I think it's pretty natural to think back about the past year at the same time you are thinking about the upcoming year around the holidays. Although I still find myself wondering what in the world happened to 2008, I have also found myself reflecting back on 2010 a lot lately.
At the start of 2010, Emma had just turned 6 months old and was just coming off of a few tough months filled with RSV and the H1N1 flu. She was just finding her new love of standing up (although she wasn't pulling herself up yet), applesauce, chewing on her toes and Tigger and Pooh. She was in the 50th percentile for all of her stats and was about 5 pounds lighter than she is today.
She was pretty much still as bald as a Q-ball but was as cute as ever. I was still just getting into my photography as a hobby and Emma was proving to be the perfect subject because she couldn't quite get away yet. :) She certainly already had those piercing blue eyes that could melt your heart in a second. Watch out boys!!
From the start, Emma was a happy and easy going baby who loved to play with her big cousins and continued to soak life in as much as she could. She also did really well whenever she was pulled somewhat out of her routine for parties or family get-togethers.
2010 was certainly a year of firsts for Emma, especially when it came to trying new foods. We started out slowly with some Puffs in January and although the first attempt was a little "iffy" (as you can see by this picture haha), overall each new food was a big success!
Emma certainly continued her happy-go-lucky personality and was one of the happiest babies (for the most part) that I have ever seen. To this day I still get lots of comments on her happy personality and boy once she learned to stick that little baby tongue out, I don't think it ever stopped! 
Once she got over some of her crazy illnesses that we kicked off 2010 with, we started to have some more fun and was able to head to a fun little photography get together where Emma once again demonstrated not only her flexibility, but her love for the taste of toes. Ha!
2010 also brought us A.L.O.T. of snow, and this was another one of Emma's firsts. She didn't so much want to touch the snow, but loved being outside and especially loved being thrown up in the air. She also continued her love for her Shamie and as she got older, she learned just exactly how much she could put him through and how amazing of a companion he would become.
Another first for Emma this year was swimming! We started our Kids First Swim School classes and Emma loved them from the beginning. We are still awaiting Micheal Phelps's phone call begging to be Emma's swim coach in preparation for the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics based on her performance at Mommy and Me Swim Class, but it should be at any day now!
Emma also got her first real boo-boo in 2010 when one of her daycare teachers was holding her and fell. Emma hit her face on the corner of a cabinet on the way down but darn it if she still didn't look totally adorable even with her first ouchie. :)
As the weather started to warm up in the spring, we started to enjoy some more outside fun and headed to the park every so often (weather permitting).
Although the Puffs were a success in early 2010, veggies were certainly a different story. They were never a hit after the infant veggies that she loved so much and to this day, pretty much as the exact same reaction to any kind of veggie there is. Ha!
Mommy continued to play with photography as a hobby and Emma was happy as a clam to pose in her favorite outfits and flower headbands. Ha! I still think this is probably my all time favorite picture that I have of her so far. Then she learned to crawl and Mommy's photography got harder and harder. :)
Before we knew it, spring was turning into summer which meant more trips to the park, Emma's first experience swinging (which she was not exactly a fan of), more swimming and certainly where Emma started to develop her love of the outdoors (or "out-siiii" as she likes to call it).
Unfortunately, the sicknesses of 2009 continued and Emma also experienced her first ever stomach virus right before celebrating her first Easter. Ick! We had a hard time getting rid of this one as it seemed to creep back every so often. But after taking it extremely slow for just about a week, we finally kicked the virus and Emma was back to normal.
But along with the non-so-fun firsts (like the stomach virus), we continued to get to experience other firsts like Easter, and her first chance to Pickey-Egg!
Just after Emma turned 9 months she headed back to the doctors for her regular check up where she weighed in at 17 pounds and 7 ounces and was in the 25th percentile for weight. She was 27 and 3/4 inches long and in the 50th percentile for height so this is just about the time where she started to thin and stretch out. Although you wouldn't be able to tell from this picture haha! She always was a fan of naked time after her bath! :)
Since Emma was becoming more and more mobile, we started to find her in some pretty funny places around the house. To this day, she still loves to try to hide from Mommy and Daddy in this exact same spot! At just about 10 months old she was pulling herself up to standing! Also by this point, she was working on cutting her fourth tooth!
We also got to take Emma to the zoo for the first time in May which she loved. She is definitely an animal lover and all of her favorite books and shows and things to say all have to do with animals.
The more Emma learned to move around in the daytime, the more she learned to move around at night! We would find her (and still do) in some of the funniest positions for sleeping! I wish I could take more pictures of her but learned my lesson after a few days when the flash woke her up and it took about 2 hours for her to go back to sleep. Oops!
Emma finally also got over her fear of touching grass which was holding her back from her love of the outdoors since she couldn't walk yet! :)
We also got to experience our first hair bow once we had enough hair to have it stay in!! Ha!! Around the same time she had her 5th and 6th teeth pop through (at just under 11 months old).
Emma certainly took her time as a baby with things like rolling over and crawling, but one thing she didn't take her time with was cutting those baby teeth! In 2010, she ended up cutting 13 teeth total! Ouch!
May 2010 also brought on some challenges and tough days when we discovered Emma's VUR which ultimately led her to a lot of catheters, VCUG testing and even having to be sedated for her DMSA scan (that we will have to repeat in the spring of 2011).
At 11 months old (beginning on June) Emma was walking up and down furniture and constantly on the go! She was saying several words already like mama, dada, nana, baba (for bottle), duck, bye bye and could almost say ball. She also started her love of Tigger and Pooh Bear, dancing and started her fear of strangers (which was okay with Mommy)!
Emma also continued her love affair with her Mr. Bear. Now, why we call him "Mr." Bear even though he is pink, I have no idea. Ha! To this day Mr. Bear is a critical member of the household. Although we have tried to somewhat limit Mr. Bear's traveling, so the rule is that he stays in Emma's crib (unless she is sick) but boy is she happy to see him before nite-nite and nap time!
The end of June concluded with a big milestone: Emma's First Birthday! Although she couldn't quite walk just yet (she was only about 2 weeks away from her first steps) she was completely off her pacifier, saying more and more words like fan, caracker, cupcake, crab, car, cup, pop, papa, dog, ball, Emma and more. She was also starting to learn her animal sounds which once again, to this day, are one of her favorite things to do!
To be continued....check back soon for the July through December recap!
What a great re-cap of the year! Love it!!! She's getting to be so big :)
ReplyDelete