Big Things!

Emma was in an exceptionally good mood today. I think it's because today was Daddy's day off. She really seems to notice when Daddy is home all day.

This afternoon she and I were laying on the floor playing and she started to grab for my hair. She was being gentle and I let her feel. I explained to her that it was hair. She listened carefully and repeated the word with me, "Hair". I was quite pleased that she was even able to get pronounce the "r" at the end. She doesn't seem to have added the word to her repertoire. She is only able to repeat the word with me, but that's ok. Mommy was very proud of her for trying.

Later, when Daddy walked into the room she waved at him and said "Hair". It does sound an awful lot like "Hi", I suppose. Silly baby.

At another point in the day, she looked at me and said "okay". She pronounced this perfectly, so I am mostly sure it wasn't a fluke. I couldn't get her to say it again, and don't think I say it to her as often as I say other things. But somehow she picked it up.

Teethers!

A few days ago, Emma's first tooth cut through. Since then, another has sprung up. She now has two bottom teeth. So far, nursing hasn't been a problem. I think I am just not overly sensitive to such things since she's always been extremely rough on me.

In addition to the appearance of teeth, it has been a big week of developments for Emma. She has gotten much better at waving. She now waves to greet people or to get Mommy's or Daddy's attention. Very cute.

Another thing she started doing is making me taste her toys. She will usually shove something in my mouth and say "MmmMmm". If I make gobbling sounds, she laughs with delight.

Emma has also started sleeping much better through the night. She has gone from waking me 2-3 times to just once this week. I am happy about that, but still waking up at all the old feeding times. Old habits die hard.

Today in the tub (Emma LOVES to bathe), Emma took an inflatable ring toy she has, and slid it onto the faucet and laughed. I was really proud of her for doing that. She liked the attention it got her so she tried hanging the ring on various other locations. Like the little lever that makes the water not go down the drain (I know there's a word for it, but I am too tired to remember what it is).

Lastly, she has developed a taste for some spicy foods. She still doesn't eat hardly any solid foods at all, but is allowed to sample TINY pieces of what Mommy has. So far, nothing fazes her. I'm proud. I am not a fan of picky eaters.

Starting Her Early

Here's Emma and Smeagol (aka "Little Kitty") our momma cat. The poor cat is such a glutton for punishment. She is always plopping down in front of Emma. Emma, of course is always delighted and grabs the poor kitty's hair. Instead of seeming put-out, Smeagol just rolls onto her belly and purrs. What a cat.


I should add that Smeagol has 3 of the cutest black and grey kittens you've ever seen. They're nearly a month old now, and are looking for good homes. There are two girls and one boy. I am hoping they'll have the same great temperament as their mother.

What We've Been Doing!

The last couple weeks have been really busy for us. One of our weekends was spent at a friend's house visiting with lots of daddy's friends from college. Emma got to meet all of their children. I was pretty interested to see how she'd do with meeting other kids her own age (for the first time).


I know that it sounds so wrong, but I was pleased that she was more interested in toys than other children. Being not an especially huge fan of kids in general, I found it easier to monitor her while playing with toys than I would have with monitoring her play with other kids. I realized that it is time to provide our little girl with more mentally stimulating toys. She really liked playing with the shape-sorter toys and blocks.

Thankfully, this past weekend, Grandma and Poppie came to visit Emma and brought her lots of fun things to play with. They brought her a noisy, light-up pink scepter (she already hit the dog in the head with it), a swing for outside (YAY!), a mylar balloon (she LOVES it), and some plastic toys that make a chain when you link them together. She's been happy ever since. Lots of more productive play is happening around here. Mommy is happy.

Emma and I are home alone all day and we don't have an air conditioner right now (it's broken and needs to be completely replaced) we've been pretty miserable. In our living room, the temperatures are probably reaching close to 100 degrees. I am not joking. Our pool isn't quite ready for swimming either, so we don't have any relief in that area. Emma and I have been taking cold baths in the bathtub together. She is really enjoying it. She loves to play with her toys and grab the water as it comes out of the faucet. She also loves for me to cradle her head in my lap so she can relax and kick her legs. She makes big splashes, feels so proud!

She's really improved her eating lately. We're able to give her larger chunks of food and she is chewing much more carefully. She really enjoys tasting new things and always remembers to comment on her favorites "MmmmMmm". Whenever Daddy and I are eating, Emma crawls up to us and begs terribly. I considered it to be somewhat rude, so we've been discussing alternate ways for her to ask us for a bite. Last night, Daddy was able to get her to politely touch (not grab!) his sleeve when she wanted more food. YAY!

Currently, we're also trying to teach her how to go down the stairs. She is masterful at climbing them, but tends to fall face-forward while going down. Since stairs are a big part of life, I'd rather work on teaching her how to handle them now instead of waiting and teaching her later. I think we'll avoid more accidents that way. Right now, we prefer to turn her so that she has to go down the stairs backward (butt-first). She doesn't remember to do that part on her own, but if we position her, she manages to get down safely. It's very encouraging!

For Tracey...

I haven't yet recorded Emma growling on video yet. I need to do that sometime soon!

As a small consolation and proof that growling DOES happen around here, I can provide the following picture :

Sick Baby

After two days of off-and-on high fever, Emma woke up this morning with a nasty cough and runny nose. Her little head must be really stuffed up because her balance seems to be affected. She's really tippy, and instead of crawling, she's inching around with her belly flat on the floor. On the plus side, she is eating well and doesn't have a fever. For now, I don't think she needs to see the doctor, but I'm really playing it by ear. If she develops a fever, starts vomiting, or becomes really unhappy (she's in good spirits right now) then we'll visit the doctor right away.


Please pray for my little one to feel better soon!

8 Months Old!

Yesterday Emma turned 8 months old. She started her 8th month off with a bang. We spent the weekend away from home and visited Grandpa and Grandma Heigl up in the northern part of the state. Emma also got to visit with Great-Grandma Heigl who also happened to be in town on a rare visit from New York. Great-Grandma hadn't seen Emma since she was a month old, so it was a special and rare treat to see her again.

Emma did exceptionally well this weekend despite the fact that she was running a very high fever and not feeling entirely herself. Grandma and Grandpa made things more fun for her by spoiling her terribly. Emma got to have home-made strawberry shortcake for breakfast, and she even got to taste a molasses cookie. She loved both, which was no surprise. She likes EVERYTHING.

Here's a little bit about what Emma is doing now:

Singing - Emma LOVES to sing songs with Mommy. She has a pretty little voice.

Removing her own diaper - This is NOT something Mommy appreciates.

Crawls to Mommy when she gets hurt - She doesn't really wish to be held, she just wants to know it's ok.

Eating more solid foods - She's really begun chewing her foods better lately. This means she gets to try more things. We've introduced more meats this week. She likes it!

Crying when Mommy and Daddy leave the room - She did a period of this when she was younger, but then stopped. She's back to it again.

Climbing UP the steps - But not down. Mommy does not like that she is able to do this. Emma is now able to leave the family room and raid the kitchen.

Testing - Emma has been pretty bad about testing just how serious Mommy and Daddy are when they say "No" to something she wants. She's very tenacious.

Looking up - Emma has discovered ceilings, light fixtures and fans are interesting. Whenever she enters a new room, she likes to look up and see what's up there. She's very interested.