10 Months Old a Day Late

Yet another month has flown by. Emma has changed so much in the past month. In terms of motor skills, she has now mastered crawling. We haven't even seen the army crawl in about two weeks. She also pulls up, cruises, and walks behind her stroller with ease. Before too long, she'll be off on her own. Over the past couple of weeks there has been an explosion of new consonants including da, ga, ca, and the rare ma. Yesterday she even said her first word twice, "ducky!". Emma also learned to put the rings back on her stack-a-rings as you can see from the pictures below. Emma continues to become more interactive and initiates peek-a-boo. She loves to give her stuffed animals hugs and kisses and continues to be a happy little girl.

Wordless Wednesday Kinda - An Oldie But Goodie

Seems like just yesterday we were bringing this little bundle home. Brad and I are off to Mount Magazine today for two nights while Grandma and Grandpa watch Emma. We are going to miss our little Emma but we know she'll be in good hands.

Video of Emma Crawling

Weekend Fun

Shame on Brad and I for being remiss about taking photos lately especially with a couple of great opportunities over the weekend. On Friday night we went out to dinner with some friends downtown. As we were leaving, we saw a horse drawn carriage. We took Emma over so she could get a closer look at the horse. She showed absolutely no fear and reached out her little hand so she could touch it. She was very gentle and loved it. We are going to have to get back down there so we can get a photo. On Saturday we loaded Emma into the Ergo baby carrier and took her on her first hike. We saw a turtle, which probably just looked like a rock to Emma since it had no intention of moving until we were gone. The excitement of hiking must have been too much for her because she was asleep in the carrier before we got back to the car. I may not have any new photos to post but I do have a video of the crawler. The army crawl is a thing of the past; we haven't even seen it in the last week. For some reason I can't get the video to upload currently so I will try again with that later.

Emma Makes the Grade

So Emma got her first report card from daycare yesterday and she is doing quite well. One of the big things that they said was that she is very social with the other children, which Brad and I were very glad to hear. Two things that made us scratch our head were that she shows dislike to separation with mom/dad and that she sits and listens to songs and stories. Each time we have gone out and left Emma with a babysitter, they have not mentioned her having a problem being separated from us so we are not quite sure what she does at daycare to express this. As for the sitting and listening to songs and stories, neither of us can believe that she has the patience to do that because at home she is always on the go. They also said that she is a joy to have. She is certainly a joy to us so we are glad that she is also a joy to others.

One of Those Days

We had one of those yesterday. It started with me trying to go to the doctor yesterday morning after much cajoling by Brad. I got there bright and early so I could be the first in and hopefully in and out. However, after waiting for 45 minutes in what was now a full waiting room, we were informed that the doctor was not coming in. Unfortunately he was unable to make that decision before the clinic opened. Then right around lunchtime Brad got a call that Emma had to be picked up from daycare after she threw up for the third time. She was a little fussy yesterday afternoon and it took two hours for Brad to get her to take a nap, which then lasted only a half hour. Even with what was basically a non-nap, she was back to her old self yesterday evening and didn't have any trouble sleeping last night. Brad was home with her this morning and she was eating well and all over the place as usual. Thankfully whatever she had seems to have been short lived.

Wordless Wednesday - Crawling for Real

Miss Independent

Our little Miss Emma is already an independent little girl at the tender age of 9 1/2 months. She does not want to be held but would rather be on the floor where she can charter her own course. The only time that she doesn't mind being held is when we are out somewhere and she can watch everything that is going on. This child doesn't miss a thing. Emma is also quite content to play by herself although she does check to make sure we are still around every now and then. Forget about cuddling; even when she knocks her little noggin or falls over. I certainly have mixed opinions about her independence. On the one hand, it is great that she can entertain herself but on the other hand, I miss that little baby that needed her mom and dad; she doesn't even really need us to hold her bottle anymore. They grow up way too fast.

Strolling

As I have mentioned previously, Emma loves to be standing up these days and has started cruising the furniture. We bought her a new toy on Saturday that she could walk behind. Once we got the stroller assembled, it took no time for Emma to figure out how it worked. She and Marty Bear cruise around the living room now until she encounters an obstacle like the couch or the wall, then she cries until Brad or I turn her around and off she goes again. It is funny though because sometimes when she is walking behind the stroller, she does the stiff legged walk rather than bending her knees. She is definitely a girl on the go.

Wordless Wednesday - Listen Up Thomas & Garret

New Hat

Uncle Dale, Aunt Michelle, Thomas and Garret spent their family vacation in Florida at the beginning of last month. While there, they found the cutest SpongeBob hat at Universal Studios for Emma. She is too funny in the hat. Every time we would put it on her head, she would get the biggest grin on her face.

Emma at the Fair

We headed up to Missouri this weekend for the annual Cole Camp Fair. Emma did great traveling and seemed to like her new carseat that gives her a bit more wiggle room. We spent Thursday night in Kansas City with Michelle, Thomas and Garret and then headed to Cole Camp Friday after a brief stop in Brad's old stomping grounds of Lawrence. In addition to going to the fair, Emma had her first encounter with a cat on Thursday night. She was so interested in the cat and was crawling everywhere after the cat. She grabbed the cat's tail and fur in several places but this cat was so gentle that it didn't mind at all. She also met Lesa's dog Bailey again and was much more interested than she has been in the past. She was a little more wary of the dog than she was the cat. I don't know if it was because Bailey tried to lick her in the face or what but by the end of the weekend, she was trying to pet Bailey and was much nicer about it than she had been with the cat. We had a great time at the fair in spite of a little rain and Emma especially enjoyed all the lights, noises, and people. There was no lack of things for her to watch. Brad entered four photos in the photography contest and got a first place, second place, and two honorable mentions. Now for some photos from the fair.

Ready to head off to the fair in her pink princess mobile and the new pink jacket that Grandma and Grandpa bought her.

Hanging out with Grandpa. Daddy trying to win Emma a prize at skeeball.
Daddy and Emma at the fair.
Uncle Dale and Thomas discussing what stuffed animal they should get by trading in all those snakes that were won playing skeeball.
The duck it is!
Thomas and Garret give Emma her new ducky.
She loves it!
Emma, Uncle Dale and Aunt Michelle.
Emma, Mommy, and Daddy. That's a wrap!

Wordless Wednesday - Standing, Relaxing and Messy

Number Six

After weeks of drool (see the photos below), tooth number six has finally broken through. Thankfully teething hasn't been as bad as it was for the first two teeth. Hopefully now though Emma can have a little break because it seems like she has been teething forever with those top four teeth. We had a pretty relaxing Labor Day weekend. Brad and I actually got away Saturday afternoon and went to a movie. Emma did great with her babysitter of course but it was nice to come home after the movie to a big old grin when she saw mom and dad. We played a lot this weekend and Emma got some pool time. It is sad to think that this weekend might be one of her last opportunities for the year. I definitely love the fall but am a little sad to see summer coming to an end. Emma is pulling up more and more these days and has even done a little (very little so far) bit of cruising. She is still pretty wobbly when she stands but she is getting the hang of it and is always so proud of herself when she stands up.