- She really hates Santa Claus in person
- She loves Christmas music!
- She likes Santa if he is in the minature dancing form.
We took Emerson to Mark's work Christmas party where the little kiddies were allowed to scream sit on Santa's lap. I wasn't going to go the mall for Emerson to see Santa so we figured this was a good opportunity. One look at the big guy in red and she had a complete meltdown. We even have a picture to document the baby torture. I'm talking all out crying and streaming tears.
You would think after we removed her from Santa's arms it would fix the problem but she was left traumatized. The rest of our time there she kept leering over her shoulder to keep an eye on that creepy Santa guy. At least she got a stuffed little gingerbread man out of it.
On a happier note it seems Emerson is a dancing queen. Remember way back when I said I thought she maybe into music? Of course I was right. :) She has been dancing and clapping to all kinds of music including Christmas. It is perhaps the cutest thing I have ever seen. This brings me to my third point where she likes the dancing form of Santa. She enjoyed a lot of time dancing to the tune of Jingle Bell Rock and giving Santa some applause. I really didn't think Emerson would be into Christmas this year but it has been so much fun seeing her experience it for the first time. Speaking of first she just tried to get into her stocking. Oh dear.
I then proceeded to pry the bow out of her mouth while she clinched her jaws down hard. She has gotten rather good at that. 
Happy Birthday baby! Emerson is now 9 months old and 75% of the way to being 1. Can you believe it? This last time year I was quite big and Emerson was bouncing around in my tummy at the sound of Christmas music and all the sweets I was eating. As you can tell by the pictures above she has changed quite a bit. I thought she was into as much as she could get a month ago but I was wrong. She is into more! She is crawling around even faster, standing up rather well, and climbing everything in her path. She still predominantly does the army crawl but can also do all fours if she chooses. Now she can get down from standing to sitting which I think is a big accomplishment. She can cruise a little bit around the couch and ottoman, working on those walking skills. In combination with that if she hears music she bounces up and down. Too cute. She is constantly chasing us and climbing our legs. Subtle, huh? Emerson babbles, grunts, giggles a lot. She is saying mama rather frequently along with the dadadas, and bababas. She's such a happy girl and is smiling all the time and claps when she gets excited. It's more of a closed hand clap instead of the regular kind. She also waves by flapping her arm up and down. Her favorite activities include swinging in the park, playing with her hairbrush, being tossed in the air, tearing up paper, pushing buttons, and chasing the dog. I think in a few years we might be in trouble with how much she loves animals. Always guaranteed to get a smile and squeals of excitement. I think she has grown a lot in the last month just due to how her clothes have been fitting or should I say not fitting? We are going to the pediatrician on Friday for her weigh in. Any guesses? At 7 months she was 13lbs. I'm going to guess 14lb 5oz. But, don't go off me. I was way off last time. 
So, if you were looking to get Emerson a present she'll take apples. Not to eat silly but to play with. We gave her one this w.e. and it kept her occupied for a very long time. It's like her own baby size ball! She carried it around while crawling. Threw it, chased it. Wow, if I knew this was all it took to keep her out of trouble I would have tried it a long time ago.
