Category: Randomness

Emma,

As I watch my adult friends struggle with becoming who they are, with hurt, with loss, with life… I am afraid for you. I am afraid that I know I won’t be able to protect you from everything, from lots of things… Right now your biggest troubles are that you want to climb on the couch and you can’t… that your evil parents won’t let you play in the dog food… that your gums hurt because your teeth are coming in… I wish those were the biggest obstacles you would face in your life, and your dad and I will do everything we can to help keep it that way. But I know there will be problems, illnesses, heartbreak, friendships lost and any number of unimaginable things that will hurt you and leave you doubting you are loved, wanted, needed or going to be ok. What I hope and wish more than anything is that if we do one thing right as we raise you is that we show you that without a doubt… no matter what mistakes you make… we will love you. We may not always agree with your decisions, we may try to talk you out of things, while you are still young enough we may even forbid you from doing things you think you need/want to do. But I hope that despite those times you are angry with us you can always see and remember the reason we are doing it. You are an absolute blessing. You are perfect, now and always. Nothing has confirmed my faith in God more than going through pregnancy and having you. You are just as God intended you to be and I wouldn’t change a thing. I hope I can help you to grow up feeling that way about yourself as well.

Love,

Mom

At 8 months old we are adding another picture to our round up… You with elephant, you across the chair from elephant and YOU STANDING!!! We will see how long we can get one like that! 🙂 This time you even fell forward then pushed yourself back to standing!

You are simply amazing at 8 months old. Smiles are no longer rare and we have a few stand-by tricks that will almost always get us one.

You started the month still on the road visiting your great grandparents and second cousins. Our time up there was so much fun. You had your first trip to the beach and to a pool. I love you in that swimsuit, I would have you wear it everyday if it made sense…

Your first fourth of July was spend at home, recovering from vacation and hoping no neighbors blew themselves up.

We went on several walks together to enjoy the great summer weather. You are always a trooper but usually fall asleep by the end.

You continue to try new foods. We have added yogurt, peaches, turkey and probably a few more things to your list. We are also working on getting you to hold your own bottle, you are NOT interested!

You and Tigger continue to be the absolute best of friends. It is adorable to watch you together. I am so happy he is so patient with you.

Your mobility has increased greatly. You aren’t officially crawling but you can move across the room entirely through various scoots and rolls. Crawling won’t be far off.

It is becoming obvious how quickly you are growing. I cherish the moments when I see signs of the baby Emma but I am loving all the fun new things you can do and how much you interact with us.

 

 

Wow! Big Month! You spent most of the last month on the road.

We started the month with a trip to Wisconsin. You got to meet your Aunts as well as a bunch of other family. You also got baptized. It was an amazing trip.

 

You had your first trip to the zoo! (a small zoo)

We ended our trip up to the midwest by swinging through Iowa on the way home and visiting our “family” there.

We came home for about a week and half… you had your 6 month check up. You now weigh 16 pounds. We decided to make your next box of diapers a size 3.

Our next trip was up to Rhode Island. There you met your great grandparents and many cousins. It was so great to see family that we don’t see often enough.

You roll easily from front to back and even do a little scooting on the floor.

You look ready to crawl but aren’t there yet.

No teeth yet.

You continue to try new foods, doctor gave us the go ahead for table food and protein. You love Mum Mums but haven’t mastered picking up the puffs yet.

You love to jump in your Johnny Jump Up or your Jumperoo.

You were a trooper on the road but you now really dislike the car seat. We switched you to your “big girl” conversion car seat between trips, having a different seat helped.

 

You are really mastering sitting on your own. You can’t get to a sitting position but once there you last quite awhile before collapsing. 🙂

You smile and laugh at so many things now. It is fun to see what will make you smile.

You don’t mind tummy time as much as you used to.

Last month, April 20th you rolled over both ways for the first time (for us) since then you have gotten much better at it and even done it a few times in bed.

 

You and Tigger continue to be the best of friends. You and Penny have started to explore a relationship. 🙂

Your eating has expanded greatly. You have now eaten, in order: rice cereal, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, avocado, banana, green beans and peaches. So far green beans seem to be the only one you don’t really like.

You now weigh a little bit over 15 lbs.

The letters for your nursery finally arrived… they look awesome!

At the end of March was your very first Easter. Your Grandma and Grandpa stopped by a few days before Easter to bring you a beautiful gift and basket. While you are too young to enjoy the chocolate you seemed excited anyway.

Your personality is growing so much. It is easier to catch you smiling and even giggling a bit. You sound a bit like a monster when you giggle.

You and Tigger really started to bond this month. You became more aware that he is hanging around. You reach for him when he is near and even smile at him.

The spring weather is finally arriving which meant cute spring outfits for you and a puffy eye for me because of allergies.

You and daddy had a few daddy daughter dates while I was busy with school stuff. It is fun watching you two goof off and play together.

We started taking you for walks in the stroller without the carseat insert. You like to look around and see more.

You’ve gained an interest in toys and grabbing things… and trying to get them in your mouth.

The biggest change for you this month was food. At your 4 month check up the doctor said to start you on rice cereal. You seemed to do really well and be interested in the food. After two weeks you had your first non-rice cereal meal of squash. You aren’t sure about the taste yet but still eat your whole dinner!