Quacking!

Fish Meunière

Some sort of milestone was made tonight as Emily ate an entire fillet of Fish Meunière. I know she's picky, but I didn't realize she demanded French cuisine. Sheesh.

Another exciting bit was that she ate a quarter of it using one of our forks. Over the course of a solid 20 minutes, Emily stabbed and stabbed her plate until the tilapia was ground into very small pieces. Some actually stuck to the fork which then took a sloppy yet deliberate path to her mouth. Success!

The hand-eye motor skills got a workout tonight.

-M

Getting Chatty

Emily found Momma's business cards and wanted to practice her sales pitch.

15 month wellness visit

Stats: weight 20lbs 14oz, length 30.75 inches

It's not a huge surprise that Em’s a long girl – which it turns out is actually a better indicator of overall health than weight. Although she’s in the 25th percentile for weight, she’s in the 75th for height and she’s been on this same curve since about 6 months, so the obvious conclusion is she’s a long and lean baby. Scratch that, she’s a long and lean toddler. Yep, it’s official: she’s no longer a baby. (The doctor confirmed this, although we still aren’t sure when she crossed over into toddler-hood. When she started walking?) Two take home points about her weight: 1) She’s eating fine, and despite our worry that she’s too picky, she’s going to eat enough to sustain herself so we shouldn’t be overly concerned about her intake at each meal. 2) She can eat anything, including peanut butter which we tried last night. She hated it. No surprise since (with the exception of fruit) she pretty much hates everything on the first try. Here’s hoping she comes around with our 3rd (or 4th or 5th) attempt. Bottom line: she’s more of an “eat to live” girl than a "live to eat" one.

Developmentally, Dr. Anne thought Em was right on track. When she asked us if Emily would be ok sitting on the table during the exam, Em walked over to the table and looked up at it. Dr. Anne almost seemed surprised that Em completely understood what she was asking, but Matt and I have just come to accept the fact that she pretty much understands everything we’re saying. (Whether or not she chooses to listen/obey is another story…) Based on this and a few other observations, the doctor told us Em’s comprehension is great and next up will be her speech. She expects Em to master 10, 20 or even 30 words in the next few months. Since Em can already say the beginning sounds of many words (C-ar, Sh-oe, Ch-eese, Ch-eerios, B-ye, M-ilk, B-us, T-ree) we know she's soon going to finish them off. That will be SO much fun. Our parental homework is to constantly talk her through what we’re doing (smelling jasmine, waking up Dada, making an omelet) and ask her questions (which cap do you want to wear? where’s your blankie? who’s your daddy?). Fortunately we’re already doing this. What I lack in chattiness with complete strangers, I make up for with my kiddo. I’ll talk up a storm as we’re roaming Target’s aisles, waving to buses, even heating up her bottle. Stay tuned for updates!

During the appointment it was also confirmed that Em’s molars are definitely on their way, since Dr. Anne detected some swollen gums. Hope that explains her fussiness this week. Before we left Em got the last 2 vaccines (chicken pox & ??) she’ll need until starting kindergarten, which is ages away (but not really). Then all 3 of us got flu shots – and if Em’s leg's as sore as our arms, she’s one tough cookie. Although the pain's a small price to pay to avoid major illness this winter.

All in all it was another successful wellness visit!

Go Blue!

Congrats to U of M for winning their opener against WMU. Keep on truckin' good buddy.

Achievements

This weekend has a been a good one! Three fairly eventful things happened. Yesterday, Emily and I played catch with her small basketball. After a little coaching, she figured out how to keep her hands open and out. Standing about 3 feet away from me, she succesfully caught the basketball three times when I threw it to her. I was very proud of her. We tried for a repeat today, but to no luck.

Emily loves books. She walks over to her basket of books and pulls each one out until she finds the one she wants. Then she walks it over to me. I sit cross-legged and I've been patting my leg to get her to come over and sit with me. Up until yesterday, she would stand in front of me and I'd pick her up, rotate her around and sit her down in my lap. Sometimes she pats my leg if I'm not paying attention to her and she wants to sit. Yesterday we successfully taught her how to back up and sit her self down in our laps. It's very cute and it also made me very proud of her.

We've been practicing her animal sounds. She's very good at picking up on animal names and pointing to them in books if you ask her where they are. Over the past month, she's figured out the noise a dog makes (high pitched-bark), she growls when we ask what noise a bear makes, and she purses her lips together and blows to make an elephant noise. As of today, she can now moo like a cow.

-M

Vacation, Part VII

After the wedding, we hung out at Grandpa and Grandma's. Here's Em with Aunt Patti!

Emily is wondering what the new bride is going to feed her.

Here Emily is getting some quality time with her new Uncle Luke and the pig.

Loving the pig (FYI, the pig made it back to SF and Emily loves it)

Uncle Chris is showing Emily how to do puzzles.

Grandpa and Emily are trying out Dad's rocking chair.

The next day we hung out at Great Grandpa's!

Great Grandpa showing Emily a book!

Emily giving Great Grandpa a kiss good-bye. See you in October for Uncle Chris' wedding!

Back at Grandpa's and Grandma's, it was time to smell the flowers.

The day we flew back, Grandpa and Emily spent some time outside looking at all the trees. Emily brought along her lip gloss of course.

Looking for birdies in the morning sun after finding some flowers.

Let's take a look at these glasses for a second.

Some quality time with Grandma and blanket.

Vacation, Part VI

Once our PA trip was complete, it was time to drive to Michigan for Stephanie & Luke's wedding! Here's the happy family right after the ceremony. This is in the back of the Dearborn Inn.

Vacation, Part V

Day 4  also included a visit with Great Pop-Pop and Great Grandma Grohowski.
Here's Em on Great Pop-Pop's lap.

We gave her a toy to show him.

Look, it can open and close.

Great Pop-Pop seemed impressed.

There were some motorcycles outside, so Grandpa and Em checked them out. (She's on her tippy toes a lot these days.)

Then she and Great Grandma played catch.

 

  

 

And we couldn't leave before she showed everyone how she squeezes her fists and clenches her jaw. Always a crowd-pleaser!

Vacation, Part IV

On day 4 of our PA tour, we went to my Aunt Roberta's house and Em got to play with my cousin Ethan. He's her second cousin, or cousin once-removed, or something fancy. Regardless, he's the closest relative to Em's age on my Mom's side of the family.

Ready for a new house to play in, Em?

Sure she is! Look at her playing with Ethan's cars.

And here's a familiar face :)

Posing for pics again - Em's getting to be a pro at this!

Time for some lunch. Grandpa let her try lots of new things. Kiwi was her favorite.

All gone!

Posing with Ethan...

 

  

 That's one tired girl :)