...and everything nice: November 2012

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.