9 Months!

Wow, Aaron has officially been out of me as long as he was in me. That's really bizarre to think about. His 9 month birthday is tomorrow, but since he measured ahead and wasn't really in for the 40 weeks, it all balances out.

In late July, early August we went to Hawai'i. I had a conference, and then we tried to do some vacationing. It was rough, but the kids loved it. Some pictures for your enjoyment.

I don't really have time to update the blog as much as I'd like, between teaching 8 classes this fall and doing everything else on my schedule. That, and on my home computer, blogger doesn't let me upload pictures. It's frustrating. But I'll try to at least keep up with once a month updates.

As an aside, Aaron had his 9month appointment yesterday. He's 19 lbs (down to 40th percentile, when he started his life at 95th percentile in weight -- I'm frustrated with that), 29 1/2 inches tall (95th %ile for height) and a head that's 18" around. He got blood drawn to see if he's allergic to environmental allergins because of this cough he's had since January. We'll see how that comes out next week.

A Whole Lotta Walking

At one day before the 10-month mark!

Preview: Autumn Photo Shoot

There are a lot of good pictures that Daddy took. Here's one Momma took while we're waiting for the editing process.

Cute But Messy

The bib says it all!

Stuff

So busy..... some random thoughts and a picture or two.

The adults in the household have colds, but we're hoping Emma fights it off. The constant sneezing is annoying! Both for me and for my clients.

It's week 4 of the quarter, so this weekend I have 35 papers to grade and Joe has a presentation to write. Hopefully Emma does some good napping this weekend, although I could use a nap myself.

I miss Simba very, very much. It was a little over a year ago that she died, and it seems like just yesterday that we lost her. I still cry over missing her. I wish she could have met Emma.

I miss my three angel babies. I miss the "what-would-have-been." I wonder about how different things would have been had any of those babies been born. I'm SO very thankful for Emma though, and I'm glad we had her -- she's an absolute joy.

Emma goes down to sleep very easily now, and bedtime is a joy rather than a chore. She's still not sleeping through the night but whatever, I'll take my blessings where I can find them.

Come on tooth #8! I think you've gone backwards instead of coming out. Last night you were just there at the skin and then tonight not so much.

The crock pot has gotten a LOT of use in the last week. We've made 3 new recipes, all of which Emma absolutely loves. The only problem is that one of the dishes we made has some type of super-farting power for Emma. She's been restless starting at 4am (when the gas drops wear off, maybe?) and farts, farts, farts until she wakes up between 5 and 5:30am.

And here are the pictures!

Domestic Day

What a wonderful day! Emma got up at 5:30 am (despite our best efforts to keep her asleep) and so we got an early start to the day. I made almond waffles (gluten free!) and everyone enjoyed them. We got back to bed at 7am for a nap, and Emma slept until 9am.

Around 10, we got on the road to our pumpkin patch. It was a "pick your own" farm, so we got our little cart and went out into the field. It was absolutely a joy, and Emma wasn't sure what to do, but she knew it was fun to get on her knees in the dirt. We found several perfect pumpkins for all of us, plus some fun little gourds for her to play with. And we ended up buying some wonderful mini-peppers (perfect for roasting with beef) as well as some blueberry/blackberry preserves. Yum. Oh -- did I mention the fresh-from-the-fryer pumpkin donuts? Delicious!!

Back home and to nap #2 for Emma. I got a head start on laundry, and got some work done. We watched some football, and when Emma got up, we played for a while and then walked to the store to get napkins. More playing, more laundry, and at 7:30, Emma went to bed.

Since she's been to bed, I've folded all the laundry, Joe and I have all the diapers folded and prepped, AND I finally pulled out my sewing machine and started replacing the velcro tabs and laundry tabs on my older BG's. It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and I can finish up tomorrow.

I'm just about ready for bed myself! :) What a blessed day.

Walking ... Wow!

Just a few days ago, Emma took her first unassisted step. We were down in the basement, having our play time, and she let go of what she was holding on and took one step, and then decided she wanted to go on her knees and crawl. We were VERY excited! I've been predicting that she'll walk by Halloween for a while now.

Today when I picked her up from daycare, the caregiver said that she had walked from the door to the wall all by herself -- something like 5-6 feet! What?! Really?! I didn't believe it, but ok... maybe she did?

Well, tonight while we were in the basement, she took 6 unassisted steps in a row before deciding being on her knees was faster. I ran upstairs to get the camera and tried to capture it, but she wouldn't perform on command. :) Then the batteries died, and when Joe went upstairs to get new batteries, she did it again!! And then wouldn't do it again while the camera was on.

But it's very true... in the span of 4 days, little Miss Trouble has gone from just taking one step to taking multiple steps all by herself. She's growing up in front of our eyes. She's eating more and more solids, babbling more, making more solid poos, and her hair is growing long enough that it's curling around her ears and touching the lower part of her neck. Instead of a baby, I look at her and almost see a toddler.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures this weekend. We're heading out to go pick out pumpkins on Saturday, and then on Sunday we're all participating in the suicide prevention walk. OH-- and THANK YOU Cousin Debbie for the wonderful Halloween package that arrived in the mail yesterday! Emma had a great time opening everything (and trying to eat the paper).

*sigh*

All I *really* wanted for my birthday was 8 hours of sleep. Didn't necessarily need to be in a row, but two 4-hour chunks would have been nice. Except that top tooth is breaking through. AND something gave her pretty bad gas, even with the gas drops. So I got 1 1/2 hours of sleep, then up for a while, then a half hour of sleep, then up again, then broken sleep, then up for an hour and I tried to let Joe help with her but between her crying in pain and the cat scratching at the bedroom door, I couldn't sleep, then another half hour of sleep before the alarm rang and I've got to get moving to my 12-hour work day. Maybe 3, 3 1/2 hours of sleep all together?

She's not sleeping through the night, not even close, at 9 1/2 months of age. I know it's partly this tooth right now, but I haven't even gotten 5 hours of sleep in a row since she was born. I pray that it gets better soon.

However, I do thank God every day that I have a reason for not sleeping. I'm grateful to have my little girl, and a roof over my head, and a job to wake up early to get to, and a bed to toss and turn in. I just wish I were awake enough to enjoy all of those things.

Busy Weekend!

What an interesting weekend. It was a big eating weekend and a strange sleeping weekend. This weekend Emma ate:

Banana Pancake
Pumpkin Pancake with Applebutter (she LOVED the applebutter)
Avocado, Chicken and Goat Milk Cheddar Quesadillas
Chicken and Dumplings
Meatballs
Mashed Potatoes (made with olive oil and almond milk)
Pumpkin Mini-Muffins
Mashed Peas

Everything was made from scratch! We froze the muffins and pancakes so there's plenty for later. She absolutely loved everything and ate so much.

Yesterday she had some great naps -- a 2 hr, 20 min nap in the morning and an hour and 15 minute nap in the afternoon, but then she fought going to sleep and around 9:30pm, she woke up and cried for about an hour and a half before going back to sleep. It took almost that long for me to figure out that it was probably her tooth and I gave her some generic tylenol, but even after that she was restless and up half the night.

But I was right! Tooth #7 broke through the skin last night.

Today she took a 1 1/2 hour and a 1 hour nap, went down very quickly at 7:30 after we gave her some more tylenol and orajel. She's sleeping now... we'll see. That top tooth (#8) has yet to get through the skin, but we can see it.

Tonight we also got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa L! It was really fun seeing them on Skype, and they got to watch Emma walking all over with her walker and playing with Samson. Skype is a wonderful invention.

We didn't get many pictures, but we will soon -- next weekend is Pumpkin Patch weekend!

9 Month Appointment

Weight: 18lb, 9oz (up from 6lb, 5oz at birth; almost tripled her birth weight! 50th percentile)
Length: 28 1/24 inches (up from 20 inches at birth; 75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (50th percentile)

The pediatrician was very pleased that we were still breastfeeding, and remarked how Emma seemed to be very happy and healthy. She made sure we had started babyproofing (we have, somewhat) and gave us the number for poison control, LOL.

Emma tolerated her flu shot and the first of the Hep B vaccination shots like a trooper -- she didn't even cry. Momma's got a short day at work, so I'm going to pick her up early from daycare and we'll have a little time together before Daddy gets home to do some special things.

My baby is 40 weeks old today!

Pancakes and More

Emma has really enjoyed solids lately. She still loves strips of chicken, but her new second-favorite food are some home-made breadsticks that Momma made today. We also had banana pancakes for the very first time. This is Grandpa Miller's recipe that we modified to use almond milk instead of cow milk.

Here she is, diving into her very first pancake ever.




And the after-effects...




And for fun, a video we took at Hayden Run Falls near Upper Arlington, Ohio

9 Month Update

A few days late. :)



My big girl is likely right at 18 1/2 pounds, and we think 28-29 inches long. We'll find out exact measurements at her pediatrician appointment on Monday.

She's eating all kinds of things now, she seems to like chicken quite a bit, loves her fruit, and her favorite veggie right now is green bean. She still doesn't eat a huge amount of solid food, but she's getting it offered to her 4-5 times a day (3 "meals" and 2 snacks). She's regularly eating 12-13 oz of breastmilk at daycare now too.

She's standing by herself for 10+ seconds without holding on (today she made it to 20 seconds while I was watching), and using her walker to move. No steps by herself though, my guess is that we'll see that right around Halloween. She can crawl faster than I ever imagined, and loves climbing over things -- including Daddy and the cats.

We think she's said "Daddy" and "Mommy" and "Kitty," and she might be signing "all done." We're not sure but it's usually around the time she pulls her bib off, throws it down and makes all the signs that she's done with the high chair.

Six teeth are in, 2 are still working their way through the gums. Her hair is long enough to cover the top of her ears and is curling down her neck just a little bit. And she's sleeping better.... going to sleep more easily, and sleeping bigger chunks at night, although if she's napped poorly, this changes.

Can't believe my big girl has been out of my body longer than she was in there now! That's amazing to me.

Birthdays

Four days ago would have been my Grandma Emma's 100th birthday. Tomorrow would be my Grandma Gladys' birthday. I wish Emma could have met both of her Great-Grandma's... they would have loved her SO much. We miss them both very, very much.

Emma had her 9-month birthday yesterday. We celebrated a little by letting her try some coconut ice cream (she loved it!) and Daddy made home-made bread (which she also loved). I'll post a 9-month update very soon, but paperwork comes first.

From my lips to Heaven's ears.... we love you Great-Grandma Emma and Gladys!