Happy New Year!

Emma's arrival in March has to be my highlight of 2008. She is an amazing, happy, healthy little girl and we are so blessed! We hope everyone has a safe celebration to usher in the New Year and a wonderful 2009.

Odds and Ends

On Friday, we took Emma to the pediatrician for a follow up to her Wednesday ER visit. The pediatrician agreed with the ER doctor that Emma was fine and that the eye lid droop was most likely localized swelling. The attitude seems to be that as long as it doesn't happen again and she doesn't have other symptoms, then she is okay.
After we got home on Friday, Dave started the effort to get Emma's MANY new toys out of their boxes. It seriously looked like Santa's workshop had exploded in our living room. But, Emma is VERY happy with all of her new toys. She's even starting to figure some of them out. It's really neat to watch her do something for the first time then try to repeat it. We really are lucky to have such a wonderful little girl.

Christmas Eve and the ER

Yesterday started out with a lot more adventure than Dave and I wanted. We had gotten up and were starting breakfast when Emma woke up. Dave went to go get her and when they came down, the first thing I noticed was that Emma's right eyelid was a little droopy.
She ate her breakfast really well and was acting like herself, but we still worried. So, after a phone call to the pediatrician we were getting dressed and headed to the ER. By the time we saw the doctor, Emma's eye looked fine. He checked her out and said that she looked fine to him and was acting like any 9 month old should- responding to us, not liking him looking in her ears, following the light he shined in her eyes, etc. His theory was that there was some localized swelling around the eye, but that it wasn't something to worry about. Our pediatrician wants to see us tomorrow just to make sure.
After we got home, Emma took a nice nap and was then introduced to the joys of present opening. We spent part of the morning enjoying opening the gifts from family far away and are so grateful for every ones generosity.
Then it was time to get dressed to go to Grandma Breese's house. After yummy appetizers and dinner, the kids were opening more presents and it seemed like they got everything they wanted. Then the adults got there turn. There were a few surprises, but everyone did get what they asked for.
Santa Claus came while all the kids were asleep and Emma seemed to have fun with her rocking elephant. Now, everyone is resting and getting ready for the extended family party at 2.
We are truly blessed to have such wonderful, generous family!!

9 months and looking forward to Christmas

Our little girl was exactly 9 months old on Friday. I am still amazed at how much she changes and grows almost daily. On Friday, I was showing her a picture of her with my Mom and Dad. I asked her where her Poppy was and she put her little hand on my Dad. When I asked her where Gigi was, she moved her hand over to my Mom. I really thought it might have been a fluke, but we tried again on Saturday and she did it again!
Emma seems to have a little understanding about the Christmas presents under the tree and is VERY interested in pulling the bows off of all the packages. One thing is for sure, Emma's first Christmas will be a white one because it KEEPS snowing.

Big girl

Emma had a big day yesterday, she got to move from her infant carrier to her big girl car seat. She seems MUCH happier and doens't cry when we put her in it.

Emma's world

Our house is definitely ruled by it's youngest member... and her world continues to expand. Emma doesn't like the fact that we TRY to keep her in one part of the family room (and AWAY from the currently still unsecured bookcase), so she keeps figuring out ways to defeat the barriers. There is VERY little multitasking for Mommy when we are downstairs because of either playing with or chasing Emma.
The world of foods continues to change as well with the introduction of meats this week. Emma tried pureed turkey for the first time today and she gobbled it up!
Emma LOVES the Christmas tree and her bear that reads "Twas the night before Christmas." She really loves pulling the snowflake ornaments off of the tree and gets excited when she sees the wrapped packages.

Go Emma Go

Emma has picked up yet another new skill....... She now "cruises." She pulls her self into a standing position of the couch or coffee table and then "walks" from one end to the other while holding on. It probably won't be long before she is walking.
She is also working on getting her first top two teeth. One tooth has cut through already and the other isn't far behind.

We're back.....

Last Saturday, Emma and I flew to Houston for Thanksgiving. Dave joined us on Tuesday and we all had a great time. Emma even got to meet her Great-Grandmother (Grammy) Davis for the first time!
It was a busy, fun week, and we got to see pretty much everyone and Emma did great with all the new faces. While we were in Houston, Emma did several new things. She figured out how to lower herself back down to the ground after standing up instead of just plopping down. She also tried Cheerios for the first time and really liked them. Emma even held her own bottle and drank from it with a little help from the highchair. I was surprised about her liking the Cheerios because I had offered her Gerber puffs several times and she was never too interested.
Since we've been home, we have offered Emma the Gerber puffs again and NOW she likes them. She has also continued to like Cheerios and tried Apple juice for the first time. We have continued to try and have Emma hold her own bottle. It seems to work best when she is in the high chair and we tilt it back so that the milk or juice fills the nipple of the bottle. She knows exactly what to do! She grabs the bottle with both hands and brings it to her mouth to drink. It's amazing how fast kids change!
We all came home on Saturday and we were glad to be back before the snow started on Sunday.