11 and 1/2 months!

Almost 11 months!

Sorry it has been so long!  Scott has been in Portland Oregon for the past week attending an AWEA conference so we have both been busy busy.  Hmm...news.... I think we are still months away from walking, Emerson is totally not interested.  The excessive drooling had let up there for over month after his first 8 teeth came in, but it has returned in the past few weeks full force.  More teeth coming!  He hasn't spoken any new words, but he seems to be understanding a lot more of what is said to him, like when we ask "Where did your ball go?", he will drop what he's doing and look for it, crawl to get it, and throw it to us. He loves to play catch!  We are looking forward to Em's first Christmas and hope to share it with as many of you as possible.

10 months!

We've got a little climber on our hands and if it's off limits, dirty, or treacherous he is right there! He has also picked up a few words.  He says "Hi", "Daddy", and "Thank you".  He seems to actually understand "Hi" and has used it upon seeing someone new even before they have said it.  "Daddy" on the other hand is used to refer to most things in his world, and one of those things happens to be his Daddy so it works out sometimes.  He really only mimics "Thank you", but it is quite understandable.

1st Halloween and More!

It turns out this lobster costume was designed for Trick-or-Treating in the arctic!  We did not anticipate an 80 degree Halloween.  He wore it for all of two minutes and he was already drenched in sweat.  Probably the fact that he was mad about being in it in the first place contributed to the sweating.  He was tired before we even left the house so it was a recipe for disaster.  Needless to say, we made it to our first stop, took a few pictures, and then headed straight for home.  It was adorable while it lasted!

Almost 9 1/2 months

9 month check up

Alright, when I weighed Emerson on our home scale one month ago he weighed 23 pounds.  I did this by using the very technical method of weighing myself and then weighing myself holding Emerson and determining the difference.  I looked at the growth chart and panicked because that would have placed him somewhere like the 90th percentile and he has consistently been between the 50th and 65th percentile.  I was prepared to have a serious talk with his teachers tomorrow about how much food he is eating at daycare.  It turns out we either need a new scale or I need to refine my weighing technique.  He only weighs 20lbs.  That places him in the 50th percentile for weight, down from the 65th because he's crawling.  He is in the 60th percentile for length and head circumference, both down from the 75th percentile.  Perfectly healthy little guy for the most part.  He did get Scott's allergies, though to what severity we have yet to determine.  His chest is congested all the time from his constant drainage.  Scott finally went back to an immunologist last month to address his after 3 years of me bugging him and apparently he is allergic to everything, but mostly Bodie unfortunately.  That Dr. basically told  him we needed to get rid of the dog and if Emerson has allergies they will be the same as Scott's.  We have been forced to at least consider this and not for Scott's sake, because he would suffer through anything for that dog, but for Emerson's.  Scott's allergies contributed to developing asthma and chronic sinusitis.  However, Emerson's pediatrician did give us a hopeful attitude and said there is no reason we should get rid of the dog immediately and that studies show babies who are around a particular allergen from day one have a lot less problems than the kids who say, get a dog when they're 6.  We are going to wash and brush Bodie more often, get air purifiers and our next big project will be ripping up the carpet and staining the concrete.  We may start Em on Zyrtec for a few weeks just to see if it makes a difference, though I hate the thought of a 9 month old already having to take a medication regularly.

Emerson is the happiest baby we have ever met.  He is spunky and loves to laugh.  Just in the past few weeks he has become so much more verbal.  He loves to play with the volume and pitch of his voice.  Sometimes it sounds like he's trying to sing a song.  He is so inquisitive.  He is calm, but at the same time he is always engaged and interacting with his environment.  He crawls with intention.  He recognizes his name.  He waves, gives high fives, and claps.  His teacher at Middle Earth says that when his 3 month old classmate is crying, he crawls over and pats him gently or he will lie down next to him.  Em is such a cuddly guy.  He is always giving hugs and slobbery open mouth kisses.  We can't believe he will be 1 in just a few months!  More pictures soon... Love you all!

Addendum:  I forgot to mention how much he loves bath time!  He manages to transfer at least half of his bath water to the bathroom floor between splashing and simply filling up his cup and pouring it over the side.  He equally loves being outdoors.  If Scott and Bodie are outside playing ball he sits at the back door and bangs on the window until I open it, then he crawls right out.  Taking him outside has always been a quick fix for a grumpy mood.  He is not a picky eater what-so-ever.  He hates to be changed now that he's mobile...he has better things to do and how dare we prevent him from doing them! I just wanted to write all of this down so we don't forget!

New Teeth!

Look at those brand new top teeth!  We can't believe he already has 7 teeth at 9 months old.  His routine check up with the Dr. is this coming Monday so we will write more then!

Almost 9 months!

8 months

7 1/2 months

He's crawling now!  He is still refining his technique so he prefers the more efficient 'scoot' method or the 'launch entire body into midair' method if there's something he REALLY wants.

He almost has it!

7 months! (tomorrow)

Tonight I saw Emerson utilize rolling as a means of transportation for the first time! Bodie was sprawled out on the carpet, blissfully unaware of his stealthy attacker, while Emerson rolled back to front and back again about 8 feet across the floor right for Bodie's outstretched paw. He jerked it away so Emerson tried to grab his other paw. Then, also for the first time, Bodie saw Em as someone who might be fun to play with. Usually he wants to be two feet away until Emerson acknowledges his presence and then he gets spooked easily. He stuck his bottom up in the air, wagging his tail, with his chest low to the ground gently batting at Emerson's grabby hands while Em squealed in delight. Too cute :)

6 1/2 months

Em's 6 month check up was fairly uneventful. He is still in the 75th percentile for length and the 60th for weight. The vaccinations really bothered him this time. He had a fever for several days and then was just generally hard to please for about a week, but he's back to his smiley self now! He figured out the 'ba' sound about a week ago and he's pretty proud of it. He can now support himself in a crawling position and go from a crawling position to a sitting position, but no forward movement yet. Won't be long before he's in to everything!

Almost 6 months

Just in- Also holding his own bottle!

5 Months 1 week

Sitting up all by himself!! All it takes is being interested in something he can't reach and he topples right over trying to get to it, but he's working on it! He also cut his first tooth, yay! Such a big boy! He finally got the hang of rolling over as well. He uses the weight of his giant head to his advantage and just hurls it sideways in hopes his body will follow. Too much fun.

Almost 5 months!

4 months (cont'd)

Em had his 4 month check up today and all is well! He got more shots, which naturally he is not a big fan of, but we went ahead and gave him Tylenol as soon as we got home and it seems to be staving off "the yuckies", we call them :). He is now in the 65th percentile for weight at 15lbs 3oz and still in the 75th percentile for length at 25.25 inches long! His head circumference is also in the 75th percentile.

Emerson is such a happy guy. He really only gets fussy when he's tired, hungry, or put on his tummy. Otherwise he is all smiles and giggles! He laughs so hard when I kiss his arm pits :). He is still sleeping anywhere from 8-10 hours straight at night on formula alone and it's getting easier and easier to get him to sleep. We celebrated the 4 month mark with rice cereal! It was his first experience with both rice cereal and a spoon. He shoved most of it right back out, but after several bites he started to get the hang of it and seemed to like it. By the end of the bowl he was opening his mouth when he saw the spoon coming. We will probably continue to practice with rice cereal and a spoon a few times a week for the next month or so and then maybe we'll start veggies next month if he seems interested. Very exciting! He still has not rolled over, but the Dr. didn't seem alarmed. He absolutely hates being on his stomach which impedes progress in that department. We still give him tummy time for as long as we can stand it because his frustration can be productive sometimes, but after only a minute or two he'll just bury his face in the quilt and scream into it until you turn him over. He'll figure it out one of these days.

Lots of love!

Caitlin and Scott

4 months!

Smiley Guy

Playing and more!

Emerson has now survived two weeks at real daycare. Or maybe I should say Scott and I have survived :). It doesn't seem to phase him. We had our first parent teacher conference yesterday. They said they are impressed with his eye sight and ability to sit up. Also, that they love how smiley and cuddly he is. He just has a really great temperament. We feel very lucky! He's getting tired of watching me blog...better go change the scenery. Love you all!

3+ months

12 weeks

After we read the instructions

Before we read the instructions

10 weeks

Snowy Saturday morning

2 month check up

He made it! 2 months old! Somehow we managed not to accidentally kill him :). Emerson had a check up this week and how that went, in Scott's words, "He was polite on the drive over. When we arrived he was very gracious. He didn't cry on the scale like most babies do, but the immunizations were not fun. Thankfully there was a drive-thru pharmacy adjacent to the Dr.'s where I picked up baby Tylenol" Lol he doesn't know I'm typing this word for word after asking him what I should share about the visit. I didn't get to go because I waited too late to ask off of work. The immunizations made Emerson feel very yucky and he just sobbed in our arms for most of the afternoon and evening until we finally got his fever to break. Poor guy :(. He slept really well though and woke up with a huge smile on his face the next day like nothing ever happened! He now weighs 11 lbs 14.4 oz, up from 8 lb 1 oz at his 2 week check up, and he is 23.5 inches long, up from 20.25. He is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th for length. Just your average growing boy!

He really loves to have lengthy conversations about anything you feel like talking about...so I guess that makes him the perfect man! On one occasion when he was a little fussy we were listing off sports and asking if he was going to play them. After each sport he would give a wail of disapproval, but when I said "I know... you're going to be a dancer!" he stopped crying and lit up hehe. He can pee like the Bellagio fountains and waits until that brief moment when the old diaper comes off and the new diaper, which is conveniently placed underneath him already, open and ready to go, is pulled up and over. And then he smiles and sticks his tongue out...I swear he knows exactly what he's doing. He isn't content hanging out by himself in the pack 'n' play for an extended period of time unless you change his scenery every 15 minutes or so. So we hang various stuffed animals above him and he'll just chat 'em up. It's so awesome :). Thank you all for being a part of his life!

2 months

The bath time photos tonight were just too hilarious not to share right away!

Smiles!

Lots of visitors this weekend! I still have yet to get a good picture of Em smiling, but Ally should be sending me some good ones she took on her phone. More soon... He is sleeping so we are going to take advantage and get some rest ourselves!

The face of a milkoholic

Oops

Towhead....I meant :)

I have some videos that I wanted to put up too, but I got a new computer that has an SD memory card reader and for some reason it will only take the photos off of the card and not the videos. Maybe Scott can figure out what I'm doing wrong. Emerson is smiling now! It seems to be as elusive as his voice when it comes to trying to capture it on camera...when all of the sudden a camera is hiding the view he was smiling at it vanishes. You'll notice in his pictures that all of his dark hair is falling out. He may be a toe head after all! For now we're enjoying that he and my dad have the same hair line :). I go back to work on Friday so I will have a lot less time to manage the blog, but I will try to continue putting new pictures up weekly and keeping everyone up to date on Emerson news.

5 weeks

Eye doctor

Good news from the eye doctor! Emerson's coloboma is completely cosmetic and will not affect his vision at all as it only involves his iris. He may be a little light sensitive, but other than that it shouldn't be a problem for him. He will just have a very unique looking eye :). If it bothers him when he gets older he can wear a colored contact lens to give his pupil a round appearance, but hopefully we can teach him that it's nothing to be insecure about!

Emerson found his voice! I have been trying to get it on video, but the minute I stick a camera in his face he stops talking. I will keep working on that. He goes to the eye doctor on Thursday. I'm not sure how they determine how his coloboma will affect him at this age, but I suppose they wouldn't have us go if there was no point in it. There isn't anything we can do about it but simply accommodate for any deficit he may have. He seems to track with it just as well as the other eye when we do one at a time and he doesn't seem to be light sensitive either, but it's pretty big so I'll be surprised if it's completely benign.

He has amazing head control for such a little guy. He also manages to move around a lot more than I expected. He almost rolled over from his stomach to his back a few days ago...he got on his side, but his arm got stuck behind him. It's a few months too soon for that! He will also spin himself in circles with his legs if you put him on his side and scoot across the floor on his stomach if you provide something for his feet to push against. I have a feeling he's going to be a handful when he really starts getting around! That's all for now. We'll let you know how is Dr.'s appointment goes!

Here are some new pictures!

Can anyone tell me how two pictures of people I've never seen before made it in to the slideshow? These pictures are not in my album...very confused!

Just trying to figure out how to do this! No news to report right now, but I wanted to get this set up.