6 Months

 Emmerson Grace is 6 months old now. Half a year with our precious peanut has already passed and I can't even begin to wrap my brain around that. 

In last month's post I said that Emme wasn't quite rolling over yet. About 3 days after I wrote it, she began rolling herself all across the house. This child rolls like nobody's business. I think it's her favorite thing to do this month. 

 Just look at those squishy thighs! Aren't they the best?! Our happy girl continues to be easy going although there have been a couple of set backs this month. For starters… the poop situation. What is it with our kids and poop issues?!! Emmerson had a difficult time adjusting to solids. She LOVED eating them but had a hard time digesting them. With one near visit to the ER and several calls to the advice nurse, I think we are finally getting it under control. If she hasn't gone for a few days, I give her an ounce of prune juice mixed with an ounce of water and within the next 24 hours the issue seems to work itself out… literally. ;) 

 She's also been teething this month which has made for a couple of fussy episodes. She is constantly gnawing one her fists and drooling like crazy. Her bottom left tooth just poked through this week and her bottom right tooth looks like it's not too far behind. 

 Emmerson still loves her brother above all others. Cindy says she spends the entire day at daycare searching for his voice and laughing at just about everything he says and does. I can attest to that. She is very easily amused when he's around. If I'm busy doing something, like cooking dinner, and she begins to fuss, Donovan knows it's his job to go chat with her and she's instantly a happy girl again. 

 Emme has learned to make all kinds of funny sounds this month. She loves playing with her tongue and making clicking sounds. She especially loves if you mimic them right back at her. It always gets a laugh. She has also started to "talk" to herself. She makes the "t" sound and "d" sound and happily babbles them all day long. "Ta- aaa- ta. Da da da da da" It makes me smile every time I hear it. She has such a sweet little voice. 

 We don't have her 6 month appointment for a few more weeks so I'm not sure what her percentages are. But she seems pretty long to me. I have a hard time snapping her 6 months onesies so she is mostly wearing 9 months clothing, although they're still a bit baggy on her. 

 She doesn't seem to be losing anymore hair. She has some longer wispy hair that she's kept since birth and lots of baby hairs growing in underneath. She has just enough to hold a hair clip in… hooray!

 Oh, that face. I could just eat her up!

 Her sparkly eyes and great, big gummy smile are my favorite!!!

She's not quite ready to sit up. She will for a few seconds but then she leans her whole body forward and can't get herself back up. 

Sweet Emmers, 

We sure do love you baby girl. What a fun month it's been. You are so patient and easy going even when you're not feeling your best. You bring so much joy to our family each and every day. I can't imagine my life without you Emme.

I love you, 

Mommy

First Day of School

The saddest part of my day was kissing my boys goodbye. Donovan is doing SO well at daycare. I feel 100% confident about where he goes. I absolutely love the lady that we take him to. But it's still so hard to say good-bye every morning.

On the flip side...I loved the first day of school! I was so excited to meet my new class and all in all it was a great day. I have a few pill bugs (you know how they jump right out at you almost immediately) and one little sweetie that just moved here from China and doesn't understand one word of English. To make matters worse for the little guy, our school is about 97% latino/spanish speaking students. Talk about a confusing first day. He went to the wrong class, spent his recess sobbing in a crowd of strangers, and looked completely glazed over as I talked and talked allllll day long. But I think we had a breakthrough because when his grandmother picked him up this afternoon he gave me a great big hug before he left my side. I smiled a lot today getting to know each one of my kiddos and I am looking forward to the journey that we'll share this year. I have missed teaching so much over the last few months.

And as wonderful as my first day back was, my most favorite part of the day was walking through the door to find these two hanging out.

There's nothing like coming home to them now, after a long day at work. Donovan shrieks so loud when he sees me and it makes me so happy I get a lump in my throat just typing about it. It's definitely the most rewarding moment of my day.

I couldn't resist sneaking a few more pictures of our rapidly growing boy this afternoon. I can not believe how fast he's changing right now...right before my eyes.

Doesn't he look so big? Too big! Where'd my tiny little baby go?

6 Months!

Well, well, well... another month. Looking back at this post from last month I could never have predicted the curve ball that was just lurking behind the corner of the 5 month bend.

Last month's post I went on and on about how much easier things had gotten. And then along came the 5 month marker and with it, uncontrollable fussiness, complete loss of schedule, and too many sleepless nights to count.

Maybe you can sense the personality that this little guy is rapidly developing by just a quick glance at his facial expressions in some of these 6 month pictures. Besides the crazy stuff that the last month brought us, there have been amazing things too.

Donovan sits up now! He's still a bit unsteady and face plants here and there but he is so proud of himself when he does it well. He is completely over his swing these days and prefers anything with lots of stimulation, mainly his jumparoo. He can bounce in that thing for an hour straight and be totally content. He is just now showing some beginning signs of crawling. When he lays on his stomach he tries to pull his knees underneath him and scoot. I'm hoping this milestone takes a nice long while to develop... a mobile child is a whole new can of worms.

Donovan rolls from his back to his tummy all the time but for some reason he never rolls from his tummy to his back anymore. He has become a tummy sleeper at night now. Which I must say freaked me out for awhile... but if he's happy sleeping, than I'm happy letting him sleep that way, too.

Little man has been eating rice cereal and bananas and I'm on the verge of introducing some new solids to him later this week. He's pretty happy with his solid food and enjoys it in small amounts. Oh, and speaking of food... he's finally back to taking a bottle as of 2 days ago! Praise the Lord! I was beginning to freak out seeing as I'm returning to work full time in just a few short weeks. After a month of me trying to bottle feed with no success and our too smart for his own good little boy who would refuse the bottle and instead grab onto my shirt and nuzzle his head in my chest as if to say, I'm not dumb Mom... give me what I want. But now that his Daddy's stepped in for me, bottle feeding has become a whole lot easier.

And last but certainly not least, Donovan has FINALLY gotten his first tooth on the lower left center. I've been using the teething excuse for months now! It's finally here and my oh my is it sharp. I had my first nursing encounter with it tonight. Ouch!

All in all it's been a crazy month. It's been hard at times and we've had to rely on lots of support and advice from friends and family... but I think things are beginning to turn around once again. No matter how frustrating some of our days/nights have been this month, there is not one single second that I don't just look at this baby boy and give thanks that he's ours. I love him so much it hurts!

Just seeing how fast he's growing and changing in these pictures below makes me want to cry. They're not babies for very long so I'm trying my best to soak up every single second I have with my sweet Donovan.