weight: 22 lbs (75th percentile)
head circumference: 46 1/4 cm (75th percentile)
length: 30 inches long (90th percentile)

Holy cow! My child is a giant! She is now mostly wearing 18 mo. sized clothing. She also has about 4 teeth coming in on the top. The front two are through but I believe she is cutting the teeth on either side of the front teeth as well. There has been lots of drool and snot as a result. She’s also taken to chewing on everything.

Also, she has now discovered the joy of teasing the dogs. This morning, she was eating cheerios in my lap. Well, of course Dante was interested. So, she would grab a cheerio, hold it out to Dante, jerk it back after he had sniffed or licked or gotten near it, then shoved it into her mouth while giggling at the same time. What a picture that was. I felt really sorry for Dante. He kept looking at me like “Why are you letting her torture me this way?” I have been told that I use to do the same thing as a child, so I guess she is definitely my child.

Well, that’s all I really have for now. I am trying to get us ready for our big trip next week. Tomorrow we leave for Gatlinburg. We are so excited. Of course, it has been busy and hectic for me this week trying to make sure I have everything we need and then trying to pack it all. We’ll be finishing up the packing tonight after Emily goes to bed.

Emily goes back to the doctor again at 15 months. Stay tuned for those numbers.

On the Emily front, everything seemed fine at her checkup on Wednesday.  She did not care for her shots one bit and she had to get a finger prick.  She kept playing with the bandage on her finger by squeezing it, looking up at us, and then squalling.  We would get her calmed down and then she would repeat.  Such is life with a child, I guess. Her daycare class has basically transitioned into a young toddler class.  They have taken away the cribs for the older children and they now take naps on cots.  Also, they eat their lunch and snacks at a little table instead of high-chairs.  She almost exclusively eats non-baby food now; however, she still is struggling with the cup — the daycare still winds up having to give her bottles during the day.

That is not everything that has happened in the time I have been silent, but it will have to be enough for now.  Will try to do better in the future.

Party Pictures

Hope you enjoy them!

We’ll write more and post more pictures later.

Holy Moly! Look at how much our little girl has grown! I guess she isn’t so much a little girl anymore

weight: 20 lbs (75th percentile)
head circumference: 44 cm (75th percentile)
length: 29.5 inches long (90th percentile)

So much is going on with Emily these days. She already has two teeth on the bottom. I believe she will be cutting another one or two soon.

She is also crawling now. She has been crawling for about 3 weeks. We were beginning to get worried since she was pulling up on various things around the house long before she really showed any signs of crawling. And now that she is mobile, the dogs spend a lot of time outside, a lot! Rosie generally tucks tail and runs while Dante likes to lick and run, then repeat. Emily seems to like that too. Of course, the pulling up has only increased with her mobility. Now she can crawl over to the coffee table and pull herself up. She is also getting brave and starting to let go of things and grabbing onto whatever is closest before she falls down. Things are going to get really interesting around our place soon. I believe she may be walking by the time she turns 1, which is right around the corner.

I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. Since my birthday is exactly 2 weeks after Emily’s, my birthday is now rapidly approaching. Before Emily came, time between birthdays seemed long. Now with her here, I can’t believe that I will soon celebrate another year. I never really believed that once you had a kid that time flew by faster, now I do. I’m not sure how that is physically possible…

Anyway, we are greatly enjoying our little girl and having so much fun being parents. I absolutely love being a Mom and believe that I have finally satisfied one of my callings in life. I watch her grow and learn more each day. It is delightful to have the opportunity to do so. Everyday, I fall in love with her a little more. Now I know what being a parent is all about.

Stay tuned for the 12-month update in 3 months

However, I have had some time to take some new pictures (Internet Explorer-friendly link) of Emily. Above, you can see her expressing her displeasure to being put in an N. C. State onesie (Hi Randy!). We all know she was crying cause she wanted to be put in maroon and white. In the past few weeks, Emily has starting chewing on everything with her two partial teeth, crawling around the floor, and pulling up on everything and everyone that she can. I tried to get shots of all of that, but I was not able to get pictures of her crawling towards me — only away.

Emily has the flu, and a nasty ear infection.

All this after having quite the nasty little stomach bug last week. For those of you who don’t know, Jon and I spent all last Wed. night vomiting continuously for several hours. The next day, we were too sore to move. By Friday, we finally felt well enough to contemplate real food and to shower, then we got hit with the second part of the bug. Let’s just say we then proceeded to lose all fluids that we had managed to rehydrate ourselves with. Our first real meal was Sat. night. All the while, Miss Emily wanted to play and just didn’t understand why Mommy and Daddy stayed on the couch and in the recliner and didn’t move for two days.

So, we will be sacrificing pigeons in an attempt to appease the gods and pray for the neverending sequence of sickness to end. So far this year Emily has had RSV, a stomach virus, a double ear infection (not including the current ear infection), and the flu.

If this keeps up, we will have to burn the house in order to get rid of all the germs.

Until we are well again, take care everyone.

Update: If you are trying to get to the photos and cannot get it to work, rest assured, I know about it. You can got to the photoset on Flickr to see the photos.

One of the biology blogs I follow is trying to get people signed up to help save the deep sea environment. I’ve already signed up and I’m hoping maybe a few of you would be interested as well. Here is the link to follow to see if you are interested. So far, it’s been easy to do.

All You Have To Do Is Just One

Also, next year is the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. To celebrate, a sailing replica of the HMS Beagle will be launched. There is a site to donate and a blog to follow if you are interested. There is even a store, where t-shirt purchases include a $10 donation to the building funds. I think it’s pretty cool and will end up with a t-shirt myself eventually.

Take a look and help us celebrate!

The Beagle Project