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!

Month 5

Esme had a very busy 5^th month. It started with a visit from Kristen and ended with a 1500 mile road trip through Canada. She felt the grass between her toes in beautiful Rhode Island and the sand beneath her feet on a Long Island beach.

She started rolling front to back and is now rolling over in both directions. She has also figured out how to scoot backwards while on her tummy, which is currently her only means of independent movement. She loves her newfound mobility and uses it to reach things close by (I suspect we’ll be baby-proofing the house soon!)

Also new this month: splashing in the bath and crying when something is taken away that she wants (sorry, don't have any videos of either).

Highlights from Kristen’s visit:

Serendipity – a restaurant that specializes in scrumptious desserts. We had a little mishap when Esme got curious about the oversized mug of frozen hot chocolate. She cried. We laughed. She stopped crying. Then they brought us more frozen hot chocolate. J

frozen hot chocolate - round 2

We visited the tallest lighthouse in NY, but, ironically, Esme herself wasn’t tall enough to climb to the top. However, she was given a certificate to come back for free when she’s 42 inches.

We had our own private tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, learning of sordid murder mysteries and famous dead guys along the way. Esme did great riding in her carrier.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery receiving tomb where dead bodies were kept before burial and stored during the winter when the ground was frozen.

We visited the Met, enjoyed falafel sandwiches in the rain, and explored NYC.

neat Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park

Esme had her first visit to the zoo, but she was still too little to see (or care about) the animals so we’ll have to try again in a few months. For now, we got some cute pictures of her with animals in the background.

Highlights from the Canada trip:

Esme went international when we crossed into Canada at Niagara Falls (although she slept through most of it). And, in the quaint little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Esme got to swing in a park for the first time.

strolling through colorful Niagara-on-the-Lake

she was nearly swallowed by the swing!

she's still young enough to prefer the cup to the ice cream

We visited Deryk, Maria, Emilija and Neven at their lake cottage north of Toronto and spent a relaxing three days taking naps, swimming, chatting, playing games, and hiking. Esme hung out with her friends and met a new baby, as well as a cat which was very intriguing to her. Maria taught Esme the “trot trot to Boston” song – so much fun! Esme had her first boat ride and got to wear a life jacket.  She didn’t like it at first, but quickly changed her tune when she realized she could lick it the entire time.

tree hugger!!

sucking on her new favorite toy - the lid to her plastic cookie jar

"what is this strange beast I see before me?"

This is how a 5-month old would pet an animal (fortunately we didn't let her get too near the kitty)

Esme joined us in exploring Ottawa (Canada’s capitol) where we toured Parliament, visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, strolled through a huge outdoor market, and saw an inordinate amount of wedding parties walking the streets. While gawking at a bride and groom, the stroller ran away from us (don’t worry, Esme wasn’t in it) and into a crowd of people who gave us some unamused looks. Maybe you had to be there, but it was really quite hilarious.

Ottawa from behind Parliament

Before leaving Ottawa, we toured the Diefenbunker: an underground Cold War bunker for Canada’s government that’s been turned into a museum. Esme wasn’t impressed.

Our last stop was Montreal where Esme played in the grass at one of the parks in Old Montreal while Ryan and I enjoyed some maple flavored chocolate (you can’t go to Canada and not eat something maple flavored, right?!). On our last day we found a FREE baby pool at a local park. Of course we weren’t prepared and didn’t have her swimsuit, but we got her in there anyway J

apparently putting her toes in the grass wasn't enough this time- she needed to graze