Happy Halloween from a Ferocious Blue Monster

That’s right – ferocious.  Or maybe just adorable.  Either way, Emmett’s costume is awesome.  Too bad he’s a little young for trick-or-treating and we have no place to show it off.  I’m actually thinking of taking him to the supermarket today for some grocery shopping, because at least some people will be able to see him costumed in person.  That is, if he can tolerate being in it for more than 5 minutes (the current record).

Ferocious Blue Monster

"Too Cute to Scare" shirt from Aunt Sara & Uncle Shawn

For mischeif night last night, I carved a pumpkin, toasted the seeds (which are DELICIOUS) and James built our first fire in the apartment’s fireplace.  Needless to say it was a nice little fall evening.  I’m also pretty darn proud of how well my jackolantern came out.  It’s an owl!

Owl Jackolantern

James and Emmett cozying up by the fire.

In past news, Emmett had his 9-month checkup the other week.  He was a super champ through the bloodwork.  He didn’t even make a peep –  it was incredible – though he wailed when they gave him his shots.  He’s now a whopping 20 lbs. 4 oz. (46th percentile) and 30.5 inches “tall” (97th percentile).  Again, one of the tallest kids in his class!

We  had a couple of fun visits this past week.  My best friend Niki stayed with us last weekend, and we had a visit from my good friend, Lauren, from high school last Wednesday.  More aunts for Emmett!

Crazy Aunt Niki - "We're drying our hair!"

Aunt L

I’m also convinced that Emmett is extremely close to saying “mamma.”  In fact, it sounds like he’s already saying it (although he might not exactly know what he’s saying)!  Check out this video for evidence.  What do you think?

Age Timer: 9 months, 2 weeks

Emmett Discovers His Feet

Em has been totally into his feet lately.  It’s pretty darn cute.  He just can’t get enough!

"Get those feet!"

By the way, I forgot to update you on Emmett’s 4-month checkup!  He got more shots, which he was not a fan of, and Dr. Reilly gave us the green light to start experimenting with solids (more on that to come).  He’s healthy and happy as a clam, and apparently not so little anymore — 16.1 lbs. and 27.5 inches long!  That puts Em in the 75th percentile for weight and the 99th percentile for height.  Can you believe it?  Emmett is the tallest kid in his class!  He’ll definitely be in the back row during class pictures, just like his mom was.

Age Timer: 18 weeks

Emmett Braves His First Shots

What a terrible blogger I am – more interested in manbaby videos than updating you with actual news about Emmett.  Whatever – you have to admit, that manbabies video was pretty hilarious.

So Em had his two month checkup almost two weeks ago.  Everything checked out fine.  He’s in the 75th percentile for both his height and weight (13 lbs. 14 oz. and 24.5 inches!), his noggin is I guess average for a baby (his head measured in the 50th percentile), and he’s hit all of those little milestones he should be hitting – beginning to have more control of the muscles in his neck and holding up his head, smiling and cooing regularly, etc.  Actually, he’s quite the little talker.  James and I are thinking he’ll be spitting out his first real word any day now.  I kid, I kid. 🙂

The absolute worst part of the visit was the shots.  The poor guy got three separate shots on both of his thighs.  My friend, Justina had prepared me for it to be difficult to watch.  Her son, CJ is exactly one month older than Emmett, so they experience all the milestones first and let me know what to expect, which is nice.  Still, considering I’m not really a huge softie, I figured I’d be fine.  Boy was I wrong – it was tough to watch the little guy go from being completely content to tomato-red and screaming in pain.  I mean, I’m used to seeing him cry, but this was the first time I was seeing him cry out of sheer, deliberate pain.  It was nice to have James there, too – I teared up little bit.

Dr. Prasad also showed us a fun little trick he calls the superman reflex. When you run your finger down one side of his bare back, his butt is supposed to swing to the opposite side.  This wasn’t his best performance, but check it out!

Age Timer: 11 weeks, 3 days