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 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. :)

Days 19 and 20

Day 20
Menu: butternut squash and broccoli

After 2 nights with squash, we are fairly confident that it is a big hit. The broccoli, on the other hand, is going to take some time. She did taste it and then enjoyed throwing the other pieces on the floor. She dropped quite a bit of squash on the floor too, but only the handfuls that were too small to get to her mouth. I think it's #2, right after carrots!

She was very active during dinner tonight. In addition to tossing vegetables around the kitchen, she was fascinated by one of the cats. She got very animated when Britney walked by and was trying to pet her. She was jabbering away and squealing. It was pretty adorable.

On a different note, I'm still running a fever. The only thing I can think of is that I might have an infection from where the tooth was pulled last week. The gum above that tooth is still swollen, but I haven't had any pain. The swelling has gone down over the last couple days and the parts I can see (it was a tooth all the way in the back) it doesn't look red. I'm not an expert on oral infections, but I would imagine that pain would be involved. I have a regular check-up next week so I guess I'll find out how it's healing then.

Day 19
Dan and I barely had time to eat, let alone find time to feed solids to Emma. Dan got home from practice, we were able to eat some of our dinner, and then we had to head back to my school for that. Emma was a very good girl during the program. Unfortunately, she is starting to get stranger anxiety. My principal was disappointed that she didn't get to squeeze Emma's cheeks (she tried to, but Emma stuck out her bottom lip and started to cry).

Days 15, 16, and 17

Day 17

Menu: Pureed pears and butternut squash

Obviously, I'm starting to slack on these daily posts, so some are being combined. I'm actually writing this before her meal tonight, which is part of why the picture is completely unrelated to food (it just happened to be a cute picture we took at Walmart this morning). Hopefully she will like the squash tonight and be a little more interested in the pears.

We ordered a crinkle cutter on amazon.com today. I've read that cutting the food with the crinkle cutter can help give them a better grip. Sometime this week Dan is going to do a stir-fry so Emma will get to try some broccoli.

Tomorrow is her doctor's appointment. I'm excited to see where she is on the charts for her weight & height. Not looking forward to the shots. I can't remember if she gets more or less shots this time. She has done really well on the last two sets of shots, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Dan is great and he helps hold her during the shots, while I sit across the room. As soon as the nurses give the ok, he brings her over and I nurse her. It takes a couple minutes, but settles her down. By the time we get home she usually sleeps for a while and then is ready to play! Hopefully she'll be willing to stick with that routine ;)

Day 16

Menu: banana and pureed pears

Emmaline has been super sleepy for the past week. She slept 11 hours last night (woke her up once to nurse), was awake for 3 hours, then took a three hour nap, up for two hours, back to sleep, etc. We keep telling ourselves that it's a growth spurt - but this is a pretty long growth spurt. We have her 6 month appointment on Monday and I won't be surprised to find out that she is sick. I've started to think 'thrush' because there are a couple white specks on her tongue and another part of me is thinking 'ear infection' although I have no real reason to suspect that. She's not being fussy, just sleepy! She gummed away on the banana and was biting off pretty big chunks. She ate some of the pears, but I think she was getting tired at that point because she wasn't very interested.

Day 15 - Dan @ soccer game = no solid food for Emma