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.