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Help Me Readers!

2 Jul

I have some dilemmas and I’m looking to you readers for advice. Here they are:

– Emma is stuck between needing 1 and 2 naps. If I keep her up long enough to just take 1, she gets overtired and won’t go to sleep without me rocking her. If I put her down for 2 and she actually falls asleep, her bedtime ends up being around 9 / 9:30, which is too late. I want it around 7 / 7:30 – 8 at the very latest. Lately, she has a hard time falling asleep early enough for 2 naps. She used to be awake for 3.5 hours between naps; now it seems like she can go between 4 – 4.5 hours before needing one. Any ideas? If you’ve made the transition, what did you do?

– We’ve stopped using cloth diapers because Emma soaks through them in about an hour. Putting 2 inserts in helps but makes the diapers so bulky. I’ve thought about buying new inserts but just haven’t taken the time to research. I’d like to keep using them because we have them, but I don’t want to change Emma’s outfits 5 times a day. Thoughts?

– Our new house has almost 2 acres but there’s no fence. We don’t want our dogs harrassing the neighbors so we have been taking them out on a leash all the time. We don’t like the extra work and the dogs are going stir crazy now, since they’re used to running around like idiots in Nevis. We’re thinking about/planning to get an in-ground fence. Anyone have ideas or experience with that? Brands to recommend? Did you trench it in yourself or hire it done? Are there other alternatives we’re not thinking of? (We’ve tried leaving them on long cables but they hate it.)

– Northern Minnesota has TONS of bugs. Our house is on the river and in the woods, so bugs are everywhere. Emma gets bit by mosquitoes every time we go outside. I know it’s pretty much a fact of life here but I would like to find some way to prevent her from getting so many bites. Not going outside is not an option because Emma loves being outside. Does anyone know of a baby-friendly bug spray or have any other ideas? I plan to ask our pediatrician next Monday too. If she has ideas, I’ll let you know!

Thanks for any and all help!

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Beach Day

17 Jun

After almost nonstop rain for days, today was gorgeous. So Emma and I went to the beach in Nevis – her first time at any beach! I think she enjoyed it.

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The water wasn’t incredibly warm but Emma was brave and waded in up to her waist. She also enjoyed splashing her feet in the water as I held her on my lap.

It still amazes me what a difference humidity makes. It is only about 80 degrees today but it feels much warmer. In Colorado, 80 would feel a little too cool for the beach!

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Emma Grace: 14 Months

7 Jun

Emma is 14 months, going on 2 years. I mean, holy tantrums batman! Ugh. I’m really hoping that these episodes are just caused by her getting 5 teeth at once (3 of which are molars) and not just Emma’s new normal. Things that now anger Emma: getting her diaper changed, getting dressed, having doors closed to rooms that are off limits, not being able to go outside, not getting to play in the water (pool or bucket),  not being able to lift something that’s way too heavy for her, getting her hand or body stuck in a space that’s too small for her and sometimes, having to sit in her highchair or carseat. I now totally understand why some toddlers run around with no clothes on. Sometimes, it’s just not worth the fight.

20140520_084524On that note, we are starting to learn how to pick our battles. It seems that Emma is going to be a very strong-willed child. While I don’t think she should get to have or do everything she wants, I do try to find a way to reasonably accommodate her desires most of the time. For example, if she wants to play in the pool but it’s too cold, I let her play outside with a bucket of warm water while she’s clothed. She of course ends up getting wet still but less so.

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Though Emma has been frustrating at times this past month, she’s also been very fun in other ways. She can now do peekaboo, “so big!”, pattycake and wave bye bye when asked 80% of the time. She is becoming more of a cuddler – when we’re playing with toys, she’ll crawl over to me and give me a hug and kiss. One of my favorite things to do is snuggle and tickle her. She loves it and giggles a ton! She is still totally a momma’s girl, though she really likes Grandma Beth (Trav’s mom) too.

20140604_072543Emma still isn’t walking, but has taken a few steps between furniture, and likes to walk along walls. She is doing pretty good standing up by herself – at the cabin on Memorial Day weekend, she could stand up on the bed without holding on. She still loses her balance every once in a while but I’m sure she’ll start walking within the next couple of months – though she doesn’t seem to be in that much of a hurry! She likes to climb on things that are at her height, and loves to crawl through tables and small spaces.

20140604_185557Emma had her first mild injury this week. She’s bumped her head on things too many times to count, but this week, she pulled a small plant table and table fan over on herself. I’m very thankful that the table was tall enough that the fan went over her head and only one small part of the table hit her. I actually didn’t even realize that she had gotten that hurt until later (she hadn’t cried more than with previous bumps and bruises). She got a slight black eye and apparently bit her tongue because it’s black and blue in one spot. Poor Emma. She didn’t seem fazed by it though and the next morning, it looked much better.

This update is a little bit different than normal, but Emma’s size and sleep are pretty much unchanged from last month. She’s still wearing 12-18 month clothes, solidly taking 2 naps a day and sleeping through the night. Her naps did get knocked a little off kilter when she first started getting her 5 new teeth, but they’re back to normal now. Her nighttime sleep didn’t really change at all, except that it was a little harder to get her to sleep. Advil and teething gel to the rescue!

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Whenever I hold her for a nap, she always wakes up in a panic, like she doesn’t know where she is. This was her “I just woke up” face.

Her eating habits are also pretty much the same – I’ve been giving her 4 bottles a day (24-26 ounces total), plus 3 meals and sometimes 1 snack. I’ve tried decreasing the amount of milk Emma drinks but the girl loves her bottles! Right now, she gets a bottle when she wakes up, eats breakfast 1.5 hours later, drinks a bottle before her 1st nap, eats lunch when she wakes up, bottle before or after her 2nd nap, eats dinner around 5:30/6 and gets a bottle right before bed.

I’m planning to talk to the pediatrician at Emma’s 15-month checkup about any issues with her drinking so much milk (she still eats plenty of table food in my opinion) but I do think I’m going to try altering her feeding schedule a bit to look like: Eat breakfast with milk in a sippy cup right when she gets up, drink a bottle an hour or so later, skip the bottle before her 1st nap, feed her lunch with milk when she wakes up, bottle sometime before 2nd nap, dinner with milk, then bedtime bottle. I have switched the order for a few meals and she drinks less milk when she’s eaten a meal beforehand. If and when that works, then we’ll focus on phasing out the bottles.

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That’s her getting ready to rip her bib off. She doesn’t like wearing them very much.

Like I mentioned above, Emma’s new favorite thing is playing in water. Buckets, pool, dog dish, cup, you name it – she’s all over it. I change her outfit 1-2 times a day because of her being wet. I’m ready for the lakes to warm up so we can go to the beach!

20140523_135801At times, it seems like Emma says “Dawdies” in reference to the dogs, but she says it about other things too so who knows?

20140520_111643Travis is the king of nicknames, spinoffs and abbreviations, so in addition to the original ‘Biscuit’, we’ve started calling Emma these nicknames:

  • Bisky
  • Em-diggity
  • Emmalicious
  • Emma McCracken (used when she’s starting to get crabby)
  • Bisky McBiskerton
  • The Quick
  • Quicky McQuickerton
  • Destructobaby

We probably call her Bisky 90% of the time. I joke that she’s not going to know what her name is, since we call her so many different things. But we do still use Emma when referring to her possessions (Emma’s shoes), body (Emma’s belly), and asking her questions (Emma, can you do peekaboo?).

Well, that’s Emma at 14 months!

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Emma Grace: 13 Months

14 May

Emma turned 13 months on May 7, so this update is a week late. I was also in the Cities on the 7th, so I didn’t do a photo shoot either. But I’d like to keep these monthly posts going until Emma is 2 years old, so here’s what Emma was up to during her 13th month:

Size

Emma is wearing more and more 18 month sizes. We are ready for the weather to warm up in Minnesota so that she can wear all of her cute, fun summer clothes!

20140422_084213We bought Emma a new convertible carseat this month (the Graco My Size 65) and will start using it whenever we’re ready to give up the convenience of bringing Emma into the house sleeping – which is not yet, to say the least. We’d probably keep her rear-facing for now anyway. She doesn’t mind her carseat 95% of the time.

Eating

Emma is still a good eater, though she is fairly limited in what she will eat a lot of, and we often have to try feeding her several things at a meal before finding something she will eat more than one bite of. Her favorite foods that she will eat pretty much anytime are: clementines, string cheese, grapes, strawberries, graham crackers, yogurt, applesauce, black beans and corn. She also usually likes bananas, puffs, cheerios, broccoli and toast, but they are hit or miss. She is not a huge fan of meat, except for the occasional deli meat, or eggs (which is weird because she used to like them).

20140429_082744Emma has figured out how to drink from a no-spill sippy cup and also how to suck purees out of the pouches. Hopefully she’ll learn to suck from a straw soon, since that makes restaurants easier and less messy. We are also starting to show Emma how to use a spoon and fork herself – she likes it!

Sleep

Emma continues to sleep straight through the night, going down between 7 and 8 and waking up between 6:30 and 7:30. If she wakes up later or takes a really long nap, she only takes 1 nap a day. Otherwise, she’s still taking 2 naps. They still vary in length, but I’d say that the majority of her naps now are in the 1.5 hour range, which is wonderful!

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Emma in a deer stand

Development

This month, Emma learned how to:

  • Put the coins into her piggy bank slot
  • Put things back in once she’s taken them out
  • Climb the steps!
  • Push her alligator clacker really fast
  • Let go and stand on her own a lot – she’s so close to walking!

20140425_083505Emma still doesn’t have any words that we can tell, but she babbles a lot. She says “Da” the most and sometimes accompanies it with holding her hand up. So cute.

She is still our little daredevil and LOVES going down the slide, swinging as high as she can, and having daddy “flip” her onto his shoulders from the floor. He lays her down on her back, head toward him, and grabs her left hand and foot in his right hand, her right hand and foot in his left hand, and then swings her up on to his shoulders. She loves it. Emma and I also have a mommy/daughter flipping trick. Emma sits facing me and I stand over her, grab her belly from behind and flip her up so she’s sitting on my chest, feet by my ears. It’s a good time.

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And she still loves playing in the dishwasher.

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Bottle vs. Sippy Cup

1 May

So here’s a question. Why is it ok for babies to breastfeed until they’re 2 or 3 (or even older) but they have to be done with a bottle by the time they’re 18 months? Ok, make the argument that ‘they need to learn that milk comes from somewhere other than a bottle.’ That same argument could be made for breastfeeding – milk won’t always come from their mother’s breasts. And yet, professional organizations like the AAP and WHO are proponents of breastfeeding ‘as long as mother and child desire’.

I’m not convinced about the need for babies to use a sippy cup. In this article on BabyCenter and this one on Parents.com, the main reason given for the transition from bottle to sippy cup is tooth decay – a toddler sipping from a bottle all day is more disposed to tooth decay. Not only does Emma not do that (she gets her bottles at mealtime and that’s it), toddlers are just as capable of carrying around a sippy cup to sip from all day. It is called a sippy cup after all. Also, we brush Emma’s teeth after her nighttime bottle, so the tooth decay argument falls short there too.

The other reason I’ve heard about transitioning to sippy cups is that “a 1-year-old’s will is more malleable than a 2-year-old’s” (see this article and this article). Ok, I can see that. BUT what about the idea that sometimes, kids just need to transition when they’re good and ready? There have been several things already in my short stint as a mother that I have put off for weeks or months, dreading the transition, but then Emma surprises me by transitioning herself. And I rejoice that I procrastinated because the transition ended up being so easy. So maybe, just maybe, Emma will wean herself from bottles when she’s ready – and maybe that will only be 3-4 months from now. Maybe it’ll be a year from now.

I can also see an argument being that babies drink more milk from bottles than from a sippy cup, thereby making them less hungry for table foods. Maybe some babies have that problem, but Emma does not. She can pack the food away – yesterday, she ate an entire PB & J sandwich! She’s also gaining weight at a consistent, average pace, so her milk consumption (which is 20-25 ounces on any given day) doesn’t seem to be out of control.

You may be wondering, What does this lady have against sippy cups? Well, since you asked…

For one, I don’t really see how they’re that different from a bottle. The no-spill kind are pretty much bottles with handles and the nipple is a slightly different shape. They’re so darn hard to drink out of that it still requires quite a bit of sucking – so much that the ‘spouts’ become deflated from the pressure. I’ve tried sucking on them myself and it’s tough! And with the non-no-spill kind, Emma plays around with them so much that the water (which is what she drinks out of them the most) goes everywhere. (I have to admit they do work well for me helping her drink water though.)

Which brings me to another reason I dislike the sippy… Emma thinks they’re a toy. With the bottle, she’s (pretty much) all business. She guzzles it down and gets on to playing. The sippy, she tips it over. She holds it upside down. She throws it on the floor. She tries sucking on the bottom of the cup. In short, she does pretty much everything with it except drink.

So we’re deciding to ignore the doctors on this one. Right now, we are doing a combination of bottles, sippy cups and regular cups. It works for us. Emma is still getting that all-important exposure to drinking vessels other than bottles, and she still sleeps a glorious 10-12 hours straight after downing 8-14 ounces of milk from her nighttime bottle. And since I’ve already told Emma that I’m not calling her a toddler until she starts toddling (aka walking), I’m going to enjoy snuggling my bottle-drinking baby a while longer. 😉

Disclaimer: Please don’t interpret this as a knock against all of you loving, doting, sippy-cup-using mothers out there. It’s more of a knock against ‘medical recommendations’ and ‘how you ought to parent’ and ‘when your kids should do things.’ In the case of the sippy cup… I’m just not convinced.

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Emma’s 1-Year Pictures

30 Apr

We had my friend Jen Jacobs of Kitestrings Photography take Emma’s pictures again (she also took Emma’s 3-month pictures). It was a busy weekend – Travis had the first part of his California PE test on Friday, we had a supporter brunch on Saturday morning and had to dash right from that to our photo session at the Roseville Arboretum. Emma was a little crankier than normal while we were taking pictures, and it was cold and windy, but overall, she did great and we got some GREAT shots. LOVE them!

Here are some of my favorites:

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IMG_0237bw (Large) IMG_0262 (Large) IMG_0236 (Large)Thanks again Jen for helping our family capture these precious memories!

 

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Emma’s 1st Easter

26 Apr

Travis, Emma and I drove down to Rochester on Saturday after the Hot Chocolate race. My brother and sister-in-law were there when we arrived so we got to visit with them for a while. Then, Travis went to study, Chris and Meg went to her dad’s house, and the rest of us went out to pizza at a new place called Toppers. Yummy.

Sunday morning, we went to the 8 am service at my parents’ Lutheran church, ate breakfast in the fellowship hall and then hung out at home until it was time to eat again. 😉20140420_105758 20140420_104106 20140420_104106-MIXThe reality of how hard it is to get a good picture… I didn’t worry too much about it though, because we got professional pictures taken of Emma in her Easter dress during her 1-year photo shoot.

Travis unfortunately had to study for his PE test the whole day. He did break to eat lunch with us though, which was delicious. My mom made this dish called Pineapple Bread Bake to go with the ham and it was amazing.

After our lunch digested a bit, we ate angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert and then Travis packed up his stuff and headed up to the Cities, since his PE test was at 8:30 on Monday morning. The rest of us went over to my aunt and uncle’s house to see them, 3 of my cousins and their wives, and Emma’s second cousin Morgan, who is 19 months. She loved to give Emma hugs! They had fun ‘playing’ with each other.

1512297_735121823184809_7088956606253318788_nWhen it was (past) Emma’s naptime, we headed home. We tried carrying her carseat in while she was sleeping, but she woke up – dangit! Instead of fight her for a nap that late, I just kept her up and we all went on a walk around the cul-de-sac outside. Emma loves being outside. Then it was bedtime for little girls. My parents and I stayed up late marathon-watching Scandal on Netflix. That show is so bad, and so good at the same time.

Monday, Emma, my mom and I drove up to the Cities and met Travis at Olive Garden for lunch after his test. Freedom! He felt that the test had gone well – very challenging but he felt like he got enough questions correct to pass. I hope so! He won’t find out for a couple of months though.

Then Travis, Emma and I drove up to Nevis while my mom headed back down to Rochester. It was a good Easter, though weird since we didn’t see Travis much. Glad that test is over! And glad that I got this post up before a whole week had gone by.

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Emma’s 1st Birthday Party

10 Apr

We had a small, simple party for Emma’s 1st birthday, and just invited Emma’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Those in attendance were Grandma Sheri and Grandpa David (my parents), Grandma Beth and Grandpa Al (Travis’ parents), Carolyn (Trav’s sister), Matthew (Trav’s brother), Diana (Matthew’s girlfriend), and Drew (Carolyn’s son) – and then of course, me, Travis and Emma. My siblings were unfortunately too far away to make the trek, or were out of the country.

For decorations, we went with a pink and green theme. I made tissue paper pompoms and a word cloud that described Emma.

IMG_5579 (Large) IMG_5610 (Large) IMG_5605 (Large)The party started at 11 am on Sunday with brunch (well, actually we didn’t eat until noon…). On the menu were biscuits and sausage gravy (a tribute to Emma’s nickname of Biscuit), quiche, fruit salad and ‘brunch punch’. For the cake, I made The Pioneer Woman’s Strawberry Shortcake cake. Everything was delicious and turned out well!

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IMG_5608 (Large)Unfortunately, since the party had gotten started later than planned, Emma needed a nap before the rest of the festivities. So while Emma took a short 40-minute nap, the rest of us did dishes and hung out.

Once Emma was awake again, it was time for cake! We gave Emma her little smash cake first and watched her destroy it. She was so interested in the frosting that we had to hold her arms until everyone had their cameras ready!

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She only ended up eating some of the frosting, and then just smashed the rest of the cake around. It was a big mess by the end!

After Emma was done with her cake, we dug into the main cake. Oh. my. goodness. So delicious.

IMG_5681 (Large)Once we all had our sugar rush, we moved on to the gift opening. Emma was actually able to tear the wrapping paper once we got it started, so she semi-unwrapped her presents. She received a lot of great stuff, including a piggy bank, baby doll and stroller, books, clothes, sound puzzles and this fun activity house.

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IMG_5689 (Large) IMG_5685 (Large)Emma was pretty excited about the baby doll.

All the adults were exhausted by that point, so we just sat around talking (some napping) and watching Emma play with her toys (and trying them out ourselves). Once we got our second wind, it was time for Emma to do some finger body painting!

I got this idea from the blog Fun at Home with Kids. It was a hit! Emma was fairly tentative about it at first, but after about 5 minutes, she really got into it… as you can tell.

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IMG_5728And that was it! Emma went down for another nap (her naps were strange that day – too much excitement!) and our parents all had to leave soon after the fingerpainting, so we took a group picture (unfortunately, without Emma) and they got on the road. Carolyn, Matthew, Diana and Drew stayed for dinner, which was really fun. A great way to end the day.

IMG_5739 (Large)Emma’s actual birthday was on Monday. We didn’t do anything that special, but I did dedicate the day to quality time with Emma, instead of multi-tasking while watching her. We spent some time outside and had some ‘water fun’ in the bathtub. Pretty lowkey but it was nice after the whirlwind of Sunday!

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Emma Grace: 12 Months

8 Apr

Emma is one year old!

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She is a wild, funny, giggly, curious little girl! We love her to pieces. Here’s what she’s up to at 12 months:

Size

We had Emma’s 12-month checkup today at her new doctor in Brainerd. The nurse and doctor were both very nice. I think we will like going there. Emma now weighs 21 lbs 2 oz (71%) and is 29 inches long (37%), with a head circumference of 18.39 inches (91%). At 9 months, she was 74th percentile for weight and 66th for height, so she’s tracking along pretty good.

She’s still wearing size 4 diapers, and is wearing all 12-month clothes, and starting to wear 18-month sizes.

20140324_182402Eating

Emma is still a really good eater – if we give her the foods she likes. 😉 She has gotten somewhat pickier about what she will eat than she was when we first started solids. Or should I say, she’s not a huge fan of most ‘table foods’ as the doctor calls them. She still prefers to eat purees and spoon-food like yogurt, oatmeal and soup most days. She does really enjoy feeding herself cut-up fruit, puffs and cheese, and also likes deli meat and tofu. But she will not touch a vegetable to save her life. She will eat them in purees, but not as finger foods. So we usually just resort to purees.

We always know when Emma either doesn’t like a food or is finished with it, because she’ll pick up a piece and throw it off her tray to the dogs. They are loving this development. Even though it’s not something we want to encourage, it’s just so darn funny to watch.

We switched from formula to whole milk this past week and it went well. She didn’t care at all. She also weaned herself from nursing at the end of March. Because of my low supply, I had slowly worked down to only nursing her in the morning. But then one morning, she wanted nothing to do with it. Just like that, we were done. Surprisingly, I was actually more sad about her not drinking formula anymore, than I was about not nursing anymore. Probably because it was such a gradual transition. And her drinking whole milk means she’s no longer a baby!

She’s still drinking all of her milk out of bottles, but I’m going to start sippy cups in earnest soon, per doctor’s orders…

Emma still has only 6 teeth. Whenever she has a rough night or seems to be in pain, I think she might be teething, but nothing so far.

20140328_074042Sleep

I was dreading our move to Minnesota, because when we were here at Christmas, Emma slept awful. But she totally surprised me and has slept better here than she was sleeping in Colorado! She now sleeps straight through the night without waking up, or if she does wake up, she can get herself back to sleep after 5-10 minutes. It is so nice to not have to get up anymore! Most nights, she goes to bed around 6:30, though if she takes a longer/later nap, she goes to bed as late as 8:00. I definitely prefer the earlier bedtime, because she still gets up at the same time in the morning – usually 6 am. The past couple of mornings, I’ve heard her crying/squawking at 4:15 am, which is waaaayyy too early, but she fell back asleep eventually thank goodness.

Naps are still hit or miss. I’ve been trying to put her down according to the clock and not her sleepy signs, because around me, she doesn’t really make them. The only thing she does is rub her eyes, and sometimes it seems like I’ve already missed ‘the window’. Most days, she takes 2 naps that are 45 minutes to an hour long. Sometimes, I get lucky and she sleeps for longer. On the days I’m really desperate, I’ll take her for a drive around her naptime, then carry her into her room in her carseat and she’ll usually sleep for about 2 hours. But that game plan won’t work anymore once we buy her a new carseat (which we haven’t done yet, and aren’t really in a hurry to do).

Emma isn’t rocked to sleep for any naps or bedtime anymore, for the sheer reason that she won’t allow it. She cries, pushes away or won’t settle down if we try. So it’s into the crib for crying-it-out. Sorry babe, but you gotta sleep.

20140322_184308Development

Emma has gotten really good at crawling and pulling up on things. She loves to open drawers and empty the contents. She loves helping to unload the dishwasher (even when you’re loading it!). She can push toys and her walker around while walking behind them. She’s not walking yet, but she has stood on her own without aid several times, so she’s making progress toward that end!

20140326_161434She still carries toys around in her mouth like a puppy dog, and chews on everything. I don’t let her play with books very often, because she will destroy them with saliva. She won’t sit still for books ever, so I read them to her while she plays with other toys – if she’ll let me. Sometimes if she sees me with a book, she’ll grab it. Then if I try reading a different one, she’ll grab that one too. We were reading the Little House on the Prairie series during baths (for that reason), but have gotten out of the habit with the move.

I mentioned in my letter to Emma that she has learned how to play peekaboo, wave, clap and give five – for the most part. Sometimes, we try to get her to do it and she looks at us like we’re crazy. She has also started to lift one hand in the air, like she’s declaring something – or if she has a toy in it, like she’s offering it to you.

Emma doesn’t like her jumperoo or walker much anymore – she likes her Johnny Jumpup sometimes, but she mostly just wants to be mobile and finding stuff to make a mess with. We call her Destructobaby. I find myself looking for things that Emma can empty/clear out. We discovered the spice cabinet here at Grandma and Grandpa’s, and that keeps her busy for a good 30 minutes. The Tupperware cabinet is also a favorite, but she often gets sick of that faster. And then it’s on the next mess while Mommy picks up after her! I thought I would be frustrated at that part of parenthood, but she enjoys it so much (and I’m so happy to find something that occupies her) that I really don’t mind. Forget about organization for the foreseeable future though.

Emma LOVES our dogs and often squeals in delight when she sees them, or gets close enough to touch them (which is rare, because they have started to avoid her!). Emma is still a very vocal, loud girl. She doesn’t say any words yet really – though I think she might say ‘dada’ in reference to Travis – but she babbles a LOT. She also giggles, laughs and shrieks. Who knew a little baby could be so loud?

Well, I think I’ve covered almost everything! I’ll be back tomorrow with her birthday party post.

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One Year… {A Letter to My Daughter}

7 Apr

My Dearest Emma,

You are one year old today. Happy Birthday! Daddy and I bought you a baby doll and baby stroller for your birthday, and it’s amazing to think that a year ago, you were the size of that doll. So small. So delicate.

Now you are a curious and independent girl who loves to investigate and take apart everything. Your favorite thing is making a mess – whether of your birthday cake and ‘finger’ paints yesterday, or drawers and cabinets full of tupperware, toiletries, papers, books and sometimes, your own toys (though you’d much rather play with adult stuff!). You aren’t interested in the toys that we give you to play with – you want to decide on your own.

You are constantly excited – giggling, belly laughing, bouncing up and down, waving your arms and legs, making your ‘oh’ face of excitement. You are learning new things every day – you can give Grandpa five, wave, clap, play peekaboo, open and close doors and drawers, follow people into another room and find tiny objects on the floor that aren’t visible to the adult eye.

You still don’t like being held much – you are a mover and a shaker! You love to be on the go, and that makes going down for naps a challenge. You love the puppies, and often crawl very fast toward them. They are a little scared of you and your wild ways, so they don’t often sit still to let you pet them, but you have gotten much better with being gentle and not grabbing handfuls of fur when they do stay!

You love being outside. When sledding the past couple of weeks, you had a toothy grin painted on your face the whole time. You have ridden a tractor, a snowmobile and a wagon for the first time, and you rode up the driveway being held in the front seat of the car. So much excitement!

You are very detail-oriented. You love playing with zipper pulls, buttons, caps, door stoppers, and always check out when something has a screw, bolt or other sort of small inconsistency. When we took you to the aquarium in Denver, you didn’t pay a ton of attention to the fish. But when we got you in the elevator, you were entranced by the fake steel rivets on the wall.

You love to eat! The foods you like to eat all the time, all day long are cheese, strawberries, grapes, clementines, and yogurt. You also like bananas, applesauce, butternut squash and mango, but you get sick of them a lot faster. You still like to be fed purees fairly often, but you also like finger foods. It depends on your mood. You just started drinking cow’s milk this past week and the transition went great – in fact, when you drank your first bottle of it, you showed absolutely no reaction or even recognition that the taste was different. That was the case when switching from breastmilk to formula too.

You have started to love your Daddy more. When he walks in the room, you light up. You get excited when you hear his voice, and you love it when he rough-houses with you (even though sometimes it goes slightly too far and you get scared). You still prefer me (Mommy) when you’re sick, hurting or tired, but it warms Daddy’s heart when he can take care of and soothe you, so let him do that more, ok?

You are loved. Your cheeks are kissed at least 500 times each day. It’s just so hard to stop! We squeeze your chubby legs, play the drum on your ‘snare belly’, and spike your hair all because we love you – every inch of you. You will never understand how much your daddy and I love you – we don’t even fully understand it ourselves. It’s a love that goes deeper than words. You are a part of us. We will never be the same since you came into our lives. This line from “On the Night You Were Born” says it well:

“Heaven blew every trumpet

and played every horn

on the wonderful, marvelous

night you were born.”

Love,

Your Mommy

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