Laughing at Mom

Yesterday Emmaline laughed at me for the first time. This wasn't neccessarily her first laugh - just her most important one since it was directed towards me. So far she has laughed at her Dad, a neighbor, and Grandpa Bozung (in that order). The laugh today was the best and heartiest laugh so far. It was an actual chuckle compared the previous ones.

I approached Emmaline to get her out of her bouncy chair since she was starting to get fussy. I figured she was about to get really mad since it was close to feeding time. I said, "Hi, buggy boo" and she looked up and me and laughed - I tried again and got a smile - third time, nothing. It was so adorable. I was so excited that I had to call and tell Jon right away. I am so stoked that she is going to start laughing more now. She is just so adorable.

Emmaline is changing so quickly. I can't believe how big she is. At church was were talking to a girl with a new baby. I commented on the fact that I couldn't believe how much Emmaline had grown in 3 months. Jon said that she was never that small and then asked her how much her baby weighed when born. Turned out she was actually bigger then Emmaline had been. It's funny how fast you forget how small your baby was (just like you forget the pains of pregnancy and labor so you will do it again).

At her 2 month visit Emmaline was in the 91st percentile for height and 56th for weight.

Emmaline loves her bouncy chair. Last week she would occasionally grab her hangy toys or hit them (I don't know if this was deliberate or not). I put her in her chair a couple of night ago and she was going to town with her toys. It was like she changed over night. Now whenever she is in her seat she has both her hands in the toys and she is moving them all around causing them to rattle and tinkle. Jon loves the tinkly noise - he says it just makes him happy. She can't make the bird turn properly yet by pulling on the toys. She just punches the bird with her fist to make is twirl. I'm trying to give her a lesson in cause and effect by pulling down on the toy with her hand. It will interesting to see how soon she can get the bird to move.

Her other favorite place is an unlikely one - her changing table. She just loves it there (this wasn't always the case). As long as she isn't screaming when you put her on it she will just lay there, smile, and look around while you change her. We think she like the fun colors of her nursery and the fact that she can see us up close while we talk and play with her. Since she has this rash that just hasn't ever fully gone away, I entertain her in various ways while waiting for her bum to air dry. She seems to also enjoy this freedom from the diaper - she relieves herself daily on mom, her clothes, the changing pad cover. Afterwards, she just looks up at me with a cute little smile. I think it is rather amusing especially since she only does it when I am changing her. (I don't think Dad is quite as daring as I am. He also likes to spend his teaching her how to say Dada). As a result her changing pad rarely has a cover on it.

Emmaline loves when it her Daddy comes home. Whenever Jon walks up to her and says,
"Hello Emmaline - it's Daddy," she rewards him with the biggest smile. She does this everytime - regardless of the kind of mood she is in. It is the sweetest thing to watch. Sometimes I am tempted to help Jon on his Dada first word quest because I love seeing how happy Emmaline's positive attention makes him. What can I say - I'm a sucker for his twinkly eyes and little ball cheeks. Needless to say, Mom is always happy when Dad comes home as well.

Blessing Day

Emmaline Rose was blessed by her father on Sunday, September 6th. Emmaline exceeded our expectations and was a little angel during the blessing. Jon and I were both worried that she was going to be fussy through the whole thing. This would have been especially awful since she is moving past the cute newborn cry into louder screams. To ensure that she was well behaved I gave her a bottle right before church to get her "milk drunk." For those of you not familiar with this technique - you get a baby to drink a lot of milk before her stomach registers as being full - (this cannot be done with nursing). I don't usually support being drunk but she is so cute when she gets milk drunk. She just lays there with a smile on her face, and a far off look in her eyes that is hard to see due to the battle she is having to keep them open. The trick worked - she was great during her blessing. Jon later told me that she was smacking her lips during the whole thing. He was concerned that everyone could hear her. I guess she was doing it pretty loudly but luckily the mic didn't pick it up.

Emmaline very rarely uses a pacifier. She just mimicks the sucking motion with her mouth. I think she is adorable when she does it. She is also very talented with her tongue (see attached footage). She has been a little lizard since a few second after she was pulled out of my womb.



Jon did a beautiful job on the blessing. He is such a cute, proud father. The people in attendance were Grandma and Grandpa Stevens, Aunt Linsey, Grandma and Grandpa Bozung, Uncle Bryan, and soon to be Aunt Richelle. The rest of the family is out of state so they were unable to attend.

My family came over afterward for dinner, asphalt pie (yum) and games. It was also the scene of Emmaline's biggest freak out to date. She has been having what is described as a "nipple strike." Lately, she freaks out whenever I try to feed her. Mom has been battling back with her own "bottle strike" (I do occasionally give in). I hope she will get past this rebellion soon. I pray it isn't a sign of future things to come. When I'm not trying to feed her she is a wonderful little baby (and used to be during feedings as well).


Emmaline with her proud father.