Home Again

Yesterday, I got a call from Gateway to let me know Emily was sick again. I got there to pick her up around 1:30 in the afternoon, and she came home and took a 3-hour nap! She must have really needed the rest, because she went down for bed at her usual time and had no trouble falling asleep. I'm at home with her today, and she seems like she's uncomfortable for sure--she does have diarrhea, and is just generally a little more fussy than usual. She's eating fine, so I don't think she's in danger of becoming dehydrated, but I'm still a little worried about her.

Unfortunately, I was so sick over the weekend that my milk supply dropped to almost nothing, and it's not quite back to normal, so I won't have a choice but to give her some formula today. I'm afraid my pumping days are coming to an end though--it makes me sad because I feel like she needs that milk more than ever now. We will have to believe that she got the best first 7 months we could give her, and that now she'll get well with lots of rest and TLC!

Daddy's Turn

I think the stomach bug is determined to get to everyone in our house! Julie told me yesterday she got sick after she went home and had to be out of work yesterday. This morning, Mick woke up sick and missed work today! Tonight, he's not feeling quite as bad as he was earlier, but is in no way feeling great yet.

We'll definitely be glad when we're all healthy again!

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).

Sharing the Bug

After I accused Emily of faking her stomach bug on Thursday, she decided to share it with her mama. I woke up Thursday night/Friday morning around 12:30 very sick, and had to stay out of work on Friday. Thankfully, Emily was 100% better, so she went to day care. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take good care of her if we were both at home because I was so sick.

I stayed in bed most of the day on Friday, and then picked up Julie that afternoon (she got in early for a friend's baby shower, and spent most of the day with her friend). We went to pick up Emily from day care a little early, and Aunt Julie got to meet Evan, Emily's boyfriend :).

Unfortunately, I've stayed sick most of the weekend, so we didn't have a chance to do much, other than shop for a baby shower gift and lie around in our pjs watching movies. Luckily, Emily is still doing great, so she and Aunt Julie spent some quality time together. Hair pulling is now something Emily has mastered!

We were sorry to see Aunt Julie go home, but are looking forward to seeing her for Thanksgiving next month.

Sick Day...Or Playing Hooky?

Yesterday afternoon as I was packing up my computer to leave the office, my phone rang and it was the director at Gateway. Seeing that number show up is not a good feeling! She immediately told me it wasn't an emergency, but said that Emily seemed to have caught the stomach bug that's going around, and she had thrown up twice and had diarrhea in the afternoon. Their policy is that when it happens twice, the child has to be picked up.

I got there about half an hour later, and Emily seemed okay, other than being a little fussier than usual. Apparently, the state regulations require children to remain out of child care until they've been symptom-free for 24 hours. Certainly seems like a reasonable expectation, and a good idea to be on the safe side.

Last night, she seemed very hungry, but we decided to skip the fruit and cereal. We gave her about 3 oz. of breastmilk around 6:30, and when she kept it down fine, we went ahead with her bath and another 4 oz. of milk. She drank it like she was starving, and went right to sleep when I put her in the crib.

This morning she has seemed fine too--no diarrhea and no vomiting at all. Of course, today was supposed to be a business trip to New Orleans for me--the first one in several weeks--but I canceled last night, and now am wondering if little Miss Wiggles planned this all along, just to get some quality time at home with her mama :).

Another Eventful Walk

I picked Emily up this afternoon and her teacher told me about the wonderful walk they went on today--Emily and Evan sat next to each other in the stroller, and held hands again on the walk! I told Miss Christina that they were going to HAVE to take a picture for us!

The other cool thing was that Emily met another new friend on her walk today. Gateway is located next to a neighborhood, and apparently there's a lady in the neighborhood who likes to come out and see the kids when they're walking. Today, she came out with her Golden Retriever. Miss Christina said every child in the stroller was afraid of the dog, but Emily stuck her little hand out and petted him! She said she smiled the whole time, and was so excited to see the dog. I'm sure she thought it was Bella or Gracie coming to visit her :).

Being Silly

Emily is getting very comfortable in her high chair, and now knows exactly what time it is when she gets buckled in--she usually starts making her little hungry panting noise when the food gets close. Last night, she was being extra silly and wouldn't put her legs down. I didn't catch the picture when her toes were actually in her mouth.Her favorite at night is bananas mixed with oatmeal--she just loves it. You might be able to tell in the picture how wet with bananas her feet are! It's a good thing she gets her bath right after she eats, or she'd stay sticky from head to toe.

Like My Auntie

There's no denying that Emily looks like her daddy--we hear it everywhere we go! Once in a while though, she'll do something or I'll catch a picture where she looks a little different--in this one, I think she looks so much like her Aunt Julie! I wish I had one of her baby pictures to put side by side here.

Here Comes Cold Weather!

This weekend has actually been warm again, but we've had such cold mornings lately that I wanted to look for a jacket or a hat for Emily. The hats at Babies 'R Us were a little thicker and warmer than we really need, but I couldn't resist trying this one on her. Even as sweet as she looks, we decided not to buy it.

We ended up buying a cute little pink coat with a teddy bear hood on it. If we get any snow this winter, we'll probably have to get something a little heavier, but I think this one will be all we need.

OOPS...it's Evan!

If I'm going to keep up with Emily and her boyfriend, I do need to get his name right. It's actually Evan, not Kyle...I'm not sure why I mistakenly called him Kyle!

Anyway, I picked Emily up this afternoon and Miss Amanda told me they took another walk outside today, and Emily and Evan held hands the whole time...again! I just couldn't believe it. I would give anything to have seen them. When I mentioned to the teacher that Emily's daddy wasn't quite ready to deal with boyfriends yet, she said "don't worry, he comes from money." Too funny! At least we know Emily already has expensive taste :).

First Boyfriend

Today was a beautiful fall day, and when I picked Emily up this afternoon, her teacher told me they went for a walk outside today. They have a big 4-seat stroller that they take the babies outside in sometimes--today, they put two of the older babies in the front seats, and put Emily and Kyle in the back seats. Kyle is a cute little boy about Emily's age, and just moved up to her class this week from the younger class at Gateway. Miss Amanda told me this afternoon that Emily and Kyle held hands for the entire walk, and just loved being outside. I can just imagine how adorable that was!

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.

A Little Cold

This week, Emily has had some cold symptoms that seem to be bothering us a lot more than they're bothering her (a common theme these days!). Mick has been battling a cold for over a week and just couldn't seem to shake it, so now we think little Wiggles has a touch of it too.

She coughs a little and has a lot of congestion in her nose. It really makes me wish she could blow her nose and clear her throat! The pediatrician said on Tuesday that her lungs were clear and we had nothing to worry about, so we've just tried to keep her nose as clean as possible, and we bought a warm mist humidifier for her room, which seems to be helping her sleep better.

The strange thing is that Emily doesn't act like she feels bad at all--she laughs when she coughs or sneezes, and is otherwise perfectly happy!

A Good Day

Yesterday was the first full day of school for Emily, and it was pouring down rain when we got up. We had things pretty well organized to take in with her, but still got off to a bit of a late start because I always feel like I'm forgetting something these days (most of the time, I am).

Gateway has a good setup for Emily, so we really only have to take in her labeled bottles each day. There's a locked closet where she has her own cubby--we have extra clothes, diapers and wipes stored there. There's also a cabinet in the kitchen area where we can store baby food or rice cereal for her. They send us home with a daily "report card" to let us know about eating, naps and diaper changes, and also make notes if she's running low on food, diapers or wipes.

She has her own crib, and the sheet is changed daily. Of course, it doesn't look or smell familiar to her, so we took in one of her blankets and one of her favorite toys that she can have in the crib with her. We'll take her blanket and sleep sack home on Fridays (or as needed) to wash them, and I found out yesterday how important that is to her. Emily had spit up on her blanket, and they tried substituting one of the school's blankets for her, only to learn she would have nothing to do with it! Hearing that made me smile, and I packed an extra blanket in her bag today for a backup. Our sweet girl needs to always have something that reminds her of home.

Yesterday was also the second time I got there to pick her up, and one of Emily's teachers (Miss Amanda) was rocking her while she slept peacefully. I think Miss Amanda has a soft spot for our little Wiggles, which makes me feel really good. They said she ate well yesterday, and took three naps. It was a good day!

6 Month Checkup

Today was Emily's 6 month checkup, and her first time with a new doctor. I did some research when we moved to Charlotte, and read great things (including parent reviews) about Providence Pediatrics . I called over a month ago, and today was the first availability with Dr. Miller--the timing turned out to be perfect since Emily just hit the 6 month mark. We really liked the doctor, and everyone at the practice was really nice. There are definitely some differences from Emily's former pediatrician, but nothing that bothered us, and a few things that we actually liked better here.

Emily is growing fast--she weighs 15 lbs. 3 oz. and is 26 1/4 inches long! Her weight is in the 45th percentile now, and her height is in the 75th. Developmentally, she's doing all the things she should be right now. She can almost sit up on her own, and does great with the slightest bit of support.

The worst part of the visit was, of course, the shots. We decided to go ahead and let her get the flu shot today, so there were three shots in her legs. When the first one went in, her eyes opened wide, her bottom lip came out, and she started crying. It got worse with #2 and #3, but once we picked her up and snuggled her, she recovered pretty quickly. It was time for her to eat by then, so we fed her in the exam room before taking her to school.

We'll have to come back next month for the 2nd part of the flu shot, and then not again until her 9 month appointment, which will already be after Christmas! Time is just flying by too quickly.

First Day of School

I've dreaded this day from the moment I found out we were having a baby. Then after sweet little Wiggles was born, I just couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to walk away and leave her behind--it's like having your heart ripped out!

Maybe I'm being a little dramatic...but unless you've had a baby you needed to put in day care, you're not allowed to judge :)!

It was rainy and cooler this morning, so we broke out some fall clothes to make sure Emily stayed cozy all day. I had already planned to work from home so I could take her in late and pick her up early--we just wanted a couple of transition days to hopefully make it a little easier. I stayed with her for a couple of hours to make sure she was okay--she sat in the floor and played and had a great time.

Overall, the teachers said she did well for her first day. She has a lot of new things to get used to, and she was so distracted by everything going on that she didn't want to eat or sleep very much. For a little girl used to taking naps in a dark, quiet room, I'm sure it's tough to settle down with five other babies making noise constantly.

By the time I picked her up, she was exhausted, but the look on her face when I walked in was enough to make me quit my job. Her sweet tired eyes just lit up, and a huge smile formed. One of the teachers was holding her, but she put her hands up when I came over. What a great feeling to pick her up and feel her soft little body snuggled up to me!

I hope dropping her off will get easier each time as she gets a little older and makes friends, but I can already tell that picking her up will be the best part of my day!

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.

What are these?

Mick's mom brought these sweet little shoes with purple flowers on them. Emily didn't keep them on long, but was fascinated with them while they lasted!

Fun Week

Mick's parents came to visit this week and stayed with Emily during the day while we were at work. It was her last week at home before she starts school full time next week, so it was a happy and sad week, all at the same time!

I think everyone enjoyed themselves--there was shopping and strolling and lots of cuddles and kisses. The week really flew by! It was a huge help having them here and and we hated to see them go, but they left Friday night to get home for the weekend. I think Grandma and Grandpa Jackson got enough of a dose of Wiggles that they'll want to see her more often for sure!