Sunny Days and Seven Months

It's hard for me to believe, but Emma is closer to being one than a newborn now.  We have had a somewhat rocky month with her and sleep.  Any day now we are expecting her bottom two teeth to pop through, and when that happens, I am hoping her good sleep habits return.  Besides showing a stubborn streak with sleep, she remains a fun-loving, wide-eyed girl who is observant of everything.

We have introduced more foods into Emma's diet, some of which include a ham sandwich with the works on it and garlic spinach pizza.  Some might say that I've become lax in my parenting with subsequent children, but the truth of the matter is Emma takes full advantage of whatever is in my hand while I am distracted with Lucy.  And based on how she freaks out when I realize what she is chowing down on, it is no wonder she refuses to eat the baby food that we present to her.  As soon as the spoon laden with our homemade baby food crosses into her personal space (about a two foot radius from her) she squints her eyes shut and purses her mouth tight.  We have found a compromise fortunately, with a little mesh food bag attached to a handle that we put 'real' food in.  Sometimes we put the little mesh bag in the freezer for a little bit so that the food is slightly frozen to help with teething pain.  Meshed contents so far have included steamed carrots and potatoes, fresh apple, pear, banana, and skinned grapes.  Emma will gnaw on this at least long enough for us all to enjoy a meal together.

Emma has also found relief from teething pain in the most unusual objects.  She likes to chew on Lucy's doll's faces until Lucy notices.  Below it looks like she is resuscitating Simone, but she is really just relieving some teething pain.

So far my favorite Emma-invented teething remedy is chewing on Will's big toe.  I'm not sure if it's the special odor or tangy taste that numbs her gums, but either way it works.  Based on this method, we will know the moment her teeth do poke through based on Will's surprise when something sharp pierces through his sock.



Emma loves to stand.  If she is sitting anywhere near something she can use as leverage, she will scoot over to it and pull herself up to a stand.  This is very dangerous, as she doesn't have the balance yet to maintain her upright position and usually will do a half spin topple and hit her head on something hard.  In fact, Emma loves standing so much that she refuses to sit in her special little baby tub we have for bath time.  Because of this, we decided to try her out in the big tub with Lucy.

 As you can see, she still preferred standing.  After a couple of baths though, she finally was convinced to take a seat and relax which has introduced us to a whole new world of bath time fun - or as Will calls it, "Planned Chaos."  Lucy dumps water on Emma's head, Emma cries.  Emma splashes water into Lucy's eyes, Lucy cries.  Emma pees in the tub, Lucy screams.  Lucy takes Emma's bath toy away, Emma screams.  You get the idea.  But, it does save us a lot of time (and water!), as we no longer have to bathe them separately.

Emma generally doesn't like to get undressed and absolutely hates getting her diaper changed.  My sister Jane has classified her as a Never Nude (from the show Arrested Development) and if we weren't a cloth diaper family we would seriously consider getting those disposable diapers made to look like jeans in an attempt to recreate a pair of jean cut off shorts.

Maybe Emma is a Never Nude because she is always cold.  For bedtime I dress her in footed pajamas, a fleece blanket with sleeves that zips up from head to toe and a knit hat.  With this getup she would still wake up in the middle of the night ice cold, so I added a fleece blanket on top, which goes against all of the information the medical field warns parents about to prevent SIDS.  Thankfully, a friend of mine recommended using an afghan as a blanket since it at least has plenty of holes in it to prevent suffocation, but is still heavy and warm.  That is working great, combined with pumping our furnace all night long.  We received our first heat bill for the cold season and were semi shocked about the price.  I had to laugh though when I realized that we have finally found something to spend money on for Emma.  The clothes, cloth diapers, toys and accessories have all been handed down from Lucy.  Up until this past month, Emma hasn't really cost us a dime.  So, while the rest of us are sleeping in shorts and a t-shirt, Emma is finally warm and cozy and a part of the family budget as well.

Here Emma is below greeting Lucy in the morning.  Emma usually wakes up before Lucy, and will look around for her until we go into her room.  As we approach Lucy's door Emma pumps her arms and legs in anticipation and lets out a squeal when she sees Lucy.  Lucy in turn tells Emma, "I missed you when I was sleeping Emma" and when I ask Lucy what she dreamed about that night she always responds, "Emma."

We have had some beautiful fall weather this past month.  Living in Michigan, if the calendar says November and the thermometer reads above 50 degrees we do what we can to go outside and enjoy it like it's the last hurrah for the next six months.  This is part of why I love fall so much - it makes you appreciate every beautiful day.  In the picture below, I decided to capitalize on a sunny day this past week by packing a lunch and having a picnic outside our library which has a beautiful garden and walkways.  After we ate, we sat in the sun and read the books we had checked out earlier that morning.  It was one of those moments in motherhood that was easy and beautiful.  The kind of moment that was exactly how I pictured motherhood to be before I became a mother. 

Now that I am a mother, I understand that the shiny moments are mixed in between a lot of not so shiny moments.  But because of this, I appreciate those picture perfect moments like a sunny day above 50 degrees in November.