Dear Emilie

Dear Emilie,

What a roller coaster ride the last year has been. Actually longer than that. As the day of your birthday approached I couldn't help but think of the journey your Papa and I had to even bring you into this world. One day you'll know all that we had to do to have you. All you need to know is we both wanted you so much, and that we loved you from the first moment we saw you.

See that little black circle with the little grey circle inside? That was YOU! Your very first baby picture! You didn't even look like a baby back then, but your little heart, it was beating so fast, and so strong. It made your Mama cry! Mama and Papa fell in love with your right then and there.

How did you go from that to this:



Now that tiny little peanut with the beating heart, is crawling, and walking, and smiling and giggling, blowing bubbles in the bathtub and ripping kleenex out of the box. It's amazing how quickly you have grown up. In one year you went from needing me for everything, now you push me away so you can play with your toys, climb up the stairs all by yourself, and shove Cheerios into your mouth faster than I gave hand them to you!

You are amazing little girl. Don't you ever, ever forget that.

Even when you're teething and waking us up in the middle of the night for a cuddle, or having a temper tantrum because you didn't get your way, we love you so much. You are all of our dreams, and all of our wishes in one cute, opinionated little package.

I hope that this first year has been just as great for you as it has been for us. Papa and I know how much you have learned and how much you have grown. But you have taught us just as much, and made us grow just as much too.

To celebrate your first birthday your Papa and I made a little video. It starts off with that very same first baby picture that I just showed you, and ends on our first birthday. Happy Birthday Emilie, your Mama and Papa hope that your birthday was everything you hoped it would be.

Love, Mama

ONE Year Old!

Better late than never right?

Emilie is now one!

Can you believe it? I can't! I know it's sounds so cliche, but time really does go by so incredibly fast.

Our little girl is now such a little girl in so many ways. She ended her first year with 10 teeth, two of them her one year molars. She's got some chompers on her let me tell you! She loves playing with her cousin Joshua. She squeals whenever he comes over or we go to visit them. They are going to be best friends.

We're still working on eating with a spoon, but in true Emilie-style, she will throw it to the side because it's faster eating with her fingers. It is the same with walking! She has been taking steps since 11 months, but favours crawling since it's just easier for her. She's a little Cheerio monster, and anyone who sees our pictures will tell you Emilie is eating one is almost every single picture. She loves to rip up paper, look through her books, "talk" on the phone, sort the shapes into her shape-o-ball (with some help of course), open and close doors, chase after her kitty cat Mikey, and give kisses and hugs to everyone she loves, including her little baby doll.

Unfortunately Emilie came down with a cold on her birthday, so she was not at her best for photo shoot this month.

Aww Mom! Why do you need to take pictures?

I'm going to get you!

Our cutie after her morning nap.

11 Months!

It seems like ever since Emilie turned 9 months old she has just developed at lightening speed! Before that it seemed like things were more gradual. Every new milestone was a thoughtful process. Something that she worked very hard at. Then she turned 9 months, and suddenly she was crawling, and climbing up onto things. Things have been so much busier since then!

Now she not only crawls, climbs up on to furniture, cruises along furniture, she climbs up the stairs, and will stand on her own for a few seconds before she slowly and carefully sits down so she can crawl off to her next adventure. She is fascinated by books,  and will look through them on her own while we're changing her. She loves putting things into things. Her new favourite toy is the Tupperware Shape-o ball! She loves to open and close doors, and discovering what fun things are behind the cupboard doors in the kitchen. She initiates peek-a-boo, and claps her hands when she knows she's done something good. She's also trying to use a spoon when eating, but always quickly puts it aside since her fingers are just so much more effective!

So many changes, and we know so many more are around the corner!

Here are some pictures from our little photo shoot this morning:

Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten months

Okay, okay, I've been a slacker when it comes to blogging. I haven't been a slacker when it comes to monthly photos though, so here they are:

Our little hunny bunny is now 10 months old! Where is the pause button?!

6 Months Old!!

Happy Half Birthday little girl!

It seems like just yesterday you were so tiny, and now you're our little big girl!

You had two doctors appointments this month, the first was with the Family Doctor for your 6 month well-baby visit, and your needles. You hate needles, but you did so well this month. I think it helped that you only had one needle, so less poking and prodding. Your second appointment was with the Pediatrician to check on your murmur. She could still hear it, but it is fading. Your next appointment with her is in December, around the same time you're due for your next appointment with the family doctor too!

Here are your stats from your September appointments:
Height: 26cm long
Weight: 15.5lbs
According to the doctor that puts you around the 50th percentile for both height and weight. In other words, you're normal!

You do so much now! You're eating food now. We started you off with sweet potatoes and you really liked them. We've discovered that you love your veggies, fruits are a different story, they have to be disguised in rice or oat cereal so you will eat them. After some trial and error we discovered you don't like their texture.

You babble, and coo all the time now, and you sit all.by.yourself! You can't sit for a long time by yourself, but you can for shorter periods with the nursing pillow, or someone behind you. Still no teeth yet, we're still waiting on those!

5 Months!

Time keeps trucking along even though Andre and I try and slow it down. Our little girl is 5 months already.



There was no doctors appointment this month, so no new stats for you all. I did weigh her on a scale at a friends house a week ago though, and according to that scale she's hovering around 14lbs. She was wearing a cloth diaper at the time, so who knows.

She is doing so much now! We've been signing to her for the last few months, and I think our hard work is paying off. There have been a few times that I swear she has signed "Momma" back to me. This happens mostly at night when it's just the two of us and I'm giving her her last bottle of the day, and she's getting sleepy. We're now working on "Papa" so Andre won't feel left out. She is sitting so well in her Bumbo now and loves to sit up and look around. We'll catch her in her car seat as well trying to lift her head out of the seat so she's not reclining as much too. It seems like every day our little baby is fading away and instead this little girl is emerging. It's so much fun, and so sad all at the same time.

Here are some more pictures from our 5 month photo shoot:

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it...

Emilie's "fishy" face.

The little smile that brightens our day.

4 Months Old!

I know I'm a little late, but her four month birthday also coincided with my return to work, so my spare time has been slashed dramatically. We did do a little photo shoot though!
She has changed so much over the last month. She is a lean, mean, rolling machine now! She will roll all over the floor now. So much so her little exercise mat is a little too narrow for her, so she spends more time on a blanket on the floor exploring that way. She is discovering her voice more and more now, and has found an octave that is so loud, it kind of hurts your ears. It drives her daddy BANANAS! He comes running every time she does it thinking something is wrong only to have her just playing away, completely happy. Sometimes I swear I see this proud look on her face when she discovers a new sound she can make.

Emilie also giggles like crazy. It's the best sound in the entire world. I have a couple videos on our camera, I'm going to try and upload them onto YouTube, so it's easier for non readers of this blog to watch them as well.

Emilie is still teething, and has been for the last month or so. She'll be a drool monster for a few days, and a little cranky pants, then it will pass, and then start up again about a week or so later. I keep hoping that those two little teeth under the gums will pop through already, but no such luck as yet. She's really taken to the little teething toys we have, as well as any fingers or knuckles that get within sucking distance of her mouth!

Here are the official stats from her 4 month well baby visit:
Weight: 13.1 lbs putting her at the 50th percentile *
Height 24 inches putting her at approx the 60th percentile *

*According to the growth calculator in my copy of What to Expect the First Year.

I will end with a few pictures from her four month photo shoot. Time is passing a little too quickly!

-Our Little One is four months old!

Oh Momma, that camera is so cool!

3 Month Follow Up

On Emilie's 3 month birthday we also had a visit with the Pediatrician. To fill you all in, Emilie was born with a heart murmur. Which is a fancy way of saying she was born with a small hole in her heart. All babies are born with a small hole in their heart that normally closes sometime during their first 24 hours on the outside. Emilie's didn't. Apparently this is also very common for babies. So we were referred to a Pediatrician while we were still in the hospital, and Emilie had to have some tests done before they let us take her home. They wanted to make sure that the murmur was not causing any problems with her circulation, and the blood pressure in her limbs. It's not, in fact, aside from the fact that you can hear the murmur when listening to her heart beat she's perfectly fine, and it does not affect her at all.

The pediatrician warned us that because the hole wasn't closing in the hospital, we would have to have a follow up with her 2 weeks after we left the hospital. So we did, and the murmur was still present. That meant that Emilie had to have an Echocardiogram. So when she was 4 weeks old we took her to McMaster Children's Hospital, and she had her Echo done. When we got the results, we discovered that Emilie has not one but two holes in her heart. One in the pumping chambers, and the other in the collecting chambers of her heart. The good news is that they are asymptomatic, and not causing her any problems. The bad news is a trip to the Pediatrician every 3 months is in order.

This time we didn't mind because that meant that we wouldn't have to wait until she was 4 months old to be weighed and measured!

So we woke Emilie up from her nap on the 6th, and dragged her to the doctors office. She hammed it up for Dr. S, the Pediatrician, laughing and giggling. I even saw the Dr. smile back. No one can resist our little Emilie! Emilie had a definite growth spurt around 11 weeks, and she was up to 12lbs from her 10 the month previous, putting her at the 34th percentile for weight. Her height stayed the same as last month (I think the dr's measure her differently), so 23 inches long puts her at the 23rd percentile for her height this month.

Her waist is still too small for the 3 month shorts we have for her, so I know she's a skinny little baby!

3 months old!

Time flies when you're having fun!

I cannot believe that our little Emilie is already 3 months old. It seems like just yesterday we were strapping her in her car seat for the first time to bring her home. Now we can't imagine what our lives were like before she was born.

She is doing so well! She's growing like a weed, and every day she is making a new discovery. She recently discovered that she has hands, and that she can make them move. It's the funniest thing. She will practically make herself go cross-eyed staring at her hands and fingers while making them move around. She's also discovered that her hands are also delicious, and we'll hear her every once and a while slurping as she sucks on her fingers. She's also been doing a "Superman/Wonderwoman" pose. One day she just discovered that she could put her arms out in front of her and hold them very rigid, and then of course she thinks it tons of fun now because her dorky parents will sing "Superman! Wonderwoman!" and she'll giggle and smile and keep going.

Superman! Wonderwoman! (all ready for church)



Here are a couple pictures that I took of her on her three month birthday. Unfortunately they were taken a little close to when she was suppose to go down for her morning nap, so she's not as smiley as usual.

Two Months Old!

It's true what they say about becoming a parent, time seems to pass even more quickly than before. It's like we blink, and suddenly our little girl is a month older. It's such a bittersweet time as everyday our newborn seems to be slipping away and instead we are left with this little baby so full of personality, and ready to discover the world around her.

She's changed so much over the last month. She is so much more aware of her surroundings now. She recognizes faces, and voices. Now every morning when I go to get her changed, dressed and fed she will greet me with a huge smile on her face. My heart still just melts every time she does this. It's amazing how much this little person is so capable of love for those around her. She is spending more time on "her own" now. She will sit in her swing or bouncy seat just watching the outside. She loves just staring at our curtains. Who knew they were so interesting! One of her favourite things is watching the "fishy show" (the Fisher Price Aquarium) after her diaper changes. Well put her in her crib so we can put her dirty diaper in the pail (cloth diapers) and then wash our hands.

She loves this time! She will wave her arms, kicking her legs and just squeal with delight over the bubbles and the little floating fish. This was the best money my mother ever spent on a gift for her that's for sure! We've already had to replace the batteries once already this toy has had so much use. I will just stand and watch her having so much fun on her own. I will have to remember to get a video of her watching the fishy show to share with you all. I'm sure it will bring a smile to your face as well.

She also loves her naked time at the end of the day when we change her bum and put on her pj's. Usually it's just the two of us since Andre is cleaning up the kitchen or doing something downstairs. It's our time and she laughs and smiles, and "tells" me about her day. I think she loves the freedom of no diaper of clothes to keep her confined! She's also really beginning to like bath time as well, so it's a much more quiet and relaxed time. Most of the time for this my mother will come over, and her and Andre will get her washed while I get her sleeper ready, or put away some of her laundry. One day I hope that Andre will be comfortable enough to do this on his own, but right now he still needs a little bit more practice, so my mom is there to help him out.

Emilie just continues to get cuter and cuter. I think you'll agree with some pictures from her two month photo shoot.