3 Years!

Yesterday was our 3 year wedding anniversary. We can't believe it's already been that long but on the other hand we're shocked by how much our lives have changed. We celebrated by ordering pizza and relaxing at home. A date night will have to wait for a couple of weeks until we have a less busy weekend but the plan is to see a movie! Emerson's gift to us was that he slept the entire night so we woke up refreshed and happy. Oh, and our gift to each other was a DVR. That's right 21st century, we've arrived!

Emerson's First Meal

Sunday, July 26th Emerson had his first taste of rice cereal. He didn't love it but he didn't hate it either. Daddy and Mommy tried some and we both feel like the kid is missing out. Oh well, some day he'll have real people food. Monday night he fell asleep before he at his cereal. Last night he seemed to enjoy the cereal and was trying to grab the spoon out of Robert's hand! "Dad, I got this!" Eventually he got bored but he managed to eat quite a bit. He's definitely sleeping better the last couple of nights which Mommy and Daddy are incredibly grateful for. Here is a photo from his first meal:

Emerson Photo Update

Mommy playing Patty Cake with Emerson's Feet. He LOVES this!











Emerson in his exersaucer. Mommy & Daddy think there's a lot going on with this thing but he loves it. LOL.














Emerson playing on his playmat. His new trick...he uses his feet to push down the arch. What fun!

4 Months Old

On Saturday we took Emerson for his 4 month check up. It was good timing since he had a cold. He weighs 14 pounds 1 1/2 ounces which is the 40 percentile. He's 25 1/4" long which is the 60 percentile. His head circumference is 16 1/2" which is the 45 percentile. His cradle cap is still kind of bad so we're going to work on that this week. They said Emerson can start having cereal now and that we can introduce jar food in a few weeks. Overall they said that he looks great!

After his exam we were waiting for the nurses to come and give him his shots (he got 4 and screamed) and Emerson rolled to his tummy and was trying to scoot to his paci that was laying about 6" away. He is definitely ready to start moving...but are we ready for that? He's getting so big! It's fun but kind of scary and sad. He's not our little tiny baby anymore.

Here are the things Emerson can do at 4 months:

• Holds his head up at 90 degrees when on his tummy
• Visually tracks moving obects
• Blows bubbles
• Squeals, gurgles & coos when you talk to him
• Turns toward sounds
• When laying on the floor will follow Gus with his eyes and turn his head or roll over when Gus moves out of his range of site
• Bats at toys
• Grasps toys and will hold them for several minutes in his hands
• Laughs
• Can bear weight on his legs
• Rolls over from back to tummy
• Sleep on side or stomach frequently
• Cut his first tooth with the second making it's way out
• Starting cereal this week
• Plays with his feet
• Loves Peek-a-boo and Patty Cake

Buddies: Emerson & Gus

The other night Robert had Emerson in his lap and Gus was sitting next to them on the couch. Emerson has been noticing and watching Gus for several weeks now. He watches him as he walks around the room and sometimes Gus will come up and sniff E while he's in his bouncy seat. A few times we have "helped" Emerson pet Gus. Well, on this night Emerson was really staring at Gus and started reaching out for him. He petted him a little and grabbed some hair. Gus was very patient through the whole thing. Luckily we had the camera nearby. Here are some photos of the exchange:

More Milestones

Robert was busy volunteering at Our Lady of Lourdes School on Monday and Tuesday. There were doing various projects to spruce the place up including painting and other repairs. On Wednesday afternoon we went to my company picnic at Heritage Square.

Emerson has continued to not sleep very good this week. He wakes up crying several times a night. Usually because he has rolled onto his tummy and is "stuck" since he doesn't know how to roll from his tummy to his back. He's also been eating an extra time in the middle of the night which is a little annoying. Sometimes it's at 3, sometimes 4 and sometimes 5 a.m. Wednesday night when he was crying I realized a second tooth is starting to come through.

Then, on Thursday night Emerson sounded congested and Friday morning he woke up with his first cold. Poor little guy had snot everywhere and couldn't breath. Luckily we had already planned for him to spend the day with Oma Teresa so he didn't have to go to school. He had a snotty nose and was a little extra lathargic but overall he was still our Guy Smiley. Smiling, playing with toys, etc. Friday night we went to dinner at Red Robin with Sarah and Mikey where Emerson enjoyed staring at the ceiling fan overhead and standing on the table.

Yesterday we ran a few errands and then hung out at home. Last night I started not feeling good and realized I have another cold! UGH! So this whole weakened immune system and son that's a petri dish isn't working out so hot. LOL. I'm going to have to start taking extra vitamin C. Poor Robert, now he's taken care of his two sickies. I'm resting a lot today so that I feel better tomorrow and this week.

Here is Emerson in his stroller at Heritage Square. Such a big boy!

Short Travels to Colorado

Robert's best friend Aaron aka Short decided to take a road trip from his house outside of Dallas through some of the West and back home. He decided his first destination should be our house since he hadn't met Emerson yet. He came in late on Friday night and left early on Sunday morning but we jammed a lot in while he was here on Saturday the 11th.

First we went to Red Rocks. The main reason for Short's trip was to capture photos of this beautfiul planet we live on. Anyone who's been to Red Rocks knows it's awe inspiring. This was also Robert's first time there and obviously Emerson's.

Next we went to a BBQ at Jon and Kristin's apartment. We were there for a few hours hanging out and chatting and had a great time. That night we came home and Emerson spent a little time in Short's lap. Needless to say, the two of them became fast friends. Thanks for visiting us Short!

Emerson's First Fourth of July

Okay, I realize we're backtracking a little here. I got a terrible cold the night of E's baptism which I fought through July 7th. I have not been that sick in years! It was terrible. So after two days home sick and one day struggling through work the 4th of July was upon us. Robert spent the weekend putting up baseboards while I tried to finish recouperating and entertain Emerson. Oh, there was also a Deadliest Catch marathon on. Why do I get so into that show? Anybody's guess....

Most people know that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Saturday night I was finally feeling human so we went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Then we hit up Dairy Queen where I explained to Emerson that you really must have ice cream on the 4th of July if you're a true American. We'll talk to him about alcohol once he's old enough. Anyway, after the delicious Blizzards we went and got a spot over by the Lowe's at Santa Fe and Belleview. Emerson usually falls asleep somewhere between 9 and 10 so we were wondering if he would be awake when the fireworks started at 9:30. So bundled up (it was pretty chilly that night which was weird!) we waited for the main event to begin. When the first firework went off we watched Emerson stare at the sky. We didn't even have to point him in the right direction. There he sat, transfixed by the show and sucking on his paci. That's my boy! He was awake for the whole show and didn't make a peep the entire time, just stared and enjoyed the tradition we have here in America - blowing things up on our Anniversary. LOL.

Here are some pictures of E from that night. Note the hat he's wearing. Yes - it was that cold. Emerson was the warmest of the three of us because I always have extra clothes for him. Meanwhile, we were freezing!

Two Big Events!!

Well, we're a couple of days behind on this huge news, but things have been a little chaotic at our house lately.

For the last couple of weeks, Emerson hasn't been sleeping as soundly as we had become accustomed to. He would wake up in the middle of the night occasionally and eat, which Natalie and I were not used to. It wasn't too terrible but we couldn't figure out what was going on. Was he just extra hungry or was there something else? Well, Monday morning after cleaning his face, Natalie made a discovery about our little man, he had cut his first tooth. It's just barely there but it is definitely cut through the gums and sticking out. We were a little shocked at how early this has happend but every baby is different and at least we had some possible insight as to why he hadn't been sleeping very soundly. It's tough to get a picture of it because he doesn't usually hold him mouth open for very long, but we'll work on it.



However, the party on Monday didn't stop there. After work on Tuesday, I picked up Emerson and the teacher at "school" had told me that he was really close to rolling over from his back to his front. That night we let him have a lot of time on the floor and we played with him and sure enough, he would roll over... almost all the way except he would have one of his arms tucked under him and would usually flip back so we didn't count that as totally rolling over. Towards the end of the evening however, he finally rolled all the way over and got his other hand out from underneath.



We were so proud of all he had accomplished in the last 48 hours. First tooth and now rolling over! We were so excited about his new developments except for one small detail. Even though Emerson can roll from his back over to his front, he still hasn't mastered the maneuver the other way. So a couple times in the last few nights we will hear him all of a suden start screaming from the other room. He's rolled himself onto his stomach, but can't roll back and is stuck there and freaked out. Now we just need to get him rolling the other way and he'll be all set.



We'll have some more pictures and video later on, probably this weekend when we do his 4 month post, but I wanted to get the news out to the world.

Emerson's Milestones at 3 Months

It is amazing to watch how our little boy changes everyday. I was looking at him the other night and got teary when I realized how big he is already! It seems like yesterday he was a tiny baby laying on my chest. Well, enough with the sappy mommy talk. Here are the things E can do at 3 months old:

• Recognizes Mommy & Daddy's faces and voices
• Watches Gus as he walks around the room
• Sucks on his hands A LOT
• Is way more intereactive with his toys
• Will grasp at toys and try to put them in his mouth
• Will hold on to toys for a few minutes (with both his left and right hand, no favorite yet)
• Smiles a lot
• Still loves music
• Can sit for up to a half an hour in his Bumbo seat (the lime green one in the photos)
• Can sit in an exersaucer and play (he does this at school and we're going to try to put him in his here at home this weekend)
• Talks, babbles, coos
• Can support his body weight standing
• Likes to hold on to things when you're holding him - your shirt, Daddy's chest hair, Mommy's hair!
• Drools constantly!
• Listens attentively when you read, talk or sing to him (you can see those wheels turning in that little noggin!)
• Still isn't totally fond of tummy time but he's getting better at it
• Has a bedtime routine and can fall asleep by himself in his crib
• Is sleeping in his crib in his room for the last week!

It's really cool to see his personality continue to develop. Mostly he's just our smiley, mellow guy. According to the teachers at school (four of them have given us the same report) they all love him there. They fight over who gets to feed him because he's such a good eater and they have to remind each other not to hold him all day. We feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy baby boy who is thriving at home and at school.