Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Emery Tracker: Month Ten

The Story
Why, hello there!  Here we sit nearly a week into month 11 and I'm just getting around to posting about month 10.  If this blog were to be audited, I'd fail the timeliness attribute with flying colors.  Can you tell that I have audit and year end on the brain?  I do.

Anywho, back to the topic at hand, which is far more exciting than accounting, my sweet, growing girl!  On January 6th she turned a whopping 10 months old.  I still can't believe it.  In my head she is still 6 months old.  I can't believe I'm about to have a toddler.  (And start sippy cup boot camp- heaven help us!)

Just kickin' it.  (See how I had to get a new calendar?!  I was very distraught when I couldn't find the same one as before.  The lady at Office Depot did not grasp the severity of this plight.  Obviously a course on empathy needs to be added to their HR manual.)

Month 10 was a real doozie as I alluded to in previous posts.  It started out full of rainbows, unicorns and puppies like all the others in recent memory and took a sharp left-hand turn into Diva-ville in the last half.  The population in Diva-ville went from 0 to 1 on December 23rd, to be exact.  Ryan & I were both off for Christmas break and we noticed that her highness was being a little more vocal and moody than usual.  At first we just thought maybe she was having a bad day.  By the time we reached the evening of Christmas Eve we realized that Miss Emery was just learning the delicate art of self expression.  There must have been a soundtrack of Madonna's "Express Yourself" happening in my womb I was unaware of, because my tiny angel has it DOWN.

For most of Christmas break she was VERY vocal (read: massive fits) about what she did not want to be doing- which was pretty much anything we wanted to be doing.  I know, I know- excellent practice for her teenage years.  Every time I tried to put her into her car seat she would arch her back with US Olympic-hopeful form.  Oh and scream like a banshee.  Are you jealz?  You should be.  Think back to your Christmas season life.  Were you running errands?  Getting in and out of the car about 5 jillion times a day?  Braving the public more than usual?  So was I, my friend.  So.  Was.  I.  The fact that I did not get arrested for kidnapping in that window of time is a real feather in my cap.

Sooo... I know when you have this on every morning, it's my one goal in life to get it off of you and onto me, buuuuuut it turns out I don't actually want it on me.  Let's get it off.  Stat.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret- her father & I found this to be quite exhausting, of course, but we also find it utterly hilarious.  What we all want for our kids is happiness and the ability to achieve their dreams.   Em is well on her way.   Sure her current dream, pulling my chi off of the counter while on, might be a little different than her future dreams but I like to think it bodes well.  She sure keeps us in stitches either way.

This month wasn't all near-deaf (ba doom cha) experiences and child proofing audit snafus- in the mean time our sweet little lady checked some milestones off her list.  She became a pretty excellent stander this month.  She demonstrated on several occasions that she could not only stand for long amounts of time, but she could stand herself up without using anything to help her.  Not too shabby.

I'm trying to think what else big happened in this month.  Oh, she started giggling at herself.  Mama & Daddy?  Not very funny at all.  Emery?  Definitely funny.  She remained very stinge-y with laughs (hello Ryan Martin genes) but when she did laugh, it was at herself.  Are you envisioning sweet baby giggles that sound like angels tap dancing?  Nope, not our baby princess.  She has cultivated a chuckle that Ryan & I affectionately refer to as the Beavis & Butthead giggle.  If you see me you'll have to ask me to demonstrate because nothing I type here will do it justice.

You didn't seem to get it a minute ago.  Maybe if I furrow my brow you'll understand this necklace is a problem for me.

Miss E also started being the poster child for separation anxiety this month.  Dropping her off at school, walking away from her or putting her down for bed all resulted in waterworks displays worthy of a major motion picture.  Poor, sweet lovey!

As noted above, her little personality continues to blossom.  She looooooves people - watching them mainly.  People trump things any day.  Don't expect her to accept you with open arms and a toothy grin though- remember she's her Daddy's girl.  She may not interact with new people but she will watch them like a hawk.  The only strangers she smiles at are babies.  Emery loooooves babies.

Overall, this was definitely a challenging month between the separation anxiety and determination to get what she wants but it was still my favorite to date.  Thank you so very much baby girl for keeping my heart so full- I genuinely don't know what I would do without you!

What's it say in that heart?  My Mom is mean, but I look so cute that it's okay?

The School Stuff
This month at school Emery has really seemed to get into her groove.  She was sad when we left her as we noted above, but she was also visibly bummed to be leaving when we picked her up in the evenings.  She just loves her friends, teachers and toys there!  Based on all the thoughtful notes, presents and lovin' she got from her teachers- the feeling is mutual.  We feel so blessed to have found a place we can say that about.

The only story I can recall from school relevant to the month was one evening when I was picking Em up.  Her teachers were talking about her day and her behavior.  They randomly mentioned the little giggle she had started and it was hilarious.  Again- typing it on the blog doesn't do it justice.  Listening to her teacher try to re-enact the sound was so funny.

Oh, another thing I didn't mention above is that Emery has become obsessed with bottles.  As soon as she sees one she starts bouncing around and making all kinds of excited dinosaur noises.  They mentioned at school that they have to sneak over to the fridge when she isn't looking now because she knows that's where the bottles are and if she doesn't get one she gets cranky.  I told you- yittle yovey has aced the self expression course.

Psssst.  Something happened.

The Stats
  • Height:  29.5" inches (92nd percentile)
  • Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (66th percentile) 
  • Head:  Uhhh... still big?
  • Diaper size: 3
  • Clothes: 9-12 months 
  • Shoes:  She's wearing a size 3 and she still hearts pulling them off her feet.
  • Milk:  She's started having about 6 oz every 4 hours.  I continued to pump and feed her for the rest of month 10.
  • Solids: This baby still adores her oatmeal cereal.  She tried wheat and did fine with that but oatmeal is still her #1 love.  She has tried quite a few new solids this month - chicken, turkey, pears, cheese, pasta, Cheerios.  She continues to be infatuated with puffs- any flavor.  
  • Firsts: 
    • First time she cried when we dropped her off at school (December 9th)
    • Note from school saying she was standing on her own (December 12th)
    • First time climbing stairs (January 2nd)
    • First unassisted side step (January 3rd)
  • Games:  Still a big fan of popping up over furniture, around corners, etc.  She also looooves cruising around on furniture and trying to climb on things she shouldn't.
  • Favorite Toys:  Mama's phone, Mama's keys, water bottles, her little jungle that sings songs that get endlessly stuck in my head, a shape sorter with some cool translucent shapes
  • Songs:  Ohhh, you know it was more Christmas music.  LOOOOVE Christmas music.  What?  This isn't about me?  It is until she can ask me to change the station.
  • Sleep:  She was a pretty fab sleeper except when she arrived in Diva-ville.  Then she was hard to put down but once down she stayed asleep. She normally goes to sleep between 8 & 8:30 PM and sleeps until we wake her around 6:30 AM.  She will sleep until some time between 7:00 & 8:00 AM on weekends.  When we have her she will nap 2x a day for about 1-2.5 hours a piece.  At school she takes 0 naps.  At most 1 20 minute nap.  It hurts my heart.
  • Other Notables:  She's my favorite.  That's not new or notable.  However I say it like 150 times a day to Ryan, so why not to the interwebs?
Mama, we have to call it quits on today's shoot.  I think Mr. Bubbles needs CPR.

Are you laughing?!  This is NOT a laughing matter.  Please note my look of concern.

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