November

November 1. Happy Eight Months!

November rolled around with Emersyn perfecting her rolling abilities. She became very adept at getting where she wanted to go. As the month progressed it seemed that Emersyn was having more of a desire to have greater mobility than what rolling would provide. However, her attempts at crawling were more comical than functional. We would put some of her favorite toys in front of her, but out of reach. She would become so excited at trying to get to them that she would try and move by flopping around on the floor. She looked more like she was trying to do the worm than move toward her toys. Over time Emersyn did start to use her legs to push herself. She did well when she had something to push off of, but of course could only get so far.

The next phase of her crawling was pushing with her feet against the floor with one arm out toward the object she was trying to reach and the other arm lifeless at her side causing her to move in an arc with the lifeless arm getting caught under her body. Chris and I would help her get up on her hands and knees so she could feel what it was like to support herself. With all of her time in the jumper her legs were plenty strong, but it seemed like her arms were weak and it took some time before she got the idea of being up on all fours.

One night while talking to Chris' mom on the phone Emersyn was playing on the ground. Over the duration of the 45 minute phone call Emersyn made some huge improvements. She got up on all fours and moved her arms and legs a few steps in a crawl, though uncoordinated-type motion.

Toward the end of the month she eventually figured out the crawl and a whole new world was open to her. She would explore everything she could, which made for a little freedom on my end. It was fun to see her move, and she seemed to become an expert pretty quickly. Emersyn got the hang of moving on the different surfaces, making the tile floor not too much to tackle. At first she would push with her knees that were covered in pants, but they would just slip. She found that pulling more with her hands she could moved better. It was a funny little crawl at first, but perfected it no time.

Emersyn and I took regular walks around the neighborhood. It was good to get out in the fresh air, and with the Indian summer warm temperatures stayed around for the first part of November. Emersyn would occasionally fall asleep and getting her from the stroller to the crib without waking her up too much was a bit of a challenge.

As Emersyn got bigger I figured it was time to get her a high chair. We found a space saving one that fit on our kitchen table chairs. It was nice to be able to have Emersyn sit and feed herself while I did other things in the kitchen. At times Emersyn would become very obstinate during her feedings. She would purse her lips together to show that she didn't want anything going in her mouth. Her lips would get even tighter when the spoon neared her mouth. This didn't always mean that she wasn't hungry, or didn't like what she was being fed. Sometimes it seemed to be out of pure obstinance. Typically, a toy was a good enough distraction to take her mind off of keeping her mouth closed.

Emersyn was still eating mostly baby food with each meal. She would eat anything that resembled a treat and that crunched. I worried that I would have to remove the Graduate puffs, Veggie Straws and graham crackers from her diet completely since she seemed to only want to eat those. Veggie Straws did become a great persuasion tool. If she had baby food left to eat I would give her a Veggie Straw and wait until she went to take a bit and sneak a spoonful of mixed vegetables (or whatever) in before she could take a bite. Over time she came to expect the spoonful of baby food and would open her mouth ready for the spoon and then take a bite of her Veggie Straw right after. I figured as long as she was getting the nutrition she needed a couple of treats wouldn't hurt.

I did realize, though, that most of the days that she was particularly fussy about eating were the days that she was getting teeth. Her left front tooth finally broke through this month. It seemed to hang on the cusp of breaking through for such a long time. When it did finally come in, the uneven teeth gave her a doofy smile that reminded me of her cousin Eloise whose teeth were gapped and uneven as well.

Emersyn like to take things out - of whatever she could take things out of. She would take the shapes out of the box, the tupperware out of the cupboard, the dishtowels out of the drawer, etc. It seemed that the house was in a constant mess, as I'm sure it will be for years to come.

With the Holidays nearing the Christmas decorations came out. Emersyn made a great reindeer. Thanksgiving was spent at Oma and Opa's. Emersyn enjoyed seeing all the faces and did her usual staring at everything while taking it all in. I am grateful that Emersyn is a generally content baby that is okay being held by others because she was passed around all night. Finding a napping place was difficult. With at least 3 other babies of the same age, also needing naps at the same time, and the noise that is created by everyone it almost seemed like a hopeless situation. I found a semi-quiet space on the floor in Oma's yellow room. I laid Emersyn on a blanket on the floor next to the bed - hoping she wouldn't wake up and crawl around and get into anything. We were able to squeeze in a few key minutes that refreshed her for the rest of the day.

October

October 1st! Happy 7 Months!

As seems to be typical for us, Emersyn spent the beginning of a new month traveling. On October first we boarded a plane and headed to Kona, Hawaii. Chris had a Sports Medicine conference he was attending and he, my dad, and myself were scheduled to volunteer in the medical tent during the Ironman World Championship. Once again Emersyn was a stellar traveller. I always have the fear that I will be the mother with the crying baby that just wont stop for the entire flight, but Emi was very quiet and did pretty well sleeping at nap times. For me it was a very different flight than what I was used to. I couldn't just pull out a book and read or watch a movie. I was either holding Emi while she slept, feeding her, changing her diaper, or holding her while she played. Now that Emersyn was eating more solid foods and taking the bottle more often I didn't have to worry about breastfeeding on take off (which is super awkward). In fact, Emersyn seemed to be weaning herself. It was becoming more and more difficult to get her to breastfeed. Baby food tastes much better and the bottle is so much easier. Once she had to start sucking harder she would quit feeding and wouldn't re-latch.

Because it was the week of the Ironman in Kona there was a lot of chaos and traffic in the airport. This resulted in a lot of lost luggage. And, unfortunately one of our bags did not arrive with us. It was Emersyn's bag which had all of her clothes, food, and her pack-n-play. Thankfully the first night we were staying in the Marriott which had the perfect chairs that we could push together to make a little bed. Emersyn slept soundly.

The next morning Chris had to head to the conference, and with my parents and sisters being rerouted in all of the Ironman hubbub, Emi and I had the morning to spend at the hotel. It was a gorgeous day and I wished I could take Emersyn in the pool. But because of nap time and having to pick up Chris and my parents we had to be content to lounge by the pool instead. The stroller became a key item during our trip because it allowed Emersyn to always have shade.

In fact most of our days were spent by the pool. Because Chris was at the conference for all or part of the day, we would make the most of the sunshine and lounge by the pool or take a swim. Emersyn swam daily in the cool water. Once her lips started to turn slightly purple we knew she was too cold and we would wrap her in a towel and let her bask in the warm shade.

Every now and then Emersyn could catch a nap at the pool. Most days I would hang out in the hotel room while she napped. As she started to become more aware of what was going on around her it became more and more difficult to get her to fall asleep anywhere but her crib or pack n play. She was always watching and taking in everything. Whenever she saw a new face she would stare while she evaluated what she was looking at.

Emersyn would get especially excited at the little birdies walking around at the edge of the pool.

Not wanting Emersyn's precious baby skin to get burned (and after having her face get toasted while at Bear Lake during the summer) we made sure to keep her covered in sunscreen and her sun hat on at all times. Sometimes keeping the hat on and in the right place was difficult so we thought we'd see how it went to completely cover her in sunscreen - hair and head included.

My mom did not want to miss out on the whole Hawaii scene and so she booked us a night at a Luau. She was so excited she got the best seats in the house, which were right in front of the stage. Me being the mom that I am, wasn't a fan of the front row seats and knew Emersyn was going to need a nap at some point during the program. The loud speakers would make it tough to get some shut eye. Thankfully, my mom was able to snag some seats in the back - away from the noise. Emersyn got the nap that she needed, which makes her mom happy, though I did feel bad about stomping on my mom's excitement for the 'prized' seats.

We took a day trip to visit the Volcano National Park on the west side of the island. It was a long day as it was a 3 hour drive just to get there. Emersyn did well and was plenty entertained by her aunts. In fact, most of the trip it was a battle over who got to play with Emi.

We also stopped by the Kona Hawaii temple which was just a few minutes away from downtown Kona. The temple was closed for cleaning but Aunt Sara tried to get as close as she could anyway.

We spent some afternoons walking around the downtown area of Kona so we could peruse all of the stores and booths. Because of Emersyn's cuteness she was given a free t-shirt, although she can't wear it until she's 5 or 6.

On the day of the Ironman Emersyn enjoyed spectating such a huge event. Though she was more interested in looking at the masses of people around her rather than the race itself. We were able to see the race start and hung around long enough to see some of the pros come out of the water.

We had to accommodate nap times so we hung out at the hotel. Lucky for us the run course was right in front of our hotel. Emersyn caught a view of some of the best athletes in the world. Maybe on day she will appreciate it - and hopefully we will be able to do it again.

My mom and sisters watched Emersyn while Chris, my dad, and I volunteered in the medical tent. Having family there to help with Emi was fabulous. Jan and Sara are always so entertaining and have become quite adept at taking care of babies. My family left that night, but Chris and I weren't scheduled to leave until the next day. And, our flight was a red eye. I was nervous about how it was going to work because both Chris and I would want to sleep, but we would also have to make sure Emersyn was taken care of. I had made a sling to use so both Emi and I could sleep and wouldn't have to worry about dozing off and having her slip out of my arms. However, a lady who had an entire row to herself offered the three seats to us knowing how grateful we would be for the extra seat. It was perfect because Emersyn slept on the seat in the middle. Although Chris and I probably only slept for two to three hours each, Emersyn got only four or five. She did great for the first half, but right when I was about to fall asleep she woke up and we had a hard time getting her to doze off again. We resorted to benadryl so I wouldn't have to stand in the aisle rocking her the entire flight. Emersyn finally knocked out with about two hours left.

When in Hawaii we tried to keep Emersyn on her Utah schedule. We thought that since it was only a short vacation we didn't want to have her adjust to Hawaii time just to go back to Utah and have to change back to Utah time. However, Emersyn easily slipped into Hawaii time. Returning to the Utah schedule was difficult. And, with the little amount of sleep from our overnight flight Emersyn was very much off schedule. We had a week or so of getting her to sleep at midnight or around there. Slowly she started to move to an earlier bed time. Thankfully daylight savings hit and what was once a 10pm bedtime was now a 9pm bedtime. It worked out perfectly. Another bonus was that Emersyn was now sleeping all the way through the night. Occasionally she would wake up an hour or two after going to bed - but these nights were only when she had fallen asleep drinking her bottle. I would simply give her what she hadn't eaten and she would be good until 8 or 9 in the morning. I was enjoying the extra sleep as well. All too often I think about what Chris' brother Joe said when he talked to Chris after Emi was born. He said 'Welcome to the world of perpetual sleep deprivation'. I was feeling like I could never get enough rest. The late mornings were definitely helping, though.

Ever since Emersyn was born I had been wanting some professional family pictures. We took advantage of our beautiful 'backyard' and had a neighbor take some shots up at Snowbasin. Emersyn did very well and cooperated wonderfully. Although getting a seven month old to look at the camera and smile is pretty tough. It was a cold day and we had a tough time keeping Emi's shoes on. They were a gift from Joe and Andrea - a pair of Stoddard's shoes that matched perfectly. For a prop we used the little chair Chris' mom gave to us when she visited us in California. They all turned out so well we had a hard time choosing our favorites.

One thing that was a huge step up for me was when Emersyn was finally able to sit in the front of the grocery cart. I had been keeping her in the car seat and putting the carrier in the basket of the cart. That meant that Emersyn pretty much took up the entire basket of the cart and I would have to pile the groceries around her. I always gave her a crinkly bag to play with to keep her entertained. Once she was riding sitting in the cart seat I was able to get twice the groceries and I didn't have to carry the car seat in with me.

The cute outfit Emersyn is wearing was a gift from my Aunt Jenny. On this day a lady came up to me and kept telling me what a cute little boy Emersyn was and that she was so excited to have her grandson be born any day. I just laughed and didn't bother to correct her that Emersyn was a girl. Obviously she had boy on the brain.

With Halloween coming at the end of the month I wanted to make sure we got in on some spooky fun. With the rest of the family, minus Marty, Alex, Isaac and my dad, we went to a corn maze. Chris carried Emersyn in the pack on his back while we maneuvered through the maze. Emersyn didn't have much of a reaction to it all. She did her usual staring and taking it all in without much noise.

Each time I fed Emersyn I would put her in the bumbo on top of the counter. Partly being lazy and partly not sure which high chair to get, we kept this routine up for the whole month. At the same time I drove myself crazy worrying about Emersyn falling off the counter. Emi was a good eater and seemed to quickly take to the baby food. Before long I was giving her three meals a day of solids. Some of her favorites were apples, or anything with apples, and sweet potatoes. She was not a fan of anything green, but would still eat the mixed garden vegetables and green beans most of the time. Chris and I were amazed at Emersyn's dexterity. She was easily picking up graduates, crackers, and a few tasty morsels off the floor and feeding herself.

The Bumbo came in handy more often since Emersyn could sit up and be more a part of what was going on around her. One activity that Emi found entertaining was watching the washing machine spin. When I needed a couple of minutes to get something done I would stick her in front of the washer. She would flap her hands and smile big.

This month Emersyn became more and more mobile. She started rolling with destinations in mind, though she couldn't always get the trajectory right. One time while I was working on the computer Emersyn rolled herself into the doorway so her legs were in the hallway and her body was in the room. She kept rolling back and forth in between the door frame because the space was too small for her to twist her body to change directions. I laughed watching her frustration at her predicament. She also liked to find herself underneath the footstools in the living room. Once there she had a hard time getting out and would often bump her head on a corner.

Notice the cute Halloween outfit - a gift from Grandma D.

In fact, Grandma D. bought the same outfit for both Emersyn and Ainsley. Almost the same size, too.

Emersyn was fascinated with animals. At this time there was a commercial on tv (well, the computer since we didn't have cable we would watch tv shows on the computer while Emersyn played on the floor) that had a couple of cardinals building a birdhouse. Those little red birds flying about caught Emersyn's undivided attention. She would make noises and move those little hands whenever she saw them. Marty and Alex's dog, Wyatt was especially entertaining during the time we were spending a weekend at Bear Lake. She would get so excited and start flapping her arms when he walked near her. When she had the opportunity to touch him she was a little timid and would have to work her way up to actually feeling his fur. She would put her hand close and then pull it away, and then move to touch Wyatt again, this time putting her hand a little bit closer than last time. When she did finally pet him it was a quick feel and then pulled her hand back. It was fun to watch her discovery. Emersyn also found Rich and Heather's dog, Oscar, intriguing and would do the same thing.

Emersyn was a huge fan of the swing. We don't have a playground of our own so we used our neighbors or the one at the horse property. Emersyn would get a huge smile on her face and laugh in her cute little laugh. Sometimes I would take her over to the horse property during the day just to get a change of scenery. I think she found the days at home as monotonous as I did and it was a nice change of pace to get outside and see the animals. It took her a while to get used to the big horses and goats. She did the same thing with the farm animals as she did with Wyatt and Oscar. Sometimes I would put a leaf in her hand, which was almost always in a fist anyway, and hold it out for the goats to eat. I don't really think Emersyn understood that she was feeding the goats, but it brought the goats closer so she could get a good look at them.

And, of course, the best part of the month of October is Halloween. It is a parents special privilege to be able to dress the kids up in ridiculous costumes because there is nothing they could do about it. The first time I put Emersyn in her flower costume, compliments of Grandma D., I laughed so hard. She looked so precious, but she wasn't quite sure what to think of petals around her face. She sat there with her arms in the air with her little fists with a look of 'now what?' on her face. We took her to visit my parents and Rich and Heather because her look was too priceless to keep to ourselves.

Some of our favorite pictures from the month of October