Little Walker

We officially have a little walker. As of September 2nd we decided to say that Emmett had officially begun walking. So he was about 15 1/2 months old. He was able to take apx 15 steps on his own. However, he has made huge strides since then. He now chooses to walk most of the time. It's amazing. He still falls down a lot but he doesn't seem to mind. It is so much easier to get around with him walking and I can now imagine being able to go somewhere carrying a baby and holding Emmett's hand. What a relief. :) He is doing a great job and it is so fun to see. Here is a video we took yesterday of Emmett walking.

Baby Nelson #2 is a Her!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today. It is good to know that Baby Nelson #2 looks to be healthy. Here are a couple of ultrasound pictures:

We also found out the gender of the baby today.. I was overcome with emotion when we found out. The ultrasound technician said - Do you see these three white lines? I said - Yes, it's a girl! We are extremely excited. It was also amazing how much she seems to look like Emmett from his 20 week ultrasound pictures seen here.

The Zoo!

On August 2nd we took our first trip to the Blank Park Zoo. We had a surprisingly fantastic time there. Emmett had just started giving up his morning naps so we went straight from 9:30am church to the zoo. He took a brief nap on our way there.

We saw the...

Birds..

 

 Kangaroos..

 

Giraffes..

Monkeys.. 

Carousel..

Fish!

We had a great day at the zoo! We also rode the train and saw several other animals like the seals, penguins, lion, camels, etc. Emmett got a duck pillow pet from the gift shop and is really enjoying it. Duck was his first word so he has a special affection towards them and he also loves to hug and lay his head down on really soft pillows so it was a win-win! It may not be a huge zoo but it was just big enough for us to spend a few very enjoyable hours there before coming home to take a long nap.

15 months.. and 17 weeks

Emmett turned 15 months old on August 16th 2012.

• He has changed so much since he turned 12 months. It is hard to remember the days where he still wasn't crawling! He is extremely mobile now. Not walking yet - but very close! He will take 3 or 4 steps at times but no more than that. We continue to try to encourage him and expect he will be walking shortly.
• Emmett can say many words now including duck, dog, book, mama, dada, no, yeah, ni-night, uh-oh, more, go, good, etc.
• He points to different objects in books and although he doesn't always get it right he tries! We are continually surprised by how many objects he does recognize. He still loves books and chooses what book he would like us to read to him.
• Emmett enjoys pushing around his wagon, musical piano walker, or his haul 'n ride truck. He also likes to crawl around holding on to his Little People. He still likes to play with his activity cube and musical table. Emmett also enjoys crawling under things like the kitchen table, chairs, his height chair and his activity mat.
• We are currently in the process of dropping his morning nap. He has been fighting a cold this week so he did have two naps today. However, it took him until 9pm to go to sleep - even though we put him down at 8. He babbled to himself for about an hour.
• Emmett is still going to daycare at the inhome that we have been at since April. He seems to really do well there and has (for the most part) been staying healthy. No ear infections, YAY! He plays with his friends, eats good food, takes good naps, gets to go outside and generally has a great time there from what we can tell.
• He eats any and all foods. In particular I would say he still really loves vegetables, especially peas and carrots. We are working on using a spoon and fork with much practice time needed. We have switched him to a bigger sippy cup without handles to try to keep him from throwing it on the floor. After much searching, we have landed on a more advanced version of the sippy cup he was using previously.
• Some cute things Emmett is now doing that we enjoy include laying down on the floor with his head on a pillow pretending he is going "ni-night", taking a big drink of milk and then saying "AH!" while smiling at us and waiting for our reaction, and leaning in for kisses! In particular one morning last week Emmett snuggled into bed with Mama and Dada after waking up and leaned in for a kiss from Mama, then Dada.. Mama, then Dada etc. He's a little sweetie.
• Emmett has a pretty full mouth of teeth now. He has just recently gotten all 4 of his first molars. Also all four front teeth on the top and bottom are now in. So, he has a total of 12 teeth!

In other news..

We are busy with one other thing lately.. getting ready for Emmett to become a big brother!! He doesn't quite understand the concept yet but can point to Mama's belly when we ask him where the Baby is. We have been looking for childcare for the baby since Becky currently does not have room for the baby but we are hopeful something might open up after the birth. I am currently 17 weeks along and find out the baby's gender in 3 weeks. We're really looking forward to this exciting event and to getting ready for our second child!

Walkin' with my Wagon

One of Emmett favorite new past times is walking around the downstairs with his wagon.

Of course this activity is helping to prepare him for walking on his own. We are currently working on encouraging standing to play, expanding his cruising ability, walking one handed and encouraging him to stand on his own or take a step towards something when standing in front of a wall or piece of furniture. It is crazy because he is doing something new all the time! Pretty soon he will be walking. :)

Catching Up!

I need to catch up on pictures.. Here are some from May, June, & July!

Laura & Dan's wedding in May..

My forever friends.. what a beautiful bride and beautiful day!



 Ready to hit the pool!

First Haircut - June 22nd @ Great Clips

After the 5k Run on the 4th of July (not pictured, Richard)

Hanging with Megan and Drew after the parade. They are wearing the same shirt!

First bike ride with Daddy

That was fun!

Being silly at home!

Standing all on his own! Only for a few seconds..

Finally Crawling!

We have been meeting with a physical therapist to get Emmett some help in the crawling department. Our first official therapy session (after two meetings of an assessment and a review) was on Tuesday June 11th. Ironically, the night before - Monday the 10th - Emmett started crawling! So, at almost 13 months is the age he decided he was finally going to figure this out! He had been getting up on his knees for about 2 weeks prior and rocking forward and back. He is also able to pull up onto his knees now. It won't be long until he is pulling up to standing. The therapist had given us several things to work on including getting in and out of hands and knees, rocking forward and back on knees, playing near a stool our couch to encourage him to pull up, etc. It may have been helpful,, or this may have just been his time.. or maybe it was a combination of both. Luckily, this later development (I was assured by the physical therapist) is no indication of him necessarily being behind in any sense later in life. But as his mother I do feel relieved that he has made this progress. I am proud of my little man!

Now he is getting into EVERYTHING! Tonight when I was getting him ready for bed he started crawling and I waited to see where he would go.. straight for the top of our stairs (right outside his bedroom door) of course! I was right there blocking them - but now I know how his mind works. :) He will leave no stone unturned. If he sees a spot of black lint on the carpet he will crawl to it and put it in his mouth. I know what people mean now by saying that we were lucky he wasn't crawling yet.. but I am still glad that he has made this progress. I can tell that he is really impressed with himself as well - and much happier to play alone.

Here are two videos from the evening he learned to crawl. Grandma Pat just happened to be in town for a conference and was enticing him with a rubber ducky she got in her lunch at the conference that day.

Now - on to walking!