Emilya - 10 Months

 

 

Eating: Emilya loves food!! She will literally shovel it into her mouth with her hands if we don't moderate it. 

    

 

Food she has has tried this past month: 

Grilled Cheese

Noodles

Pickles

Blackberries

Watermelon

Red Meat

Pork

 

 

Sleeping: Emilya is still a great sleeper. Not much has changed from her scheduleni mentioned in last months post. She did blow our minds isn't co-sleeping all of us in the same room together. She handled it like a champ! 

  

Clothing: Emilya is wearing 12 month everything, with the exception of 12-18 months shirts. Em has a long and lean figure, which makes shirts fit kind of funny. She is in 12 month sleepers and size 3 diapers. 

  

  

Features: Emilya has blue eyes and her hair is definitely blonde!! Her hair is growing a bit more again. Em still has 8 teeth!!! 

 

 

  

Weight:  9 Months:  19 lbs 3 oz     29.75 inches

              10 Months: 19 lbs 10 oz.  30 inches 

                             

 

What The Doctor Had To Say: We didn't see the doctor this month, but we did see our audiologist and ordered Em's hearing aid! We also saw the pediatric eye doctor and found out Em's vision has no impairments at this time, so that was great news!!

  

 

Nicknames: Emma, Em, Ems, Emmy Bear, Emmy Bunny, Emma Hope, Little Miss, Littlest Squish, Baby girl, Baby Bunny, Emilya Hope, Sis

 

       

Big Brother Update: Noah is pretty good with his sister, when she's upset, he's always trying to make her laugh or cheer up. It's so cute to watch the two of them together. He's slowly learning that he can't control what she plays with anymore. She loves to follow him around and "do" what he does! 

 

 

Likes: Swimming! She's a water rat!!! Little people, the dogs, her baby, her bunnies in bed, her brother, bath time, books, eating, Patty-Cake, dancing, playing with the play kitchen and play food.

 

 

Dislikes: her face being washed, and her brother taking toys from her 

 

 

Personality: Emilya is super laid back. She had her first airplane ride and family trip down south. She travelled great! She has swam in the ocean. Little Miss loves the beach and the pool, I really look forward to this summer with her!! She is officially crawling on her hands and knees now since St. Maartin. She is also pulling up on everything. It doesn't take much to get a smile out of her!! Emilya is super snuggly and really is the best addition to our family!!                 

 

 

St. Maarten - MANEV Winter Vacay 2017 - Part 1

Vacation is never long enough, and this trip was no exception! Although, as sad as were to see it over, we all welcomed our separate rooms and beds, as well as all our fur babies when we did get home!!   


Let's break this vacay up into bullet form:  


Tuesday: - we left the house at 6:30 AM - the kids were amazing in the airport and the airplane, so that was a big win! Our flight was quick and we landed early!!

- Noah didn't nap, so we had a tired boy on our hands, but he snoozed a bit on the way to our apartment, as that seemed to take forever, but I think we were all just tired and hot by then! Our rental car was a Ford Explorer, this is the vehicle I thought I wanted as my next vehicle, but after having one for a week, it is not big enough!!  


- We went for a quick swim before dinner. There is an hour time change, which threw the kids off a bit when it came to bedtime and meals 


- we rented a studio apartment and it only had a shower with no tub, so we made showers work for everyone, which Noah was used to because of last time we were here, but we were super nervous about how bedtime was going to go with all being in the same room! But it couldn't have gone better!!! It did take time, as one of us laid with Noah until he fell asleep and one of us rocked Em to sleep, but once they were down, they were down and we were able to go sit outside, relax, play cards, etc.   


Wednesday:
- was an early start... both kids were up before sunrise. Luckily M is a morning person and could handle waking at that hour, because I certainly cannot, so he took the kids outside with their milk and they had quiet time outside. I had not slept well at all.   


- after Emilya's nap, we decided went to visit friends of Mike's parents. They were such a sweet couple, their rental was gorgeous, the kids had fun swimming and they got the cutest little gifts from them, along with some yummy snacks.

- we headed to the grocery store next. I was able to buy me some sugar cane syrup, something you can't get here, so I brought 2 bottles home!!  

- we pushed naptime again, but they managed to get a small nap in. We learned that the kids really had to eat no later than 5:30! The time change and early start were not our friends. 

- Noah went to bed as a two year old for the last time!     


Thursday:
- Noah turned THREE!!! 


- the kids woke up extra early again, but after Em's morning nap we headed to the beach!!!

- it really was not the best beach day, but Noah requested going to the beach in his birthday and well how often will he get to do that in life?? So we made it happen!!! 
 

- it was crazy wavy, and a strong undertow, but we made the best of the morning. I will say Noah had fun and that is all that matters.
   
- after nap we threw a little birthday party up at the pool, with decorations, balloons, presents and cake!

- our dinner plans of pizza was a bust, because none of them opened until 5:30, so we would be looking at a late dinner, which we knew wouldn't work, so M's Mom threw something together quickly. We did cake up by the pool.  Check out this birthday sunset:

- I still can't believe he's 3!!!     


Friday:
- we had a morning by the pool.  

  - after nap, we got ready to go out for dinner! M wanted lobster!  

Yes, the boys all had to dress in matching shirts. The people staying above us were soo sweet and gave Noah this orang shirt to match Grandpa's for his birthday!

The first picture was too funny not to share...

  - we walked the strip, but most of the shops weren't open yet. So we found a little restaurant right on the beach, I enjoyed ribs  

- seriously they KNOW how to make ribs in St. Maarten, Noah had chicken and Mike had his lobster.   

  - on the way back to the car, we decided to be spontaneous, as Noah wanted nothing more but to go in the water on the beach. Of course we only had the clothes we were wearing, but we all went in the water, but we had fun. It's these little moments that I love, the look on Noah's face when we said sure was priceless! These are the memories I hope he remembers, because I certainly will!! 

Emilya - 5 Months

Eating: We are still breastfeeding and things are continuing to go well! A few days before turning 5 months, we decided to introduce rice cereal. She has been eyeing up our food when we eat and it is next to impossible to nurse her while eating anything anymore. Of course she has tried ice cream and sorbet and her brother even shared his mango Popsicle with her in the stroller the one afternoon. She does pretty well with the rice cereal and it didn't take her long to figure it out! She gets about a tablespoon a day at this point. I am still getting up to pump between 2-3 AM.

Sleeping: Emilya is a great sleeper. Although with her teething, getting her to sleep has been tricky lately and by tricky I mean it's taking us longer. We have moved her bedtime up to 8 PM and she sleeps until usually 6 AM or 7 AM on a normal night, but with teething she was waking up sometimes once or twice a night. 

Clothing: Emilya is wearing size 3-6 months in most of the clothes. Shorts are still 3 months, as 6 months are too big in the waste. We have put away just about everything that is 3 months now but 6 month pants are just a bit long, so 3-6 month is the best. She is wearing 3-6 month sleepers or 6 month sleepers! Emilya is wearing size 2 pampers swaddlers, but we are on the last box and will move up to size 3. 

Features: Emilya is growing lots of hair, but man is it ever light on top, yet still soo dark in the back! Her eyes are still blue, although I am not sure if they will end up as bright as Noah's. Emilya decided she would get not one tooth before turning 5 months, but 2!! Her 2 bottom front teeth have broken through and man was this not a fun process!  I was quite shocked to find them soo early since Noah didn't get teeth until 9 months! 

 

Weight: 5 Months: 16 lbs 5 oz

We haven't remeasured her,  but I'm guessing maybe 26.5 inches

               

 

What The Doctor Had To Say: Emilya is healthy and doing great! We saw the ENT this past month and she basically just ordered more tests to rule out any further issues, as ear issues can run in pairs with with kidneys, heart and eyes. So she will see an eye doctor, have a urine test done and an ECG. She also ordered some genetic testing to see if can find out why she has the hearing loss. 

We have hummed and hawed over what to do with the hearing loss and have decided that getting a hearing aid is best for her. This was obviously not an easy decision to make, as it seem crazy to have a hearing aid soo young, but this is the most critical time for her learning and development. In a running conversation, she may only pick up half of what it said. 

We also saw Emilya's speech therapist. Obviously there isn't much we need to be doing right now, but it was great to meet her and know who I will be communicating with in the future. 

I will say that as overwhelming as this all is, it is great having an awesome team working with us and supporting us. We are working with a social worker, who will continue to aid us in communication between all doctors and workers helping us with Emilya. We have a great team working with us so far! 

 

Nicknames: Emma, Em, Emy, Baby, Little Miss, Littlest Squish, Baby girl, Baby Bunny, Emilya Hope, Sis

 

Big Brother Update: Noah amazes me every single day with how great he is with her. You always hear about horrible sibling stories, but so far Noah is the opposite and just genuinely loves his sister and having her around. He loves introducing her to people and showing her off, he will share ice cream and Popsicles with her without us asking him to and so far he just looks out for her and I hope that continues! 

 

Likes: rolling around, Nemo, her play mat, her Muslin blankets, her lovey, her brother, being read to, being outside, bathes, toys, being carried in the baby bjorn, the jumper, standing, and dogs. 

 

Dislikes: the car, or sitting still. I will say car rides are slightly better, but slightly being the key word. Sometimes she doesn't scream and gag, other times she does. Her puking has cut back big time,so I am glad she has outgrown that part! She also dislikes teething!! But who doesn't!! 

Personality: Even when Emilya is miserable, she is very tolerable. With teething, she hasn't been as happy as usual, which is obviously understandable and baby girl can fight sleep like a champ when miserable. She loves being around people and finds them entertaining to watch, she will flash a smile to pretty much anyone who looks at her. We managed to get a few summer trips in this month like to storybook gardens, Brantford zoo and African lion safari and she loved people watching, being baby worn or sleeping through it all. We still have yet to start napping her up in her room, as we haven't quite made time to deal with the nursery, but it is coming along. We are hoping by the end of September that she will be napping up there. 

Weekend Rewind

And just like that another HOT weekend has zoomed on by!

Friday M was done works little early, so after I finally got Emilya down, the rest of us went for a swim! The pool was 80 degrees, which is my kind of temperature - I'm a bit of wimp when it comes to pool temps! We had a blast playing in the pool! 

Friday night I was brave and decided take Noah and Emilya down to the ball park to watch some of Daddy's game, since it was a home game. I armed myself with the double stroller, snacks, and toys. I knew he would be staying up a bit late and we were willing to forego the bath routine. 

He actually did pretty well. He played with another little boy, sharing his toys nicely. He cheered for the "blue Jays" - any baseball team is the blue Jays lol. He shared his snack with a little girl and listened pretty well. But of course I knew it was going too smoothly and just as I was giving the 5 minute warning because it was almost 9 PM, he fell off the bleachers. Luckily or not... He didn't fall too far and actually fell rather slowly and didn't end up hurting himself, but it did scare him. This was
not his first time falling, but I think he gets embarrassed, so you bet we left the ball park with a screaming kid and Emilya didn't take long to join in because she was getting hungry! Luckily it's just a short walk home! 

I will say he went to bed pretty easily after I wiped him down (from all the dust at the park), got him in his pjs and he didn't even want a book read, he just crawled int bed and was out like a light! His sister on the other hand was fighting sleep like crazy and was still awake when M got home.

Saturday morning we all slept in! I love how happy Em is in the morning, I mean she is just generally a happy baby, but her smiles are soo stinkin' big in the morning, that it just brightens my day! 

After breakfast, Noah and I had a little Mommy/Noah date. We decided to go shopping, one of his favorite things. It was soo nice having a little one on one time with him again - crazy how much I miss hanging out just him and I! I did let him pick out a new toy while we were shopping and he couldn't  wait to get home and play with it! When the kids went down for thier nap, I headed back into town to hit up the dollar store! Check out my haul:

Saturday afternoon M went and got the kobota to do some yard work with. He grinded down the tree stump on Friday morning, so we had all the shavings to get rid of. You bet Noah loved every kobota ride he had to the yard waste depot! Even I took him down to dump it and we went on a little tour! 

We had ribs on the BBQ with green beans for supper and it was soo yummy!! After supper went went for a family village tour! 

Before coming inside for bath time, we had an important task of dinosaur egg hunting... Aka rock hunting, but this time I had a fun plan up my sleeve! We put the rock in a container with water over night:

Sunday morning after another sleep in, we found a dinosaur in the jar!! He was soo excited, however M he isn't e a toy into dinosaurs, so maybe after we do this a few times, he will be? Boy just loves his trucks and cars! But he did seem to love the experience, so we will try it again this week! 

After a yummy pancake breakfast, the boys headed outside to do some gardening. We finally planted the front garden - for now. Here is the before:

And the durings:

And the after (taken this morning after we finally got some rain!!): 

While the boys were outside working, Emilya was rolling - literally around on the floor while I got the floors all cleaned on the main floor! Crazy how much she moving already and pulling her knees under herself! It won't be long before she is crawling! 

We attempted to put Noah down for a nap early, but it was a bust, he is just used to napping at the same time or later, but never earlier! When he woke up, we headed to a family BBQ to welcome my cousin home from Belize before she heads back out west in a few weeks. 

It was nice to introduce Emilya to everyone who hadn't met her yet and baby girl had soo much to say, she didn't stop babbling away and loved interacting with everyone, especially my cousins baby boy, who is a month older. Noah pretty much swam the whole time and did soo well!! He had soo much fun as do and really loved the cupcakes!! 

I just love how much fun we all had and I seriously just love these ages!! 

When we get home, I got Emilya settled, while the boys ran the kobota back to the farm and when they got home it was bedtime! 

We had such a fun weekend!! Soo much fun that we all slept in again, heck Noah didn't get up until 9!!