Week 16

Emmaline is a super eater! This kid has been chowing down. It's almost ridiculous how much she eats (although I am proud to say that she is still nursing just as frequently and so breastmilk continues to be the primary source of nutrition). We have overcome the work-hour nursing strike and I'm even considering leaving the pump at home when we go on vacation in August. It would mean a lot less packing if I can ditch the pump, parts, bottles, nipples, cleaning brushes, soap, etc. I know Dan's parents are pretty uncomfortable with me breast-feeding, but my relatives should be fine with it -- and if they're not the can scram for 15 minutes 6x/day! (3 of those are before, during, and after bed so it's not like we'll be around people for those ones anyway.) With the Baby-led weaning she is comfortable with table foods and so all we will pack is her favorite spoon.

No major milestones that I can think of. We do officially have 7 teeth now, can't remember if I posted that last week and she has been drooling a lot this weekend + a runny nose so we're pretty sure something else is approaching. There have been a couple developments that I'm loving: 1) she has started playing peek-a-boo. It always takes me a few seconds to realize what she's doing, but once I start saying "peek-a-boo" when she pulls the blanket (or toy) down from her face she cracks up! I think part of why I love it is because it's so darn cute, but the other part is because she actually laughs. She has always been very stingy with the laughs and so we really cherish the times when we hear it. We've also discovered that when Dan chases her (crawling after her) she will laugh and if I take my hair and rub it on her forehead she laughs. 2) she has started interacting with the cats! She likes to take the jingle stick and point it in the direction of the cats to get their attention and then she shakes it around or taps it on the ground until they pounce it. She also grabbed one of their mouse toys and was dangling it in front of Jonah's face so he would paw at it. She gets super excited when they play along with her and when she can actually pet them (we are working on the concept of 'gentle').

*Note for Kate: Emmaline LOVES the music table! She has been playing with it off and on since you brought it over. I keep meaning to get some pictures to send you. Today she kept playing the alphabet song and danced around. It was precious. :)

Week 15

Sleep troubles are gone! We finally caved in Tuesday morning and took her back to the doctor. I had been hesitant to go because we had just been there Thursday and she was fine. Thank goodness we went because she had another ear infection! By that point a top center tooth and a bottom side tooth had finally cut through. We can see the other top center and it looks like it's cut through, but I don't really feel it yet. By Tuesday night she only woke up a few times and then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday she slept through the night! Last night she woke up at 3:30 so I nursed her and she went right back out. I think it also helped that we put up some black-out curtains in her bedroom. She's slept until 6:30 or 7 a few times instead of 5:30 like most days this summer. We definitely weren't happy that she had another ear infection, but it was a relief to know that there was a specific (curable) cause for the sleep problems we'd had. They gave her zithromax this round and she has already completed it. We go back Tuesday morning for a follow-up.

It has been so nice to have our happy baby back. I know we have more teeth on the way, but I am enjoying the days until then. This week has been a bit of a roller coaster so it was good to be sleeping. My sister's tumor is back. We don't have many answers right now, mostly questions. We do know that she will need to start chemo soon. I spent most of the week doing work stuff (meeting Monday, Wednesday and Thursday doing professional development). We took Emma to the town pool on Friday and again this evening because temps were in the 90s (Friday had a heat index of 100). Friday we also had an earthquake! Being my usual nerdy self I even marked it on Emma's calendar: "baby's 1st earthquake". They don't make a sticker for that one - so I had to write it in. :) It was a 3.7 around Rockville, MD. The largest on record for the area. I didn't feel anything, but Emma woke up right around the time it happened!


We've tried a lot of new foods this week. We thought we discovered a food she didn't like (cottage cheese) but she was interested in it tonight. She didn't like the yogurt this morning either, but I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep offering it. I'd been looking for a yogurt for a while, but needed whole milk yogurt and everything in the store was low-fat. Finally found the Yo-Baby brand! Her tummy was doing really well this week, but I'm afraid she's starting to have problems again. I think we'll start back with the daily prune juice for now. I'd really like to make her pancakes soon, but the recipe requires banana and I don't want to go down that path until I think she can handle it.


We got her a Playskool Walk 'n' Ride (shown in the picture). I've been trying to get a video of her with it because she pretty much takes of running, but every time I try she gets distracted either by the cats or by the camera and stops. She is getting really good at cruising. It is hilarious to watch her weave in and out and all around the kitchen tables, chairs & high chair while we eat dinner. It's nice that she is entertained and we can actually eat a meal though!

Week 14

Didn't get around to my usual Sunday update (at least Monday morning isn't too much after the fact). We had company over to watch the World Cup Championship game, so that was nice.

Our sleep woes have continued. Actually, they've gotten a lot worse. The last 3 nights have been absolutely miserable. She is waking up every 20-40 minutes and she's not falling right back asleep every time. She just cries. We are at a complete loss and have tried just about everything we can think of to get her to sleep (except driving her around in the car because Dan refuses to do that and even when I'm completely desperate for something he turns into a complete jerk when I suggest it). I think I'm averaging 2-3 hours of sleep a night and she's barely napping in the day so I can't even catch up then. She'll be back at daycare during the weekdays, but this week is so packed for me that I can't take advantage of that time either.

I really don't know what her issue is. One of the top teeth finally cut through, but she doesn't respond to anything if we try to treat the teething. I've also read that if the sleep troubles last more than 3 days it's probably not related to teething and this has been going on a lot longer than that. It's so frustrating because I've always considered her a good sleeper.

Don't really feel like blogging about food, but will note that her tummy issues seem to be improving.

Had her 9 month check-up. She stayed at the same weight (19 lb, 4 oz) but jumped up to 29 inches long. Ear infections were all gone. Doctor was pleased with her growth and developments.

Week 13

This week started with the return part of our vacation. We did the same routine on the ride back (drive for several hours, stop and play for an hour or so). She continued getting a bottle of prune juice daily even though we didn't see any results for an entire week. Since then she has become very regular and doesn't seem to be in pain.

New foods this week include mushrooms (portobello) and plums. She ate 2 entire plums by herself this afternoon! We have stopped giving any kind of grain/cereal until her digestive system is ready. Other foods we have lined up for her this next week include - chicken, peach, kiwi, mango, more plums, green beans, and orange/red/green bell peppers. Not sure if each colored bell pepper is supposed to be introduced separately, but oh well. It's not like we've ever followed that 3-5 day wait rule too well anyway.

Recent developments include crawling over things, climbing up things, walking holding on to the edge of something (or holding on to 1 finger), she can stand on her own for a couple seconds before she plops onto her rear, she loves giving high-fives, and started waving today!

I thought she would have like 4 new teeth by this point, but she still just has her bottom 2 and the vampire fangs up top. The bottom side teeth are visible, but just under the gum and haven't cut through yet. The top center have been felt on two separate occasions, but seem to disappear after we feel it. Not sure what's up with that. She has been fussy lately at home and her sleep pattern is all messed up. She is waking between 5 and 9 times a night!!!! Needless to say, Dan & I are exhausted.

I woke up this morning feeling horrible, my entire body ached, I was getting hot/cold flashes, and was throwing up. I stayed in bed most of the morning and then took a hot bath. Felt better after that and was finally able to get moving. I know some of the upper body stiffness was from the gym yesterday. Dan and I are really trying to get back on track. We went 3 times last week! We're trying to take advantage of the time when Emma is at daycare during the week (we're on part time during the summer; 9-2) and use it to run errands, clean the house, go to the gym, and have some time to just hang out with each other. The gym also offers a kid center and will watch her for $1 while we work out. The only problem is that I don't trust them very much. Their swing is broken (understandable after I saw a 9 year old sitting in it!) and their pack'n'play has a giant hole in it. When we went in to pick her up after our work out yesterday, the girl was holding her in her lap while texting. Granted, I do that all the time, but she's my child. It just seems a little sketch, so we only use that as a last resort. Anyway, I'm still feeling okay this afternoon and have a massage scheduled tomorrow morning. Definitely looking forward to that, although it means that Dan will be watching Emma on his own since daycare is closed for the holiday weekend.

We had planned on taking her to the town pool today, but that got cancelled after I woke up feeling so awful. We are hoping to go tomorrow. (And we're sending in our registration for swim lessons that start at the end of the month.) I'm not a fan of wearing a bathing suit - especially in a public area where I know I'll see students, and I really don't like the sun/outdoors but I will suck it up since Emma loves the water so much! Who knows, maybe I'll even get a little color on my legs this year.

Week 12

I had every intention of blogging as soon as we got back from vacation. Obviously, I did not follow through with that intention and now it's almost a week later and I'm finally getting around to it. (I had even started writing my blog on my cell phone during the first 2 days -- that didn't last either.)

BLWing on the road:
Day 1 - We packed most of the car the night before and just had a few final things to do in the morning. We left right before Emmaline's normal nap time in hopes that she would soon fall asleep in the car. (It worked.) After a few hours, we stopped at McDonald's for lunch since they had a playland and we figured Emmaline could crawl around for a big after being cooped up. Dan ordered the fruit/yogurt/walnut thing and Emma munched on an apple slice, but didn't seem to eat much of it or really care about it. We stopped that night in New York state, not far from the PA border. We went to a Perkins restaurant close to the hotel. Emma had her first clown experience there. She was very interested from afar, but wasn't sure when he came closer (Dan on the other hand was freaked out the entire time, even though the clown talked to him about the World Cup and USA's win against Algeria that afternoon). I ordered a side of fruit (canteloupe and honey dew) with my dinner so Emma could eat something. We brought some of her puffs and she was grabbing at them so fast that most ended up on the floor. Apparently we can only put 2-3 pieces in front of her if we are away from home. We sliced the melon into strips for her to grasp. She was a fan! She also tried some turkey from Dan's club sandwich and enjoyed that as well. She got a little sticky from the melon, but not too bad and we were able to clean her up with a wipe. I realized that I should have packed her bib in the diaper bag (it was somewhere in a different bag in the car). Emma also got her regular bottles during the day and nursed in the evening/night/morning. Pumping in the car is always an adventure, but I'm getting used to it and keep my cover handy.

Day 2 - We had the continental breakfast at the hotel. They had plain cheerio's so that was what Emma ate. I was nervous b/c they don't dissolve like her puffs, but she did great!
*That's where my cell phone journal ends and now I have to figure out the rest by memory. The evening of Day 2 we went to Spanky's Clam Shack in Hyannis with the rest of the MACK. I ordered a side of cooked veggies (yellow squash and zucchini). Later that evening we ended up with a big problem - constipation! It was horrible (lots of screaming and some blood). We called the doctor's office immediately and they said she probably tore from pushing. We felt awful. i've looked up everything I can find about constipation in babies and the puffs (and cheerios) are the only offenders I can find, so those are out of her diet for a while!

Day 3 - I think we kept her just on breastmilk today after the previous night's incident. We also went to the store and bought some prune juice for her.

Day 4 - Emma got a bottle of prune juice in the afternoon. At the rehearsal dinner M kept slipping her stuff everytime I walked away. I came back from telling Dan that dinner was ready (he was at the bar watching the USA lose to Ghana and get knocked out of the World Cup) and found a bunch of crumbs all over the table from the oyster crackers she gave her. M told me that Emma loved them, but told Dan that Emma hated them - who knows! I wasn't thrilled that she had given her food without permission, but she had warned us that she slips food to her nephews all the time and I should have known better. Later she gave Emma a mini wine bottle. It was sealed up, so that was fairly harmless and we did get some cute pictures of Emma gnawing on it. Dan apparently missed that entire incident and was very shocked when I had the pictures printed! :) M also gave her green beans. That was totally fine, but she kept cutting them into tiny bites even though I tried to explain that Emma could handle it without cutting it up.

Day 5 - This was the big day: K's wedding! It was incredibly beautiful. Words cannot describe how perfect it was! Emma had another bottle of prune juice in the afternoon. She also got to snack on yummies from the fruit cup (kiwi, honey dew, canteloupe, and watermelon) and had more squash from the main course.

That wraps up the eating portion of our trip. Here were some other highlights - Friday K's dog snuck up and licked Emma on the back of the leg. It totally freaked her out and took her about an hour to finally warm up to her. We realized that Emma hasn't really been around dogs, although I'm not sure if this one even counts as a dog since it's smaller than one of our cats! Friday morning we also took her swimming for the first time (indoor pool at the hotel). Emma absolutely loved it. So much that we are going to sign her up for swim classes when we get back to town and perhaps even go to the town pool this summer. I know she'll be super excited in August to swim with family in Vegas. We also took Emma to the beach for the first time. The weather was perfect for our entire trip so we loaded her in the stroller and headed to a private beach a few blocks from K's parents' summer house there on the Cape. Emma tried to eat sand but didn't care much for the texture (in her hands or on her feet) and soon started fussing. Dan was such a life-saver (as usual) on this trip and took care of Emma for most of 3 days so I could run around with K doing wedding stuff. We got so many compliments at the rehearsal and wedding about how great she was. She even took a nap in her stroller during the reception even with the band playing away in the next room. The only problem we had (other than the constipation) was that Emma did NOT want to go to bed at night. It took 1-2 hours to get her to sleep each night. She also decided to start waking up 30 minutes early. Overall, we had a fantastic time and look forward to our next travel adventures.