7 Months is a Big Deal

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-Emma can army crawl like a champ.  Once she gets up on her hands and knees she looks a bit confused, stutter steps, and then decides that her belly on the ground is a much better idea. She has been able to get to wherever she wants to go by rolling for a while now, but her ability to go in a straight line is opening up new avenues of exploration.  I am not sure if anyone is ready for this newfound freedom.

-Trying new foods has become really fun.  Emma is a great eater even when she does not really like what she is tasting. Favorite foods (currently) are sweet potatoes, avocados, butternut squash, pears, and peaches.

-Emma is completely enamored of the cat.  This does not always go well, but at least the cat doesn't seem to completely hate the idea.

-Playing is becoming real now.  She is able to manipulate objects a bit and is even able to put a ball back where it belongs.  We do not often coax her into a certain way of playing, but when we do she works really hard to match our movements.

-One of the cutest things she has started to do is share her pacifier.  She will take it out of her mouth and try to put it in ours.  Sharing starts early.

-She is still tiny, but no one seems to really understand this until they see her in person. We are trying to figure out the best way to show this in pictorial form.

-Most of the time Emma is smiling, cuddling, or playing quietly with her toys. She is pretty low key.

*Here is the story of this month's sticker (also known as "why the sticker is on her back").

Good morning, it is that time again Miss Emma.

 Hmm...

 I am pretty sleepy

Well, perhaps this toy will occupy you a bit.

Nope, this is way more fun.

What can I say? I tried.

Emma is Already 6 Months Old!

-At her 6-month checkup, Emma weighed just over 14 pounds and measured 24 inches.  She is tiny.  The funny thing is that she never looks that small in pictures, or videos, but trust me... she is little.

-Food is our current adventure.  So far, she is more into vegetables than fruit.  While this is great, it is also very weird.  I mentioned this in a previous post, but Emma loves the song "Apples and Bananas" and now we know she does not actually like either of these fruits.  Hopefully this will change.

-Emma is a big fan of sitting up.  She can pretty much sit unassisted even though she does take a graceful tumble every once in a while.

-Even though Emma is tiny, she is very strong.  She can pull herself up when holding our hands.  And she can "stand" while leaning on something...which totally counts when you are 6 months old.

-We knew that parenting was going to be an amazing new adventure, but we never thought we would be blessed with such a happy girl.  She laughs and smiles most of the day.

-It is even easy to see when she is smiling while she has a pacifier in her mouth.

-She is not crawling yet, but we think she will be super soon.  She can get into crawling stance, but once she is there she gets a bit confused and just lays back down.  She is one heck of a roller though; Emma would roll for a mile if we let her.

-She wants to talk.  She watches us as we talk and tries to move her mouth like we do. These efforts usually end in her smiling and laughing at us.

-Just so you know that Joe and I do exist, here is a picture of Emma dancing with Daddy and one of her hugging Mommy.

Instead of continuing with written info about all things Emma I thought this would speak volumes (watch the entire video to see what she's laughing about):

Emma's Thoughts on Apples

Since Emma has turned 6 months (picture post to follow) she has been given the go ahead to eat solid foods. She began eating rice cereal about a month and a half ago and she has been very receptive to the whole idea of eating with a spoon, so we are hoping the transition will be a smooth one.

For Emma's first solid food we decided on sweet potatoes. They have a nice texture and they are sweet without being a super sweet fruit. Here is her first solid meal in pictures:

What is this new orange stuff?

Hmm...

This feels odd on my tongue.

I think I am ok with this.

Yumm!

She never smiled during the process, but she never spit it out. I am pretty sure she liked it because she opened her mouth every time I put the spoon up. The next day we tried peas. These were not an easy sell, so we ended up mixing them with rice cereal and she was much happier.

I really want to make the majority of Emma's food from scratch, so I spent some time on Sunday making two flavors: carrots and butternut squash. She taste tested both and everything seems ok...and the process makes me feel very fancy.

After trying so many new vegetables I thought it would be nice to give her some tasty fruit. Since Emma's favorite song is "Apples and Bananas" I thought it would be appropriate to give her apples. Well, this is how she felt about that...

Yes, that is the Superbowl in the background.

5 Months!!

-Emma has the best laugh and it is not a subtle laugh. This is a deep down belly laugh and it is awesome.

-Emma is close to being able to put her pacifier back in her mouth when it falls out. Most of the time it ends up backwards, but that is pretty good in my book.

-Our nighttime routine is pretty set. Emma knows that after her fun bath (with dad) is eating/cuddling and then bed time. Most nights she sleeps long stretches at a time (5-7 hours) with only minimal waking.

-Emma is now sleeping in her own room. I have heard that this is something that people look forward to, but Joe and I have had a bit of a hard time with it. I am certain that Emma is getting more sleep than we are.

-Her legs are getting stronger. She has been able to support her own weight for a while now, but her legs now stay straight when we help her.

-On that note, she is also pushing her butt up in the air when on her belly...she is going to be crawling in no time.

-We went on our first overnight trip at the end of December. Emma did a great job. Her sleep schedule was only a bit off and she didn't have any fits which means we are now (kind of) mobile.

-Her personality is really beginning to form. It is difficult to put in words, but watching her become a individual is amazing.

-Emma does not mind to have on hats, ribbons, headbands...this just adds to her cuteness.

-Her fascination with food had gone beyond watching us and she has started to try to grab at what we are eating or drinking. Her favorite thing to try and grab is bottled water, especially sparkling water. Note: it is very hard to get a baby to let go of a handful of pizza.

4 Months! (delayed)

-Emma still weighs less than 13 lbs. which still makes her smaller than our cat.

- Her hair is growing pretty fast, but the cutest part is that she still has a handful of really long hairs from when she was born. It adds to the fluffy quality.

Hair fluff and long eyelashes.

-She is great with people. We have been venturing out around town during these abnormally warm late fall days. Whenever someone smiles at her she smiles back. She is also patient and calm when being carried in her wrap, so outings are actually really fun.

Ready for a hug.

-Emma is really good at supporting her own weight on her legs. She can even push up from a squatting position (she is preparing her soccer legs).

-She loves to just hold things...especially when she is napping.

-Rolling over has started to be an easier thing for her. She does not always roll all the way over, but the back and forth is no longer frustrating.

Mid-roll

-What is frustrating is the fact that she can reach the toys on her play mat, but she can't pull them down. She tries so hard to chew on them and gets very grumbly when it doesn't work out.

-Although she (probably) won't be eating solids until she is 6 months old, Emma has become fascinated with watching us eat. My theory is that she wants to be chewing on everything and the fact that we are chewing on something that she can't have is frustrating.

-During changing time (and other times) she sometimes grabs her feet. She is going to be very good at yoga.

Happy baby pose.

-Football is very entertaining and hilarious to Emma. She smiles every time football is on TV. No other sport seems to have this effect.

-Emma is now able to bring things to her mouth with ease. She is super excited about this fact and likes to use her new skill whenever possible.

Even her sticker was a victim. Goodbye month 4; hello month 5!

We waited a week to take these pictures, because Miss Emma had a bit of a virus that covered her with red spots. They weren't itchy and she was never unhappy....but we still thought it was best to wait until her skin was all clear.

Clear skin = happy, bubbly baby

What Have We Been Up To?

Now that Joe and I are both back at work, our priorities have shifted towards spending every possible moment with Emma. This has led to a lack of communication with anyone who talks in anything beyond vowel sounds. So, here are a few pictures that represent those precious moments we have with our girl:

1/4 of a Year

Emma turned 3 months old on Wednesday. I know everyone says it goes by fast, but I didn't believe them... I do now.

All things Emma, 3-month edition:

-Emma is very much a morning person. If you want to see her smile at everything then you need to be at our house between 5-8 in the morning.

-Emma still does not seem to like pacifiers, but she loves to chew on things. This chewing comes with an amazing amount of drool.

Drool bubbles are fun!

-She can now roll over to one side really well. She wants to roll over to the other side so bad that she gets frustrated when it doesn't work. Emma can also hold her head parallel while being pulled up and can lift her head up 90 degrees while on her tummy. She is going to be an active little girl.

-Emma has been able to support her own weight for about a month. We have to help her with balance and control, but she is pretty strong.

-We can almost tickle her at this point. I think she knows that she is ticklish, but doesn't always know how to process that information. Sometimes she smiles, sometimes she grunts, and other times she just looks at us like we are nuts.

-She has discovered her hands and she loves them. She is constantly playing with her own hands or sucking on her fists. It is seriously adorable.

-Her little hands also like to grab things. She likes toys, but she is way more interested in grabbing hair, necklaces, shirts, anything that is attached to the person holding her.

-It seems as though Emma has an internal alarm. She always knows when it is bath/bed time. At 6:30 she is adorable and silly, but by 7:30 she starts to get sleepy and... a bit cranky. This may seem like a bummer, but it means she knows when it is time to sleep and, for the most part, she stays asleep through the night. :-) Yes, we know we are very lucky.

-Speaking of bath time, Dad is now the bath giver. It gives Emma and her Daddy some fun, relaxing time that is just for them.

-She is starting to notice the tv... a lot. We were hoping she wouldn't pick up that family trait, but those shiny, happy images are very appealing.

Oh look, the tv!

-I went back to work this month. While I am still having a hard time adjusting to not seeing her 24/7, Emma is doing well. I think this is because she gets to spend every day with her Grandma or her Dad. I am a bit envious.

-Every day Emma's personality is developing. It is amazing to watch and makes every day special.