As she grows older, we’ve enjoyed seeing Emily’s personality unfold. She’s a pretty mellow baby- rarely cries, but often zeroes in on you with this intensely studious gaze. I think she’s calculating how she can cram you into her mouth.
Three generations of Thompson women went to tea at the Huntington Library (notice Emily’s intense stare):
Emily mostly ate her hand. Apparently it’s delicious.
I was fortunate to catch a rare glimpse of the domestic snow bunny (Emilicus thompsoniana). It was a rather friendly creature, although a big sleepy, and it allowed me to get close to it.
The small one is still wiggly and cute. Her hair continues to flee in irregular patches, so someday soon she’ll actually be bald instead of practicing for it for months. Her two new favorite things are standing (with support, of course) and gnawing on anything she can cram into her mouth.
She hasn’t learned yet that real princesses don’t eat their dresses.
We went to a Christmas in October party. Emily wore her Mrs Clause sweater.
In late August we met up with my sister’s family at my parents’ house in the Bay Area. It was the first time the entire family (including Emily) has been together.
Still a happy baby! According to her doctor, Emily is 15 lbs, 5 oz and 25 inches long, which is in the 90th percentile for both. Which means if you were to round up ten kids her age, Emily could beat up all except one. Though I’m sure she’s far too ladylike for violence.
Her two new achievements this past month:
Playing with toys
and rolling herself over both ways. Which means I have to either pen her in or watch her carefully, since she can escape the blanket on the floor. My days of small, portable baby will not last forever….
Some of Emily’s baby friends:
I’m pretty sure we manipulated this into happening, but it’s still cute.
Emily got to meet her cousins when my sister and her family visited the Central Coast. My sister has been getting into photography, so we’ve got lots of fun photos of the visit.
Maddie and Jenna
Auntie Val and Emily
Emily was a big hit with her cousins. “Where’s Baby Emily?” could be heard anytime we moved the baby to another room. They wanted to play with her, so they kept offering her toys (translated: jabbed toys at her face), but it was pretty cute how much they liked her.
Fun at Avila Valley Barn
The photo below was taken the moment after this cow’s tongue snaked out and got me. Notice my delighted expression.
A few pictures Aunt Val took of her three month old niece:
Emily still smiles a lot and chatters away. She likes to wriggle and look at the world. And nothing compares to the endless delight of watching our ceiling fan.
My favorite new trick she’s learned is sleeping.
THROUGH THE NIGHT.
She started this glorious new trend about a week and a half ago. She’s been consistently sleeping from about 10:30 pm until 7 am. I had never really been sleep deprived before having Emily, and I love the sleep!
More photos to come soon of my sister and her clan’s visit to the Central Coast.
Life with the baby has definitely gotten easier. She is less fussy and much more interactive. She smiles, chatters away in baby babble, and has started noticing her surroundings. We now have lots of heartfelt conversations with Emily, mostly consisting of n-gah and ah-ooh on her part (we’re working on the whole speaking English thing). And, hallelujah, she is sleeping longer during the night!
Also, her hairline is ever in retreat, so this is a good age for hats. A friend emailed me the link to a company that makes toupees for baby girls, but we’re not that desperate yet. Plus, how silly would she look if it slid off?
Emily cheered on her dad at his softball game (her cheering voice sounded suspiciously like her grandma’s).
Over the past week or so, Emily has started conveying some new emotions. So, I thought I’d share a short video clip I took of Emily last night. Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded why we endure the sleepless nights, frequent crying and inconveniences of parenthood. Moments like this make it all worthwhile.
