Emmeline's Manners...

I'm working on getting Emmeline to say please, thank you, you're welcome, etc.   It is really cute when she does, because all of her "courtesy words" are said in this very high pitched, sing-song voice.  She does really well saying them, when she remembers.  The trick it to remind her before she gets too worked up and into the screaming state (hello, Terrible Trying Twos).  I'm sure it frustrates her because just a few months ago, screaming was a completely acceptable way to get what you want.  Now we are asking her to say "milk, please" or "pick me up, please."  Poor thing...

Usually, she starts screaming loudly requesting something; Pee-na (Kung Fu Panda), Elmo, Milk, Os, Dada, Tractuh (tractor).  We then say "Emmeline, how do you ask for that" or "Emmeline, what did you say" and she says what ever it was and then "please."  I'm pretty sure that most parents do the exact same thing, so it's not like we are breaking any new ground here.  Anyway, here are two stories to demonstrate Emmeline's learning curve, or perhaps my learning curve.

A couple weekends ago, she had finished her dinner and wanted a chocolate graham cracker, which she calls "Cha-kat."  The exchange when something like this.

Emmeline: Cha-kat? Cha-kat? Cha-kat?
Elin: (Typing on iPhone to send an email, I think.)
Emmeline: No phone! Cha-kat? (Louder) No phone! No phone! (Louder) No phone! Cha-kat?!?!?!
Elin: Emmeline...
Long pause.
Emmeline: Cha-kat, please...

Atta-girl!  Now we are getting there.

Then there's this story...

The next night, I had moved her high chair onto the front porch for dinner.  I thought it might be a nice change of pace.  When I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she replied "ice cream."  Not my first choice for an entree, but I told her that if she ate all of her chicken and most of her other items, she could have some ice cream.  We had been sitting outside for a while, just enjoying the evening.  She was eating and I was just relaxing.  I looked over and saw her moving her plate around.  She looked up at me, started clapping and said
Emmeline: Yea! Ice cream, please!
(Um, that plate-moving... she was hiding her chicken underneath it.)
Elin: Emmeline, is that chicken under your plate?
Emmeline: Oh, chicken!
Elin: You can have some ice cream, after you finish your chicken.
Emmeline: OK! Chicken!

We are totally in for it.  Sneaky already!  She isn't even two.

Emmeline's daily recap...

On Monday, May 2, Emmeline went with me to the chiropractor and then to her first dental check-up.  This is her description of the day.

She describes the chiropractor visit so well.  Mamma had an "uh-oh" on her back, so she went "night-night" on the "table" and the doctor "pixed it."

Then we went to her dentist appointment.  Her dentist is friends with Lightening McQueen from Cars (who knew that a decal on your wall made you friends with someone).  They cleaned her teeth, then painted her hand purple and she got to do a hand print on a yet-to-be-installed ceiling tile.

Emmeline is so observant, it is sort of scary.  Keeps us on our toes, for sure!

On tractors and tiaras...

So Emmeline is into two things right now: riding on the lawnmower and princesses.  I'll get to princesses in a minute, but first... tractors.  A few weeks ago, David took her for a ride on the lawnmower and now it is her favorite thing to do at home.  "Tak-tuh?" (tractor) she says.  Everyday.  Usually first thing in the morning.  Always when she gets home.  Before we leave for school everyday, she has to hug the tractor.  "Aww, tak-tuh, aww."  ("Aww" means hug, because that is what we say when she gives us hugs.)  Yup, she hugs the tractor everyday before she will get in the car.
 
David found her this Emmeline-sized John Deere at the Thrift Store the other day.  It has no charger and the wheels are shot, but she climbs onto it and off of it and onto it and off of it about 100 times.  But it doesn't replace riding with Daddy.  When she isn't on the tractor, she carries around a picture of them riding the tractor.  Sometimes, she will take the picture to bed with her and I'll hear her talking on the monitor about the "taktuh."

Now, on princesses, "pinsess" as Emmeline calls them.  I woke up on April 29 just in time to catch most of the Royal Wedding.  Emmeline got up in time to see the Prince and Princess leaving Westminster Abbey.  Her favorite part: the horses.  "Husses, giin.  Husses, giin!"  (Horses, again.  Horses again!)  Then she saw the princess in her tiara waving at the crowd while sitting in a carriage pulled by huge horses.  Emmeline turned and looked at me like, "How come we don't ride around like that!"  And then she started waving back at the Prince and Princess.  She smiled and waved all morning.  If you ask her to, she will smile and wave like a princess.  Somehow, the receptionists at her dentist knew she was a princess, which made the first visit there better.

Last week, I took her by the recital rehearsal for Steeple Arts, my old dance studio.  My mom's cousin teaches there and we wanted to stop by and say hello to her and some other friends.  Emmeline really wanted to go home and ride the tractor, so she was fussy-butted all the way there in the car.  Finally she calmed down when I told her we were going to see some dancing princesses.

Once we got there, I took her into the theatre and she saw the girls dancing on stage.  "Pinsess, aww.  pincess, aww."  "We will go give them a hug in a minute, Emmeline.  The are doing their Princess Dance right now."  "Pinsess, aww.  pincess, aww."  This went on for a while.  Finally, they were finished with their dancing and pictures and we went on stage to see them.  This sweet class of 12 little 12-year-olds were so flattered to be thought of as Princesses, but I wish I had had my camera to capture Emmeline's face!  She positively lit up when those girls gushed over her.  She cried when it was time to leave.  "Pincess, aww.  Pincess, aww.  Pincess, aww, giin, ginn!!!"  One lonely Princess in the parking lot waiting on her queen mom to pick her up got one final hug from Emmeline and then we were on the way home.  No amount of telling her that the Princesses were all night-night in their castles would console her.  She wanted more hugs from the Princesses.  She cried and cried and cried...

Until we pulled up at home and she saw the tractor.

Ahhh, the attention span of the toddler mind.

Words words words...

Here's a current word list.  These are words that she says.  She recognizes plenty more, but doesn't say them, i.e. she can point to her ear, shoulder, knee, etc. but doesn't say those yet.

Foods: nana (banana), gogurt (yogurt), apah (applesauce or apples), kiken (chicken), kaka (cracker), bebbies (veggie straws), oh (cheerios), muck (milk), cuh (cup), cahkee (coffee)

Exclamations: o bee (o boy), yuck, meh (mess), ah hah (uh huh), no, yeh (yes), mup (up), go, ni ni (night night), uh oh, moh (more), gen (again), BOO, pees (please), poopy (only after the fact, of course), ah duh (all done), bye bye, hi, dahhhhk (dark), echo (she doesn't know what it means, but uses it at the right time like leaning into the shower and saying "echo")

People (and pets): Mama, Dada, Caca (Chica), Wiwi (Winni), gNini (Ginny), Bebe (my mom), Rara (Roger), Pat Pat said much like a duck would say it and always very loudly (David's mom), Papa (David's dad), Elmo, Ohi (Zoey), Cookie, Bih Buhd (Big Bird) Bahnee (Barney, tragic... I know),

Places: cul (school)

Things: bak (block), buk (book), ba (bath), puppy (always whispered), dahg or woo woo (dog), mehehe (horse), mahw (cat), buhd (bird), boon (balloon), light, mihboooohn (milkbone), snow, nenees (necklace)

Body Parts: heh (head), noh (nose), mahw (mouth), ih (eye), bip bip (belly button), toe,

She puts words together some, too.  A few nights ago, she got a very serious look on her face while she was eating dinner and slowly said, "Moh ohs pees," and then grinned really big and looked so proud of herself.  I could just see the gears turning in her brain.

This post is brought to you today by...

The letter B.

Emmeline had her 18 month check-up on Thursday and she is doing great!  Also, I'm pretty sure that she is a genius.  I always park in the same row on the same level of the parking deck when I go to St. Vincent's.  I'm pretty sure I'd lose my car if I didn't.  On Thursday, I parked in my normal spot and we load out of the car - and I'm hustling to get us too the elevator because we are late and it is cold.  Emmeline points to the huge letter marking the level and screams...

B!!!

No lie.

Then she looks up at me and grins like "See how smart I am.  I know what I just did."
 
She might not be a genius, of course, because when she sings her alphabet it goes like this: A-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B.

B is her favorite.

But still... really smart, that girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Stats at 18 months (with WHO percentiles in parentheses):
Weight: 26 lbs. 10 oz. (88%)
Height: 32.5" (62%)
Head Size: 19.75" (99%), supports genius theory

All of her other milestones are great as well.  She is talking a lot.  I'll try to post a word list soon.  She loves helping around the house, especially loading and unloading the dryer.  She eats well, but still has a milk allergy.  She loves her books and her blocks.  If it were up to her, she and Elmo (and Cookie Monster, too) could read books and stack blocks all day long.  She is very affectionate, unless saying "no" to hugs and kisses seems like more fun at the time.

All in all, we are so very blessed to have such a wonderful, loving, smart, silly daughter.

Emmeline - 1 year

Oh. My. Goodness.  I can't believe that she is a year old.  Let's see how we got here.

Seconds old.

One month.  All swaddled and big smiles.

Two months.  New hairdo!

Three months.  Sitting pretty!

Four months.  Loves her paci!

Five months.  Sweet cheeks!

Six months.  Even with an ear infection, she's all smiles!

Seven months.  Sweet toothy smiles.

Eight months.  Pretty in pink, and getting more curious.

Nine months.  Into everything!

Ten months.  So happy to be outside!

Eleven months.  Here I come, ready or not!

One year.  Steppin' out!

My girl has had a great month, with only a little bit of sickness thrown in.  She started walking (at camp, big surprise) and is a master crawler.  Emmeline's intellect seems to be expanding exponentially.  All of a sudden, she is doing a great job communicating with us, and in less baby-like ways.  

Her vocabulary includes: Mama, Dada, wuh-wuh (the answer to the question "what does a puppy dog say" and the dogs themselves), du (duck), doh (dog), tya tya (thank you), ba ba (don't know what that one means), hi, bye and many many other noises.  She also does well making her needs know in ways without words, including pointing, grunting, screaming and screeching!  

She loves playing and reading books.  She has a few toys that are favorites, but loves the books the best.  She loves babbling to herself in the mirror.  Another new fun game is throwing the ball to us, and catching it when we roll it back to her.

She follows simple instructions very well.  She can stand up, walk, help get herself dressed, and give hugs when asked.  She is starting to get frustrated when she doesn't get what she wants, which is usually a product of her inability to communicate what she wants to us.  I'm just thinking that it is a terrible two's temper tantrum preview.  I'm just really proud that she is doing such a good job getting her point across.  We'll work on volume control next!

Still not sleeping well...  She's just about the sweetest think other than that, so I'll call it even, I guess.

Emmeline - 10 months (sorry so late...)

  So, what a month.  Emmeline started the month off with another double ear infection for two weeks (April 12-23) which took two rounds of two different antibiotics to solve.  The next week (April 26-30) brought the lovely roseola - an illness characterized by a high fever (we made it to 103.7 degrees), followed by a rash.  We ended up at the Children's ER one night.  Of course, by the time we got there her fever was at a much more respectable 101.5.  Roseola = a bunch of crap, thank you very much.

Not to be outdone by the past three weeks, next on the illness agenda was pink eye (May 1-6).  Really spectacular, that one.  So much so that I just had to try it as well (May 6-12).  I really don't want to get it ever again.  My eyeball was swollen - the actual eyeball.  I spent 3 hours of my first Mother's Day alone at the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital Emergency Room to make sure that my eyeball didn't explode.  Having spent a lovely 12 weeks at home with my baby after her birth, I burned some comp and vacation time to be out with one of the most contagious disease imaginable.  Fantastic.

On top of all of this fun, David designed and built the set for Samford Theatre's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie which ran April 30-May 2.  The show was so wonderful.  The production looked great, and the students did a fantastic job with a very big show.  Once the show came down, so did David.  I think he picked up the pink eye virus which, on him, showed up as a really, really bad case of the ick.  He had a terrible fever and chills for about 5 days and then has felt run down and awful for two weeks.  It started on May 4 and is still lingering about.

All in all, a banner month in wellness for the Glenn household.  I know I'm whining, and I know it could have been so much worse.  It just seemed like last month was a doozy health-wise!  Nothing was major, but all the little stuff seemed to add up.  Thankfully, we are all on the mend!

But onto the more fun stuff.  What Emmeline is up to nowadays.

She consistently says Da-da to David.  She consistently says duh, which means dog.  She consistently says mmm which means I'm hungry for food, milk, formula, cheerios, that couch cushion, a kleenex, your grocery list - whatever she might want to eat at the time.  She will on occasion say Ma-ma and really mean it.

She laughs when you laugh.  It is her most endearing trait.  If David and I laugh at something, she laughs right along with us.  If the cashier at Walmart laughs at the manager, she laughs, too.  And I mean side-splitting laughter.  You can tell it is forced, but it isn't fake.  She is really laughing.

Another cute new development is hugging people and things.  Her stuffed animals were on the floor one day when she got home from school and she crawled right over to her teddy bear (which is as big as she is) and laid right down on it and "hugged" it.  Then she crawled over to the other stuffed animals and did the same.  She hugs the dogs, too.  Chica HATES it.  Winni and Ginny don't mind too much until the hair pulling starts, then it's off they go.  Emmeline has also gotten very good at hugging David and me as well - so sweet.

Developmentally, I think she's right on track.  She bangs things together (the louder, the better).  She eats with her hands (mmmmmmmm).  She plays pat-a-cake ("roll it up" is a struggle, but she tries and says "rrrr" while she does).  She stands by herself for a few seconds, and looks like she wants to walk, but doesn't really like to cruise too much or walk while holding our fingers.

All in all, it was a crazy month.  Health-wise it was a 3 (ranked that way because all three of us made it through, relatively unscathed).  Personality-wise, it was a 10.  Emmeline could not be a sweeter child.  A better sleeper, yes, but sweeter, not a chance.

 (Where is my 2 week old that slept through the night...)

Emmeline - 9 months

Well, Miss Emmeline has been out as long as she was in! I really can't believe it. She is growing up to be such a cute baby. Her biggest development this month is her appetite! She will eat anything, and I mean anything, that you feed her or put in front of her. I was a little worried that she would turn into a Cheerio, so we are working in a few other kinds of finger foods. Her daily food and milk/formula intake looks like this:

6:00 am Nurse
7:30 am 4 oz of fruit or applesauce with baby cereal with Cheerios after
8:15 am Nurse
10:45 am 4.5 oz. milk bottle and 4 oz. of pureed veggies or stage 2 fruit
1:45 pm 4.5 oz. milk bottle and 4 oz. of pureed fruit or stage 2 fruit
3:00 pm 4 oz formula bottle and puffs and cheerios
5:30 pm Nurse
6:00 pm 3-4 oz. of pureed veggies, an ounce of pureed meat, an ounce of avocado and an ounce of brown rice with diced peaches and Cheerios after
7:30 pm Nurse and bed
Usually she wakes to nurse between 2 am and 4 am, but sometimes she sleeps through.

Next week we are going to two 6 oz. bottles at daycare and upping her food some by adding some finger foods for her to have there. I think that I'll switch her over to stage 3 baby foods and chunkier home purees as well. I hope that she continues to be an adventurous eater!

Some milestones this month include incessant chatter. This child talks all the time! (I'm sure that isn't that much of a surprise if you know me.) She talks to us, to her friends at "school," to the dogs... all the time. She has really started to interact more with us, the kids in her class and, most hysterically, the dogs. Every morning she crawls over to the dogs and "hugs" them by pulling herself up to kneeling onto them and then flopping her head down on top of them. The grudgingly cooperate. The other afternoon she grabbed the other end of the toy Winni was playing with and started shaking it and laughing. I think she really enjoyed "playing" with her.

Emmeline also enjoys going outside, which is great because David and I do, too! Every afternoon she spends some time outside after we get home from work. The last few days we have gone to the track at Irondale Middle School to walk after she eats dinner and she enjoyed that (when she wasn't too sleepy).

She is developing a sense of humor as well. She laughs when we laugh, even if she doesn't know why. Also, she thinks it is super-funny to put her pacifier in your mouth. Much hilarity will ensue. Just don't try to take it from her, because that is clearly NOT funny.

Here are some items from the babycenter.com milestone chart. She is right on track developmentally, and slightly advanced in the social aspects, I think.

• Stands while holding onto something

• Jabbers or combines syllables

• Eats with fingers

• Bangs objects together

• Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo (she doesn't do too well with the "roll-it-up" portion of patty cake, but she gets the rest)

• Says "mama" and "dada" to the correct parent (with absolutely no regularity, and sometimes not at all)

• Waves goodbye (or sometimes, if she is really feeling fancy, she claps goodbye)

• Picks things up with pincer grasp (oh, Cheerios, how much you have taught us)

• Crawls well, with belly off the ground

• Understands "no" and simple instructions (albeit she doesn't follow those instructions)

We do love her so!

Making baby food...

So I've been making Emmeline's food for a few weeks and we both are enjoying it. She still eats some store-bought foods, but a lot is home pureed fruits and veggies.

So far we've tried sweet potatoes, butternut squash, yellow squash, broccoli, green beans, avocado, chicken, peaches, blueberries, pears and bananas. She has loved it all, as you can see in that picture! I've also gotten a stash of food cubes stored in the freezer, which is the only way a working person could handle doing this, in my opinion. I try to do two to four ice cube trays worth every weekend.
Next up, English peas and more green beans!

Spring...

has sprung.

The time change happened last weekend, but it has been dreary and cold most of the week. It finally warmed up on Friday and we all went out into the yard to play.

So nice.

Emmeline - 8 months

I can't believe that it is time for another update. Emmeline has had a big month. She moved up a class at daycare, which I think accellerated her physical development. Her new class doesn't have any "containers" like excersaucers or bouncy seats. It is just a free for all baby-pile and a toy box. I was very nervous at first because when she moved up, Emmeline wasn't very mobile yet, only crawling backward, so I wondered how she would do. After a few days of adjustment, she adjusted very well. By the second week she was crawling and playing just fine. I think that it is good for her to learn how to play with the other children in her class. Also, she was getting very attached to one of her teachers in the other class. She likes her new teachers, but doesn't seem to cling as much to them as she did to Miss Amy.

Another change for this month was the addition of more foods. I've started making some of her baby foods and she likes them, once she gets used to them. So far I have the following stock in the freezer: green beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, bananas and blueberries. I have some brown rice and some peaches to puree one night this week. All of this eating seems to agree with her. I weighed her last night and she weighs 17 lbs. 13 oz., up 9 oz. in just a week! I couldn't believe it. Before that, she had only gained 4 ounces in two weeks.

We have added breakfast and dinner into the mix last week, which probably accounts for the weight gain. She has home-pureed fruits with baby cereal for breakfast, store bought baby-fruit for a morning snack, store-bought baby veggies for lunch, puffs for an afternoon snack, and home-pureed veggies with a little protein for dinner. She nurses four times a day and gets two milk bottles and one formula bottle during the week. On the weekends she just nurses on demand, but her food schedule stays the same. I was hesitant about adding formula, but she takes it fine at daycare. (She won't touch it from me, David or my mom who keeps her on Fridays. Oh well...)

She loves the dogs so much. When we get her home everyday, she kicks and kicks until she sees the dogs - then she laughs and wants to get down on the floor with them. She and Ginny are bestest friends, and Emmeline thinks that Winni is hysterical, probably because Winni smiles all the time.

New milestones this month are:
waves hello and goodbye
reapeats ma-ma and sometimes says it (It's more like maaaaaaaaaaaaaa when she wants something, but it is a start)
smacks and says "mmmmmmm" when she wants to eat
mouths bye-bye sometimes
chatters on and on, but we have no idea what she is saying
understands "no" and HATES it
crawls really well
pulls to standing
stands for a couple seconds on her own
uses pincher grasp
feeds herself puffs (really she just puts everything in her mouth hoping that it is puffs)
bangs things together and on the ground (and thinks that really funny)
"claps," but sometimes misses
still loves peek-a-boo

We are having some difficulties sleeping again. Right now, I think it is because she is sick with a cold, so I hope that it goes away on its own. She is getting up at least twice at night to nurse, and usually has trouble getting back to sleep once and is up for about 45 minutes to an hour. I know that she can sleep through from about 7 pm-5 am (with a dream feed around 10:30 pm) because she has done it a few times, but I think I'll wait until she is feeling better to work on any sleep re-training. Maybe (hopefully) it will work out on its own.

Anyway, as always, we love her so. I cannot believe how easily and well she melds into our family. Her little personality comes through more and more everyday. She is bright, happy, inquisitive, darling, loving and beautiful - inside and out. Sweet Emmeline, we love her so.

Emmeline - 7 months (Can you believe it!)

So Emmeline is 7 months old. I cannot believe how quickly she is growing. David bought be an infant beam scale at the thrift store, so I can tell you her exact stats.

Weight: 16 lbs. 15 oz. (59%)
Height: 26 inches (46%)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (62%)

She is really enjoying floor time and is getting the hang of playing now. I was checking the babycenter.com Milestone Chart and trying to find out what they mean by "object performance." (Edited to say: What this really is is "object permanence," which makes a lot more sense. Perhaps Dad should teach reading comprehension. Thanks for pointing out my typo, LAG!) They use the example of peek-a-boo. Well, Emmeline has been playing peek-a-boo for a LONG time. Starting at about 4 or 5 months, when I would take her pants off during her nightly routine, I would put them over her face. She would then pant with excitement, and wait a few second and then pull them off and grin really big. This went on until she was about five and a half months old and then she started to put anything within reach over her face, pant with excitement and then pull them away and give me a big grin. Who knew that this was "object performance" and was a normal milestone at 7 months! So smart, my child!

We have gotten back into a normal sleeping schedule after the craziness of Christmas and two infected ears. She now nurses 4 or 5 times during the day, one of which is a dream feed before I go to bed, and then once at night. She takes three bottles at daycare. She has finally gotten the hang of solids and LOVES them. Amy, her favorite teacher, mentioned to me that Emmeline would screech every time anyone else was being fed. Incredulously I sent a container of sweet potatoes to daycare the next day. We had been trying for weeks to get her to eat solids. I made my own baby food, I mushed up bananas and avocados, I mixed rice cereal - all to no avail. What finally worked was peer pressure. After that first serving at daycare, Emmeline hasn't looked back and now eats anything we feed her. She ate stage one foods for about two weeks and now is onto stage two.

The picture on the left shows her about 3 weeks ago. The one on the right was taken last weekend.

The other milestones she has met this month include:

sitting unassisted
scooting / crawling backward
going from hands and knees to sitting (she does this every few days, so I think she is almost ready to do it consistently)
stands while holding onto something (she can almost pull herself up in her crib)
waves good-bye
passes things from hand to had
understands cause and effect (that's the nice way to say "throws things off of high chair tray")
the above also means that she is beginning to experience stranger and separation anxiety

A highlight of the past week was her first injury - a black eye. She was on hands and knees and lunged forward for a toy and face-planted on it instead. Can I mention that David and I were both sitting on the floor with her. Geez, we felt terrible.

All in all she is growing into a beautiful child. I am really enjoying being her parent.

Emmeline - 6 months (and an on time update)

Half a year old. Man, oh man . . . that doesn't seem possible.

Emmeline is such a smart child. I know that every parent says that, but really, she is fantastic!
We had her six month appointment today. She has gained 1 lb. 2 oz. since last month and now weighs 15 lbs. 6 oz. which is great news. The not so good news is that she has at least one, but probably two infected ears. That most likely accounts for her getting up 4 times a night for the last few nights. Hopefully with her antibiotics will get rid of the infection and she will be back to being a happy baby with good sleep habits. She also got five shots, but after her nap, has been acting like nothing is wrong.

This has been a big month for her. She has hit the following milestones:

• She has her first two teeth, the middle ones on the bottom (Dec. 13 on the right and about two weeks later for the left)
• Passes objects back and forth between her hands, especially her pacifier. If you put it in her left hand, she moves it to her right hand and then puts it in her mouth.
• She sits up for a minute or two with out support, and for a long time if she has her boppy behind her. She might be fine without the boppy, but I get a little nervous.
• She really likes "talking" now. She yacks away, even thought we have no idea what she is saying. She gets into squealing matches with my mom, too, which is quite funny! She also squeals with delight every time the dogs pay her any attention.
• She is really good at getting toys (and anything) that she wants. She rolls around in her crib or on the floor or on our bed to get whatever she wants.
• She is so mobile that I have started changing her on our bed because the changing table made me nervous. David gave me a little crafting tote a few years ago that he suggested that we repurpose as a diaper tote. It is fantastic and holds diapers, wipes, medicines, a changing pad, lotions, baby powder, desitin etc. I love it!
• Solids are going okay. I gave up on rice cereal, but she will eat bananas. Next up are avocados and sweet potatoes.
• She is really good at sitting on my hip now.
• She stands up when she holds on to me or onto the couch. She will pull herself up if she is squatting on your lap.
• She says "mama" but has no idea what it means, but I love the way it sounds.
• She plays peek-a-boo and knows that it is fun! It has always been part of our nightly routine, but she initiates play now.

Y'all have a good day, and ROLL TIDE!!!

Emmeline - 5 month (and 4 weeks)

Man, I'm really bad at the monthly updates. I'll make this one fast.
So far this month, sweetest Emmeline does the following (I took this list from Babycenter.com):

• Distinguishes between bold colors
• Plays with his hands and feet
• Recognizes own name
• Turns toward new sounds
• Rolls over in both directions
• Sits momentarily without support
• Mouths objects
• Turns toward sounds and voices
• Rolls over in both directions
• Is ready for solid foods
• Mouths objects
• Lunges forward or starts crawling
• Jabbers or combines syllables
• Drags objects toward herself


Here are some pictures - highlights from the month!

Here we are in Linn Park. We went to the Veteran's Day Parade.

Here's Emmeline Thanksgiving weekend. We all had a stomach bug... can't you tell she doesn't feel good. Yeah, we couldn't either, except when she was vomiting.
She absolutely loves this swing. My sister-in-law let us use it and man, it is so fantastic!

On the state of our home . . .

If any of you should venture to our house anytime soon and wonder about the dull state of our hardwoods or the dust bunnies in the corners or the unfinished moulding or the raw wood doors, might I refer you to the poem below.

We are otherwise entertained right now. Emmeline grows bigger all the time. We'd rather not miss it (however the picture below shows how out of hand the craft loft has become).

Craft loft, a.k.a. storage, a.k.a. my next project

Anyway, on to that poem.

BABIES DON’T KEEP

Mother, oh Mother,

come shake out your cloth,

empty the dustpan,

poison the moth,

hang out the washing

and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house

is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery,

blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little

Boy Blue (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done

and there’s nothing for stew

and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing

will wait till tomorrow,

for Children grow up,

as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep…...

~Author Unknown ~

Seeing double . . .

I found this old picture in a stack that my mom gave me.

Me at exactly four months on my christening day.

And here's a new one.

Emmeline at five days shy of four months, in the same dress.

Same dress.

Same age.

She is totally cuter.

Emmeline - 4 Months

Emmeline is four months old today. She is growing up so fast! Her stats are:

Weight: 13 lbs. 8 oz. (up one and a half pounds in two months)
Length: 24.5"
Head: 17"

Developmentally, she is changing every day. Some new milestones include:

• putting toys and things into her mouth
• reaching for objects, like keys, grocery lists, etc.
• taking her paci out and putting it back in
• standing (supported by us, of course)
• passing toys from hand to hand (she has just started this)
• playing with her feet, including taking off her socks
• "chatting" with us, and she is adding in some consenants
• showing interest in our food (I don't think she is quite ready for solids yet, but she sure likes to sit in our laps and watch us eat.)
• slinging her toys around (she enjoys the rattling that they make)

All in all, she is a total joy, and we really love her so much.

"There's a thin line between Saturday night, and Sunday morning . . ."

Before we get started, does anybody know where that quote is from?

So yesterday (Saturday) was Halloween and today (Sunday) is All Saint's Day. Emmeline celebrated both, so here are the pics.

She was a rock star for Halloween. Her shirt says "The Hissyfits" on the front and "Rock Me!" on the back. She wore zebra print pants and I spiked her hair up with Karo syrup, a trick I learned from the guy who has been cutting my hair forever.

We went to visit David's parents and my parents and she was a HUGE hit, of course. She was quite cute and really seemed to like being dressed up. Of course, that could have been her high-contrast pants!

Today we baptized Emmeline at St. Andrew's, the church where I was baptized, and married. It was such a great service. She was a fabulous child and didn't get fussy until the very end. The choir sang an arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision" that was a wedding gift to me from my friend Michael Smith. It was so great to have it heard at Emmeline's baptism, too! We had a reception afterward and it was so wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

This picture has nothing to do with Halloween or her baptism, but I love it so I included it. David took it in our back yard and she looks so sweet in it. I must say, my husband is a wonderful photographer!!!

Speaking of my husband, he is recovering from the swine flu, so send some good thoughts his way. David has had what he thought was a cold for a couple of weeks. Last Friday, when he was still feeling cruddy and with a long weekend of work and the baptism ahead, he went to a doc in a box to see if he had walking pneumonia. No, but he was at the tail end (we hope) of the swine flu.

Thank God Emmeline and I were spared (we think), knock on wood. We thought his cold was something he picked up from me or Emmeline since we have both been a little sick in the past few weeks. Who knew that it was swine flu!!!!

Anyway, that's all from here. I'll try to do another post this week about some of the non-baby things going on around here.