Mother's Day

This is the note I received on my first Mother's day...

To Mommy:

On a day that is special and just for you, I wanted to let you know just how much I love you and how glad I am that you're my Mommy.
Not every Mommy took the time and effort to pump and feed me the milk that is best for me.
Not every Mommy was as patient and gentle taking me to the doctor time and time again for my many ear infections.
Not every Mommy had the foresight and compassion to pull me out of daycare and put me in a better situation.
Not every Mommy has the skill to make food as yummy as you do, and feed it to me to fill my belly.
Not every Mommy is as funny as you, and knows just what to do to make me smile and laugh.
Not every Mommy cares enough to make sure I am meeting all my developmental goals (I'll crawl & walk someday - I promise!).
Not every Mommy is as creative and crafty as you when it comes to making special "owl things" for me.
Not just any Mommy does ALL the wonderful things you do for me... and I'm glad you're mine!

PS - Dad thinks you're pretty cool too!

Love,
Emmett


What a wonderful husband I have. :)

I had a lovely day spent with my own Mother (and father husband and son) picking out (present from Rustin) and planting flowers in our yard. It was great to spend some quality time together.

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers - 1 week late. :)

1 Year Old!

Our little boy is 1 year old. 1 year ago today we had been home with our new bundle of joy for 24 hours. I can hardly believe it. Mostly I cannot believe the amount of freedom I have with a 1 year old vs the amount of time and attention a newborn child requires. It is truly amazing. And I love my Big Boy! :)

• Emmett is quite mobile these days but still not truly "crawling". We actually had a specialist come to review his development and since he is delayed we will be working with a physical therapist to try to help him along. She gave us several exercises to work on. We are helping Emmett get on his knees and then rocking him forward and back; putting him on his knees to play near a stool or table to encourage him to pull up, and continuing to walk while holding his hands (which is his favorite thing!). She is confident he'll get moving at some point and be just fine. What a relief!
• Emmett now points at things. Tonight we asked him - Where's Mommy? and he pointed at me! It is so exciting to see that he is starting to express his understanding of things.
• While reading stories (one of his favorite things) Emmett likes to turn the pages on the books.
• At our one year appointment Emmett weighed in at 22 pounds 13oz (52nd percentile) and was 33 3/4" long (79th percentile).
• Emmett had a small and fun birthday party last weekend. All of the excitement really tired him out!
• I am extremely happy to report that the ENT has cleared our little guy. Rustin and I could not believe it when he said that the fluid behind his eardrums was going away and that he could tell a significant improvement from his prior visit. We do not have a follow-up even scheduled! I'd like to think it is because we removed him from daycare..
• He has been loving his new in-home daycare. Becky treats him really well and he enjoys playing with the kids and having outside time just about every day. It is great and we are lucky to have found this opportunity.
• We have some new teeth! Emmett has his 4 top teeth. They all appeared within the last month. Teething seems to be a little easier now than it was when he was a wee thing. A little tylenol and some loving is all he needs! :)
• Emmett's favorite game is peek-a-boo! He loves to play it with his hands, a towel, clothes, toys.. you name it! It's a lot of fun. He also likes to throw things. Anything he gets his hands on he typically throws it.. over and over.
• He also knows how to drink from his sippy cup now. However, I still hold it for him quite a bit because he tends to hit it on his tray and throw it a lot.. but overall he is doing a great job learning to use his sippy cup. He can also drink from his sippy cup with the straw and drink from a regular cup with help.

It is safe to say our first year with Emmett has been a success (he's still alive)! There have been many things we have learned. Most of all we have loved the heck out of this little creature we created. :) It has truly been amazing and it leaves me wondering what all lies ahead for us. The journey of parenthood is so fun and I wouldn't change it for the world. Makes me want to have another one.... someday. :)

Height Chair Comparison

Libby, 1983

Emmett, March 2012

11 Months!

Emmett Robert turned 11 months old on April 16th! Since our last update..

• Emmett is now "getting around." I don't know if you'd refer to it as crawling BUT.. he is certainly on the move. He scoots on his bum, spins in circles and also moves forward and backwards in what I think I would call an army crawl. He's getting into things. This morning he found the remote and turned the TV on. Twice. Stinker. :)
• He loves looking at books and having them read to him.
• Emmett's favorite song is BINGO. It is the only thing that will cheer him up when stuck in the backseat for a long car ride. Sometimes I sing it on the way home and it always brings a smile to his face.
• He shakes his head no and sometimes nods yes.. although most times it is just for fun.
• He not only says "Dada"  but "Mama" as well now!
• He's eating mostly finger foods - and lots of them. He will eat anything we put on his tray. He particularly enjoys meats and breads.
• Emmett loves watching other children. He particularly gets excited when he sees an older children doing something fun like running, walking, playing basketball, pushing a grocery cart at the store or visiting him at our house.
• He loves to grab people's noses, hair, cheeks and glasses.
• Emmett thinks it is really funny to watch Mom or Dad blow their nose or brush their teeth. We brush Emmett's teeth now too and he thinks that is quite cool.
• Emmett has had more problems with ear infections this month. He had one on March 8th, anothter on March 21st and a 3rd on April 16th. We go back to the ENT next week and will probably be scheduling when to do surgery for tubes. Poor little guy.
• As a result of the ear infection problems we are in the process of transitioning Emmett to an in home daycare nearby. So far so good. Grandma Nelson has been helping out during this transition time as well. Emmett is a lucky boy!

It is hard to believe Emmett is almost 1 year old. We are preparing for a fun little birthday party next month. I can't believe my little baby is almost a toddler!!

Gettin' Closer!

What Mom? I'm busy trying to learn how to crawl!

Happy Boy!

Emmett now knows how to "crawl" in circles.

New Skill

Someone knows how to clap! :)

10 Months!

Since our 9 month update..

• We have new car seats! Emmett is now in his rear facing convertible seat. It is great not to lug around his heavy infant carrier. He enjoys being able to see so much more now as well.
• Emmett took his first plane ride on February 17th. We went to visit the family in Virginia. It was a great weekend and he was a perfect little angel for his Mommy. Comments from the stewardessess - "Look at those eyes!" "Oh what long eyelashes!" and the comment that Rustin liked most - "He's just too pretty to be a boy!"
• At Emmett's 9 month check up he weighed in at 21 pounds 3 oz (54th percentile) and was 29.3 inches long (76th percentile).
• We are getting consistent sleep almost every night. Emmett goes down around 8pm now and gets up around 7am. What a blessing!
• We were ear infection free for the entire month of February (yay!). However, Rustin took him in to the doctor's office on March 8th to find out he had yet another ear infection. After two "bad" nights we were almost glad that there was a medical reason for why we weren't able to get any rest! We are hoping that will be the last of his ear infections.
• He is eating more and more solid foods. We are now trying to move towards more finger foods, less baby food - just when he was starting to really like it! We are not going to completely stop with baby food yet because it does fill him up, but are introducing any finger foods at this point per our doctor's recommendation - giving him what we are eating and hoping he eats it! He is pretty good about trying everything. He does not spit anything out but does make a face when something is new. Overall he is a great eater.
• Still working on crawling! Although Emmett seems to be increasingly more mobile recently (twisting and turning all around) he has yet to make that leap. We recently discovered that Rustin too was a later crawler. He happened to crawl in his 10th month.. so it will be interesting to see what this month holds for sweet little Emmett!
• Bath time has become a real treat for Emmett. He loves playing with his light up duckies that his great Aunt Michelle gave him at his baby shower. He chews on them, hits them together, and tries to smack them but ends up splashing water all over instead. It is great fun!
• He does say "mama" from time to time, but only with his tongue sticking out. Silly!
• Emmett smiles all the time. He is almost always happy! We really enjoy him.
• Separation anxiety continues into his 10th month. When there are a lot of new people around he likes to be where he can see his Mommy and that is usually all it takes to make him feel secure.

Taking care of Emmett is a true joy. We love hearing him babble, seeing his excitement of trying/learning new things and just watching him grow. This is a really special stage in his life. I can't believe in two short months he will be one year old! The time has flown by and he is becoming more and more independent each day. We are so glad to have this little boy in our lives!