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!!!

47 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess who has another tooth in that smiley little mouth of hers!!  Just one day before Emily decided to "officially" become a walker, her right lateral incisor broke through, after what seemed like a verrrrry long wait, for her and for us!  ;)


A new tooth and a new skill in one weekend?!  It was an exciting weekend, for sure!  It's no wonder that with all the excitement, someone had a hard time falling asleep for naps {more than usual} last week!


Emily put her brand new tooth to the test and chomped on some of Daddy’s homemade waffle, sliced pear and some bites of apple!

She also had a fun visit with her godfather Myles and her Great Aunt Barbara, who were here to witness Emily's first "8 step" walk event!

Later in the week, Mommy tried to get adventurous by giving Emily a hard carrot to chomp on.  While I think the gnawing helped her gums, she wasn't a fan of the actual taste...

She's really becoming quite a funny little lady -- such a prankster too!  For example, she helped me "re-organize" the tupperware cabinet this week:

Despite being sleepy and cutting a new tooth, Emily was very happy and squealed with delight throughout most of the week.  Even on rainy, dreary, tired days, her smile lights up the world!!  She really is a little cherub.  Here's one of my faves from this week:

Happy 47 weeks, Em!  xo

Emily the Walker!

Houston, we have lift-off!

Emily has officially walked for the first time!  And the second, and third....  ;)  She's been taking a couple random steps here and there every so often since late February, but until yesterday she hasn't reached the "4 or more consecutive steps at once" arbitrarily threshold we randomly set in order for it to count as walking.  We've been waiting with baited breath, and the time has come!!!

Emily is a walker!

To add to the excitement, Little Miss had an audience for her first 8-step walk!  Emily's great aunt, godfather and grandma were all here when she did it.  Ironically, her Daddy was right next to Emily when she walked for the first time, but he didn't quite see it since he was "resting his eyes" {a.k.a. Sunday snoozing on the couch!} when she decided to go for it.  Unfortunately for Shep, his nap was cut short when I yelped with excitement and poked him after witnessing my once-itty-bitty casually stroll toward the couch.  Ahhhh, I'm never going to let him live that one down!

Of course we then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get her to repeat her performance, with limited success.  I did manage to catch a few steps on camera though!  Don't let the wardrobe change fool you -- this was in fact the same day.  ;)

P.S. -- I'd like to brag point out that when Shep and I discussed this milestone several months ago, I predicted that she would walk by her 11 month birthday.  Bingo!!!!  And with 10 days to spare.  ;)  Lucky guess or mother's intuition??  ;)

10 Months Young!!!!!!!!!!

Double digits!!  Look at my big girl!

All About Emily:

• 20.5+ lbs weight, over 29” long, 44.5 cm head size
• Wearing size 4 diapers, size 9 month clothes and size 9 month footie pjs {which are getting VERY snug on her!}
• Has 6 teeth {3 on the top and 3 on the bottom}
• Takes multiple steps regularly now, especially when she's not paying attention to what she's doing.  However, we haven’t seen her take 4 or more consecutive steps, which is what we’re waiting to count as officially “walking”. :)
• Has recently started making the “g” sound, in addition to the "m" sound that she's now pretty good at ("ma ma"!).
• Eats 3 “solid” meals a day: 1.5 oz oatmeal for breakfast, 4 oz veggie/fruit puree for lunch, and 4 oz protein puree for dinner.  She's tried a bunch of table and finger fruits and veggies, though isn’t yet a huge fan of “real” solids.  Emily dislikes chunky purees but still loves her smooth purees, and has mastered puffs and teething wafers.
• Drinks milk and water out of a sippy cup.
• Crawls fast as lightning, and does a funny shuffle that includes inching forward with one leg while kneeling on her other knee.  Shep calls this her Russian Jig.

• Enjoys getting into the pantry/recycling bin/garbage can/laundry basket/dishwasher, licking the windows/dishwasher/oven, and unplugging her nightlight from the wall.

 

• Fascinated by looking out the window

• Laughs out loud when being tickled on her feet or tossed in the air.
• Holds her arm and hand outspread like she’s yelling “hey!” to you from across the street while keeping a calm face.
• Recently found interest in her feet again.
• Pulls on and strokes her hair to fall asleep.

• Enjoys resting her legs and feet up on the wall when getting her diaper changed, up on our shoulders when we’re rocking her to sleep, and up on the chair arm when I’m nursing her.
• Understands “No”, though in her mind it just means turn and smile shyly before continuing to do what she’s not supposed to, or move slower in the hope that Mommy/Daddy won’t notice...
• Likes to smirk and wrinkle her nose while breathing fast when she's in a silly mood.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the past month!