Emerson is 2!

My baby isn't a baby anymore. She's a toddler! It all happened so fast. I remember when we brought her home from the hospital. Those first initial months felt SO long. I often wondered when she will be old enough to sleep through the night, feed herself, start talking, walking etc. How foolish of me not to cherish and live in the moment because time really does pass by quickly and now I wish I could turn back time and relive those moments. She is now talking non-stop. She's very kind and sweet to others. Yesterday I took her to the library and before we left she proceeded to give every single kid in the toddler corner a hug. I felt that some parents might not like her hugging their kid so I told Eme to give them a high five instead. So she gave them high fives, even the kid that shoved her head. My prayer daily for Eme is to continue being sweet and compassionate towards others. I also pray that she may learn to know God's love share that with others. 

Spring Break

Spring break is almost over and I'm getting kind of sad. I had a list of things I wanted to do during this break, however I only managed to complete a few:

• Playdate with a friend and her daughter
• Sushi Gen lunch with husband
• Visit friend who recently had a baby (happening tomorrow)
• Do something crafty (e.g. make more bibs, hair barrettes)
• Cook more
• Clean and organize closet
• Do some work (It's IEP season y'all)
• Visit grandma and parents
• Clean kitchen
• Get manipedi
• See a chiropractor

Each day I have a list of things to do, but I tell ya, time goes by so fast! Next thing you know it's time to pick up Eme from daycare, feed her dinner, give her a bath, put her down for the night and then make myself and Tim some dinner. Tomorrow I'm going to try to clean and organize my closet. Forget the manipedi- got no time or money for that. The rest on the list I'll get to by the end of this week except for making an appt with a chiropractor (not gonna happen until work ends). 

Eme and cousin Brayden

Eme at 15 months

Unconditional Love

Time is flying by so fast! She's going to be 6 months in 6 days. Besides marrying my husband, having my baby was the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm starting to understand God's unconditional love for us through the love I have for my daughter. I hurt when she hurts and I'm happy when she's happy. I only want the best for her and I worry about her ALL. THE. TIME. Being a mother gives me an insight into how much He loves us too. Although I like to think of my love for my baby as unconditional, His love for us is the true definition of unconditional and again I am humbled. 

Family

I finally got a family photo! I wish my babe's face wasn't blurry and that she was looking at the camera, but that's too much to ask of a 5 month old, no? 

Back to 30 Minute Naps

I spoke too soon. She is back to her usual 30 minute naps. =/

Mommy Meetups

As much as I love hanging out with Eme all day long, it can be tiring and at times isolating. Your time is dictated by their feeding and nap/sleep schedules. In the beginning they are feeding every 2 hours and it's impossible to get out of the house. I've been cooped up inside the house for 2.5 months. Toward the end of the 2nd month I started to venture out a little going on walks here and there. I even took her to the market via baby carrier. Month 3 is looking much better. I joined a few local mommy meetup groups and attended 2 events so far. One is a group that strolls around LACMA every Friday and the other meets up at local parks or other baby/kid-friendly places such as The Grove or someone's house. These meetups are great because it gets you out of the house and you get to meet other local women in the same life stage as you! 

I don't drive with Eme past a 2 mile radius unless Tim is with me, but I think I'm ready to trek further than that (without Tim). We'll see, hopefully by the end of this month I could take Eme with me to meet up with friends in the Valley, OC and LB. 

taken at 2 months

Who is this baby?

I don't know what's going on, but something is up. For the past two days my babe has been showing me CLEAR signs of sleepiness. She'll rub her eyes a lot and eventually she will start whimpering. I quickly swaddle her, lay her down in the crib and within seconds she's knocked out. No twinkle twinkle little star sung, no shush/pat, no rocking or holding. As I write this I am aware that I'm jinxing myself, but like I wrote in the previous post, this is AMAZING. Not too long ago (last week) I was reading 5 different books on naps/sleep training. None of them seem to really help. Maybe all she needed was time? Or reflux medication? I don't know, all I know is I'm thankful. So so so thankful. Let's keep this up!

She's 3 months now and these are some new things that happened this month:

• laughing out loud
• napping longer than 30 minutes
• bearing weight on feet
• shoving whole fist in mouth
• clasping hands together

I've also seen an increased amount of:

• cooing
• smiling
• kicking legs
• drooling

She continues to take Zantac twice a day (1.5 mL) and I think that it's helping her. She's spitting up less and in general seems to be in a better mood. I also don't see her regurgitating cottage cheese-like spit up that smells really sour/acidic. The only thing is that Zantac tastes terrible and she hates it when we give it to her. I tried to look into getting it flavored, but we have to get a new prescription for that and the pharmacy near our home does not flavor medication. boo. 

just hanging out