A few notes about Emi while I'm thinking about it. She is working so hard to get around and starting to do something that looks like an army crawl. She keeps finding whatever toys Alaina has left on the floor, so we need to do a better job of picking things up. I think she may have said the following words recently but need to hear them again to be sure: ball, bye, bubble. She likes to wave at the window when we open and close the curtains and waves whenever we go toward the front door. She is happiest when well rested and fed and getting attention. ;-) Still looks at her sister with a mixture of fear and fascination. Alaina tends to squeeze too hard when hugging, etc., probably due to her own mixed feelings toward her sister.

First Christmas

Emi is now 8 1/2 months old. She started clapping on Christmas Eve. She loves music, and her favorite song over the past few weeks was "Jingle Bells." I've even noticed her trying to sing along. Her smile is contagious. Last night I put my mouth on her cheek and said something, so she did the same back to me and we both giggled. She keeps trying to say words, and every once in a while I think I hear her say something but I'm not quite sure (ball and Alaina are a couple examples). She rolls all over the place but still doesn't crawl. She loves to take books off the bookshelf. Still puts everything in her mouth. Her two bottom teeth are nicely in now. She loves to eat her meals. Emi is a very social baby. She loved interacting with so many people over Christmas. She enjoys how each person has slightly different facial expressions, silly little games they like to play with her, etc. She gets fussy when we leave the room for a few minutes to do something. She much prefers to have someone nearby even if that person isn't 100% focused on her. She enjoyed unwrapping Christmas gifts, although she mostly wanted to tear off little pieces of wrapping paper and put them in her mouth. She didn't enjoy the car ride home from visiting family last week. She doesn't nap well in the car. I really miss being able to take walks outside with her. Hopefully we'll have some nice weather here and there so we can do that occasionally before spring. I have more pictures, but Blogger isn't letting me upload from my camera, so maybe I'll add more later.

Look at this joyful smile! :-)

 

 

What a cute double chin!

 



 

 

 

 

No pics today -- I don't have any handy but wanted to post a few thoughts about Emi at 7 1/2 months. She has been giving me lots of spontaneous (and wet!) kisses lately. She's been trying to wave for about a month now but is getting better and better at it recently. She is a sweet baby but gets very upset when left alone to play. She much prefers having interaction or at least someone nearby. Loves to babble. Has been saying "da da da" a lot lately -- hard to tell yet if she knows who she's talking about or not (but that's how "ma ma" started, too). Several days ago she said "Ah ay ah," and I really think she was trying to say "Alaina." She also for quite some time says a sound like "heh" or similar when greeting someone. I think she is trying to say "hi" or "hey." Laughs when kissed right on her bottom rib on each side. Seems to be kind of bored with her toys lately but has no thought whatsoever of crawling and isn't quite ready for the next level of toys. Enjoys books but mostly the lift the flap kind and enjoys gnawing on books. Still loves being outside and going for walks. Loves people. Seems to really respond to music. If the TV is on and suddenly there's music, she notices. Sometimes will kind of move her arms up and down when she hears music. Sometimes vocalizes when I'm singing. She is doing really well with eating solids -- just gave her pear slices at dinner tonight and she fed them to herself (left little pear stumps behind). Has also fed herself very tender carrot sticks and some avocado. I've fed her mashed up sweet potatoes. She's had lots of baby food, cereal, etc., as well. Her favorite food so far, though, is organic Greek yogurt with some fruit mixed in.

Halloween and other recent pics

Getting bigger yet?

We've been busily trying to get lots of extra calories into little Emmeline. Sadly, she didn't gain any weight between her 4 and 6 month appointments. I don't want to write much about it here, but of course, I was shocked and sad to hear that. She's been eating very well for the past couple of weeks, so we're hoping she's showing that she can gain weight.

Also, for the past couple of weeks Emi's been saying "ma ma," and at first, I thought she was just babbling. But over time it's become clear that she knows exactly what she's saying, and it warms my heart. Now we need to work on "da da" and "Alaina." Alaina didn't say "mama" (knowingly) until almost 10 months, I think, and said "da da" first, so this is really fun for me. Emi is really a good natured, flexible, sweet baby. Her biggest peeve is being ignored. She prefers direct interaction as much as possible.

Six months old

First cereal:

Just hanging out as a 6-month-old:

Emi has really been babbling lately. She's saying "ma ma ma ma" a lot, and lots of "b" sounds, too ("mba" is frequently heard). Lots of m, b, g consonants and o and a vowel sounds. And some h sounds, too, especially upon greeting people. She's doing really well at sitting up, although she definitely still flops back or to the side after a while.