11 months of Scarlet

Taking a deep breath on this last "months of" post for Scarlet before her first birthday...

In addition to a mouthful of teeth, as evidenced by the photo of the pacifier below, Scarlet is breezing by milestones, despite me begging her to slow down. She crawled all over creation this past month, and found stability enough to take a handful of steps on her own. If she's awake, she's moving. Still a part-time walker though. When you crawl that fast, who can blame you?

This is what she did on the way home from the grocery store. Hungry?

Medically, she's right where she should be (when it comes to behemoth babies, that is). We worked our way through some random viral syndrome earlier this month, which included an ugly rash, crazy fevers, and a weekend of crankiness. She bounces back with the best of them, though.

We started to work our way into 1-year-old foods, like eggs, peanut butter, and chocolate. I consider Emerson's dislike for peanut butter, my ultimate failure as a mother. Jason and I even tried paying him to eat a PB sandwich the other day. He didn't bite. Literally. Milk is up next for Scarlet. I'll be quite ready to say goodbye to formula and bottles.

"How big is Scarlet??? Soooo big!"

Scarlet has a lot to say. She can hold her own in our household when it comes to conversation. Even if we can't understand what she's saying. But she does have a few clear words.

• "Haaaaa-ta" to describe hot food. 
• "Keeee-kaaaah" for Kramer, stuffed animals, and most other animals.
• "Dah" for dogs. Which she is obsessed with. Obsessed. She freaks out (in a good way) every time she sees a dog.
• "Baa" for ball. And a few other basics.

Unless she's sick, she continues to horde sleep. 7-7 is her typical overnight. And while she's too distracted to nap well at school, on the weekends she's taking a short morning nap, and a giant (3-4 hour) afternoon nap.

I love her face, while watching Emerson and Jason wrestle. You'll see it again in a second...

This was a sick little girl. She had taken a 6-hour nap. Clearly, by that hair.

Fearless. She's crawling through cold, wet grass to get to where she's going.

I love her sweet face in this photo.

Getting a kick out something Emerson said or did. Buddies.

A day with Norah. These two are the sweetest. And there's that face again. Likely reacting to something Emerson did. Norah is also fascinated with Em. Future couple?

This is what Scarlet looks like trying her first taste of chocolate on a banana. And this is what she looks like when it's gone.

Peekaboo and chasing are big right now. In these photos I hear her saying..."Well, are you going to chase me!?!?"

Doing work.

Curbed it.

And THIS is her personality. Swap that pink for blue, and this would be Emerson Rex. Goofballs galore in this house.

The value of a dollar

Emerson eats. A lot. I've talked about his Taco Bell-coined "fourth meal." This is his snack, that occurs every evening about an hour after dinner. And by snack, I mean the following:

• Example 1: 2 bananas, 2 garolla bars (aka granola bars), large bowl of baby carrots, 4 slices of bologna, string cheese
• Example 2: sandwich with meat/cheese/bread, big bowl of melon, banana, string cheese

He doesn't eat one of these items. He eats everything listed.  There are evenings that we feel like we're constantly feeding him. And he always asks for more. Always. 

So, we decided Emerson needs to start pulling his weight around the house. We toyed around with the idea that when he's a teenager, we'll dip into his 529 account for groceries. But since we've already designated that for eventual bail (wink), that just won't work.

Every day, Emerson is responsible for taking recycling out to the bin in the garage. And then when Jason takes trash to the curb once a week, Emerson is responsible for the recycling bin. Learning household and earthly accountability, all in one! (I'm nothing, if not efficient.)

This also gives Emerson the opportunity to earn some money. He gets $1 for every week he helps with recycling. He'd been eyeing a Spiderman ball at the grocery store for 6 weeks. It was $7, and it obviously takes Emerson quite a while to earn that. He'd had some opportunities to spend a couple dollars, and he's turned it down so he could save for his goal purchase. So proud of this boy.

Organizing his loot in his wallet.

On Saturday, he made his purchase! He has been carrying out the Spiderman ball since!

Girl on the run.

Scarlet makes her walking debut on camera! This makes me so happy for her, and a bit sad for me. Milestones are great and all, but I would like to keep her a baby forever. Doesn't every parent?

She's actually been taking a handful of steps for a while, and can go a bit further than in this video. It's just so hard to grab my phone and get my video camera up when she's doing it. And when I do finally get my camera ready, she makes a liar out of me.

She's quite proud of herself. And clearly very excited to find that cup at the end of the video. Love her so!

Naples - May 2013

A trip we attempt at the end of May every year had a new attendee in 2013. Scarlet Catherine! Emerson has been to Naples at least 6 or 7 times in his 4 years, but this was ScarBaby's first trip! And what a trip it was. We spent 8 days in swimsuits and sandals. Our biggest decision of the morning was to go to the beach or the pool. And if the pool, which pool? We ate well. The adults drank well. And we all came back to civilization with a new perspective. For now.

Two kiddos, ready for a very early flight outta Dodge.

Wheels down. To the pool within an hour!

We settled in, found surprises from Poppy, and made lots of return trips to the pool, which included frog hunting with Auntie Jeeka.

And my boy after my own heart...a true fish in the water. He really only left the pool for mandatory sunscreen breaks, during which he gobbled down a snack and drink. Most mornings, we were there on the first trip by 9 am. And with a short break around Noon, returned for an afternoon visit which usually extended to just before dinner. He must have dived, jumped, and cannonballed his way into the water more than 1,000 times.

This is what Emerson looked like most mornings when waking, before immediately asking when we were going to the pool. And this is what he looked like during the sunscreen breaks. Gobbling cheese, grapes, and crackers, nary a second to take off his goggles.

Once we'd finally had our fill of sun and chlorine for the day, we enjoyed down time in the evenings with books, games, fishing, and fireworks for Memorial Day.

The evenings and afternoons we did breakaway from the pool included putt putt, our favorite restaurants, and of course, Royal Scoop ice cream (Scarlet's first taste of ice cream!).

We did actually have some exposure to salt and sand during this trip, just not as much as we usually would, since one sweet little 10-month old likes to eat said sand. And we're all happier at the pool for the bulk of the day! Something that you just don't get at the pool, though, is a manatee swimming 3 feet from you. A very cool sight.

We also found an afternoon to go to Fifth Avenue for a little girls' outing for shopping and lunch. (Mia would have eaten up this time with daughters AND granddaughter.)

We did head back to the beach our last evening. We try to do this every trip. And apparently, Scarlet had enough of Emerson in that last photo. No manatees this trip, but we did see a pair of dolphins swimming down the shoreline.

Until next time, Naples.

Mr. John Deere

Tractors. They're kind of awesome, right? I grew up in the corn belt, and my Dad owns a feed mill. This meant overalls every Saturday, when I worked for far less per hour than I liked, and a John Deere key on a key chain before I could legally drive a car. I could proudly maneuver a front end loader all over the lot, loading mulch, spreading gravel, loading bulk topsoil, etc.

So, it came as no surprise when Aunt Jeeka, Uncle Jared, Poppy and Mia themed Emerson's first birthday gift around Mr. Deere. Books, a hat, and a riding toy included.

And don't you love when that seemingly gender specific toy, is loved by the next one?

Sweeter than lemons.

Scarlet has her brother's sass. When she's mad at me, she pulls out her hair bows. Spiteful little girl.

 

She and her brother also think it's really funny for her to hit herself in the head. Video evidence here. Last week, she gagged herself multiple times a day. To the point that she almost vomited once. I remember Emerson doing this at a similar age, but not that severe! Can't wait till she's a teenager.

Turns out all that sweetness we get from Scarlet, gets balanced out with a little sour. And as it turns out, she loves lemons. You would think by the photos below, she wouldn't have eaten 3 more slices.

 

From Spring to Summer...

Somehow, May came to an end when I wasn't looking. One factor that may have helped this time warp, is that we spend the last week of May gallivanting around Naples (post coming soon).

Emerson's soccer team wrapped up another great season. We're looking forward to playing with these same kids in the fall!

 

Emerson continued his membership in the No Cavity Club! He gets a t-shirt every time, and wears them out!

 Emerson and Scarlet both enjoyed the swing set!

 

 

And Emerson got a "summer cut." Mommy is ready for it to grow back. I love his shaggy 'do.

 

Emersonisms - June Edition

And they just keep coming...

When Scarlet was trying to crawl up my leg…

“She’s going to rip your dress.”

No, she’s not.

“She already did.”

No she didn’t, that’s a slit. That’s supposed to be there.

“I want to rip your dress.”

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And on the way to school, out of the blue…

“Mommy, I want to buy a Lamborghini.”

He said it perfectly!

“Daddy and I talked about it. And we want to buy one.”
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This morning, while we were all getting ready...

“Daddy, can Santa hear what you say in your brain?"

"Hmmm...not sure, buddy."

“What about God? God can hear what you say in your brain, right?"
"Yes, so you can say prayers out loud, or to yourself."
"I REALLY want that lizard."
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So, this Santa/God/lizard conversation prompted another with me...
"Emerson, do you think you could care for a real, live, lizard? And feed it? And keep his cage clean?"
 "Yes. I fed Charlie three pieces of food every day." (Charlie was the goldfish whose bowl was knocked over by Kramer the cat, and dried out.)
"Do you remember what happened to Charlie?"
"Yes, Kramer sucked his blood." 
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Emerson doesn't get much screen time, at all really. He's at school all day every day, with no TVs or movies. And the little bit he gets in the evenings and on the weekends, seems to stick with him. 

Recently, when talking about where someone works, Jason responded with "Nationwide." To which Emerson sang back "Nationwide, is on your side."

And when I asked Jason "Who's on the phone?" Emerson didn't skip a beat with "Jake. From state farm."