Emilie Mae- Nine Months Old!

9 Month Stats

18 lbs. 3 oz.
28 inches long

Emilie turned nine months old on Valentine's Day. She remains a very happy baby with an enormous grin from ear to ear. She is pure joy.

Although Emilie still does not have a single tooth, this doesn't surprise us one bit, considering Marin didn't get her first tooth until her first birthday. However, like Marin, Emilie is learning to chew despite not having any teeth. We have recently started giving her some soft solid puffs, that she can grab and put in her mouth. She is a much better eater than she has been, and will eat almost everything that we give her. Although, when she is full, she is definitely done and she lets you know it!

Emilie isn't quite pulling herself to stand, but she does stand with aid, and walks when we hold her hands. She loves to stand!

Emilie loves animals! She loves to snuggle up with the dog, and sweet Norah just lets her crawl all over her and grab at the tags on her collar. Emilie also liked crawling after Jake's kitties last weekend, but they were so fast, and she didn't particularly like when they scampered away so quickly.

Emilie now waves bye-bye. With her tiny little hand, it's adorable. The first time I saw her do this was before Marin's birthday party, to Aunt Vee. I got all excited and announced, "She's waving! She just waved!!" And then Jason piped up in the kitchen, "Oh yeah, she did that yesterday." Poor second child.

Emilie is a good sleeper. She doesn't go for the paci like her sister did, so when she does occasionally wake up, it's a little tougher to get her soothed back to sleep, but she usually sleeps about 14 hours a day- 12 through the night and then a nap or two.

Emilie got moves like Jagger. Just kidding. Sorry, that was lame. But she's crawling all over the place and she moves quickly. Baby gates are definitely up. What is appealing to babies about the stairs that they will perch at the top of the them staring down a long set of wooden steps, and think, "Sure, why not. Let's try this out?" She gets so mad when we put the gates up. Like, "Oh man! I really wanted to try that today! I almost got away with it!"

Emilie says "da-da". I'll say, can you say "ma-ma?" And she just smiles and me and says, "da-da!" We'll keep working on it.

Emilie likes to read books, and then reach out and touch the pages and put it in her mouth. We have started a library class for her, and she loves it! We sing songs and read stories and she watches very intently, and bounces her legs for the stories. Marin goes along too, and tries to steal the show from all the babies. Oy vey.

Speaking of Marin, she is Emilie's favorite person on the planet. She absolutely lights up around her. When Marin acts goofy, Emilie just giggles and giggles. Marin is starting to play with Emilie a lot more now too. Emilie just goes with the flow and follows after her on all fours.

Life is good.

And speaking of Valentine's Day, we spent most of it in the doctor's office after Marin developed a nasty cough that was diagnosed as RSV. She's on the nebulizer and is feeling better, thank goodness! Here are some pictures of the happier points of the day!

Ooo La La!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have spent a year celebrating Marin's "firsts", but Valentine's Day marks Marin's first official holiday that she has already celebrated. (Translation- it's her second Valentine's Day.) I am so used to buying "baby's first" greeting cards, that when I went to buy a "baby's first Valentine's Day" card last week, I stopped myself just short of the checkout line when I realized I was wrong.

Today is pajama day at Miss Kathy's! Everyone (Miss Kathy included) is wearing valentine pj's, having a snuggle day, and story time day. Um, yes please! I would have loved to have gone to work today in my pajamas and then snuggled up with a good book and a teddy bear all day. To top it off, they are having breakfast for lunch (pancakes and eggs- the older children are really excited about this) and are celebrating Valentine's Day all day long in a sea of red and pink.

Jason surprised me last night by telling me to pack an overnight bag, and plan on not coming home tonight. A little forward, I know, but we are married after all. :) I have no idea where we are going, and what we are doing, but I definitely decided I'd better shave my legs.

Jason arranged everything for Marin while we are away. I know that my mom is picking Marin up at daycare, and that Aunt Lindsay is going to my parent's house to pick up Marin, bring her back to our house, and staying with her overnight. I also know that Lindsay was secretly shown all the ins and outs last week during Marin's party, and that I didn't have to plan a thing! That is a Valentine present in and of itself. I swear, sometimes "getting away" seems like more work than just bringing Marin along, after you plan, explain, organize, pack, etc. for her while you are gone. What a treat not to have to worry a bit!

To top this all off, the man at the coffee shop at the train station today gave me two candy kisses this morning. Gotta love chocolate for breakfast!

I know a lot of people don't like Valentine's day, and I agree that we should really take the time to tell the people we love how we feel everyday. But it sure is nice to have one day dedicated to the heart's flutter. Whether your sweetheart is your spouse, or your kids, or your dog, or the guy at the coffee counter; I hope that you all enjoy a day of extra lovin' and chocolate!

Since Mr. Valentine (her Valentine bear) got to go to Ms. Kathy's for snuggle and pajama day, Marin had to get him snug in the car seat this morning.