Emma is 4 months

Our sweet Emma is 4 months, 1 week and is such a doll. She had her 4th month check up last week and her stats were as follows:

Height: 27 inches - 97th percentile

(though we measure her at home more around a smidge over 25 inches)

Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz - 85th percentile

Kirk jokes that she is our volleyball player given her height. She is growing like a weed and is now in 6 month clothing. She also rolled over yesterday from back to belly. She's been working on it for a few weeks but finally made it over on her own yesterday. She is a talker and has found her voice these past two weeks. The volume and pitch of her coos get increasingly louder as she becomes more tired. We joke that our ears are left ringing at times. The best part is Emma loves to smile and is such a happy baby. We feel so blessed.

August...so far

I can't believe it's August already. All is well here at casa de Johnson. Emma is still doing well with sleeping through the night and without a paci. I'm thankful everyday that we have two thumbs because those little digits have been our saving grace. Naps are still OK but not great. She'll get a good 40 minutes into the nap and then seems to wake up for whatever reason after that first sleep cycle. We are working on it. But I can't complain...I'm loving the longer nights. I feel somewhat like a functioning human again. I'm officially done with breastfeeding. It's weird and sad but good for Emma. I couldn't keep her satisfied without having to feed her every 2-3 hours and she seems thriving well on the formula. We have her 4 month check up in two weeks so we will see what the doc says. I can't believe she is already 16 weeks old! Sarah is doing great and enjoying summer. The days are still toasty but we are making more of an effort to get out in the evenings on the back patio which is shaded.

Kirk and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary last weekend. It's been an awesome 12 years filled with many adventures, two beautiful princesses and having to say goodbye to our prince. We are excited to enjoy 12 more wonderful years together. He surprised me with a bouquet of two dozen black velvet roses that were delivered to the house. The bouquet was HUGE! He included a nice card with the flowers along with a business card of a local and very popular jeweler. The next day he met me at the jeweler where I was able to pick out a wedding ring upgrade. Wowy wow! What an awesome surprise!!! The new ring is gorgeous with both yellow gold and platinum and goes will with our wedding bands. Plus the new ring has over 1 carat of diamonds. Bling-o-rama! I had my engagement ring cut off my finger when I was pregnant with Emma because I waited too long to remove everything. So the jeweler removed the stone and placed it in a white gold solitaire. I'm blinged out for sure. I pick up my ring today since it's being sized so I'll post a picture later. And my gift to my hubby....I surprised him with a membership to the "fly of the month club" through a fly fishing angler outfit out of Evergreen, CO. I know, a bunch of flies in the mail every month don't compare to the bling but he was happy nonetheless.

Below are a few recent shots. Also, check out the shots in the post below of Sarah in motion. Enjoy!

Beautiful black velvet roses from my sweet hubby!

Our little chunky monkey.

Strike a pose. One of Sarah's pre-dinner outfits complete with fairy wings on the back. Future designer candidate for Project Runway? Last day of summer dance class. She is scheduled to start again later this month for the fall.

Just Dance

Below are a sequence of shots taken of Sarah doing what she likes to do best...just dance! Got to love the outfit she pulled together for this number.

Detox it is...

As I posted previous to this one, Thursday was going to be Emma's first time in the crib out of our room. The nap was trying because of the constant replugging of the paci. But I thought I'd hang in there with the paci in hopes the evening would prove a bit better. Well, it didn't with me having to replug the baby every hour all night long. That in addition to fighting a cold and chest congestion (me) I was done. Come Friday I re-read my books including an old favorite sleep book by Dr. Ferber and made a plan with Kirk. It was time for paci detox which would require a gentle cry it out approach (not cold turkey but requires frequent visits for soothing and reassurance). That was hard. But for the past three days and nights, she has been doing well without the paci learning to sooth herself which now includes sucking her thumb and she is also out of the swaddle. Crazy! She is sleeping longer stretches in the night with the past two nights sleeping straight through! Wowy wow! I'm sure being on formula and splitting her feeds to stock her up before bed time is helping. Plus she is getting more calories during the day with the formula vs. breast milk which is also a good thing. So for the time being, we are in a good place. But like everything else baby, it will change and adjust as we continue on with her development. But no more paci!

Frustrating Mommy Moment

It's 2pm and I'm sitting in what is now Emma's room with the laptop in the dark typing this post while she naps (but I'm sitting in my new cushiony rocker recliner....ahhh, it's nice). OK, back to the post. I'm frustrated because our little Emma has what the books call "sleep association problems". That's why I'm sitting in here in the dark...I got tired of coming in and out. First off, the pacifier. We were charting on new territory with the paci with Emma since Sarah hands down refused the thing. The gig when it comes to sleeping is she goes down without it but falls asleep in my arms post nursing. I put her down (this is both at nap and night time) and all is well for the first 40 minutes or so. Then as she moves back into a light sleep phase, she wakes up. So I plug her up with the paci. But now as she is getting older, the paci is becoming a pain in my butt! The initial plug works, but sometimes requires subsequent plugs. I rarely nap during the day because I'm in and out of the room plugging up. And my nights are becoming a pain as well especially since she has been in the bassinet right next to my side of the bed. So tonight the little bugger is sleeping in her room now that we have it sufficiently darkened and the new baby monitor is in place. But that doesn't mean I still won't be up re-plugging. Unfortunately for Emma, I think the cry-it-out approach will be here before anticipated. I thought we would do cry-it-out and paci detox somewhere around 5 months but we may try earlier. In the meantime, I'm trying to find patience and understanding that she is only a baby and needs parental love.

Our other battle will be the swaddle. For Sarah, the swaddle was easily outgrown from what little memory I have of the earlier months. With Emma, the swaddle is still needed to get her down at first. Without it, the hands and arms are all over the place. I love HALO sleeper sacks and they now offer a swaddle option for up to 6 months on the sacks. It's been working great and allows her to get her arms out over the course of the night. But sometimes, once the arms are out, it could be good or bad. Good in that she is comfortable and free. Or bad in that the arms flying out all over the place wake her up.

Got to love the battles we face when it comes to sleeping children. Pacifiers, swaddling, crazy arms, mommy I have to go potty, I need water, my nose is running and need a kleenex, etc....oh my!

the month of July

Wow, I can't believe next week is the last week of July. The month flew by like a flash in the night. All is well in the Johnson household. It's been hotter than blazes here in NM with temps near 100 deg F for several days in a row. We are now entering a "cool spell" with more clouds, rain and temps in the 90's deg F. So our afternoons have been spent indoors with the AC cranked and we look to the morning or evenings to get outdoors. Emma and I are continuing our walks in the morning after I drop Sarah off. On occasion I run with her in the car seat and BOB stroller...OK, I'll admit it's more like a quick jog. But it gets the heart and blood pumpin plus allows me time to soak in some rays before the day gets too hot.

Emma is doing great and seems to have chunked up quit a bit these past two weeks. I've also started the weaning process. I nursed Sarah until 9 months but decided Emma will be totally cut off by 5-6 months. I have no good reason other than I'm being selfish and want my body back including my tatas. Emma doesn't seem to mind the bottle with formula nor the pacifier which is great and a total departure from our experience with Sarah. Emma is also cooing more with the occasional giggle. We are practicing sitting up in the Bumbo chair and on our laps to give her opportunity to control her head. She is getting better with each passing day. She smiles and giggles at Sarah who is a spaz most of the time. But good entertainment for the baby and us as well. Emma's cooing volume increases when Kirk comes home as if she is competing with Sarah for his attention. We will be moving her out of the bassinet in our room into her room and crib hopefully this weekend. The new rocker recliner I ordered arrives tomorrow allowing us to put final touches to the room. We moved Sarah out of what will be Emma's room and into the guest room. It's her big girl room and she is sleeping in the queen size bed like a champ.

Sarah is doing well and growing a bunch lately. Kirk says she looks like a pup who is trying to grow into her rather large paws at the moment (in proportion to her arms). She also has what my brother calls Flinstone feet. She is still enjoying 'school' and her friends. Her last day of ballet/tap class is next Thursday for the summer with a small class performance and she will return in the fall at the end of August. She was excited at first about taking the dance class but seems to be losing interest. I still force her to go because it's good for balance and coordination. Plus she is too cute in that tutu.

Kirk is busy at work like a one legged man in a you know what contest. He still manages to go fishing on the weekends and allow me time to run on the weekend mornings. I look forward to my 45 minutes on those days. It's me alone on the road with my iPod turned up with music that doesn't involve the Wiggles, twinkle star or Tinker Bell.

Here are a few pictures from our adventures in July:

Emma loves this toy...easy to practice her grip and pulling it to her mouth.

Lizards galore lately! This one was looking for lunch on our back patio.

Pissed off to say the least...swimming at the Durango Rec Center.

Slighly listing to the right but getting better with practice. Found the thumb!
Sister love.
Hanging out in Sarah's big girl room.
Tummy time and saying hi to the monkey.
What's up?

4th of July Fun

We were able to make it to Denver to visit my parents for the 4th of July weekend. This was their first time seeing Emma since my mom was diagnosed with an illness at the time of Emma's birth. We flew the Cessna which was great - a short 2 hr flight which is a heck of alot better than an 8 hr car ride. Both girls did great on the way to Denver enjoying "Nemo" and "Beauty and the Beast" (Sarah) or taking her morning nap (Emma). The return flight home wasn't as good with more bumps and a not so very happy Emma when we had to climb up to 13,000ft a couple of times.

We really enjoyed visiting with my parents at the house. We made it to the Denver Zoo which was nice but it was warm and humid. The girls didn't last too long so we were out by the lunch hour and missed a view exhibits. We also made it to retail therapy at Flatirons Crossing (my favorite mall) and again pushed the girls to the limit. We enjoyed fireworks on the 3rd with displays that we could see from my parents' deck. We missed displays on the 4th due to a crazy wind, rain, thunder and lightening storm throughout the Denver area.

Sarah had a great time harassing the three kittens and Jessie the dog just about all day long. The female kitten would let Sarah pick her up so that was pretty fun for her...the kittens are residents at the house but are workers in that they are suppose to be keeping the field mice population low. But I guess all they do is get into mischief. And it was a treat for Sarah to enjoy cats since I'm allergic so we will never own one.

We look forward to visiting my folks again hopefully this fall in Denver if not sooner in Farmington.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Emma's first flight in the Cessna. She rode in first class with the Bose headsets - nothing but the best!

The Colorado School of Mines 'M' from the air.

Sarah enjoying "Nemo" and "Beauty and the Best" on the portable DVD player.

Emma loves Woody the Cowboy.Grandpa Jerry and Emma before she became uncorked.

Sarah helping Grandma Ann with the 4th of July strawberry pie (and it was heavenly!).

Sarah wanted to sweep the kitchen floor "just like the princesses do on the show mama". No joke, Sarah is Snow White in the making. First making a pie with Grandma and then sweeping the floors.

Bubble fun!

Emma and Grandma Ann having an afternoon chat.

Denver Zoo - Grandma Ann bought Sarah a giraffe just like the ones at the zoo.

Showing some Alaska Love.