Emma is growing so fast. We took her to the Doctor on Thursday for her 1 year check up and she weighed 20 pounds 7 ounces putting her in the 40% tile. She is 30 inches long which puts her in the 75% tile. She is a long-lean girl!!
She had to get three vaccinations this time – all separate shots. Jamey held her in his lap and I held her legs so she wouldn’t move. Well, let me tell you, Emma didn’t care about the shot at all. She didn’t cry or anything – she actually was watching what was going on!! She is an angel. I know everyone always says that to me but it is amazing what a good little girl she is.
People in the neighborhood also tell me how she is so happy and they love seeing her. They say that they see her everyday with Judith and she is always smiling and waving at them. A construction worker from across the street today told me that every morning he says hi to Emma and that she is so friendly. He also told me how wonderful Judith is and it is nice to hear. I think I will never stop loving hearing that from people. It makes me feel so good to know that Emma is happy and that Judith takes such great care of her!
Emma is continuing to work on her walking skills. She took four steps today with me and constantly wants to walk everywhere (assistance needed of course). I had one of my favorite moments last night with her – we were in the living room playing and it was time for her to get into her pj’s. So I said let’s go Emma and she grabbed my finger and we walked from the living room to her room. When I was in the hallway, I had my moment – there I was with my little girl, holding her hand and walking with her. It was very sweet and tender.
Emma now loves to blow kisses. It is the cutest thing! She will put her hand to her mouth and kiss it. She likes to do it when we say goodbye to one another. Another new thing is she rubs her hands together as if they are cold and she is trying to warm them. I don’t know where she picked that one up from but Jamey and I looked at each other over the weekend when she started to do that. We also started to brush Emma’s teeth. She has her own little toothbrush and toothpaste and she loves brushing her teeth. I love it because we finally get to see her teeth and I can inspect her mouth to see if any new ones are coming. I haven’t seen any lately but she is rubbing her mouth like crazy. While Emma has her own toothbrush I think she prefers our electric toothbrushes. I’m not sure if it is because they are ours or if it’s because they move. In any event, we can’t let her use ours as they are too strong and will make her gums bleed.
Finally an update on weaning. I am not breastfeeding Emma anymore. She has given up the boob albeit not volunteerarily. Most know that Emma rarely takes the bottle from me and never at night. And if I am home and Jamey tries to give it to her it doesn't work – she screams bloody murder until I rescue her or she falls asleep. So Jamey and I devised a plan and the doctor suggested we do this too. At night I come home from work, feed her dinner, give her bath/play with her and then put her in her pj's. I explain to her that I have to leave and that daddy is going to put her to bed and give her a bottle. I then put my jacket on, walk with her to the front door, give her a big kiss and hug, and say goodbye and see her later. (I have been doing different things during this time – visiting Chris and Carissa, running an errand or just stand outside). Emma then sees me leaving the house and so when Jamey gives her the bottle she knows I am not around and I can’t come rescue her. The first couple nights she refused the bottle outright and went to bed crying. (The doctor said that is OK as long as she makes up for the lack of milk with other dairy products during the day.) In morning, Jamey goes and gets her and I don't enter the picture until after she drinks her bottle. Thus far, she doesn’t have a problem drinking from the bottle in the morning. The last few nights, she has been drinking from the bottle which is fantastic and her bedtime routine is working for the most part. There are some kinks we want to work out but all in all it seems we have successful weaned her from the “boob of Ma-Ma.”
Today Emma took her first steps today!! It was amazing. I came home from work and Judith said Michele come here and watch. She stood Emma up, she balanced all on her own and then she took two steps towards me. She then fell down but it was AMAZING!!!! She was so proud of herself! She kept doing it over and over. She also did something else for the first time… she was standing up all on her own, bent down and then stood up without holding on to anything. That maneuver takes a lot of strength and I am so proud of our little girl. It is only a matter of time till she’s off and running.
She went to the Aquarium today with Judith and this picture is from their trip. Judith said she had a fabulous time and you can tell from the picture.
Hawaii. What can I say. The weather was beautiful – the BEST we have ever experienced during that time – and fantastic company – my parents, sister and brother and his girlfriend Emily. But it was the most stressful and tiring vacation Jamey and I have ever taken. Emma didn’t adjust to the time change at all and was generally uncomfortable sleeping in the hotel room at night! (Hawaii is two hours behind SF). Emma had a lot of trouble sleeping and would wake up in the middle of the night crying every night. There was only one night this didn’t happen. She also would be up for the day any where from 3am-4am. This was brutal for me and Jamey. She wouldn’t go back to sleep and she would cry so we had to leave the room and take her for a walk. Jamey was amazing and would take her in the morning so I could sleep a little more but we were walking around like zombies.
Besides the sleep deprivation, we had a great time! Emma loved playing in the sand, going in the Ocean and swimming in the pool. She loved looking at the fish, the flamingos, the swans and talking to the birds (all in the hotel atrium). She loved going on her walks and would constantly fall asleep on them. She was averaging 3-4 naps a day (unlike the 2 she typically takes).
For a girl who barely slept at night she sure was happy!! She was constantly smiling, laughing and playing. She was so social and making friends with everyone in sight. She was a waving machine. She was also a kissing machine!!! She had stopped for a while but she is back in action and the kisses are better than ever! She makes the “MuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHH !” sound as she leans in and kisses you.
Emma is also OBSESSED with Grandma Marcia!! It is the cutest thing!!!! I would be holding Emma and when Grandma Marcia showed up, Emma wanted nothing to do with me and would immediately reach from Grandma. Also, when she saw Grandma from afar she would do this little excited laugh until Grandma was next to her. She would constantly kiss her and was stuck to Grandma like glue.
Every morning Emma would eat a breakfast for champions. She loved eating pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, eggs and fruit. I swear she ate more than me many days! What that little body could pack in was amazing.
Grandma taught Emma a new trick which is really cute. Grandma took her into the ocean many days and when the wave would break, Grandma would pick her up, say Halleluiah and put her arms up in the air. So, after a while, whenever Grandma would say Halleluiah Emma would raise her arms over her head. Sometimes though, she wouldn’t raise her arms but she would squeal as if she was saying Halleluiah. It was awesome to see her do that. Emma also loved playing in the sand. Yes, she ate her fair share of sand but she did learn after a while that sand was not to be eaten. We bought her a pail and shovels and she had a great time putting sand and other things in the bucket and taking it out.
Emma also had her dancing shoes on the whole trip. She would do the happy dance whenever we asked her to and when she would get excited or happy over something. Uncle Ryan loved the dance the most and would constantly ask her to do it.
Emma’s new thing is to open up doors or drawers, take everything out of them and then put some stuff back. She would do this over and over again. It was quite entertaining to watch her and she kept herself entertained. She would reach for the highest drawer and literally hang from it. She would get on her tippy tippy toes and try her hardest to see what was in the drawer and take it out. Most of the time she failed at getting anything out of it since it was so high up. It was really cute to watch her do this.
Emma is also improving standing on her own not holding on to anything. She kept practicing over and over and was balancing on her own for longer each time. She isn’t as timid as she was before. She would get her balance and start to play – she would shake her shakers, clap her hands or just look around. This is a great leap towards walking on her own.
At the airport on our way home we discovered another new thing. Really Auntie Deb taught her or at least was the first person to allow Emma to do it and that was Emma knows how to eat a banana like an adult. We don’t need to give her little bites anymore – we just need to peel it and she will take bites from it. It is pretty neat to watch her do this.
The next challenge we face is weaning Emma from breastfeeding. This is going to be a feat within itself. Most of the time she won’t take the bottle in the morning and there is no way in the world she would take the bottle at night. This is a problem and we have created a monster in a sense. When we try to give her a bottle at night she screams bloody murder, swats the bottle away and won’t take it for the life of her. When this happens the poor little girl screams until she falls asleep. This makes us so sad. We are going to change her bedtime routine and hope it isn’t too hard. Right now when I feed her she falls asleep for the night and I move her into her crib. Obviously this can’t continue. Check back soon for an update on this. Cross your fingers for us that the transition isn’t too hard!!
We were all excited to go to Hawaii at the end of the week – Jamey and I couldn’t wait for a break and Monday night a wrench was thrown into the plan. Emma woke up at 2am screaming! We went into her room and she was HOT HOT HOT. We took her temperature and it was over 102 degrees. She was tugging at her ears, crying, cranky and generally uncomfortable. We were really upset to see her like this to say the least. I took her to the Doctor on Tuesday because we were leaving on Friday and I wanted her ears checked. The Doctor said she was fine besides the fact she had a fever. He said it was a virus and it had to run its course. We were on pins and needles for the rest of the week because we weren’t sure we were going to be able to go to Hawaii with her. We kept her in the house for a few days – I think she played more with her toys in those three days than ever before. She was definitely going stir crazy but her fever still didn’t break on Thursday so we weren’t going to take any chances. She had a really hard time sleeping at night – she would constantly wake up and cry. She was always so hot and her fever went up to 104 degrees. One night Jamey slept in her room with her and one night I slept with her. It was the only way we could get her to sleep... so we did the only thing that worked – put her on the bed beside us and slept for a bit.
Friday morning was D-Day. When she woke up her fever finally broke! We were thrilled. We headed to LA and when we got to the airport we noticed that a rash broke out on Emma’s belly. When I called my mom she said I bet she has Roseola. Roseola is a virus where kids 6 months to 2 years all of a sudden spike a high fever for a few days and once the fever breaks the child gets a rash for a couple of days. Well, as it turns out after some research, Emma definitely had Roseola. The rash went away after a couple of days and Emma was fine. Thank goodness!
