Emmie Jane turned 9 months this week!
Before we had kids, I remember thinking it was so over the top when moms of new babies would make such a big deal about each passing month.
What I’ve realized now is that each month brings SO much change. It feels miraculous, almost other-worldly, how much babies grow during the first year–both developmentally and physically. I know now that each month should be celebrated and cherished.
So here I am, making a big fuss about my angel girl turning 9 months.
Emmie is the sweetest. She loves her family with her whole heart and gets SO happy when any of us walk into the room.
She loves to play with Charlotte and just babbles and bangs toys around next to her like they are good old friends. She is obsessed with Char. Watching their friendship slowly begin to blossom this year has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. I never force it, but when they do connect and have sweet little moments together, it takes everything in me not to audibly gush and then ruin the vibe like the embarrassing mom I am.
Emmie loves to chat, chat, chat, and makes the most fabulous noises. Her favorite thing to say is “this” and says it over and over again. She waves her hands around like crazy when she gets nervous or sad.
She is almost crawling. For the longest time she just didn’t care about it at all, but a few weeks ago she decided that it’s in her best interest to get moving. So she tries really really hard but so far can only scoot backwards.
Emmie is a little anxious. She, like most COVID babies I assume, has very bad separation anxiety. We just weren’t around that many people during her first few months of life, so now she is scared of anyone outside our families (and sometimes of people inside it too). She was also in constant pain because of her reflux between months three and four, so for a while there she would only come to me or Tyler. And then I think she just got used to doing that all the time. It’s been hard navigating that because Charlotte would go to anyone when she was a baby. It makes me feel self conscious sometimes–I don’t really know why. Maybe I feel like we did something wrong or I’m nervous people think she is lame. I know that’s stupid, I’m working on it.
The whole thing has made me even more attached and more obsessed with her– is this what people mean by “mama bear”? I just love her so much, my heart shatters every day over her.
Emmie has the biggest, most heart wrenching grin that she flashes every ten seconds. Her eyes are still bright blue, and her hair is still bright blonde. Her precious little stork bite birthmark between her eyes just ruins me. I love her single dimple and her tiny cleft chin.
She always tries to eat my face, likes to climb all over Tyler, and for some reason LOVES to sit behind Charlotte and pats her back and puts her little arms around her.
Daily Schedule + Sleeping
Emmie is (mostly) a great sleeper.
The SNOO provided a solid foundation and taught her how to get through the night and follow the rhythms, if you will, of her daily routine. Since we transitioned her out of the SNOO and sleep trained her at the four month mark, she’s been awesome. (read more about our experience with the SNOO here).
She usually sleeps through the night (goes down at 6:45pm) and takes two 60-90 minute naps each day (around 9am and around 1pm).
Lately, she has been waking up just a *smidge* too early for my tastes–6:15am on a good day, 5:45am on a bad day. LMK if you have any tips! Haha.
We do sometimes slip in and out of the habit of nursing to sleep which always comes back to bite me. We are currently doing a little reset on sleep training, but she’s already getting the hang of it again.
Nursing + Eating
Emmie’s nursing schedule has always been a little all over the place, but she generally still nurses several times per day: in the morning, at bedtime, and before and after each nap. Since her weight gain issues early on, my milk supply has been on the lower side (more on that here). I feel like she needs to still nurse a lot in order to stay hydrated.
She does eat solids now too and that has been amazing for her. We do sort of a blend of purees and finger foods. She has oatmeal with nut butter every morning, avocado and fruit for lunch, and steamed veggies for dinner. We give her squeeze packs (we like Serenity, White Leaf Provisions, and Once Upon a Farm) alongside her meals/throughout the day too.
Laryngomalacia
Emmie has this thing called laryngomalacia. It basically means her voice box/vocal cords are a little soft and floppy, so her breathing often sounds loud and labored. Our pediatrician has been keeping an eye on it, but it’s gotten better and better with each passing month. It’s looking like they won’t need to intervene at all since she is growing and gaining weight well now, so we are definitely so thankful for that!
More Emmie/Baby Posts:
