Emma's first Weihnacht

Emma had a very Frohe erste Weihnacht (Merry first Christmas).

We started our Christmas festivities on Christmas Eve with a delicious dinner with friends. Emma was excited to open her first gifts -- her mouth was instrumental in accomplishing this task. =) She received a puzzle, fill and spill picnic basket and a very cool hot water bottle holder! Even at almost 7 months old, Emma was excited for Santa to come and had a hard time going to sleep on Christmas Eve (what in the world are we in for in years to come! ;) )

On Christmas morning, Emma let Mommy and Daddy open their gifts first and then had a good time opening her stocking and gifts from family and Santa. Emma ripped the wrapping paper if we started it for her, but she also felt that the most efficient way to open gifts was to use her mouth.The paper was by far the most interesting item of the day and I think she decided that red paper tasted the best. Emma received many fun gifts including a stuffed dog, a stuffed musical elephant, a monkey blankie, several books, a bead maze, a wooden push toy, and a couple new outfits.

In the afternoon, we had dinner with good friends. The ham dinner was delicious as were all the Christmas cookies we exchanged for dessert! It was fun watching Emma interact with the two other babies there. 

We put Emma in a walker during dinner and she quickly figured out that she was able to go where ever she wanted! We will definitely be getting her one soon after we get back to Maryland to give our backs a break from walking her around all day long!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

PS Stay tuned for pictures. In the meantime, here's Emma in one of her new Christmas outfits!

Overdue Update

Every day Emma learns something new or does something that makes us smile. Since it's been a while since we've blogged, we'll try to catch you up on some of her most recent highlights.

-When we first set up the Christmas tree, it didn't seem to phase Emma that a tree was in the house. She has walked up to it several times and wanted to touch it. We show her how to carefully touch the branches, but she usually ends up getting pricked a bit and she quickly loses interest. Today, however, she did touch the tree and looked at the ornaments. She then sat down in front of it and reached for a gift underneath the tree. I think she's ready for Christmas morning!

- Emma has recently discovered wires and cords. She likes to pull them and then try to put them in her mouth. The first cords she found were the power supply cord to the laptop and the wire connecting the headset or webcam to the computer. This past week, on one of our many walks around the house, she found the mess of internet cables hidden behind a bookcase in our living room. Keep in mind, we have never shown her these or even stopped to look at anything else in this area...she found them by herself! Oh my are we in trouble when she starts moving by herself!

- Emma has also found that plastic bags make a very fun crinkly sound when they are touched. The kitchen shelf where we keep bread and rolls happens to be right at Emma height. We stop to play here frequently throughout the day. Why does she have such interest in all of the most dangerous items in the house?

- In case you didn't know, we spend a  lot of time helping Emma walk around the house every day. She is very adamant when she wants to walk and is not easily distracted by toys if we don't happen to be in a walking mood. Emma lets out the cutest little squeal whenever she walks down the hallway toward the front door. At first I thought she liked seeing our shadows on the floor, but then realized that she likes the stained glass looking window in the door which is always brightly lit.

- More on walking: Emma used to be very good about holding our hands while she was walking. Recently though, she apparently thinks she is a proficient walker because she will rip her hand from ours and attempt to walk. Every time she does this, my heart skips a beat as I grab her because our floors are hard tile. Very hard and very unforgiving.  Obviously, we're looking forward to carpeting when we return to the States!

- Emma still isn't crawling. She does get on all fours a couple times a day, but this is usually a result of her attempting to reach a toy or our hands so that she can stand up. She has half-crawled a couple times towards a toy, but as soon as she reaches the toy, she quickly rolls onto her back. We've noticed that even when she's by herself, she's starting to use anything, even the smallest of toys, for leverage to attempt to stand. We see quite a few faceplants in the near future!

-Emma has very slowly started to warm up to solid food. Generally, she's in the mood for it or she's not. When she's in the mood for food, she eagerly grabs the spoon and attempts to feed herself. It's a little messy but super cute! When she's not in the mood, she eagerly grabs the spoon and shakes it all over (even with us holding on to it). It's very messy and not fun at all!

So far, Emma has had peas, beans, pears, carrots, bananas, apples,  sweet potatoes, rice cereal, mashed potatoes, bread, and possible a few other tidbits from our plates. By far, she likes fruit the best (although the mashed up banana didn't go over well at all). She seems to like mashed potatoes, but not if they're too garlicky. Rice cereal is her least favorite, even when some fruit is mixed in with it.

Her favorite treats are definitely cheerios and her sippy cup! She has a lot of fun playing with the cheerios before eating them. She has yet to actually get one in her mouth herself though...they stick to her wet fingers. Emma also enjoys water from a sippy cup. She's still working on learning to hold the cup and tip her head back herself.

-Yesterday, we were out to lunch with a friend and Emma sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time! She was right at table height and quickly proceeded to taste the paper table cloth. We think she had a lot of fun nibbling on some bread and playing with her toy while we ate lunch. Afterward, we walked through a store and Emma laughed, giggled, and talked the entire time! It was so wonderful to hear her so happy! She also amused several people in a waiting room. She talked to them and gave them the most precious smiles when they talked back to her.

We are just having so much fun with her and are excited for Christmas. We know she will probably like the wrapping paper more than the presents, but that is just as fun. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and we will be back to the States before you know it!

Pictures are posted!

We finally caught up on our pictures.

Here are a few albums from the past month.

Emma in November

Emma's Half Birthday Party

Breakfast with Santa

Michelstadt Christmas Market

In case you missed the ticker...

we'll be home in one month!!!

6 month stats

Emma had her U5 (6-month equivalent) check up today. The doctor said that she was well developed and told us not to worry that she wasn't really into solid food yet.

In the past 6 months and 2 weeks, Emma gained almost 8 lbs, grew a little over 4 inches, and her head circumference increased by 3.3 inches!

Her current stats are:

Weight: 7590 grams or 16 lbs 11 oz

Height: 68 cm or 26.77 inches

Head circumference: 43 cm or 16.9 inches

According to the growth chart in her German baby book, she is in the 97th percentile for height and weight and 50th percentile for head circumference. According to the CDC growth chart, she is at the 55.5th percentile for weight; 75.3th percentile for length; and  57.6th percentile for head circumference.

Either way, our little girl is getting bigger!

Mommy's little helper

Today, Emma and I put some Christmas music on, got out all the gifts and wrapping supplies, and started to wrap presents. Emma was very insistent on helping. She liked the red wrapping paper the best and was very upset when I told her she couldn't eat it (this kid won't eat peas or sweet potatoes...but loves paper?!?). At one point, she thought she was old enough to cut the paper by herself and reached for the scissors while I was cutting. (That was fun.) She didn't seem to understand that we were wrapping the presents...not unwrapping them. (So if anyone gets a gift that has crinkily paper...that's one that Emma helped with!)

We've been trying to show Emma how to crawl for a couple weeks now. She will lean so far forward when reaching for a toy that her bum comes off the ground, but she quickly gets scared and sits right back down. Today however, it's possible that Emma took her very first half-crawl. She leaned forward fully on her hands and knees and moved forward a fraction of an inch to be able to reach a gift I was putting in a box! It was super cute!

Breakfast with Santa

We took Emma to her first Breakfast with Santa yesterday. Santa arrived and we were in the first group to get pictures with him. We were a little worried that she would flip out*, but she only got a little scared face then wanted to play with his beard. We then had a delicious breakfast of eggs, french toast sticks, and bacon as well as delectable dishes that everyone brought to share. After breakfast, there were organized games and crafts for the older kids and then Santa distributed gifts to each girl and boy. Emma even tore some of the paper off her gift...with a lot of Daddy's help. =) Emma had a great time watching the kiddos run around, made multiple attempts to play with the food on our plates, and enjoyed cuddles from friends.

Emma and Santa

Sitting pretty...with a devilish twinkle in her eye!

Emma received stack and roll cups from Santa and absolutely LOVES playing with them! She is able to palm the littlest ball which has a bell inside it. It is so fun to watch her pick up the ball and shake it just to hear the bell ring!

The box is just as fun as the toy inside!

Playing with her new toy

*We thought that we would be able to get through this year without Emma crying...but it seems like "stranger danger" is starting to set in.Last weekend, Santa was at the food  court on post. Since there wasn't a line, we decided to get a picture of Emma sitting on his lap. When I set Emma down and backed away, she immediately got the stereotypical  look of pure horror on her face. It was really quite comical. She finally settled down a bit and the photographer was able to get a decent picture.

My Half Birthday Party

Since we won't be here for my first birthday, Mommy and Daddy threw me a half birthday party on Sunday. Mostly, it was Mommy and Daddy's friends that came over for cookies and cake in the afternoon, but a couple of my friends came too. Robert, who is 3 months older than me, impressed me in his dress pants, button down and blazer; as always it was nice to hang out with Calvin, who is almost the exact same age as me; and it was tons of fun to play with Zoe, who is in third grade.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well the night before the party, and I wasn't in the best of moods that day. I was so over tired that I couldn't nap and the silliest things seemed to frighten me.

I did have fun seeing everyone. You all are the first people I met and I had fun celebrating my first 6 months with you! Thanks so much for coming!

-Emma

Emma is 6 months old!

It's hard to believe that Emma turned 6 months old on Sunday! We continually are amazed at her growth and development. We swear we can see the wheels turning in her head as she tries to figure things out. She hasn't had a check-up in a while but the bathroom scale says she's roughly 17 pounds. Since she's a little wiggle worm, we haven't been able to measure her but she pretty much wears 9-month clothes exclusively...there are a few 6-month outfits that she might get to wear once or twice more if she's lucky.

Here is a list of things we've noticed recently:

- Emma doesn't use her nuk nearly as much as she did when she was younger. She primarily uses it when she's tired/in bed and in her car seat. Without the nuk, she drools and goes through bibs like there's no tomorrow, but we love how much she talks now without it.

- There were a few weeks when Emma wasn't really making any ahh's or ooo's. That has changed in the past two weeks, however. She is really learning how to use her voice and is making many more sounds. We've even heard a few consonants in there! She is also experimenting with shrieking and yelling both of which are sometimes cute and sometimes annoying.

- Emma still has all her baby rolls and her cute little Buddha belly, but she has thinned out a bit in the past month. She definitely is not as lean as some of her friends that are the same age, but she's not the little pudge ball she was either.

- Emma has not taken to rice cereal. We're going to try again in a few days. She does seem to like peas though. She still makes a funny face, but she opens her mouth when she's ready for another bite. We're hoping that sweet potatoes go over well later this week.

- Emma doesn't have any teeth, even though she's had teething signs for probably 2 months now.

- Emma can sit unassisted, loves standing and walking with our help, and is working on pulling herself to standing by herself. We have spent a lot of time walking around our first floor and standing outside her jumperoo so she can play with the toys on it.

- We have established a loose routine which has helped all three of us know what to expect each day. Emma enjoys playing in her jumperoo shortly after waking up each morning; she usually takes an hour nap around 10 and a longer nap around 2, sometimes she fits in an evening nap around 4 or 5 depending on her mood; bath time begins at 7 and she is usually asleep by 745.

- Emma is not sleeping through the night yet. She was only waking up once or twice a night, but then her teeth bothered her for a week and she was up much more frequently. We're currently attempting to get her back to waking up only once a night.

But probably most exciting is that Emma is really starting to form a personality and express herself. She lets us know what she likes, what she wants, and what she doesn't like. Everyday we get to see her do more and more, and it just makes being parents such an enjoyable adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have always had many many reasons to be thankful but this year we are especially thankful to have Emma in our lives. She brings us so much joy daily and is the best little girl we could have ever imagined.

This morning, Emma had rice cereal for the first time. We've been eagerly anticipating today for weeks. While she could have had food about a month and a half ago, our pediatrician recommended that we wait to start solids until Emma reached 6 months. Sunday is Emma's 6 month birthday, so we figured that Thanksgiving was close enough to give her rice cereal. Emma enthusiastically ate a couple spoonfuls but didn't know quite what to make of it. She didn't spit it back out, but made the funniest faces, probably because of the consistency. There's a learning curve on all of our parts and we may have made the cereal a little too thick. Tomorrow, we're planning on making it a bit more watery to see if she likes it better.


We spent the afternoon at a Thanksgiving potluck with about 25 other good friends. It was wonderful to see everyone and eat delicious food! The past 2 years, we traveled for Thanksgiving (how can you pass up taking 1 day off and getting a 4 day weekend?), so it was especially nice to celebrate with so many friends that have been our family out here for the past 3 years.

During dinner, Kurt was eating mashed potatoes while I was holding Emma. He asked Emma if she wanted some, and she quickly ate a forkful! Her reaction was pretty much the same as with the rice cereal, but again, she didn't spit anything out.

Emma has been eying our food and us eating our food for weeks. We think she's going to be a good eater once she gets used to the consistency of it. We're excited to try some veggies next!

Growing Pains

Our poor little Emma has been really uncomfortable for a week now. She had her first cold last week- she was congested and had a little cough when she was laying down. Luckily, it didn't seem to bother her too much and she handled it like a champ. Once she was over her cold, however, it seemed like her mouth started to bother her. We still can't feel anything that indicates that teeth are going to pop through anytime soon, but she's been chewing incessantly and is constantly putting our fingers into her mouth to gnaw on. She also refused to nurse on one side and has been eating smaller meals more frequently.

A few times, she has woken up from her naps crying. Emma almost never wakes up crying. Today she woke up crying which quickly escalated to screaming like I have never heard her. I felt so bad for her that I almost started crying with her. I feel so bad for her because I'm sure that she has no clue what is going on or why she is in pain or why the things that usually feel good (sucking her nuk or eating) make her even more uncomfortable. Luckily, she is slowly starting to take to some of the teething toys we have for her and usually she'll snuggle for a while until she feels better and is back to her smiley, happy self again.

Growing and Learning

It's amazing how quickly babies grow, change, and learn. When I got home from work today, I swear Emma had more hair than she did yesterday. Kurt said he thought the same thing this morning. He also thought it was more red than it was yesterday. It could be our imagination, but it seems like our little fuzzy headed girl is a bit fuzzier!

This evening, while we were playing, Emma wanted to play with her snail pull toy. Even though I've been trying to get her to use the string, she usually just leaned forward to grab at it instead of pulling it to herself. Tonight, however, she grasped the string in her hand and pulled the snail! She was even able to grab the string when it was laying on her leg, (instead of me placing the string in her hand)! She immediately put on her "proud" smile in response to my praise and eagerly pulled the snail toward herself a few more times.

Another not so fun first is that Emma currently has her first cold. =( In addition to being incredibly irritable yesterday, we noticed that she had a little cough. She woke up a few times last night and after putting her down each time, she would cough a couple times and sometimes sneeze before falling back to sleep. Poor baby! Today she was congested as well. (I'm thinking that the cough is a post nasal drip) . Today, although she seemed a bit "off," she didn't seem to mind the coughing or sneezing too much. Here's hoping she is healthy in the next day or two!

Sitting and Standing

As soon as Emma figured out she had abdominal muscles, she has loved sitting. Of course at first, it was with our help, then it was propped up, until about the last month when she became strong enough to sit up unaided. Currently, she is trying really hard to pull herself to sitting from her back. I think she's still has a way to go, but it's cute to watch her grunt and groan and pull her shoulders and feet off the ground.

Emma also loves standing. When she was younger, Daddy would stand Emma on his legs and she would love looking around and directly into his face. As she got stronger, we would stand her on the floor for short period of time (i.e. less than a minute). For the past couple of months (probably since September), she has loved being pulled to standing from a sitting position. It's incredible that in just a couple short weeks, we were doing most of the work to get her to standing and now, she is doing most of the work and pushing up with her legs and pulling with her arms and most of the time we're just there for support and balance.

Recently, we've been trying to show her how to hold on to her crib to stay standing. She seems to get a little over confident though and tries to let go, obviously resulting in her falling backward. Silly girl! We've also been showing her how to use her bumbo seat to pull herself up to standing (with our help of course). She does pretty well if her starting position is sitting on one of our legs (she's about 1/3 of the way up). If she's not tired, she can sometimes do ok from a full sitting position. But again, she gets over confident and tries to let go and stand alone or she tries to stand on one leg.

She does the funniest thing if she can't pull herself up. She sort of yells at the bumbo seat and then tries to eat it. As if exerting her dominance over an inanimate object will help it help her stand! Silly girl!

We thing all of her development is really exciting, although we've been warned that once she starts moving, we'll never be able to relax!

Shopping just got easier!

Emma and I ran errands today. For most of the errands, we use the stroller, but when we go grocery shopping, she goes into the BabyBjörn carrier. Since today is gloomy and rainy, instead of putting her in the Björn at the car, I wrapped her in a blanket and got into the store as quickly as possible. As I pulled the cart off to the side of the first aisle to get Emma situated, I decided to see if she liked sitting in the cart...she did! She enjoyed looking around and I felt like I could carry on a conversation with her better than just talking to the back of her head. She insisted on "helping" by holding the grocery list. =)

Having Emma sit in the cart is a lot easier than having her in the Björn. For one thing, she is starting to get heavy! Also, it's difficult to pick up items on the bottom shelves as well as unload the cart at the checkout with her in the carrier. I think she likes having a bit more freedom to move around than what she gets in either her stroller or in the carrier.

Today, I just used the blanket in the cart but it looks like it's time to get out the shopping cart cover we received as a gift!

More Pictures

Here are some pictures of Emma in October and Halloween.

Enjoy!

Emma in October

Halloween Festivities

Maureen's 2nd Visit This Year!

Maureen stayed with us for a few days in mid-October, trained to Salzburg, Austria, to see her sister who is studying there, and then spent a few more days with us before headng home. It was great to see her, although she made it VERY clear that she was here to meet and spend time with Emma first and hang out with Kurt and me if there was time left over (who can blame her really? Emma is such a darling!) .

Emma loved Maureen the minute she saw her. We're thinking it is because our hair is similar. (Or because Maureen is just awesome.) Emma even did long spurts of tummy time when Maureen was playing with her which was amazing!

Maureen brought Emma a bumbo seat and tray. Emma loves sitting in it and playing with her cars, although most of the time, the cars drive off a cliff and someone has to get them for her. :) Emma is sitting up well on her own, but since our floors are so hard, we keep Emma on play mats. The bumbo seat has come in handy when we want to take Emma into the office or bedroom to get something done and don't just want to lay her on the floor.

While Maureen was here, we toured Mainz, shopped in Wiesbaden, and took day trips to Koblenz and Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Kurt and I had never been to Koblenz, which is a very cute town at the convergence of the Rhein and Mosel rivers. The drive to Koblenz consisted of 3 detours, but was well worth it. We saw beautiful autumn colors and arrived in town just in time for lunch. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed walking around the town, seeing half-timbered houses, going into churches, witnessing the Das Schängelchen (The Spitting Boy) fountain, and seeing the Deutsche Eck (literally, the German Corner). We drove home alone the Rhein river and enjoyed the castles on the hills and vineyards along the river banks.

We consider Rothenburg to be the quintesential German town and love taking visitors there. It is about 2 hours away and makes a perfect day trip. Again, we arrived just in time for lunch. Unfortunately, we had one of the least appetizing meals ever. This is what we get for not using one of "Rick's Recs". Oh well. Live and learn. We had a fun afternoon walking around the city wall, walking around town, and shopping in the Christmas stores.

Unfortunately, Maureen's visit came to an end much too soon. We're looking forward to visiting her in Georgia soon!

Here are some pictures from her visit:

Maureen Visit

Emma meets Grandma and Grandpa Campbell

Kurt's parents came to visit for 1.5 weeks at the beginning of October. We were pretty laid back while they were here. They enjoyed meeting and playing with Emma and we enjoyed visiting and being spoiled by them.

We tried to introduce Emma to them right after she woke up. This was not a good idea. She looked at Kurt and I with the most pitiful little pout that said "Who ARE these people and WHY are you giving me away??" I guess this is the beginning of "stranger danger" as our pediatrician calls it. After she woke up a bit more, she took right to them and had a lot of fun playing and snuggling with them.

We took a day trip to the American post in Heidelberg where there was a winter bazaar going on. We had fun purusing wares from vendors from all over the world. Kurt and I both got a couple souvenier items that we've wanted for a while.

Since it was still Oktoberfest season, we went to the local Oktoberfest in Mainz for a German lunch and mass of beer. We enjoyed seeing many people dressed in traditional dirndl and lederhosen, listening to a live band, and watching traditional dances. Unfortunately, the music was a little loud for Emma and we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked.

We also spent time touring some of the churches in Mainz that Kurt and I hadn't been to yet (you never seem to do things in your own back yard!). We went into St. Stephan's which has beautiful stained glass windows done by Chagall; St. Ignatius' which has baroque style architecture; and St. Augustine's which is a rococco style church.

We were able to meet up with Melanie, Adam, Calvin, and Calvin's Grandma for dinner one evening at the Pfungstadt brewery. We had never been to the brewery before (primarily due to their odd hours), but wish we had. We all had one of the best meals that we've had in Germany!

The biggest trip during the week was a day trip to the Kreuzberg Monastery which is about 2 hours NorthEast of Mainz. Kurt's Dad had heard that this was the BEST beer in Germany; so of course we had to go! As we drove north, we watched the thermometer drop...and keep dropping. By the time we arrived at our destination, there were flurries in the air and it was 34 degrees! (When we left the house, it was 47!) Luckily, we had plenty of blankets for Emma so she didn't mind at all. We had lunch at the monastery and walked around the grounds before heading home. There was limited seating for lunch, and since it was so cold, we obviously didn't want to sit outside. Luckily, we were able to snag a table as one family got up to leave. Kurt's Dad got a growler filled with beer to take home.

During this time, Emma had some sleeping issues. Even though we were sticking to her routine, she woke up multiple times a night. One night, we saw every hour! Needless to say, it was nice having a few extra hands here so that we could rest a bit! Luckily, her sleeping patterns have returned to normal and she's only up once a night again!

I said earlier that we had some down time. In addition to just hanging out, Kurt's Mom baked cookies and cinnamon rolls (so delicious!) and Kurt's Dad went on bike rides around the area.
We had a great time with them here and were sad to see them go!

Here are some pictures from their trip:

Campbell Visit

Halloween!

Emma and I got into the Halloween spirit on Thursday by carving pumpkins at Ashely's house with a few other friends. Ashley prepared some delicious snacks including warm cider, spider guacamole, and pumpkin empanadas. It was the first time that I have ever carved a pumpkin. I've taken part in pumpkin carving before...but my job has always been cleaning out the pumpkin and baking the seeds. Our jack-o-lantern is a little lopsided this year, but he's still cute and Emma liked him, so that's all that matters.

Emma and a pumpkin at Ashley's

On Saturday evening, we all got dressed up and headed over to Danielle and Jonathan's for their annual Halloween Bash. Kurt was an entomologist and Emma and Carrie were his specimens. Emma was the cutest little ladybug you've ever seen...and took home the prize in the cutest costume category to prove it! Carrie was a white witch moth.

An entomologist and his specimens

Look at the cute little lady bug we found in our back yard!

We didn't expect to be at the party very long since it started right at Emma's normal bedtime. Emma, however, turned out to be a party animal! She absolutely loved seeing tons of people all dressed up. She took a quick nap around 9pm and then woke up to party some more until 1030!

Since she was passed out when we got home, Emma slept in her costume. So this morning, we took a few more pictures of her with our jack-o-lantern.

Emma is still a fan of our lopsided Jack

We think that Emma is going to love Halloween as much as we do!

77 days...

until we're in the States for good (or at least a few years)!

It's hard to believe that our time in Europe is coming to an end. We've had wonderful experiences and met great people while we've been here, however, we are looking forward to being back in America closer to family and friends.

We're also looking forward to American foods and conveniences including:

- Pay at the pump gas stations
- Mexican food
- Being able to go shopping on Sunday
- Bagels
- Roads wide enough for more than 1 car
- Short commute to work
-Carpeted floors and a house that doesn't echo

We're sure that there's more, but this is what comes to mind right now. =)

5 months has flown by!

Emma turned 5 months old today! My how the time flies!

She can sit up by herself now, although she still wobbles a bit, especially when she's tired. She has a lot of fun playing with and reaching for toys while she's sitting. She also LOVES to stand and is able to take steps (with us holding her steady) towards what she wants to examine. She has started to know what she wants to play with or do, so we've started to tell her to "Show Mommy/Daddy what you want," and she'll walk to the toy she wants to play with. It's really cute!

In just the past week or so, Emma has started tolerating tummy time much better. She is still far from loving it, but she spends more time on her tummy, partly because she's realized that she can play on her tummy. She still hasn't quite mastered rolling over. But she's getting a little more consistent at it. She is getting closer to figuring out that she has to tuck an arm under her body to be able to roll.

Emma also loves putting things in her mouth or putting her mouth on objects that are too big for her to lift or fit in her mouth. ...Just in time for germ season...super. It's really funny to watch her try to bite the bumbo seat or eat my elbow while I'm changing her.

Emma is finally (knock on wood) getting into a more normal sleeping pattern. We had a rough few weeks when she was waking up every 2 hours. (One night, we saw every hour, Not fun!). She has started to take more predictable and longer naps during the day- about an hour or so in the morning and afternoon and then again in the evening. We then start bath time around 7 followed by her bedtime meal and a story. We're very fortunate that she goes to sleep without a fuss on most nights. After her story, she just lays in her crib and listens to her nature sounds to fall asleep. Lately, she's only been waking up once, usually between 3-4am and then sometimes around 630 but then sleeping until about 730 before being up for the day.

Here are some pictures from today:

My pumpkin in a pumpkin!

Emma decided that, at 5 months, she was old enough to do a little risque photo shoot :)

So cute in the bathtub

I'm sure there's more that she's been up to and a few more blogs to post (Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's visit, Maureen's visit, and pumpkin carving to say the least)...I'm hoping to get caught up this weekend, so check back soon!

Whispers and Peek-a-boo

At almost 4.5 months old, Emma is learning new things daily. This week, she is having fun learning how to whisper and playing peek-a-boo.

Earlier this week, I was whispering good morning to Emma during an early morning diaper change and before I knew it she was moving her mouth and forcing air out...basically whisper versions of her coos and baby talk. It was adorable! She did it a few more times this week during diaper changes and getting ready for bath time.

Whenever Emma helps me fold laundry, I always play peek-a-boo with her with the blankets or burp cloths. This past week, Grandma Campbell has been playing peek-a-boo with her frequently and it seems to have finally clicked. Now, anytime Emma gets her hands on a blanket she raises it over her face and pulls it down when we ask "Where did Emma go?" and gives us a huge smile.

She seems to get cuter and cuter daily. She is always surprising us and keeping us smiling whenever we're around her.

He loves me, he loves me not...

he LOVES me!!!

Kurt shows me daily how much he loves me. From little things like folding laundry to big things, like being the best Daddy to Emma that I could ever imagine.

This week, in addition to remapping my laptop keyboard so that I could once again use the question mark/slash key, he surprised me with this beautiful bouquet:

I'm such a lucky girl!

Emma is a water baby!

Emma has loved bath time ever since her very first bath. She loves being in the water, trying to catch a floating rubber duck, moving her hands and feet through the water, and splashing. The other day, during her bath she stretched herself out so that her feet were up on the opposite end of the tub. She continued scooting herself down so that her entire torso was under the water. I let her get up to her earlobes before sitting her back up. Last night, we let her go in a bit further. I kept wanting to pull her up, but she seemed to be deciding whether or not she liked it. We let her stay that way for a few minutes until she got a worried look on her face. When we pulled her back up to a sitting position, she smiled and tried to scoot down again! We're looking forward to taking her swimming. We think that she's going to love it!

We love bath time too. Of course we love watching Emma play and have fun but it is the first part of Emma's nighttime routine, which so far has worked like a charm. Even if she is cranky, we ask if she wants to take a bath, take her upstairs and start getting her undressed and she immediately calms down and is happy. After her bath, she gets a quick baby massage, and then a story and her nighttime meal. She usually is awake when we put her in her crib and listens to the nature sounds on her mobile to fall asleep. There have only been a handful of times that we've had to go in to comfort her. Now if she would just sleep through the night, or at least go back to only waking up once a night instead of multiple times. :)

Our Daughter...the Incredible Hulk????

Emma has been discovering ways to make new sounds recently. Her newest noise is this screechy-grunt that sort of sounds like the Incredible Hulk. She primarily uses it when she's upset and trying to move from where we've placed her. She especially likes to use it when she decides she's had enough of sitting in her high chair. It's kind of funny when she arches her back and strains against the safety belts holding her in.

There have been a few times when she's used the "Incredible Hulk" grunt just to get our attention and we've had to break out the "Emma Grace, we do NOT do that in this house." *sigh* Four months old and already we're telling her no. Of course she always "apologizes" with a sweet smile or coo.

Pictures are posted!!

Good things come to those who wait....we just posted 5 new albums. Enjoy!

Emma in August

Aunt Lisa, Aunt Kim, and Grandma Visit

Emma in September

Granny and Grandpa Visit

Jim and Dave Visit

An (almost) Perfect Morning

After sleeping in until almost 8 am, Emma and I had a great Wednesday morning. We had play time and had fun practicing sitting and standing. Around 930 or so, it was almost nap time so I got settled on the couch with a book and a cup of coffee and snuggled with Emma until she fell asleep. I was able to lounge on the couch, with sunlight streaming in on my back, holding my baby, sipping coffee, and reading a good book for about 45 minutes! Some of my favorite things all at one time! It was almost perfect! The only thing missing was Kurt, who was in Munich for a few days with my brothers and friends.

It's the simple things in life that make me the most happy!

Seriously Mom?!?

Emma likes to wake up slow...

"I'm trying to wake up slow. Do you have to have that camera in my face?"

"Seriously, can you just let me be?"

"I mean it...Leave me alone!"

"Fine, I'll take care of this myself!"

"Why do you have to be so mean? I just want to wake up in peace!"

And here she is ...finally awake!

What ? No question mark, forward slash, or up arrow keys?

In case anyone wondered, baby spit up is not good for laptop keyboards.

On September 4th, I was doing some day trip research on my laptop which was sitting on the kitchen table. I also happened to be holding Emma. She got fussy and I stood up to bounce her a bit which normally settles her down quickly. When I thought she was calm again, I started to sit down to continue my research. About half way into my seat, Emma spits up...all over the laptop keyboard.

Ok, I exaggerate...not ALL over...just around the K, L, :, ", <, >, and ? keys. Luckily, I was able to get most of it up quickly and my Mom used her fingernails and q-tips to get even more out from under the keys. Unfortunately, even with our heroic efforts, the ? and up arrow keys are still out of commission. As a result, I now have a flat file with ? and / in it so that I can copy and paste into emails, blogs, etc. Instant messaging, however, doesn't get either (which is a pain because I abbreviate without, because, and with pretty frequently) because it takes too long to copy and paste.

All in all, I feel pretty lucky that more keys weren't harmed in the whole episode!

Emma meets 2 of her Uncles!

Emma got to meet her Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Dave this past week. They stopped in on their way to Oktoberfest in Munich. I was really curious about how they would interact with her, especially after asking Dave if he had ever held a baby before and his response was "not intentionally." They both seemed to have fun with her. When Jimmy was holding her, and she got fussy, I told him to put Emma up on his shoulder. He did. He sat her on his shoulder. Kurt quickly told him that Emma was a baby, not a parrot. Dave thought that it was cool that she would hold on to his finger. It was cool because "dogs can't do that." Gotta love brothers. =)

I have toes! and other fun things I've learned recently!

At about 3.5 months old, Emma has been having fun discovering her world.

Today, she is fascinated by her toes and feet. She's been introduced to her toes a few times during diaper changes and has been increasingly aware of them during play time but today, she is absolutely fascinated by them. She has been bringing her knees to her chest and grabbing her toes all morning! It is so cute! Also, I think that during her last diaper change, she was trying to put her foot in her mouth. Part of the reason could be because she's been wearing socks for the past couple of days since it's been so cold and today is pretty nice inside, so she's barefoot. She is also having fun using her feet to play with the toys that hang above her when she's on her play mat.

Changing time has also been more fun recently. Right next to the changing table, there is a large windowsill that we use as a shelf. Emma has found that she can reach over and pull a few of the toys off the windowsill. She has also figured out that she can move the tissue box that hangs off the windowsill a little bit. She doesn't seem to understand that bringing a box down on her head will hurt a bit...we're still working on cause and effect!

Emma still love love loves to sit up. She even tries to bring herself into an upright position. While my parents were here, Emma was sleeping in her boppy lounger pillow on the floor. I was at the kitchen table with my Mom and thought I heard Emma moving. I looked around the corner to see Emma with her head, neck and shoulders lifted off the pillow trying to sit up to see what was going on! My little girl is getting so big!

In addition to sitting, Emma has recently figured out that standing is tons of fun too! We've been holding her in a standing position until her legs get tired and she just sits down. Recently though, she's been wanting to stand. The other night, Kurt was giving her a bath and as he leaned her forward to wash her back and bum, instead of just leaning forward and putting her hands on the end of the tub like she usually does, she just straightened her little legs. We laughed and laughed because it was so cute. Emma was very proud of herself! Granted she wasn't standing straight up, her body was forming a 90 degree angle, but she was standing nonetheless. Also, during playtime, I'll grab her hands and pull her to a sitting position. Probably about half the time now, she'll dig her feet into the floor and pop up into a standing position. She gets SO proud of herself and loves looking around in this position.

Emma has rolled over (tummy to back) a handful of times now. But she doesn't seem to have any inclination to want to do it and instead just screams whenever we put her on her tummy. Today, I put her on her tummy in her crib and left the room to wash my hands after changing her. She didn't know I was watching and proceeded to flip over! Of course I gave her lots of kudos when I went back in the room and made her do it two more times. Maybe she'll slowly figure out that she can flip if she wants to. (Probably Mom and Dad need to use more tough love and not flip her themselves when she starts to fuss!)

There are some other things that I wanted to post, but I can't think of right now...hopefully, I'll post again later today and maybe add some pictures!

Emma meets her Grandparents

My parents came to meet Emma and visit for 10 days at the beginning of September. Emma loved meeting them and getting spoiled by them. Emma got lots of snuggles from Granny and Grandpa. Granny even taught her how to give kisses! We took a few day trips during their time here and also had some relaxing time together.


Our day trips included going to the Waechtersbach pottery outlet, walking through our local cities of Wiesbaden and Mainz, going to the Kurbisfest (pumpkin fest) in Wallau, and touring Miltenberg and Triberg.

The Kurbisfest was a lot of fun! We took some pictures of Emma with gourds and pumpkins and had fun picking out gourds to bring home. Dad tried the pumpkin wine and I brought home some pumpkin-mandarin marmalade.


Miltenberg is a very cute little town full of half-timbered houses in Bavaria. We had a nice afternoon wandering through it's pedestrian zone and enjoying crepes and coffee before heading home. There is a castle there, but we didn't make it up the hill to it.


In Triberg, we had nice Bavarian lunch followed by souvenir shopping. Dad bought a cuckoo clock and Mom bought a traditional sweater. Mom, Emma, and I decided to hike up to the waterfalls, some of the tallest in Germany. They were beautiful, but it was definitely a hike! Emma seemed to enjoy her first hike in her carrier and I definitely got a workout!

We had really nice weather the during their stay and enjoyed the time we were able to spend outside.

We also had a nice time visiting and just hanging out. Mom and Dad got to meet Calvin as well as our friend, Matt's parents. Mom helped a lot around the house and took Emma so that I could take long showers as well as a few naps. :) Thanks Mom! You're the best!

Giggles and Tummy Time!

Emma and I were laying in bed this afternoon recapping all the people and babies we saw at ladies lunch and what a nice time we had when all of a sudden she just let out a giggle. I giggled back in response and to my amazement, she giggled again! She's been trying really hard to figure out how to giggle and laugh and I thought that her giggle was just a fluke and that she wouldn't be able to do it again...but she did! I think we giggled together for about 3 full minutes! It was so fantastic! She giggled again a few hours later during a diaper change. It wasn't quite as long as the first time, but they were definitely still giggles! They were so cute and adorable! Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera near by, but hopefully, I'll be able to get some happy Emma giggles on video soon!

Also today, when she was on her tummy, she actually reached out to grab at toys that I put in front of her. For Emma, this is a big accomplishment, because a lot of tummy time is spent yelling about how much she doesn't like tummy time instead of exploring. At one point she picked up a circle rattle so that it was perpendicular to the floor and brought her head down to look at it and ended up resting her head on the rattle and not being able to move...this ended up with her being very upset! When we were at Renae's today, Emma was on Robert's play mat which has little frogs printed on it. Emma was very interested in a little red frog and intently scratched at it...so cute!

I know we haven't posted pictures in a while...please be patient, we're working on it!

Emma's new tricks

At 3 months old, Emma's personality is developing more every day. Increasingly, she knows what she wants and will not be pacified with something else. She is also getting stronger and more coordinated which helps her get what she wants.

This morning, she was nursing and decided she was finished. Instead of just laying there and looking around and maybe fussing a little, she pulled herself up to a sitting position! I was really amazed at how quickly and easily she was able to do it. We've been sitting her up on the couch for weeks now. She loves being able to look around and play with toys while sitting up. The past few days, we've been incorporating sitting into play time. If she's wide awake, she can find her center of balance and stay upright by herself for a few seconds. As she gets more tired, she starts flopping to one side or another. She also leans forward a lot and is able to hold herself at about a 45 degree angle from the floor. She is just starting to put her arms down to catch herself if she's falling forward. She has figured out that if she falls forward and can't get up, that she can kick out her legs and end up on her tummy. She still isn't that keen on being on her tummy, but it's got to be better than being folded over in half!

Emma has also started to really play with toys. She'll hold blocks or rattles in her hands and look at them. If she drops them (which happens frequently), she will use her feet to bring the toys back to her hands. It's really neat that she's figured out that her hands and feet are connected to her body and that she can use them to get what she wants.

Emma has rolled from her tummy to her back a few times...but nothing consistent. When she's on her tummy and gets frustrated, she isn't able to figure out how to roll. I'm sure she'll put 2 and 2 together soon though. She also seems to be getting close to rolling from her back to her tummy. She'll be reaching for something and arch her back and almost flip...I'm sure when it does happen, it will scare her and she won't know how to get back!

Another thing we're excited for is that Emma will now sit through an entire story book. Before she would start fussing as soon as we opened a book. Now she'll look at the pictures and try to turn the pages. She doesn't have any favorites yet, but we're hopeful that maybe she'll end up loving to read as much as we do.

Our little newborn is quickly growing up before our eyes. We're treasuring every moment we spend with her!

Emma's 3 Month Stats

At today's checkup, Emma measured 13 lbs 6 oz and is 24.4 inches long! She also made us very proud by showing off for the doctor when he flipped her on her tummy to look at her back. Emma promptly picked up her head and looked around then rolled over. The doctor said that he didn't expect her to do either of those things until at least next month and that she should be working on finding her hands, bringing them to her midline and putting them in her mouth. She's been gnawing on her hands for a while now...I think it's kinda gross when she grabs for my finger with slobbery hands. Her cute, adorable smile makes up for it though!

Emma also had her second round of vaccinations today. So far she's faring a lot better than the first round. She cried a bit more when she got them, but she was also really hungry when we were at the appointment so we think that had something to do with it. When we got home, she was awake and I played with her for a while, making sure that she was kicking a lot so that her legs wouldn't get sore like they did last time. I think that helped a lot. She had a few long naps this afternoon and is a little clingy when she's awake, but luckily, no inconsolable crying this time!

Touching

Emma is getting more control over her hands and loves touching us. In fact, sometimes, when she's upset, she'll reach out and stroke our hand or arm for comfort. The other night, I laid down in bed with her and she reached out to touch my face. When she grabbed at my lips, I took her hand and kissed her palm. Then I put my finger to her lips and asked if she could give me kisses. She stuck out her tongue to "kiss" my finger! I told her that that was more like puppy dog kisses, but that I would take them!

I know that she has no idea how to kiss and that it was purely reflexive that she wanted to taste what was put to her lips...but it was still adorable and melted my heart!

Emma also enjoys, or at least is trying to figure out, Kurt's beard. She reaches out to stroke it frequently. So far she hasn't grabbed it yet, much to Kurt's relief!

Fun with Family

We've had a busy week! Kurt's Grandma and 2 Aunts came to visit. We had a great time introducing them to Emma and showing them around. They are so thoughtful and did tons for us around the house and with Emma which gave us a little bit of time to relax.

They arrived on Thursday and we had a pretty low key day. We just relaxed, snuggled with Emma, and had dinner at our little Italian restaurant for dinner.

On Friday, Kurt took everyone to Heidelberg for the day. They had fun touring the castle and having lunch.

On Saturday morning, we packed up 2 cars and headed to Luzern, Switzerland for the weekend. We were so proud of ourselves that we had 5 adults and a baby packed, dressed, and were on the road before 9am! Emma was great in the car. We had a couple stops along the way for feeding and diaper changes, but were doing great...until we were about 2km from the Swiss border and traffic basically came to a standstill. It took us 2 hours to go 2km! Needless to say, Kurt and I were VERY cranky. The traffic continued past the border and we ended up driving through Basel where we saw that the highway was down to 1 lane because of construction. By the time we reached our hotel, we had been on the road for 9.5 hours! That evening, Grandma and Aunt Kim and Aunt Lisa went off for dinner and exploring on their own and Kurt, Emma and I headed off by ourselves.

Emma was not looking forward to more time in her car seat which was completely understandable. We tried to see if she could ride in the stroller without her baby carrier, but she's still to tiny. We did end up making her more comfortable by taking the newborn headrest out of her carseat. She was MUCH happier! After taking some pictures in the old town, we had dinner at Taube. We were able to sit outside, relax with a glass of beer and wine, and dine on alpine macaroni and rosti. It was a great way to decompress after our long drive! On Sunday, the 6 of us went on a self-guided walking tour of Luzern. Afterward, Kurt and I relaxed by the water with coffee while our family went on a train tour of the city. We all met up again for lunch, did some souvenir shopping, and saw Luzern's lion monument before heading home. Luckily, the trip home only took 4.5 hours. (We were MUCH happier!)

On Monday, we had a slower paced day. We walked around Wiesbaden, saw some sights and did some shopping...hey that's what happens when 5 ladies go out together! =)

Tuesday, Kurt took everyone to Rudesheim for the day. They all enjoyed schnitzels and took a gondola ride up over the vineyards to the Niederwalddenkmal monument. In the evening, we went to Real to pick up some yummy treats for them to take home.

Wednesday, we went on a Rhine river cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar. Emma and I intended to tour the Rheinfells castle ruins with them, but didn't plan well enough. The grounds were too rough for me to push the stroller...even without her in it. I had her in the carrier, but it was still too rough for the stoller. In the States, there probably would have been someplace to put her stroller, not here though. Next time, I think I'll bring a bike lock so that I can lock the stroller to a bike rack or somewhere. *lessons learned* It was a beautiful day though, and we enjoyed just sitting and looking out over the river. After wandering through the castle, we went back down to St. Goar and had lunch at a bakery. We shopped for a bit then had dessert and coffee at another bakery before catching a boat back to Bacharach. That evening, we cooked dinner, packed, and played with Emma.

Grandma, Aunt Lisa, and Aunt Kim headed home on Thursday morning. It was great having you all here! Wish you could have stayed longer! We hope you enjoyed your trip! We know Emma enjoyed all the attention you gave her!

Emma's First Wine Fest

Earlier this summer, Emma went to her first German Fest. On Sunday, we took Emma to her first wine fest which was in Wiesbaden. Sunday was a gorgeous day, bright blue sky and sun. The only downfall was that it was pretty warm...the car said 91. Luckily, the fest wasn't too packed in mid-afternoon and we were able to find a table in the shade. We even were able to find another shaded table when the sun moved and started to bake us at the first! Unfortunately, it was a little too warm, and Emma was a little fussy. Poor girl! She did enjoy looking around at all the new surroundings though. She especially enjoyed the bright yellow table cloth and the red Coke cup! She also enjoyed attention from our friends' 8-year old daughter, Zoe.

We even managed two diaper changes on the narrow fest benches! The first wasn't a big deal...60 seconds tops! The second however was a bit longer since Emma had had an explosion in her diaper. We were definitely the entertainment for the locals for a few minutes while we got her poopy outfit and diaper off of her and a new clean diaper onto her. Although we had another outfit with us...we let her be naked baby for the rest of the afternoon since it was so warm. She was much happier that way! (Thanks for the extra hands Morgan and Liz!)

After we got home, we gave her a bath. She has so much fun in the tub! She really enjoys splashing and kicking! At one point she was kicking so much that her leg came up over the bath tub! Another time, she was kicking so much she fell over a little bit and really startled herself! It was so cute! The faces she was making were adorable! We'll post some pictures of recent baths soon.

Emma's big day!

Yesterday, Emma had a big day! She rolled from her tummy to her back...3 times! It was Kurt's turn to stay at home with her and he said that she was looking over her shoulder at a toy and all of a sudden she turned over. He put her back on her tummy and she was able to do it again! When I got home, Emma got to tell me her big accomplishment with smiles and coos. =) Today, I had her on her tummy all morning hoping she would be excited to show me, but she was happy just to look in front of her and then do face plants on the blanket when she got tired.

Last night, we gave her a bath and she had THE most fun yet in the water! As soon as she was in the tub, she started splashing with her hands and feet. It was SO cute! She played for a long time, even splashing us outside the tub.

She is talking more and more and making different sounds almost daily. It's fun to see her figuring out how to make sounds when she tries to imitate us.

Earlier this week, Emma and I went to her first playgroup which was held at the Mainz Volkspark this week. There were 4 toddlers who had fun playing in sand and then running through a fountain area and 2 other infants. The 3 infants were born within 2 weeks of each other! Emma enjoyed watching the kids play and looking at the trees.

Today was a work picnic. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed being outside and catching up with friends. Emma was a trooper! She was awake from about 1100 until 4 which is a really long stretch for her. She had a little cat nap at one point, but we were passing her around so much that she kept waking up...we're such mean parents! Even without a nap though, she was in good spirits and studied everything around her intently. We're so lucky to have such a happy spirited baby.

More pictures of the little girl

Here are some new pictures of Emma in July:

More Emma in July

Sleeping

Emma had three nights of sleeping through the night. Friday, the day she got her vaccinations, she slept almost 7 hours through the night. Saturday she slept from about 1030 to about 6. And Sunday she slept about 7 hours. Even before this she was a pretty good sleeper. Most nights, I would only have to get up with her once for a feeding and she always went right back to sleep afterward. Friday night, when she slept all night, I chalked it up to her vaccinations making her more tired. Saturday, I figured she was still a little out of sorts. But then when she didn't wake up Sunday night, I thought maybe she was ready to give up her night feedings (although 440am can be considered middle of the night! but her last meal was at about 830). She changed my mind though on Monday night when she woke up at 130, 430, and then again at 615. Maybe she just missed her Mommy all day and needed some extra snuggle time :)

It might sound crazy, but I'm not sure I'm ready to give up her night feedings anyway. I really don't mind getting up once for 20 minutes since it gives me more time with my little girl...especially now that I'm not going to be seeing her all day every day.

First day back to work

Yesterday was my first day back to work. The morning went probably the smoothest it will ever go, and I'm not holding my breath that it will be that easy ever again. Emma slept from about 930 to 440, so I got a full night's uninterrupted sleep. I fed her, changed her diaper, and she fell asleep as I fed her some more. Afterward, I had breakfast, showered, and gathered all my gear and was out the door at 620 and into work by 700!

I checked in with Daddy and Emma around lunch time, and Kurt gave me the full run down of the morning: eating, getting dressed for the day, changing, playing and sleeping. They were having a blast!

After weeding through my work email (1600+ emails down to 250 by the time I left) all day, I headed out the door at 330 and was home before 430 to give my little girl bunches of snuggles and cuddles! Emma was so excited to see me that she spit up on me almost as soon as I picked her up :)

Kurt is working today, so I get to spend the whole day with Emma before I go to work tomorrow.

Vaccination Day (continued)

Emma was definitely a trooper at the doctor's...but by mid-afternoon the poor little thing was NOT happy. She had a few bouts of inconsolable crying until she wore herself out and feel asleep. It was the hardest and longest she's ever cried. I think that her legs where she received the shots were sore and didn't even like me holding her since it probably put pressure on them. As a result, we spent most of the afternoon snuggling in bed. Luckily, by late evening, she was starting to feel better and even gave me a few, albeit weak, smiles. She finally went to sleep for the night around 11 and slept until about 530. When I went into feed her she gave me the biggest smiles and she seems to be pretty much back to her normal happy little girl self ready to start the day with playtime. =)

She's a trooper!

Emma had her first set of vaccinations today...and she was SUCH a trooper! She barely cried at all...much to our relief! We, well mostly I (Carrie), was dreading today's appointment. I was so worried that she was going to bawl inconsolably that I almost started crying before the doctor even had the needle out. But Emma proved that she was a tough girl, just like her Mommy ;) and only cried for a few seconds. She didn't even use her hurt cry, which we've accidentally heard once or twice (like when I pulled her hair the other day trying to unsnap a shirt without turning her over to undo it, oops!).

Now, in addition to her kinderpass (baby book) she has an International Certificate of Vaccination. Luckily, the German schedule of vaccinations is pretty much the same as the American schedule, so we shouldn't have any problems after we move back to the States. Today she received three vaccinations against the following bacteria/viruses/toxins: Rotavirus, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Polio, Haemophilus influenza, Hepatitis B, and Pneumococcus.

We'll see what the afternoon and evening brings. Here's hoping that her only reaction is to sleep. Just in case it's not, I filled a prescription for a pain/fever reliever (probably just Tylenol) so that we're prepared.

Here she is resting after her tough morning:

Emma's Exciting Weekend

Emma had an exciting weekend. On Saturday, we bought her a few new toys including a play mat with toys that dangle above her. She absolutely loves it! The toys on the mat are pretty far above her arm reach, so we hung another toy we already had from it. Emma loves batting at it and making it move.





On Sunday, Emma started out the day by reaching for a rubber duckie while Daddy was giving her a bath. It was very exciting! During the last few baths, one of us always exclaims how big she looks in the tub. As a result, we've been putting more water in the tub. It's really cute to watch her slowly starting to figure out that she can kick and move her hands to splash water. In the afternoon, Kurt had her sitting on his lap and she leaned forward to touch the couch throw pillow and then proceeded to examine the pillow intently for several minutes. That evening, I was showing her one of her cloth blocks and she reached and actually held the block for a minute!

It seems like she developed overnight! It's so exciting watching her watch the world around her and learning how to interact with it.

Our little doll baby

"I have hands!"

Happy Girl!
-Our happy little girl has found her hands! Over the past few days, Emma's random arm and hand movements have become a little more refined. Previously, if her hand accidentally found it's way to her mouth she tried to fit her whole fist in. Recently though, she's been able to put her hand to her mouth and then suck on a finger or two. Last night, she even refused her pacifier because she wanted her fingers! While we're not advocating her becoming a thumb sucker, this has provided her some entertainment and pacification in the past few days. It also reaffirms that she's becoming more self aware.

(Thanks for the picture Ashley!)

-Emma is truly a happy little girl. When she wakes up from a nap, she usually just looks around or amuses herself until she gets bored. Then, instead of all out crying, she'll let out this one sharp "WAH!" that is basically "Hey! I'm awake and bored!" When we go to get her, she'll give us the biggest smile. It's very cute!

She's a mover!
-Emma doesn't realize that she can rest when she has tummy time. She's constantly moving her legs trying to crawl. When she does put her head down, she doesn't realize that she doesn't have to rest on her forehead...she can turn her head and relax. This gets her frustrated and quickly ends tummy time!
-The past two nights, whenever I go in to feed her, her body has been at a 90 degree angle from how we laid her down. This position makes it easy for her to push her pacifier out of the crib...which means Mommy gets to crawl under the crib at 3am to find it!

It has been really fun for Kurt and I watching Emma grow and change so much in the last few weeks. We are so lucky to have such a great little girl.