Emerson and I recently FaceTimed with Auntie Julie, who informed me, in the nicest way possible that the picture I am putting up of Emerson aren’t cute… 

“Auntie said what?!”

I laughed out loud because I knew exactly what she was talking about. It’s getting harder and harder to get a decent picture of this girl. Sometimes with an 8 month old who’d rather be licking the camera than smiling for it, you settle for the not so flattering pictures. “Sure, she’s showing off her 8 chins here, but they’re 8 cute chins… so publish!” I fear in this stage, this moving, crawling, bawling, falling over, teething, grumpy stage… cute pictures are going to be a rarity. No matter how flattering the angle, my baby is still always cute. Grump face and all!

Dearest Emerson,

Just a few days ago we celebrated you turning 8 months old. I find myself oddly aware of your behavioral changes; you’re slowly morphing from tiny, helpless baby into this adventurous, independent toddler. It breaks my heart, and yet causes it to burst with pride.

This past month was a turning point for all of us. You’ve begun sleeping through the night – more nights than not. And you officially have begun teething. We can see the very top of a tooth starting to break through your gums. This past month was the last one we could enjoy your toothless, gummy grin.

yes, that is a little tooth you see!

This past month you mastered crawling over objects and you started to pull your tiny body up. The amount of strength and determination you show is humbling. I no longer complain about going to the gym and if I ever find myself in need of motivation I turn to you little one. You basically work out all day, ever day. Pulling yourself up on items has led to not having a spare moment of time for myself. I’m constantly behind you making sure to catch you when you decide to let go of the object supporting your weight and while you free fall backwards in a planking position. There have been two times where I wasn’t there to catch you, and we both were upset when you smashed your little noggin straight into the floor. Thank goodness we were upstairs on the nice carpeted floor!

That said, I’ve been working very hard with you to teach you how to let go and sit down. You finally caught on and now I’m not as paranoid that my little lady will be crashing all over the place.

Your stoic personality has been morphing as well. You are still super well behaved when we’re out, and regardless of how tired you are, you’re content to sit and watch the world go by. However, at home, it’s a different story. You’ve started to laugh a lot more, but you’ve also started to cry a lot more. You fall down, you cry. You accidentally drop a soft toy on your head, you cry. You laugh as we make a silly sound, and then when we repeat the sound again you quiver your little chin and then burst into tears! You cry more easily now that your little tooth is making it’s way up. I don’t blame you one bit, cutting a tooth seems so painful! Unfortunately there’s not much we can do for you besides Tylenol at night to help you sleep better.

We’ve been on adventures to the library where we pick up 5 or 6 new books to read and then we play in the children’s museum-esque set up at Storyville. You crawl around exploring the new lands with your hands, eyes, and of course mouth! I always have to reassure myself that this is how you build a great immune system. Surprisingly, you haven’t ever gotten sick after a Storyville adventure so I say you’re already on a roll.

You had your first ‘sled ride’ as we plopped you in a laundry basket and toted you around. You were less than thrilled. The last time we took you out while it was snowing, you hung out for about five minutes and then you started to make the saddest little cry you ever did hear. You are not a fan of the snow.

You’ve really been into eating these last few weeks. I’m trying very hard to make sure you get at least 2 good meals a day, and just recently I’ve bumped it up to 3 meals since that seems to be your preference. You love to have what we’re eating but some of your favorites include:blueberries, bread with creamcheese or peanut butter, and peas. You still loathe eggs and will promptly spit them out after eagerly shoveling them in your mouth. (I secretly cheer you on in my mind, ‘atta girl, just like mommy!)

I continue to love watching you grow, learn and laugh. You are something very special.

Love,
Your Momma

While we may not have feet of snow, we woke up to about 7 or so inches of the white, fluffy stuff this morning. We bundled up the baby and headed out for her first “sled ride.” Well, we didn’t quite have a sled, so a laundry basket with bumpers and a blanket had to do.

After bundling Emmie up and plopping her down in her makeshift sled we headed out. She couldn’t have cared less. She sat in her sled and blinked. She had her pacifier as she isn’t particularly fond of her snowsuit since she can’t really use her arms and hands as she prefers. She treated her sled ride with indifference.

Emerson gets put down for a nap after about 2-3 hours of being awake. Lately she’s decided she has more exciting things to do instead of napping. Like this for instance:

While we may not have gotten nearly as much snow as our family, we still had a decent amount of snow in the past week or two. Before heading outside to clean off his car, Kyle told me I had to take a picture of Emerson looking out the window at all the snow. “Her eyes look insanely blue with all the snow.”

I’m so happy I heeded Kyle’s advice demands and snapped a few pictures. It was such a precious moment to capture her awaking to a world covered in glittering snow. Moments like these are all too fleeting; in fact, everything was melted by the time she awoke from her mid-morning nap!

Sometimes I’m afraid I am missing the little things that you do, or I’ll forget them before I have a chance to write it down. At 7 months here are the little things I’d like to remember:

• When getting fed a bottle you raise your arm up and drape the back of your hand over your eyes. It’s a very dramatic gesture and makes me chuckle every single time. More recently you’ve enjoyed feeding yourself your bottles and I fear your dramatic bottle swoon is coming to an end.

• After learning to crawl you started an excited pant. When you see an object out of reach, but it’s something enticing, you do this little excited pant and book it over to said object. You’ve recently begun applying your excited panting to meeting new people! 

• I’m not sure this is something that will stop anytime soon, but it’s something that surprises me every time you do it. After unbuckling you in your car-seat you arch your back while shooting your little arms straight out with the expectation that I pick you up. Surely you’re too young to understand that every time I unbuckle you, you get out… but, but, you’re just my little baby! This act is definitely a subtle slap of reality of how quickly you’re growing and learning. 

• After nap times, when I lift your smiling, but still sleepy body out of the crib, you gaze lovingly at your mobile and reach for the stars. The whole process usually takes two seconds, tops, but something about your little pudgy fingers reaching so delicately for the sparkling stars makes me wish I could remember it forever. Maybe it’s the look on your face, the sleepy hope of  “maybe this time will be the time I catch one…” Or maybe it’s the fact that you have yet to catch a star, but still try. 

• One of your Daddy’s favorite things that you do is when you wake up happy. After a nap, or a good night’s sleep as soon as we enter your room you give us the biggest grin. Sometimes you smile so brightly that the pacifier falls out and then you do a quiet giggle. It’s easy to forget all the troubles in the world when greeted with such a powerful smile. 

Dear Emerson Claire,

You hit the 7th month mark this weekend. I cannot believe you are closer to a year than you are to a newborn. You’ve made some incredible progress this month. You’ve learned to crawl, you started to enjoy eating foods, and you’ve slept through the night a few nights.

You weighed in at 13.5lbs and you were 26.5 inches long (!) at your late 6 month appointment. You cried so hard from the shots they gave you that your lips started turning blue. (eek!) Although afterwards you were right back to your happy self.

Daddy and I have commented more and more — since it’s just becoming more apparent every day– about what a good baby you are. You almost never cry, you’re happy when we go out, you’re happy when we stay in, you don’t get frustrated when we continually take Oliver’s toys out of your mouth… you are just the sweetest, happiest little girl and we are so, so thankful. You show such determination already, and when you fail you just try again; there’s no whining or crying about it, you just try again. We couldn’t be more proud. You help me see the positive in every single day. At a simple seven months you continually push me to grow as a mother, a wife, and a human being.

You crawl everywhere now. Although, your favorite place to crawl is over to Oliver so you can steal his toys. It doesn’t matter how many awesome toys you have out, your favorites are the dog toys. There’s one in particular you’re quite smitten with, so much so, that I took it and scrubbed the bajeezes out of it since you continually would find it and chew on it. At least it’s a smidge cleaner now.

You’re really into other kids and people now. When we have playdates you smile and do this excited pant. Sometimes if the excitement is just too much to handle, you flail your arms while panting. You’ve begun to crawl over to other kids and try to pet them, climb them, hold their hands, etc. It’s pretty darn cute.

You continue to love bathtime, and we’ve gotten your nightime routine down pretty well. Naps are going great, and for the first time (ever) you’ve begun to sprinkle in some nights where you sleep from 9pm-8am. Daddy loves those nights the best.

You like to sit on Daddy’s shoulders, and you love to dance in front of the mirror with Daddy. You still love when Oliver goes crazy. You are starting to concentrate more when I sign the songs we sing. I’m hoping you’ll pick up a few signs soon!

All in all you make parenting an easy delight. If I knew all of our future kids would be as easy as you, I’d say “let’s have a dozen more!” but I’m not sure we can top this. You are certainly spoiling us. I hope we can continue to return the favor and spoil you in return.

Love Love Love,
Your Momma.

PS: Your eyes are still so crazy blue.