Christmas Recap.. In Pictures

Our Christmas this year began the weekend before at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house..

Little Emmett was dressed just for the occassion. :) Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling the best that weekend. We found out on Monday morning that he had another ear infection. We still had a good weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's despite Emmett being under the weather.

 Not pictured.. Rustin.

On Christmas eve day we spent time as a family (just the 3 of us) going to visit Santa. We had a lot of fun going to Bass Pro Shops where we saw Santa! They gave us a free 4x6 photo and also allowed us to take our own pictures. Emmett didn't seem to mind Santa. We also purchased some yummy fudge!

We also had some surprise visitors on Christmas eve day. Gwen, Sarah and Tom stopped by on their way through town. We got to see how big girls eat solid foods and crawl. We'll see if Emmett learned anything from Gwen!

They sure have changed since their last photograph together 5 months ago!

All ready for Christmas eve mass! 

Our first Christmas together!

The loot!

Merry Christmas to Mommy and Emmett. 

Merry Christmas Grandma! 

Emmett loves his chewbeads!

Helping Daddy and Grandpa with a little project in the kitchen in his new wagon!

Someone really likes his new wagon! 

Emmett with Grandpa Frank.

We had a great Christmas at home with Grandma Pat and Grandpa Frank in attendance. It was nice not to have to travel so that we could relax a little bit. Although I think we were all exhausted when the weekend was over.

Over New Year's we traveled to Charles City where we celebrated Christmas with the Rottinghaus Clan. 58 people were in attendance this year. It was great to get to see Aunt Anne, Uncle Richard & Henry along with all of our other relatives.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

7 Months

Emmett is 7 months old today! I don't know where the time has gone. He is hardly our little baby anymore and seems more like a little boy every day.

• Emmett is sitting up on his own now. We still have to spot him so he doesn't topple over but he is able to hold his own weight and sit up ..until he leans towards the next object of interest.
• His first tooth arrived on November 27th. We are still waiting on any others to poke through but it seems it is just a matter of time.
• Emmett is a smiley laughy happy boy almost all of the time. He has a very easy going personality that is showing more and more each day.
• He is now showing a lot of interest in tags of all kinds. When we notice he has taken interest in a new object or toy we have found that we then notice he is chewing or feeling its tag!
• He is currently outgrowing his 9 month clothing! It is hard to keep up with him. His feet are outgrowing size 12-24 month socks now so we have moved up to toddler sizes. We have also moved him up to size 4 diapers. He still fits in size 3 but we needed some more absorbency for night-time. I guess you can say he is healthy and is like to be a very big boy someday.
• We are still working on eating solids. Emmett does not seem particularly interested. He makes sour faces when eating fruits and only shows mild interest in vegetables. We're not pushing the issue. He'll get there someday!
• Emmett still gets up once usually around 3-5am for a snack.. then goes back to bed until 6:30 or 7am. His current bedtime is about 6:15pm since he has recently stopped falling asleep on the way home from daycare (yay!). Now we have time to give him a bath if needed and get his clothes changed before he becomes too tired to function.

We've been told by many to enjoy this "phase" that he is in because before we know it he will be crawling and walking and getting into everything. I'm sure they are right! We're just trying to enjoy each day we have with our 7 month old. :)

O Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree..

Emmett and I picked up a new Christmas tree and decor on sale from Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. Here it is in all of its glory. Luckily we do have a few gifts underneath it as we speak. If only the rest of our christmas decorating was done!

We are headed to celebrate Christmas with the Nelson side of the family this weekend. I can't believe the holidays are already upon us! Off to put up our nativity now... :)

Our Little Jumper

Emmett's favorite place to play!

Emmett's First Tooth

Emmett's first tooth finally broke through on November 27th.

He had been waking more frequently than usual. He was also getting over an ear infection so in some ways we thought a lot of his untypical crankiness was due to still having pain in his right ear. However, once his tooth popped through we realized he had been dealing with teething as well as ear pain! Poor babe.

This picture was taken last night and you can see his tooth is completely through. However, you'll notice that right next to it is an obvious bulge where his lower left incisor is trying to make its way to the surface as well! I guess we better get used this. :( I hope that the necklace that my friend Sarah recommended to us helps with his frequent nightwakings and pain. We'll see!

Emmett says - "Can I hold that camera now Mom?!"

Have a happy Sunday! :)

6 Month Stats

On 11/30/2011..

Emmett weighed in at 18 pounds 13 oz (67th percentile).
He was 27 1/2 inches long (76th percentile).

It seems that we have been blessed with a healthy growing boy!!

Favorite Place for Snoozin'

This snug little bear loves to sleep in his carseat. :)

Emmett falls asleep on our way home and only wakes for a quick snack before going to bed for the night! Although it's cute, I hope he outgrows this phase quickly so we can spend some time together in the evening soon.