Emma: 6-month birthday

Here’s the birthday girl:

We can’t believe Emma is six months old already. Cam would tell you some of the days have gone by so slowly. But overall, six months have flown by. Since our 5-month post, she’s changed before our very eyes. A month ago, she couldn’t roll over. Now, rolling over onto her belly is a piece of cake. Cam even claims she’s already rolled from her belly to her back. But I didn’t see it, and Cam didn’t catch it on video, so I don’t believe it yet.

Possibly the biggest change from a month ago — Emma is now eating solid foods. And she’s a champ at eating too. We started with the traditional rice cereal for a couple weeks, and quickly realized she was ready to try something new. Next up was sweet potatoes. She ate those like nobody’s business. Oh, then carrots! She loves those carrots; carrots are probably her favorite so far, and get the best “mmm mmm” reactions. The least-liked food so far is bananas. Nope, no way Jose will she be eating bananas anytime soon. No allergic reactions. She just refuses to let bananas near her mouth.

Cam makes most of Emma’s food from fresh fruits and vegetables with a baby food puréeing device we received for Christmas. We’ve tried a couple jars of organic pears and apples — Emma wanted nothing to do with either of those. But Cam made a batch of fresh apples (applesauce) the other day, and those are meeting less resistance. So fresh, puréed food it is for our little girl.

Of course with new foods going in, lots of new extra-potent nastiness is coming out. We both thought we were getting pretty good at changing diapers, and either one of us would volunteer to do the deed before. But now it’s a race to say “Not it!” when we hear gurgling down below. I’ll spare you further details on that subject.

Emma and Jackson are starting to show more interest in each other. Emma recognizes Jackson now as a stable fixture of life at home. A fun activity on warmer days is sitting on the back porch with Emma on my knee, and tossing the ball for Jackson to fetch. Emma isn’t capable of throwing the ball yet, but she cheers Jackson on each time he comes back with the ball. The sight of Jackson has even calmed her during a fit of crying. She reaches out for him when he walks up to her. And he licks her hands. He’ll even attempt to lick her face if he can reach it, but we try not to let that happen.

She’s almost capable of sitting up on her own now, with only the occasional face-plant forward or tip-over to the side. She shows interest in everything around her, and is constantly reaching out to grab anything in front of her. Anything is fair game: her toys, Jackson’s ears, paper, our noses or ears, or cheeks, and even the glass we’re trying to drink out of while holding her.

Emma’s present for her 6-month birthday? A tooth! We can even feel it when we run our fingers across her bottom gum. The tooth is not a welcome present for her, since it’s causing lots of discomfort and preventing long naps and sleeps. A little Baby Tylenol seems to help, as long as we give it to her 30 minutes before bedtime. Some homeopathic teething tablets also seem to be helping a little during the day.

We’re both so amazed at the rapid pace of change in Emma’s development. And we see her everyday. We can only imagine how fast she’s changing for our friends and family who only see her every so often. Every day, she’s becoming an even greater joy to have in our lives than the previous day. Sure, there are hard times. But the good times far outweigh those times ten.

Happy birthday, Emma. We love you!