Back around my birthday, my Dad came down to visit me. Alright, alright, we all know he was coming to visit with Emerson. Thanks to Apple’s ingenious FaceTime, we’re able to chat with Papa Whelan frequently. Even though Emmie couldn’t remember the last time she was with her Papa, she certainly wasn’t shy when he arrived!

Anytime she saw him, she immediately would give him a big goofy grin and speed crawl to get to him. They read books, watched it snow (on my birthday ugh!) and laughed hysterically when Papa would make a ‘pop’ sound with his mouth.

I’m so glad that we have ways to keep Family close, even when hundreds of miles separate us.

Lately Emerson has been fighting taking her naps, and she is quite the independent bugger. She doesn’t like to be told that she can’t do something by herself. If she’s upset with you, she’ll start to holler and smack one hand over the other in a funny little hand tantrum.

Dear Emerson,

My goodness my little love bug! Where is the time going? Days are getting longer; light lingers around teasing us with sun-laden days but chilly winds. We celebrate your 9 months by ringing in Spring, and hopefully the remainder of March will be kind to us.

Emerson, each month I say how much my love has grown for you and this truth holds steady this month, perhaps even more so. Where I thought it impossible, you have proven yet again, that my heart is capable of so-much-love. Each day I think to myself, “Self, I could not love this girl anymore than I already do,” and  yet, some how you defy all odds and every morning I find myself falling more in love with you.

You’ve become so quirky this last month. Being mobile suits you well. People comment on just how busy you’ve become! You delight in pulling out every single piece of laundry from the baskets and tossing them aside. Every now and then you’ll flip head first straight into the basket reaching for the last sock… it’s just a little further…and boop! In you go.

You rocked getting your first two teeth, and while we certainly miss your gummy grin, we are head over heels crazy in love with your little toothy grin. You’re laughing and smiling so much these days! And so, to balance this, you’ve also been experimenting with how to show your displeasure when I don’t let you do something. You stomp your little feet and smack your little hands together. Usually, this tantrum is paired with a quick whine and then we’re onto something else.

Food has been a source of wonderment for you this month. You just love to eat. Some of your favorite foods are peas, avocado, toast with cream cheese/peanut butter, and oranges. You’re not signing yet, but we still consistently use signs for “more,” “water,” and “all done.” I still sign other things, just not quite as frequently.

You’re taller, stronger, and your hair is getting so long headbands and clips are now necessities. You’ve been a rockstar napper lately and you still sleep through the nights. You took 3 steps all by yourself and you love to look outside.

Oh my little love, you are a wonder to behold. Thank you for such a fantastic month.

Love,
Momma

This morning we’ll all packed up and went to our first Storytime at the local library. It was pretty early at 9:30am… well, early for us as Emerson doesn’t like to wake up until between 8-9. We just barely made it on time.

She needed a few minutes to warm up to the idea, but by the time the music and books were read and toys appeared she was no longer shy. She crawled around trying out every toy, building up her immunites by sticking said toys straight into her mouth. She tried to unvelcro a little boy’s shoe, to which he retaliated by promptly smacking Emmie upon her noggin with a toy. She looked at Kyle and smiled. Silly girl.

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!