All About Emily

• Weighs over 21 lbs, 5 oz {80th percentile} and is 30 inches long {89th percentile!}!  Her head size is growing too.... 67th percentile!
• Wearing size 4 diapers, 12 months footie pjs and 9-12 months clothing!
• Has 6 teeth, with more on the way shortly I think!
• Hair is long enough to pull back with a bow or mini spike pony!
• Noticeable dimple on left cheek when she smiles big, which is often!  Emily has a big, open smile and sometimes likes to scrunch her nose up and smirk when she's happy too.  When she laughs, she makes a short burst "Ha Ha Ha" sound that is adorable!  :)
• Walking more every day, and is pretty steady for a beginner!  Still a much faster crawler though, so if she's in a hurry you'll find her on all fours.  She also still does her little one-legged jig too!
• Points her cute little index finger at everything!
• Enjoys being around other babies and children.  Smiles and then shyly turns head away from people in the elevator, and also recently began waving!  She's definitely a friendly kid, and being around people seems to make her happy.
• First official temper tantrum!  She was yelling and shaking -- it was quite a site!  Interestingly there was no "milestone" card for this in the collection we have.  ;)
• Very recently been making the "S" and "F" sounds a lot throughout the day.
• Started an impromptu game of "Hide & Seek" with me the other day while I was sorting laundry in our closet, and thought she was hysterical for sneaking up on me!
• Explores the apartment more and loves getting into things she finds interesting! 

• She especially likes tupperware, the recycling bin, laundry baskets and the washing machine!  And it won't be long until she figures out how to open our "babyproofed" cabinets!

 

• Loves climbing over things and crouching under things!

• Bites her forearm when teething.
• Rests her right foot up on her stroller while we're out for walks.
   
  
• Is a pro at using her sippy cup, and has started drinking water out if it more frequently.  Still prefers smooth purees to chunky purees and table foods, though she does eat puffs, teething wafers, apple off the core, and some bits of waffle when the mood strikes her.  She does pretty well at feeding herself the things she wants to eat, and she lets us know when she does not want to eat something!

• Likes "helping" (i.e., getting involved in whatever we are doing).

• Covers her face with my shirt when she's tired and nursing.  Also loves doing downward-facing dog pose {often with one leg up in the air} while nursing!
• "Dances" by bopping up and down when music comes on!  This is absolutely my new favorite sight to see.... it is CUTE with a capital C!
• LOVES looking at books -- she pulls all of our books out of her shelf and scatters them around.  She also sits quietly turning the pages and looking at the photos by herself for several minutes at a time!  We definitely have a bookworm on our hands!!

 

• She's growing sooooo fast and changing every day.  All too soon this little lady will leave infancy behind and move onto toddlerhood!  Gulp!!!

49 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These photos are getting harder and harder to capture because this lady is constantly on the move, and NOT a fan of her paparazzi mother.  ;)  But I managed to snap this one, which I love!

Emily began her 49th week off great!  She started an impromptu game of "Hide & Seek" with me while I was sorting laundry in our closet, and thought she was absolutely hysterical for sneaking up on me!  She spotted me through the glass panes of our door, and didn't think I saw her.  She crawled super fast toward me from the dining room with a huge smile on her face, and then got very slow and quiet as she neared the door.  She paused for a minute and then quickly moved her head around the door and busted out laughing, as if to say "Boo!".  I started cracking up -- it was adorable!

On 4/24 she slept for 7 hours (+ 8 minutes to be precise!) overnight, from 11:10pm until 6:18am!  What a shock, especially because in the afternoon she kept biting everything in sight and her nose was running all over the place, so I thought for sure it was going to be another "teething" night.  The sleep streak continued the following day when she took a 1 hour and 20 minute nap, whoa nelly!!!  Shep and I just stared at the monitor in disbelief.... she NEVER naps that long!

We started looking at convertible car seats and also picked up some 1st birthday goodies -- yikes, it’s coming up waaaaaay too quickly!

Emily had another successful swim class, and a playdate with her friend Nora, who is a year older.  It's funny how a year is such a huge difference in sizing, skills and personalities in small children!  It was so cute seeing the two of them interact with/ignore one another.

This week, Emily showed off her new-found bopping/dancing skills while sitting on her playmat playing with a toy that makes music.  It was so cute to see her bumping up and down to the tune.  I may be biased, but this girl has rhythm! I think she gets it from me.  ;)

Unfortunately, poor Em ended her week on a low note.  She caught a horrific stomach bug and was vomiting all over the place.  She couldn't keep ANYTHING down and ended up getting temporarily mildly dehydrated.  Poor kiddo almost had to go to the ER for some IV fluids, but we *luckily* managed to avoid that by the skin of our teeth.  It was so upsetting to see her so ill, but she handled it like a champ, as usual.  Even the pediatrician commented on "how playful" she was for being so ill.  That's my girl!

"I think I can sneak right by Mommy without her even knowing....
Oh wait.... I'm stuck.....Won't give up.... Keep squirming..."

My Sweet Angel

Carseat Model

P.S. -- Look who {sometimes} wears shoes now!

48 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We started Emily's 48th week by sending out her birthday invitations... gulp!  I guess the countdown to ONE has officially begun!!!

The weather finally started to warm up a bit, so last weekend we took Emily to the park.

Something was different about this park visit though..... this time, Emily wore shoes for the first time outside!

She went on the swing and had fun looking at all the big kids running around.  After she was done with the swing, we stood her up the ground.  She wasn't too sure what those “things” attached to her tootsies were though, and didn’t want to take any steps in them!  She might as well have been wearing cement shoes instead of silver ballet slippers.  Those edible biscuit-shaped feet wouldn't budge an inch!

On Sunday, we drove up to visit Shep's mom.  Emily took her very first museum visit, and got to see a bunch of animals, including turtles, fish, rabbits, a snake and a crow.

She also got some playtime in with some aunts and cousins on Shep's mother's side of the family, which was fun.  Emily had loooooooots of energy for all her visitors!

My little Em was a silly goose on Monday!  We spent the day together playing, reading, strolling, making silly faces, laughing and having fun.

  

All of our shenanigans must have worked up quite an appetite, because after dinner Emily ate some pear, and by the photo below you can see she certainly enjoyed it!  She was squeezing and squashing the pear all over herself, and having a blast, while taking little bites along the way!

Emily is teething -- AGAIN.  Or should I say still?  I'm starting to realize that the first 2 years of life are one long teething process, mixed with some other stuff in between.  ;)  Teething always throws Emily's sleep schedule out of wack, not that it's ever really in tip top shape to begin with.  ;)  I try to put her down for more frequent naps when she's teething or sick, because she doesn't sleep for very long.  Sometimes her discomfort interferes with her ability to fall asleep, but once she's finally sleep, she's a peaceful as a little angel...

"Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move mountains." - Napoleon Bonaparte

On Tuesday, Daddy got splashed by a truck driving by on the walk to daycare, and Emily thought it was HILARIOUS!!!  I can just picture her cracking up, while he was dripping with rain puddle water.  Bleck!  I'm glad she has such a great sense of humor!  It's either going to come in really handy one day, or get her in a lot of trouble.  ;)

Emily had a great week at daycare!  She took a few really long naps, had fun reading books and playing with her classmates, went on some walks outside in the adorable baby-mobile they have, spent a little bit of time in the older baby room where she'll be moving in May, and spent time with her favorite teacher, Ms. N.  Sadly, Ms. N is moving down South and this was her last week at the center.  Ms. N has been soooooo wonderful with Emily since she started -- spoon feeding her milk when Em wouldn't drink from the bottle or sippy cup, rocking and humming her to sleep for her naps, and just generally being caring and attentive.  Emily LOVES her.  Shep has joked on numerous occasions that Ms. N could kidnap Emily without protest.  When he drops Emily off at daycare in the morning, Emily jumps out of his arms into Ms. N's arms.  That is the kind of thing that makes a mom feel easier about leaving her most precious bundle in someone else's care.  Needless to say, I was crushed on my daughter's behalf to hear that she was leaving.  I tried as best I could to thank Ms. N for all she's done for our family, but I don't know if it's possible to really thank someone adequately for caring for your child.  It was difficult for me to say goodbye this week, and it is going to be sooooo hard for Emily next week, not knowing where Ms. N is -- just that she's not there.  Unfortunately, Emily is too young to understand why Ms. N won't be there like she has been every day for the past few months, and Shep and I are both predicting a tear-filled drop-off week.  I just hope it's not too bad.  :(

Well, that sums up Week 48!  Stay tuned for Emily's 11 month update, yikes!!