20 months

Yes, I realize that we're only like a week and a half away from Emmett being 21 months, but it's better late than never, right?  ;)

Emmett's ear infection still hasn't cleared up, even after a round of antibiotic injections. =(  So we now have a referral to an ear-nose-throat doctor and are waiting for them to actually GET the referral so we can schedule an appointment.  Poor little guy =(

Some highlights of this past month include:

• He takes the wireless mouse and uses it like a phone.  He'll click the buttons while it's against his ear and say "yah"
• He knows the actions for "Popcorn Popping" and will ask for it by either shaking his finger or making the popping action.
• He enjoys the YouTube video of Elmo brushing his teeth and will ask for it by pretending to brush his teeth with his finger
• He will line up toys in a row (usually his Little People)
• He enjoys toys he can drag behind him (popper, music roller, puppy, chatter telephone)
• He dances when he wants our phones, thinking that we'll give them to him because he's being cute.
• He LOVES eating those mini oranges
• He prefers eating at the counter or table instead of his high chair
• He loves playing with his ball
• He's starting to get into cars/trucks more
• He LOVES taking medicine
• He LOVES blankets right now.  It doesn't matter what blanket it is, he'll grab a corner and snuggle up with it.
• He loves to turn the lights on/off
• He loves to color
• He likes his flap books more (is more interested in his Little People flap books than he used to be)
• He likes to have us check to see if he has stinky feet (the doctor did it to him once and he thought it was hilarious)
• He HATES having his nose or face wiped
• He loves seeing birds outside (especially seeing them flying around.)  About a month ago we had an INFESTATION of birds in the trees outside and Emmett noticed they'd fly out of the trees when he got near, so he ran down the tree line scaring the birds so he could watch them fly.  (I was scared that we'd get pooped on!)
• He enjoys playing with his stacking cups again.  He knows when they're nested correctly and when he needs to find one that fits better.
• When he was getting the antibiotic shots, he'd walk around on the toes of the leg that received the shot that day. (But he must have a high pain tolerance--the doctor told me that they might be painful enough that he wouldn't want to walk at all)
• He will randomly come up and kiss my belly (the baby) on his own.  It's so sweet!

We sure love this little guy and can't imagine life without him!

Being a "bucket head." He apparently likes it, for whatever reason, lol

 My little cuddle bug =)

 Being a "bucket head" again.  But you get to see his cute little belly

 Building a tower with his blocks

 Playing basketball with Daddy

 Getting ready to shoot the ball!

19 months

Yes, we're still alive; I promise.  Life just gets in the way of posting when I (think I) "should" lol.

This month:

• Emmett played in his first fort.  I don't think he quite knew what to think of it.  He'd only go inside if I was in there too.
• He loves to pray and will fold his arms when he wants us to say a prayer.  It is so adorable.
• When the Christmas lights were up, the first thing he wanted to do in the morning was turn them on.  He would point and grunt until we turned them on.
• He was fascinated by grandma's olive wood nativity set, especially Baby Jesus.
• He once picked up said Baby Jesus and gave it a hug -- it was the sweetest thing!
• He loves to point at the ornaments on the Christmas tree and have us say what they are.  And if we miss that he's pointing at them, he'll start ripping them off the tree.
• My parents had a set of 3 lighted snowmen out in the front yard, and Emmett liked to go see each of the snowmen and touch their noses.
• He liked to tap/touch each of the red lighted balls suspended from the porch.
• He got some new bath toys for Christmas that swim around the tub, and he LOVES them!
• He LOVES playing with the Little People train he got for Christmas.
• He loves the book Llama Llama Nighty Night
• He was so excited about the Sesame Street toys he got for Christmas (a stuffed Cookie Monster and Elmo as well as a Cookie Monster mp3 player toy) In fact, right after opening the stuffed animals, he held them up to his neck and hugged them.
• He loves the PBS kids app because he can watch Sesame Street on our phones!
• He sure can watch Sesame Street...I swear, he'd watch it all day if I'd let him!
• He is becoming the king of tantrums!  But once he realizes that we're ignoring him he usually stops pretty quickly.
• He started to fight us less when we were brushing his teeth, but has since resumed fighting us every night when it's time to brush his teeth.
• He has figured out how to unlock the sliding glass door, but thankfully hasn't started opening it.
• He will put on grandma's yellow slip-on shoes when he wants to go outside.  (He noticed that I'd slip them on when we went outside and now thinks that putting them on = going outside)
• He doesn't really say much even if we ask him, unless we bribe him with Sesame Street/fruit snacks/candy
• He has started wanting to hold our hand when we put him down for bed and will stick his hand through the crib slats if we don't stick our hand in.

The poor guy had a fever all of Christmas day and wasn't really interested in ANYTHING (except for his light-up CAT trucks, but even that was halfhearted).  We took him in the next day and he had a nasty ear infection.  After a round of antibiotics and at his checkup 3 weeks later, it was still infected, so he just finished up another round of antibiotics.  Hopefully that'll clear his ear up.  He's currently had a little bit of a cold (stuffy nose + cough) and has had a fever off and on, so I hope he gets feeling better soon!  There's nothing worse than seeing someone you care about feeling miserable and not being able to do anything about it!

 I love that if you look closely, it looks like he's got a little goatee going on; he'd been eating black beans lol.

 Reading to himself

 With daddy

 Cheesing for the camera

Wearing Grandma's yellow shoes

Daddy reading a book for Emmett.  I stopped the tape right before Emmett really got into it and was laughing.  Oops!

18 months

Well, Emmett is now nursery-official.  It is super nice (although he's technically been going for a month or two now...definitely a perk of being in nursery myself!)

His stats
Weight: 29 lbs, 1 oz (86%)
Height: 34.25 inches (94%)
Head circumference: 48.5 cm (71%)

He is definitely growing up; with his latest haircut he definitely looks like a little boy.  He's not a baby any longer.  It's a little sad.  But he is in SUCH a fun stage right now--I'm enjoying it!  I think he got my long torso and short legs...poor thing.  Whenever he wears 2T pants they have to be rolled up an inch or two ;)

This month:

• he combined the signs for "more" and "please" on his own (only a couple times, but still)
• he blows on hot food
• he signs "help"
• he gives hugs on his own
• he signs "more" with fists instead of open hands (closer to how it's supposed to be signed)
• he signs "drink" more correctly 
• he loves playing with magnets on the fridge
• he has learned how to play with the shape sorting ball (he can pick a shape and turn the ball to find which slot it fits in to on his own)
• he has learned how to walk up the stairs while holding to the wall
• he LOVES the ranch veggie straw chips
• he LOVES his booster seat--we took it on our trip to Utah and he would pick it up and carry it to where he wanted to sit and then sit in it.
• he loves playing with blocks
• he LOVES macaroni & cheese--when we stopped at Applebee's he ate 1/2 to 1/3 of his kids' entree!
• he is SUCH a good traveler! He amazes me with how well he manages the long drive to/from Utah.
• he turned the doorknob to open the door (thankfully he's only managed to open the door once...but I know it's not far off now!)
• he makes barking noises when the dog is barking
• he saw a reindeer toy and barked because he thought it was a toy dog
• he learned how to take the tray off his high chair and will immediately take it off and throw it to the ground when he is done (which drives me crazy because it also means he chucks any and all food that was on the tray to the ground as well)
• he is becoming quite a little helper!  He loves to throw his diapers in the trash after we change him and will help us pick up his toys when we ask him to.  He's even pretty good about picking up one type of toy (blocks, play food, etc) at a time and putting them all away before we move on to the next type.  I'm pretty impressed!
• he still isn't saying much verbally--it's just "mama", "dada/da", and "gone."  Hopefully he'll start to verbalize more words somewhat soon.

I'm still not QUITE sure how he'll handle having a little sister because he loves being the center of attention and gets upset if he wants our attention and we're not giving it to him.  However, I'm a little encouraged because there's a couple in our ward that have twin baby boys and at the ward Christmas party Emmett got all excited when I asked if he wanted to go see the baby.  And he did REALLY well with them; he would point at their body parts (and not actually poke their eyes when pointing there) and did really well being 'soft' when patting their heads.  I know it could be different when he's stuck with one all the time, but it reassures me a little, anyway.

And now for the pictures!

 Wearing Grandma's crocs

Snuggling with Daddy, watching Sesame Street

 

 Smiling for the camera!

Playing with his magnets

22 weeks

Baby girl and I are doing great.  I had an appointment on Thursday (the 15th) and her heartbeat was at 124.  She has been super active!  Most times when I'm laying down she'll start punching and kicking all over.  It's so much fun.  I think that's my favorite part of pregnancy (although hopefully she won't stretch out for minutes at a time like her brother did!)  I've recently started to break out again. =(  But for now at least it's not as bad as it was when I was pregnant with Emmett!

I have to take the glucose test in 2 weeks.  I'm really dreading it.  I don't want to have to deal with gestational diabetes again, but I'm kind of preparing myself for the worst.  At least it won't be until after Thanksgiving, so I can indulge in ignorance!  ;)  Really though, I am trying to be careful with what kinds of food I'm eating (although why is it that when I'm pregnant I always crave chocolate a TON more than when I'm not?!?) so I can keep my weight gain under control.  I've gained 7 or 8 pounds so far, and my doctor is okay with that.

I've been having quite a bit of round ligament pain this time around (at least, that's what I think it is).  It's annoying, but at least it's not debilitating.

It's amazing how much you take modern medicine for granted until you can't take things like cold medicine anymore...hopefully this sickness clears up before we head down to Utah for Thanksgiving.

I get to have another ultrasound in 6 weeks, and I'm looking forward to it. =)

This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago, when I was 20 weeks along.

17 months

Wow, I can't believe Emmett's already almost a year and a half old!  How did that happen?  He is in such a fun stage; he's really wanting to interact with us and he has such a sweet personality.  I feel like he is learning something new every day; it's amazing how much he understands, even if he doesn't talk very much.

• He loves cuddling before bed.  He loves it so much, that he pretty much WILL NOT go to sleep unless we rock for at least a few minutes before putting him in his crib.  Not that we mind or anything...we'll take all the snuggles we can get!
• He has started to reach his arms around our necks to pull us close and hug us.  It absolutely melts our hearts.
• He knows some body parts and can point to them on command.  (hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ear, toes, belly button)
• He LOVES to watch Sesame Street.  He will usually sit there enthralled for the first 10 minutes or so and then will run off and play, come back and watch, etc.  And he knows when it's over.  He'll point at the TV and make a whining grunt (mmm, mmmm!) whenever he wants to watch it.  (Which is often.)  We're trying to limit how much time he spends in front of the TV though.
• He loves flap books, especially his Sesame Street one.  Now if only he didn't keep ripping the flaps off!
• He will point to pictures in books when we ask where _____ is.  He'll also point to pictures wanting to know what they are when we ask what he sees.
• He will point to my tummy when we ask where the baby is.
• He understands "hot".  I was pulling something out of the oven one night and he touched the door for a split second.  Luckily he didn't get burned too bad (I think it scared him more than anything), and he keeps his distance when we tell him something is hot.
• He enjoys helping pick out his clothes (I'll usually offer him the choice between two shirts and put whichever one he points at on him)
• He understands that going to the car means we're going outside and will run to the door.  He loves to go to the store.
• He usually wants to play with the dome light in the car before letting us buckle him in his car seat.  I'm thinking we might have to turn him forward facing soon so he can't reach it anymore...
• He figured out how to move the chairs so he can climb them to get to the table.
• He wants to sit at the table to eat really badly, but I'm not sure I want to move him out of his high chair yet, even though he has figured out how to get the tray off.
• He loves dipping his food (crackers/bread into applesauce/yogurt, chips into dip, etc)
• He will occasionally take his food (usually a cracker or something) and put it on the floor and then lay down and eat it up.  Maybe he's been watching the dog too much?
• He loves to carry things (especially his Monkey blanket) in his mouth.  Maybe that's from the dog too?

The Saturday before Halloween, my grandma had a family party.  Emmett did NOT want to wear the hat that went with his pumpkin costume.  But he sure liked the mini pumpkins my aunt brought for one of the games; he had to have one in his hand almost the entire time!  I was surprised that on Halloween he willingly let me put the hat on his head, however.  Maybe it was the fact that I told him we were going outside.... Jeremy was working swing shift, so my dad and I took Emmett trick-or-treating down the street.  I was intending to take him to the ward Trunk-Or-Treat, but I got the time wrong and didn't get there until it was over.  I was super bummed, but at least he didn't know any better and won't remember it.

 It's kind of hard to see, but he's holding a muffin in his hand that he just pulled out of the yogurt.

 Such a cute little pumpkin!

 Eating goldfish at the table

 Playing with daddy; this is one of his favorite things to do!

Random Bits

First there was the happy couple, two
They went to the temple and said, "I do"
Next came Emmett, number three
And happier we couldn't be
Now we have an announcement once more
We are happily expecting family member number four!

Baby Girl Cress, due late March, 2013

I am 20 weeks along now; things are going great.  I was SUPER tired between weeks 6-12 or so, but I'm back to having energy and feeling great.  I had an ultrasound 2 weeks ago and we got a CLEAR view that this little one will be a girl.  I'm super excited to be able to do all the fun girly stuff now.  =)  Just like with Emmett, we will probably wait to decide on an official name until after she is born.  My official due date is March 22nd, but we'll see when this little miss decides to make her entrance. 

This little one has been super wiggly the past few days; I think she moves more than Emmett did at this stage.  I'm definitely looking forward to meeting her.

In other news, we picked up a crib for cheap on Craigslist that I refinished (we found a stain that was really close to the original color, so I just stained over the finish and then put a couple coats of polyurethane on it.)

 Here's the beginning picture: notice the super scratched arms and top rail?

The finished product!  Even though it's not perfect, I'm proud of how it turned out.

Just this morning I found that Emmett has been chewing on the arms and top rail.  Needless to say, I was pretty irritated since I'd spent 4 long days to get it looking nice again.  Tomorrow I will be getting supplies to prevent any more damage happening to them.  *sigh*  Silly little man.  But I guess I can't really blame him all that much; when he's standing up, they ARE right at mouth height.

Well, that's about it for us right now; I'll do the usual Emmett-centered post next week and talk about Halloween and such.  Hope you all are doing well!

16 months

This past month has been a fun one.  I got called into nursery, so Emmett has been able to come in early with me.  Thank heaven, because he was becoming a HANDFUL during Sunday School!  I'm only in there 1st (well, really 2nd) hour, and Emmett just stays when I'm there.  But he has been loving interacting with all the kids and seeing all the new toys and books he gets to play with.  Almost every Sunday, he goes and brings me a doll at least  once.  I'll wrap it up in a blanket and give it to him to hold.  Then he'll give it kisses....he is so cute...he's going to be such a good big brother. =)

We also took him to a pumpkin patch yesterday.  We tried putting him on the cart you take out with you to bring the pumpkins in on, but after 5 feet or so he was done.  So I pulled it with one hand and held his hand with my other.  I'm not sure how much he liked the patch.  I think he had a hard time walking because his feet would get caught on the vines and such.  After Jeremy picked him up, he didn't want to be set back down.  I'll have to take pictures later of the pumpkins we each picked out.

 Sitting by a pumpkin

 Pointing at another pumpkin

I want this one please!

Other than the pumpkin patch, it's mostly been life as usual.  Emmett is understanding more and more of what we say and what words mean.  He's at a really fun stage.  Some things he's doing now:

• He figured out that water comes out of the dispenser on the fridge door.  He will sometimes put a cup (usually one of his stacking cups) up to the dispenser to try and get a drink. Other times, he'll just push on it with his hand and get water everywhere.  I'm sure glad that we can lock the dispenser!
• He will sometimes put cups on his feet and try to walk around
• He understands 'bath,' 'book,' 'shoe,' 'outside,' 'upstairs,' and 'doggie'
• He has started to nod his head for yes
• He will sometimes get a book or his shoes when asked
• He will assist in getting himself dressed (put arms up for arm holes in shirt, put feet up for pants/socks/shoes)
• He loves pulling cards out of wallets.  So much so, that I've had to put some old gift cards and club cards in my old wallet so he can leave mine alone.
• He makes car noises when pushing cars/toys with wheels
• He LOVES sunglasses.  We were at Olive Garden last weekend and he was having a rough time; one of the high school kids there for Homecoming gave him his sunglasses, and he was happy as a clam afterwards.
• He has figured out how to flip through photos on our phones, as well as how to start/stop the videos.
• He holds phones and other things up to his ear and will cock his head
• He can point to his ear, eye, nose, mouth, and belly button when asked (usually)
• He has started to hit (we're trying to nip that in the bud!!)
• He likes playing with his play fruits and veggies (2 pieces that velcro together and he can pull apart.  Sometimes he'll pretend to eat it)
• He has been really cuddly lately; we have been loving it!
• He loves baths as long as there aren't bubbles!  We thought we'd add bubbles one night as something fun, and he freaked out!  We had to drain the entire tub, rinse all the bubbles down the drain, and refill the tub before he was happy.
• He loves his daddy and will call/ask for him throughout the day
• He LOVES eating cherry tomatoes from the garden
• He likes that his snow boots light up, but isn't sure he likes them on his feet
• He might be allergic to shrimp.  Which I'll be super bummed about because we LOVE shrimp!
• He loves pasta, rice, toast, peaches, and cereal in milk
• He usually insists on wielding his fork/spoon himself
• He loves to pull the sweet chili sauce out of the fridge door whenever it is open.  I'm not sure why, but he always goes for that particular bottle.

 With his foot in a cup

 A pretty common sight around here; Emmett sitting surrounded by ALL of his books.  But at least he likes them!

 A super cute video of Emmett dancing