Aaron at 5 months

Big guy turned 5 months old almost 2 weeks ago, and he's up to over 17 pounds. I'm not sure how long he is, but he'll get weighed and measured on the 23rd of this month for his 6 month appointment. Where did the time go?



He still absolutely loves his big sister, and his eyes will follow her wherever she goes. She is the light of his little life. He's ticklish -- on the back of his neck, his belly, armpits, and under his chin. I love his little giggles. He still eats every 2-3 hours around the clock now but that's ok. He actually is still sick and wasn't eating that well, so I see it as a sign he's recovering

I am leaving in a few hours for a meeting in DC for 3 days -- my first extended time away from him. I'm heart-broken, but this is an important meeting too. Skype will be my lifeline.



Such great kids!

Park of Roses Trip

Today Emma and I went to the Whetstone Park of Roses (http://www.clintonville.com/parkrec/rosegarden.html). It's typically the Festival of Roses this weekend, but they've re-named it "Stop and Smell The Roses." It was gorgeous and we had a nice time.

Here she is, posing in front of the flowers. She stopped eating her hat for just a moment (she wouldn't wear it, just wanted to eat it).


I really like this one in it's original format (the small version doesn't show all the detail of the roses behind her). And yes, she is sitting up ALL by herself! (for just a couple of seconds)


And of course, some of the gorgeous roses. It's an amazing park, really... over 400 varieties of roses, of all colors and shades.


It had rained the night before and some that morning, you can still see the raindrops on the rose in this picture.

We're *Almost* Crawling

Tonight we were doing naked time on the floor, and Emma was on her tummy and she pushed up on her arms, and then got on her knees and pushed forward! She went about half of a "real" crawl before going back down on her belly, but then she tried it again. She was really up on all fours! It was amazing, and made Daddy & I realize how quickly she's growing up.

Hopefully I'll catch a picture of the advances tomorrow. She's also flipping over on her own terms now, and doing it much more frequently, which is adorable but scary. Time to keep a closer eye on her during diaper changes!

BIG week!

We had a really big week without Daddy here! We are VERY glad he's home though. Here's the rundown:

6/4: Went to one of my facilities and spent time with the residents and staff, went shopping, got weighed (15 pounds 1 oz), and bought Grandma Miller a computer.

6/5: Went to Mommy-n-Baby Yoga, went down to Cincinnati, spent time with our friend Mary and her little girl, and then got to see Daddy and his friend Mike!



6/6: Drove back to Columbus in the morning, took a 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon, and then visited with Ms. Jane, Mr. Gary, and Ms. Helen in the evening.



6/7: Went to daycare in her Awesome new outfit, thank you to Lori from Cincinnati! She was the fashion plate of the daycare.



6/8 (Today): Went to daycare in another awesome outfit thanks to Lori, and then spent a couple of hours at my Tuesday facility during the Baby Parade! It was a load of fun, Emma plus two other babies and two toddlers. We just went up and down the halls, and got pictures with the residents. She had a great time.

Oh -- and she rolled from front to back when she first got to daycare with no effort at all, and then when I picked her up, she decided to roll from back to front. I think that's the first time she's done both in the same day!

We got a good bath tonight, hung out with Daddy when he got home from Cincinnati, and now she's relaxing in bed. I'm finally getting to update the blog for a few minutes before I go crash myself... it's been a long week of doing everything myself. I have a new respect for single Moms!

Mobile, Part 2

I changed the mobile to the "animals" one, now that her eyes are better. These were some of the resulting videos.





This is my *favorite* one!

Memorial Day

I'm not sure whether "Happy Memorial Day" is really the sentiment for this day, as it is a day of remembering those who died in service to our country, but in either case, it's a day without daycare and I get a WHOLE day with my Emma. :) (who is napping at the moment) And it's a much better day than last year, when I was spending it on the couch, freaking out that I was losing my baby from all that bleeding.... and it's a billion times better than 2 years ago, when I was grieving so much.

Anyway... here's a brief video from this morning! My big girl wouldn't show her teeth for the camera though.

Exersaucer

Emma loves the one at daycare soooooooo much, we got her one for here at home. It also converts to an activity table for later.

Fun Pictures

Just for fun!

Emma last week in DC, hanging out in the boppy.



Yesterday we decided to dress up a little, Emma is wearing one of the dresses Mommy wore when she was a little girl! She looked so adorable.



And another one from bath night last Thursday. :)

5 Month, 1 Week Update

I know I've been terrible about keeping up with the blog, but honestly work has been swamping me and when I get home, all I want to do is spend time with Emma. When she goes to bed between 7-7:30, then the rest of the time is spent doing paperwork, doing dishes/cleaning, laundry, trying to get a few minutes with Joe, and then collapsing in bed.

Emma's left bottom incisor has made it through the skin, and the right one should be through by tomorrow. She's also sitting up unassisted for 1-2 minutes at a time before toppling over. She's VERY interested in what we're eating and drinking, but I'm trying to hold off giving her solids until that 6-month mark.

We're all very excited about the upcoming trip to Kansas to visit Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Rich and Uncle Chuck, and all of Emma's cousins and Aunts. I'm a little concerned about the lengthy car ride, but we'll find a way to make it through.

Just a few pictures for fun!

Emma decided Rattle Worm needed to have a diaper too (even though he has no butt.hole, as per our prior video evidence... lol). :)



Emma is now big enough that she can sit up for bath time, so we're washing her in the kitchen sink because it's safer and she can get a good view of everything. She has a *great* time in the bath now (and we put a few toys in there, which she loves).



Daddy took a bunch of great pictures during our bath tonight, hopefully he'll have a few minutes to upload those later. Next week he'll be out of town for 8 days, and it'll just be Mommy & Emma during that time. I'm anxious about doing it on my own, but I'm sure we'll be fine (and have fun, I hope!).