Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

To Our Son,

At 2:46 pm on July 21, 2013 you entered our world and forever changed our lives. 

You have experienced so many new, amazing things and you'll continue to learn in all the years to come! We wish you a life full of love, laughter, challenges, success, happiness, and wonder. Continue to live life with a happy heart and a smile on your face. Never stop being curious; always push yourself to new boundaries. Follow adventure! 

Each day has been a new experience and it'll continue to be a journey that we look forward to everyday! You've given us a whole new meaning of life and love. We thank our lucky stars to have been blessed with such a loving, little boy. Thank you for allowing us to be your parents!

Happy First Birthday to our beautiful, baby boy.

Love Forever and Always, 

Your Mommy and Daddy

10 & 11 Months

I'm sitting here on the last day of my son's first year reminiscing about the last 11 months and I felt inspired to write a post. Here is the last monthly update of Emerson's first year.  

In my last post I mentioned that Emerson was days away from crawling and in fact he was! Emerson started crawling on May 18th. He had been trying and oh so close for weeks when he finally made his move. He's chosen an interesting method of getting around, but it gets him where he wants to go and fast. 

Now that he can move on his own he just goes, all day long. He loves crawling up and over everything. If you're sitting on the ground you're a mountain he must concur. He loves crawling up stairs and just recently learned how to crawl down them (after a few bumps and bruises). We have a step up into the dinning room and it's Emerson's favorite place to be. We have the step blocked with a baby gate, but we leave it open sometimes. When the gate is open Emerson loves to crawl up the step and shut the gate then laugh at us in the living room. He also loves bolting for the kitchen to play in the dog's water and food dishes. For a long time he would not leave the dog food alone so we decided to let him try a piece, hoping that he'd think it was gross and leave it alone...total back fire. Emerson not only didn't spit the food out, but he tried to eat another piece. We had to grab the food out of his mouth and he was pissed. He's since lost interest in the dog food, but every other thing he's not supposed to eat is on the top of his list. You think your house is clean until you have a crawling baby on the loose.  

Now that he's good at crawling he's starting to master walking with assistance. He pulls himself up on everything and will walk everywhere if he is holding onto something. He still shows no interest in standing unassisted so I don't think he'll be walking for at least a couple of months. 

Emerson has always had a personality, but I swear it grows everyday. Just a couple of months ago I remember telling AJ that I didn't think Emerson laughed that much, at least compared to the other babies at daycare. Now this kid is a giggle monster!  What really gets him going is peek-a-boo, funny faces, and making silly noises. His laugh makes me smile from ear to ear!

Last post Emerson had just learned to wave and say bye-bye. Since then he's stopped saying bye, but now waves with his whole arm. We've been working on our kisses and he loves giving them, but we have to fight for them, but he kisses all over his stuffed animals. Emerson gives open-mouthed kisses and I LOVE THEM!! 

At his 9 month checkup the Dr. felt Emerson was going to have very big front teeth and he did not disappoint. He cut his top two teeth a few weeks ago and they are BIG! But of course my boy is so stinking cute and completely rocking the buck teeth! He's all about cheesy smiles and showing off those beautiful chompers!

Emerson has had a few more firsts these last couple of months. We finally decided it was time for Emerson's first hair cut. His mini mullet wasn't so cute anymore and we had to make sure he was looking good for his first birthday pictures. We took him to my hair dresser and he just stood on AJ's lap while she cut. He's such a grown up little stud!

We signed up Emerson for a two week swim lesson class in June. It was supposed to be an introduction to the water or informally a "splash class". He loved it the first day because it was 100+ degrees, but the rest of the days it was in the 80's with wind so he wasn't thrilled. He didn't learn anything, but it was good exposure to the water.

The "not so thrilled" face.

He also experienced his first 4th of July! We started the morning off with a new family tradition, watching the hot air balloons take off at a local park after chowing down on pancakes! Besides being his first 4th, this year was special because my Dad's family decided to have a reunion. Emerson and my husband got to meet two of my uncles who live far away. We swam, BBQ, drank beer, laughed, danced, and lit fireworks! It was the best day!

So call me crazy, but we just got back from our annual camping trip...with an 11 month old. I didn't know what to expect so I'm not sure if it was harder or easier, but we made it. Camping is the least relaxing vacation there is, but after this trip I def feel like a need another vacation! The days dragged on, but the week flew by. We were going, going, going. Thank god for our fabulous family who were more than willing to help out with Emerson. We could NOT have made it through the week without them! My family has been going to Rollins Lake for 44 years and now Emerson will have memories of this special place.

 My baby boy is growing up so fast! Tomorrow he will officially be a toddler, but he'll always be my baby. 

8 & 9 months

What the people want is what the people will get. I had almost given up on this blog, but I was informed by multiple people that they needed more posts! Just wish these people would actually show some support and FOLLOW my blog. Hint Hint...

Now that Emerson is a week shy of 10 months I guess I'd better give you all a run down of his 8th and 9th month. Our not so little guy turned 8 months on his Grandma's birthday and while in Disneyland. I'm pretty sure our attempt at his first birthday party won't be as fantastic as Disneyland was, but we'll try! From my previous post you know that Emerson was a champ in Disneyland! He cut his first tooth that weekend and just a couple short weeks later he got his second tooth. Those pearly whites are nice and big now and showing when he's talking up a storm. Emerson has found his voice and likes to let you hear it. He has been saying dadadada for some time now, but AJ and I think he actually knows what Dada means and who it references. He still favors the word Dada, but he's officially started using Mama too! He tends to only call my name when he is sad or wants something. I think he's been spending too much time with his Nana and Great Grandma because when he's really sad he calls me "Mum". Just recently Emerson has added bye-bye to his growing vocabulary. We were working on waving bye-bye and this smarty pants not only picked that up in minutes, but he also threw in the bye-bye with it! For a few weeks Emerson was giving kisses, but I think he's over that and is just focusing on the waving. Our next goal is to get him back to giving kisses and then blowing kisses. 

The last couple of months have been filled with many 1st year milestones. We celebrated Emerson's first trip to Disneyland, his first Easter, his first swim, first tooth, first time eating solids (not pureed), first time feeding himself, first time walking in his walker, pulling himself up, and we're so close to celebrating this kid crawling! Here are some pics and videos capturing these firsts.

Emerson is changing and growing everyday. I'm glad I've been given the motivation to keep this going because I know I'll cherish this when he's grown. 

Around 8 months we had to take Emerson to the Dr's cause he had a 101+ fever for three days straight. We still don't know what he had, but it ran it's course and he was fine. At 8 months he was measuring in at 28 in and 17.12 lbs. When we took him for his 9 month check-up he was still at 28 in, but now 18.13 lbs. We have a solid eater on our hands. He can and has devoured whole bananas in addition to a full jar of baby food, followed by a bottle. We switched him to 9 month clothes around 8 1/2 months and now we've had to start buying 12 month in certain things. He's always had a big noggin, and at 9 months he didn't disappoint. His head is 18 1/4 inches around and in the 85%. It's because of this head that we have to buy 12 month tops. The 9m shirts just don't stretch enough to get over that dome. It's a good thing that his head is large, because we can already tell that his front two teeth are going to be BIG! AJ and I both had large, buck teeth when we were little so we're not really surprised. I'm sure this cutie will pull them off and even make them look good!

This past weekend was my first Mother's Day with a baby on the outside! I still think last year counted, but I guess Emerson being actually here makes this my real first Mother's Day. Daddy and Emerson spoiled me rotten. I had told AJ that when Emerson is a little older I want him to make me the cheesiest gifts! Homemade gifts from your baby is better than anything else! Little did I know, but AJ already had a little trick up his sleeve. I woke up (after getting to sleep in till 8) to this work of art. I will cherish this first gift from Emerson for the rest of my life. A huge thank you to my husband for being the best daddy ever! 

As if this masterpiece wasn't enough, Daddy thought he'd spoil me with this beautiful bling. I am in love! This band with Emerson's birth stone will look so great paired with future rings. No, I'm not hinting at another baby....yet.

The best gift of all was just being able to celebrate being a mom to the most amazing son. Emerson, thank you for allowing me to be your "Mum"; it is the most rewarding, amazing, and incredible experience that will never get old. I appreciate being celebrated on Mother's Day, but you are the one we should be celebrating! My love for you is immeasurable and it only continues to grow. You make life worth living!

In 66 short days our baby boy will be one. The time has flown by and our son has changed so much. We can't wait to see what the future holds for him! This has been the best 9 months of my life! 

Over the next few weeks I'll start sharing sneak peeks of Emerson's first birthday party. It's going to be swell! See you real soon...