Baby Girl Bell: September

September 1st! Happy Five Months!

One of Emersyn's favorite toys at this time was a rubber ducky. She would get so excited at bath time, or any time for that matter, if her yellow rubber ducky was in sight.

An attribute of Emersyn that I love is her sturdiness. She is a strong baby and has always felt that way. At this time I thought the plump little baby of ours was adorable as ever and I enjoyed making raspberry noises on her soft tummy.

She was becoming skilled at passing objects, like her rubber ducky, between her hands, and could even pick up small pieces of puffed crackers. She couldn't always get the food into her mouth on the first try and often times the crackers would become stuck to her hand clenched in a fist. Then she would reach for another one, just to get that one stuck in her palm as well. Emersyn quickly figured out how to maneuver the crackers from her palm to the edge of her hand so she could eat it.

She was also becoming a good eater. When we first started baby food, many times I would feed Emersyn in only a diaper or just figured I would be changing her outfit afterward because it was so messy. When Emersyn would get excited she would flap her hands up and down or bang them on the tray. Often times this would happen just as the spoon full of baby food was about to go in her mouth and she would knock the food off the spoon. As I learned how to predict her movements, and Emersyn became a more capable eater, the mess, though still a mess, became much less. We did find that she wasn't a fan of prunes. She ate the whole serving or prunes, but spit up quite a bit afterward. That was our indicator that prunes and Emersyn don't go well together.

After using a bottle and formula a few times while in Cape Cod we started to use it more often once at home. I enjoyed the ease and freedom it provided. I was still nursing most of the time and made sure my milk supply stayed full. However, I think Emersyn also liked the ease of the bottle. That combined with the increase in solids caused Emersyn to find a little less interest in breast feeding and started to wean herself.

On Labor Day we spent the weekend in Bear Lake with the family. It was a bit of a somber trip as Grandma Austin had died early that Friday morning. As is often the case I wished I had taken Emersyn to see her at least one more time. She so loved her little great grandchildren and it would have made her happy. Nonetheless I was glad that Emersyn will have at least on picture with her Great Grandma Austin.

The viewing was the following Wednesday with the funeral on Tuesday. We placed a family picture in the casket since I think she would have liked to have one on her bedside table along with the other pictures of Emersyn we had given her as a gift for the most recent Mother's Day.

The weather for the Labor Day weekend was great and Emersyn loved having the cousins to watch and interact with (as much as a baby can). Rich and I have hopes that Emersyn and Ainsley will turn out to be friends and play together. We figure that Emersyn, although 10 months younger than Ainsley, will be the same size or bigger. Although the two were pretty close in size at this time, Ainsley was still a few inches taller.

I took Emersyn to the pool for the first time. I'm not sure if she liked it or not. She pretty much sat in the water and watched the other kids play or tried to suck on my watch. She was very surprised when I dunked her, but didn't respond much more than that. At least she didn't hate it.

All too quickly the nights started getting cold. We were used to the warm weather of California where you could still wear flip flops all the time. We made sure that we kept Emersyn warm and bundled.

Being able to get back into racing was a highlight of not being pregnant. We were able to participate in the Vikingman Triathlon, which is a favorite of Papa's. I was nervous about leaving Emersyn for the entire race and how it would work with nap times. My mom was going to be watching her, and that always gives me confidence since my mom really knows what she is doing. As I went from the bike leg into the transition Rich was there with my mom and Emersyn yelling 'Go Mommy!'. It was fun to see her and gave me a smile.

I also helped out my dad by filling in for him on the swim for the Xterra. Chris was there with Emersyn cheering me on. It was a chilly morning so we 'double bagged' Emersyn in a fleece suit to make sure she was nice and toasty. Whenever she is in the baby pack she is pretty mellow. I think the new perspective has her quietly taking it all in.

When people would ask how being a parent was and how Emersyn was doing Chris and I would always joke that she was doing well and that she's still alive so things must be going okay. Thankfully children are resilient because Emersyn's worst injury was caused by me. While bathing her one evening I set the baby soap bottle on the edge of the tub and it slipped off and hit Emi in the face. The tip of the bottle cut her right under her nose and also got a blood lip from her teeth. I was afraid that Chris was going to have to give her stitches. Fortunately the cut wasn't that bad and she healed up quickly on her own.

Towards the end of the month Emersyn started to get into a routine, which I loved. One of the most stressful parts of having a young baby is the lack of schedule. I enjoy predictability to an extent. I especially struggle when I can't get a run or bike in. We continued with the bath time routine before bed. After lathering Emersyn with lotion and diapering her I would nurse her and then top her off with a bottle. Most nights she would wake up once and need a bottle and then she would sleep until 8 or 9 in the morning. Although I didn't like getting up in the middle of the night, I liked that it was something I could count on, and often times I would also be sleeping in until 8 or 9.

Wishing Grandma D a Happy Birthday was somewhat difficult as Emersyn wanted to eat the paper more than hold it up. After a lot of attempts we got a good shot.

Once September arrived our insurance finally kicked in and I made an appointment for Emersyn to get her vaccines and official statistics. Towards the end of the month we went to see the pediatrician. Being close to 7 months Emersyn was only getting her 4 month shots and I set a plan to get her caught up. I couldn't help but feel a little sad when she cried.

Chris and I were excited to see just how Emersyn measured up.

Height: 27.28 inches 85th percentile

Weight: 17 lbs 13 oz 71st percentile

Head Circumference: 43.1 cm 57th percentile

Emersyn became skilled and daring when it came to rolling over. I would lay on my back with my legs in the air bent at the knees so my lower leg was parallel to the ground. I would lay Emersyn on my legs on her tummy. She would roll right over and land on the bed.

Being a first time mother the only people I felt comfortable leaving Emersyn with was family. Unfortunately all of my siblings felt the same way, which meant that my mother and sisters were in high demand. Thankfully my mom enjoys her grandchildren and worked hard to make sure she can help her kids out. She started watching Isaac once a week while Marty worked and Alex was in school. This meant that sometimes Emersyn and Isaac were able to have some cousin time together.