Emme - 10 months

10 months already? Time continues to escape me.

Emme has had a big month! She is still such a happy, easygoing baby, much like Hannah was at this age. She just loves to give out lots and lots of smiles...especially to her Daddy when he comes home from work! She now waves bye-bye, gives high fives, claps, and has on occasion given her mommy kisses....the wide open mouth variety that only a mommy appreciates.

She has decided this month that baby food really isn't for her. She still eats the baby oat cereal for breakfast mixed with fruit, but the others just don't hold her interest. So now she eats all of her food cut up in small pieces. It's made it quite easy as I usually just cut up what we're having. And oddly, while she wouldn't eat the baby food without adding fruit, she eats pretty much anything when it's on her own. She loves tofu, avocado, beets, carrots, bananas,....

She has mastered crawling and gets around VERY fast and is also very good at getting up to standing using just about anything including the wall, door, etc. So now it's onto standing and walking! She likes to practice walking with the help of Mommy or Daddy.

And here she is standing all by herself! She even tried taking a step - twice! As her Papa says, she knows the mechanics and now has to figure it all out for herself.

This month has also been great for the girls...Emme is starting to "play" with Hannah even more and they just love to entertain each other. They are the other's biggest fan. Hannah really cheers Emme on and is so sweet with her and in return Emme gives the biggest smiles and giggles! On an odd note, Emme has developed a fear of the bath. She hates it lately. I finally took her out of the infant seat in the bath (about time) and she can sit just fine without help, but all of a sudden she decided she doesn't like it and will scream the whole time. Needless to say, they are very quick these days. She's fine to just sit and watch Hannah have fun in the bath.

Sleeping is going well for the most part although she did go through a fairly short phase of waking at 530a and then taking 2 (and only 2) 45 min. naps during the day...exhausting for Mommy! Luckily it was a short phase, but she still wakes between 530-6a; too early if you ask me!

Such a blessing to watch her discover and grow!

Hannah skiing

Yesterday, Joe took Hannah to the local ski area (too small to even call it a mountain) 35 minutes away for some skiing fun (and in preparation for our upcoming ski trip).

So excited to go.
Snow plow.

The trip was short and not very successful as Joe didn't think skiing lived up to Hannah's expectations of it. She wouldn't let go of his hand/poles and try it for herself. But there's always next time....and ski lessons!

Hannah ice skating

Here's video of Hannah towards the end of our ice skating outing...all by herself!

Ice Skating

We took advantage of the beautiful day we had today and went ice skating in Harvard Square at the Charles Hotel, a small rink that is just perfect for beginners. It was our first time going this year and the first time Hannah and I tried out our new skates!

All ready to go.

They had milk crates out on the ice for the beginning skaters to help with balance. Hannah loved it!

And then wanted to try just holding onto Mommy's hand...

Hannah was a bit shaky at the start, but with the help of the milk crates and then Mommy and Daddy she got the confidence to skate all by herself. She was doing great by the end of our near 2 hr adventure. In fact, she was so fearless, especially with the milk crates, that it was hard to keep up with her at times. And she kept asking up to not follow her.

And little Emme slept like an angel through most of it. It was such a small rink that we were able to wheel her stroller right onto the ice by the benches so that Joe, Hannah I could skate at the same time. And when she woke up, Joe and I just took turns with the girls.

One of Hannah's friends from school, Owen, was there with his family and Hannah was so excited to see him. At one point, she skated over to him and they tried holding hands and skating together. They ended up toppling over within seconds. Sweet in theory, but a mess in reality! After skating, we went out to lunch/dinner before catching the bus back home. A terrific day!

A few misc pictures...

Just a few recent pictures from the last few weeks that I keep meaning to post...

After sledding, I buried Hannah in the snow. While it was sunny that day, it was VERY cold!!! Joe had already taken Emme home while Hannah and I played a bit on our walk home.

How could the Patriots lose with such adorable fans?? Emme realizing the Pats weren't making it to the Super Bowl this year!

After a nap, back to happy....there's always next year!

And matching pajamas! Nana and Papa sent Hannah footsie pajamas and Emme happened to already have the same ones. Hannah was so excited to get footsie pajamas and wears them constantly!!

Juggling

One day a while ago, Joe told me to ask Hannah to show me how she can juggle. I said "wow, Hannah can juggle?" and he said just ask...

Snow

Last weekend we got lots of snow and Hannah just loves it. While Joe and I were both feeling a bit under the weather, Hannah got all geared up all by herself and went to play in the backyard. Eventually she took her sled out too and figured a way to sled down our back steps. Our steps are very wide and half are cleared of snow so she would walk up that half and slide down the snow covered part. It was really funny!

Later that day (or maybe the next?), Joe finally had to go outside to clear the drive. And of course while he was out there, he and Hannah built a snowman. We were out of carrots and such so they improvised with outdoor items for the face.

A close up.

I have yet to Emme out into the snow to play...maybe next week....