Peach Face

This is Emma's face when I fed her peaches.  Today it wasn't mixed with rice cereal or milk.
Too funny....as much as she scrunched her face, she still opened her mouth for more.

6 Month Update

6 months today

Emma has seen has her 6th month in weighing 17lbs 1oz (7.75kg), her height now 26.5in (67.31cm) and head circumference 42.7cm. Why they measure height in inches and head circumference in cm’s I’m not sure. Em’s in the 75th percentile for height, weight and head – she’s in proportion this month, haha.

Today was a tough day in that Emma had to have a total of 5 injections (1 oral and 4 needles). Normally she only has 1 oral and 2 needles, but this week the additional 2 were for the flu and h1n1. I would have probably skipped these with spring approaching, but since we’re travelling next month, thought it would probably be for the best. Don’t want our baby catching any silly germs from fellow passengers. The nurses had to double team, so to spare Emma more pain than she had to experience, they each gave an injection at the same time in each leg, so it would seem to Emma that she only got 2 shots. Poor thing. After her shots, I always expect the worst, thinking that Emma will be miserable and just want to sleep. But instead carries on her normal ways, like nothing happened.

Our munchkin has mastered quite a few things like sitting without support, passing objects from one hand to the other, placing her paci in her mouth when handed to her, splashing at bath time, grabbing her toes, jumping, banging object together, or against any surface and right now mastering the art of rolling. Diaper changes are getting more eventful in that when we lift her legs, she lifts her bum and turns her body to see what’s happening behind her. Which reminds me when either one of us are holding Emma or she’s sitting and she wants to see where a particular noise is coming from or see what’s happening around her, she won’t always turn her body, except she’ll bend her head backward, causing us to try catch her from falling.

How I wish I were as supple and flexible as Emma

We have progressed from our rice cereal to oatmeal and have also introduced a few veggies. So far butternut, acorn squash (almost like gem squash, but with a butternut texture) and sweet potato. Today we introduced peach as her first fruit. Apparently all fruits starting with P’s are good for the tummy. When we introduce a new food she will pull a face,but after the first taste just wants more and more. They say to feed until baby is full, I actually wonder if Emma ever gets full, I find that I need to call it quits most of the time.

Emma’s personality is really showing through these days (bubbly & cheeky), she’s a lot more interactive, vocal and independent, in that she’s happy to stay in her crib and finds ways to entertain herself, even if it just means playing with the flowers on her bumper until mom or dad come and get her. Oh and definitely an actress/model, smiling as soon as she sees the camera.  We got her a new activity toy, which she just loves, it has so many buttons to press, and plays tons of songs, today over skype she was showing off her new toy Ma Ma and Yeh Yeh.  I always laugh at how Rods folks can just watch Emma for hours on skype and be entertained by her.  Emma's curiosity and interest in things is amazing, you just see the concentration on her face as she absorbs it all.  You actually wonder whats going on in that little mind of hers.

Emma's new activity center

Emma loves music and being sung to, mom doesn’t have the greatest voice, but her face will always light up when she hears her favorite, Incy Wincy Spider and the Grand Old Duke of York, anything with beats and sharp sounds gets her going.

A week ago we went to a Gymboree Play & Music Class, this class involved singing & activities to help with baby’s developments. From the time we sat down until we left, Emma was beaming, you could see she was having fun, loved seeing the colors around her, looking at the other babies. It’s such a good feeling seeing your baby so happy. One activity the moms had to hold onto this round piece of parachute material with different colors and wave it up and down, as we did this Emma grabbed hold and started waving it up and down with us, had everyone laughing, not sure if it was the colors or the attention that she liked the most. She was the eldest there and it was almost as though she knew she was the big girl. Tomorrow I’m trying out the music class. There seem to be so many of these type of classes around, and the nice thing is that they all offer a free preview class, so I’ll be attending those and decide which to sign up for.

Gosh 6 months have gone by in a blur, to think in the beginning we were counting days, then weeks, now months, soon we’ll just focus on the years. I’m so glad I started this blog, it's good to look back and remember a few things. Happy 6 months Emma!

It's a Roll

Rolling over is tough work, yip definitely tough for a mom and agonizing at times.
It's hard seeing your little one struggle to roll over, you just want to help her, but know she has to learn by herself, so I start rolling the camera and provide encouragement instead.

Rod and I have been trying to get her to roll over, rolling her side to side at nappy changes and bath time, putting toys just within reach when we do some floor time.  She seemed to give up really easy, reaching out to her side for a few seconds and then returning to center.  But I guess I know how it feels, having not worked those tummy muscles in a while, or in Emma's case never, executing this"simple" exercise can be strenuous and takes some time, so you start off slowly.  You even see little beads of sweat on her nose, poor dear.

A few days ago I was skyping with Rod's mom and she witnessed Emma rolling from her tummy to back,  it took a while, but she eventually did it. 

Yesterday (Wednesday) I laid Emma on her back, on our bed. I closed my eyes for a few minutes and then saw Emma on her side, reaching for her toy.  Quickly grabbed the camera and started recording.....it takes some time for her to complete her roll (you'll understand why I say tough and agonizing) but she did it! Not only once but three times yesterday, YAY!



I'm sure in a few days she'll be doing this effortlessly, another great milestone for Emma.

Happy Valentine's Day Daddy!

This was Daddy's Valentine Gift from Mommy & Emma.

A mug with a picture of Daddy's Little Girl!

Emma always seems to amaze us

I have every intention to blog the day I take a particular picture or when Emma does something new and exciting, but it doesn't always happen.

The reason for this photo.....

Saturday morning, I had put Emma in her crib to take a nap.  After a few minutes of quietness I always sneak in to make sure she's sleeping.  As I did this, I heard her move a bit, I wasn't sure if she just stirred or if she was awake.  Anyways, as I approached her crib, walking on tippy toes and trying to peer into the crib without her seeing me, I saw she had her back and neck arched looking toward the door, but her eyes were focused down...and as I came to her she looked up got all excited, gave me her morning smile and did her scratch your back motion.

I was wondering what she was looking at, so I went down on all fours and there it was....a small gap between the bumper and the mattress which she could peep through and probably saw my feet/legs appraoching her.  It's just so funny how still she became obviously realizing mom is coming to get me and I know I should be sleeping....

Her crib is becoming her gymnasium now, pulling at her bumper, doing 180 and 90 degree turns, she's so much more aware of her surroundings, especially knowing her body and head can "bend" and "turn" in all diffferent directions now.  Our little Emma is too funny, she sure knows to keep us entertained.

Last night at 1am she was crying, I went in to see to her and she had rolled onto her stomach but her hand was caught under her body, I was all excited as this was the first time she'd done this.  As much as I wanted to take a photo and call Rod, thought it was best to roll her over, and she went right back to sleep.

Feels like Spring is almost in the air

For the past 5 and a half months, I’ve been pretty happy staying at home with Emma focusing all my time and energy on her. Before she was born, I thought I’d be one of those moms on the go, not wanting to stay indoors. I quickly realized staying at home is far more easier for both Emma and myself. Emma gets to feed and sleep in the comfort of her nursery and I get to wear sweat pants and not have to worry what I look like for a few months. In these months gone by Emma’s been able to establish a great routine, and I’m hoping that because she’s so used to it, if there are any changes she’ll be able to slip back into the routine pretty quickly, it could flip the other way, but lets hope not.

Feedings have spread out a bit now, only required every 4 – 5 hours, which allows more time per outing which is great. With the 3 hourly feeds, by the time you feed, wind, change, put baby in the car seat, you have probably an hour to do what you need to do, with 20 minutes there and 20 minutes back, 20 minutes trying to remember things like where you put your keys or handbag, doesn’t end up worth the effort at times. Yip suffering with the mommy brain….(whenever we read Goodnight Moon to Emma and we get to the “bowl full of mush” part I think of my brain.)

So this weekend was a lot easier for us to go out shopping, we managed to fit in 2 shopping centers and lunch, record for us! I also feel ready to be out more, not sure if the thought of Spring approaching is what is getting me rearing to go (the sight of buds on the trees excite me), or if this is normal for every mom reaching 6 months to feel? Feeling the need to get my old body back, if that is even possible and to start dressing nicely again.

Today Emma and I went to visit Heather at Smartmomma, she was busy but gave us a short time to catch up somewhat. I ended up buying an Ergo Carrier which I’m super excited about. This should help me along the way of getting out and about more. Can’t wait to walk the American Tobacco Trail with her and be able to talk to her about the sights and sounds as we pass things…much easier than talking to her in the stroller. Think Dad will love it too, as he can have Emma close to his chest and have more bonding time. We’re also hoping that the carrier will make travelling a whole lot easier for us. When I mentioned the carrier to Rod the other day, he said it would be a great idea to buy it, it’d allow me to do more housework….I’m still trying to figure if that was meant to be a joke or not??

Anyways….we’re definitely looking forward to the weather warming up now and being outdoors a lot more to get Emma exposed to the beauty of nature.  I hear we're going to have another cold snap, I hope that will be the last of it.  Its going to be fun seeing Emma's chubby little legs in shorts and chubby arms in t-shirts...can't wait.

6 months is fast approaching...in just 2 weeks, shuwee, almost Emma's half birthday!!!!! This weekend I just mentioned to Rod how we never really measured time, and now that we are measuring time with Emma’s monthly developments, time is just flying by. Way too quickly.

I end off this post with Emma’s picture of the day…no matter what I do her hair just won’t go down, unless she wears a hat, it’s going to be a sad day when she loses her trademark.

Bathtime is such fun!

Bathtimes are becoming a lot more fun these days, between Emma wanting to sit up to play with her toys  and splashing water all over, leaving the bathroom and us drenched!
She loves catching the water with her hands, which is as much of an amazment to us as it is to her.

Emma's record sitting session

So something exciting did happen tonight.  I gave Emma her first shape sorter toy which she just loved.

At first I placed her on her tummy to play with it, but she got a bit frustrated, so I sat her up.

She sat playing with the shape sorter for more than 10 minutes with no support besides leaning on the ball or on her hands a few times.  She would get all excited raising her hands from the ground, eventually after a few raises she lost her balance and almost fell over, mom was there to catch her.

Again its the little things that make you so proud and so excited.

Savouring the moment

This morning brought about a slightly different routine. Usually Emma will wake at 5am, where I feed her and straight away put her back in her crib to go back to sleep, I am in no mood to play at that time. Otherwise she wakes at 7am, where after her feed she’s wide awake and wants to see everything, so we go downstairs and join dad for some breakfast before he goes off to work. Today she woke at 6am, and Emma was inbetween being awake and falling back to sleep, she seemed pretty content in my arms, I was just lapping it all in, holding her, kissing her and rocking her. Which reminded me of this photo of Rod holding her when she was just a few days old.

You think back of how tiny she was and I often wonder if I held her enough, was I too worried about her not being able to sleep without being rocked to sleep, that I didn’t savor those moments enough?

Sometimes reading makes you worry too much if you’re doing the right thing, that it probably takes away those loving moments….I mean I shower Emma with hugs and kisses the whole day hug, but times like this morning when she just moulds to your arms, its moments like that, that you question if you have enough of them.

Where was I going with this???

I think I’ve said this before but I’ve realized that Emma sets her own schedule and knows what she wants to do when. And this seems to be the same for most babies, when I say most I compare to my friend Amy, for the times we’ve compared stories of Emma and Ella, they’re pretty much the same, eating patterns, sleep patterns,….all these books cover the same type of schedule, but just have their own twist to it to say that their way works. When reading it’s almost like the babies are robots, all set the same way, it’s the environment or internal structure which brings about different situations. Did I just compare my baby to a robot??

I guess I use the books as a guide just to make sure there is nothing wrong with Emma, that she’s not sleeping too much or too little? But one really just has to get to know their baby and go according to them, let your baby teach you or guide you.

I can’t say I’ve gone through every page of every book that I’ve taken from the library, just quickly skimmed through the sections that apply, and racking up fines for not returning the books on time.

But after all this, I’m going to try not get too involved with reading and researching, rather use more of that time giving Emma those extra hugs and kisses and holding her for as long as she’ll let me, and most importantly read off her cues.

Best I get back to the full time mom/housewife duties….the ironing has been sitting for a few days….just wanted to type my thoughts down on my blog. Hopefully Emma will do something exciting today that’s more exciting than this post.