Fun Times

We had a good day at the zoo....the weather was nice and we beat the crowd. In the beginning of our stroll through the zoo, Emerson did not pay too much attention to the animals because she had just woke up. She slowly started watching them and picking out her favorites. I was excited to see the koala bears and the monkeys, but Emerson seemed to enjoy the goats! Who enjoys goats?! She actually cried when we left the goat area. I am guessing that she thought they were large doggies!

On another note, Emerson finally had her 9 month check-up with her pediatrician. This is the first visit that Emerson has not been underweight and vertically challenged. She is up to a whopping 19.1 pounds and is 27-1/2 inches in length. She is in the 50th percentile for both...meaning that she is well proportioned. Since Emerson will not let me peek into her mouth, the doctor confirmed for me that Emerson is getting four of her top teeth all at once. Poor thing...I went out and bought her some teething tablets tonight. Hopefully, they work better than Tylenol. Our next doctor's visit is not until after Emerson's first birthday, so there will be many other postings between now and then.

Bath Time

Here's a short clip of Emerson's bath time tonight. I had to shut the camera off because she decided that she needed to stand up. She thinks she can stand anywhere, anytime. Last weekend at Target, Jim noticed her standing in the shopping cart. Of course, he laughed at her which encouraged her to do it to me at Target today. Shopping is getting more difficult!

Look at the Cute Baby in the Window

Emerson loves to look out the window. On this particular day, Jim was leaving for work as she peeked out the window, but I'm not sure if she was really looking at him. I actually think she just likes touching the screen when the window is open.

The Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Bikini

I have less than a week left before I go back to work. After not working for almost two years, I have had a lot to do in the last couple of weeks to prepare for work. My errands are now done, so Emerson and I are spending our last days together doing fun stuff. We have been swimming, met her friend Emma (who is 4 days older than Emerson) for coffee, planning a trip to the zoo and hopefully more swimming if the rain cooperates.

Grandma bought Emerson her first bikini when Em was about six months old. I pulled it out of her dresser this week and realized that she has almost outgrown it, so she is trying to get some wears in before it's too tight. As you can see in the photo, her belly hangs over it. After being underweight for so long, I never thought Emerson would become chubby, but take a look at those chunky thighs...

Spider-Like Lashes

Emerson's eyelashes are turning blond and aren't as noticeable, but as you can see in this picture they are still incredibly long.

Toys, Toys, Toys

When Emerson gets bored with the toys that are spread out all over the living room, she knows where to find her back up toys. She actually pulls the baskets of toys off the bookshelves.

Changing Diapers Isn't Easy

No one warned me that it would be nearly impossible to change a diaper of a 9 month old. When we try to change Emerson's diaper, she either "runs" from us or throws a fit. As you can see in the above photo, she enjoys showing off her exposed skin!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my daddy and my grandpas. I hope you are all having a good day.

Sugar Overload?

No, but it sure did seem like it that day. This video is just a snippet of how this entire day went. I love to see Emerson having so much fun!

9 Months Old

It's hard to believe that Emerson has been born almost as long as she was in my belly. The 38 weeks of my pregnancy flew by and the last nine months have flown by as well. Emerson continues to amaze me each day. She's such a smart little girl, and I think it's due to her curiosity...well, and maybe I should give some credit to her smart daddy and the fact that I read finance and econ books to her while I was pregnant.

We are trying to get Emerson to take some steps around the house. She will take a few steps while holding on to her walker and then she realizes it would be faster to crawl to where she wants to go. She definitely has the cruising thing down. She can easily move from one end of the couch to the next and then move over to the chair. Maybe it's just a matter of time before she starts walking...we will see. Everyone tells me that the walking stage is very tiring and challenging but I don't know how it can be much different from the crawling stage. She seems to get into whatever she can find. Stay tuned for future postings, and I will let you know how I feel about the walking stage once it gets here.

Sweet Baby Girl

My mom fractured her wrist in the storm so Emerson and I accompanied her to PromptMed on Sunday while Larry and Jim worked on the house. The hospital was absolutely packed with sick people and people with injuries from the storm. We sat at the hospital for over three hours, and Emerson was an absolute peach! She got a little restless but otherwise she was a happy baby. And all of the other patients loved her. I think she helped the time pass more quickly.

Storm Damage

Unfortunately, my mom and Larry lost their home in the storms this past weekend. In the above picture, you can see where the mud slid off the hill and several trees crashed into their house. Most importantly, mom, Larry and the dogs are okay. And mom will get a new house out of the deal like she's been wanting for years. Jim and I are trying to talk them into moving closer to Emerson!

Preparing to Walk

Emerson is now beginning her preparations to learn to walk. She has been cruising around the furniture and is very good at it, and recently she started taking a couple of steps holding onto her walker. Of course, you can only get her to take a couple of steps because something else catches her eye and she's off to check it out. It sure makes it hard to catch those couple of steps on video. Here's a little video of what I was able to record, and as you can see, she gets distracted by something else.

Little Climber

As you can see from this video, Emerson is learning how to climb on furniture. She thinks she is big stuff now that she can climb up on the couch with the help of her chair.

Let Sleeping Babies Lie!

Each night, I check on Emerson before we go to bed (and I have to admit I check several times). One night last week in my last check of the night I found Emerson in the above sleep position. It appears that she had been sitting up and playing and her upper body fell over with exhaustion. I thought about moving her but she was sleeping like a baby, and just looked too darn precious.

My Little Cutie

Now that Emerson has become mobile, I rarely get her to pose for the camera. I have learned that new toys do the trick...here she is playing with the whiffle balls we picked up at Target.

Emerson is now bored with just standing, so she has learned to cruise around the furniture and she is mastering it quite well. She also loves to climb. She can actually stand up in her singing/plastic chair toy and and crawl over it onto our ottoman. She can also take a couple of steps holding on to her walker so maybe she will be walking within the next couple of months.