Baby, It's Cold Outside

We have really been getting some winter weather lately, and we decided Emily needed a new hat to keep her head and ears warm. I don't know why everything we find and like has ears on it, but this is about the cutest little thing ever.

It has gloves to match, so we think she'll stay toasty warm!

Busy Girl

Emily is very busy these days trying new things--she is pulling up and beginning to cruise around furniture now. Still clumsily, but she's extremely determined, so she always gets where she wants to, even if she has to crawl halfway.

When I picked her up from day care on Thursday, her teacher had written "Emily is starting to wave at friends" on her daily info sheet. She has been working on waving for a while now, but is really starting to understand when to do it and what it means. Her teachers told me they need to put her on the payroll because she's so happy and friendly when they tour parents of prospective new kids through the center.

Christmas Time

It's almost winter time, and Christmas is just around the corner! We decided to go pick out a tree this morning--we've always felt like if we don't decorate right after Thanksgiving, it's almost not worth the trouble because the month flies by so quickly.

Emily has always loved being outside, and this morning was no different. She seemed to love seeing and touching all the trees!

We knew it would be a challenge keeping Emily away from the tree, but still decided to set it up in the living room, where we spend most of our time. The look on her face when the lights went on was just priceless--pure awe and fascination. It's what I imagine every little kid looks like when they see their first Christmas tree.

She has found a couple of favorite branches that she can touch easily, but I'm trying to keep the ornaments and hooks out of her reach.

A few of these were moved shortly after this picture was taken :).

Eight Months Old: What's Happening

Every month, I feel like I comment on how unbelievable it is that another month has passed, and on how much Emily is doing, but I just can't get over how quickly the days are flying by. Eight months ago today, our lives changed in a way we couldn't even imagine yet. Emily continues to be the sweetest gift we've ever given each other, and we feel like we can never get enough of her.

This month has been full of exciting activity! Emily has learned to sit up on her own, and gets faster and more skillful at it each day. She is so determined that she'll sometimes sit up in her crib to play--the other day, I put her down for a nap, and when I came downstairs and turned on the monitor, she was sitting up playing and singing. I knew she was so tired that she'd run out of energy soon--and sure enough, we watched her on the monitor until she fell asleep sitting up, and fell over in the crib! It was hilarious and adorable.

She's getting stronger and faster with her crawl--she still isn't completely on her hands and knees--she seems to prefer the military-like crawl on her forearms for now, but it certainly gets her where she wants to go, and quickly! Last week when I picked her up from day care, she crawled over to me and held her arms up for me to take her. I almost cried right there in front of her teachers!

Emily's pulling herself up to stand every chance she gets. She hasn't started cruising around furniture, but is strong and has a terrific grip once she stands up, so it probably won't be long.

Her two bottom teeth are very evident now, and she's showing so many signs of teething that we know the top ones are coming any day now. This month, she fed herself for the first time--sort of unintentionally though. She was trying to play with the pieces of banana I had on her high chair tray and accidentally got one in her mouth :). She hasn't gotten the pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger) down yet, so she still grabs with her whole hand most of the time.

She's becoming more vocal now. She's added la, ba and ma to her vocabulary, and I really think she associates Mick with da. She says da, da, da every time she sees him. She also says it sometimes when she seees Gracie and Bella, but I think it's because I keep telling her "dog" when they're nearby. The "ma" has only been a couple of times, and there is for sure no association with it, but we'll get there. For now, I'll certainly take her bright little smile and reaching hands every time she sees me!

Emily is a constant joy to us, and it's an adventure just waiting to see what she'll do next!

First Thanksgiving

We always have Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Mick's, and Charlotte is about the most central location for all of my family to get together. Jason, Jenn and Cody got to our house Wednesday evening, and Julie flew in a little later that night. Then my parents and grandmother (my mom's mom) came down Thursday morning.

Jason and Mick deep fried the turkey--this is the third year they've done that, and this one turned out better than ever!

As usual, there was way too much food in general, but everything was scrumptious.

No one had seen Emily since she's mastered all of her new tricks, so she and Cody provided nonstop entertainment for everyone, including each other. It's incredible to think that last Thanksgiving, I was having my 3D ultrasound performed...this year, we have a precious little girl to enjoy!

Emily's great grandma got to meet her for the first time, and my mom suggested we take a "four generation" photo--it's difficult to get everyone at just the right time, but this was our best shot.

Thanksgiving Art

Here's another beautiful art project--it's actually a magnet, and is of course displayed proudly on the refrigerator!

New Toys

Emily's grandma gave her a cool new toy when she was here for a couple of days last week--it's a magnetic barn with different animals that you put together--they play music and sing songs and make barnyard sounds. It's really cute, and as I was putting groceries away today, I decided it would be a good time to take it out. Emily has started crawling around the house to follow us from room to room, so it's nice to have something she can play with wherever we go. She sat in the floor this afternoon and played with this for the longest time.

Most of the magnets didn't stay on the refrigerator for long--she pulled them all off to chew on them :).

Sippy Cup

Things are happening so quickly with Emily--it seems like she learns something new every day now. She's been a fan of her sippy cup for a while now (we bought her one with a rubbery nipple-like spout, which is supposed to make it easier for her to transition from a bottle), but she's now figuring out how to actually drink out of it instead of just chewing on the handles or the spout.

Crawling!

Emily has been working so hard at crawling, and she's almost got it! She can definitely get where she wants to go (quickly!), but isn't quite up off of her belly yet. It's a little like a crab scurrying across the floor, and it's just the cutest thing ever. When I picked her up from day care this afternoon, Miss Amanda asked me if she had crawled at home yet. I told her what she'd done this morning, and she said she was all over the classroom today!

Weekend Away

We made plans to go out of town this weekend with my two closest friends from college--Tennille and Neely--and their families. We all met up at Kerr Lake in Clarksville, VA and rented a house on the lake.

It was a lot of fun, and great to see everybody and spend some time together! This is far from the way we used to hang out in college, but I think we're better than ever :).

First Diaper Rash

Emily has been fortunate for almost 8 months now to have never had a diaper rash. When I picked her up yesterday afternoon, she had a really bad one, and seemed so uncomfortable. We've used plenty of diaper cream though, and it already appears to be improving drastically. I've heard it's common to have a diaper rash during teething, so we think that probably explains it.

Pumping Days Are Over

Today was a sad day for me--it was the first day since Emily was born that she didn't start the day with breastmilk, and it marked the end of my pumping days. After I got sick a few weeks ago, it seemed like my milk supply never fully recovered, and I gradually got to the point where I was only pumping twice a day, and then only once in a 24 hour period. Last night, I made the decision to put the pump away for good.

I cried as I fed Emily a bottle of formula this morning, but she didn't seem to mind at all! I know I've given her a great start, and while I wish things had turned out differently, I think we're both better off if I try to believe I did the best I possibly could with breastfeeding. We certainly had our fair share of obstacles, but I would go back and do it all again if I could.

New Trick

Emily seems determined to stand up, but hasn't mastered crawling yet! This afternoon, she was trying to touch Bella through the side of her pack 'n play, so I helped her stand up, where she reached over the side and let Bella lick her hand. When she grabbed onto the side, I let her go for a minute and she hung on! Standing up really excites her. Who knows? May she'll be one of those babies who skips crawling and goes right to cruising :).

Emily's 7 Month Photos

Here's a link to the gallery from our last session with the photographer: click here!

First School Pictures

Wednesday was picture day at Gateway--Emily was sent home with a flyer a couple of weeks ago where we could prepay and buy a package of pictures. Of course, even though we haven't seen the pictures yet, we had to buy them! Luckily, they weren't expensive at all, and they'll be a nice memento, even if they don't turn out great :). We can't wait to see them!

Little Ballerina

We didn't go all out with a Halloween costume for the first year because Emily goes to bed so early that we knew we wouldn't go trick or treating with her.

We also knew that she'd just end up wanting to eat whatever costume she had on!

We just put the tutu on long enough for some pictures (the headband and flower didn't even stay on that long!). This evening, we did go over to have dinner with some friends and walked around their neighborhood for a little while before we decided it was time to head home and get the princess to bed.

We're quite certain that next year will be a whole different story!

Yummy Yogurt

Last weekend when we took Emily to the doctor, she suggested we try some yogurt, which might help her little tummy get back to normal. At this point, Emily is 100% back to normal, but we decided to let her try some yogurt anyway. The yogurt blends are made for babies and mixed with fruit, so we thought the banana blend was a safe first try. This was probably the first food Emily has tried that she loved right away--usually, at least the first bite of something new gets a disgusted look out of her, but that wasn't the case today.

We've just started to feed her a solid food three times a day now--they give her a a fruit and cereal in the morning at day care, and she still eats her veggie at lunch and fruit or veggie at dinner. Now we can add yogurt to the mix. She also decided she was independent enough to try feeding herself. There was more chewing on the spoon than actual eating going on--I'm sure it feels pretty good to bite that rubber tip with those new teeth!

Halloween Art

This is Emily's first art project from school!

Almost Halloween

Gateway reminded us all week to dress Emily for Halloween on Friday--both of her teachers were dressed as black cats, and several of the kids in her class had on costumes. We decided to go the simpler route and just let her wear this cute little onesie from Aunt Jenn, since a costume might have been a little much for all day long. When I picked her up in the afternoon, she had on a different outfit, and Miss Amanda told me she almost made it through the day without changing :).

Another Flu Shot

Since all children 6 months through 8 years old have to get two doses of flu vaccine this year if they haven't had the flu shot before, today was Emily's appointment for the second half of the vaccine, one month after the first half.

We went in this morning and it was really quick--so quick, in fact, that Emily didn't cry at all! No bottom lip, no tears, no nothing. She was such a big girl--and got a pack of Goldfish crackers as a reward (those actually ended up being my reward!).

Hopefully the vaccine will help keep her safe this flu season!