Seven - Eight Months Old

Emerson seems to have hit a big spurt of milestones all at once. Within a few days of turning 8 months old, Emerson started to crawl, started standing up on his own and has popped two teeth.

We've tried hard to get a good shot of his teeth, but his checks get in the way. And if his checks aren't in the way, his tongue is. If his tongue isn't in the way, he's flailing his arms around and defending his face. It's rare that we get to see the pearly whites, but sure as shit, they are there.

• Crawling like a crazy man
• In size 3 diapers
• Pulling himself up 
• Eating solids 2-4 times a day. He loves fruit and eats just about everything. He isn't a huge fan of broccoli
• He is putting everything in sight in his mouth
• 2 bottom teeth
• Weighs about 20lbs
• Had his first flu shots
• Occasionally he wakes up in the middle of the night crying. Most likely it is because he wants to be held. We have been trying to sleep train him and let him 'cry it out'. We usually fail.
• Its gotten extremely difficult to change him without him squirming around!
• He has a new love in his life: Lola Keach (Jessica and Matias's new baby girl!)
• He celebrated dad's birthday for the first time. We went to the Jelly Belly and Budweiser factory
• We baby proofed the house; but we most likely have a lot more to do
• Emerson loves pulling on our records. We have to keep an eye on him every second
• He watched the SuperBowl for the first time. I think he was bored
• He likes us to read Dr. Seuss books to him
• His friend at day care is named Maddie (she has bright red hair)
• His poops are pretty solid and stinky!
• He loves bath time. He splashes so hard, we have to block him with a towel so he doesn't flood the bathroom
• He is sitting in his stroller like a big boy (no more car seat)
• He LOVES the guitar and having Morgan put on a special concert for him

The Toe Brothers: Xmas 2011

It was a big Xmas for us. It was Emerson's first for a lot of things, and we spent two whole weeks in Albuquerque NM for Xmas and New Years.

Probably the biggest news to come out of the holiday is that we found where Emerson's syndactyly came from. We blogged about Emerson's webbed toes, and it turns out Uncle Ronnie is his Toe Brother! When we mentioned that Emerson had webbed toes, Ronnie revealed he had the same exact thing. To all of our surprise, including Aunt Bobby's, Ronnie showed us his toes and what Emerson's feet will look like in about 60 years.


The trip started off with Emerson's first flight. He did great. It was only 2.5 hours. He got fussy in the middle, but it was only because he was tired. Once he fell asleep, he didn't awake until after we landed wich was perfect.

Grandma picked us up and the whole family was waiting to meet Emerson back at the house. It was really cool to see how excited the cousins were to meet him. We knew Helena was ecstatic, but the boys were equally entertained. Here is the first meet and greet on the right. He was a celebrity.

During the first night, pappa just couldn't stand waiting to give me my Bday gift (one month early). He was replacing a riffle that he gave me when I was a kid, and then gave away. It's a Marlin  Model Golden 39A .22 level action riffle. It's touted as 'the oldest and longest continuously produced shoulder firearm in the world.' It's a beaut. Later during the trip, pops also picked up a nice scope from his favorite website: Amazon.

During the trip, we did a lot of hanging around the fireplace, prompting Emerson to crawl, watching House Hunters, watching movies, drinking my new favorite whiskey, Eagle Rare, and playing games. Emerson was held a LOT:

Grandma

Aunt Patsy

                                                                                                                 

All in all, it was an excellent holiday and break from the daily grind. Our next big trip is to Hawaii with the family in July. That will be a big one because Larkin and family will be with us; they were unable to make it this Xmas. 

Here are all the photos from this Xmas. 

Jammin, big boy food, the 'lawnmower'....

In the past two weeks, we have seen some major developments with Emerson. He is sitting up on his own, eating big boy food, laughing a lot, is way more vocal and does 'the lawnmower.' See below.

Jamming

First taste of big boy food

"I ordered STEAK, not rice cereal!"

Emerson's first meal! 04 Dec 2011

The 'lawnmower'

Emerson is 6 months!

First professional photo shoot (outfit courtesy of Aunt Trace and Uncle Jessie)

We can't believe Emerson is already 6 months old! He is doing great and is as happy as ever. He smiles on cue and giggles a lot. He had a memorable first Thanksgiving. We had about 20+ people over at my mom and dad's house.  We even busted out the magic mic (which is always a crowd pleaser). I really enjoyed singing All Night Long by Lionel Richie. I think Emerson enjoyed my performance the most. If he could talk, he would SCREAM for an encore. Ok Now back to the fact that Emerson is 6 months! Here are some updates:

• He is about 27 inches (70th percentile)
• Weighs 17lbs (50th percentile)
• Sleeping on his tummy
• Sitting up by himself (even though he sometimes loses his balance and falls to his side)
• He is extremely ticklish. What gets him going is blowing on his tummy. Here is a video:

• He likes doing sit ups
• Got his first ear infection 
• On size 2 diapers
• Going to start solids in the next week (going to start on rice cereal). We will tape his first bite and reaction!
• He is not only grabbing on to everything in his reach, but also holding it, putting it in his mouth, throwing it, pushing it etc.  
• Babbles a lot (dah dah dah dah)
• Still enjoys giving himself knuckle sandwiches
• Loves being read to. He likes to slap the pages 
• Loves what Morgan and I call 'concerts.' Emerson sits on the couch and Morgo makes up a song about Emerson and plays guitar for him. 
• Enjoys nice strolls around the neighborhood while looking at the trees and leaves
• When he is restless, he makes a sound that Morgo and I call the lawnmower. 

Lobster to Chicken

Emerson experienced his first Halloween! Morgan and I love Halloween so we wanted to make sure E-man got the full experience. Our original plan was for Emerson to dress up as a lobster and have us be the chefs that cook him up. His costume was for a 6 month old so we thought it was going to be perfect. But no, our little boy is as tall as a 1 year old. We had to cut the bottom of his costume (his legs were sticking out). We were determined to document our brilliant lobster/chef idea, so we had Auntie Tracey come over and take some pictures of the 3 of us all dressed up. By the time Halloween rolled around (one month later), Emerson had fully outgrown the lobster costume. If Morgan and I were going to stick to being chefs, I had to find a costume that would still make sense! Oh the pressure. I found an awesome chicken outfit! It all worked out.

First, we went to Emerson's Daycare's party. He wasn't too thrilled. I mean, he didn't hate it but really couldn't care less. We also went to a Halloween parade. On Halloween night we went to our neighbors house to help give out candy. There were oh...... 5 groups that showed up. We have a lot of extra candy. Too bad Emerson doesn't have teeth yet!

Emerson's Five Month Check-in

Geeeeeeez, time is flying by. Halloween is just around the corner. In fact, tomorrow is a Halloween party at Emerson's daycare. Kataneh graciously signed me up for a half hour of face painting to earn 'parent points,' so I'll definitely be making kids look scary.

Here are some photos from the last few weeks:

 First girlfriend

 The innocent nose poking game

 Oysters in Tomales Bay

Running the biz

Emerson is still growing like a weed - no doubt about that. I think this is the first month he is as long as the skateboard. 

Ladies Man

Yesterday, my good friend Joan and her 10 month old baby girl, Kirra, came over for a visit. Emerson and Kirra had met once before but Emerson was only 2 months old.  Emerson and Kirra had some good times as you can see....

Embarrassed