Little Baby Lump

I was hardly kidding when I said I’d be purchasing a pack of Huggies Jeans diapers (if you missed my previous post, including the awesome commercial, click here now).  Well, needless to say, I bought some, they’re awesome, and James is super embarrassed for Emmett.

It’s been hot, so Emmett’s been modeling them around the apartment quite frequently…

Now, he poos in blue.

In other news, Emmett also cut his 7th tooth (on the bottom left side) this week, further preparing his chompers to bite into a nice piece of steak.

Age Timer: 16 months, 2 weeks

For Christmas, my parents decided to give Emmett and me some money to sign up for a parent participation My Gym class.  My Gym is a children’s fitness center with locations all over the world, and there just so happens to be one very close to where we live.  I finally signed us up for a session, and yesterday we participated in our first Waddlers class for children ages 14-22 months.  We had a lot of fun, but let’s just say Emmett’s independent personality was never more apparent, and he has a lot of work to do on his cooperative skills.

a partial view of My Gym Boston

Emmett was a huge fan of “free play,” where the kids can wander around the room, free to do whatever they want.  And there’s a lot to choose from — a large ball pit, wedge-shaped gym mats, slides, trampolines, climbing walls. Speaking of climbing, there are multiple options for the “climber,” which Emmett has expressed a lot of interest in at home recently. (Let’s just say if I leave the room for 2 seconds, I’ll come back to him standing on top of the coffee table as if he’s just claimed a new land.)  I’m hoping his My Gym experiences will help to satisfy his climbing urges rather than encourage more of them at home, but only time will tell.  He also had no problem with “separation time,” when the kids’ accompanied parents are asked to leave the play area and leave the children alone with the My Gym instructors.

the Waddlers during "separation time" (looks like one mom didn't understand the concept)

On the other hand, any sort of organized activity was a struggle.  “Circle time,” when all of the children and their parents sit in a circle for specific activities, was not a welcomed part of My Gym time for Emmett.  I’m hoping that in the weeks to come, the class will help Emmett learn how to follow directions and participating in organized activities will become easier.  Again, only time will tell …

In other news, last night before bed Emmett went on Safari, killed and skinned a wild giraffe and then displayed it as a hood ornament …

Emmett on Safari

Age Timer: 14 months, 3 weeks

Last weekend my immediate family, minus one sister (sad face), met for a family rendezvous at my parents’ house in New Jersey.  We spent some great quality time together, enjoyed watching baby Gus rock out in his doorway jumper, visited the (great) grandparents in PA and had a lot of fun witnessing the two goobers interact (especially in the bath tub).  Emmett had a bit of a cold (which translated to a couple of family members), but other than that, it was a successful trip.  Check out some of the visual highlights below, including a pretty awesome video of Gus gnawing on Emmett (with a surprise ending)…

Gran-D and the boys

Rockin' Out

Happy Gus!

I’m looking forward to the next time Gus and Emmett get together.  Gus will probably be Emmett’s current age, and Emmett will be 19 months.

For more pictures from last weekend’s visit, check out the “NJ Family Rendezvous” set on Flickr.

Age Timer: 13 months, 1 week

Being 1 year old has treated Emmett pretty well so far.  He’s a pretty confident walker, and he can now go from sitting to standing without the aid of a third party.

We took Emmett for his first (professional) haircut last weekend.  I’d cut it before myself, but it was the first time we actually took him somewhere to get it done (and he was starting to look like a hippie).  Let’s put it this way — he was not a fan.  Nope … not one bit.  He was in the chair for less than a minute before he started crying and screaming.  They ended up pulling over a bigger chair so he could sit on my lap, and even then it was a struggle.

teary-eyed, before the major breakdown

appeased by mom's lap and an animal cracker

The only bright side of the situation was that we went to Snip-its, which is dedicated solely to children’s haircuts and was more than prepared for the situation, armed with bubbles, singing hairdressers, animal crackers, lollipops and cartoons to battle less-than-happy customers like Emmett.  It was a little costlier than I would have liked, but I can say with confidence that for kids uncomfortable with getting their hair cut, it’s the best way to go (for at least the first few haircuts).  Two thumbs up for Snip-Its!  Below, Emmett shows off his new ‘do and reflects on hair first haircut experience …

Age Timer: 12 months, 3 weeks

I have a million things to do to finish getting ready for Emmett’s party today, but I couldn’t leave his first birthday without a post on the blog, so here’s a quickie…

I’m going to be completely trite here and just say it — man, does time fly!  Exactly a year ago today I was being admitted to my hospital room at MGH in excruciating pain, waiting to welcome my little baby lump into the world (at 11:47 a.m.), and now he’s a whole year old!  Happy Birthday, Emmett!

I spent most of last weekend putting together Emmett’s baby book (yes — an actual book, with pages), which meant I spent a lot of time reviewing Emmett’s major milestones within the past year, mainly through pictures.  While I realized I have about a googolplex’s worth of photos of Emmett, James and I both agreed that the following is one of our favorites (he’s about 9 months here).  And feel free to leave some Happy Birthday wishes for Em in the comments.  It’s been an awesome year!

RARR!

Stay tuned early next week for a birthday recap.  I’m assuming there will be tons of messy cake pictures to enjoy!

Age Timer: 1 Year!