Friday, January 10, 2014

11 Month Milestones

I seriously think that this age has been my absolute favorite. I say that every month because it is really true. Each month brings it's own experiences, joys, challenges, and celebrations. We are just so happy that we are able to celebrate these things with our Emery.


-Emery has started really eating like an adult. She has pretty much ditched wanting us to feed her. She likes eating her food out of this little tupperware bowl thing and specifically picks which piece she wants to eat every time. Her very favorite thing to eat is peas. She will choose them over carrots, fruit, graham crackers, cheerios, everything. I can't complain though. She has also recently started refusing to eat fruit and only wants vegetables and then whatever 'dinner' thing we're eating. She has tried bean burritos, pizza sans cheese, rolls, chicken nuggets, and pretty much a little taste of whatever we're eating that night. She hates hates hates cold things and makes the funniest disgusted face when we try feeding her yogurt or anything that is cold. Oh and how can I forget the chocolate cereal puffs that Dad started feeding her while he was eating them for breakfast?

-Really stands on her own now and can sometimes get to standing position without having to pull herself up onto something first. She tends to forget that she knows how to do this for a few days and then will do it over and over again.

-She is getting pretty good at walking and pushing this little lion walker/scooter that Santa brought for Christmas so she'll be walking pretty soon we think.

-Random fact about Emery: She HATES shoes. I'm not kidding when I say that she has a meltdown whenever we even think about putting them on her. Up until this point I haven't really pushed the point because she's fine wearing socks and since she wasn't walking she didn't really need shoes anyway. Well now that we're getting close, we decided to pick her up a pair of little sandals so that she could still see her feet and just try to get her used to wearing them before it became a necessity. We went out birthday shopping for her last weekend and went to Payless. First, I was just holding the shoe up to her foot to see (roughly) what size we needed to get. She was not having it. "Eh eh eh eh eh" as she was moving her foot and kicking her legs. Then, it came time to actually try them on. Jeff was holding her and tried distracting her while I tried to slip it on. This caused a meltdown. I'm sure people in the store thought we were torturing her with the way she was kicking and screaming. The next morning, we put the sandals on her before church and she cried for a few minutes before deciding that they were okay. She kept looking at them like, "what are you doing on my feet" and would try pulling them off. We have since put them on twice and she cries for a minute but is getting much better.

-I don't know if I have put this on any of the month recaps yet but Emery loves to read. I should say, be read to because you must read to her, usually multiple books at the same time. We'll start reading the one that she has handed us and won't even make it through the first page before she's reaching for another book or a toy but you'd better believe we keep reading because she knows and will let us know that even though she's not paying attention, she is listening and wants us to keep reading.

-Emery loves pat-a-cake and especially loves 'showing' us how to do it by holding our hands and making us clap. Super cute!

-Started taking baths our big bathtub after a massive splashing mess in the baby bathtub. She tries eating the bubbles and loves saying hello to our turtle whose home is right next to the bathtub.

-We may have created a monster by teaching her how to 'crazy laugh.' It sounds kind of like an evil laugh "Ha ha haaaaaa." It's hilarious. I was driving home from the store the other day, sure that she was asleep, when out of nowhere I hear "Ha ha ha." She is a crazy, funny little animal.

Thanksgiving and a Trip to the Zoo

It is so nice to be so close to family, especially around the holidays! Thanksgiving was spent with family, food, and fun. It started off Wednesday afternoon/evening when Jefferson and I tried our hand at cooking a turkey for the Clark family Thanksgiving Thursday. After doing a lot of research on foodnetwork and asking around (thank you, Ruth) we came up with a plan. No, our turkey prior to cooking may look nothing like anything in the pictures, video, or just life experience that either of us had ever seen but it sure did taste delicious!


Before
 

After
 

Thursday started off with a Thanksgiving lunch with the Clark family. We were very proud of our turkey and didn't want to share it but luckily we got leftovers so that we could continue to enjoy it. There was also a fun Christmas craft that was proudly (and cutely) displayed on our piano for the Christmas season. Then, it was off to my parent's house where we continued to eat delicious food and visit. We spent the night so that the next day we could go to the zoo!!
 







 

 

Emery loved looking at the animals. It's one of her very favorite things to do. Just a piece of advice when going to the zoo...If your little one is old enough to actually want to look, don't even bother bringing the stroller because, if your zoo is like this one, they won't be able to see over the log fence and you'll be carrying them and dealing with a stroller. Thankfully, there were enough family members to help out. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for taking us to the zoo!!

10 Month Milestones

Life with a 10 month old is just so much fun. This month brought a lot of new learning experiences for Emery so join us for a recap...

Morning playing in her jammies

Such a big girl now that she can pull herself up! She is so proud!
Just crusin' around


Hello!

"I want to get to that box..."


 

I just think this is hilarious

Eating Dad's Saturday Morning Pancakes

Loving playtime

When she started standing up in her crib

This is AWESOME!!!

-Emery had been pulling herself up for a long time but finally let go and stood on her own this month. It was a big big big accomplishment for her. We tried catching it on camera so many times but as soon as we pulled the camera out she would grab back on to whatever she was holding onto.

-Emery started giving kisses. They are the cutest thing and we just love getting them from her. They are perfectly wet, slobery, adorable kisses and once she gets on a roll you'd better be prepared to be attacked by the kissing monster. "Ahhhhh...wah!" She also blows kisses using her entire arm because a hand just won't do.

-Emery started waving! Sometimes it's just a 'talk to the hand' kind of wave, sometimes it's open palm waving back and forth, and sometimes it's her hand opening and closing. Any of these are just precious and she's so proud of herself whenever she does them.

-Stood up in her crib for the first time. Luckily she doesn't do it too often but her closet doors have mirrors so she loves standing up and looking at herself after nap time. Free entertainment? I'll take it!

-Expanded her food horizons to include eating pancakes that Jefferson made one Saturday morning. She wants to be more and more independent when it comes to eating so there is a lot of food on the floor and in the high chair but it's a learning process. Thank goodness for a good vacuum.

Halloween 2013

Let the catch up posts begin...

Halloween was so so so fun with Emery. She was a bumble bee (the cutest bumble bee ever). I personally think that some of the store bought costumes are uncomfortable for babies and all of them are extremely overpriced so I decided to make Em's costume. Mom and I made her bumble bee tutu out of yellow and black tulle (super easy). Then she got her black shirt from my mom, her black and yellow striped tights and socks from Jeff's mom, and her wings at the dollar store. Can't beat that! Once the costume was finished, it was party time! We celebrated the weekend before at the ward trunk or treat where they had the most delicious homemade sodas either of us had ever tasted. Then we went trick or treating with Jeff's family and the cousins on Halloween night. All in all we had a great time on Emery's first Halloween.











Happy Halloween!