Months 11 & 12

There were not too many changes these two months, so I decided to combine them!
-At your 12 month checkup, you weighed 18.6 pounds and were 27.5 inches. I think that is about 25% for weight and 10% for height.
-you aren't walking, but love to cruise!
-you still refuse a sippy, but transitioned to whole milk beautifully.  You will only take it warm though - yuck!  I just gave it to you on your first birthday!
- before whole milk, you went from alimentum to SOY formula!  cut our formula bill down for sure!
- you are a pretty good eater!  you LOVE strawberries and rasberries, mac and cheese, any kind of italian food.  veggies are not your favorite.
-you are still taking 2 naps a day and sleeping about 6:30pm-6:30am.
-your favorite word is still BYE, but we think you also say mama, dada, and dog.
-speaking of dogs, you just about LOVE them and hug and kiss all over them.  you let them give you kisses too.
-your first birthday was wonderful, and you loved your cake and opening your presents.  you would hold each present up and admire it or try to wear it:).
-got tubes in your ears just before your 12 months birthday!  you did great and they have helped reduce your infections, but you still got an infection a month later that we cleared up with drops.
-we love you precious little girl!

10 months

Emma 10 Months

-You weigh about 17 lbs exactly and are 26.5 inches.  Growing in weight but not height so you are our short little chubs J

   -You eat 3 bottles a day at 6:30, Noon, and about 5:30 pm. 

- You eat three solid meals a day and some of your meals consist of entirely table/finger foods.  You LOVE pasta and your favorites right now are macaroni and cheese or spaghetti.  You also LOVE graham crackers and we don’t have to break them up into little pieces anymore because you can bite with your teeth now and suck them until they are soft. 

 -You take a morning nap of about an hour beginning at 8:30am, an afternoon nap of about 2 hours starting at 12:30 or 1.

-You go to bed at about 6:30 and wake up at 6:30.   If you go to bed at 7 you will usually sleep until 7.  You don’t drink a bottle before bed because we make you drink it before dinner.  If we try to give it to you after dinner/before bed, you are too full from your solids to drink it. 

-You will take a sip from a sippy cup but you still don’t like it.  I hope you get there soon because we are coming up on the 12 month mark!  

 -You love saying BYE very loudly and waving. 

-You had your first hospitalization this month for dehydration from a stomach virus.  You loved telling all the doctors and nurses byeJ.   

-Your heart is cured!  We are getting a second opinion, and you still have a slight murmur, but you likely won’t need surgery at this point. 

-You decided to start crawling one day this month.

-You have become a pro at pulling up and prefer to stand at your table or cruise around the furniture than crawl.

-You started to push your walker.   I need to get you a shopping cart or baby stroller. 

-You decided that standing up in your crib is fun and you do it about 50 times before you go to bed.  Most of the time you won’t lay back down so I have to go in there and do it for you. 

-Now when you wake up, instead of just laying there, you sit or stand up.  It is funny to watch you in the monitor. 

--You got your second tooth this month! You now have two on the bottom. 

 -You favorite toys are: you activity table, little people noah’s ark, your walker, violet, baby, and balls. 

ttention span with reading books has gotten better and you like turning the pages. 

-You are so smart little girl and blow us away every day at what you learn!  

9 months

I don't know why I haven't posted these, but I have had them written forever!

Emma 9 Months

Emma, you are 9 months old!  Here’s what you have been up to:

-you weigh about 16 lbs exactly and are 26.5 inches which puts you in the 15^th percentile for both height and weight.  You are very proportional and healthy!

-You wear 6 month and some 6-9 month clothing.  Some 9 month jammies.  

-You eat about 6-7 oz every 4 hours. You get 24-30 oz per day. You eat at 6:30am, 10:30am, 2:30pm, and 6:30pm.  About a week before you turned 10 months you transitioned to 3 bottles which you eat at 6:30, Noon, and about 5:30 pm. 

-You started eating REALLY good on your solids this month and have at least full container (sometimes 1.5) 3 times a day. 

-You LOVE finger foods!  I finally let you start eating more even though you have no teeth, so you chew with your gums and are really good at it! You started off with small pieces of peaches, pears, and cheerios.  We have let you try just about anything and you love most tablefood!  We also include some in your meals. 

 -You take a morning nap of about an hour beginning at 9am, an afternoon nap of about 1.5-2 hours starting at 12:30 or 1.

-You go to bed at about 6:30 and wake up at 6:30.  You don’t care for a routine much although we do bath, book, bottle, bed.  We cut out your bedtime bottle close to 10 months.

-You will take a sip from a sippy cup but still don’t understand it and the flow is too fast for you.  You aren’t good at it but I hope you get there!  I can tell it is going to be battle just like the transition from breast to bottle was. 

 -You are still babbling up a storm and we think you actually know what dada means!

-You learned how to wave hi and bye, clap, and give “kisses” this month!  You can do all of these on command now without us demonstrating. 

-You are a pro at getting on all fours now but don’t have much interest in crawling.  You are a very cautious baby which is fine.

-You  have become better at pulling up.  It would be easier to pull up if you were crawling, but you have learned to do it regardless and I know you will get better with time!

-You also somewhat “cruising”, which means you hold on to furniture and step around it and transition to other objects. 

-I can tell that a lot of times you understand what we are saying to you and it’s amazing!

-You have still been sick on and off and we have an appointment with an ENT. 

-No updates from the cardiologist until next month because you have gotten such good reports and your little heart is hanging in there!

-The biggest news of all – You got your FIRST tooth at nine months and have been handling it beautifully with not much extra fussing.  I think it has woken you up early in the morning but that is it!

-You favorite toys are: you activity table, little people noah’s ark, your walker, violet, baby, and balls. 

-Your attention span with reading books has gotten better and you like turning the pages. 

-You are so smart little girl and blow us away every day at what you learn!  

8 Months

Emma, you are 8 months old! Here’s what you have been up to:

-We don’t know your weight but will know by your 9 months appointment.

-You wear 6 month and some 6-9 month clothing. Some 9 month jammies.

-You eat about 6-7 oz every 4 hours. You get 24-30 oz per day. You eat at 6:30am, 10:30am, 2:30pm, and 6:30pm.

-You started eating really good on your solids this month and have about ½ to a full container 2-3 times a day.

-You are also doing better with finger foods and I let you have very small pieces.

-You take a morning nap of about an hour starting at 9am, an afternoon nap of about 1.5 hours starting at 11:30, and sometimes a cat nap afterschool/before bed.

-You go to bed at about 6:30 and wake up at 6:30. You don’t care for a routine much although we do bathe, book, bottle, bed.

-You are still babbling up a storm

-You still enjoy rolling and standing up

-You have gotten on all fours a few times this month but don’t have much interest in crawling. You get on all fours from a sitting position

-You have still been sick on and off with ear infections! You have a constant cold from daycare so the fluid causes ear infections because it doesn’t drain properly. I see tubes in our future. You don’t run many fevers with your ear infections, but really lose your appetite and vomit.

-you made your first trip to the ER this month that was cut short. It turned out to be a bad ear infection.

-You traveled this month to Florida and did great again on the plane!

-Your favorite toy is your walker

-We love watching you grow and learn sweet girl!

7 Months

Emma, you are Seven months old! Here’s what you have been up to:

-You made it to 15.4 lbs this month!! Yay Emma!

-You wear 3-6 and 6 month clothing. Some 9 month jammies and onesies fit you. But here is some interesting trivia: your feet are SO SMALL!! You only wear 0-3 (size 1) shoe.

-You eat about 6-7 oz every 4 hours. Yea! Predictability. You get 24-30 oz per day. You eat at 6am, 10am, 2pm, and 6pm.

-We stopped adding vanilla to your bottle this month.

-You usually take a short nap in the morning at school between 30-45 min from about 9:00-9:45 and about a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon at school from about 12pm-2pm. On Fridays when Dad watches you, you take a much longer morning nap of about 2 hours because you go down earlier – at 7am. The earlier you go down for a nap, the longer you sleep! Who knew? J

-We start your bedtime routine of a bath, bottle, book, and bed about 6pm and you are usually asleep by 6:30pm.

-You are sleeping pretty good at night! You go to bed at 6:30 pm and sleep until 6am.

-You have started talking big time and string out your sounds like “bababababababababababa” mamamamamamamamamam, dadadadadadadadadadadadada. And you aren’t the quietiest thing.

-Since you have really found your voice, I have noticed that you have started waking up several times a night. You used to do this before, but you were silent and went right back to sleep. Now you like to talk loud for about 5 minutes and wake momma up before you go back to sleep J. I have heard this is common and any developmental milestone will cause sleep interruptions because you want to practice the skill.

-You have decided rolling is the coolest thing ever. And it also wakes you up at night because you think it is fun to practice in your crib. You will now roll across the room as well. I turn my back and you are in a totally different spot across the room.

-You have also decided that standing up on your own and holding onto an object is the coolest thing ever. You won’t pull up yourself, but I have a feeling we aren’t far from that.

-You have no interest in crawling or scooting but your tolerate your tummy much better now that you have realized you can rock and roll. You will reach for an object so far but you haven’t figured out that you could pull yourself and scoot to get it.

-Your baby food experience has gotten better. You still LOVE carrots. You have finally figured out swallowing and we have found a brand of baby food that you LOVE called Organic Happy Baby. You will eat an entire pouch. I like this brand too because it mixes fruits and veggies together. You are NOT a fan of mommy’s homemade sweet potatoes but you tolerate my homemade squash. Really, you prefer the store bought stuff.

-This month we have slowly transitioned into feeding you baby food 3 times a day – at 6:30 am, 11:00am, and 5pm. You stated eating food at school because your teachers said you were getting jealous of the other kids eating and would try to grab their food!

-You stick out your tongue REALLY far when eating baby food. It’s adorable.

-Sometimes you will open your mouth really wide and give us “kisses”. I am not sure you fully understand the concept. But when we put you face to face with your boyfriend Nolan you open your mouth real wide and stick out your tongue.

-You have been sick on and off with ear infections and you are quite the cuddler when sick. You will also finally let us cuddle you when you are tired. I am so happy! These are the sweetest moments.

-You love sitting up and still prefer that rather than being on your tummy. You like to play and play and play sitting up!

6 months

Emma, you are SIX months old! Here’s what you have been up to:

-You weighed 14.6 lbs and were 26.5 inches at your 6 month appointment. You are about the 15^th percentile for weight and 40% for height.

-You still wear some 0-3 month clothes and some 3-6. 3-6 are still pretty big.

-You eat about 5 oz every 3.5-4 hours. You get 24-30 oz per day. You eat at 6am, 10am, 2pm, 5pm, and about 7:30pm we top you off with a bedtime bottle.

-Your naps schedules are hard because you started SCHOOL this month! It took some time to adjust but you usually take a short nap in the morning at school between 30-45 min from about 9:00-9:45 and about a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon at school from about 12pm-2pm. On Fridays when Dad watches you, you take a much longer morning nap of about 2 hours because you go down earlier – at 7am. The earlier you go down for a nap, the longer you sleep! Who knew? J

-We start your bedtime routine of a bath, bottle, book, and bed about 7pm and you are usually asleep by 7:30 or 8:00pm. You are still great at putting your self to sleep without a fuss and no rocking required. Such a good baby.

-You are sleeping pretty good at night! You go to bed between 7:30 and 8:30pm and sleep until 6am. See a trend? Each month you have gone to bed earlier and earlier and sleep for longer periods of time. Thank you, Moms on Call! Best book ever.

-Your baby food experience has been a rollercoaster. You still LOVE carrots. At six months, we only give you baby food about twice a day, sometimes only once. We are taking it slow because you still aren’t sure about it and usually only take a few bites and usually then not all of it makes it to your tummy J. Your swallowing skill has been slow to develop.

-Meal time = social hour for you. You talk talk talk and make strange noises J

-You love sitting up and still prefer that rather than being on your tummy. You like to play and play and play sitting up!

-You are not a fan of rolling. You can pretty much do it, but choose not to.--

-You visited the Pool for the first time this month and loved it! Yay! Can’t wait for mommy and me swim lessons next summer.

-Each month just gets better and better. WE love you precious girl!

Emma is 5 months old!

Emma Kate, you are 5 months old!

-We don’t know how much you weigh, but estimate about 13.5 pounds. Still on the small side.

-You still were some 0-3 month clothes and some 3-6. 3-6 are still pretty big.

-You eat about 4-6 oz every 3-3.5 hours. You get 24-30 oz per day.

-Daddy started watching you this month and did great! He is so good with you and totally could be a full time stay at home dad.

-Daddy got you on a GREAT schedule and your eating times got consistent as well as your morning nap. He also worked on the napping in the crib and you started to take to it.

-You wake up about 6am, eat, the take a nap from about 7am – 9 or 10am. You eat again about 10:00, 1 or 1:30, etc. You get the idea.

-you had your first taste of rice cereal right at about 5 months. And it was DIFFICULT. First, you wouldn’t even open your mouth. We were concerned and thought you had an oral aversion because of forced medicine. So we let you begin to play with a spoon so you could see that it wasn’t so bad. We tried rice cereal about 15 times, and you just weren’t loving the rice cereal so we moved on. You got to the point where you would open your mouth for the first bite, but once you realized what it was, you would seal it shut.

-At 5.5 months, you had your first taste of baby food. Because of your trouble with the rice cereal, we went with a safe choice: sweet potatoes. We followed that by peas, then squash, then carrots, then green beans, apples, pears, peaches. (We were probably well into 6 months by this time). Still lots more food to try!

-Carrots are you favorite and you finished off a whole jar once!

-You really only eat about ½ a jar, but the doctor assures me this is fine. Solids aren’t meant to replace a baby’s diet and provide little nutrition and very few calories. Solids are just for practice as the baby learns to eat, enjoys different tastes of food and textures, and will soon eat lots of table food by 12 months.

-You “eat” solids twice a day, morning and night. We took about a week off for a vacation where we skipped them and we skip them when traveling on weekends.

-You are sleeping pretty good at night! You go to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 and sleep until 6am.

-You started sitting up by yourself with little support around 5 months! By 5.5 months, you were a full time sitter! You didn’t even do the tripod or balance on your hands. You were completely unsupported. You core is so strong! Must be from all that back arching and crying you did when you were little J

-You like playing with your toys and are good at picking them up, passing from hand to hand.

-You are not a fan of rolling. You can pretty much do it, but choose not to.

-You are still not a fan of tummy time. The mirror helps. But sometimes tummy time is pointless because you will just plant your face on the ground and scream. That isn’t really building any strength…ha

-We love you little girl and can't believe how big you are getting! :)