9 months (cont'd)

Wow...9 months!! I can't believe it! She's so big...yet so little at the same time. We went to the doctor yesterday for her 9-month well-check. She's a healthy 16 lb. 8 1/2 oz. (jumped up to the 10th percentile), 26 1/2" long, and continues to have a head circumference in the 50th percentile (must be the giant brain). We haven't gotten any real words yet but lots of Emilia language. She babbles all the time.

This is what I see when I go to get her out of her crib after nap and in the mornings. What more could I ask for!?!


Her favorite place to be is right here, standing at the coffee table. It's the perfect height for pulling up and cruising. These are the best little sock/shoes for chilly mornings when her piggies get cold on the hardwood floors.

Here are Emi's new earrings!! She got them done on the same day as her finger stick and 2 shots at the doctor, and she's still smiling!!



Emilia showed off her stuff the other day when she climbed all the way to the top of the stairs (and then crawled down the hallway)!!

9 months old!!

Emilia is 9 months old today!! Holy cow!! Lots of stuff is going on in our house...mainly Emilia-proofing. There are things I didn't even realize I had that she has gotten into. She loves the dog's crate so that has to stay locked, and she can make it up several stairs very quickly. However, her favorite thing to do is to practice standing. She'll pull up on just about anything, and then she likes to see if she can let go. She's even stood straight up from the floor twice so far. She can stand independently for a couple of seconds at a time and is getting much more daring with cruising. She can make it all the way around the coffee table and will let go to hold onto the couch, a toy, or someone who is sitting close by. Needless to say she's had a few tumbles and bumps.

She still isn't creeping on hands and knees consistently. She can, but she resorts to her belly crawl when she needs to get somewhere quickly or when she's on the slippery wood floor. No rest for the weary in this house!!



Yes, those are her bunny slippers that she's wearing.

Uh Oh!!!

It seems like Emilia gains new skills every minute these days. It also appears that my fear has been realized...this girl does not want to crawl! I keep trying to encourage it, but all she wants to do is pull up to stand and try to walk. She really doesn't want to cruise either...she just wants to get up and go!!! I really have to get the gate for the bottom of the stairs. She hasn't completely mastered getting all the way onto the step, but she's done it a couple of times and then she's headed for the rest of the stairs. Yesterday morning she did pull up to stand at the coffee table (time to get rid of the chess board) to get the remote. She also stood all by herself for about a second without holding on to anything! Like it said in the title of this post...UH OH!!!

This was a couple of days ago when she was beginning to get the hang of pulling up.



Now she's a pro!

Mobile Mabel !!

Emilia and I took a trip up to PA for a couple of days. We stopped by Jessica's mom's house for Jess's bridal shower. We are so happy for Matt and her...can't wait 'til September!!

We stayed for a couple of days with Mammaw and Pappaw. Emilia had a great time getting spoiled rotten!! Aidan had stayed over on Saturday night and was there when we arrived on Sunday. He kept Emilia very entertained. I think he's prepping for his baby sister!!

Emi got a bath from Mammaw and a dry from Pappaw...the best of both worlds!!


We went to the auction on Tuesday to watch Dad call. That was the first time that I had seen him in action!! Then while they finished the auction Emilia and I spent the evening with Nan and Pop and had dinner at their house.

It was so nice to spend time with Nanny and Poppa, and Emilia learned a new skill while at their house!! She pulled herself over the threshold into the kitchen and then up two steps toward the attic...uh oh!!!



That was just the beginning apparently! Lauren said that she pulled herself up onto the landing of the stairs yesterday while I was at work. Then this morning when I went in to get her out of her crib, I found her pulling herself up onto her knees. If given a bit more time she probably would have made it to fully standing. Today she decided that she would give creeping on hands and knees the old college try. This is her first attempt...



...and this is the real deal!!



In other news...Nicole and Chris had a healthy baby boy on August 18! Paul Christopher was born at 5:55 pm on Tuesday weighing in at 6 lb. 12 oz. Everyone is doing well (and very excited)!

Bouncing baby boy,
happy (and tired) parents,


proud Grump E,


and curious big brothers!!

NJ trip

We took a trip to the Jersey shore this past weekend to see Brian's family. Everyone was super excited to see Emilia and we couldn't wait to get her back on the beach.

Aunt Jacky was gracious enough to let us take over her house for five days. It was wonderful to stay there since we don't often get to see her and Jeff. She had never met Emilia before and she was looking forward to seeing her.


Our first adventure of the vacation was a trip to Ocean City, NJ's boardwalk. Emilia had her first ever carousel ride. She wasn't sure what to think at first but liked it once it got going.

We went to little Jacky's pool one day when it was really hot...much better idea than sitting on the beach in the heat. She absolutely loves the pool! She was kicking around in her pool float and "jumping in" from the side of the pool. She'll even go under the water a little.


Her new thing is to "jump" in from the side of the pool. We learned this trick from Levi when we went to the pool with him a couple of weeks ago. She thinks it's pretty awesome. We will be starting swim classes in November at the rec center and I think she'll like them a lot!!



We spent a couple of days at the beach. Emilia liked the ocean better than she did the last time we went, and she still loves to play in the sand. She tasted it again but realized that she didn't really like to eat it (again!). He favorite part was standing in the surf and letting the wet sand wash over her feet!We played in the waves and she giggled and kicked her feet each time a wave broke or we jumped over one.



The first day we were at the beach Emilia had so much fun that she just couldn't handle it. She was so tired that she fell asleep in my arms!!

We all had a great time with the Jersey crew!!

More summer fun!

Pool party...again!! This time the venue was the Evans' house. Emilia loved playing with Sydney and Samantha, and she really loved the pool!! She was kicking all over the place. If we let go of the float for a second she was gone!! Her preferred "stroke" is known as the frog. She kicks both feet and slaps both hands against the water...highly effective! She didn't mind being splashed in the face and did not want to get out. Silly little lady...she's living up to her little fishy name.





Emilia continues to move faster and faster everyday. She is doing a great belly crawl now.



She moves very fast across the wood floor but is realizing that she's going to need to do something a bit differently across the carpet. Rolling works but she wants to get to things head-on now. We call this move the "inchworm". Uh oh...here comes the creeping!

Summertime!!

It's another crazy summer! Our schedule is packed with stuff to do every weekend until Labor Day, and this year Emilia is along for the ride. We have pool parties, Nascar races, weddings, showers, and vacations planned. We've already been to the beach this year and we have plans to go to Jersey in the next couple of weeks. We went to a pool party this past weekend at the Williams' beautiful home. Emilia couldn't get enough of the pool even when the guys were having a backflip contest.

This was daddy and Emilia at the party. He's teaching her oh so well!

This was her all rolled up in the blanket that she was sitting on. Instead of helping, I took a picture...what a great mom!!
This was obviously a mealtime supervised by mommy...daddy doesn't like when she gets messy!

This one is just because she's cute!

Emilia is on the move!! She can roll like a "streak of bologna" as they say. She has much more control when she's transitioning from sitting onto her belly, she pivots on her belly, she rolls all over the place, she can get up on her hands and knees and rock, and she's starting to army crawl forward a little on her belly. Now that Emilia is moving around we've had to put a gate on the basement stairs. She can't get enough of LJ - he cheers her up whenever she's down! Enjoy this batch of pictures and videos...there will be more summer pictures to come!