Kindermusik

We have finally decided on a music class to take Emma to, we chose Kindermusik.  We're atteneding the Village class which is for babies from newborn until 18 months.  It allows bonding with your baby, and exposing them to music.  It's great to get Emma out once a week to experience something different, see new sights and sounds, aswell as meet other little babies.  We've joined at an inbetween time as sessions have already begun, and we're going to be away for the month of April, so we're just going to slot into classes until we're back from SA and can then attend an entire summer course in June and July.

An itchy gum smile

Every class starts off with the Hello song and every baby is greeted, during this song there is clapping of hands, clicking of fingers, slapping of laps all to the beat of the song.  Every song involves some sort of action, from bouncing to swaying to massage to just cuddling, playing with different items, paper bags, scarves, balls and bells.  Today Emma got to play with the big drum, rattles/bells and she went for a hayride.  The hayride is just being pulled around the room on a blanket/towel.

Going on a Hayride

Emma didn't nap too well this morning, so she wasn't her entire jolly self.  When we arrived at class we sat down in the circle and I placed Emma in front of me, she took a look around and then started to bawl.  Same thing when it came to the drum, looked around, heard the loud banging and bawled.  Took her a few minutes each time to realise what was going on and then we could carry on.  The clapping and bouncing got her smiling in no time.

We had a "first" moment today, when we were done playing with the bells (Emma had two different ones), I asked for one of them, which she gave to me without a problem, but when it came to the second one which I took from her as she didn't want to let go, she actually started to cry and stopped as soon as I gave it back to her.  I was actually shocked that she did this...our little one is growing up and knows what she wants already.

I think the class was quite stimulating, Emma fell asleep as soon as we got her into the car, and this afternoon she napped for 3 hours.

Here are two more pics from todays class:

     Playing with paper bags

The big ol' drum

Finding a Way to make a Baby Sleep

This past Saturday we were out at the Outlet Mall for most of the day, which meant hardly any sleep for Emma. I had envisioned how our day would pan out, and of course it did not all go according to plan. Emma was awake from 7am until 6pm, she did not want to know anything about napping while shopping.  Which girl would choose sleep over shopping?

It was by fluke that I got her to nap for a whole 15 minutes. While pushing Emma the sun was shining in her eyes, I automatically blocked it from her, but thought to myself, if I don’t block the sun it’ll force her to close her eyes and just maybe she will fall asleep…and voila…it worked!  Now I know what to do if I find myself in the same situation again,at least Emma gets her beauty sleep and dose of Vitamin D. As my neighbor said, “don’t judge, never say never.”

Other than that, Shan has been with us for a week, and it’s been great. Emma has been getting that extra attention and just loves her Saam-ie. Between Shan’s studies we’ve shown her a bit of NC (shopping), she has requested that we spread out the spending a bit. So yesterday and today we went for a walk around our neighborhood and took Emma to the park for the first time. Emma didn’t show any reaction of enjoying the swing or slide at first, think the sounds of screaming kids around her threw her off a bit.  Today it was only us at the playground so Emma could enjoy the swing and slide all to herself.  I think she's getting used to the idea.

It's so nice that the weather is warming up and we get to spend more time outdoors, so looking forward to the spring weather, minus the sneezing.....

Saam-ie's in Town

Shanny (Saam-ie/Saam-Yei - third aunt) arrived this morning, flight delayed by an hour, but arrived safe and sound.
Emma's reaction - at first she just stared, then later reached her hand out to Shan, and shortly after laughing with her Saam-ie. 

Emma chilling with Shan

It's really good having Shan here, and great that Emma will get to know another member of the family.

Here's a video from this afternoon.

Family Date Night

This weekend we had our first family date night. We dined at one of our favorite “special occasions” steakhouse, Flemings, and enjoyed a lovely meal. We had their “Memorable Meal”, a 3-course dinner consisting of Lobster Bisque topped with Lobster Bruschetta for Appetizers, Filet Mignon and Australian Lobster tail for Main with a side of French Green Beans with Shitake mushrooms and Porcini Essence and lastly for Dessert, Warm Pear and Blueberry Tart served with Vanilla Bean Ice-cream. It was DELICIOUS!!!

Fleming’s isn’t your average family restaurant, and even knowing they’d accept babies, I was still worried they might have declined us. It seems somewhat intimidating walking into a restaurant with your baby, and the décor revolves around fine wine and dining and you’re greeted by your last name.

I’m thankful our little angel co-operated so well (how could I have thought otherwise?). Her squeals and banging of toys against the table put me on edge at times as I didn’t want to disrupt the beautiful ambience. Thoughts of the couple next to us having their first date night, or possibly a proposal ran through my mind, people saying, “How could you bring a baby to this type of a restaurant”. But actually with the music, conversation and clanging of wine glasses, Emma's squeals were probably muted. Emma gave us 2 great hours to enjoy our dinner. I’ve realized how fast I eat now and that I take much bigger bites of my food, I may need to go back to school of etiquette and learn how to eat like a lady again.

We got home in time for Emma’s last feed and bedtime, she slept right through until 7:30 this morning. We probably won’t be dining at Flemings anytime soon again.  Our “fine dining” will probably be at Macdonalds or something similar which will allow Emma to mess while she feeds herself, and her squeals blend in with the other kids.  We had a great evening out just the three of us, we look forward to many more date nights together, be it at MacDonalds or at a place like Flemings.

                                Helping Daddy select an after dinner drink

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.

EMMA'S FIRST SNOW DAY

Yesterday we had our first snowfall for the year...funny when we moved to NC, one of the things we liked about, is that it seldom snows (we heard once every 10 years).  Since we've moved here, now 18 months, this is our second fall of snow, more like once every 10 months.   We're just glad we're not covered in snow for most of the winter, and it's just a few days.

The snow started falling on Friday night and continued till Saturday, it was freezing.  Today, brings sun and the snow is now melting, so before it all disappears we had to get shots of Emma in the snow.  Can't say she had fun, all she did was stare at it...probably wondering why mom and dad are making such a big thing about all this white stuff, its just cold and wet and so bright!

The neighborhood seemed to love the snow, kids on sleds, snowmen being built, we even saw a guy on skis!!??  Rod and I were just watching the poor dads running up and down the road with their kids....we said he'll have to stay in shape to do the same with Emma....should be tons of FUN...our luck, it'll snow again 10 years from now..or would that be Rod's luck?

Eating is such fun

This is what eating breakfast and blowing bubbles gets you, one messy baby.

This morning while eating breakfast, Emma decided that blowing bubbles after putting food in her mouth would be tons of fun!!!  More fun for mom to clean up after.

As messy as it was, definitely one of those precious moments.

EMMA IS 5 MONTHS OLD

Our baby is another month older...I was just thinking that each month I cannot wait for Emma to reach her next milestone and now when I blog about it all, I just wish time could slow down a bit and that she didn't grow so fast. But of course we want our little one to keep on growing.....

I managed to write quite a bit about Emma's progressions in my previous post when Rod's parents left. Since then, she's carried on her own ways, exploring her "voice" and speaking differently on the days she feels like expressing herself.  At every diaper change her feet are in the air and she's grabbing at them.  Quite funny when I put her down for her naps, I'll check up on her every once in a while and all I see are these two little feet in the air, if we're downstairs we can hear her thuds as she brings them down, else her hands knocking on her mattress or crib. Times like that you just want to sweep her in your arms and smother her with hugs and kisses, then you remind yourself of the consequences if you did that  This past week Emma has started turning in her crib, the one morning Rod found Emma width ways in her crib, the other day I found her head where her feet were. It's a little scary because we have a blanket in the crib and at times find it over her face as she's moving around so much or she pulls it  overherself (she loves her soft blankets and puts it over her face to fall asleep). Even though she sleeps in her sleepsack I still feel she needs a blanket for extra warmth. What is that next invention after the sleepsack to prevent this?

We're back on schedule regarding her day time naps, yesterday we got a 3 hour nap out of her - who would have thought I'd get so excited about sleep. The one nap we're battling with is the 5:30/6:00pm nap when we're slightly off schedule - because it's dark I think Emma thinks it's night time and refuses to nap, I've tried leaving the lamp on, but doesn't help. We shall persevere and hope it'll come right, just like everything else.  So after our attempts and her refusal to sleep we're left with a baby that hasn't slept for 3-4 hours, that when it comes to bedtime after she's had her bath and passed to momma for her feed, one sip and she's out for the count. I have a fun time pinching, tickling and finding other ways to keep her up to finish her feed. Silly girl.

What else...oh, talk about being excited about sleep, I never ever thought I'd get so excited about poop. Emma still battles a bit with her tummy, not going for 2 - 3 days, but when she clears her system she really lets us know and it's pretty much music to MY ears...crazy I know.

Last night we invited Amy, Adam and Ella over for tea, they live down the road from us - I actually met Amy at Smartmomma through her baby registry, quite a nice coincidence that she lives on the same street as us. Ella was due two weeks prior to Emma, but made her entry into the world a little earlier than that. Most times when we get together either one of the girls are sleeping so they don't get too much play time. Yesterday wasn't any different, of all days Emma chose to sleep her 3 hour nap, had me checking up on her making sure she was still breathing or that the blanket wasn't over her face.
The girls got a bit of play time between naps and gave us adults the chance to socialize. It was a great afternoon.

We got some great shots of the girls, it's really so sweet to see them sussing each other out, pulling each others bibs, almost poking each ones eye, one time Emma was grabbing Ella's top as if to say,"come here".

Here are some of my favourite pics:

This photo was funny, as I took this Emma looked at me an gave me this smile.

Ella sussing out Emma

Our munchkins

Already gossiping,

What's up there?

Lets dance!

Amy and the girls

It's all about the mouth these days.

Another great month with Emma....can't believe we've made it this far and she's still thriving.
Things we'll be working on this upcoming month, rolling over and sitting without support.

Motherhood has been quite the adventure, after the first 2 months I was wondering how I'd make it to 5 months, and here we are.  Not as romantic and easy as it seems.  Despite the hard times, the good times definitely outweigh them.  There are still times I look at Emma and think, gosh she's ours.  Our friend Paolo even mentioned that it's weird seeing us with a baby, like it's not real, we've just got a doll.  When she doesn't want to sleep, I know it's real!

Well thats our update for today......Happy 5 Months Emma!

Are we compatible?

I came across this sign compatibility on babycenter.com - they show how compatible we are, parent and parent and parent and child. Quite interesting, I must say I can already tell our little one is a bit of a drama queen (the fake coughs, squealing to get our attention at times), oh boy!
The results for our parenting compatibility pretty much nailed it on the head so far, Rod and I have had plenty of discussions about discipline, so will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

RESULTS:
Libra Parent (Me) & Leo Child
Your Leo child loves performing for you because you make such an affectionate, encouraging, and generally rapt audience. Your little one's flair for drama is apparent from an early age, and she adores being the center of attention. You're a wonderful parent to her in part because you so enjoy her bright, happy energy. Plus, she's naturally popular (which she must have inherited from you!), so playdates, birthday parties, and other get-togethers are fun for both of you.

You can foster your child's natural creativity by taking her to plays, films, art galleries, and museums, and instilling in her your own love of art and performance. Most of all, give her all your affection and encouragement, because although your little Leo seems as courageous as a lion, her pride is easily dented if she doesn't feel she's getting the adoration she craves.

Sagittarius (Rod) & Leo Child
Your Leo child's high energy and innate love of adventure delight you from the start, since these qualities mirror your own. You adore watching her blow the down off her first dandelion, romp with her first puppy, or make her first goal on the soccer team. Your little one is thoroughly engaged with the world, and you're right there on the sidelines of her childhood, cheering as she tackles one new life experience after another.

Be sure to give your little one plenty of warmth, praise, and affection, because although Leo children seem strong and courageous, they also crave closeness and approval. This shouldn't be a tall order, since you share such a natural affinity. Your little Leo is happy to explore this bright, colorful world with you, from the beauty of the outdoors to the pleasure of a ripe watermelon in summer, from the drama of a live performance to the splendor of a spectacular sunset, and more.

Libra Parent & Saggitarius Parent
You two make a fun and generous parenting team. You'll inspire and support your children in all their efforts and areas of interest. They'll always find you on the sidelines, cheering them on and applauding their accomplishments. The Libra parent is diplomatic, kind, and a natural negotiator. Your children will seek you out when they have a social problem or conflict they need to sort through. You make sure everyone is treated fairly.

The Sagittarius mom or dad is adventurous and amusing, with a keen sense of humor and playful attitude. Honoring your need for freedom may require occasional breaks from the family, but just as often, you'll take them along for the ride. One concern for the two of you is the crucial area of discipline. You'll both need to work on consistent, firm discipline so your children will have the structure they need.

Emma has words for her Daddy

Oh boy, at this rate my blog is going to be covered with videos of Emma. 

Tonight while making Emma's bed I overheard her talking to Rod at bathtime, (as you may have noticed by now she loves talking to her daddy)  however her talking was a bit different tonight.
She's discovered a new "word" or voice....a ba ba ba ba ba.
It's mixed with her usual moaning when it comes to putting clothes on and knowing it's nearly feeding time.

Its just so amazing to see her grow from her coo's, to her eh's and now her ba ba's.

How Cute

Thought this deserved a post on our blog.
Emma received an adorable
gift from Cindy's little one, Benjamin.
So fitting coming from Vancouver.

Thank you Cinds for Emma's first rain coat.

Can't wait for Emma to meet Benji too!

霍思珩 - FOK SZE HANG

Aunty Louisa (Koo Por) created this for Emma to officially announce her Chinese Name:  FOK SZE HANG
Fok is the family name, ie our last name
Sze Hang,  pronounced Ci Hung

You can see the interpretation below:

Hello to all family & friends, my name is 霍思珩

Meaning of 思：(SZE)

love to think 、love to use brain、the thoughts are meaningful、remember fondly、always think of home、intelligent thinking

Meaning of 珩：(HANG)

Top horizontal jade piece
Have the meaning beautiful & invaluable

The family call her Hang Hang, we couldn't think of a more appropriate name.

Watch Emma scratch her back

This is Emma's latest which gets us laughing each time.

Ma Ma and Yeh Yeh's Visit

(For those a little confused, Ma Ma and Yeh Yeh is what Emma calls Rod's parents.)

Mom and Dad have left for New York, and Rod joined them.
This is their last stop of their 4 week vacation before heading back to sunny South Africa.
I know they've been having a great time seeing the sites, braving the cold and eating what NY has to offer.

It was really great seeing mom and dad, showing them where we live, what we do, and having them meet their first grandchild.  Even though we say NC doesn't have much in terms of attractions and things to do, all the days were busy.  Rod and I (mostly Rod) got cooking with dad.  Dad taught us how to cook their/our favorite dishes, we ate so well! We've taken our notes and will attempt to make these dishes again so that we can one day teach Emma to cook them and she can then teach her kids.....the start of family traditions and family recipes.

This last week was great, as Ma Ma and Yeh Yeh had Emma all to themselves, they just enjoyed entertaining her, and being entertained by her, loving her and holding her.  After Emma's 6am feed and 1 hour nap, Ma Ma would come and take Emma away to play with her downstairs, giving Rod and I a chance to sleep in.  Thanks Mom and Dad.

We all can't believe how Emma has developed in this short space of time.  Since the family's arrival Emma has been blowing bubbles, babbling, smacking her thighs, grabbing her tummy (or as I like to call them baby love handles) and grabbing her toes (I remember changing her diaper at 6am and she did this, funny how something so small like this can get a mom so excited and make her feel so proud!).  Aunty Betty and Uncle Doug got Emma an Exersaucer and she has taken to that pretty well too, jumping up and down and turning to play with her toys.
Usually in the mornings when Emma would wake I could sneak into her room and peek into her crib and call her name, she would just smile at the sound of her name and only later look up at me.  She caught me the one day when I tried to peek in and there she was ready and waiting, staring right at me, like she knew mom would sneak up and was just waiting for me to appear.  It was too funny.
Ma Ma and Yeh Yeh loved seeing her in the crib all smiles whenever she woke up.

Her most recent thing when it comes to bathtime and she's undressed, she raises her hands above her head and wriggles her body like she's scratching her back on the towel.  So every time she does this we say "scratch your back", she loves it and carries on.  I will try post a video of this.

The house is now so quiet.  Just Emma and myself until Monday (tomorrow), I started typing this on Saturday.  Since Mom, Dad and Rod left Emma has taken two steps back in her routine...had me feeling a bit more emotional, dealing with the goodbye and a fussy Emma.
It's crazy when you try figure out what it is causing her to be so fussy, was it the goodbye?  possibly the cereal which I made thicker that morning? maybe she's bored, I'm not as entertaining as everyone else was? Could it be a growth spurt? However as I type this and a whole day has passed, we had a much better day, I think her tummy was giving her problems, since she's cleared her system she seems back to her happy old self.  An hour later now since I typed the above sentence it's now nul and void, so much can happen in a short space of time.  Just when you think you're hitting home runs, you're thrown a curve ball...shucks!  The good thing is that she's down for the night, and hopefully until tomorrow morning.

Anyways,  we wish mom and dad a safe trip back home.  Thanks for making the trip out.  I know they're missing Emma so much already, thank goodness for Skype and this blog they'll be "seeing" her again soon.

To end this entry off, here is a video of Emma babbling and blowing her baby bubbles, or you may just say spitting.... (I tried uploading photos, but blogger is giving me hassles, will have to upload later)

Family Picture

With it just being Rod and I at home its seldom we get a good family picture.

This one is our favourite pics taken by Rods Dad....

Emma's First Christmas

Shoo...it's been a crazy few days.  Finally have time to catch a breath and update Emma's Blog.
Christmas has come and gone, it's now 2010 - where did this year go, where did Christmas go?
We look forward to that time of the year and it's over in a matter of minutes it seems.

So just to catch you up on Emma' First Christmas.
Rod's family arrived on Christmas Eve.  This was 2 nights after Emma's 4 month checkup, she ran a bit of a fever after her injection which made her a little unsettled.  Thankfully she was back to her normal self that night and went down without a fuss.
We were fortunate she took to the busy household pretty well, with the odd cry here and there in the beginning, she grew used to everyone and just loved the attention.  Her sleeps were not interrupted and gave us her normal 10 - 11 hours.  The night after her first taste of rice cereal she gave us 13 hours.

Christmas Day we just stayed indoors, Rod and I were busy in the kitchen most of the day making our Christmas lunch, which ended up as dinner.  The family's entertainment was Emma, Poker and the Wii.  Cooking for guests sure isn't as easy as before, with feeding, nappy changes, naptime etc.
We had secret santa, between food preparations and Emma we finally got to open presents at 3pm.   We had one little hitch though, Emma forgot to buy her gift, so it left poor Aunty Louisa without a gift.  Sorry Aunty Louisa.  Emma made up for it with her smiles and cuteness.

Emma loved ripping the gift wrap, can't believe how spoilt she got.  With all the toys she got, seems like we have to designate a room just for them!  Emma also got to dress up about 3 times in one day, just so she could wear all the Christmas outfits she received.

Overall it was a great family day, so nice to have everyone in our home and seeing how much love and happiness one little person can bring to a family.  Everyone just adored Emma.
You could just see how Emma was taking everything in, watching everyone what they do, being passed from one person to the next.  We were so happy she adapted so quickly to everyone.  As my mom says, she knows who's family, so she shouldn't have a problem settling.

I was so surprised at how Gavin and Gary just loved little Emma, Mathew and Stephanie too, would have thought they'd be less interested, but when Emma came into the room, they would drop everything and play with her.  One of the best moments I thought, while we were shopping at Grand Asia (Chinese Supermarket) I overheard Gary saying to Emma, "Emma, this is Mincee, Mincee is Black Bean."
We wish the family could have stayed longer.

Rods parents are here until the 9th and Aunty Louisa until the 5th, we've carried on with the shopping and eating.  So good to eat mom and dads food again.  Nothing like home cooking.  Thanks mom and dad.  The house is going to be so quiet once everyone leaves, then I will be left to do all the entertaining!