Week 8 (+1)

I decided to do a "bonus" post today in honor of the 3-day weekend! We took Emmaline to the park today and she loved the swing. It was a very hot/humid day so we didn't spend too much time. Back at home she finally started crawling so that was definitely the highlight of the day. After that we took a trip up to Walmart and bought another safety gate to block off the downstairs hallway (already have one to block of the top of the stairs). Emma also almost pulled herself up in the crib today. Luckily she can only do that from a sitting position so far. We will probably drop the mattress down a notch next weekend.

We enjoyed some juicy watermelon this evening (Emma & I, not Dan - he hates watermelon) and then she had some pureed green beans. I used the crinkle cutter to slice up the watermelon into little strips. That seems to help her grasp slippery foods. She also managed to eat more puffs than she has before.

Oh yeah, no more biting! :)

Week 8

Emmaline's rash seems to be gone. I still think it was some kind of reaction to the high chair. We've been feeding her fully-clothed for the past week. Tonight we gave her vitamins again so we will see if anything shows up tomorrow. Next weekend, if all goes well, we will introduce some food with apple again to rule out both of those as the cause.

Emma's fussiness was also gone during the week (although it has returned this weekend). Still no upper tooth, but I think that I feel a little bump on the gum. If you zoom in on the picture this week, you should be able to see her bottom teeth! It's been a struggle to actually get a clear picture of them. The picture was taken at Aubrey's 1st birthday party. No cake for Emma, but she did get to have some diluted prune juice in her sippy cup. We first gave it to her in a bottle at day care this week and we were told that she absolutely loved it!

The mango continued to be a big hit this week (for Emma AND mommy). She ate almost every piece that we gave her. A few tiny pieces ended up on the floor, but most of it made it to the mouth. She's not too interested in the puffs yet and most of those are tossed on the ground for the cats to sniff. Tonight she had butternut squash again. It was very squishy and she actually played around with it for a while. She mixed some of it up with the puffs. I also gave her a few bites of the chicken I had for dinner. It was really cute to see her holding it in her fist and chewing on it with her 2 teeth. The not-so-nice development with her teeth is that yesterday she starting biting me (while nursing). She did it 3x while I was feeding her before bed and once during the 3:30am feeding. She only does it on the left side! I shouldn't be surprised because we almost always have issues with that side. I tend to get mastitis on the right side, but everything else has happened to the left.

Emma continues to be right on the brink of crawling. For the past month we keep saying "one more week". Yesterday she managed to crawl a little, but would move an inch or so and then plop back down on her belly. We've decided that she needs to do more than that for us to make it official. It's so strange how there are things that I can't wait for her to be grown-up enough to do, but at the same time I want her to stay a little baby too! I am so anxious for that top tooth to pop in (mostly to end this fussiness), but I also miss her gummy grin. I want her to start crawling, but I miss the little lump that could lay still in bed with me on weekend mornings instead of rolling around kicking me in the back and poking my eyes.

Week 7

Emma had a variety of food this week: at the beginning of the week (Sunday, Monday) and at the end (Saturday). All the in-between days were too chaotic. It did give us a chance to eliminate some things to see if we can figure out where the rash is coming from. We eliminated her vitamins, apples, and have tried to keep her off the carpet. The carpet one is quite difficult since she doesn't like to stay on the blankets we put on the floor. We thought it was working, because the rash was starting to clear up. But it returned tonight! I'm now thinking that the culprit is her high-chair. The new plan is to feed her with clothes on and put a blanket down over the chair. It's going to mean messier laundry.

Over the past few days, Emma has been a little monster. Evenings have been especially rough, she wants to be held every second and cries when you move away from her at all. With Dan being away at soccer most nights, it made for a very worn-out mommy! I've noticed that she's tugging on her ears again (they were clear on Monday at the doctor's so I don't think it's an infection + no fever) and today she was sucking on her top lip. The last time she sucked on her lip was right before she sprouted the bottom teeth. I'm thinking that the top tooth might appear soon and explain this extreme fussiness. I miss my easy-going baby!

Today we introduced mango - it seemed to be a hit. She literally sucked down a couple slices (and terrified me). We also gave her a few rice puffs to start working on her pincher grasp. She managed to eat 1 and learned how to pick the others up and fling them on the floor. Part of me feels bad that she doesn't "eat" anything at daycare. I'm a bit surprised that the ladies have never asked me about food since Emma is the only baby who still only gets bottles (she's also the youngest, but not by much). Perhaps when she figures out the puffs, she can at least have those as a snack during the day. I wouldn't mind them giving her purees, but I want her to still use the spoon herself and that leads to a HUGE mess (as evidenced by the photo this week).

On a sad note, my aunt Bonnie lost her battle with cancer this week. She had gone downhill fast and was in a lot of pain. The family will miss her, but we are glad that she is no longer suffering. Dan's aunt Mary was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They operated on Monday and determined that it is a cancerous glioblastoma. The prognosis is 3 months without treatment, 1-3 years with treatment. It reminds me of how lucky we are that my sister is alive and well 9 years after they found her glioma (her prognosis was 5 years). It also makes me extremely thankful that the clusters they found on my brain a few years ago are "not of clinical significance".

Week 6

Another busy week has come and gone. I think we did a little better this week about giving Emma solids, but it still wasn't close to a daily event. We have 1 more week of soccer -- possibly 3 away games -- so that's going to be tough, but then it's over. After that the students start state testing. That lasts for 2 weeks and then there is 1 week before the end of the year. I keep saying that we will get more consistent about feeding her once school is over, but in all honesty this summer is going to be pretty busy too.

We didn't introduce any new solids this week - stuck with usuals like avocado and butternut squash - but we did introduce new flavors via puree form (continued with the chicken from last weekend and gave blueberry today). Emma is a great eater. Her accuracy with the spoon keeps improving, but she is still so messy that I wonder if we will ever be able to send food with her to daycare to eat during the day! A bib does help some, but she seriously requires a bath after every 'meal'.

She starting developing a rash last Sunday evening (don't remember if I mentioned in the post last week). It started as just a couple spots on her thighs. By Monday it was all over her tummy and the back of the neck. Dan took her to the doctor and she said contact dermatitis and to use some benadryl cream. Each day it has been different - it'll get better in one place and worse in another. Yesterday her thighs were fine and belly was a mess. Today the neck and belly look better, but it's back on her thighs and now on her upper arms too. The benadryl cream didn't seem to make a difference (it doesn't appear to be itchy). We've tried powder thinking it was heat related and aquaphor lotion thinking it was dry-skin or eczema. We've had her sleep in just a diaper with the a/c and a fan blowing (still thinking it was heat related) and nothing. We stopped using the diapers we had switched to last weekend and went back to the Huggies. Rewashed all her clothes and sheets with the same detergent we've always used. Haven't changed soaps. Stopped giving the chicken which was the only new food introduced around that time. No sign of bug bites. We are clueless about the cause. We tried to go back to the doctor yesterday, but they were booked. Not sure we can get in this week without taking time off of work.

On a happier note, we had a wonderful (but short) visit from a friend from college and her son (he's 2). I am proud to take credit for her son, since I introduced her & her husband our sophomore year. They were like Dan & me in the sense that they thought they didn't want children. Life had different plans for them and now they have a wonderful (and extremely handsome) little boy. Emma was able to interact with him a little more than the last time we saw thing (around New Years), but neither were too interested. He was fascinated with the cats, which was very entertaining.

Latest developments: Emma can now get up on her knees in the crawling position and rocks. She has started clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. Last night she was sitting and almost pulled herself up to a standing position. I got very excited and think I startled her. Those two bottom teeth continue to push their way up. Oh, we learned that she liked to dump over the toy bucket at daycare and she has started pulling things down at home. She also has a little romance at daycare with the lone boy in the nursery (there are 5 or 6 girls and 1 boy). We've been told that they hold hands and kiss on each other. Dan wasn't sure how to take that news - he knows he's in for it when she grows up. :)

Week 5

Week 5
Arg! I just spent like 20 minutes writing a post to update on the last week and the internet froze up. Deleted the whole thing! I absolutely love technology, but I've become very impatient when it doesn't work perfectly.

I think I started by apologizing for the week lapse in posts. I knew this would happen. I always start off with such great intentions and quickly start slacking. This week has been incredibly long and busy (next week looks like it's going to be the same).

I can't remember what Emma ate Monday night, we skipped Tuesday and Wednesday nights, Thursday night she had steamed broccoli and pureed carrots, and then we skipped Friday. Dan did Thursday night on his own since I was at a retirement dinner for work. I guess she threw most of the broccoli on the floor, but still ate more than she did last time.

Wednesday we were able to pick up her pictures. They are all so adorable - not sure where we are going to put them all! I've been having fun showing them off to everyone I know.

Today we discovered that Emma's first tooth is actually her first tEEth! Both of the bottom teeth are appearing. :) She's such an awesome baby and we haven't had to deal with much fussiness or drooling. Today she turned 7 months old and tomorrow is our first Mother's Day! I remember being pregnant on Mother's Day last year. Dan bought me a mommy-to-be card and gave me the Vera Bradley baby bag I had been wanting. At that point I was barely showing and hadn't even felt her kick yet. We'd heard the heartbeat, but hadn't had the ultrasound and I don't think the idea of having a baby was "real" for us yet. I'm not really one for holidays, but I'm actually pretty excited about tomorrow. We're not planning anything special, I've asked Dan to make me pancakes for breakfast. My present was the pictures last weekend. Emma brought home a carnation and a card from day care (those brave ladies did their handprints on the cards)- as simple as it is, I know I will treasure that card forever! I am so happy and proud to be her mom (even if she still refuses to say 'mama').

Days 30 and 31

Day 31

Menu: Carrot/Apple puree mix

We finally got a high chair! (Britney, the cat, was very excited about this since it meant a big box for her to play in all afternoon.) She was having fun with the carrot/apple stuff again, but got fussy at the end. Dan discovered why when he went to strip her down for a bath. (I'll spare you the details, but wow! There is no doubt that she is eating a good portion of what we offer.)

After a major clean up, we headed out of town and went to Portrait Innovations to get her pictures taken. She was wonderful! At first I thought she was going to cry, but after about 30 seconds she warmed up to the photographer and was my perfect little model. She smiled on cue, clapped her hands, sat in a chair by herself, stayed on her tummy without rolling all over the place. We got a package yesterday from Dan's parents with 3 beautiful dresses, so we took one of those along to use in addition to a couple other outfits we had already picked out. The photographer was very happy to have such a cooperative baby. We were bummed because their printer was broken (waiting for a part to arrive tomorrow) so we weren't able to walk out with the pictures, but we will have them by the end of the week. It was so difficult to narrow down our options. I know I'm biased, but that baby is stinkin' adorable!!! We had been wanting to do pictures for a while, but decided to hold off until she could sit up on her own. I also wanted to do them before she got teeth because I have this fear that she's going to look really weird when they come in. Apparently we picked the perfect day, because tonight she grabbed my thumb and stuck it in her mouth (like usual) and I felt something really sharp on the bottom gum!

Day 30

Menu: Watermelon and Carrot/Apple puree mix

We used the crinkle cutter again, but sliced the watermelon much thinner. We didn't have any gagging, but that was because she sucked on it for a minute and then threw it on the floor. We kept putting new slices on her tray and she proceeded to pick up each one and toss is on the ground. I thought that maybe she just didn't want food, but she went to town when we gave her the spoon! The carrot/apple mix tasted mostly like apple. Dan couldn't get the spoon loaded fast enough for her - she ate about 1/2 a jar.

I keep reading about other BLW babies and it seems like most of them spend the first few months just 'playing' with their food. Emmaline is pretty much all business when it comes to food. She doesn't mash it up, doesn't smear it around, just picks it up and either eats it or drops it on the floor if she's not interested.

Days 27-29

Days 28-29
Skipped solids both days. Thursday I had a dentist appointment and then Dan had a soccer game so we just couldn't work out a schedule. Plus she was sleepy so I nursed her at 7:30 (instead of 8) and she fell asleep right away. I ended up going in at 4:30 and woke her up to change and nurse her. Then she was back out until 6:30.

Friday Emmaline didn't nap much and was very fussy all evening. I was hoping that we could just nurse at 7:30 and put her straight to bed again, but no such luck. Started nursing at 7:30, by 8 I had to pass her to Dan and pump but got less than an ounce so I'm guessing she had eaten more than I realized. I was going to get a bottle out of the fridge to feed her, but tried to nurse again. At that point (around 8:30) she finally started to seem sleepy so I put her in the crib and she immediately woke up again. Dan rocked her and would try to put her in the crib once she was asleep, only to have her roll over and wake up. By 9:30 she seemed to be out.... that lasted until 10:30. By midnight I was up nursing her again and she woke up a few times after that. At 3:45 I nursed her again and then had Dan swaddle her. Didn't hear a peep out of her until 7:45.

On a happy note, Emma started clapping her hands! (Of course this took place while she was supposed to by nursing at 7:30.)

Day 27
Menu: watermelon and pureed prunes

This week ended up being super rushed, so now I sit here on a Saturday trying to remember what the heck happened on Wednesday! Wednesday our crinkle cutter arrived (via amazon) and so I used that to cut up the watermelon into strips. Emma liked it, mommy did not. She was able to break off BIG pieces and kept gagging. I was a nervous wreck! Looking back, I realize that we've probably been cutting the strips way too thick (with all the foods, not just watermelon). I've been doing them thicker because I'm afraid that she'd just shove a skinny slice too far back and choke, but I'm starting to understand that skinnier might be better because when she does break off pieces, they'd be much smaller.
The prunes went well, as usual. In the end, we had a very messy, sticky baby!