Emmett's Birthday Party

Happy Birthday to Emmett!
We had a small celebration for his birthday. We stuck with an owl theme since Emmett still hasn't expressed any strong desire towards a theme of his own choosing. I made the cupcakes below with Aunt Katrina's and Grandma Pat's assistance.

We had a simple lunch of sandwiches, salads, etc. We were sure to include Emmett's favorite - pasta salad on the menu!

Rustin and I put together two small projects in preparation for the party. We hung his monthly owl photos in order on the mantle. We also put together a little slideshow of our baby boy's first year.

Not so sure about this hat Mom...

Enjoying his cake.. The poor guy was already SO tired by this point because of all of the excitement! It's tough turning 1 year old. He had a few bites of his cupcake. Not much of a fan. I would guess it is probably because I don't offer him things like cake, candy, etc.

Emmett received many gifts. One that he seems to enjoy so far is the "Haul 'n Ride" we got him. Ideally he would scoot around on it using his feet. So far we push him around on it. He could also walk behind it or use it to haul things around. We are hoping he will get a lot of use out of it in the future. :) I think he will. He likes to push the buttons to make it honk, etc.

After a long day of fun Emmett went down for a nap at 1:00pm and slept for 2+ hours. He's a good little sleeper... and a good little boy too! If you ask him if he is a good boy he will nod his head yes! It was wonderful to be surrounded by our close family. We missed Grandpa Nelson because he was at home fighting a cold! Next year he might be up for seeing more friends. Maybe we can even go to a park! :) We'll see..

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! :)