Ketchup Post

I forgot to post about Emme's latest teeth....it was probably because they took almost 2 months to come in. Anyway, Emme's bottom canines popped through on Jan 3rd. So now she has everything but her upper canines & 2 year molars.

We are starting to consider taking away the papi. Her teachers wanted all of the kids to be papi-free by the time they returned from Christmas break, but that just did not happen for Miss Em! We tried (although not whole-heartedly) and when I put her down for a nap without one on December 30th, she threw the biggest fit you've ever seen and ended up throwing herself out of her crib. Yikes! Her adrenaline was so high that it didn't even phase her and she didn't cry any harder than she had been. She didn't have any injuries either. So at that point, I stopped the papi purge idea, bit the bullet and told Ms. Yvette that we had failed in our mission. She was ok with it, but then this weekend a small breakthrough. Emme took 2 naps, one Sunday & one Monday without the papi and then she went to bed last night without one also. Now, when I woke her up this morning, the little stinker had found one in her bed during the night, but I know for a fact that she went to sleep without it. We celebrate small victories! Jackson was 21 months when we got rid of his, so Emme has some time, but she's definitely on her way to a papi-free existence!

More teeth & chatter

Emme now has 3 of the 4 1st molars - the 4th should be out any day now!

I forgot to mention a few of Emme's words in the last post:
bubbles
there - she says then when she closes a door or puts a up a toy or something like that

Emme has added more new words to her list:
bird
duck
ball
shoe
train
PaPa

She has also started forming a variation of the same small, 2-word sentence: There's Jackson! or There's Dada!

When Jackson was her age, he was all about animal sounds and would never say the name. Emme seems to be the exact opposite, saying the name, but only making the sounds of a few. I think she is starting to say cow too, but I'm not 100% sure. I love seeing how different their little personalities are!

Emme Talks

Emerson's vocabulary has really been expanding lately.

Friday, Oct 8: She surprised me by saying fish & play in the correct context.

Saturday, Oct 10: She said please (pshee) when she wanted milk - I thought it was a fluke, but she did it again over & over on Tuesday, Oct 12!

So for my sake - her current vocabulary consists of:
- Mama
- Dada
- Jackson
- Yaya
- Thank you
- More
- Milk
- Dog
- Cat
- Please
- Fish
- Play
- Book
- Done (sounds a lot like down)
- Down (sounds a lot like done)

She will attempt to say any word you ask her to, but these are the only recognizable ones!

Also on the 10th, her bottom left first molar popped through the gum. I felt like such a ninny - I had no idea it was even close. I secure my nomination for Mother of the Year everyday! ;) The bottom right one is almost there - I expect it anyday!

A Word From Emme

Emme said dog today for the first time! She kind of ruffs too! So that brings her words up to 4 - mama, dada, jackson and dog....I actually think she can say cat too, but I was never sure that she was connecting it. One thing's for sure - this kid is in no hurry to talk! Here's the best video I could get of her fourth word!

Oh, and she cut the left top lateral incisor yesterday! The other one is still on its way.

She can't STAND TEETHing

1. Emme has 2 more teeth that popped through the gums yesterday (5/20/10). The top middles. This has caused massive diaper rash and misery! Poor pumpkin.

2. In addition to this development, Emme stood on her own for a few seconds yesterday! She did it over & over and was so proud of herself. She even did it once while drinking from her sippy with her head leaned back. It wasn't for more than 30 seconds or so, but she had never even attempted it before. So exciting!

3. Finally, Emme has grasped the concept of No and has decided she does NOT like it! She bursts into you-hurt-my-feelings-big-crocodile tears everytime! She also will shake her head no if she doesn't want a particular food.

It's all happening so fast....

9 Months!

Emerson Kate turned 9 months on March 16th!

I cannot believe we have now had Emme longer than I was pregnant with her (she was 2 weeks early)! She continues to capture more & more of our hearts everyday. She has really begun to show her personality and will. She definitely knows what she wants when she wants it!

Eating: I must say mealtime with Emerson is not the most fun we've ever had! She squeals the most obnoxious sound if you don't feed her fast enough. Few people have the patience for it! It's tricky because we know that when we feed her after the squeal, she is learning that it gets what she wants, but if we don't she just squeals more and it's embarrassing in public! I guess the trick is to feed her faster than she can want it, but that is pretty tough. Emme prefers meat to anything else. Jackson is the complete opposite. She is down to 2-3 bottles a day. Usually two 7oz bottles and a 4oz bottle. We still haven't found anything she simply will not eat, but she will turn her nose up at peas, for example, if she can see something else. Since she now has 2 teeth, Aaron feels certain we will have to refinance the house to afford her appetite!

Sleep: Nothing new here - she is still a 12 hour baby at night and she typically takes 2 naps that last anywhere from 1 - 2 hours. She does now flip to her belly for some of the night.

Play: She has begun to pull up and gets so proud of herself when she does. She still needs a bit of help if she can't wrap her fingers around something. She is not at all steady once up, but can hold her own as long as she has a good grip. Since discovering this new skill, she prefers to be standing, which is sort of tiring for the rest of us. She and Jackson play so well together now. Jackson still grabs toys away from her sometimes, but we are working on that. He absolutely adores her and the first thing he says every morning is I want to see my Emme girl! *awww* Most toys still go straight to her mouth, but I have started seeing her putting blocks and such inside other toys and then take them back out again. As I've said before, she can wave and is now starting to clap. Emme loves to be outside. She is perfectly content in the Moby facing outward while I pull Jackson in the wagon on our walks. She sometimes even falls asleep while we are on a walk and then I freak wondering how long her head has been hanging!

Verbal skills: She really has those consanants down! She says mama when she cries, but I'm not sure it is truly connected in her mind. She babbles Bah ba ba ba baaaa or Lahlah-lahlah constantly.

She loves playing with her big brother!

She is smaller than Elmo.
She weighs 16 lbs 10 oz & is 26 1/2 inches long.
That's 10th & 25th percentiles.

Who needs a Blarney stone when you could
kiss this sweet leprechaun!

Or better yet, 2 sweet leprechauns!


Hey, Emme - what's with the tongue? Are you channeling Abigail?

She cut her first 2 teeth on March 13th.

Click on the picture for better view. She was NOT

happy with this particular shot!

or this one! but it shows her new standing skills!

Happy, sad, squealing, or napping we ADORE our baby girl! She gives us such joy everyday and it is hard to remember a time (just 9 months ago) that we didn't have this sweet, sassy, precious little one in our lives! We love you, Emme girl!

A few new firsts for Emme

Emme is showing signs of starting to pull up. She will grab my thumbs and push right up. She gets so excited when she does it - I can tell she is really proud of herself. She tries to pull up on other things too, like her Pottery Barn chair and one of those wooden bead toy things (what the heck are they called?). Of course, the thing just toppled over on her and made her mad! Funny that she is reaching this milestone before she can even crawl. Maybe she'll skip that step all together.

Emme is also getting her first & second teeth. They are both on the bottom and they just cut through the skin today. This would explain her nose continuing to run after she has recovered from the RSV & double ear infections she had earlier in the week. It also explains her extreme fussiness and clingy behavior. As I type this, she is sitting in the floor screaming. Guess I should go give her some Tylenol.....

Let the record show..

Jackson said "I Love You, Mommy!" last night (8/22/09) as we were going upstairs to bed. Aaron asked him if he could say I Love You, Daddy and he said Mommy instead. ;) He may have meant Daddy but my heart melted immediately!

He also cut his last incisior - top left - yesterday too. Hooray! It doesn't seem to be giving him too much trouble either.

Emerson wore her very first pair of jeans today and I must say, she looked pretty darn cute!

Tooth #12

Jackson is still not finished cutting tooth #9-11, but alas he has yet another one coming in -- a molar too! I first noticed it on Friday (4/10), but I'm just now getting around to documenting it. This new one is the lower left molar, so that should take care of his 1st molars. Now if we could only get those canines! I do not wish for those to emerge soon -- boogers's gums need a little rest!

On a separate note, I will post pictures from our Easter weekend this evening. I had every intention of doing it today & I even brought the camera cord to transfer the pictures from my camera. The problem....the camera was not in my purse like I had originally thought. Oops!

Tooth #9...& 10 & 11

Yep, that's right -- little boogers is cutting 3 teeth at once - 4 if you count the molar that isn't completely through yet. He seems totally fine with the exception of his diapers & mega rash. He is finally getting the left lower lateral incisor. I have been wondering where this one was! He is also getting the lower right first molar (molar#2 for him) and the upper left first molar (molar#3). His little friend, Zach is cutting 4 teeth right now & another classmate is cutting 6 of her teeth right now. Can't you just imagine how fun their class is right now? Despite all of these emerging toofers, Jackson ate an amazing dinner tonight -- chicken, tomatoes, avocados & milk. This may not seem exciting for many, but my child is an extremely finicky eater and many times will only eat bread, tortilla, or pasta or will eat only 4 or 5 bites and then won't eat anymore, so this meal was a success!

Hopefully, he will remain symptomless since we have quite the busy weekend ahead of us. Aunt Candace & Uncle Bryan are coming into town tomorrow, so we will have a visit with them at Gabby & Papa's and then Sunday is the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

Tooth #8

Monday Jackson cut tooth #8. To this point, he had the top 4 teeth & 3 of the bottom ones. He started running fever Monday afternoon and the rest of the night. I thought he was coming down with a virus (this teething thing can be so tricky & disguise itself) -- he had a runny nose, was waking in the night & had a yucky diaper or two. I didn't think it was teething initially because there was no sign of the 4th bottom tooth, but alas I flipped him upside down, waited for him to holler, and there it was - molar #1! Phew - at least he wasn't sick! It was a few days of misery & not eating, but he finally seems just about back to normal.

Yesterday, I had my 25 week appointment. I had to drink that yucky glucose stuff for the glucose tolerance test. For those of you that aren't familiar, it tastes like really flat orange soda -ick! Other than that, everything was routine. Emerson kicked as we were listening to her heartbeat on the doppler. It sounded as if she kicked a duck or something, but it was neat!

Spring break has been pretty uneventful & I can't believe it is almost over. Boo! Tomorrow I am getting a massage (much needed) and Saturday I think we are going to take Jackson to the beach for the first time. Don't get too excited -- it's just Galveston, but it isn't far and we're curious to see how they have recovered to this point after Ike. Hopefully, I can get rid of this pastiness I have since I haven't been able to tan....

No longer the toothless wonder!

Jackson now has tooth #5 & 6 coming in. This is less than a week since #3 & 4 came in. These are all top teeth and he still just has the 2 bottom ones. Suddenly he is going to have a mouthful of teeth! With all this teething comes runny noses & yucky diapers, but we are coping and other than that, it doesn't seem to phase him too much. He is beginning to look so much like a toddler & less like a baby. ;(