5 Months Old

Dear Emma,

You recently turned 5 months old and it seems like every single week you are doing something new and exciting. You are now officially a "sitter" and can sit up and play on your own without support. We still keep the Boppy pillow behind you on the floor because every once in a while you turn your head so hard to watch someone move around the room (usually Zoe) that you lose your balance and fall backwards. It's so fun to sit with you and watch you play with your toys. You're definitely curious when you get a new toy and you get this cute open-mouthed look of astonishment the first time you see something new, whether it lights up, opens up, or makes some kind of noise. But the very first thing you do when you get your little hands on something new is to attempt to chew on it (no matter what it is).

You definitely like to sit lately and you also love to stand up with someone balancing you. Even though you've mastered rolling now, it seems like you never want to lay down anymore, almost as if you figure you've had enough laying and rolling around and want to sit up and stand up like a big girl. Oh - and you definitely love getting bounced. I like to bounce you on my knees and pretend you're on a horse or a roller coaster (complete with sound effects) and you love it and can't stop giggling.

You're now regularly eating one meal a day in the evenings. You always get oatmeal (which you love) plus a veggie or fruit. Sweet potatoes are by FAR your favorite thing, although squash is a close second. You also like peas, green beans, carrots... noticing a trend here? You are not a fan of fruits. Pear is the only one that you'll actually eat. You've tried bananas and apples but you make a horrified face when you taste them and literally spit them back out.

Every day is an adventure with you, little Peanut.

Raindrops on Roses

Over the past couple of months, we've gotten a bedtime routine set with Emma. First she gets her diaper changed and pajamas on, and then her sleep sack. Next, she lays on my lap on her Boppy pillow on the couch and drinks her bedtime bottle. As soon as she's done with her bottle, I sing to her until she falls asleep. She's gotten so used to this routine that when her bottle is done, she turns and snuggles in with me, closes her eyes and waits for her song.

I started out with a number of basic lullabies and Sunday school songs, and then one night I tried singing her some songs from The Sound of Music. Turns out that she loves My Favorite Things. I can tell that she likes it because she gets really quiet to listen and sometimes lets out a little contented sigh when I start the first verse. It's very sweet. Nobody tells you when you're a new parent how much babies like repetition. I can't tell you how many times I've sung that song on repeat for the past three months.

Next step: trying to put Emma down to sleep while she's sleepy but still awake (so I am no longer required to sing an entire movie's worth of songs each night). We'll see how it goes...

Paul's 34th Birthday

For Paul's 34th birthday, Paul's parents watched Emma so that we could go out to dinner by ourselves at the Log Cabin Inn on Saturday night. It was so nice to get out for a little while baby-free. We didn't even mind the hour long wait to get in because we weren't constantly worried that the baby was a ticking time bomb waiting to erupt in a screaming fit in the middle of the restaurant.

On Sunday morning, I got up early with the baby so that Paul could sleep in. Around 9:00am (which is a long sleep-in for Paul), Emma played in her froggy jumper in the kitchen while I cooked Paul a birthday breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, clementines & yogurt. He got to wake up to the smell of bacon cooking. For lunch, we headed out to North Country Brewing in Slippery Rock with Kim and Joe. Paul's been wanting to go there for a while to see what kinds of beer they have. Emma was pretty good on the long drive and at the restaurant. Although, lately, she's been less and less content to sit in her carseat in restaurants. She wants to sit up like a big girl on your lap instead, which makes it much more difficult to eat your meal. But, as all new parents know, you can learn to do many things one-handed. We had a fun time at lunch and would definitely go back to North Country Brewing.

Happy birthday, baby!

Happy Birthday, Mom

It's been almost two years
And I can still remember
When you smiled and when you cried
How you laughed and how you sighed
What you said and why you tried
Sometimes it's like you never died

Love you, Mom

20 weeks

Dear Emma,

Today you turn 20 weeks old. I still have trouble with the whole weeks vs. months calculation because to me that seems like you should be considered 5 months old while in reality you'll not turn 5 months until February 26.

In the past month, you have grown so much in so many ways! You started wearing 3-6 month clothes about a month ago and you're starting to grow out of them already! Everything fits you up top, but your little legs are long and so you are outgrowing the pants and sleepers length-wise already. At your 4 month checkup, you were 15 lbs, 1 oz and 25 inches long. Your weight was 75th percentile while your height was 90th percentile! We're not sure where you're getting your height from but we're happy about it. Your Daddy says that everyone listens to tall people and Aunt Kimmy already wants to recruit you for her high school volleyball team.

You've loved to stand up practically since you were born, and lately you keep getting stronger and better at it. You can almost sit up on your own now too (you're still a little Weeble-Wobble but you're getting much better). You also learned to roll and play with toys over the past few weeks. In fact, you roll so much that you keep rolling over in your sleep, almost giving Mommy a heart attack when she finds you in the crib on your tummy at night! But, being the paranoid (and loving and responsible) parents we are, you have an Angelcare monitor in your crib that will beep if it doesn't detect you breathing, so I am somewhat comforted by that. The doctor says that if you are strong enough to roll over on your own, you should be OK if you roll over in your sleep. But your Mommy worries about you because you're her little Peanut. Come to think of it, it's only been in the past month that you've started sleeping in your crib, in your own room - before that, you slept in your rock-n-play sleeper in our room. Things are changing so fast that I can hardly keep track of them all!

You've always been a very alert and curious baby, but this month you are really watching and recognizing people and objects. You get so excited when your bottle shows up, or we bring out one of your favorite toys. Lately, you really love this Steeler "taggie" blanket and continually chew on the tags every chance you get.



You also just started eating solid foods. We gave you rice cereal at first, but you didn't really like it (and it didn't sit well with you). So we switched to oatmeal and you seem to like it a lot. You've also tried green beans, which you were just so-so about and just today you ate sweet potatoes, which you really loved! You're getting much better at getting the food swallowed instead of just getting it all over your clothes.

You're still not laughing outright unless you are very, very entertained by something. But you smile all the time and give little giggles. One of my favorite times with you lately are the mornings. When you first wake up, you start cooing and talking in your crib. When I come in to pick you up, you smile at me so big! It's like the sun just came out to shine. I love those moments with you, Peanut.

A Little Funny

Paul had a little more luck tonight getting Emma to laugh. Zoe (again!) started hopping around and Emma started laughing at her. Then Zoe stopped, and Paul started hopping around kind of like a gorilla and making noises and Emma laughed at him too! Not a lot of laughter, but definitely some giggles.

This girl demands serious entertainment for her precious laughter!

Super Bowl XLV

Well, the Steelers lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV. I guess we can't win them all. We still had lots of fun with the gang watching the game. Emma and Brooklyne were both sporting all of their Steeler gear!

Birthday Dinner for Joe

Today, we had a delicious birthday dinner for Joe at Paul's parents' house. Paul's Mom made pulled pork (the best!) and really awesome homemade macaroni and cheese. Emma got to show off her new rolling abilities for everyone, and Kim and Joe were getting excited awaiting their new iPhone 4s coming the following Monday! It was a great time hanging out with the family.

Happy Birthday, Joe!

Changes Every Week

Now that Emma is four months old, it feels like there is something new and exciting happening with her every single week. In the last two weeks, she started rolling - first from her back to her tummy, and then the other way. She also laughed for the first time - at Zoe! Zoe was hopping around throwing a sock in the air and Emma apparently found it funny enough to merit her first laugh! I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Since then, we've been trying to get her to laugh again but haven't yet had any luck.

Aunt Cathy and Uncle Joe both watch Emma during the days and it's been awesome getting text messages and pictures of her during the day from them. They are amazing with her -- and she really loves them! Uncle Joe loves to carry her around on his shoulder, which is, of course, one of Emma's very favorite things. I am so happy to have them watching her and also glad to be able to see them more often and have them be a part of our daily lives in such a wonderful way. I am truly lucky to have such a great family.