Blueberry applesauce may not have been the best choice.

We have officially entered the eat-by-myself phase. As soon as I get the baby food jar out, Emily covers her face and refuses to eat. Anything that’s mashed, blended, pureed, or otherwise needs to be fed to her with a spoon, is out. Meals have become quite a challenge around here! Crackers, peas, carrots, bread, and pasta are just about the only things on her menu now. And she refuses almost all fruit. Any meal ideas would be greatly appreciated!

The other day we finally just gave her the spoon and let her go to town. She had a blast! I’m not sure how much of the food actually ended up in her mouth, but I guess that wasn’t really the point, right? Ha. Now it’s all she wants to do…

 

I can see many more food adventures in our future. Away we go!

One.

One year old. One year filled with giggles, smiles, kisses, baby drool, sleepless nights, and more poop than I would have ever imagined. Also more love than I could ever have dreamed was possible! She changed our lives in every way. Full of sneaky smiles and mischief, she really makes it clear that we are no longer in charge around here.

One year ago today I became a mom. And as MY mom would say, I was the happiest mom in the world! I wrote the story of her birth in two parts, here and here, and thinking back on that day I wouldn’t change it at all because it brought our precious girl to us. We thank God every day for her!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO OUR EMILY MARIE!!!

At One Year Old, Emily:

…weighs 18 lbs 2 oz and is 29 1/2 inches tall. She’s between 50 and 75% for height, but only 5% for weight. The doc says she’s very healthy and has no concerns, just tall and skinny!

…is almost walking on her own! She took three steps on my birthday (best present ever!) and will walk between the couch and coffee table if it’s not too far, but she hasn’t taken off and started walking all by herself quite yet. She stands up a lot but is very hesitant to walk without help. She gets braver every day though and we think she’ll be walking very soon!

…has started saying more words this month! Her very first “real” word was Dada, but she didn’t associate it with her dad for quite a while. Cracker was the first word she said that had a meaning attached, so we count that as her first word! She can also say Mama (FINALLY! Haha!), puppy, kitty, yucky, and probably a few others that I can’t think of at the moment.

…is a great eater! She loves to drink from her straw sippy cup and eats most everything we put in front of her now. She’s started refusing to eat from a spoon and wants to do it all herself, so we’ve had a few adventurous dinners lately! Her favorite foods are peas, toast, ham, and of course crackers.

…still, STILL doesn’t sleep through the night. She wakes up usually once to eat and sometimes two or three other times also. She’s usually pretty easy to put back to sleep, but it’s really hard on Mama! I’m hoping as her teeth come in she’ll be a better sleeper. The doc also mentioned that her eczema might make it hard to sleep, so hopefully we’ll get that under control soon too.

We’re getting professional family pictures done soon so for now we’ll take a look back at the past year. It went so fast!

One day old

One month

Two months

Three months

 

Four months

Five Months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months

Eleven months

Twelve months

Our tiny baby is turning into a little girl. She’s beautiful, silly, snuggly, and very smart! We love her very much! Happy first birthday, Punky Boo. You are loved more than you could ever know!!

Three days and counting

Apartment R-304, I will not miss you.

I will not miss your ill-designed, non-soap-holding soap dish in the shower. I will not miss your complete and total travesty of a pantry, nor the absurd lack of cabinet space in the tiny kitchen. I will not miss the LOUDEST HEATER EVER in the living room, or the burn-your-fingers-off baseboard heaters in the bedrooms. I will not miss the ridiculous layout of your living room, the silliest “linen closet” ever made, or the overpowering mold smell in the guest bathroom. I will not miss the bottom-of-the-line washer, dryer, or dishwasher, and I will not miss the cheap windows that let in EVERY noise from outside and fail to keep heat in and cold out.

Most of all, I will not miss you, neighbors! I will not miss you, slam-the-door-as-hard-as-you-can guy because you live right next door and go in and out to walk your dog 17 times a day, spitting sunflower seeds everywhere you go. You suck. I will not miss you 324576 neighbor kids and the screaming at the top of your lungs ALL DAY LONG right outside our apartment. Your parents suck. I will not miss you old people downstairs and the banging on the ceiling, and I will CERTAINLY not miss you bottom floor guy and your constant cigarette and cigar smoking or your disgusting charcoal grill that you insist on using every single day in the summer. Really, I’m pretty surprised you didn’t manage to burn the whole place down one way or another.

New rental house, you may not be perfect and you may have taken your sweet time getting ready for our arrival, but I’m already looking forward to you SO MUCH. Saturday is move day, and it can’t come soon enough. Apartment R-304, goodbye forever. You will not be missed!

Afternoon Snack

Today after her nap, Emmie snuggled up with daddy for a snack of puffs and some Top Gear on TV. It was good stuff!

 

  

Is there anything better?? :)

Because you can’t have enough cute pictures!

The box is always more fun!

 

Giggling with Mama

Are YOU talkin’ to ME?

Learning how to do the walking thing!

So big

Already a ham for the camera.

Kisses for daddy!

St. Patrick’s Day!

First trip to the beach in 2011.

In between packing (for a move that has been pushed back THREE TIMES now) and planning a baby shower for my good friend Kimmy, I’ve had a lot going on! Hopefully I’ll be able to update a little more frequently once we get settled at the new house. Life is busy, but good. Really, really good. :)

11 Month Update!

My tiny new baby is turning into a walking (almost), talking (almost), toddler right before my eyes! We’re packing to move to our new home this week and I’ve been coming across all the pictures I took when she was brand new. It’s so much fun to see how much she’s changed and grown! Pretty soon it will be time to hand over the car keys.

HA HA HA HA HA!! Oh boy, was that funny or what?! (If you know me you’ll know that Emily will NEVER be allowed to drive. Ever. She’ll be lucky to get a bicycle when she’s 16.) Car keys… Ha. :) Anyway, eleven months old! She’s different each day and we’re having so much fun with her!

At eleven months, Emily:

…still has just 5 teeth. She does wonderfully when it comes to chewing and eating though! She loves spaghetti, toast, mac n cheese, rice, pretty much anything with substance, and she really prefers to feed herself. She will refuse it all though without some kind of sauce. Plain noodles? Please, mom. Gimme the good stuff!

…is ramping up her skills in the language department. She makes all kinds of different sounds and will string “words” together to make little Emily-sentences. It’s very cute! We have no idea what she’s saying, but she sure does! When we talk to her, she answers, and is very excited when we have a conversation. This is one chatty kid already!

…has decided walking is not such a bad thing after all. She’ll hold our hands and practically run across the room now, but is hesitant to try and stand without our help. Crawling is still her preferred method of transportation though, and she’s become a pro furniture cruiser. She’s a munchkin on the move for sure!

…will point at things that she wants to see or a place she wants to go now. She can’t quite say what she wants yet but she’s learning that if she points, we’ll take her there! I have a feeling there will be a lot more pointing (and demanding!) in our future, ha ha. She’s a stubborn little thing and likes to get her way. I’m sure I don’t know where she gets that from…

…has started giving us kisses! She really doesn’t give much warning though, her method is more attack-and-slobber. She blows kisses too, especially at night time. Melts her daddy’s (and mama’s!) heart.

…LOVES people. She’s very social when we go out and about and will waive and point at people and giggles like crazy when they waive back. She sometimes acts shy but for the most part she’s a people-person. I’m glad to see her personality coming out more and more!

…is our own little vacuum cleaner. She can find the smallest piece of lint or food or dirt on the floor and if we’re not quick enough it goes straight into the mouth. GROSS. This game is not my favorite. But it has made sure I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of my Hoover, that’s for sure.

I can’t believe this is the last post I’ll get to write before my baby turns one. It’s been one heck of a rollercoaster for sure, but I wouldn’t trade a second of it for anything! She keeps us on our toes and makes life interesting, and we love her more than we could ever say. I wonder what the next month will bring! :)

Peter Pan had the right idea all along.

I haven’t posted in a while. I’ve tried, started and stopped a few times, but I keep feeling like the only things I have to write about are negative and pointless. We’ve been in a slump of sorts, and I’m finding it hard to be positive. So instead of fill this blog with whining and complaining about things that aren’t in my control I chose to just avoid posting.

Rob has been home from work going on six weeks now. At the end of January he took a nasty trip down the stairs outside the apartment and knocked himself out. He didn’t remember falling, just waking up, so he endured weeks of testing to determine the cause of his fall. They didn’t find anything and (FINALLY) gave him the OK to go back to work this past Monday. However, he woke up Saturday morning with Bell’s Palsy and the entire left side of his face is paralyzed. No, I’m not joking. It’s very painful and, needless to say, he wasn’t able to go back to work as planned. They say it should clear itself up within a matter of weeks, so he’s just hanging out at home resting, trying to recover.

In the mean time, we’re packing to move. Next weekend we’ll be leaving our apartment (and the door-slamming, constant-car-horn-honking, screaming-kid-having, pull-a-knife-on-your-friend-and-get-the-cops-called-to-come-arrest-you neighbors) and moving into my brother’s old house that he’s being kind enough to rent to us. I’m excited! It’s just about a mile from where we live now and it’s a HOUSE! With a GARAGE! AND THERE’S ONLY ONE NEIGHBOR AND SHE’S OLD!!! I can’t wait. Things are hectic around here right now but it seems like there’s really a light at the end of the tunnel, and thank goodness for that.

In other news, Emily is growing and changing like crazy. I can’t believe it’s almost time to do another monthly update! She’s so much fun and really seems to be turning into her own little person. I’ve been planning her birthday party and I’m so happy that she’s almost one! but then at the same time I’m so sad that she’s almost one. :( I’m no good at this “letting her grow up” stuff. I mean, really. Who wants to grow up anyway?

I’ll leave you with a picture of my favorite little eater: Princess Mac ‘N Cheese! No matter how crappy things get, she’s always good for a smile and a snuggle. Ah, I love that baby. :)