6 Months Old

Wow!  I can't believe Emerson is already 6 months old!  Those 6 months sure flew by.  Before I know it, he's going to be 1!! Ahh stop growing!  Speaking of growing, Emerson is turning into quite the chunkster.  He is 18 pounds and definitely has a gut haha.  He's getting lots of rolls on his arms and legs as well.  He is super healthy and is always hungry which is a little frustrating at times because that just means more trips to the grocery store for Jordan and I to get him more formula and food.  We've been feeding Emerson rice cereal more often and he's actually starting to enjoy that more.  He'll open his mouth for us and chews it up and swallows most of it.  He doesn't spit out nearly as much as he used to.  We've also been trying fruits.  He does ok with the apples but he doesn't like bananas at all.  Definitely takes after me on that one haha.  Jordan and I went to the store today to buy some vegetables as well to see how he does with those so we'll see if he enjoys the vegetables more than the fruit.

Not sure how he feels about the rice cereal in this picture...

This last week Emerson has been going through quite the growth spurt.  He first started out with not wanting to eat much of anything and then about 2 days later, he was wanting to eat every hour or so whereas he normally only eats every 3 hours.  And he was taking down full bottles every time!  He had a major increase in appetite and was sleeping A LOT.  He's still eating quite a bit but not as often he was last week.  

We got Emerson through his first official cold a couple weeks ago.  When we got back from Utah, I started noticing that I was getting a cold and shortly after that, I noticed that Emerson was as well.  He was sneezing a lot, coughing, throwing up, super tired, watery eyes...all in all, I felt pretty bad for the kid.  I chalked it up to us both getting sick from the aquarium considering there were hundreds of kids there and it's winter so who doesn't have some type of cold going on at this time?  We didn't want to give Emerson too much medicine or anything like that so we gave him some infant tylenol once to help him sleep and went out and bought a humidifier.  The humidifier worked wonders for him (unfortunately not so much for me).  By the next morning, he was already pretty cleared up and you could tell that he was feeling a lot better.  Still a little pukey every once and while but not nearly as much as he was a couple weeks ago.  Success to me and Jordan for getting him through his first illness!

Looking pretty flushed after being sick

Last month, Emerson learned how to roll over and has gotten really good at it since.  I will lay him down on his back and turn my back for literally 2 seconds and when I look back over at him, he's on his tummy playing and laughing at me.  I think he has a love hate relationship with tummy time.  He loves to roll over to his tummy but as soon as he gets there, he starts grunting and gets frustrated.  I think it probably has to do with the fact that he wants to crawl but can't quite figure out how to do it just yet.  He can roll from his tummy to his back (he's been able to do that since October) but for some reason he just doesn't.  Not sure if he's lazy or doesn't remember how to do it or something so Jordan or I usually have to go roll him back over after a few minutes of him grunting and getting frustrated.  But then he just rolls himself all the way back over again and we repeat the process haha.  Emerson can't quite crawl yet but he's figured out how to scoot himself backwards and get move around in circles.  Hopefully he'll be crawling soon so that he doesn't get so frustrated with laying on his tummy and not being able to reach certain toys he wants.

Kid scooted himself right underneath the couch

Emerson loves to play with his toys, especially the toys that are attached to his little baby gym.  He loves to grab at the rings and even tries to sit himself up with them sometimes.  Because he's such a little roller and gets upset being on his tummy too long, we'll sometimes put him in his bumbo seat and let him play with the rings and toys that way.  He likes it for about 5 or 10 minutes and then is over it and wants out of his seat.  He tries to let himself out by trying to stand up so we have to make sure he's always buckled in now.  He even tried rolling at of his swing a few days ago.  That was pretty scary because he came pretty darn close to falling out and landing flat on his face.  That could've been bad.  Good thing I was close and was able to catch him before he fell.

Bath time is still a hit with Emerson.  He loves being in the water and splashing.  If he's mad, as soon as he gets in the bath, his mood completely changes and he gets super excited and happy.  He likes to steal the wash cloth from me and Jordan and shove it right in his mouth.  Not the best tasting thing considering it's soapy water haha.  Jordan is excited for when he'll be able to sit up on his own and play in the big bath because then he can move around and splash and play a lot more than he can in his little infant tub.  He's getting pretty dang close to sitting up all on his own so hopefully within the next month, he'll be able to graduate to the big tub.

He had some pretty wild hair after the bath that night

Emerson is still a great sleeper!  He's been going to bed earlier though lately because he's just been getting so tired so he does wake up a bit earlier.  He'll go to bed around 9:00 and will wake up sometime around 6:00 or 7:00.  We're pretty lucky that he sleeps for 9 or 10 hours at time.  Sometimes we'll get lucky and he'll even sleep in until 8:00 making that an 11 hour sleep!  He definitely takes after Jordan with all the sleepiness haha.  He used to only take about 20-30 minute cat naps but for about the last 2 or 3 weeks, he's been sleeping for about an hour or so at a time.  I like that he's been taking longer naps because it allows me to get more things done around the house and just have an hour of quiet time to myself while he sleeps.

Getting really close to not needing dad to hold him up anymore

He loves being able to stand up

Quick fun fact, we discovered that Emerson's new favorite movie is Finding Nemo.  Whenever we turn it on, he is GLUED to the tv.  So funny.  I love that we are learning all about his favorite things and what he loves :)

Now that Emerson is getting bigger, we are able to play with him more and buy him fun new toys that he can actually enjoy.  Today, we decided to buy him a bouncer that hangs from the door.  He's just a little too short for it but his feet can touch the ground barely so he loves to kick off and spin himself.  He was having a ball with it earlier.  It was hilarious!

This last month has been lots of fun.  Emerson has been reacting a lot more to the things around him and having fun with everything.  Even though he didn't hit any major milestones this month, he has been learning a lot.  He's slowly starting to get to the point where he's really going to start surprising me and Jordan with the things he can do.  I can't wait to see what big milestones he'll have to share with us over this next month :)

First Family Pet

When we were in Utah this past weekend, we took Emerson to the aquarium and he absolutely LOVED looking at the fish. He would get so excited and start flailing. He couldn't keep his eyes off of them. We've also discovered recently that Finding Nemo is his favorite movie. Whenever we watch other movies, he'll look at the tv but he doesn't care all that much for them but when we turned on Finding Nemo for the first time, he was glued to the tv. It's so fun to see all the things he's becoming interested in and learning all of these fun new things about him. Jordan has been wanting to get fish pretty much since the day we got married and I kept telling him no because we didn't have the room for it and I didn't want to deal with cleaning the tank. Well, yesterday we spent some time at Walmart and after going back and forth for about a half an hour, we decided to go ahead and get some fish. Jordan was super excited and it is fun to have our first little pet together. And Emerson loves fish so that was another bonus :) Here's to the adventure of first time pet owners as a married couple!

                       

President's Day Weekend Getaway to Utah

This last weekend, Jordan, Emerson, and I were able to go to Utah for the 3 day weekend.  We decided to go to Utah so that we could get some furniture at Ikea so we thought why not make a whole weekend out of it?  We had lots of fun and were able to take Emerson out to do things that he had never done before.  On Friday night, we first got to Brittney's house and then just hung out for the night.  On Saturday, Jordan and I were able to go to Ikea to get our furniture.  Brittney babysat Emerson which was nice so we didn't have to lug him all over the store all day.  Montana also drove down for the day so that we could throw all the furniture in his truck.  It was really nice of him to come down and then drive back up to Rexburg the same day.  It was a pretty long day full of furniture shopping but we were able to get everything we needed and it was fun going to Ikea.  I had actually never been there before so it was a whole new shopping experience for me haha.

On Sunday, we went to church with Brittney and Chad and then later on went to Temple Square.  Emerson LOVED looking up at the temple.  As soon as we got to the grounds, he could not stop staring and looking up.  I loved seeing him like that!  He was very into all of the things that were around him.  We went into the visitors center and he was very interested in the pictures and all of the things that were placed around the visitors center.

He loved the visitors center

 

He was so high up there, he didn't know what to do with himself haha

On Monday, we were able to have a family day and celebrate Jordan's birthday a couple days early since he has to work on his birthday.  We first went over to the aquarium which was really fun.  It would've been a bit more enjoyable had it not been SO crowded but it was still fun and Emerson LOVED the fish.  When we went over to look at the sharks, he got super excited and started flailing and talking.  It was awesome!  He didn't care much for any of the other animals but whenever he looked at the fish, he would get super excited and absolutely loved it!

He was absolutely mesmerized by the sharks

After the aquarium, we headed down to Provo so Jordan could go to his favorite pizza place, Pier 49, for his birthday lunch.  Peter met up with us there and it was fun seeing him since we haven't seen him in a while.  After lunch, we went and visited with Jordan's aunt for a little bit and then we went to Krispy Kreme to take some donuts home.  We then went to Chipotle so I could have a burrito for when we got back to Rexburg haha I love Chipotle!  We finally got back to Brittney's house around 6:00 and hurried up and got all packed up and then headed out around 7:15ish.  Luckily the drive went by pretty fast so the drive home wasn't too terrible but boy were we tired and worn out.  Thank goodness Emerson slept the entire drive home so we didn't have to deal with a cranky and crying baby haha.  It was a really fun weekend and we got a lot done but I am always super happy and excited to get home and sleep in my own bed and just get back into my daily routine :)

5 Months Old

Today Emerson is 5 months old!  Wow!  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by.  It feels like just yesterday I was pregnant with him and on my way to the hospital to meet him for the first time.  I was looking back at some old pictures of him and he has already changed so much in these last 5 months.  I am so glad that I take lots of pictures of him because when I see him everyday, I don't see all those little changes but when I look back at pictures, it amazes me how different he is.  He used to be so tiny.  He had little chicken legs but he definitely doesn't anymore haha he's a little chunk now which is fantastic!  A lot has happened this last month.  He has been growing and has reached some milestones which Jordan and I are pretty excited about.
As of this morning (according to our scale at home) Emerson is 16 pounds.  He was about 14.8 pounds at his last doctors appointment so he's gained about a pound (if our home scale is correct).  I feel like he looks so tall every time I stand him up or he lays flat on the ground so we'll see how tall he really is at his next appointment :)
During this last month, we started feeding Emerson some rice cereal.  The first time we gave it to him, he was definitely not a fan.  He had no idea what to do with it and would kind of just spit it back out again.  In the beginning we were mixing it with a little bit of formula so that he would recognize the taste a bit but he still wasn't a huge fan and had the funniest look on his face when we would feed it to him.  After a couple weeks, he started getting better at it and even ate a couple full bowls so we tried giving him some baby food like apples and bananas.  He doesn't like those very much.  I think it's just too sweet for him because when he swallows, he gets this really sour look on his face as if he were swallowing lemon juice.  We mixed a little bit of applesauce in with his rice cereal and that helped a little bit but he still doesn't like the fruit that much so we'll have to keep working with him on that.  Whenever we're feeding him, he always tries to grab the spoon.  He really likes utensils.  Whenever me and Jordan are eating, he will study us and the utensils very closely so when we feed him, he grabs the spoon and tries to feed himself.  He ends up gagging himself most of the time because he sticks the spoon so far back in his mouth so we have to watch him pretty closely when he grabs that spoon.

Lately Emerson has been very attached to his toys and is actually able to really play with them now.  His favorite toy right now is this little elephant that he always sleeps with during nap time and always brings with him whenever we go out.  He loves sticking the thing in his mouth so it's gotten kind of gross but that's ok, I love that he has a favorite toy.  I'm pretty sure his favorite animal is an elephant also because he has a couple elephant toys and whenever I put toys in front of him, he goes for the elephant toys.  He also loves his little rattle ball.  He will grab it and then hit it against the floor or his leg.  He goes crazy when the rattle makes a noise.  He loves it!  I love that he actually plays with his toys now because it makes it easier for him to entertain himself and it gives me time to do stuff as well.  It also makes it fun for me and Jordan to buy him new toys.  When we buy new toys, we will show them to him at the store before we buy them and he will get super excited for certain ones and start kicking and flailing and reaching for the toy.

He loves that ball

He loves putting every toy into his mouth that he can

Another exciting milestone that we have finally reached this last month was rolling over!  He has been able to roll from his tummy to his back for months now but he kept struggling with rolling from his back to his tummy.  He would get SO CLOSE and then would just give up because he couldn't figure out how to get his body over his arm but as of just a few days ago, he finally figured it out!  I was so excited when he did it but of course he did it when I wasn't looking.  Those first few times he would only do it when no one was looking so we would catch him trying and then the next time we would look over, he'd be on his tummy.  I was so mad that I missed the whole thing but he does it all the time now so I can actually watch him.  I'm so happy he can roll over but now he's more mobile so we have had to move some things around so he can't grab them and we definitely can't leave him on the couch or the bed unless someone is sitting next to him because he can just roll off now.  For some reason, he can't seem to fully figure out how to get back to his back now so when he rolls over, he'll get really frustrated because he wants to be on his back so I'll have to go over and give him a little push but then he'll just roll right back over again and start fussing to get over to his back again.  It's a little frustrating for me but hopefully he'll get it figured out soon.  We also figured out that he LOVES the wipes package.  He really likes the sound that it makes so those first few times he tried rolling over, we would put the wipes in his vicinity and he would roll over just so he could grab the package and hear the noise.  I think he might even like the wipes more than he likes his own toys haha silly boy.

"I did it mom!"

Can't keep the computer or cords nearby anymore

He is still sleeping through the night just great!  We've been putting him to bed a bit earlier than normal now because he's starting get tired earlier.  We used to put him to bed around 10 or 10:30 but he's been getting tired closer to 9:00 now so we'll put him to bed usually around 9 or 9:30.  We've also established a pretty good nighttime routine for him as well so I think that's why he's getting tired earlier because he knows it's almost bedtime.  We'll usually try feeding him some rice cereal around 7ish and let him play for a bit and then we'll give him his bath close to 8:00.  He still LOVES the bath and splashes like crazy!  After his bath, he'll sometimes take a quick cat nap before bed but usually he wants to stay up and play and then we'll feed him a bottle and put him down.  He'll usually fall asleep after about 10 minutes so bedtime isn't too difficult for him.  He likes to sleep with his teething ring so that he has something to suck on as he falls asleep and then we'll play some Angels and Airwaves for him as he falls asleep.  He loves AVA (just like his mommy and daddy haha).  He'll then wake up around 6:30 or 7:30 and sometimes even 8:30 if we're lucky and then eat and take another couple hour nap and then he's pretty much up for the day.  He takes quick little naps here and there but stays awake pretty much all day.

Emerson loves playing with his daddy.  He used to be a mommy's boy but I think he's definitely turned more into a daddy's boy.  He wants me usually when it's bedtime because he's used to me feeding him and putting him to bed so I'll usually do that but he definitely likes to play a lot more with Jordan.  When I try to play with him, he kind of just sits there and does his own thing but as soon as Jordan walks in the door, he get super excited and starts flailing and laughing and talking.  He loves it when Jordan throws him up in the air.  He cracks up!  He's recently started enjoying playing peek-a-boo with his daddy as well.  It's so cute when he gets that huge smile on his face and starts laughing.  I love it!

Playing peek-a-boo with daddy

Also, a quick disclaimer for those who saw that we thought Emerson was teething...we were wrong haha.  He had a major increase in drool and poop so we thought that maybe he was teething because we could see two little nubs on his bottom gum and Jordan thought he felt one tooth breaking skin but unfortunately we were wrong.  No teeth yet.  Just lots of drool but the poop has slowed down and he's gone back to his normal amount haha.  He could be starting soon though!

No teeth yet.  Just lots of poop and drool haha.

So far Emerson has been doing great!  He's really growing and learning so much.  I have loved this last month so much because he has been figuring so many things out and learning so many new things.  I love that he'll talk back to me and Jordan and smile and play with us.  This last month has been my favorite because he's so attentive and interactive now.  I'm super excited to see what new things he'll learn this next month.  Hopefully he'll start crawling soon :) He's very determined and loves to try and move and even try to sit up so hopefully next month I'll have a few new milestones to report on :)

He loves sucking on his fingers

We have fun hanging out while daddy works

I just loved this little outfit I found at Kohl's.  They had the cutest baby clothes!

Grandma Fuhriman made Emerson a little hat so we thought we'd take him out in the snow and try it out haha.

He clearly didn't care that much haha

Just a quick little then and now picture.  The first picture is from when he was just two days old!  He is still definitely Emerson but he has changed :)

4 Months Old

I can't believe Emerson is already 4 months old today!  He's growing up so fast and these months have just been flying by.  He's getting so big and learning so much and has changed like crazy!  Emerson is getting so close to sitting up on his own.  He is very determined to do that on his own and tries so hard.  He's now at the point where he can just hold onto mine or Jordan's fingers and keep himself up on his own.  He's also trying to stand now.  When we used to hold him up, he would just stand on his tip toes or curl his feet but when we were at home for Christmas, he started to stand flat footed!  His legs are so strong and he absolutely loves standing.  Whenever we stand him up, he gets a big smile on his face.  He loves being up and seeing everything around him rather than just staring up at the ceiling all day.

Emerson is also now taking all of his naps in his crib.  He used to only take naps in his swing but ever since we went home for Christmas and didn't have the swing, he's started taking naps just when he's in his bed.  I think the main reason as to why he doesn't sleep in his swing really anymore is because he's out in the living room with Jordan and I and gets too distracted by everything or just wants our attention.  When he's in his bed, he knows that Jordan and I aren't around so it's easier for him to fall asleep.  He's still sleeping through the night as well.  He's still on a pretty set schedule.  Goes to bed at 10:00 every night and usually wakes up around 8:00.  He usually sleeps about 9 hours but sometimes we get 12 hours out of him!  He's such a good sleeper.  It's really nice that he goes to bed at a set time every night because then I'm able to get some time to myself to just relax and wind down for the night.

Emerson is still eating about 6 oz. at every feeding and eats about every 2-3 hours.  He's chunking up a lot.  Jordan and I weighed him today and he's now 15 pounds!  Almost 10 pounds more than his birth weight!  He's got the funniest little beer belly going on and a great double chin.  Love his little chunks and rolls.  So cute :)

He is turning into quite the little talker as well.  He makes a lot of little coos and squeals.  He just started picking up on squeaking these last couple days and is constantly squeaking now.  It's cute but sometimes it does drive me nuts but it's ok because he's learning and I love that!  He's becoming a lot more attentive to the things around him and is even starting to respond a little bit when me and Jordan call him by his name.  Not sure if he recognizes that that's his name or if he just turns his head toward us because he hears us talking.  Either way, he's great at finding where Jordan and I are.

Emerson is starting to really love his toys now which is great because he can start to entertain himself a little bit more.  His favorite toy right now is this little toy elephant that he got from my baby shower.  He absolutely loves the thing!  He loves his play gym also.  He loves pulling on the rings and ripping them down and putting them in his mouth.  For Christmas he got a lot of toys and books and was pretty interested in all of them.  I'm excited for him to be able to sit up on his own so that he can actually play with his toys he got for Christmas.  He's at that point now where he wants to play but he doesn't quite know how to yet so he gets bored but hopefully he'll have it figured out soon.

He is also at the point now where he wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth.  As soon as we hand him a toy, he puts it right in his mouth.  His hands are always in his mouth and creates the biggest amount of drool haha.  I have to keep a bib on him a lot these days because of all the drool.

He still loves the bath and is starting to love it even more now that he has figured out how to splash.  We've had to start filling the tub a little bit more now because he's getting so big and with the increase in water in the bath, there's an increase in water outside the bath because of all the splashing he does.  I'm pretty sure he knows exactly what he's doing because he gets pretty excited about it and starts smiling and laughing.

Emerson is still in 0-3 month clothes but the 0-3 month pajamas are starting to get a little bit small on him while the onesies still fit him just fine.  He moved up from 1 month diapers to 2 months diapers just yesterday!  He's getting so big and growing so much!

All in all, Emerson is doing great and has learned so much in the last month.  I'm excited to see what this next month has in store because he is getting so close to doing so many things like rolling over and sitting up.  Hopefully by next month I'll have a lot more to share :)

Loves being able to sit up on his own

Just waking up

Little finger muncher

First big road trip

Loves hanging out with mom