Watch Emma Grow - Month Ten

Hi ho there! I made it just in the first half of the month! Go me! Life this month wasn't too hectic, but I say that and look back and realize just how much we actually did! We celebrated her first Easter, but other than that it has been life as usual.

This months big thing was practicing standing. She stands up with the assistance of anything. Then she started to let go. Only for a couple of seconds and then longer and longer. I feel like she is going to walk very soon. She's in major exploratory mode. Crawling into and under everything. Loves to play with shoes (ew! I catch her quickly and redirect) and also loves to crawl over to the case of water and pull them out.

She loves the dogs in her life. I mean, so excited and bangs on the door to get their attention if they are outside. She has started to call out to them, either "buh" and points as Shelby walks by or she says "duh" and I am taking that as dog. When we ask where Shelby is, she looks for her. However she is not fond of the face licking or when Shelby hits her in the face with her tail.....it's ok mommy doesn't like that either. Her favorite times of day are still morning time/play time and bath time with daddy. She HATES getting dressed. Too much to do and see, "ain't nobody got time" to get dressed.

She started the stranger anxiety this month also. People she doesn't know well are a no go. She clings to the hubby or myself in fear. Poor little thing. She also has a mild case when I reintroduce a new toy that has eyes. She gets a little scared, but then realizes that its a toy and grabs it and hugs it. She's so sweet. Her favorite toys are stacking blocks, and books. She loves to look at the books, but not sit and read just yet. and when mommy tries to stack up the blocks she knocks them over before I am done.

She definitely recognizes daddy and myself and gets so excited when we pick her up after work. She throws her arms excitedly up and down and then crawls over to my lap and gives me her version of a hug....face buried into my shoulder. I love it so much! She went to her first friends birthday party, the Large Cat reserve and mommy got her act together and got her birth announcement posted in the paper. I guess it was a big month! Lol

9 Month Well Check Stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 3 ozs (30%)
Height: 27" (24%)
Head: 17.5" (60%)

6 Month Well Check Stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 7 ozs (20%)
Height: 25.5" (38%)
Head: 17.25" (84%)
Updated weight: 15lbs (24%)

Eat: Here's her new eating schedule, since our pediatrician gave us the big food go ahead. She can eat everything except nuts and honey. Seriously, this child has loved everything we have put in front of her minus zucchini. She especially loves pasta and cheerios. Anything that she can feed to herself is a plus! Here's her eating schedule....she breastfeeds in the morning, then eats solids and either the breast or a bottle before her nap, has lunch and a bottle, then another a snack and the breast/bottle after her second nap, dinner with us before her bath. Then she nurses to sleep and through the night. If she seems hungry she gets either a snack or the breast/bottle whenever she wants. I try to get her to eat as often as possible because of how active she is becoming.

Sleep: I haven't even tried with the transitioning. As long as we are all sleeping, I don't mind her in our bed or if she wakes. As long as she's happy and healthy that's all that matters to me.

Diapers: Size three's. The Huggies little movers are good for crawling, but I still love my Pampers Little Snugglers.

Milestones to date:
Bringing her home: July 2nd (1 day old)
First Bath: July 4th (3 days old)
First Holiday: Independence Day (3 days old)
Held Up Head: July 11th (1 week old)
Lost Belly Button: (8 days old) First Walk (2 weeks old)
First Smile: July 27th (3 weeks old)
First Trip: Lake Tahoe/Carson City (5 weeks old)
Found her hands: (6 weeks old)
First Swim: (6 Weeks old)
Laughed Out Loud: Sept 25th (12 Weeks Old)
Rolled Over: October 28th (3 Months Old)
Found Her Feet: November 2nd (4 Months Old)
First Teeth: December 3rd (5 Months Old)
Crawled: (Army: January 16th - 6 mo; Normal: March 17th - 8 mo)
Sat on her own: January 7th (6 Months Old)
Ate Solid Foods: January 7th (6 Months Old)
First Vacation: Florida March 9th (8 Months Old)
Stood on her own: March 8th (8 Months Old)

And for the monthly photo dump!

Crinkle Nose!

Messy Moo!

Rocking out to her piano

Pinata's are COOL!

My little "My Little Pony"

Tigers and peacocks at the Cat reserve

Laundry baskets are fun

Ill take the filet please!

Thoughts on Mother's Day

As Mother's Day approaches I find myself getting really emotional. Thought's run through my head thinking about my first official Mother's Day and the special meaning behind that day. In the past did I think of myself as a "mother" to our puppy, yes. Did I truly understand the meaning of that word until last year. Absolutely not. I did not officially become a Mother until July 1st 2014. It was the single most glorious and exhausting day of my life and I wouldn't trade it for the world. If you'd like to read about Emma's fist days into the world please check out here and here. What I thought I would do is just write down my thoughts of what I think a Mother looks like, to me. How I choose to be a mother to Emma.

A mother thinks of her children first. I wake up in the morning and glance down at Emma as she nurses and I cannot wait for those beautiful blue eyes to open and for her to look up and smile at me. Her smile just makes my mornings so bright! I think of her all day long at work, and resist the urge to text a million times a day just to see how she is doing. When I pick her up, all I want is to snuggle, and cover her with hugs and kisses. Her meals are planned before mine, her sleep schedule is what matters more than me time and just watching her play is fun to me. My heart swells when she crawls over to sit in my lap, it fills with joy when she gives me the wettest of kisses and it just explodes when she buries into my shoulder to snuggle and hug me. Her little voice saying "mama" is the sweetest sound I can hear.

I think about the future. How I will raise her to be a responsible adult, a kind teen, and a fun loving child. I always want her to know how much I love her.....so much that it spills out of my eyes....on an almost weekly basis (hormones much?) I want her to feel secure with herself emotionally and physically. I want her to be fearless in her learning and ability to try new things, but I want her to be cautious as well, but not overly cautious.

I want her to be kind to her peers, to people from all walks of life, and to be respectful of the country she was born into. I hope she's a patriot and respectful of the world that she lives in. To be kind to the planet and all creatures in it.

I want her to know that the things I provided are not sacrifices. I housed her in my body for nine months, I embrace the changes to it and am glad that I can nourish her still with breastfeeding. Sleepless nights, snuggling and those nighttime feedings were/are totally worth it to make sure that she grows big and strong. The "me" time that I had is now "mommy and me" time and I wouldn't change it for the world.

My life has completely changed and for the better. I want to be a better person for her. To provide her with an example of a woman that she could become, a wife she can be, and a mom. I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be. I just would like to provide an example of a kind and respectful person. I find myself correcting how I do things or say things just to be a better example for her. I want to provide her with consistency and a happy household always.

I fear that I am rambling so, all I can say is that this Mother's Day I am blessed to be the mommy of a wonderfully beautiful baby girl and with all my heart I can't imagine my life to be any better right now. She is my life, she is my world, she is my everything.

Happy Mother's Day