Toddler Tantrums

I guess we knew the day would arrive when our sweet little girl would start to throw tantrums in order to get her way. Emily has perfected the art of stomping her little feet, or lying flat on the floor and kicking when she doesn't get what she wants. The episodes are typically very short-lived, and she's pretty easily distracted. This week though, the tantrums have escalated to a new level, particularly when it comes to nap or bed time. Yesterday, she only took a 30 minute nap all day long!

Tonight, after a day with only a one-hour nap, she was so tired she could barely hold her eyes open, but she refused to go to bed. She wanted to play, sing and talk to us, and wouldn't settle down, even when we rocked her or read stories. I finally put her in the crib, kissed her goodnight, and left her with her lullaby music. She screamed (I use this word deliberately, because there weren't even tears when I went to check on her!) for almost 45 minutes on and off before finally giving up and collapsing with exhaustion.

We never completely used the "cry it out" method--not because we disagreed with it, but because we never really needed to, and Emily has almost always been ready for bed when we put her down. We aren't sure if this week was bad for sleep because she hasn't felt well, or because she's entering a new phase, but we're hoping it passes quickly.

Seven Months Old: What's Happening

Wow, another month has flown by...our little girl is growing so quickly and seems to be doing new things every day.

Emily is great at rocking on her hands and knees, and can scoot to get wherever she wants. It's only a matter of time before she puts the two together, and then there will be no stopping her. We joke that the weeks she had to wear the hip harness in the beginning have made her determined to NEVER stop moving her legs now! They are nonstop, and we feel like that will probably be the case when she starts crawling and walking too.

We've thought a few times we heard attempts at words, but over this past weekend, we heard a definite "da, da, da, da" and "ga, ga, ga" from Emily several times. She always seems so happy with herself when she figures out something new. Certainly part of that pride could come from hearing Mick and me cheer for her when she does!

We've started trying to incorporate reading into our normal routine now. Everything I've read says it's especially important to read aloud to her daily, beginning when she's around 6 months old. We've always read to Emily periodically, and I even read to her before she was born sometimes, but now we feel like we really need to make the effort to get it in every night. She's so sweet when you're reading to her--she sometimes seems more interested in eating the book than listening, but other times she sits quietly and acts like she's taking it all in.

Emily is doing great with her foods. She's had green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, apples, peaches, pears and prunes. She's pretty much liked everything so far except the prunes, and I can't say I blame her. Even though you're supposed to let them try foods 8-10 times before determining a dislike, we will not be trying prunes again. She usually eats a vegetable and some cereal at lunch and then a fruit and oatmeal at dinner each day.

She continues to do well at day care too. The teachers tell us what a sweet disposition she has and how easy going she is in comparison to some of the other kids in her class. Of course, we already think she's perfect :).

Oh, There's Good Stuff Too

I feel like all I've written about lately is sickness, and there's actually a lot of good, exciting stuff going on with little Miss Wiggles in the last week.

I keep trying to get some pictures of her trying to crawl--she's really good at getting up on her hands and knees and rocking like she wants to go somewhere. And speaking of going places, she has no trouble scooting around to grab a toy or to get closer to Bella or Gracie. We'll be needing a baby gate or two very soon!

Diaper changes are especially fun now, because her favorite thing is flipping over and thrashing around like a fish out of water! We can usually entertain her with a toy long enough to get a clean diaper on her, but we've had to become pretty skilled at dressing her backwards.

She's reaching for everything now--not just toys or blankets she wants, but also for us. I love picking her up from day care in the afternoons when she stops playing, smiles and reaches up for me when I see her. She has the cutest way of acting shy and burrowing into us when we hold her.

I keep trying to get her to say mama or dada--she's made a few consonant sounds, but nothing we could consider a real word yet. I know it's a little early, but we're needing her to be a genius if she's going to support us when we retire at 50!

Emily just gets more and more fun every day--her disposition is so sweet, and she's truly a happy little girl. Mick said the other day that she's like a new toy every day, and it feels like Christmas morning all the time with her. What a perfect description :).

Another Tooth

Emily has another tooth coming in! Her little bite is now especially fierce. We noticed this weekend that she now has a pearly white pairof teeth peeking through her bottom gum. She certainly drools a lot more and wants to chew on everything, but she's really done well so far with teething.

We noticed it this weekend, and this picture is the closest I've gotten to being able to see both of them (if you click on the picture, it should enlarge it).

Changing Quickly!

It's almost unbelievable to see how quickly Emily is growing and changing. On Friday when I picked her up from day care, she still needed a Boppy pillow to help support her when she was sitting. Then on Saturday, she could all of a sudden sit unassisted! Spending time with her is obviously our first priority, judging from the distastrous mess that is our house! We still aren't completely unpacked--there's just always something better to do.
Each new milestone is, of course, exciting for us--the best part though is how pleased she is with herself each time she does something new. She's thrilled to be exploring a different group of toys than she did before, and even seeing the same toys from a new perspective seems fun for her.

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Tooth!

One of Emily's favorite things to chew on is our fingers. This morning, shortly after she got up, she grabbed my hand and bit down on my finger. Ouch! I felt a sharp little tooth poking through her bottom gum! We've been saying for a while now that we think she's teething, so now we know she is.

She's been a little more hesitant to eat, and shows some other signs of teething, particularly this week. We've seen her drool a lot more, pull on her ear, and this might explain her cold symptoms (they may or may not be related to the tooth).

I'll try to get a picture as soon as we can see it well, but for right now, she's pretty protective of it.

6 Months Old: What's Happening

Emily has had a very eventful month six! She started sleeping on her tummy this month, and sleeping through the night.

She still needs some work on naps, though. She gets really sleepy during the day, but no matter how tired she is, most of her naps are only 30-45 minutes long. She'll typically take three naps a day--one by around 9-10 AM, the next by 1-2 PM, and the last one late in the day, by 5 PM. I think it will help once we get into a regular routine--the last few weeks have been anything but routine for her!

Emily got a high chair this month, and has been sampling all sorts of big girl foods--carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, apples and bananas. Her favorite is probably bananas, although she's done really well with everything so far.

She's becoming more independent every day--she plays really well on her own, and loves her toys--especially the ones she can fit in her mouth. Blankets, burp cloths, fingers, toes are all fair game for her. She really loves the teethers that you can put in the fridge too. We feel like she'll have a tooth any day now.

We all enjoyed our first vacation together this month, and Emily put her toes in the ocean for the first time! She liked the water, but we think she'll LOVE it next year at this time.

This month was Emily's last month being at home full time. It's strange knowing how much anxiety this has caused us, and she probably has no idea how much her life is about to change. I sure hope she adjusts well--she's been so fortunate having constant love and attention with Grandma Roper here for three months, and then Grandma and Papa Jackson here for the past week. Knowing that she's now one of seven babies with two teachers will be tough to get used to. She's so busy and curious that we feel like she'll stay entertained just watching everything going on.

It's really hard to believe that six months have already flown by--Emily is growing into the sweetest little girl, and we can hardly wait for every new day with her.

New Tricks

We just know Emily is going to be crawling in no time--she is scooting all over, and definitely makes use of every inch of her crib! She can push up on her knees, but not quite on her hands and knees at the same time. She even tried scooting around at the beach this week.

She's also able to partially pull herself up to a sitting position--she seems to be just dying to see the world from a different perspective, because she's rarely content to lie still anymore.
She's wearing herself out with all this activity, because she's been sleeping 12 hours at night now! Every night during our vacation, she went right to sleep in the pack 'n play by 7:30 and slept until 7:00 or 7:30 in the mornings!

Toes

Not long ago, I posted that Emily had discovered her feet--now, she just can't get enough (we all agree, they are too sweet), and she is always either playing with them or trying to eat her toes. Mick says he would give anything to be able to grab his feet like this. I'm not sure why, except that it would be pretty funny to watch :). We often go to pick Emily up from a nap and her socks are either missing or soaking wet! We still haven't gotten a picture with her toes in her mouth, but we're determined to. It's really adorable.

New Best Friends

Emily is just head over heels for Gracie and Bella these days. She has become much more aware of their presence, and now just seeing them makes her smile. Gracie is still a little tentative about getting too close, but Bella must recognize that making friends now means she gets lots of food under the table later! Emily puts her hands out to pet her, and Bella licks her to death. I couldn't even get a picture without Bella's tongue moving! She is so patient with Emily though--even when those little fingers grab a handful of fur.

Laughing

These days, it's becoming easier to make Emily laugh, and the sound is so sweet we just can't get enough of it. We were playing on the floor today and she thought this pink poodle was hilarious!

Checking Things Out

Emily is now a pro at rolling over from her tummy to her back, and is quickly mastering rolling the other way too. It's sweet to watch her, because it seems to startle her for just a second after she turns over. Then she realizes what she's done and she's so pleased with herself. This new trick makes it a little easier for her to entertain herself, but a little more difficult for her to take long naps during the day. For the last few days, she's only been taking a few 30 or 45-minute naps during the day, and she's completely worn out by bedtime. I have read that each time babies learn something new, it usually disrupts their sleep for a little while.

Emily has also discovered her feet now! Most of her pjs have little animal faces or other decorations on the feet, and she is just mesmerized by them. In the past several days, she has started to grab at them, and then decided she liked her feet with nothing on them too. When we sit her up, she will lean over to touch her feet and even tried getting her toes in her mouth once.

5 Months Old

This has been an eventful month! Emily has transitioned from Georgia Peach to North Carolina Tarheel, and has reacted to every change like such a big girl. It's such a difference to think back to her first couple of months when she cried so much and hated getting in her carseat--now, she has such a great time exploring the world around her, and loves going for rides in the car and her stroller.

She's definitely growing into a sweet little girl right before our eyes. I feel like I post so often about her happy personality, but she's just such a joy to be around now--she smiles and laughs all the time, and it just melts our hearts. Mick is especially good at making her laugh by being silly with her, and one of these days, I'll actually capture a video of it!

One of Emily's favorite times continues to be bath time. She has a couple of toys in the bath with her now, and I think she'd be happy to stay in the tub until her little fingers and toes looked like raisins. Her bath thrills her every night, and really helps to settle her down for bed. She loves giving her rubber duck sloppy kisses. Actually, she loves putting everything in her mouth these days!

We're making lots of progress with eating solids. Emily's rice cereal now has some fruit in it, and has progressed from pure liquid to a much thicker consistency that really seems easier for her to eat.

In the last couple of weeks, Emily has become much more aware of Gracie and Bella, and loves to see their tails wag. She has put her hand out a few times and it quickly gets licked by Bella--this delights Emily and always makes her laugh. Bella also likes to keep a close eye on little Wiggles!

Next month will mean more big changes--starting school, and having to get used to not having her Grandma around all the time! We are convinced this will be a much more difficult change for all of us than it will be for Emily though.

Trying Rice Cereal

Another thing the pediatrician told us at Emily's 4 month check up is that we could start trying to feed her rice cereal--at the time, I didn't think she was ready. As the weeks go by though, Emily becomes more and more interested in what we're eating, and is much better at sitting up (two of the signs she's ready for food), so we decided to give it a try.
She definitely knew what to do when the spoon came close to her mouth,


but the swallowing part still needs a little work!

She opened and closed her mouth at the right times to take what was in the spoon, and then spit it out each time.

We don't know if she's not quite ready or just isn't used to the taste yet, but we'll keep trying a little bit each night until she's mastered it!

Getting Stronger

Emily seems to get stronger and more active with each passing day--she's so interested in everything around her, and Mick has commented that she'll try to jump out of your arms if she's looking at something intently. She has such a happy little disposition, and is such a cuddle bug. We just love coming home to her. I got home from a two-day trip last night, and Emily was already sleeping when I got home. I told Mick that as bad as it sounded, I just couldn't wait until she woke up in the middle of the night so I could hold her!

Emily is almost impossible to keep under control during bath time! She kicks like crazy and has the most fun. We had to move her to the tub (rather than the kitchen sink) because we got tired of drying everything in the kitchen when she was finished. We've also started to give her a couple of toys in the bathtub...we may never get her out of the water now!

I've heard that all babies enjoy looking in the mirror, and Emily is no exception. She loves her reflection, and with a reflection as sweet as hers, who wouldn't? It's so funny to watch her, because she'll stare very intently for a minute and then break out the smiles.

On a Roll!

I had to spend 3 days in Denver this week for work, and got home late Friday afternoon in need of some serious cuddle time with Emily. Luckily, she seemed to want the same thing, so we spent most of the afternoon together :). It's amazing how good it feels to hold her again after that long! I put her down on her tummy on a blanket in the floor so we could play a little, and she started working her arms and legs...before long, she rolled over onto her back! It was the first time she did it that it wasn't an accident--she really seemed to be working on it. Of course, when I got the video camera out, she wouldn't do it again. Still, it was nice to think she had saved her new trick for when I got home!

Keeping Busy

If we could pick one word to describe Emily, it would probably be curious. She constantly keeps busy by checking out her surroundings, and seems to really enjoy sitting up so she can look around. The best positions for her in the harness are supposed to be on her back or on her tummy, but we've been thinking of getting something she could sit up in to give her a change of scenery. She sits up really well in the Bumbo seat, but can't stay in it with her harness on, so we bought her this little froggy jumper seat. She really enjoyed it, and we think she'll get a lot of use out of it as she gets a little older and more coordinated.

Emily is also getting a lot better with her hands, and she's really good at grabbing toys and taking them straight to her mouth! Mortimer the Moose was the first toy I bought for her before she was born, and she grabbed him today and chewed on his foot.

This teether was a gift from the baby shower, and she seems to like the taste of it now too!

16 Weeks Old

We can't believe our little Wiggles is 4 months old already! It has been the most eventful and rewarding 4 months of our lives. She'll visit the pediatrician on Monday and we can hardly wait to see how much she weighs. She's so much bigger and stronger, and seems to be doing new things every day. She'll also be going back for another hip ultrasound on Monday, so we'll find out on Tuesday how much longer she'll be in the harness.

We're planning a mini vacation at the beach with Uncle Jason, Aunt Jenn, Aunt Julie and (Uncle?) Albie in September, and we'll be staying in a condo with a kiddie pool and a lazy river--it will be Emily's first time really in the water, but we think she'll have a great time with her cousin Cody. We bought this sweet little bathing suit for her to wear on vacation, but just couldn't wait to try it on her--it's a 12 month size, so it's a little roomy, but they don't seem to make really small bathing suits for baby girls.

15 Weeks Old

Emily is getting so strong and independent--we just know she'll be sitting up in no time. She tries to pull herself up into a sitting position on her own, and when we help her, she seems to sit right up with no problem.

The harness gets in the way of her doing things a little--we are taking it off to wash it about once a week, and she goes wild in those few minutes. Her little legs move like you've never seen, and she has such a good time. Hopefully it won't be too much longer until she can move like that nonstop!

14 Weeks Old: What's Happening

Emily seems to be changing every day, and sometimes it seems like she's grown just in the few hours we're away from her! Her personality is developing more and more, and she's so much fun to be around all the time. She no longer has consistent fussy times during the day, and really only cries when she gets very hungry or very tired. Luckily, she's eating on a pretty regular 3-hour schedule now, so we can usually avoid her getting very hungry!

She's starting to grab on to almost everything she touches, and it all goes straight to her mouth! We bought some lightweight rattles that she can hold easily, and she has plenty of teethers, but she seems to be much more interested in eating her hands and all of her blankets.
Just in the last day or two, it's started to cool off slightly and even temperatures in the high 80s feel pleasant after the almost 100 degree days we've been having! Emily loves being outside, so we'll take her out in the late afternoon sometimes and swing on the back deck, or just walk around and let her look at the trees and listen to the birds. She's so curious about everything around her, and is so observant of every little sound and sight. It's a lot of fun to watch her taking everything in.
Naps during the day continue to be a challenge. She is a terrific sleeper while she's being held (will sometimes nap for 2-3 hours), but most of the time will sleep less than an hour if she's in the crib, swing, or anywhere else on her own. She seems to be getting a little better with age, so we're hoping she'll be a pro by 5 or 6 months!