Safety First

We got a bed rail yesterday! Woo hoo. I put Emerson down for 5 sec. while I went to the bathroom. She was passed out on her back. When I returned she was sleeping on her stomach. I refuse to believe my 2 month old can roll over until I see it in person. That's not possible right!?!?There has to be some other explanation.   

The many faces of Emerson

Baby Blues

Why are you taking my picture again?!?

How am I sitting up? 

Scared face when her Leaping Lily starts singing. You think it would entertain her but she doesn't trust a singing frog.

Happy girl face

If you can't tell I've got a problem with taking an obscene amount of pictures of this kid.

More Pictures!

Sweet baby feet

2 months old!

It's hard to believe little Emerson is already 2 months old! She has changed so much. I love to see the amazement in her eyes when she looks at things and you can just see the wheels turning. It's sad how fast she is growing up but I'm really trying to enjoy each stage. Now she will turn her head to follow me across the room if I walk away. Makes me feel missed. :) Emerson loves to be sung too. Her favorite song is "Hey Good Looking." Not sure why but it cracks her up. I put up last months photo so you can see the difference in growth. She noticeably has a much fuller face. Not sure about the color difference in the photos. They were taken in the same place in the house. My photography skills are still in progress. Ignore the giraffe though. It was suppose to be a size marker. But it fell down in the 2 month pic so it looks much bigger. She definitely didn't grow that much! Since she is so big now I decided to try the bumbo. Contrary to the photo she can really hold her head up quite well. But I suppose its just too early for it yet. She is too tiny!

Bumbo Failure

Milk does a body good.

Look at those muscles work!

Emerson went in for her 2 month old check-up today and she weighs a whopping 8lb 130z. Up a whole pound in three weeks. Her ped. told me she is going to be an early roller with her strong muscles and excellent neck control. Yikes! I'm going to Babies R Us tomorrow to buy a mesh bed rail. All in all the Doctor thinks she looks great. Except for a diaper rash which the solution is lots of naked time. Emerson doesn't have a problem with that! Best of all the Doctor agreed that delaying vaccines until 4 months is completely fine since she is exclusively breast fed and not in daycare. So we were spared all the tears. Now if I could just win The Vaccine Book on ebay we would be all set. I'm on my third bid so cross your fingers that I finally succeed.

Peaceful baby

This is what happens when I entertain and take pics at the same time.

With her bunny before lunch with her Dad

I never thought I would see the day where Emerson would be content or even tolerable of her bouncer and carseat. Don't get me wrong she is a very laid back baby and super easy but she screamed liked crazy in any baby contraption. I love holding her but every once in awhile I need to use the bathroom, shower, or even eat! In the past week Emerson has been content to chill in her bouncer as long as I'm close by. Allowing me to be much cleaner. :) She even will stay in her carseat for a little bit with the help of a paci. She finally started to think they are the greatest things ever. I felt guilty about using them for awhile but she really only needs them in the car or when she gets passed around a lot. We don't have to use them in the house though so its nice not to be dependent on them. She has even taken a nap in her crib twice. Although she did wake up completely lost and seemingly a little hurt I left her there. But oh how our little one has grown up. 

Duke Gardens Take 2

Here are some more pics since blogspot wouldn't let me upload them all to the same post. 

Duke Gardens

We headed to Duke Gardens on Saturday (the same place we took my maternity shots). We wanted to get some candid shots of Emerson in the flowers but she decided sleep was more important. We got some good pics and Emerson gave us her best. But we probably looked why we were torturing her to other people. (See flower shot).  Check out some of the beautiful flowers. I can't believe I've lived here for 4 years and I'm just now getting there in the springtime!?! 

All smiles if you can catch them!

Emerson has been a happy girl. She is now beginning to smile more and more. Even better she cracks herself up. Yesterday I put her in the swing (which is usually a disaster) and she looked up at the mirror on the mobile and started smiling at herself.  Apparently she thinks she is cute too. It's been tough to catch these smiles while also being the photographer. Here is our photo shoot of the day. You can see she has definitely plumped up. On a side note I went to Wal-Mart today to get gardening supplies. There was the sweetest old man working there and he had me pull up and put my massive bags of soil in my car. Made my day. 

Sassy Leg Warmers

I'm not going to smile!

Well maybe a shy smile.

Easter

Emerson had her first road trip this weekend and did great! She slept the whole trip to Conover. We didn't have to stop one time. Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday. Emerson was precious in her little dress and bonnet. 

Easter Picture Trial

"Mom I don't wanna take pictures!"

The milk coma

Breastfeeding

I was doing a little research on Kellymom.com and came across these statistics. I couldn't believe how low the U.S.'s bfing statistics were in comparison to the rest of the world. Granted they are a little old but still. Its really quite sad how the US went through a period when it was almost non-existent. Even today many turn to formula all too soon. Why would you stop breastfeeding only to have to supplement with something that cannot compare? I was listening to a good podcast the other day that noted formula was created to be used when breastfeeding was not an option, not for the purpose to replace it. It was created by pharmaceutical companies none the less. So why do so many mothers still stop so soon? I at this point do not see how it can be any "easier" to make a bottle than breastfeed. It's such a great bonding experience for mommy and baby and beneficial for them both. 

The World Health Organization and UNICEF have recommended for a decade that mothers breastfeed for at least two years. But most US women who nurse stop before their baby is six months old - and many never start at all. How do other countries stack up?

Breastfeeding Rates Around the World
Country % of mothers who start
Sweden 98
Norway 98
Poland 93
Canada 80
Britain 63
United States 57
Sources: Baby Milk Action, Cambridge, England; Center for Breastfeeding Information, Schaumburg, IL

Mini-Mark?

Is it just me or is Emerson starting to look more and more like Mark? I think its the nose/eye area but I'm not sure. Look I actually made it into a picture?!? 

Growth Spurt

We've hit out 6 week old growth spurt a little early. How do I know this you ask? Feeding Emerson every 30 minutes for the past few days with her yelling at me that's its not enough threw up a red flag.  So for the next week or so I'll apparently be permanently attached to my baby.

Picture of the Day

Paci=Fail

I hadn't wanted to use a pacifier but since Emerson hates her carseat so much I decided to give it a try since she is 5 weeks old. Apparently she didn't think it was a good idea. It turned her pitiful crying to bloody murder screaming. So I guess we'll have to cope a little longer until she can gain some body control and suck her thumb. She gets so tense she can't reach her hands up to her mouth when she is crying.  Maybe one day she will think the carseat is not a torture device. 

Ghetto Cloth Diapering

We've been using disposable diapers for overnight just because its easier for a quick change and to prevent leaks. So last night we were out. I had no other choice but to risk the cloth. Most people use some type of doubler at night for extra absorbency. Since we didn't have anything and I didn't want Emerson to wake up covered in pee I decided to improvise. So I used my old wash cloths to create homemade doublers. As a matter of fact we usually have some small leak with the disposables overnight and we had nothing coming out with the washcloths! So maybe I'm onto something.

Picture Time

Finding her thumb

First Dr. Visit

She wasn't too happy about getting up early

Today Emerson and I had to get up and going a little earlier than usual because she had her 1 month check-up. So around 8 we get up so I can get us ready. First I get dressed and presentable. Then I wash Emerson's hair. While I'm holding her over the sink she decides this is a good time to pee. Lucky for me I got hit on my shirt and pants. Lucky for Mia some hit her water bowl. After I rinse her off I take her to the changing table where she spits up on her newly washed hair. Ugggh. So she gets a brief wash with a baby wipe. haha. We go downstairs and I nurse Emerson afterwards she projectile spits up on me and herself. So having both pee and spit-up on my just picked up outfit I think I might need to change. After we are changed again I nurse Emerson two more times and we are ready to go! 2 hours later. So next time we need to go anywhere allow two hours minimum for the many mishaps that can occur. Anyways Emerson's appointment went great. She now weighs a whopping 7lb 12.5 oz.  Her Dr. said she is very alert and has excellent head control for a baby her age. :) Plus news to us we don't have to use baby soap to bath her. We can just use warm water. Who would've thought that?!?