Emma at almost 8 months

Time is flying by. How did my baby go from a newborn to almost 8 months old so quickly? Oh, but she is a sweet, sweet baby. And so different from her sister!
I guess we can start with developmental milestones.

She started eating solids at 5 and a half months and quickly made it known that she would like to eat 3 meals a day just like everyone else in the family. She eats peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potato, potatoes, corn, spinach, apple, pear, banana, oatmeal, rice cereal, cream of wheat, beef, chicken, turkey (but hated it), peach, pineapple, mango, blueberry, avocado, plain yogurt (hated it at first but has loved it the last couple days), onion (mixed in with other things), cinnamon (mixed in with other things), and probably more that I'm not thinking of right now. Oh, and I gave her cheese today after reading online that its ok for babies 6 months and up. Not sure what she thought about that! I've also started giving her finger foods. Mainly plain cheerios, peeled and cut up grapes (not often - so labor intensive!), banana (which she stuffed whole into her mouth), and baby rice cracker things. She doesn't really have the pincer grip down, but she's working on it really hard! In general, she eats pretty well but doesn't LOVE many foods. I think she loved avocado when I gave it to her, but I have to admit I haven't bought it much because its so expensive. And she likes carrots and most fruits, but apples and pears can give her reflux (that's my diagnosis - not a doctor's).

She has 8 teeth. Her two side top ones are just now poking through. Poor baby drools like crazy when she's teething. My brother James was totally grossed out by it when he was visiting. And I have to admit, I would probably think the pools of drool dripping from her mouth were gross if she wasn't my daughter. As it is, I think its kind of cute. And Megan goes back and forth between asking me to clean her hands when they get drool on them and dipping her doll's bottle in Emma's drool and pretending its milk!

Emma is one of the most agile babies I have ever seen. She started crawling at 6 months and 8 days old and by 7 months was pulling up and crawling really well. At this point she's almost cruising and pushing herself around the room, standing bent over the sit-and-spin holding on to the top of it! :)

For the last week or more Emma has been sick. Last Sunday, she was so sick that we didn't go to church. She spent pretty much the entire day with her head laid down on my chest. She's been better since then, but still wants to be held almost constantly. Today, after a couple hours in the moby, she finally let me put her down and crawled over the place, chasing her sister, experimenting with trying to walk, and putting everything she could find in her mouth.

She is just such a contented baby (when she's not sick), I am often amazed. If I take her out in the stroller, she sits in her seat happily sucking on her pacifier and looking passively around her. You'd never know that the minute you put her down she will be off, exploring, instinctively finding the MOST dangerous, non-baby-friendly items. I don't think Megan has yet really noticed the outlets or heating vents on the walls. Emma has licked both (thankfully the outlets are covered) and loves to explore the trash cans, the monitor receiver, and the fireplace cover. What an interesting personality! Into everything, but when you take her away from something dangerous she doesn't complain at all. And she will happily play on her own for relatively long periods of time.

Stranger anxiety is starting to rear its head, I think. (Although, it could be just sickness that makes her cling to me and me alone.) She is happy as long as I'm in sight, but if I am out of sight - even if Daddy has her - she starts to wail.

I always have to remind myself that Emma is still so young. She's (off the charts) big for her age (20 lbs 6 oz, 29.25 inches at 6 months and 20 days, well over 20 lbs by now, I would think, and in 12-18 month clothes) and so good with her motor skills. She also has this mature sense about her. She definitely has a sense of humor already and will laugh at the funniest things. The other day Megan had her fingers in her ears (testing whether she could hear that way or not) and Emma just thought it was hilarious. She let out peals of laughter. She loves silly noises and rough housing and has roaring contests with her sister. And she really seems to get teasing. When I'm feeding her, she'll grab for the spoon with a little eyebrow quirk and hold on tight. When I talk to her in mock exasperation, she just laughs and does it again.

Emma says several syllables: dah, cah and others. But I don't think there are concepts related to those syllables yet. (I don't think dada means Daddy yet.) But she definitely gets the whole communication thing too. She'll pull up to the computer with a twinkle in her eye when we're skyping with my mom and just start in with babbling as if she's having a conversation.

Oh, and she loved the beach in California,  even though she was barely 6 months old when we were there. She loved the wind in her face, the sand all over her (oh, sand is a horrible thing), and the waves hitting her.

Other things from when she was younger: she loved her exersaucer, but doesn't like it now that she's more mobile. She used to hold onto her hair while she was sleeping or nursing. And she was so soft that I just wanted to hold her all the time. She still is soft, but for a while there I was just noticing all the time how extraordinarily soft she was. I would hold her for longer than needed when putting her to sleep or nursing her just because she was so soft.

Emma has always been a pretty good sleeper, but right now she really just wants to sleep in our bed. I've been letting her since she's been sick (and I've been exhausted) but soon I'll try to get her to stay in her pack and play through the night. (I'm not opposed to co-sleeping - I just have constant pain in my neck, shoulders, and back from holding her all night.) It is funny, though. Megan would always sleep cuddled up as closely as possible to me. Emma, once she's asleep, sleeps splayed out on her back, arms thrown wide. Ha. Poor Jamie almost gets crowded off the bed by a 7 month old!

We love you EmmaBemma!