At the park in Tucson

Emmett and Mommy Kirsten at Lincoln Park in Tucson, what a great trip! See the beautiful mountains in the background...
Emmett is six months old now and is trying very hard to crawl. He's got the form down, rocking back and forth on his hands and knees. Just needs to figure out how to move his hands.
We tried to get him some soft-soled shoes now that he likes to practice walking everywhere, but his feet are too big and too fat to fit into baby shoes!

Presents, presents, presents

We took our first airplane trip with a baby to go home to Arizona for Christmas and New Year's. This is a picture of Emmett and Mommy Vanessa in Tucson with lots of presents!
Emmett was a natural traveler and we all enjoyed seeing friends and family immensely. As usual, the trip went by too fast. But Emmett got to meet lots of new family members and friends, of course he charmed them all :)

Our gift to us...

Merry Christmas to our family! A pool and spa is being installed right now and should be ready in February... doesn't it look awesome?

Look at me!

Did you see me? Did you see me?
I was riding Mommy's head this morning and it was so funny!

Emmett loves to be swung around now and definitely loves to be up high. For some reason, he also finds it hilarious when you do a fake cough for him... you can get lots of laughs out of that little trick. He even tries to make his own fake cough sometimes to get our attention, very cute :)

It's December now, things are busy, busy. Just this weekend it got chilly like a real winter. We aren't doing too much at home for Christmas, because we'll be in Arizona for the holidays.

Me in my Exersaucer!

Now that I am all grown up and 5 whole months old today, Mommy Vanessa got me a new big boy toy. The seat rotates inside the toy when I lean and the toy moves in a circle when I push with my toes.

I like to do things by myself, but can't quite stand up on my own or get my body to do what I want it to do all the time. So this contraption is the perfect solution, I get to do it by myself and it is very exciting.

I am really surprised when I move around in a circle though!

I love my new big boy toy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is me on my first Thanksgiving and I had a great day. I am wearing a very handsome outfit that I got from my Aunt Julie.
That big turkey thing looked pretty good, but my mommies said I could try some next year. I enjoyed my banana piece and some sweet potatoes.

The part I really like is that Mommy Vanessa gets to stay home from work for a few days and play with me!

November 21st, First Solid Food

Mommy Kirsten made me some sweet potatoes in her cool food processer. I didn't really swallow much but I was very interested in the spoon and got a little messy :)

I have also had some frozen banana in a mesh, chewing bag and I like that a LOT! It helps my two teeth and gums feel better, plus it's sweet and very fun...

Can you see one of my new teeth? I am chewing on everything in sight to try to help my gums feel better :) 

When I grow up...

Some day when I am a little bigger, Mommy Vanessa is going to teach me how to drive... it sure looks fun!

For now, I am only 4.5 months so I have to wait a few years. I am growing up too fast for my mommies already though. I have two teeth now, the bottom center ones. I like to move myself around and am strong enough to do it, although I get frustrated sometimes. I think I'll be crawling soon and I love to sit up! My favorite things to do right now are play with my toes and feet, try to grab the dogs' ears, chat and even yell to make sure everybody is looking at me, get lots of love from my mommies and play with my Baby Tad (an early Christmas gift from Aunt Tammy).

Big Boy Bathtub

See me sitting up in my big boy bath!

I'm getting stronger everyday!

Look how strong I have gotten... I can push up into a semi-crawling position and I can sit-up pretty well on my own too!

I got my first tooth on Thursday, November 11th! The bottom left came in and I was a trooper, very drooly, but tough :) 

the beach is very relaxing :) 

My First Beach Trip

I went to the beach for the first time last weekend! It was great fun and I loved to watch the sand and water run over my toes.

We stopped at a local restaurant/bar for lunch and Emmett had a great time. He knocked water glasses over and tried to eat all of our yummy seafood ;) Unfortunately for him, he was too excited by the beach and the restaruant to nurse, but he was really thirsty from the heat and humidity. So Mommy Kirsten did some quick thinking and dipped one of his t-shirts into her water for him to chomp on. See above! He loved it and would hold it out for "more" water when he had sucked/chewed all the water out... very cute :)

Happy Halloween :)

Emmett had his first Halloween on Sunday... this picture is from a Mommy's group outing that Kirsten brought him to the Thursday before Halloween. A group of moms and babes toured the hospital near our house, Emmett was naturally the cutest one there ;)
On Sunday, Emmett trick or treated at two neighbor's houses and got a Snicker's bar, some M&Ms and some pretzels to put in his stuffed pumpkin candy carrier! He was asleep by 7:30 pm and was not bothered by the groups of trick or treaters that came to our house.
Kirsten did a cool thing this year. She made a "trick" bowl and a "treat" bowl. The kids had to do the trick before the treat and most of them loved it. The "trick" bowl had spaghetti noodles in it and felt like guts or brains to most of the kids. The funny part was that some of them thought that the noodles were their "treat" and got very funny looks on their faces when they pulled the noodles out to put them in their bags :) Once I explained that they could now have their treat, they thought that was a very cool thing.
One little boy, maybe 9, said we should go something like that again next year... he even suggested using peeled grapes for eye balls ;) Another little boy, 8 0r 9, came back and brought a friend to do our trick! Very sweet :)

aren't I handsome? 

My 4 month check-up

Emmett and his Mommies went for his 4 month check-up at the pediatrician yesterday. It went very well :) Emmett was a social butterfly with the doctor, smiling and holding his hand while he was examined.
They weighed and measured him, although he was too big for the scale so not sure about the accuracy of his weight... probably a little off considering his legs were dangling off the side and he was holding the top of the scale with his left hand!
Accuracy notwithstanding, he weighed in at 21 pounds 8 ounces and was 29 inches long! Once again off the charts for his age, but the size of an average 10 month old :)
The pediatrician gave us the go ahead to start solid foods, but we are going to wait until Emmett stops the tongue thrusting reflex and can sit up better on his own. Those are both signs that his body is developmentally ready for solids. Breast feeding is obviously working well for now!
Emmett got three shots in his chubby thighs and didn't like that too much, but he calmed down quickly and had a great afternoon after the appointment. Mommy Kirsten and Mommy Vanessa both got flu shots to help protect little Emmett until he can get a flu shot of his own (6 months). So everyone shared in the needle fun :/

Look How Big I Am!

Emmett has become too large for his bouncy seat... his weight pushes the seat too far back making him lie back too far, at the same time he is very anxious to sit up on his own. Result: he no longer likes his bouncy seat!
I went shopping this weekend to get him the next "level" of entertainment/sitting toy. Something like a stationary walker that he could sit in and stand in and play in while we ate dinner or cooked or did something else that is easier to do while baby is having play time outside of your arms ;)
Once at Target, it became quickly obvious that there isn't much out there for babies like Emmett. Every walker and stationary walker type toy had a 25 pound weight limit, Emmett was 21 pounds 2 weeks ago so I wasn't going to spend $50 on any of those contraptions. There was one with no posted weight limit, but the cost was $80 and the height limit was 30 inches. I don't know if everyone remembers this, but Emmett was 26 inches long two months ago! I am sure he is over 30" now.
So what to do? Emmett needed something new to hang out in, something that he could sit-up in with and without help. How about a high chair? (see pictures) It only took me a half hour to put together and it looks great in the dining room and he loves it! No more straining to do sit-ups in his bouncy chair or getting mad when he can't see something. The high chair was the ultimate solution, and he can even use it for eating someday ;)

I love my new high chair! :) 

Me in My New High Chair

I love my new high chair! Don't I look big and cute :)

Just Had a Great Weekend

Today is Monday :(
But our family weekend was fun and busy. Emmett spent his first 15 minutes in a "day care" at the local gym on Saturday while his mommies got set up to work-out. He didn't mind it, although both of us were trying not to cry in front of him ;)
Oh, Emmett is 3.5 months old now and weighs over 20 pounds!

Emmett's Granny Susan stayed with us for the weekend, and he had a great time with her. They even had their first "alone time" together when Kirsten and I rushed off to do some household shopping. All the adults were nervous about the 1 hour 15 minute jaunt, but Emmett did great and fully enjoyed having time with his Granny!

He continues to be the cutest, biggest baby ever. He laughs at just about everything and loves to cuddle when he's sleepy or needs some downtime. He learned a new skill this weekend: he now can blow "raspberries" on command thanks to his mama's expert tutelage! Although his raspberries are a lot more spitty than mama's ;)

He loves to be outside, especially now that the weather has cooled down a little. He has to have his hands touching and his feet touching and just recently started consistently putting his first two fingers in his mouth for some chewing time.

This is a new attempt for Mama Vanessa, so wish me luck with my first blog!

Monster in Training

Mommy Kirsten helping Emmett show off his Halloween Monster pajamas, can you believe those are size 12 months?! 10-17-04, Emmett is 3.5 months

You Can Do It!

Mama Vanessa playing with Emmett while he tries to sit-up, 10-17-04