seventeen months

Dear Emmett,

This is the last time you'll get a monthly letter from me while living at your first home!  You are seventeen months today, on Easter Sunday, and we spent it here in Jersey City, just the three of us at our apartment.  Moving day is less than two weeks away, and by the time I write to you next, on your eighteen month day, we will be settling into our new house.  We spent the morning getting bagels and playing in the park, and then we spent the rest of the day running errands, cleaning and packing.  We did take time out to create a little Easter egg hunt in the courtyard for you after dinner.  You raced around, joyfully finding eggs and popping them open to devour all the little snacks and cookies hidden inside. 

 

You love all the activity here, the walking everywhere, the people and the busy things to see and explore - especially since there are renovations going on at our building, and you always want to see the diggers!  I think you are going to miss lots of things about this place, and so will I.  I'm really looking forward to sharing the new experiences and lifestyle of our house and neighborhood with you, though.  The three of us are going to have a blast exploring our new hometown.

Having our own yard will be a wonderful change.  You are exceptionally exhausting at this current age, more so than you've ever been.  The reason for that, though, is that your mind and body are in constant motion, and it is so much fun to see what a sponge you are, taking everything in, remembering it, and telling us about it later.  It's great, but it is also profoundly tiring, and I can't wait to have a yard where you can run free and use up some of that boundless energy. 

You wear me out, kid, that is for absolute certain.  Keep up the good work.

Love,
Mama

fifteen months

Dear Emmett,

You are a fifteen month old with the vocabulary and language usage of about a two year old, according to your doctor.  You performed for her, speaking and playing and showing her your personality.  Your weight is slowing down; you're thinning out and talling up.  This morning you weighed 25lb, 7oz and you are 31.5in tall. 

We have been marveling over your speaking ability, and lots of people have asked us how many words you have.  We started a list a couple of weeks ago, and we have been amazed, seeing it written down, how many words you really have.  So, this month I am creating a written list of your words.  I think it is the last time we'll be able to list and contain your vocabulary, and I want to remember this and be able to show it to you one day.  This is probably not a complete list, but I think it's fairly close, and it tells us you have somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 words.  You are also starting to put a few words together, such as "Daddy walk," "Kitty food," and - OF COURSE - "No, Mama."

These are mostly just in the order I thought of them as I was adding to the list, although the first few are your earliest words, and I did group all the names together:

Up - Light - Kitty - Clock - Please - Yes - No - Hi - Bye-bye - Book - Ball - Door - Box - Bag - Basket - Ear - Nose - Eyes - Toes - Hair - Brush - Teeth - Cup - Bath - Knee - Boots - Shoes - Socks - Bra - Pants - Clothes - Belly - Back - Butt - Walk - Bounce - Water - Juice - Milk - Toast - Apple - Applesauce - Yogurt - Raspberries - Spoon - Fork - Bowl - Cookie - Cracker - Cheese - Kix - Ghost - Boo - Cow - Horse - Dog - Duck - Pig - Zoo - TV - Car - Truck - See - Bus - Snow - Stuck - Mess - Sit -Bucket - Bear - Grinch - Blanket - Bib - Baby - Bottle - Head - Blocks - Elmo - A - B - D - Mama - Daddy - Nana - Poppy - Mimi - Pappy - Emmett - Alli - Lila - Greg - Noah - Eddie - Ashley - Mirt - Mike - Beanie - Latreash - Wheel - Gears - Down - Bug - Duke - Pull - Hat - Moon - Balloon - Bite - Blue - Red - Tree - Toys - Button - Dance - Poop - Pee - Cloth - Beep - Coat - Scarf - Boy - Girl - Keys - Bubbles - Fish - Umbrella - Heart - Kick - Glasses - Crash - Bonk - Kiss - Mail - Potty - More - Doorbell - Hot - Hug - Towel - Plow - Table - Sticker - Nice - Pizza - Thank you - This - These - Those - Magnet - Gloves - Guys - Diaper - People - Cold - Snaps - Soccer - Go - Sheet - Food - Tea - Help - Fort - Pigeon - Shirt - Zebra - Sheep - Giraffe - Toothbrush - Green - Purple - Away - Feet - Push - In - Whoops - Two - Barn - Stairs - Big

Daddy and I are in awe to be able to communicate with you so readily, and we are so proud of you.  Keep on showing us all the exciting stuff going on in that busy mind of yours.

Love,
Mama

fourteen months

Dear Emmett,

Today, you are 14 months old.  You might not realize it, since I failed to acknowledge your 13 month day here with a letter.  I have been struggling to decide whether I want to continue writing letters to you each month.  It is getting so hard to put even one day of yours into words, given all that you learn and do and say, nevermind an entire month.  But I would like to continue marking these days for you.  I have decided your typical update letters are not too practical anymore.  You have your own website, which documents a little piece of your day, every day, and that is a good marker of time and development. 

Each month, though, I will continue to share something to celebrate your growth, whether it's through words, pictures, or, in this case, video.  Following are a series of videos from the last couple of weeks, which capture your personality.

















I hope you are as entertained by these videos one day as we are now.

Love,
Mama

twelve months

Dear Emmett,

A year ago today, you changed our lives.  You came crashing into this world with plenty of fanfare, that's for sure.  But when you got here, and we found out you were a boy, our Emmett, everything was suddenly perfect.  You were exactly who we had been waiting for, the perfect addition to our family.

The year has flown by, and I am in awe of what an assertive and creative little boy you're becoming.  Slowly, we are getting more and more insight to your personality and I'm starting to see how you fit into our family.  We get glimpses of how your personality will mix with mine and with Daddy's.  Our similarities and differences and habits and needs clash more often each day, but in a totally good way (most of the time).  It means you're integrated more into our daily life as an individual person instead of as a baby whose needs are predictable and met on demand.

You are stubborn.  I often sigh and tell you that you're too much like your Mamie.  You have a stubborn streak that would have rivaled hers, and oh, how she would have loved that.  How she would have loved you.  It's fun to see what traits of yours mirror others in our family.  For instance, your laugh is exactly like cousin Alli's and your attention span is a lot like mine and Nana's. 

You talk so much.  You repeat nearly everything we ask of you and I'm confident that you can say just about anything you want; it's just a matter of whether you will or not.  One of your favorite words is please.  Which functions very well for you as "give me that."  When you spot food, a toy, an object you know you can't have, anything you want, you say please repeatedly.  Other favorite words right now include light, bath, clock, ball, button, out, juice, head, blocks, truck, among many others.  You know how to do some animal sounds- lion, tiger, snake, kitty, dog and cow.  Pretty much everything else roars, according to you.

Over the last few weeks, you have conquered three major milestones.  You are a true walking kid now.  It's a rare occasion that you resort to crawling.  Your car seat has been turned around to face forward, which makes for much more pleasant car rides for both of us.  And your last bottle was four days ago.  You still ask for your bottle, especially before bed, but we just pretend you've asked for your ball or your juice or almost anything else to distract you.  It's been a bit of adjustment, but you were pushing away your bottle after only a few ounces and you were ready for the change. 

You love the Five Little Monkeys and very excitedly start hitting yourself in the head when I start saying it to you or reading you the book.  Going for walks makes you happy.  Whenever we pass a light or a clock, it must be pointed out.  The mere suggestion of a bath makes you race into the bathroom, throw any nearby washcloths or toys in, screech the word bath over and over and stare into the tub, trying to get into it by sheer force of willpower.  You are fully on the go and in charge.  You don't sit still for much, but you will still sit and read books.  The right books will keep you occupied and calm for 20-30 minutes at a time.  Favorites include Peek-a-Who?, Old MacDonald's Barn, Goodnight Moon, Five Little Monkeys, I Love You Through and Through, and several of the Spot books. 

You've had quite a time celebrating your first birthday already.  We had a cake for you at the Pre-Thanksgiving Feast at home in Jersey City this year, and you opened a few presents.  We had a cake for you in PA with Daddy's side of the family, and all the aunts, uncles & cousins came with smiles and hugs and gifts.  Today, you and I had a cupcake after your lunch as a treat before we had to get in the car to pick up Daddy and drive up to CT for Thanksgiving.  We have one more big celebration in store for you on Saturday, with all of your CT family.  You're really getting the hang of opening presents. 

You learn so many new things every single day.  It is a true pleasure to be by your side.  It is an honor to be your mother.  Happy Birthday, Emmett.

Love,
Mama

eleven months

Dear Emmett,

Today you are eleven months old, and you have the distinct honor of celebrating your day with Pappy, whose birthday is today. Pappy gave you eleven dollars for your piggy bank to celebrate your eleven months. You promptly ripped the ten dollar bill in half and Daddy had to tape it up. We went out to breakfast with Mimi and Pappy to celebrate and you enjoyed applesauce, blueberries, pancakes, waffles and strawberries. You are such a good eater and can eat almost anything off our plates now. You're working on mastering the fork, and you clap for yourself when you succeed on getting bites into your mouth with it.

You took your first steps on October 7th, and I was lucky enough to catch it on video. You turned around and grinned at me, so proud of yourself. You're still not walking fully independently, but you take 5-6 steps at a time on your own. Your classes at the Little Gym every week are helping with this- you love to play and run there, and being around the other kids makes you want to keep up with them.

Words are pouring out of your mouth. Your favorite word is "light" and we have to point out every light, everywhere we go. I am no good at keeping track of them and writing them down, so I'll attempt to list as many of your words as I can think of here: light, up, duck, kitty, clock, please, more, out, sshhh, juice, heart, ball, bottle, book, bye-bye, Poppy, daddy, eyes, socks, shoes. I know there are more; you repeat things all the time, but those are the most commonly used. Some are clearer than others, but you get your point across. I started baby sign language with you months ago, but I've mostly given up on it. You're so vocal, you just say what you want to say. We do still do the sign alphabet whenever we sing the alphabet song, and you try to copy some of the letters.

You are such a typical boy in some ways- anything with wheels fascinates you. If you can roll it, drive it, ride it or crash it, you want it. Daddy found a ride-on fire truck by the dumpsters and we took it home, scrubbed it and put batteries in for the lights and sounds. You push it all over the house, turn it over to spin the wheels, and ride it while pushing the buttons to hear the sirens.

In other ways, though, you are so unique and full of unexpected personality. You're developing a sense of humor as you experiment to find out what makes us laugh. You clap your hands or shriek to crack yourself up. You think it's hysterical to run away from us so we'll chase you, but then as soon as we follow, you run toward us instead because you're so excited to be caught.

You listen always and absorb so much. I never know what will catch your interest and stick to that ever-expanding little mind. Clocks are so interesting, and always require study and investigation. Lions in your books or on your bibs or toys make you cackle and start roaring the cutest little roar ever. Music always makes you stop and dance. The sight of a door, any door, makes you race toward it, waving and saying "bye-bye."

If I ask you to go get in your high chair, or go find your ball, or go get a book, or come here please, or clap your hands or roar like a lion, you listen. This is probably the most fun development this month. I can say so many things, countless things, to you and you understand and respond. You know where you keep your pumpkin and you know how to turn on the flashlight and you know what I mean when I ask you to please stop copying your fingers on the printer/copier and you know to go in the bathroom and take off your socks when I tell you it's bath time. Although I should expect by now that you'll understand much of what I say, it still catches me by surprise when you respond to something I didn't realize you knew.

Keep surprising me. It's the best part of being your mother.

Love,
Mama

ten months

Dear Emmett,

Today you are 10 months old, and I find myself staring at a blank screen, unsure what to say. You are smart, funny, observant, creative and mischievous. Growing and developing happens so fast, every day, in so many different areas and directions and skills. It's too hard to define them all here in one letter any longer. I'll do my best to share the things that stand out most about you right now.

Your language is developing so quickly, at such a young age. You have been saying up, kitty and light regularly. As of yesterday, you've added duck and clock. You use mama and dada correctly, as well as baba, for bottle, and shhh for shoes and for sheep.

Even more exciting, though, is your comprehension. You understand so many words and phrases, follow simple instructions and point your finger to answer simple questions. You point to lights, people, each painting on the wall of your room. You sit down and stand up when I ask you to do so. Most of the time. You go chasing after the cat with glee, saying kitty ("itteh! itteh!") when I ask you where she is, much to the cat's dismay. Upon request, you point to your nose, mouth and toes, or mine, and you'll rub noses with me if I ask you to. You understand "no" and will usually stop whatever you're doing when I tell you no.

You have a penchant for ignoring my "no" when you discover certain destructive and fun activities, such as unrolling the toilet paper, knocking over the speakers and, my particular favorite, racing over to the cat food dish, grabbing a handful and flinging it across the room. This has become somewhat of a game to you. I can see you going for it and you know I'm going to stop you, so you crawl as fast as your little knees can go (which is surprisingly fast), racing to get there first so you can fling a handful before I get there.

You love clocks, seeking them out wherever we go. I keep a plastic wall clock within your reach in your room, and you will hold it in your lap and look at it. There are very few things that keep you in one place, but you will sit still and study the clock.

Reading still makes you happy, although you insist on turning the pages yourself very enthusiastically. Storybooks with thin paper pages are not in our repertoire unless I'm reading to you while you're off playing, as we would like to keep the pages in the books. For now, we'll stick with the board books.

Napping and sleeping at night are so much better. You still sometimes scream at naps, but you settle down and go to sleep in 5-10 minutes. Most days, you'll sleep an hour and a half in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. As you learned to settle yourself to sleep a few weeks ago, you gave up the pacifier. Just like that. One day, you were no longer interested and now you want nothing to do with it.

We are working more finger foods into your diet. You enjoy whole grain vegetable pasta pieces, sliced bananas, pizza crust and small bits of pizza. Fruit mixed with yogurt is your favorite food, though.

You are up to five teeth. Three new ones have come in on top; we are still waiting on the top right middle tooth. Today at lunch, you got a piece of freeze-dried strawberry stuck on your bottom teeth, which you found confusing and funny. I helped you get it free, but you kept rubbing your tongue against those teeth, trying to figure out what happened. After dinner every night, I brush your teeth. This makes you giggle, and you love to help brush.

You are so mobile now, cruising on furniture, walking while holding hands and balancing standing up all by yourself. You have started to play games. You love to crawl or run (cruising on furniture) away from Daddy and me, trying to get us to chase you, grab you & tickle you. This usually causes hysterical laughter, resulting in stumbling and falling with all of us in a big giggling pile on the floor. Daddy and you play a game when he gets home from work every day, which makes your whole body shake with glee. You chase him, screech in his face, he screeches back in your face, and this goes on and on until you're laughing so hard you've got the hiccups and can hardly breathe.

Every day, so many new things. I am soaking them up and cherishing them. Thank you for the constant laughter and discovery, and for keeping me on my toes.

Love,
Mama

nine months

Dear Emmett,

We have been so busy traveling and having adventures this month, which turns out to be an excellent metaphor for your development at nine months. You are so, so busy. The difference is so drastic between eight and nine months. You were starting to move and explore at eight months, but now you are fast and you're unstoppable. You crawl - fast - and pop right back into sitting position to check out whatever's around you. Then you grab onto the nearest surface above your head so you can stand up and cruise around. Countless items in your reach have been relocated or destroyed. Everything in our apartment is slowly raising up out of your path.

Naptime is awful these days. I won the naptime battle after a day or two of hysterical crying followed by good naps. But then two days later you figured out how to sit up on your own, and how to stand up in the crib and that was it. We've had marathon sessions of you in your crib, in constant motion and with lots of whining and crying interspersed with playing, but no sleeping. I've given in and started rocking you to sleep at naptimes. I love this so much -- almost as much as I know I'm going to regret it later when I have to break that habit. But snuggling with your head burrowed into my neck while I rock you to sleep is such a great pleasure for me. The moments you spend curled up in my lap are so few and far between, so that is such a special treat.

Nighttime sleeping is still good, with the occasional very early wakeup, and infrequent screaming from dreams or teething where we have to soothe you back to sleep. Your top teeth are so close; I can feel them right there, and the gums over them are starting to get very thin. You've had some cranky days with the teething, but aside from that you are still such a happy baby and so adaptable.

You've had no choice but to be adaptable, really. In your ninth month, you have traveled to NH for a week on a lake, to VT for a family reunion weekend, to PA for cousin Alli's 2nd birthday party, and to CT with Latreash and Jay for a few days at Nana & Poppy's house, which is where we are as I write this. You are upstairs with Poppy, having your bottle and settling down for bed, while your playmates for the day are in the playroom watching TV and settling in for a night of hanging out and probably very little sleeping. Ian, Devon, Zachary and Jay have been entertaining you and having fun with you. And you love the attention of the big boys.

You started crawling before we went to PA for Alli's party, but you really took off trying to keep up with her. She loved playing with you and ordering you around. She was telling you what to do every minute and didn't quite get why you weren't following her every command. You copied her, though.

You copy everybody. It's so amazing how fast you pick things up. At 8 months, 1 week, you were sitting on the floor and held your hands out to me. I asked if you wanted to stand up, and grabbed your hands, You stood up and then you said, "up." We were so surprised, and weren't sure if you really said it, but then you told us "up" three more times that day. You now say it maybe once a day or so. No other new words yet, but I'm sure they are coming soon!

You give kisses by imitating with a little lip smacking sound. You cluck your tongue. You blow raspberries. You clap. You wave. You pick up blankets in front of your face and then whip them away with an enormous grin, playing peek-a-boo with me. Your favorite game is for me to throw a blanket over your head and say "Where's Emmett?" upon which you delightfully pull it off to show me where you are.

Your appetite is ferocious and you love almost everything, especially what comes off our plates. Bits of fruit, vegetables, meat, bread, anything. You love it all and you love to feed yourself. Pizza crusts are so good for chewing on that you scream in fury when they're taken away before you're finished.

I didn't expect the tantrum phase to start this early, but oh, wow, you hate to be told no. When I repeatedly tell you no to climbing up on the tv stand and knocking over the speakers, you get so mad your whole body shakes. You listen, though. You usually stop what you're doing but not without a little tantrum moment and an alligator tear just for good measure.

Those tears turn to grins and giggling so easily, though, and you can always turn around my tired, impatient mood with just one belly laugh. The hugs, kisses, curling up with a book, and silly moments are what really mark your nine month development. The joy you carry everywhere you go is contagious and healing.

With endless love and laughter, you make me a better person.

Love,
Mama

eight months

Dear Emmett,

During your eighth month, you have discovered that there is a world around you to be explored. There are chairs and couches and pillows and tables to climb. There are kitchens full of food you'll wrestle me to get. There are cats to be chased after and electrical cords to eat. There is a mama and daddy, not to mention grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends to hug and climb and steal food away from. There are block towers to knock over and toys to pick up and bang against everything you can reach. There are specks of dust on the floor which must be inspected, and there are countless unexpected things on which to fall and hit your head.

In other words, you are in motion and, so help me, not to be deterred. Stopping you when you've got your eye on something these days is not unlike trying to pick up the wind and stuff it away in a closet.

For several weeks now, you've been scooting a little bit on your butt, rolling around and scooting backwards on your belly to get places. Which was minimally effective and easily contained. But now, NOW, you have figured out how to go forward. It's not actually a crawl, but you get up into crawling position and use your arms to lunge forward. You flop onto your belly and start all over again. It doesn't look like much, until I turn my back for ten seconds only to discover you've gotten over to the cord for your baby monitor and you're trying to fit the whole thing inside your mouth.

You're quick with that little lunge-shuffle-crawl. And so we broke down and did it. We bought you a baby jail. If my sanity is to be maintained, it had to be done. It's a six-sided plastic fence, about as tall as you are right now. It's pretty sturdy, enough so that you can stand up holding onto it. You like to play on the floor in there, and pull yourself up and stand at the edge, looking around. So far, you seem to like it, but I don't think you've noticed yet that you're trapped.

You're taking two naps a day, though you often fight them hard. I put you in your crib, rub your back, sing a song or two, and then leave you. Sometimes you settle down, but much more often you scream. You scream loud and hard and mad. And I let you, for ten minutes. After ten minutes, you've usually either worn out and gone to sleep or you've got yourself worked up in such a crazy froth that you're even more exhausted so that when I go in to settle you back down, you'll let me and you'll go to sleep. You're still sleeping well at night, going to bed around 8. You often wake up between 5:30 - 6am, which is mildly unpleasant but tolerable, given that you go to bed well and sleep through the night.

I think the most fun we've had this month has been your discovery of creative play. Peekaboo makes sense to you now, and you sometimes hide your face and then peek out at me, so you can get in on the joke, too. You learned to clap a couple weeks ago, and will often do it on command when I say "YAY!" You're starting to wave hi; you'll do it in the mirror at yourself, or to me, but you look at me like you've never seen me before in your life when I try to get you to wave to anyone else. You blow raspberries constantly, all day long.

You laugh at everything when you're in a good mood. You laugh long and silent with a goofy grin, or you laugh a crazy gasping laugh, or a real belly laugh all the way down to your toes. Singing is funny, the cats are funny, the washer & dryer are funny, jumping and bouncing and tickling are hysterical. Faces, teeth, tongues, babies, phones, light switches and balls are fall-off-your-chair-can't-breathe funny and require much investigation.

It is pure joy rediscovering the world by your side. Keep teaching me, Emmett, I'm watching and listening and learning right here with you.

Love,
Mama

seven months

Dear Emmett,

Today you are seven months old. Your changes in the last month have been so extraordinary, it's almost as if there was an invisible barrier holding you back, and it was lifted at six months. Your will is strong and displayed often. If you want something, you go after it. You reach for it, you scoot toward it, you pick it up, you try to fit it in your mouth. Even if it's the dryer. Or the bathtub. If you want me, you reach for me. If you don't want me, you push me away. If you don't know what you want, you do both at the same time.

If you are sitting and you want to stand, you hold your arms out and shake them excitedly until I give you my fingers to hold so you can pull yourself up. If it's over 90 degrees outside and the little bits of water you're getting from the end of a straw are not enough, you claw your way to the bottle until we let you take regular sips. If Nana is on the phone talking to you on speaker, you wrestle me with all your little might to get your hands on that phone. If I'm feeding you the smoothie we often share for breakfast with a spoon, you whine and holler at me until I let you drink out of a cup like I do.

There are so many new kid things you are doing all at once, I find myself studying you. I am trying to commit to memory all the sweet baby things you do so I won't forget. Like your little baby yawn. Already you are starting to yawn more often like a kid instead of like an infant. I am trying to memorize the way you wrinkle your little nose in anticipation when you are about to start drinking a bottle. And the way your little hand grips my thumb so tightly while you eat. You are capable of holding your own bottle, but you'd much rather hold my hand.

I want to remember that when we are playing on the floor, you will suddenly drop your toy and reach for me, to make sure I'm still right there. I won't forget the way you cross your ankles and rub your feet together when you're sitting in the stroller. Or the way you always grab your toes when you're on the changing table.

You are growing up right in front of my eyes, and it is so exciting. A few days ago, you learned to pick up the Cheerios off your highchair tray by yourself and then feed yourself. You grinned ear to ear the first time you got it right; you were so proud. I grinned, too. I was so proud.

Though this month has been so exciting, it has also had its rough patches. About two weeks ago, for the first time since you were nine weeks old, you started getting up during the night. You ran a low fever, got a little congested, and you gnawed ferociously on anything and everything. You were whiny, cranky and generally restless. A couple of days later, on June 12, your right bottom front tooth broke through! Things settled down for a couple days, and then it all started again. This time the whining and waking up in the night was worse (every half hour at least for two nights in a row) . It was rough on all of us, but then finally the bottom left tooth came in on June 17.

A couple days later, you got your first cold. And promptly passed it on to daddy and me. We've all been congested, coughing, eyes watering for a few days now. You're feeling much better, and hopefully we are about done with it, too. You handled it fairly well. The worst of it was not being able to use your pacifier much because of the nasal congestion, so you had some trouble getting to sleep. You're a resilient and adaptable baby, though, and we got through it just fine.

We've been playing with you on your belly a lot, to try and see if you'll start moving. There's not been much progress, except that you'll stay on your hands and knees briefly if we put you there, rock back and forth a bit, and then flop back onto your belly. I know this means crawling is coming, but you haven't quite figured it out.

If yesterday's discovery is any indication, though, it won't be long. I left you on your belly on a blanket and walked over to the computer. I listened to you play and whine a little while I checked email and facebook. I noticed it got strangely silent, so I leaned over to check it out. You had scooted backward off the blanket about three feet and turned yourself sideways.

Time to start baby proofing!

Love,
Mama

six months

Dear Emmett,

Today is your six month birthday. Between your last letter at five months and today, your personality has started to emerge. Your brain is working so hard making connections and figuring things out, sometimes I think I can actually see the wheels turning. This is even more fun, because about a week ago you learned to sit up on your own. All at once. So far, that's the way you do everything. You don't try, not interested, no thank you, and then one day you decide to do it. And that's it, skill perfected. Overnight, my life became ten times easier. Being able to take you anywhere around the house and have you sit and play and look around makes you so much happier and more flexible. You observe the world from right side up. You smile this sweet little squishy-faced grin and you're so proud of your own independence.

Bath time remains a favorite. You love to splash and try to steal your washcloth to suck the water out of it. Water is pure joy for you. Even pouring water right over your head and your face makes you laugh.

A couple times a day, you and I curl up with a couple of books. You love to turn pages, look at pictures and listen to stories. I'm so glad you love stories and reading; I hope you become an avid and curious reader.

We have started showing you some sign language, using a combination of my memory from my ASL class in college and signs from a baby sign language book. You watch, fascinated, whenever I go through signs with you. We sing the alphabet song and sign the letters, which always makes you smile.

Silly sounds are a hit. You learned to buzz your lips a couple weeks ago. And a few days ago you figured out how to smack your lips together to make a popping sound. Any silly sounds I can think up make you start giggling, especially if accompanied by tickling or by burying my face in your neck and dancing around. When I stick my tongue out to you, you grin and study it intently, trying to figure out what to do. You contort your mouth and try to copy me. A few times your tongue has actually stuck out, but I think it's mostly an accident. You haven't quite figured that one out yet!

Your motor skills and coordination are really starting to develop. If you are sitting on the floor and drop a toy, you reach out to wherever it fell and pick it back up. You've got an eagle eye for your pacifier and if it is anywhere within reach, you spot it, pick it up and put it in your mouth. If it falls too far out of your reach, you lean way over as far as you can and try so hard to figure out how to get it. When this fails, you screech at me so I'll come and retrieve it for you.

Last week, we took you to the pediatrician for your six month appointment. You clocked in at 18lbs, 15oz and 26.5in long. Your growth curve is holding steady at 75th percentile, so even though you are a little chunk, you are following that curve, which is perfect. Your doctor adores you, and after a perfect checkup, cheerfully told us, "I have no complaints about this person." She declared you developmentally at about 7 months, and told us to go ahead and feed you almost anything we want to, except eggs and fish, which have to wait until 9 months.

You're now on bottle feeds 4 times a day, since I stopped nursing a few days ago. It was a little sad to end our nursing sessions together, but you were ready and I was ready. It was the right time for us. When you have a bottle, you've mastered grabbing it with two hands and putting it in your mouth. A few seconds later, though, you drop it. You're also having three meals of food a day. This past week we've started you on yogurt and chicken, both of which you love. Coming up this week, you're going to try cottage cheese and some new fruits, including strawberries, kiwi and blueberries.

I can't believe we are halfway to your first birthday already, Emmett. You fill our lives with joy. The adventure continues.

Love,
Mama

five months

Dear Emmett,

Yesterday, you turned five months old. We celebrated by doing something you love - taking you out in the stroller to watch people. Daddy, you and I went to an Earth Day fair at Liberty State Park. As always, you were happy riding around, watching people and attracting attention. If you are ever cranky, all we have to do is take you out in your stroller. As long as you have new people and new things to watch, you are happy.

We ate a late lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, and sat at an outdoor table. You played and babbled while we ate, and listened to a teeny baby, no more than a week old, fuss at another table. His parents smiled at you, and exchanged looks with us -- them seeing their future; us remembering your brand new first days.

Your fifth month came with opportunities for gathering and celebrating with family. We celebrated your first Easter with Mimi and Pappy and the rest of our Pennsylvania family. They gave you an Easter basket and you watched Alli hunt for eggs. You were very patient at church, until you got hungry and couldn't be soothed. Daddy took you out to settle you down and give you a bottle. The rest of the day was spent bonding with family and playing. You got to see your cousin Keaton, which reminded us of how big you are! Keaton is so sweet, and before we know it you two will be running and playing together. Probably while Alli bosses you both around.

The following weekend, on April 11th, you were baptized, and you bonded with lots of family all weekend. Gram Gram fed you cereal on Saturday. Ian held you and played with you while you ate your cereal on Sunday. We had a big gathering at Nana & Poppy's house to celebrate your baptism on Sunday. Your godparents, Ashley and Eddie, drove up to spend the day, as well as Mimi & Pappy and Andi, Mike & Alli. Church was great- the service was beautiful, and you were calm and good-natured, despite the fact that it was naptime. Pastor Carl baptized you while so much of your family looked on. And then you fell sound asleep in Ashley's arms for the rest of the service.

As far as your new skills and tricks, you learned to roll over! At 4 months and one day, you finally decided it was worth your time. For about an hour, you made these loud, frustrated grunting noises and worked to throw yourself over. And finally, you just did it. You rolled over. Backwards! You went the hard way first. Back to belly. Oh, and to your left. And now, one month later, that is still the only way you roll. Back to belly, to your left. No matter how many times we roll you and help you practice going to your right, and from belly to back, you are not interested. You just roll to your belly, play for a few minutes, and then wail at me until I come help you back over.

Your eating has exploded. Your food schedule is basically the same as last month, with the addition of lunch. You now eat a fruit or vegetable for lunch. For dinner, you have either cereal, bananas mixed with cereal, or sometimes just another fruit or vegetable. We're trying to phase out the cereal, as your doctor recommended not giving you cereal. You're already chunky enough; you don't need the extra calories just to fill you up!

Favorite foods are sweet potatoes, bananas and pears. You also like butternut squash, beets and applesauce. You hated the peas, but you'll eat them if I mix a small amount with something else. You didn't like the mango either, but I think the ones we bought weren't ripe enough. They were so sour, your eye actually twitched when you took a bite! I mixed in some pears, and then you ate them.

You are fond of shoving your hands in your mouth between and/or during bites of food these days. Often it will end up smeared all over your face and sometimes in your hair. Mealtime is an adventure!

Sleeping is still great at night. You sleep through the night every night, and you are going to bed a bit earlier now. A couple weeks ago, you started acting ready for your nighttime routine of bath and bottle earlier. So over a few nights, I moved your bedtime back to about 8:30 from about 10pm. You still sleep through to about 7am. And you're napping better during the day. Two reliable naps, although length of them ranges anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 and a half hours. Depends on the day.

We have to be so careful what we allow within reach of your arms, as you'll grab anything you can get your little mitts on. It makes playtime so much fun, though, and you think so too. Everything you play with makes you laugh, and your laugh has evolved into this crazy gasping cackle.

You've started sitting up on your own for a few seconds at a time. I think it helps that your belly is big enough to help you balance upright, but you are learning! If I can get you to grab your feet, it helps, and you'll sit by yourself long enough to look around and enjoy the view. Until you reach for a toy, upsetting your balance, and topple over!

These are the first steps in a lifetime of trial and error, successes and failures, learning and exploring and growing, and it is my privilege to stand by your side through it all.

Love,
Mama

four months

Dear Emmett,

Today you are four months old. This morning, when Daddy took you out of your crib and brought you to sit with us while we ate breakfast, you looked so big to me, sitting in his lap and laughing. It is hard to believe that just four months ago you were a squishy little newborn in the NICU. We haven't been to your four month appointment yet, that will be tomorrow, but if our scale can be believed, you have almost doubled your birth weight already, weighing in at over 16 pounds. I'm looking forward to finding out if that matches up with your official weight tomorrow.

At the beginning of your fourth month, you tasted rice cereal for the first time, and loved it. You eat it every day with gusto and often I can't shovel it into your mouth fast enough. We started out dumping it into the back of your mouth so you'd figure out to swallow it. And then it took you only about three days to learn to open your mouth for the spoon and eat. Now, I can barely get the spoon into your mouth before you eat all the cereal right off it like an expert.

We've changed your feeding schedule in the last week to accommodate the fact that your cereal feeding is now a real meal instead of just a taste for practice, and you're adjusting to it perfectly. You nurse in the morning, have a bottle at lunch, nurse again mid-afternoon. At dinnertime you have your cereal and between 8-9 you have a bottle before bed.

You and I play on the floor every day, and I roll you around for practice. You've finally started trying to roll over in the last few days, and I think pretty soon you'll do it. Probably from back to belly, though! You've shown no move toward rolling belly to back, which would probably be easier for you.

Your new favorite trick is standing while we hold you. You love to bounce on your legs. Yesterday, we discovered that you can stand up from laying on your back on the floor, if I hold your hands and help you up. Your grin after doing this looks like it will explode right off the sides of your face, you are so proud of yourself.

Possibly the thing that makes you smile the most, though, is your own reflection. I show you the baby in the mirror often throughout the day, and talk to you about how his name is Emmett, too! He is always copying you, too. He's always wrapped in a towel after his bath at the same time you are, and he's always wearing the same clothes! You get very excited about seeing him.

Your coordination improves every day. You grab toys out of my hands and reach for things constantly. Burp cloths with patterns (made for you by Beanie) are a favorite. You'll hold and stare at them for ages. Your big cousin Otis shared some of his old toys with you, and one of them has quickly become a favorite while serving the dual purpose of being payback for your parents! The Spin & Sing Alphabet toy is the same one that Daddy and I gave to your cousin Alli over a year ago, and it has been driving Auntie Andi and Uncle Mike nuts ever since! Now it's our turn. I have to say, though, you are great at spinning it, and it totally captivates you so it's worth it and it's fun to watch.

A few weeks ago, I started holding you in my lap at the piano keyboard and you love this. We do it every day now, and for a little while I sit you back in my lap and I play and sing. Then I move you up and let you play, too. I'm not sure you've quite figured out that you are making the noise yet, but you love to push on the keys and you love the sounds. Music makes you happy and that makes me happy! I am looking forward to putting you in kindermusik this fall so you can learn more and play with other kids.

We've had some nice weather this month, and we've spent some time outside on a blanket, playing in the sun, and going for walks. You love to sit up in the stroller and watch the world go by. You attract attention everywhere we go, people love to talk to you and you just grin back. You are such a happy baby.

Your gas issues have decreased a lot, and only occasionally do we have to deal with your frantic gassy distress. More often, if anything is bothering you these days, it seems to be your gums. We think you're teething, and it helps to give you a cold teether or to let you chew on our fingers. I can't feel any teeth coming yet, but if your sore gums and the buckets of drool pouring out of your mouth are any indication, it won't be long!

I am getting excited for warm weather, so you and I can get out of the house to play every day, take walks, and go into the city often for lunches with Daddy. And so we can take you in the pool! You absolutely adore bath time, water makes you very happy, so we can't wait to take you in the pool and let you splash and explore.

I hear you waking up from your nap in the other room, and I can't wait another minute to go see your smiling face! Happy four months, my sweet boy.

Love,
Mama

three months

Dear Emmett,

One week ago, you turned three months old. You marked your three month birthday on our trip to Florida, where your cousin Henry was excited to wish you a happy birthday! Your cousins Maria and Julia were happy to smile at you, point at you, and try to steal your pacifier. It was a fine way to celebrate. You enjoyed the whole trip, and I barely had to do anything other than feed you, change you and comfort you if you had a bellyache. Your cousins took care of the entertainment, and you were so happy to just watch them constantly for five days.

Emmett, you did so beautifully traveling, you made it easy on me. You were quiet and happy on the plane and you charmed everyone you met. Even when we had to alter our plans on the way home (Newark, JFK and LaGuardia airports almost completely shut down due to snow), you were a total champ. I took a flight to Philly without a plan from there, got us to 30th street station and bought an Amtrak ticket to Newark Penn Station, where Daddy met us and helped us the rest of the way home with all our stuff on the PATH train. And aside from the fact that you filled your (flimsy disposable for traveling no chance of containing your poop for longer than five minutes) diaper just before the plane took off, you were a fantastic and adaptable traveler.

You've changed a great deal in the past month, and it seems like you have a new skill every day. You have a new found ability to put pressure on your legs and feet while in our laps. You could spend all day letting me hold you there so you could practice standing, and catch you when you lose the muscle control. It makes you giggle, and there is no better sound in the whole world.

Speaking of giggling, that skill has exploded over the past couple of weeks. You giggle so often, sometimes we can't imagine what could be so funny. Such as the little bulletin board in the kitchen with some coupons and random things pinned on it. When that bulletin board comes into your sight, you often go into such hysterics that you lose complete control of your head and I have to catch it!

And here is where I must apologize. I passed a trait on to you which followed me all through childhood, and occasionally still catches up to me. Growing up, every time I started laughing hard, I got the hiccups. There are few things more annoying, and I'm so very sorry to say I passed this on to you. Whenever you are laughing so hard and we are smiling back and forth at each other and life could not be better, those silly hiccups take hold and, poor little thing, you hate them (who can blame you?!) and start to fuss. I take full responsibility for this. Sorry, little man!

Another new skill you've picked up is a fun trick for when you're going to sleep or waking up in your crib. It's something almost every baby figures out and enjoys, but I can't say it's a totally desirable skill. You've figured out that it's fun (and noisy!) to pick your legs up in the air and slam them back onto the crib mattress. Let's hope Nana and Poppy sleep soundly when they come to visit this weekend!

Perhaps the most fun development this month, Emmett, is your ability to reach out and pick up small toys. Rattles work well for this, as well as chains of plastic rings with different colors and textures. If placed within your arm's reach, you'll grab these things and play with them. Your aim and timing is not yet perfect, so sometimes you need a little help, but it is so much fun to watch you decide you want something and reach out for it.

Slowly, you are settling into a routine. You have a bath and a bottle around 8 or 9pm and go to bed usually between 10-11pm. You wake up between 7-8am. Give or take a little in either direction. You are a great sleeper at night. When you wake up, I nurse you, and you play for a little while, and an hour and a half or two hours after waking up, you're ready for a nap. You go to sleep perfectly in your crib and sleep for 45 minutes to an hour. After that, it gets a little dicey. Feeding is becoming more predictable, but naps after that first one are not settled in yet. Some days you'll sleep for at least two hours in the afternoon, which is what you should be doing.

Other days are more fussy. You still have bellyache problems, and sometimes reach the point of real distress and we can tell you're in pain. We give you baby gas drops, rub your belly, and try to help you through it. On days like that, you'll often refuse to sleep in your crib, and you'll just doze several times during the day for only a half hour (or less) at a time.

The biggest addition to your developing routine has been the addition of rice cereal to your diet. It's very new, the last few days, but you are loving it and learning how to eat from a spoon. We started you on cereal at 3 months and 3 days, just a little bit once a day. I'm certain your doctor will not be pleased at your next appointment, but you're ready for it. I'm your mother and I said so. If you listen closely, you might hear that phrase a lot in the coming years.

I'll talk more about cereal in next month's letter, since that really started after the 3 month mark. Maybe next month I'll be on time with your letter!

In the meantime, keep up the good work, growing and changing and laughing and smiling. You are loved and you are love.

Love,
Mama

two months

Dear Emmett,

It is so hard to believe you are more than two months old already. Having you around has changed our lives so deeply that it sometimes seems as though you've been with us forever. I can't imagine my life without you in it, and it's hard for me to remember what life was like before you joined us. You are the love of our lives.

The rest of your family loves you almost as much as we do, and even though they don't live nearby, you are showered with so much love. You get to see Nana & Poppy, Mimi & Pappy, and Auntie Andi & Uncle Mike as often as we can manage it. Your cousin Alli has been able to see you several times, and loves nothing more than to point at you, hug you, and try to poke your eyes out. You've been able to meet lots of your extended family too, and all your big cousins can't wait until you are big enough to play with them. You even have a cousin younger than you are! Your cousin Keaton was born one week after you, and it's going to be fun to watch you both grow up together.

Soon, you will take your first plane ride to meet more family. You and I are going to Florida in a few weeks so you can meet your cousins Henry and Maria (and their parents, too)! Your cousin Julia is coming with us (and her mom, too)! I can't wait to see all of you kids together. It seems like just yesterday that we were kids growing up together, and now we're getting together so our kids can get to know each other.

You look just like your daddy, and even strangers notice the resemblance immediately. You've looked just like him since the moment you were born. You grow and change every single day, but that resemblance is constant. This month, you started smiling constantly, and in the last couple of weeks, you started giggling. You've discovered your hands, and I often catch you holding them in front of your face and studying them. You hold your head up most of the time on your own. Until you forget yourself and it flops around and whacks one of us in the jaw. In the last couple of days you've started swinging your arms around at toys and occasionally even aiming correctly and hitting one! You coo and babble constantly, although you've been doing that almost since day one! You are one noisy, chatty baby.

Amazingly, you have been sleeping through the night every night for the last couple of weeks. And not just 5-6 hours at a time, which is considered sleeping through the night for a baby. You sleep a solid 8-9 hours in a row at night. When you wake up from naps or in the morning, it's always very pleasantly. You tend to be in a good mood when you wake up, and it takes you a while to work yourself up and start crying loud enough so we hear you and come to get you. As a result, you scoot yourself around and are usually sideways in the crib with your head jammed up against the crib rails by the time we come to get you!

Playtime is lots of fun. You love nothing more than to be read to, or talked to, or sung to. You lay on the floor and study your toys, or study my face, or your own hands. I talk and sing and read, and you grin and giggle and babble. Your favorite songs are Baa Baa Black Sheep, the Baby Bumblebee song, and the BVDs song. They make you smile almost every time.

You are a generally laid back and happy baby. Unless something's bothering you, you're ready to soak up the world. You do have bellyaches a lot and fairly often you are gassy, whiny, fussy, and generally unsettled. When you get that way, your favorite place to be is held close, belly to belly, with your face buried in my neck. But you rarely scream. Only if you're super hungry and we're getting a bottle, which takes far too long in your opinion to be ready, or if something hurts you.

Which brings us to today's two month baby checkup appointment. You had your first round of vaccines, and boy howdy did you holler. There were two injections in one thing and one injection in the other thigh, which gave you plenty of time to get seriously wound up. Your face crinkled up so tight, it looked as though you were trying to suck your whole face up through your nostrils. Then your mouth opened so wide, your face turned a hearty purple color, and you let out a scream louder than I've ever heard from you. Almost immediately, though, you lost your breath completely and went silent , and, if it's even possible, you got even purpler and your mouth opened even wider. Finally, you remember to breathe again and started screaming louder than ever.

And I'm sorry, kiddo, I really am, but you are so cute and so funny when you get all worked up and screaming. I'm sure I'll have this to apologize for later in your life, but I'll just go ahead and get a head start now. I'm sorry for all the laughing I have done and will do while you're mad and screaming in my face.

Of course, it's a little less funny (but still adorable) when it goes on for over an hour without stopping and you're inconsolable, which is what happened when you woke up from your nap a few hours after your appointment. Your poor little leg swelled up and turned bright red where you had the shot. A call to the dr to check on it, some baby tylenol, and now you're all snuggled up with your face buried in my neck as I type this. Not happy, but just whining like a sad puppy dog now, and slowly settling down.

The rest of your appointment was just checking up on your feeding, development and measurements. Everything looks great and the scale proved what we already know: you are a little piggy! At 2 months, you weight 13lbs, 5oz, and you are 23 inches long. You are average height and in the 75th percentile for weight. Your doctor had no complaints and pronounced you healthy and beautiful.

These first two months with you, Emmett, have already been magical. You have given us just the tiniest hint of what is to come, and I am so excited to help guide you through your journey. I can't wait to see what you'll do. Slow down, though, don't move too fast. Let's soak in this time together, where it's enough for you to spend your days with me, snuggling and learning and smiling and playing.

Happy two months, Emmett, my sweet boy.

Love,
Mama