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!

First Beach Trip

We've been very excited about taking our first beach vacation with Emily---as all vacations do, it seems like this one took forever to get here, and flew by way too quickly! We left Wednesday morning and drove to the beach, stopping by the airport to meet up with everybody (Julie and Albie flew in Wednesday morning, and we met Jason, Jenn and Cody there too).

We rented a 4 bed, 3 bath condo overlooking the ocean--there's just nothing better than walking out onto the balcony and seeing the beach!

We spent some time down at the pool Thursday morning, and Emily went swimming for the first time. The only water she's ever been in is the bathtub, which she loves, so we thought she'd feel the same about the pool. She played in the water a little and kicked her feet a lot!

The condo had a lazy river too, which we all enjoyed--Jason and Jenn brought a baby float for Emily. It was sweet seeing her try it, but I think she's still a little young for it.

We spent part of the day on Friday down on the beach, and Emily was lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves--I have to admit, it wouldn't have taken much for all of us to have drifted off too!

As every stylish little girl needs, Aunt Julie brought Emily another new bathing suit, which she needed to try out in the pool on Friday.

Emily and Cody decided they really liked being cousins!

Cody was so sweet with Emily, or "Baby Emmy," as he calls her.

We did some shopping, which meant Emily did some strolling. She was such a good girl everywhere we went, and really only fussed when she was hungry or sleepy.

The five days went by way too quickly, and saying goodbye is always the worst part.

We got to the end of the trip and I realized I didn't get all the pictures I wanted to, so hopefully everyone else got some good ones too!

Bedtime Routine

I've waited to post this in hopes that our great luck wouldn't change, and we could actually call our nighttime ritual a routine, and now I feel safe doing it. Emily is such a big girl now! We start our routine around 6:30 each night (providing Mick and I have both made it home by then)--Emily sits in her high chair and eats her cereal and fruit or veggies. Usually by around 7:00, we're making our way upstairs to the bathtub, which is Emily's favorite part. I carry her up the stairs and Mick walks behind us, making faces and playing with her over my shoulder, and she laughs the whole time. It's so sweet!

Emily is content to stay in the bath as long as we'll let her, so we leave her in to splash and play some, even after she's clean. When her bath is done, it's off to the bedroom for lotion and pjs, and then she has her bedtime bottle. By the time I sit down to feed her, she acts like she's completely famished and so tired she can hardly hold her eyes open. She's very sleepy by the time the milk is gone, and I put her in the crib around 7:30 to fall asleep.

Within the last week, she's started flipping over the second she gets in the crib, so she's decided to be a tummy sleeper--this makes us a little nervous, but she's doing great with it. She's also been sleeping through the night for a couple of weeks now--it felt strange at first not to be getting up to check on her, but now it's just plain wonderful! We can hardly believe how fast our little princess is growing up. And we're hoping the next couple of weeks with vacation and starting school won't set us back too much!

Saying Goodbye to Grandma

Today will definitely go down as one of the most difficult days of Emily's first 6 months. She'll be starting school at the end of the September, and since we're going on vacation tomorrow, Grandma went home tonight. It was hard for all of us--it's been so nice having her around for the past three months, and she and Emily have been able to form a really special bond that I think they'll both always treasure.

It's also sad because this means we'll be leaving our precious girl in the hands of strangers pretty soon, and her whole little life is about to change. Any routine she has gotten used to will now be turned upside down. Although we're confident that we've chosen a great school, there's still a lot of anxiety about this change.

I'll miss you Grandma, but I'll see you again soon!

New Chair

We decided this weekend that it was time to buy a high chair for Emily. She had cereal and bananas in it the first night, and did really well! We didn't leave the tray on it to feed her, but just couldn't get over how tiny she looks. I'm sure it will be no time before she'll be outgrowing it!

Playing With Daddy

Emily is learning quickly that Daddy is her playmate and she can pretty much get out of anything she doesn't want to do by smiling at him. He has a much harder time listening to her cry if she's tired and trying to work into a nap, and will usually give in and pick her up. I think it's the sweet little smile he gets when he walks in her room that wins him over every time!

Mick seems to be able to make her smile in a way that nobody else can, and it's just the sweetest thing to watch.

Feels Like Fall

We've been going for walks early in the mornings on the weekends, and the weather has been so cool that Emily gets to keep her pjs on in the stroller. One morning it was in the 50s, so we decided to put this little hat on her to keep her ears warm.

We've had such a hot summer, and just can't wait for fall!

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.

Eating Veggies

Emily has progressed from just rice cereal to vegetables now--carrots were our first new thing to try. She wasn't prepared for the new taste at first, and didn't seem too thrilled with the first few bites. Unfortunately, I didn't get the camera quickly enough to capture the look on her face. She ended up with so much on her face, it was difficult to even see her little mouth.

She soon realized she'd rather play with Gracie than eat her carrots! The dogs have become quite a distraction when we're trying to feed her. We'll wait a few days now before trying the next new vegetable, just in case the carrots don't agree with her.

5 Month Photo Gallery

Here's the full gallery of Emily's 5 Month Photos!

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.

Grandma's Angel

Mick's mom gave Emily this sweet little shirt at my baby shower, and I realized that she might outgrow it if I didn't get it on her pretty soon. It's so adorable with the little angel wings on the back!

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!

5-Month Photos

We decided to book some milestone sessions with a photographer so we'd have some pictures of the two of us with Emily. Our first session was Saturday, and I really loved this photographer's galleries on her website, so I was looking forward to it. Here's a "sneak peek" at some of the pictures, and I should have a full gallery in a week or so.

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.

Sleeping Like a Big Girl!

Emily has done so well since we decided to let her start going to sleep on her own at night. Luckily, there hasn't been much crying it out at all, which has been a lot easier on us! We've gotten into a regular routine at night--she eats some cereal, takes a bath and then has her bedtime milk (she's up to about 6 oz. at most feedings now!). By the time she finishes eating, she's usually getting pretty sleepy, especially if we're upstairs in her room where it's darker and quieter, so she'll go right down in the crib with no fuss most nights. It's great that she's sleeping without the Woombie too, because she gets to move her little arms and legs all she wants! She looks like such a big girl all stretched out in her crib.

She has still been waking up once a night to eat, but last night, she slept through the night! She went to bed at 8:30 PM and didn't wake up until 5:00 AM! We're not expecting this to continue happening every night, but it's a start. It was definitely a strange feeling though--we panicked a little at first, wondering if we slept through her crying, but then decided we couldn't have done that. She was obviously fine and happy when she woke up, so that's what was important.

Bibs

Mick has been wondering when we'd use all the bibs Emily has--now that she's having cereal on a regular basis, we're getting to try on some of these cute bibs. Here are a couple that she modeled this week. She smiles as if she has no idea how accurate this description is :)!
These are both prior to eating, so they're a little cleaner than they end up when she's done!

The Search for the Perfect Day Care

I decided I needed to take the afternoon off on Wednesday in order to secure a spot for Emily at a day care. We all knew my mom couldn't stay with us forever, and we've had September in mind for the past couple of months as the date we'd transition. Emily will be 6 months old, and we thought that was an age where we wouldn't feel like she was so tiny and helpless.

I set up tours with four places that were all rated as 4 or 5 stars (the highest ratings) by the NC Division of Child Development. The tough thing for us is that we had a great place picked out in Atlanta before we moved, and now we had to start all over! The other tough thing is that a couple of the places we were excited about seeing initially had wait lists of over a year, so we had to take those off the list. I told Mick that even if we'd known we were moving when I was pregnant, it still might not have been enough time!

After leaving each of the first three places, I called Mick in tears. Nowhere was going to be good enough for our little Wiggles! Maybe it was the cribs lined up against the wall that made me feel like I was in a baby prison, or the fact that none of the people seemed like someone I wanted to hold Emily--whatever it was, I came away wondering how I could resign and be a stay at home mom. The fourth place, Gateway Academy, was different. I got a good feeling from the minute I walked in the door, and it just felt like the right place. The people were fantastic, and all of the kids seemed genuinely happy to be there. I liked the place and the curriculum, and it's only a few miles from home. I even singled out a little girl about Emily's age who I just know will be her best friend :).

Emily would start out in the Infant 2 room, which is babies from 6 to 10 months. Since she'll be right at 6 months when she starts, they thought it was better to start her there rather than have to transition her twice (once when she started in the 0-6 month room and once a couple of weeks later). They also recommended that we move in gradually--so one day I might go in with her for an hour or two, then I'll drop her off for an hour or two, then maybe go a couple of days a week. I like the idea, and hope that will be easier on both of us than just dropping her off on day one.

The next step is for Mick to go with me and see the school; then we'll pay a registration fee to hold a spot for Emily and choose her start date. While I still know that dropping her off that first morning will be the toughest thing I've ever had to do, I now feel like this is the best thing for her. There was a one year old boy in one of the classrooms who had just started day care for the first time, and he didn't stop crying the whole time I was there. The teachers said the transition had been really difficult for him, and I can't help but think that the older she gets, the harder the transition will be for Emily.

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!