Mess Maker

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight, and for the first time we all dined on the same thing. Emily was in messy-noodley-heaven.

See?

 

I think it’s safe to say she’s a fan of spaghetti. :)

Happy Girl

9 Month Update!

Nine months. Three quarters of a year. 75% of the way to the Big O-N-E! She’s officially been on the outside longer than she was on the inside now. I really can’t believe that much time has passed already! She’s such a part of our lives now I really have a hard time remembering what it was like before she was here. Each day brings more adventure and more smiles and giggles! Nine months! Wow.

      

At nine months old, Emily:

…crawls like a champ, pulls herself up on anything she can reach, and cruises around from the coffee table to the couches to her shopping cart toy (that she LOVES) to our knees and back again! She’s definitely mobile, and I’m having a heck of a time keeping up with her!

…is 27.5 inches long and weighs 17 lbs even. According to the doc at her 9 month appointment, she’s healthy and following the curve perfectly! She’s a tiny little peanut, still wearing most of her 6-month clothes and now finally fitting into some of her 9-month things. She wears a size 2 shoe and is (still) in size 3 diapers. But we knew she was going to be small, look at both of her Grandmas! Ha! :)

…is really talking now! She babbles ALL THE TIME and sometimes seems to have invented her own little language. The amount of chatter that this kid emits makes me afraid for my future cell phone bills. Maybe she’ll have a future in public speaking!

…has started to expand her palate and is eating a variety of foods now. Instead of just applesauce and Gerber puffs, she’ll actually eat most fruits and veggies, and within the last few days has even been able to eat an entire jar at a meal! That’s saying a lot for the kid who used to eat three bites and then clamp her mouth shut and refuse another taste of anything. I’ve started making her food again though, and she’s gobbling it all right up!

…is just so much fun! I love this age. She loves to look at The Baby In The Mirror, and claps and waves at everyone she sees! She smiles and giggles, and has started to pull out specific books or toys that she wants to play with instead of just going for what’s already out. Her favorite thing is a toy carton of eggs that came with her shopping cart. She’s learned how to crawl with a toy in one hand so she never has to put it down! She also finally decided she likes her binky- as a chew toy, that is! She does things differently, this one. :)

…FINALLY HAS A TOOTH!! And another one on the way in! Is this the reason she likes to eat more now? Who knows. It’s sure cute though!

…seems to be understanding us a little more when we do sign language with her. She hasn’t really signed anything back yet but she watches intently and seems to have an idea that we’re doing something important. I don’t think it will be too much longer until she catches on!

…has stolen her daddy’s heart (and mama’s too, of course!). She knows the sound of his keys in the lock and her face lights up and she squeals like crazy when he comes home. She isn’t happy until he comes over to say hello. Do we have a Daddy’s Girl in the making? I do believe so!

Our Punkin is growing by leaps and bounds! She’s such a sweet, smart, happy girl. I couldn’t be prouder of her! God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams, and it’s such a joy to have her! Emily Marie you are our Punky-Boo and we love you more than I could ever say. Happy nine months!

Merry Christmas!

So I realize that Christmas was more than 2 weeks ago and I haven’t posted about it yet. I’m sorry! I’ve been consumed with other things like COUPONS! And BREAD! (More about both of those later…)

Anyway, Christmas. It was great! We spent the actual Christmas weekend with Rob’s family in Denver, CO, and Emily got to go on her first plane ride! She did really well on the first flight, sleeping most of the way and playing contentedly the rest of the time. The flight home though, not so much. We were slightly delayed because of an issue with someone’s seat assignment (the flight attendants spent a half hour straightening out a ticketing error that gave one seat to two people… duh.) so we ended up sitting on the plane for almost an hour before ever taking off. She slept that whole time and about a half an hour after take off, and for the next two hours she was AWAKE! She was fascinated with the plane seats for a while but when that novelty wore off it was overtired-cranky-get-me-off-this-plane-right-now baby. That was fun. The guy next to us couldn’t have jumped out of his seat faster when we landed, haha.

The trip itself though was great! We got to spend time with Grandpa Moose and Grandma Goose and saw a few of the sights of Denver! Christmas night we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens and looked at over a million Christmas lights that they had put up all over the garden. It was awesome, if a little cold. But we bundled up and Emmie was happy snuggled in her Ergo carrier with her Strawberry Hat on.

She didn’t really want to sleep very well while we were there so I had to spend a good deal of time trying to get her to nap. But when she was awake she was happy and smiley and had a great time playing with Grandma! We also went to the Christmas eve service at their church where Grandma sang in the choir. It was truly a beautiful service, complete with candles and Silent Night. Perfect.

Before we left for the trip, we opened presents and spent a day together at home just the three of us. Emily didn’t really seem to get the whole Santa thing, but it was still fun! She ate ribbons and shredded paper, and eventually played with her new Shopping Cart. It’s noisy and bright and obnoxious and she LOVES IT. As soon as we put her down to play she goes straight for it every time! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Ancel! She also made out like a bandit with all her new clothes! She’s the best dressed baby around! :)

I didn’t get any pictures of the trip to Denver (we didn’t want to deal with the big camera on the plane) but I do have some from before we left! Maybe Grandma Shankland can send me some pictures to add here…!

Our tiny little tree!

“I GOTTA GET THE BOOOOOOWWWWW!!!”

Mmmmm… Bow.

Happy happy!

What have you got?

The Shopping Cart!

Daddy putting together his first ever toy. Yay!

My little shopper.

Don’t mind the mess in those photos, we were having way to much fun to worry about cleaning up! Haha.

All in all, Emily’s first Christmas was a smashing success. Good times were had all around, and they didn’t even lose our luggage! Next year though, we’re staying in Washington state. Anyone want to come to visit us? :)