Little Baby Lump

Well, maybe just Emmett.  He’s learned to clap in the past week, and honestly, it’s all the kid wants to do, whether the timing is appropriate or not.  Whatever – it’s darn cute…

Emmett was learning to clap while we were visiting my family in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving last week.  It was the first time my family was all together since Emmett and Gus were born, and the first time my extended family met Gus, so it was a lot of fun.  Gus is a lot more interactive than the last time I visited with him, so it was interesting to see the two babies get along.  Although most of the interactions between them involved Emmett sitting on and poking at Gus’ face, it was great to have them both in the same room.

Some highlights in pictures:

Emmett attempts a game of Patty Cake with Gus

Gus tells a very engaging story to Emmett, Aunt Lulu & Gran-D

Gran-D jumpstarts Emmett's gambling problem

Nana causes Gus to make odd facial expressions

Emmett practices his clapping

The babies’ first Thanksgiving was a big success in my opinion.  And if Emmett were still in my belly, he would’ve been about the size of a 20 lb. turkey   Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving!

To view more pictures from Thanksgiving, check out my Thanksgiving ’09 set on Flickr.

Age Timer: 10 months, 2 weeks

That’s right – ferocious.  Or maybe just adorable.  Either way, Emmett’s costume is awesome.  Too bad he’s a little young for trick-or-treating and we have no place to show it off.  I’m actually thinking of taking him to the supermarket today for some grocery shopping, because at least some people will be able to see him costumed in person.  That is, if he can tolerate being in it for more than 5 minutes (the current record).

Ferocious Blue Monster

"Too Cute to Scare" shirt from Aunt Sara & Uncle Shawn

For mischeif night last night, I carved a pumpkin, toasted the seeds (which are DELICIOUS) and James built our first fire in the apartment’s fireplace.  Needless to say it was a nice little fall evening.  I’m also pretty darn proud of how well my jackolantern came out.  It’s an owl!

Owl Jackolantern

James and Emmett cozying up by the fire.

In past news, Emmett had his 9-month checkup the other week.  He was a super champ through the bloodwork.  He didn’t even make a peep -  it was incredible – though he wailed when they gave him his shots.  He’s now a whopping 20 lbs. 4 oz. (46th percentile) and 30.5 inches “tall” (97th percentile).  Again, one of the tallest kids in his class!

We  had a couple of fun visits this past week.  My best friend Niki stayed with us last weekend, and we had a visit from my good friend, Lauren, from high school last Wednesday.  More aunts for Emmett!

Crazy Aunt Niki - "We're drying our hair!"

Aunt L

I’m also convinced that Emmett is extremely close to saying “mamma.”  In fact, it sounds like he’s already saying it (although he might not exactly know what he’s saying)!  Check out this video for evidence.  What do you think?

Age Timer: 9 months, 2 weeks

Busy isn’t even the word to describe the past couple of weeks.  Packing and moving (and unpacking) took over our life for a while, and then once we were done with that (well, almost), we headed over to Michigan for Labor Day weekend to visit my sisters, brother-in-law and new, 2-month old baby nephew, Gus.

Emmett tries to reason with Gus

Besides the unfortunate incident of me leaving my digital camera in the seat-back pocket on the flight to Detroit,  (I’m still mourning its loss, which included an adorable video of Emmett on his first-ever flight) we had “great times” in the Great Lakes State, watching an Olympic sailing qualifying race, hanging out with babies and taking pictures (on cameras other than my own).  And Emmett’s first couple airplane experiences went surprisingly well.  A little bit of crying here and there, but nothing we (or other passengers) couldn’t handle.

In other news, Emmett has not one, but two toofers!  Two of his bottom front teeth have broken free, and James and I agree that now he looks just like a classic cartoon baby.

The rest of this week will involve finishing touches on the apartment and new digital camera shopping (so we can take pictures of said apartment).

Man, it feels good to blog again!

More of last weekend in pictures …

2 Month Gus

Getting changed together

Adrienne, Gus, me & Emmett

James keeping Gus pacified on a yoga ball

Party pic with Aunt LuLu

Family pic in the park

Age Timer: 7 months, 3 weeks

Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day yesterday and had wonderful weather like we did here in Boston!  Yesterday, James, Emmett and I met James’ brother, Shawn and his wife, Sara (and fetal Baby K) for a picnic in Boston’s Public Garden.  It was a pretty warm day, but we got a nice shady spot under a tree and ate yummy shrimp cocktail, crackers and sandwiches, played some frisbee and enjoyed the beautiful day off.

Emmett and the Klingeners

Emmett and Dad loungin' in the grass

Age Timer: 18 weeks, 4 days