Emily's First Thanksgiving

Emily enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. We were at Kevin's "aunt" Trudy and "uncle" Jerry's house. It was a great day of family fun and football. Em even tried some of Auntie Beth's squash! It was a great day.



family photo



Tuckered out after a long day.





Adventures in Rice Cereal

Emily is in her fourth month and we have started solid foods! The first time I gave her rice cereal she did not like it at all. Exhibit A:

She wanted nothing to do with a spoon in her mouth or the funny texture that is rice cereal. Plus I am pretty sure it lacks any sort of taste. With the advice of several mommies, daycare personnel, and our pediatrician I have pressed on and given her a chance to eat some every night around dinner time. We have slowly but surely progressed and she is now eating like a champ. So I decided to introduce bananas. Again she is not so sure about the flavoring or how to really handle the spoon. But little by little we are getting more and more comfortable. So much that I will be taking advantage of this Thanksgiving holiday and giving her some sweet potatoes. I am looking forward to making my own baby food and seeing how she does. Kevin and I are truly thankful for the miracle of Emily. We are looking forward to our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3.

Oh and for those of you who aren't aware the Badgers are one win away (with a little help from our other Big 10 friends) from going to the Rose Bowl. We hope you will be cheering Bucky on this weekend.

Go Bucky!



Four Months--Babyproofing?!?

Yesterday we went to Emily's 4 month well check up. She topped the scales at 15 lbs and is 24 inches long. She is in the 85th percentile for weight and the 62nd for height. We talked to Dr. Hillery about a variety of baby things including introducing cereal and baby food (adventures in rice cereal have already started), Em's excellent motor skills, the number of colds babies will get during their first winter (6-12!), and how well she is thriving. Then I told the Dr about how one of Emily's favorite things to do these days is flip onto her tummy and "swim". She balances on her tummy and kicks her arms and legs. When she is unable to move anywhere she get frustrated and mad. That is when Dr. Hillery told us it was probably time to start thinking about babyproofing the house. My first thought was I am not ready for my baby to be on the move just yet! Once she starts crawling our whole lives are going to change again. Right now I can trust in the fact that I can put her on the floor while I go to get dinner ready or empty the dishwasher and I will find her in the same spot when I come back. I have a feeling that won't last for long. So in the next couple weeks we will begin putting locks on our cabinets and investing in a babygate or two. I am excited that she is acheiving and thriving but a small part of me wishes she could just stay like this for a little bit longer.

Happy Halloween!

We spent Emily's first Halloween watching the Packer's play and handing out candy to the neighborhood trick or treaters. She didn't really enjoy being in her costume but managed a few smiles for Mama. She made a very cute little cow or as Kevin's grampa always said--a very cute Moo Bossy.





Our happy little Moo Bossy.





Em enjoying her first Halloween.



Spoiled Parents

We are pretty spoiled as new parents go. Emily is a relatively easy going child, who is happy for the majority of the day. She has her fussy times at night but we really can't complain.

Em has been sleeping through the night since she was 5 weeks old. We have started to put her down earlier and earlier so her bedtime is now 8 or 8:30. She has embraced her new bedtime like a champ. However, in the last several days she has decided she needs to eat around 5 am. Now, our alarm clock goes off at 5:30 am. So when I hear her a half and hour before I *should* be getting up I get a little frustrated. Mind you it has been about 8 hours or so since she ate last. And when she wakes up she eats for about 10 min and falls back into her peaceful sleep state. Because this is slowly becoming the norm I am beginning to get used to it.

Last night she decided that 4:15 am was the time to wake up. And when I say wake up I mean she was ready to play. She was smiling and ready to go. I was not. So I fed her and put her back in her crib, awake. She actually hung out for awhile fairly quiet until she flipped herself over on her tummy and couldn't flip herself back. Kevin went in to settle her and she fell asleep shortly after that and we got to sleep for another 45 minutes.

What I need to remember during these times is how spoiled we really are. I haven't had to wake up every 2 hours to feed her at night since the first week we brought her home. Plus she has blessed me with a solid nights sleep for most of her short life. I feel for those parents whose kids don't sleep through the night. I can't imagine how different life would be without my solid night of sleep. So thank you Emily for being such a good sleeper. Can I just ask one favor? Can we go back to waking up at 5 am? Thanks!

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

We decided to start a new family tradition this year by visiting the pumpkin patch. So this Sunday we went to Treinen Farms in Lodi, WI which is about a 20 minute drive from out house. It was a gorgeous, warm fall day. We put Emily in the pack facing out so she could take everything in. As most of you know she never wants to miss a thing. We did the corn maze which is shaped like a lizard. Instead of just giving you a map to the entire corn maze they give you one-eighth of the map. There are specific checkpoints that you go to to receive the next portion of the map. I thought this was much more fun then just a "regular" corn maze. Emily fell asleep about midway through. It took us about 45 min to find our way out.

After the corn maze we got in line for the horse drawn ride to the pumpkin patch. Once we got to the patch they let you loose. Only one rule is that everyone must be able to carry their own pumpkin. We had decided to only pick out two pumpkins. Which in the end was a good idea b/c I had to carry them! We ended up having a great day with one tuckered out kid. I am really looking forward to going next year and having her pick her own pumpkin.

  

We've Got a Roller

Emily has been slowly discovering how to roll from her back to her tummy. In the last week or so she has decided that sleeping on her side is much more comfortable. She hadn't really figured out how to quite get that top leg all the way over to end up on her tummy. Then on Sunday while we were at Uncle Brian and Auntie Beth's house we gave Em some floor time in hopes she would figure out how to flip over. Well she did and she flipped her self back onto her back! A full roll!

As with most new things she has done this was not repeated right away. However last night I put her in her pack and play while I ran upstairs to put the laundry in the dryer. I heard her crying but thought it was because I left the room. When I got back downstairs I didn't see her in the pack and play and my heart skipped a beat. When I looked closer I saw is that she had rolled herself onto her tummy and under the changing table that sits the top half of the pack and play. However, this time though she could not figure out how to get herself from her tummy to her back and she was upset! I would have grabbed the camera but using my better judgement I pulled her out. I think it is official to say that Emily is rolling!!