July 2011

July 1. Happy Four Months!

The first days of July were spent preparing for our move to Utah. We were excited to be back around family and new that Emersyn would enjoy being around cousins and aunts and uncles, not to mention Papa and Grandma D. Emersyn was becoming more and more playful and would laugh and squeal easily. Most of her communication was done by making farting noises with her mouth. We enjoyed seeing how hard and long she would try to make each slobbery nosie. She was doing much better with tummy time and would stay for quite a while before she really started freaking out. She was able to roll over easily when she was on her tummy and I created a dip in the bed by sitting close. But, when she was on a flat surface and had to roll over on her own she would become frustrated and start drooling a lot. Her attempts at turning over were only superman type moves that got her nowhere. As the month wore on we realized how easily she could stretch and turn while laying on the floor on her back. Sometimes she would be on her side and so delicately on edge that a simple breeze might have been able to get her to finish the roll. Alas, it appears that the desire, not the ability is what is lacking. The stomach to to the back is another story. I would have thought her abhorrence of being on her tummy would have gotten her to her back in no time flat. All in good time.

Chris and I stayed at my parents while we got prepped and painted our house. It was great having babysitters so available. Sara had gotten home from her mission less than a month before and we enjoyed spending time talking with her. Emersyn was a trooper spending most days in the 'elephant chair' while we painted and moved. Sometimes a set of hands was occupied in taking care of her during her fussy moments, which was normally Grandma D. Or, I would have to take breaks to feed. We painted Emersyn's room a light turquoise which would be made plenty girly when the pink decorations and pictures arrived. We were very excited for Emersyn to have her own room so we didn't feel like we had to tip toe around whenever she was asleep and we would have free access to the computer without feeling like we would wake her up.

We liked that Emersyn was becoming more predictable...give or take. On most days she was waking up at 730 or so and would be back in bed an hour to an hour and a half later. Every three or four hours she would get hungry and would be napping for an hour or two between feedings. We were continuing with the bedtime bath routine, which Emersyn seemed to be getting used to. After her bath she would be pretty happy until I put her pajamas on. At which point she would start getting fussy since she knew the next step before going to bed was to feed. She usually fell asleep pretty easily on her own. The nights and naps that were rough were when Emersyn would spit out her pacifier, which seemed to be happening more and more. She would push it to the side with her tongue when we'd try to put it in, or push it straight out and actually get some distance with the force. The most common issue was her taking her binkie out with her hands and not being able to get it back in. She would start crying and fussing. Sometimes she would just fall asleep on her own without it, sometimes it was a game putting it in again and again each time she took it out. Even when she did fall asleep with it in she would spit it out for the rest of her sleep.

On the 4th of July we took Emersyn to meet Grandma Austin. Grandma lives in an assisted nursing facility and she was just getting her Jazzy fixed so we caught her right as we walked in the door. She was so excited to see us and glad to meet the new little one. My grandma kept introducing me as her great-granddaughter and Emersyn as her great-great-granddaughter. We sort of just let it slide. Grandma was bummed because she didn't have any crackers to give Emersyn to eat, which we were glad because Emersyn was still only breastfeeding and it would be a while before crackers were on the menu. A few more funny and incongruous statements had us shaking our heads. Chris quickly realized that grandma wasn't wearing her oxygen and may have been the cause of her silliness.

It seemed that Emersyn started to get some of her cousin Stoddard's drooling tendencies. She continued to blow raspberry bubbles and suck on her fingers. At times the sucking seemed to become more of a chewing which made Chris and I think that maybe teething wasn't too far off.

Emersyn had fun being with her cousins. The way we could tell is how intensely she stared at them.

We quickly settled into our home and loved being back in the neighborhood.

As Emersyn continued to develop we would make sure she had the right kind of stimulation to keep her entertained (and that would be a good distractor to give us parents a few minutes to get something done). Her new jumparoo fit the bill. Emersyn liked standing and being up where she could look around, and the added bonus of being able to use her leg muscles was perfect. Emersyn would get so enthused when she hit the right button and music would start to play.

She also like to play with her floor mat. When she was only a month or two old I would lay her on the mat thinking she would be plenty entertained. But much to my dismay she would start crying a few minutes later. At the time I figured she just wasn't interested. Then seeing her interest at this stage I realized just how little I knew about age appropriate activities for babies.

And at Grandma D.'s it was the exersaucer that got her excited. Because of her jumparoo at our house Emersyn would bounce up and down in the saucer in the same way. It was funny to see how hard she would jump. It's a good thing they make those toys sturdy.

One of my favorite expressions of Emersyn's is her excited face. Whenever she makes that face it's more of a full-body excitement because her legs stretch out and her hands flap around along with the wide-open eyes and "O"-shaped mouth.

Another favorite of mine is when babies start to play with their feet. There is something so adorable about how easily they grab their toes and play with them or suck on them.

Emersyn was not only holding on tight to her toes, she started reaching for just about anything she could get her hands on. I made sure to keep her nails short as she would lay her hand delicately on your face and feel around only to suddenly clench a fist full of your cheek and leave a mark

The beautiful blue eyes that are an obvious trait of her father's had everyone stating that Emersyn looked like Chris. She even inherited her dad's photic sneeze reflex. Although her eyes had lightened from her earlier months those baby blues remained a striking feature that she received continuous comments on.

We went to Bear Lake for the 24th of July. Emersyn was a great baby and enjoyed the outdoors and the cousins. There were plenty of new faces for her to study and new scenes to keep her stimulated. Chris and I made sure to keep her in the shade, but the reflected light landed her a sunburn across her nose and cheeks...lesson learned.

Having Emersyn take a bottle has been a bit of a struggle. Partly due to the lack of need for a bottle and partly due to laziness on mine and Chris' part. It's just easier for me to breastfeed than have to thaw and heat up pumped milk. We wanted to try and do breast milk as much as possible so it makes more sense just to breastfeed than pump (which is not my favorite). After buying a few different bottles and nipples we finally settled on one that works. I am looking forward to some added freedom.

Being back in Utah and back in Mountain Green we were able to more easily participate in some of our favorite activities. Chris and I took a few Wednesday nights to take part in the Midweek Snowbasin Mountain Bike Races. Sara would come and watch Emersyn while I did the short race and Chris did the middle distance race. Because I was still new at letting someone else watch Emersyn it gave me an extra drive to get to the finish faster.

Some of our favorite pictures during the month of July

Grandma D did this.