11 Months!

Happy 11th Month Birthday, Emily Kate!

Our little girl is quickly growing out of the baby stage and into toddler-hood. So what has Emily been up to this month?

- She is on all table food - no more baby food. She has 3 meals and 2 snacks everyday. She loves graham crackers, beans, cheese, waffles
- She's a full time walker (has been for a while). Once she figured out how that she could walk, she was done with crawling.
- She "runs" around the room with Brad (video to come)
- She's figured out how to open cabinets.
- I can say, "Go to bed" or "let's take a nap" and she'll go to her room. If I say, "Let's brush your teeth", she goes to the bathroom door.
- Has enjoyed many adventures in our little backyard pool.
- Wears mostly 12m clothing
- On daycare days she only takes 1 nap (I'm not really thrilled with this) but on the days I'm home with here - she still takes 2 good naps.
- She's drolling like crazy - I think another tooth is on it's way.
- Has had several injuries this month: fell at my mom's house and hit her cheek pretty bad, scratched up her lip with her cup, bit her lip at daycare (they thought she bit all the way through, but it wasn't that bad).
- She loves to "dance". It's so cute.

Emily Walking

Emily is a full-time walker now. A couple weeks ago I videoed her walking around the house. Here's a little bit of it.



Even though this is just a couple weeks ago - her balance has improved a lot. 

Emily's Birthday

In just over a month Emily Kate will be 1. And I'm so excited about her birthday party.

I always told myself that I wouldn't go crazy for her first birthday, and I'm really trying not to, but I'm having so much fun planning it. I made the invitations and had them printed (they should be here Tuesday), I've found a ton of different decorating ideas, and I've ordered the cakes (3 to exact - 1 for everyone to eat, 1 for Emily to smash at her party and another for her to smash at her 1 year pictures). And If I'm not careful my house will be covered in purple with supplies for her party very soon. I know that Emily isn't going to remember this party. She wouldn't care if we didn't celebrate her birthday at all. But, I'm having fun!  

We are teaching Emily to hold up 1 finger when asked, "How old are you?" Hopefully after a month of practice she'll be able to "perform" the trick at her party. 

Any party tips or suggestions? Anything I need stay away from? Any entertaining ideas?

And here's the soon-to-be-birthday girl in her little robe after swimming one afternoon.

The Stupid Pump.

I'm sick and tired of pumping.

I stopped nursing Emily when she was about 4 months old. It was hard to nurse, pump at work, find a schedule that worked for both and keep up my supply. So I made the decision to stop nursing and just pump. It didn't bother Emily at all. She didn't care if she nursed or got her milk from a bottle - all that mattered to her was that it wasn't formula (she REFUSED formula).

So I've been pumping 4-6 times per day since then and I'm sick of it. I'm tired of the machine. I'm tired of trying to plan my day around it. I'm sick of having to stop what I'm doing at work or at home. I'm just tired of it.

It takes me 20-30 minutes to pump each time. When I was pumping 6 times a day, I could spend up to 3 hours a day (or 21 hours a week) hooked up to that stupid machine. That's A LOT of time each day. A lot of time I can't do much else.

(Yes, I know this is selfish. But I don't care. I'm allowed to be annoyed with pumping. And I know the machine isn't stupid - it's saved us a TON of money, allowed Emily not to have to take formula, and for that, I'm grateful And I'm proud of myself for keeping it up for so long).

I'm counting down the weeks until Emily's first birthday (7 weeks) and she can have cow milk. I'm doing research and trying out to figure out the best and most healthy way to stop pumping. I have no desire to stop, cold turkey. I'm glad that I have a freezer full of breast milk to help in the weaning process.

Any tips for weaning? Any thing that has worked or not worked when switching your kids to cow milk? I'm open to all suggestions.

 And because a picture of Emily should be in every post. Here's my most favorite picture of Emily and me (it's about a month old) (and yes, I said most favorite).

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Brad! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Love,

Carrie and Emily

10 Months!

10 Months Old!

So what has little Emily been up to this month:

• Walking! Emily took her first steps earlier this month. She walks more and more everyday. Before long she'll be a full time walker. She can even step up and down the step in our house.
• Swimming. Each time she's in the pool it's a better experience. We hung out in our pool Sunday and she LOVED it.
• Got sick. Poor little thing had pink eye and strep throat. She's all better now!
• Eating more solids. She's doing better with her food - but it's still a challenge. For breakfast she has yogurt and a blueberry waffle, lunch is a sandwich and fruit and dinner is always different. She's picky about what she eats - but it's getting better. If she doesn't want something, she just throws it off of her tray.
• Wearing size 9-12 months clothes. Now that she's walking it's so much easier to put her in some of the dresses she has.
• Loves her swing and can point it out. Emily LOVES her swing. We bring it in everyday and Emily knows where we keep it. When she wants to swing, she points it to. She would stay in that swing for hours if we would let her.
• Waves bye-bye, hello and night-night. It's really cute.
• Can sign all done, more, eat. We aren't really pushing much sign language - but she has picked up on a few words. 

Quick Update

Emily has been sick. I've been sick. And the blog, along with a lot of other things, went to the bottom of the priority list. I think we are all finally getting better.

Emily had pink eye, strep throat and nasty congestion. I had strep throat, a double ear infection, pink eye and nasty congestion. Sounds like fun around our house, huh? But, like I said, I think we are all getting better. I know I feel human again.

Emily has been walking more and everyday. She's getting better and more sure of herself. It's cute. However, her eating habits are going down the tube. All the child wants to eat is Cheerios. She'll just sit in her highchair, cry and point to the cabinet with the Cheerios. It's kinda funny.

Now - I've gotta get back to work. I'll have a better update and more pictures soon.