Months 7 and 8

Not much happened in month 7, and mom and dad were a little busy, sooooo, without further ado here’s Esme’s 7/8 month blog post squished into one…

the touching of the pig's ear - a tradition after nap time in the Pollard household

 

Esme is quite the crawler these days – over us, under us, into the tightest of spaces. After several trips to the hardware store, we now have a baby gate guarding the stairs. Esme’s pulling herself up on anything she can reach (and tries for the things she can’t reach, too). While she’s standing precariously at her Leapfrog table, or balancing against the coffee table one-handed, she often rocks out to whatever baby tune is currently playing (the ABC song is a favorite.) Ryan refers to her as “spirited” (a nice euphemism from one of the many parenting books we threw out the window). The girl loves to move.

At the beginning of October, we started to hear a lot more babbling. Her current favorite sound is “ma,” but she also had phases of “ba” and “da.” Even during middle-of-the-night feedings, when she’s half asleep, she’ll stop eating to chat with us. And speaking of the middle of the night, sleeping is no longer on her agenda, but we can’t complain about the 2 hour naps she’s taking twice a day.

chattin' up her pacifier

Garlic. Asparagus. Cauliflower. You name it, Esme will eat it (so far). She will definitely fit in well with this family if these eating habits continue. She’s beginning to prefer finger foods (crackers, small chunks of carrots) over pureed food, but doesn't quite have the pincer grasp to pick them up yet. Ryan’s pretty sure she has an addiction to Cheerios which, if anything, has motivated the development of that pincer grasp so she can stuff them into her mouth faster. And to help her eat all those yummy Cheerios, Esme's first tooth is just starting to come in!

not a fan of the millet

first time eating Cheerios and learning how to chew

Esme’s been attending baby story time at the library on Thursday mornings, singing songs and listening to stories. She’s made some new friends and even had one play date (until our buddies moved to Australia L, but they'll be back in a few months). And, from spending so much time at the library, we found out that we can check out free passes to many museums including the Children’s Museum in Manhattan. So, you guessed it, we took Esme down to Manhattan to play at the Children’s Museum. She had fun, but I think she prefers the wide open spaces at the mall where big kids don’t run around and scream in her ear …so we’ll stick to that for a while.

at the children's museum

making new friends at the mall

We went on a little day trip to Connecticut to check out some apple orchards. Mommy and daddy tried out the famous apple cider donuts (which tasted nothing like apple cider, but were yummy nonetheless), while Esme kept trying to eat the straw on the ground. We had a little scare when she started wheezing, and decided to go home. The pediatrician said to take her to the ER just in case, so we did, only to find out that she had learned how to make a new sound, was not actually wheezing, and was perfectly healthy. Little rascal.

 

the resident pooch at the apple orchard  

 

Esme survived her first (and hopefully only) hurricane. After one really cold night, we lived in a hotel for a few days, and Esme handled it swimmingly. Sadly, though, she missed her first Halloween. But I couldn't pass up the chance to take pictures of our little ghost, especially after making her costume by candlelight!

mirror at the hotel - Esme just couldn't get enough of herself

cute costume, but no treats this year :(

Grandpa Randy came to visit and he and Esme hit it off right away. We took her on her first trip to an aquarium. She was curious, excited, and scared, but overall, we think she enjoyed it. Mostly we hung out at home and relaxed. Grandpa and daddy even came with us to baby story time at the library. And, while Grandpa was visiting, Esme tried out a couple of restaurant highchairs for the first time and seemed to enjoy her big girl-ness.

Esme's first snow! 

 

daddy's so silly 

sportin' the new sweater from Grandpa

seal show at the Maritime Aquarium 

jellyfish!

my own seat!

Stayed tuned …coming up next: the holidays!

 

starting her young

waiting for the firetruck to come... 

let me out! 

Esme's first ride in a shopping cart 

this was a momentous day - first time at Chipotle 

hat shopping ...almost as fun as shoe shopping! 

 

Month 6

Esme is halfway through her first year and growing like a weed. A tall, skinny weed (Ryan prefers to call her lithe; he says it’s more dignified). At her six month check-up she weighed about 15 lbs. and was almost 27 inches long, putting her in the 83^rd percentile for height – volleyball player someday, maybe, but probably not a gymnast.

you're not allowed to have water around Esme unless you're willing to share

big helper...

...or sneaky little thing?

whoa.

Esme started sitting independently this month, as well as sitting herself up from a lying down position. She technically started crawling one day into next month, but we’re super excited about it so we’re putting it in this month’s blog! She spent a lot of time (both during the day and in the middle of the night) rocking on her hands and knees. Eventually, she figured out how to move her knees but not her hands, and experimented with the bear crawl for a while. By her 6 month birthday she settled on a normal crawl, moving both her hands and knees at the same time – so neat to watch!  

aaaaaaand she's off!

During our trip to Canada last month Esme tried a little taste of banana and was so in love with it that we thought we’d try some baby food. We thought rice cereal was a little bland for baby Pollard so we started her on some sweet potatoes. Pureed food turned out to be less to her liking than sucking on a whole banana, but it's a work in progress, and we have hope that someday Esme will have an eclectic palate like her parents.

Esme’s favorite toy this month – the nasal syringe (don’t worry, we don’t actually use it for its intended purpose). She gets pretty antsy during diaper changes these days and we give her whatever is within reach to distract her, so the snot sucker became Esme’s new favorite chew toy.

And speaking of diaper changes, we had a memorable one this month. Ryan changed Esme’s diaper at the library a couple weeks ago and threw the dirty diaper in the bathroom trashcan (like a normal person, he said). A strange man took the diaper out of the trash and followed Ryan out of the bathroom telling him to take it with him so the trash wouldn’t stink. Who does that?!? Ryan was so dumbfounded that he didn’t think to tell the guy there was no poop in it. He did tell him he was “nuts,” though.

Grandma Trudie sent new toys (it was like Christmas in August, and mommy was more excited than baby).

We stopped by the Newark airport to bid adieu to Grandpa Jerry and Rosie as they headed to Israel for a vacation ...they brought Esme a new favorite toy - Sally the camel.

Esme and Sally

Since the weather's been nice, daddy and mommy have been trying to get some outdoor exercise. The Rockefeller State Park Preserve is a beautiful place to walk nearby; Esme loves looking up at the trees and smiling at passers-by and their doggies. She's encountered many horses as well (some of them pulling old-timey carriages with actual Rockefellers inside!).

A few more firsts…

We started teaching Esme how to wave bye-bye to daddy when he goes to work. We thought she did it once, but it was probably a fluke J

She now understands peekaboo and thinks that’s pretty funny.

We’ve heard her make a few real speech sounds so far, but most of her “talking” is still coos, giggles, and playing with vowels.

Esme started riding in her stroller like a big girl.

...and sitting in her highchair

Happy fall everyone!