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!

 

42 Weeks Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at that big toothy grin!

To celebrate her 42 week birthday, Emily slept for almost 7 hours straight!!!!!!!  Almost.  She did wake up for about 3 minutes an hour after being put down, which took the total time of the sleep stretch down to 6 hours and 14 minutes, but that's still really good for her!  This mama was proud.  :)

AND, in other big milestone news, guess who got her second top tooth?!?!  Yep!  Emily's right central incisor finally started to cut through on March 9.  I felt like it had been coming forever, and now it's finally here!  Unfortunately that hasn't given her much reprieve in the discomfort department as far as I can see, because she's had a couple clingy / cranky days.  But luckily it's nothing a little extra TLC {and teething remedies} can't help cure!  My poor baby.  In fact, Emily's so crafty that she's invented her own teething remedy.  It's called "licking or pressing her mouth against anything that's cold".  See Exhibit A:

 

She is also extra fascinated this week with looking out the window.  Shep guessed maybe it's because she's tired of being inside so much due to the cold weather, but she does it even if we've just been outside for a long walk, so I'm not sure that cabin fever is the reason.  She pulls the curtain aside and stands there staring and sometimes banging on the window.  Never mind a penny for a thought -- I'd trade all the money in my bank account to be able to know what this smart, spunky little lady is thinking in that beautiful head of hers...

Emily loooooooves to look at books.  She can sit for 5 minutes at a time, entertaining herself, flipping through her books -- looking intently at the photos and text.  We officially have a little book worm on our hands!

This weekend Emily lost an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings Time {like she needs any encouragement in that department...}.  She also visited Connecticut for the first time, and met several more family friends!

Just like our last road trip, she did great in the car on the way there -- sleeping a total of nearly 1.5 hours in the car -- but didn't fare so well the next day while coming home.  Ah, well, 1 out of 2 ain't bad!!

Emily tried crinkle-cut steamed carrots for the first time and was not a fan.  She eats pureed carrots pretty regularly and likes them, so I think it was the texture.  This girl has eyes for food, and chews very well, but doesn't really love the actuality of swallowing the solid foods.  But she is trying new things and making progress, so I'm proud!

In other news, last Monday was *hopefully* Emily's last day on Prevacid!  We tried weaning her off it back in September, but we ended up having to put her back on it because the reflux got worse a few weeks later.  But, since she's much older now and hasn't had that many reflux symptoms lately, we're hoping this is really the end of her need for meds.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Hopefully the snow storm that started out the week will be her LAST of this year!  I can't wait for spring to arrive, though it's funny to think that this will be Em's SECOND spring!  Yikes!!