February

February 1st! Happy 11 Months!

Emersyn started her first swim lessons last month and finished up this month. Cousin Ainsley and neighbor Griffin were there to enjoy the pool along with her. Emersyn loved the water and enjoyed being around all of the other kids. She was too young to understand the instructions to kick, paddle and blow bubbles, but she didn't have a choice when it came to dunking. The first time we had to do it, it was a little tough on my end to actually put her under. And who knew that there are instructions as to how to properly dunk a child. At first Emersyn coughed and whined after going under. As the class went on she started to get the cues for dunking (and she was scared so she would start to cry a little) but she also recovered better. Griffin, on the other hand, was terrified of the teacher and anything that reminded him that he might get dunked. Ainsley was the superstar of the class since she was old enough to understand the instructions, but young enough that she wasn't crying throughout the class like the rest of the kids. It was a lot of fun to have a different way of spending some time together.

At this point Emersyn was starting to have a lot of opinions about things. She had some definite favorites. Pretty much anything soft and cuddly would draw her attention. She would snuggle any fluffy stuffed animal, but her prize animals were her kitty-cat blanket and her pink bunny. Her favorite blanket was a light and dark pink zebra stripe blanket given to me at a baby shower in California. If the blanket was in a pile of the floor she would lay on top of the pile and snuggle it or roll on it, like she often did with her stuffed animals. While feeding her a bottle she liked to rub the blanket on her face and lips.

Emersyn was also her own favorite person. She enjoyed looking at her reflection in any shiny surface. During bath time she would make faces in the silver drainage cap underneath the faucet. Lots of times she would give herself loves with an open mouth. After bath time, all wrapped in a towel, I would let her check herself out in the mirror before we would leave to get dressed.

Emersyn was getting better at feeding herself and eating more foods. She was still eating baby food at most meals followed by finger foods. One of her favorites to feed herself was bananas.

She also gobbled up vegetables out of any soup or spaghetti dinner.

As the month progressed Chris and I thought for sure Emersyn would be walking by her birthday. She was very skilled with the walker and could steer it and adjust the direction better, as opposed to only being able to go in a straight line until she hit something. She had fabulous balance and could stand easily on her own. Her first couple of steps were trying to get to the ottoman from the desk chair. More and more often she was taking short segments of steps on her own. It seemed like there was more of a mental barrier for Emersyn than a physical one. Sometimes she would take the few steps that she was used to and then stand still as if she was thinking things over before she decided to drop down and just crawl. Chris and I had no qualms about when she would start walking, the tough part was seeing her be so close or seem so capable and then just crawling instead (I'm sure there will be more instances where we have those feelings in the future).

Emersyn was becoming more of a social girl. She loved seeing other kids and would get so excited when playtime included playmates. Sometimes she became so enthusiastic that she was overwhelming to the other kids. And sometimes it was the other way around. On Valentine's Day I watched Holden Brewer while Ashlie worked. Emi was thrilled. It was one of those cases where Holden was in an unfamiliar situation so he was a little quiet, and then Emersyn was a little bit in his space. And when that happens Emersyn wants whatever toy the other kids are playing with, even if it's something she hasn't been interested in for a long time. Emersyn kept trying to take things so I was playing referee for a bit until the excitement wore off a little. Because their play date happened on February 14th, I would consider Holden Emersyn's first Valentine.

The babbling and chatter continued this month. I enjoyed hearing her baby-talk conversations. She did add a few more actual words into her vocabulary: ducky, kitty, cat, and baby. It seemed like Emersyns ability to understand was increasing tremendously and I was hoping that I was providing enough stimulation to keep up. Her understanding capabilities and her mimicking tendencies were surprising. Emersyn was able to clearly identify her nose versus her mouth, and she knew where her tummy was. She loved to play Patty-Cake and could do the actions, although she often skipped the 'roll it' section to go straight to 'throw it in the air'.

Emersyn had an affinity for music that got her body moving. While playing a game on Grandma D's ipad a song played by the violin came up. Emersyn lifted her arms in the air and started moving them back and forth slowly and reverently. After that any time that particular song came on she would do the same thing. I don't know how babies know to do some things, but the violin music clearly moved her. Church hymns started getting some dancing as well. Her moves gradually increased until she was dancing with her entire body to the music, and sometimes even just to the tune in her head.

One day while cleaning Emersyn's high chair I set it on the floor. It immediately became the most interesting toy in the room. Emersyn would climb in, sit there for a minute and swing her foot, and then get back out. From that point on Emersyn had a thing for sitting in chairs. I pulled out the small chairs I had on hand, but they were too unstable for her to play in without having to be right there. I looked in a lot of places, but was unable to come up with the perfect toddler chair.

We spent President's Day weekend up at Bear Lake with the Sonntag family. With the unusually small amount of snow this year everyone decided to forego skiing and spent a couple of days sledding instead. Emersyn loved to sled. The faster Chris went the more fun she had. I tried to pull Holden, but I don't have the same sled pulling skills as Chris, and Holden didn't seem to like it as much. And, it was a real workout to run in the snow while pulling a sled with 20 pounds in it.

I accidentally put her shoes on the wrong feet.

Emersyn really just liked to move anywhere fast. Aunt Jan came up with a fun idea to pull Emersyn around on a giant stuffed duck. She loved it, but it was tiring for Jan. Emi would lay on the duck and wiggle when she wanted to go for a ride.

We took a few trips up to Snowbasin throughout the winter. Sometimes to see Chris working in the clinic or grab lunch with him.

Kissing the moose.

We spent a couple of days at the Dew Tour watching the events and enjoying the happenings. Emersyn was a superstar baby and handled to cold and noise well. We had her in a baby backpack that her chubby legs barely fit through. When we went to watch the men's skiing halfpipe finals it was at night. We wanted to make sure she stayed warm so I wore the baby carrier and zipped up Chris' down coat around us. We looked more like a two headed monster, but it was a good way to keep warm.

Emi spent Valentine's Day with Holden. Ashlie had to work so we watched him for the day. She was so excited to have someone around that she kind of invaded Holden's space. She sat really close to him and wanted whatever toy he had, even if it was one that she previously wasn't interested in. I consider Holden Emi's first Valentine.

Still taking 2 naps

Growing - moved up to size 3 diapers

January

January 1st! Happy 10 Months!

Emersyn was becoming quite the explorer with her increased confidence in crawling. Typically she would only stay close be me as I worked in the kitchen or spent time on the computer. And, although she preferred close quarters with mom, occasionally she would venture into another room or down the hallway. She usually ended up crying once she realized she was all alone and I would have to call to her until she found her way to me, or just go get her. Chris and I made sure that the house was well baby-proofed. Since Emersyn really like to stick her fingers in little holes all of the outlets were covered. We put locks and the cabinets and started making sure the doors to the bathrooms were closed while she was awake.

It seemed that the gap from rolling to crawling was much bigger than the crawling to cruising transition. Emersyn was standing up on whatever she could pull herself up on. This created a lot of opportunity for slips and falls. Emersyn did get the hang of her walker and with some help starting using it a little more.

One of the biggest changes over the months was the amount of hair that Emersyn had. Among the multiple features that are attributed to Chris is Emersyn's hair. It is blonde and straight, and she even has his hairline on her forehead. Her hair started getting long enough that it would hang in her eyes. Because of the cowlicks it couldn't be brushed to fall in any other direction. In our first attempt to get it out of her eyes we used a bobby-pin, which worked well, but wouldn't stay in.

Emersyn took her first trip to Layton Park to feed the ducks with Grandma D, Tyler and Ainsley. The weather was cold, but it was a great day to get out and play. As is often typical with Emersyn she had to evaluate and take in the new creatures, which she seemed to do for most of the time. I think most of the fun came from seeing Tyler and Ainsley. The biggest smiles came when we went to the park and played on the swings and slide.

Over the week since Emersyn had started getting diarrhea it seemed to increase. We were having to change her clothes every time she pooped. Eventually a diaper rash started to appear. It seemed like the affected area spread from one small area to the entire bottom overnight. The day we drove to Alpine for Fae and Ila's baby blessings it seemed to be at it's worst. Changing a messy diarrhea diaper in the car was difficult for me and painful for Emi. We stopped at a pharmacy on our way home to get some Nystatin, that thankfully Chris could call in. The next day started some serious diaper rash treatment. For most of the day Emersyn played in her pack-n-play with her diaper off. When she did make a mess I had to change the sheets and crib pad, throw it all in the wash, delicately wash Emersyn using a squirt bottle, dry her off with a blowdryer, and then do it all again. The diaper rash regimen and medicated ointment payed off big time and within a couple of days all was clear.

One thing I thought I would never resort to was sticking my child in front of a tv so I could get something done. With Emersyn becoming more and more interested in the world around her, and especially in anything I was doing, getting things done became more of a challenge. So, I did something I thought I was above.

With Tyler and Ainsley having the same routine of having a bath each night it was inevitable that all the days spent at Papa and Grandma D's bath time would become a cousin party in the tub.

Occasionally the increased noise and chaos would get to Emersyn.

One of Emersyn's ways of giving loves was to press her nose up to yours. It was a type of snuggle and hug. Sometimes she would open her mouth and put it over your nose as in a type of kiss. It was a daring move because sometimes she would decide to use those chompers to take a bite. bjk

Emersyn became more of a chatterbox this month. There were less grizzly bear growls and more self conversations. It was fun to hear her talk to herself. At times she would become pretty intense and start yelling about something, only to return to her usual chattering. She was still pretty adept at saying mama and dada. There were undecipherable phrases or words she would say whenever she was in a certain circumstance. When we would go outside, especially at the horse property, Emersyn would make a noise that sounded like 'buh', and would say this continuously, but it didn't seem directed at anything in particular. I figured it was just her excited-to-be-outside noise. It made Chris and I wish we could understand what was going through her head and what she was trying to get out.

At this point Emersyn was still eating mostly baby food

identify nose, but she thinks it's her mouth

waving goodbye

circles on the tile floor

still eating mostly baby food

December

December 1st! Happy 10 Months!

December brought with it some colder temperatures that had Emersyn and I staying inside more. I was hesitant to spend too much time in single digit temperatures with a little baby so, at times, the days seemed long. We did get out plenty to do some Christmas shopping. Emersyn always looked so cute going to the grocery store and found a way to make herself comfortable. I She would always put her feet on the handle bar, or wherever she could find something to push against.

We would also make frequent trips to the horse property. Emersyn got excited about seeing the goats and horses every time. We made sure she stayed warm in her cute bunting that Chris had bought for Emersyn before she was born. It was one of my favorite items of clothing she received.

And who knows, unlike Chris and I she may even become a horse rider and become a cowgirl.

Emersyn was starting to get a lot of 'favorites'. She loved stuffed animals and would hug them and hold them tight to her whenever she found one. The ones she most adored where a soft pink bunny and her kitty-cat blanket. Her eyes would light up every time she saw them. She also became a big fan of any toys with buttons and lights. I bought her a piano that quickly became a favorite. She could spend quite a bit of time turning the pages and hitting the buttons. She even started to dance a little.

Her very favorite place to be was anywhere mommy was. Even though she had plenty of toys to keep her entertained she would quickly shift her attention to anything I was doing. To distract her a little if I was working in the kitchen I would open the tupperware drawer and let her unload everything. This was some good entertainment and kept her busy for a while, and that way she was still close. We did lose quite a few lids under the stove and fridge, though.

Another thing that made Emersyn happy was bath time. She would start to jump up and down when she heard the water turn on. She still loved the rubber duckies, but she really liked to suck on wet washcloths. Of all the toys we gave her she liked the wet washcloth the best. Chris and I had a pretty good routine down as to how bath time would go which made everything easy.

Emerysn was becoming more vocal in many ways. She would jabber to herself and she started talking to Chris and I. She continued to make her grunts and grizzly bear noises. In the car we would have a conversation with her grunting. Chris and I would mimic her noises going back and forth. Emersyn learned to say 'Hi' and would say it loud and clear when she saw someone she was excited about. It was so fun to hear her little voice talk. After walking in to Relief Society (a little late as always) we sat a few rows behind a neighbor boy of the same age. Emersyn immediately recognized him and yelled out a big 'Hi!', interrupting the quiet of the meeting. Emersyn also decided to verbalize her frustrations. She doesn't like to have her hands and face cleaned after breakfast. She cries every time. For the first time (and sure not to be the last) Emersyn got so fed up with me trying to clean her hands that she made her hands into fists and looked right at me and yelled. It was obvious that she was very angry, but I was so surprised at her ability to direct her anger at me that it made me laugh.

Emersyn was getting good at playing games and understanding cues. When we said 'Yeah!' she would clap her hands. She started playing Peek-a-boo herself. She would hide herself while we asked where Emi was, and then she would pull the blanket down and we would say 'There she is!". One time when playing with my dad he was using his finger to trill his lips. Whenever he stopped she would grab his hand and try to pull it up to his mouth so he would keep going. She quickly picked up on that and would do the same to herself. Another thing my dad taught her in the same setting was to move her tongue back and forth while 'La-ing'. She thought that was a novel idea and really hung on to that one. Any time she saw him she wanted him to move his tongue and she would do the same.

Emersyn was also a bit of a snuggler. She loved the social interaction with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even some neighbors that she felt comfortable with. It was cute to see her give loves to those around her. I am always bringing my face close to hers and pulling her to me. She would do the same to others. It was endearing to see her lay her head on my dads chest or bring her face close to his, knowing that it is how she shows her love. e

We prepared for Christmas by getting our tree up and decorated. I made sure to leave most of the decorations off the lower branches just incase Emersyn decided they looked like a fun toy. Although a plastic ball could be considered more of a toy than a decoration anyway. Surprisingly Emersyn didn't get to close to the tree most of the time. We don't spend a lot of time in the front room and she wanted to be where I was so that made my Christmas tree protecting job much easier. Whenever she did get her hands on it, it was only to suck on the little light bulbs. I was nervous about her using her cute little teeth to bite it and causing some real damage.

In keeping with the Christmas spirit we took Emersyn for a drive around Layton Park to see the Christmas lights. It only takes a few minutes, but it was fun to see how excited she was. I think part of her enthusiasm was being able to sit in the front seat while the car was moving.

Emersyn had been lucky and avoided any sort of real ailment or illness. Even though this rash popped up unexpectedly, it was gone within a few days. It didn't seem to phase Emersyn at all and she didn't have any other symptoms to go along with it. I sent a pic to Chris to see what his thoughts were on it.

Emerysn was quite a speedy crawler. She had a high gear that would move her from point A to point B in lightning-baby-speed. People would often comment on how fast she crawl when they saw her b-line for something she wanted. It seemed that going from rolling over to crawling took some time and learning, but going from crawling to standing up on things was a short interval, and Emersyn was up on everything. This created an opportunity for even more bumps and bruises. I think it was rare that Emersyn didn't go a day without some sort of tumble and she often had various stages of bruising on her head. It made me question my parenting capabilities. I could swear that few other kids looked as banged up as Emersyn. Chris assured me that it was a normal part of learned to be more independent and I just don't notice it as much on everyone else's kids.

I don't know if it had anything to do with crawling, or just plain stretching out in general, but Emersyn seemed to thin out. Her face became longer and she started to transition out of the purely baby-face look. We had a doctor visit this month and got her next set of statistics and shots.

Length: 28.2 Inches 77 percentile

Weight: 19 lbs 8 oz 64 percentile

Head Circumference: 44.5 cm 66 percentile

Her development seemed right on track and her growth was on a regular curve. As a parent it's always great to know that your kid is on the right track. We started introducing more foods to Emersyn, though she wasn't interested in most of the stage 3 baby foods, though I can't say that I blame her. Emersyn was a real texture oriented baby and anything that felt too strange in the mouth was immediately rejected. After what seemed like a long time, Emersyn's right front tooth came in. She still had a funny smile, but it was a big breakthrough. I was hoping that with the eruption of both of her teeth having happened maybe she would quit grinding her teeth quite so often. Instead, I think having another tooth up top just gave her one more surface for grinding.

Aunt Sara loved being around her nieces and nephews. On her mission she wasn't allowed to hold any babies or kids so she was more than happy to get a little one (or two) on her lap.

Christmas was even more fun having Emersyn around, even though she had no concept of the meaning of the day and the fun that happens on Christmas. I did wrap up her presents (which just meant that I would also be unwrapping them for her). Because kids grow so fast at this age, we gave her a whole bunch of clothes to wear in the next stage of baby-hood. She didn't seem to be able to get enough of books so we gave her some great picture books. She liked the lift-the-flap books so we got a couple of those. Although she seemed like she was going to rip most of the flaps off right away. We gave her a walker to help her when she started getting closer to taking her first steps, and a nice fluffy pillow pet to cuddle (we had given it to her two weeks early, but we still wrapped it up). We were able to get through the days festivities without much disruption in Emersyn's schedule. We spent the early afternoon at my parents opening presents there. As always my parents were more than generous and it was fun to exchange gifts. Among some clothes, books (one of which was the Very Hungry Caterpillar - a favorite of mine) and toys, my mom gave Emersyn a large pillow pet that she could almost fit her whole body on.

The evening was spent in the mass chaos that takes place at Oma and Opa's. Emersyn always loves seeing new, or fresh, faces so she enjoyed watching everyone. As usual, anyone she didn't recognize that you might consider a 'stranger' she would stare at them for a while and take it in. Oma was so thoughtful, and with the help of Susan, made everyone their own quilt. Emersyn got a cute pink one that had a Young Women inspired print with the temple and other pictures on it. It is probably the last gift that will be handmade in that way and I thought it neat that she would choose a pattern for the little girls that had so much meaning. With the evening going so late and all the excitement of the day Emi slept the entire car ride home and had no difficulty transitioning to bed once we got home.

With New Years Day being on a Sunday, and expected to be bad weather, the Sonntags decided to get to together on the 31st at the horse property. Although I did sneak away to go shooting for a bit, the cold weather, and feeling bad about leaving Emersyn to be taken care of by whoever was available at the time, I spent most of the day hanging with the cousins at the house. Emersyn seemed to have a stomach bug that was giving her diarrhea. More often than not her diapers would overflow and she was going through a couple of outfits a day. Thankfully Heather had an extra outfit since we had already gone through the one I brought - and Ainsley is pretty close to the same size.

One theory as to why Emersyn had the runs is due to a sudden increase in apple juice over the previous few days. Emersyn had fallen and hit her mouth on the edge of mine and Chris' bed and cut her gums. There was a lot of bleeding, but we couldn't tell if it was from the teeth or just from a cut that was visible on the upper frenulum. To help soothe the pain we gave Emersyn some cold apple juice. She seemed to like it so we kept giving it to her. Unfortunately I think it was just too much. More worrisome for me was if Emersyn's teeth were going to die. I wasn't sure, but it could have been a direct hit on those front teeth, and I didn't want them turning gray or falling out. Only time will tell.