Tag Archives: growing

Dear Emmett (12 months),

12 months! You have been alive for 12 months, this amazes and thrills me to no end.

This has been a busy month for you, but truthfully you’re busy every month, you just accomplish something knew. Emmett, I cannot believe that you have turned a year, that 365 days have passed since the very moment that I gave birth to you. We have had our ups and downs, but I’ve learned so much and grown even more, I wouldn’t change a moment of the past 12 months.

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They made him a birthday crown at day care.

Last month, you were pulling yourself up, cruising along the edges of things, this month you’ve begun to take your first steps. We were actually doing FaceTime with your paternal grandparents when you decided there was something across the room that you wanted to check out. You pulled yourself up on your crib, wobbled a bit and then decided to take 4 stiff-legged steps to the toy you were looking for. I squealed (as I almost always do for your accomplishments), I was just so excited! Your grandparents thought you had fallen or gotten hurt because at the moment, your daddy had the camera facing him. Whoops! We were able to get you to do it again but only for 2 steps, you just know that crawling is so much faster.

As the month has progressed you’ve taken more and more unassisted steps, but crawling remains your main mode of transportation. I don’t blame you, you move so SO fast when crawling. You’ll get there before we know it and then the real trouble begins! 🙂

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Another major physical development has been that you can now stand up from sitting without any assistance. You more frequently use the couch, but you are able to sit, then move into a squatting position and finally stand up, sometimes you’ll take a step or two but most of the time you’ll plop back down to play.

You also, sadly, had your first real fever this month, it happened so quick too. The day after the fourth of July your dad and I had taken off and were going to have a ‘date day,’ so we got up early and took you to day care. When I dropped you off, you were fine, happy and sweet but by the time I had gotten nearly home, your day care had called me to let me know you had a fever of 102.1. I turned around and went back and got you. Your fever got pretty high (104.1), so we went to the doctors but other than that, we spent the next 3 days just cuddling you and making you comfortable. Poor guy, just wanted to be held.

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You’re a pro mimicker! It started with kissy noises. I had been nursing you and sat you up and blew you a kiss, you stared at me for a few seconds and then kind of puckered up your lips and made the kiss sound. It was adorable! I kept kissing your sweet little cheeks and you kept making the sound in response, but it has since developed into more. Now any time your father or I do anything, you try and do the exact same thing. The other morning, we were all in bed cuddling and your dad touched my nose, he knows I hate having my nosed touched but he did it so you would see and repeat it. Guess what? You did. Your dad was thrilled. Me? Not so much! Either way, it’s really cute having you try and repeat the things we do whether it be a sound or an action, you will try anything.

Most babies around your age start waving hello when someone walks into a room and waves at them. You are no exception, only thing is that you do it a bit differently and it’s THE cutest thing. You throw your arm and hand in the air, like you’re about to present someone and just hold it there. There’s no, flapping or waving of the hand, just a straight, stiff arm. So cute! Toward the end of the month you’ve changed how you hold your hand and now, sometimes you will actually wave. It’s amazing how just (less than) 30 days can change you.

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You continue to be fearless when it comes to food, you will try just about anything we give to you. Some days you might not eat much or may not like the way something tastes but if we give it to you again, you’ll love the way it tastes the second time. Case in point, blueberries… you hated them the first time I gave them to you. However, I kept sending them for lunch and putting them on your tray for dinner. After about a week of doing that, you started devouring them, now we are forced (not that we mind) to buy the 2 pound container of blueberries so that there’s enough for the week. You almost always eat what we do, things like salmon couscous, grilled chicken, asparagus, ravioli, Naan, etc. etc. The only time we have to come up with an alternate meal for you, is when we’re eating something spicy and that’s mainly because we figure something hot (in spice) like that may hurt you and you wouldn’t understand why.

For Christmas, you received these Fisher Price Snap Lock Beads and you love them. You get so excited when we connect them all together and then you’re able to break them apart and look in the hole that is on one end. You also love putting them on your fingers, you’ll put one on your index finger and one on your pinky finger and shake your hand around, it pretty adorable and very silly. But anything that has a hole or indentation you love.

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Your dad and I haven’t really baby-proofed anything up until the last week of the month. You were mobile, but we were able to wrangle, you in one way or another, so we avoided getting rid of or moving things that weren’t safe for you to play with. However, during the last week, you started pulling down daddy’s DVDs almost daily and getting into things that were completely unsafe, so we immediately started reorganizing and getting the house ready for a baby that is very active.

Has it truly been 12 months? Have I really written 11 different “Dear Emmett’s”? Holy cow! I find that so hard to believe but it’s very obviously true. You’ve come so SO far from that bitty baby that was born and would only eat, sleep and pee/poop. Now you play, hug, cuddle and love. You’re amazing and I have no doubt that you will continue to be this way for the rest of your life.

Happy 1 year birthday, sweet sweet Emmett! Mommy loves you to the moon and back!

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11 Month Pictures

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Mr. Monkey told a funny joke!

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Baby Emmett at 2 Months

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Dear Emmett

11 months!

Looking at you and watching you move about, I know you’ve grown but in my mind, you are still my tiny baby. Since we’re nearing your first birthday, I’ve become very nostalgic. I have spent a lot of time looking at pictures of you when you were first born and when you nurse it makes me reminisce about the small struggles we had when we first started nursing but how it has absolutely been worth it.

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I actually have to share a story, I’d like to try and nurse you past a year, my goal is 18 months but I will take it a week at a time after your first birthday. Anyhow, I went to the doctor’s last week and he had to put me on some antibiotics and the PA that I saw said I shouldn’t nurse you while on the antibiotic, I panicked! I was not ready to stop nursing you, in my mind I still had at least 4 weeks left. I was so heartbroken, I called your dad and was talking to him and started getting worked up. We got off the phone and I sobbed, I just wasn’t ready! So I called your pediatrician and they checked their prescription book and confirmed that it was perfectly safe to continue nursing you while on the antibiotic as long as you were older than 2 months, which you are (of course). I was so relieved!! So my sweet boy, we continue on with the breast milk.

What a busy month we’ve had. You are a crawling machine! Last month you had a nice leisurely crawl, you’d stop and look around then move a couple more feet but now you crawl like you’re in a race. You are SO fast!! I like when I put you down on the floor and go into another room, you chase after me. When you get to the new room, you peer around the doorway, looking for me and then motor on over. I just adore you.

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You’re still not walking, but its close. Right now, you will pull yourself up on nearly everything and if you have strong, steady footing you will let go and stand there independently for a while. There have even been several occasions where you stood on your own for at least 30 seconds. It is really just a matter of time before you let go and take a step in my direction.

Grass!! Oh my goodness did grass freak you out. At the beginning of the month, we went outside to hang out with your dad while he was doing the grilling. I put you down on the grass so I could unfold my chair and you started crying so hard. At the time I had no idea what happened, I thought maybe you got stung or bitten by a bug. I put you down a second time and you did the exact same thing, I finally determined what was bothering you. So for the next few weeks after that, I slowly got you used to the grass. I’d sit on the ground with you and let it tickle your toes or let you reach for it. We slowly worked up to you sitting independently and now you’ll stand on it. However, if you want to move around you will put yourself into a downward dog position and then move your hands and feet like a bear crawl. It’s so silly but you must not like the way the grass feels on your knees. Silly boy!

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Speaking of the outdoors, I’ve been trying to make sure you get outside everyday unless it is raining. The summer months can be hot in WNY but I want you to like summer and the heat so I’m hoping by taking you out in it, you’ll grow up liking it.

At the beginning of this month you went through a very finicky phase in regards to food. You’d really only eat a few things here and there and then refuse to eat any more. Your dad and I kept on offering you everything that we normally would and with a week or so you were back to your old self, eating full meals. Now you’re a champ when it comes to eating, I can’t think of a single thing that we’ve given you that you didn’t like. One of your favorites this month was corn on the cob. We tried giving it to you cut off the cob and you’d have nothing to do with it so then we just gave you the cob and you went to town. Such a big boy! I hope you continue like this for the rest of your life, it will make you a much healthier person.

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Up until last week, you had been using a sleep sack for naps and nighttime. We decided that maybe we should start moving you from the sleep sacks to blankets, so now for all of your naps you use a blanket. One day I got to day care early and you were still asleep, it was the cutest thing seeing you all curled up in your “blankie,” it warmed my heart.

Exploring is a huge deal to you right now. You love sitting down with a new toy or a toy you haven’t played with in a while and staring at it, turning it over and over in your hands, trying to figure out just how it works. I wish I could have a little window into your mind so that I could know exactly what it is you are thinking or what you are learning. One major thing that fascinates you right now are holes. For instance, my hair brush has a hole at the base, so it can be hung up. You love looking at it and sticking your finger in it, trying to understand what’s going on with it. I could sit and watch you play for hours.

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We also took you to your first playground this month, you can read about it here. You had fun swinging back and forth and bouncing around on the different activities around the park. I think your dad and I had as much fun as you. We love watching how curious you get when you are somewhere new.

Do you have any idea how much your father and I love you?? It is so hard on a daily basis to leave you at school and not bring you with me to work. Every little thing you do amazes me and just makes me so proud to be your mother. Next month, we’ll be celebrating a year of life, I cannot wait!

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10 Month Pictures

Life has been so crazy! We’re a week late with taking Emmett’s 10 month pictures, I really hope that he hasn’t changed that much in a week. Either way, enjoy!!

 

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9 Month Pics

Here are Emmett’s 9 month pics… Finally!! 9-month-pics

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4 Months

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The End!

The End!

 

 

Emmett’s First Swim Class

A few months back I received a flyer from my gym advertising all the classes they offer, this included all of their swim classes. I had heard in the past that places offered mommy (daddy) & me type classes but wasn’t sure if my gym did. I was thrilled when I flipped through and found that there were indeed classes that Emmett and I could take together. I immediately signed-up! We went to our first class last weekend (and daddy came along to see another Emmett first and take pictures)…

swim-class-5When I was a kid my mom forced my sister and I to go swim lessons every single summer. I hated it, well, maybe I didn’t hate the classes, I hated the instructors. They were cold, nasty and forced you to do things before you were really comfortable doing them. However, it is because of them and my mom’s insistence that I am such a strong swimmer. I LOVE swimming and I’m really good at it, so it only makes sense that I would want the same for my son (minus the nasty swim coaches).

swim-class-6Last week was so fun! They had us get into the pool with the babies and just kind of bopped around to make sure they were used to the water and weren’t going to be scared. I was so proud of my boy, we got in and he was as happy as a clam, kicking his legs and splashing around. Not once did all that water, or even the temperature (it was pretty chilly at first) of the water scare him. Then we moved into some group songs, which believe it or not, were a lot of fun. Singing the songs and using Emmett’s arms/legs for the motions was just THE best (I know I’m a total mommy cheeseball).  After the songs they broke us into two groups because the “Water babies” class goes from ages 6 month – 24 months, so they split us into the older and younger baby groups.

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He was this relaxed the entire time!

In the younger baby group we played with a pinwheel, blowing on it and letting the babies catch it or try to blow on it themselves. Emmett didn’t quite understand that he was supposed to blow on it, so I blew and he caught it. Then they taught us how to properly lay baby back in the water so that their ears went under. They explained that many children hate the way it feels when their ears go under water so it’s important to get them used to it early.  I’m totally bragging, but Emmett had absolutely no problem with this and I’m going  to take credit for that because ever since he’s been big enough to take a bath in the big boy tub (around 6 1/2 months), I’ve laid him back and let him feel what it’s like to float (obviously with my hands underneath him), so his ears would go under then. I’m telling you, I want him to be as comfortable in water as I am, it’s such a great feeling!

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The rest of the class we spent playing with little water toys and talking with the other babies and mommas.  We ended the class singing, Happy and You Know It, but with a twist, instead of clapping or shouting Hurray! we would blow bubbles in the water or splash each other, so much fun!

 

swim-class-7I had so much fun and cannot wait for today’s class!!

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Dear Emmett

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Wow, let me tell you, your 7 month did not gotten off to the best of starts. You continue to crawl and move around quite well but you have been unbelievably cranky and have gone back to at least 1 wake-up a night.

I think the main source of your crankiness stems from your new teeth coming in. For whatever reason, the teeth on the bottom didn’t seem to phase you at all but your top teeth are treating you pretty poorly. You’re constantly trying to put everything in your mouth and are getting cranky very easily. I feel so badly for you little guy.

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You also had to have the second half of your flu shot and that didn’t go so well. It hurt you like it always does when you get a shot but what made it bad was that you woke up twice that night. You hadn’t done that since we switched you to wearing your sleep sack from your swaddler, almost 4 months ago. I don’t mind waking up with you or caring for you but I feel so bad that you’re not feeling well, I wish I could take away all of your pain.

We also had a HUGE development!  We’ve been doing the sign for “milk” since you were about 4 months old. Every time I’d nurse you or you’d get a bottle we’d do the motion and say the word, then give you the milk, well early in the month your dad and I were asking if you wanted milk and you started squeezing your little hand together, doing your version of the sign. We were so proud!  You know your momma had tears in her eyes. I’m petty sure I will be your biggest cheerleader for your entire life. Every little thing that you do amazes me! I created you, my magical little being.

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We also started bathing you in the big tub! You were starting to outgrow your baby tub so we stopped using it. We have a little rubber mat with Elmo on it to keep you from slipping all over the place and you just love it. I think you were starting to feel cramped in your small baby tub because now with the whole tub you splash and squeal and are unbelievably happy. You even learned how to move around in there! The other day you plopped yourself onto your belly and were just trying to crawl around. You don’t quite get that if you go down on your belly in water, your head will go under the water, so I hold my hand underneath your chest but still kind of let you float around so that you get the hang of things. It is so very cute!

That Waffle is as large as his head!

That Waffle is as large as his head!

St. Patrick’s Day fell during your 7th month, as well. We didn’t do anything special, I thought about going to the parade but it was cold and you’re still so young, you wouldn’t really understand. We will most definitely go next year, however you did try corned beef and cabbage for the first time and you loved it. We gave you just a small piece of corned beef because it is so high in sodium but you sucked on that for a little while but then when we gave you a full leaf of cabbage you sucked on that bad boy for a good long while.  You ARE Irish but you are also VERY Polish.  

Watching you sit there and eat cabbage showed me that your dad and I have done the right thing in introducing you to solids this way, you turn almost nothing away! You might hesitate and the first few times you try it and you might feel iffy but you eventually start liking it and will happily eat away. You’re also getting really good at eating too; you’ve started to take small bites and then move it around in your mouth and eventually swallow some things. It is so amazing to watch your progression.

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You have also found a new found love of books. You enjoy sitting on anyone’s lap and listening to a story but you also love playing with your books. If we place you in front of them, you will pull them all out and flip through them, bite them, or throw them. It is really adorable, I enjoy watching you play and learn.

It is so hard to contain you now, we rarely even bother trying. Nowadays, we typically sit you on the floor and surround you with toys and then let you army crawl around the room. We even decided to move our coffee table out of the center of the room so that you have more room to play, it’s no longer mommy and daddy’s house. 😉

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We started using “no” around you. We live in an old house and for some reason a long time ago they placed an outlet in the floor and of course being a curious baby you are drawn to it, like a bear to honey. We put in an outlet cover but of course, since it is in the floor you always want to crawl towards it. Every time you do it, we tell you no and pull you back, you haven’t learned what it means yet but with consistency you will. You’re just too smart not to!

Your sweet baby mood returned once again. You are also very relaxed lately, so when your dad and I are holding you, you will often lay back and relax and cuddle. It is such a change from a few months ago. You’re growing and advancing and it is so amazing!!

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You also are slowly being moved up into the 2nd baby room at your day care. This is very exciting because it means that more and more independent play is coming up. I’m excited to see what things happen in your new room.

About two weeks ago, I went through all of your 6 month clothes and pulled them out of your drawers and replaced them with your 9 month things. You have SO many 9 month outfits and your dad has a lot of fun getting you dressed in the morning. He likes making you look like a young man, not a baby and he does a really good job of it.

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Well Emmett another month has passed and while I absolutely adore watching you grow both in size and in knowledge, it is sad to think that your baby months are quickly passing us by. I try to enjoy each and every moment with you, please know how deeply you are loved by both myself and your father.

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