Spring Break- Part 1

I thought I would break up my Spring Break post because I already have so many pictures and we've been doing lots of fun stuff!

Jackson has been so excited about Spring Break. For one thing he knew Kevin would be staying home and for another thing he knew we were going to the zoo. For several days leading up to Spring Break he would ask if it was "spring time" (meaning Spring Break) yet. We've had gorgeous weather and here's what we've been up to:

Lots of outside play time! The kids are so happy to be outside. Emmy loves it and gets a huge grin on her face if I ask her if she wants to go play outside.



Jackson is sporting his green for St. Patrick's Day:


Kevin has spent lots of time working on the patio and Jackson's been helping. It should be done soon!


Also, this week marked the first pool day. We brought out the little baby pool and the kids have had so much fun. Emmy is not afraid of anything- loved sliding into the water and being splashed in the face!



How cute is this girl in a swim suit:


I wanted to post this picture to remember and show Emmy one day. This is how she sucks her thumb. Her thumb of one hand is in her mouth and then she holds onto her other arm. This is how she always sucks her thumb!



Jackson loved throwing water on himself (because we told him he couldn't throw it on anyone else!) and sliding:




And we also made it to the zoo today. Jackson was so excited and had a ton of fun! I didn't get too many pictures but here's Emmy first reaction to seeing her first animal (the giraffe). Not real sure what to think:


Then she liked it:


And Jackson roaring like a lion:



So far we've had a great Spring Break!

Spring is coming!

We are really enjoying the Spring like weather. We've been playing outside a lot! Jackson likes to dig in the dirt and Emmy likes to do whatever Jackson is doing. Needless to say we've been taking a lot of baths around here. Kevin is working on a patio for our backyard and Jackson loves to help. Emmy got her first pair of tennis shoes as her Robeez couldn't keep up with all the places she wanted to go- dirt, rocks, pavement... She is really on the move these days and has even started trying to run on occasion.

Both kids are loving the Cozy Coupe and constantly fight over it. I finally put them both in it at the same time and neither one were thrilled about that:



Jackson was so excited to find these flowers. Spring is coming!!!

In other news, Emmy is 100% off of baby food and has been for almost a week now. I'm thrilled not to have to give her baby food and it's nice that she can now feed herself. Since she was rejecting table foods for so long I was afraid that she was going to be a picky eater but I'm so glad that she isn't. She will basically try whatever I put on her plate.

Also, Emmy recently had her first ear infection. I can't believe she made it through her first year of life without one. That's a huge blessing considering what we went through with Jackson.

I could take pictures of these faces all day long!!!

12 months

It's hard to believe Emmy is one year old! When I see these pictures of her standing up she looks like such a big girl. Can't believe how fast she is growing up.

We had her 12 month well check today and here are her new stats:
Weight: 20 pounds 15 ounces (50th percentile)
Height: 30.5 inches (90th percentile)

No wonder she looks like such a big girl! She has sprouted up! At her 9 month check up she was in the 60th percentile for height and now she is back in the 90th percentile.

So Emmy is a happy and healthy girl. She is still having some trouble with table foods although we continue to make progress. She is also having trouble with just eating in general again. Most of the time she is very fussy while eating and doesn't eat a full meal. She also pulls at her ears a lot while eating. She has started burping a lot during and after eating so the doctor recommended increasing her reflux medicine dosage. Jackson was able to come off of his reflux medicine at a year so I was hoping for the same with Emmy but it seems like she still needs it. I am hoping this will help her eating overall.

Table foods that she consistently eats are: banana, peas, bread, waffle, grapes, sweet potato and any kind of cracker, cereal, etc.

Currently, she says: uh-oh, mama, dada, and hi. She also will imitate: bye, done, night night, shoes and socks.

She loves playing with all different kinds of toys and especially likes to play with whatever Jackson is playing with! She does love books and enjoys pulling them all off her shelf and looking through them. She loves anything soft like her stuffed animals and will give them big hugs. But her favorite thing to do is just walk around the house. This makes her super happy!

Jackson was so sweet to little Emmy on her birthday. He sang Happy Birthday to her that morning and was so excited that it was her special day! I am so blessed to have two sweet kiddos!

Emmy's Birthday Party

Emmy's birthday is on Wednesday so we celebrated this past Saturday with a little partying! It was so so so much fun and I was so appreciative of all the people who came to celebrate our sweet girl with us. I had a lot of fun planning the party and making all the invitations and decorations.





We all enjoyed pizza and cupcakes in honor of Emmy. However, she was not interested at all in trying a bite of cupcake. If only she knew what she was missing...

She got some icing on her fingers and she is looking at them in disgust. We are still working on table foods and she's not big on new textures. She wouldn't even try a bite!


Some sweet birthday girl pictures:

She's Walking!!!

Emmy started walking today!!! So exciting! With a little encouraging (using toys as motivation) Emmy took four steps and then five and more and more every time. Once she realized she could do it she got really confident and walked across the room several times. Yea Emmy!

The pictures are a little blurry but I had to capture the moment!




From behind- Kevin keeps scooting backward and Emmy keeps walking toward him:

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope your Valentine's Day is full of love! I woke up this morning to a little boy in my face saying, "Mommy I wuv you." The sweetest words a mom can hear. Jackson always says, "I love you too" if I tell him I love him but he has just recently started saying it first. So sweet.

Jackson enjoyed cutting out and decorating hearts for Valentine's Day.





I think we're in trouble! Emmy is already talking on the phone!:



Saying "I" for "hi":

She Likes Peas!

I can't believe I got this girl to eat a table food other than cheerios, crackers or bread! Yesterday and today she ate peas! She won't pick them up and feed herself- I still think she is bothered by the texture. She just plays with them if they are on her tray. But I put them on a spoon and she ate a lot of them! I was also able to feed her bananas that were not mashed up. Again, won't pick the bananas up but at least she's eating them fine without gagging, etc. I guess we're slowly making progress with this table food thing.


She also started signing "more" the right way instead of clapping. She also likes to take my hands and make me sign more. She thinks that's really fun! A couple of different times as I've put her to bed and told her "night night" I've heard her respond with a "night night". She won't do it if I ask her to though. :) She imitates what sounds like "bye" and "done" but again this is inconsistent.


We have really enjoyed the warm weather this week. I think being outside just makes everyone happier! Emmy and I enjoyed sunbathing on our picnic blanket.

Jackson keeps himself very entertained while we are outside. He drives his car or bike around collecting sticks or rocks and saying he is working hard in the yard like daddy. Or he gets his shovel and rake and digs in the dirt. And today was my favorite when he got a brick and put it behind one of the tires on his car. He told me he was changing the oil like daddy. Does this boy admire his daddy or what?

Pretty much the only way I can get a picture of his face is to yell his name real quick and snap a picture as soon as he looks up. Otherwise he doesn't have time to look at the camera! :)

Sickness, Sun, Shadows and Stroller Rides

The kids have been a little bit under the weather. Jackson has had a random fever on two different occasions with no other symptoms and it has disappeared quickly. Yesterday Emmy came down with a stomach bug. Everyone else seems to be fine- I'm hoping it stays that way through the weekend. Emmy seems to be feeling better today but as the pictures show she's sporting pajamas in the middle of the day. Nothing like wearing comfortable pajamas when you're sick. I thought we would soak in some of the beautiful warm sun today. It felt more like spring and the kids love it!




Jackson and I had fun finding our shadow out in the sun. We found Jackson's shadow on the brick wall but he kept looking at me like I was crazy and telling me those were bricks. I finally got him to understand and he was able to find his shadow!



My two kids love each other and I am so grateful! Jackson's new favorite thing to do to is to push Emmy in the stroller out in the driveway. He loves to help me take care of her. He really is a sweetheart!



While he loves to be my helper he is still ALL BOY!

11 months

This past Sunday Emmy was officially 11 months. This means that in less than one month she will be turning 1! Very hard to believe!

Here's an update:
-She recently started clapping as previously posted but she also "claps" to sign "more". She also started clapping to sign "all done". I found out she was saying "all done" and not "more" because when I offer her more she gets mad! We are working on signing "all done" and I have seen her try to imitate by putting her palms up in front of her. It's cute how she tries!



-She gives kisses by making the noise "mmmwah" but not actually doing any action. Funny!

-She is so smart! Follows all kinds of directions. It's funny to me how she goes over to something she's not supposed to touch, puts her hand out like she's going to touch it and then looks at me to see what I'm going to do. She definitely knows and understands "no".

-She is balancing by herself all the time. Once in awhile she may take a step but then gets down to crawl. She's not walking quite yet. I think she could do it but she doesn't seem to have the confidence yet.



-She is doing slightly better with table food than she was 2 months ago. She will pick up and eat cheerios, bread, crackers and really anything crunchy. She still gags on Gerber 3rd foods and any kind of texture. She has recently started doing really well with Beech-Nut 2 1/2. I don't remember stage 2 1/2 when Jackson was eating baby food but right now it's perfect for Emmy.

-She still takes two good naps every day. They are anywhere from 1.5-2 hours each. She sleeps from 6:30pm to 7:00am. So thankful for a good sleeper.

-In the past month Jackson and Emmy have started playing really well together and I give Jackson all the credit. Emmy loves to be downstairs with Jackson in the playroom and Jackson begs for me to bring her down. (So sweet!) He pulls her around while she rides in his wagon, picks up all his small toys where she can't reach them, finds toys for her to play with and is somewhat gentle with her. Emmy chases him around the room and finally gives up and lets out a scream when she realizes she can't catch him. It's really fun to watch them play!

Look how long this hair is!!!