Emma and Hannah: August 2010

Hawaii was great! We had a fabulous time but it was definitely different than any other vacation we have taken now that we have Emma. The flight over there was only OK. Emma was on an eating strike so it made things a bit difficult. But she slept a couple of times for long stretches so that was helpful. We thought that the three hour earlier time change was going to be hard on her but it ended up not being that bad. The weather was nice, and it was a lot of fun to dress Emma up in all her dresses.

We did lots of activities with her – we went to a coffee plantation which she really liked and we went to different hotels and walked around and saw dolphins and lots of fishes. We also took her swimming nearly every day. Emma really loves to swim. She loved being in the water and we discovered that she really understands the word kick. When she was in the pool she would kick her legs and then stop. When we would say kick, kick, kick all of a sudden she would start kicking her legs. It was really cute and I can’t believe how smart she is. The kids’ pool at the hotel was really nice because it was shallow and was filled with sand. Emma enjoyed exploring the sand and splashing around. For the first time we dunked Emma underwater and she was OK with it. I can’t say that she loved it but she didn’t mind it all that much either. We also took Emma to the ocean. She really enjoyed sitting on the edge of the water and the water levels changing based on the size of the waves. She also really liked picking up the sand and playing with it. We can’t wait to go back to Hawaii in December and play with her in the sand and for her to swim in the ocean.

Another thing that was brand new for Emma and for us is Emma can drink from a straw. Apparently that is pretty advanced for someone of her age. She of course couldn’t really control the flow of how much water she would get at a time so tons of water would dribble off her face. Then after a few days I think the novelty of drinking threw a straw wore off and the straw itself became one of Emma’s favorite new toys. This would create lots of new problems because Emma would play with the straw and then want water. When we took the straw away to put it into the cup for her to drink she would start to cry because we took her toy away. Oh yeah… that’s another thing that is a fairly new development – she will cry if you take away a toy that she is playing with and she still wants it. Back to the straw – so we had to always have multiple straws on hand to appease her – especially since she would continuously drop them on the floor.

Emma also is a social butterfly. All she wants is for people to pay attention to her. She is always smiling and looking around at her surroundings and taking everything in. One time when we went to dinner she was staring at the waitress and the waitress wasn’t paying attention to her. So, Emma did what she did best – she screamed until the waitress acknowledged her. Emma’s face lit up when the waitress started talking to her. It was really funny to watch.

Emma really is the cutest baby. Everywhere we went people were telling us how cute, beautiful and happy she is. One day we rented a cabana and a guy in the pool yelled at us to get our attention. Once he got our attention he said “you have the cutest baby in the world.” I mean it was crazy for a guy to stop what he was doing, yell at us just to tell us how cute Emma is. Also, when we were swimming a couple in the Jacuzzi said to us that she is the happiest baby and so beautiful. They said they were watching her all week and just had to comment on how wonderful and happy she is. I have to say it is really nice to hear that. She is happy and she is beautiful. She is such a wonderful little person and we are having so much fun with her.

We think that Emma might be getting a top tooth. She has been pulling on her ear, which is quite sad to see, and her cheeks are red. She has been biting down on things a bit harder lately so we surmise she is teething. We don’t see anything but that doesn’t mean anything.

Emma continues to eat solids like a champ. She still doesn’t care that much for the food we make for her so we have been feeding her Earth’s Best organic food. The only problem we seem to have is everything has apples in it and we are trying to limit the amount of apples she eats because they are constipating. And that is one problem we have – she does get constipated. In fact, she got constipated the last couple of days we were in Hawaii but she unclogged herself at the most inopportune time… the flight home. Let’s just say that she had an explosion just as we were taking off and couldn’t deal with it until the seat belt sign came off. It was the most unpleasant 15 minutes ever! Jamey and I are going to video tape the story because it is one that Emma will need to hear about when she is older but we are going to spare all of you the gory details. After this event, yes it was an event, we decided we are going to try to make her food again. Cross your fingers that she will eat our food!

Emma continues to get stronger and stronger and is constantly on the move. She rolls all over the place – she won’t sit still – and we have to keep an eye on her at all times. She isn’t crawling yet but we can tell that it is just a matter of time. She is starting to scoot and will roll around to get toys. She is also starting to stand on her own – she has to hold on to things. It is so neat to see her standing and can’t wait for her to start pulling herself up from sitting.

Yesterday, we hung out with Stephanie, Michael and Louden. Louden is nine months now and is crawling all over the place. When they were playing on the floor, Emma was on her back and apparently was in Louden’s way. But that didn’t stop Louden… he just crawled right over Emma. Emma didn’t seem to mind but it was absolutely hilarious! It was fun to watch them play together – they definitely had a good time.

We also signed Emma up for music classes. The classes start the week of August 31 and Judith will take her to them. It is a three-month course and we think Emma will really enjoy them. It will be good for her to be around other kids and to expose her to music. We get a music book and CD so we get to sing and interact with her at home which will be nice. We are planning to sign her up for swim classes too – but we will do those with her on the weekend. We are looking into the various classes and hope to sign up for one in the next couple of weeks.

Emma must have gone through a growth spurt last week. She was eating up a storm! She was eating around 7-8 ounces of milk a feed plus eating a ton of solid foods. She is noticeably bigger – her tummy has grown and cheeks are bigger. She looks so cute! We weighed her the other night and she is over 16 lbs now but we weighed her on our scale so it isn’t entirely accurate. But it gives us a good estimate.

Her second tooth has also made its full debut. She has really taken her teeth coming in like a champ! She rubs her face and all but she hasn’t been irritable and cranky like most babies we hear of. The one noticeable thing that might be suffering because of her teeth is her long nap. The last few days she has been waking up after 40 minutes or so and then will go back to sleep after a half an hour. She is rubbing her face and generally seems uncomfortable. Of course, we don’t really know the real reason but this is our best guess.

Emma also likes to play games now. She recently started to play peekaboo. She takes her lovey (small blanket) and puts it over her face. When then say “Where’s Emma?” and she will pull her lovey off her face and have a huge smile. She will continue to do this over and over again. It is the sweetest thing!

Emma continues to do really well with Judith. She goes on a bunch of play dates and loves going to the park. The other day she went to the library and had a great time. She loved looking at all the different books.

Last weekend, we took a trip to see my Grandma and Emma’s Great grandmother in LA. She isn’t doing so well right now and she had been asking to see Emma for a few weeks. She was telling everybody that would listen how much she was looking forward to seeing Emma. Sadly, she went back to the hospital on Friday morning which meant that Emma couldn’t visit her. The hospital doesn’t allow children under the age of 12 to go visit patients. It was really disappointing for everyone but I have to say it was really nice for Jamey and me to see her. We showed Grandma lots of videos and photos of little Emma and it brought smiles to her face. We are looking forward to going back to LA for Labor Day weekend (I have to go for work) and we will make sure that Grandma and Emma see one another.

Emma did get to spend some time with Grandpa/Great Grandpa. She was having a grand ole time rolling on the floor with him, smiling, laughing, inspecting flowers from their garden. The visit really put a smile on Grandpa’s face –he really needed some cheering up since Grandma has been at the hospital for so long. He couldn’t believe how big Emma was and how she is really turning into a person. He loved that he was able to spend time with her and I am glad that we made the trip out.

We had planned on Emma swimming in their pool but it didn’t work out because the pool wasn’t heated. But we did dip her feet in the Jacuzzi and she enjoyed it. Next time we are out there we will be sure to take swimming… I have say that I really can’t wait for that because that is the pool that I learned to swim in and I think it is really special for Emma to swim in it too.

It was a really nice, short weekend in LA. It was nice for us and Emma to spend time with her Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Deb and Uncle Ryan. I know everyone enjoyed her being there.

All in all, I have to say seven months is a great age! Emma really is coming into her own person and knows what she wants. She is rolling all over the place and we can’t put her on the bed and walk away like we used to. It is so much fun to play with her, spend time with her and of course just stare at her in aw.