Little Baby Lump

A Long Overdue Update

pamelump — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 17:17:32 +0000

One moment while I brush the dust off this blog. Okay, we’re back in business …

So much to fill you in on! Where do I start? When last I posted, Emmett had finally started saying ‘mamma,’ and while he still sometimes prefers to call me ‘dadda,’ it’s pretty much a regular thing now.

In other news, we had a great time visiting my family in NJ and PA for Thanksgiving, and I think it’s safe to say Emmett and his cousin Gus became pretty good friends, despite the occasional sharing mishap.

Emmett & Gus at Pop Pop's for Thanksgiving

Emmett also experienced his second Christmas in Boston and Maine and was much better at opening presents than he was a year ago. His favorite gifts included a harmonica from Gran Lucy and Grandpa Mac and a new laptop (video) from GranD and Nana.

Emmett gets down with his new harmonica

Emmett’s SpongeBob themed second birthday warranted a fun visit from Aunt Lulu (video), Nana, GranD, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Sara, cousin Ben, and a few friends and resulted in a new basketball hoop, some yummy cupcakes, and Emmett’s first sledding experience.

Emmett blows out his birthday cupcake candles

So … what now? I’m pleased(?) to announce that we’re now embarking on the exciting new adventure that is… POTTY TRAINING!

Brace yourselves, everyone. James and I are sure to be in for a wild ride…

Snow Toddler

Photo Links:

See photos from Thanksgiving

See photos from Christmas

See photos from Emmett’s 2nd Birthday

Age Timer: 2 years

Filed under: Firsts, holidays, Milestones, video, Weekly Updates Tagged: birthday, family, holidays, potty training

Emmett Says ‘Mamma!’

pamelump — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:47:33 +0000

It’s official, and there’s no disputing it this time: Emmett has totally made me the happiest mom ever, saying ‘mamma’ for the first time while we were sitting on the couch last Friday night watching TV. Okay — so I may have prompted him to say it, but now he’ll say it without question whenever I ask him to, and it’s the best feeling ever. I literally melted the first time he said it. Who knew something so simple would make my night? Anyway, if you don’t believe me, here’s the proof…

This is huge, considering he’d started saying complicated words like ‘purple’ before ‘mamma,’ and I’d starting thinking he and James were playing some kind of crude practical joke on me. Are kids younger than age two even capable of making practical jokes? The jury’s still out. Next stop: saying ‘mamma’ without being prompted.

Emmett watches Toy Story 3 as he lounges by our first fire of the season.

Age Timer: 22 months

Filed under: Firsts, Milestones, video Tagged: mamma, talking

Emmett’s Favorite Playground Activity

pamelump — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:35:48 +0000

The slide! Last weekend, Emmett’s 1-year-old cousin Ben and his family stopped by for an afternoon visit, so we headed to the playground, where Em expressed his undying love for the slide…

Ben enjoys some swing time

Emmett takes a trip down the slide with dad

Age Timer: 21 months, 3 weeks

Filed under: video, Weekly Updates Tagged: fall, family, playground

Where Did They Go?

pamelump — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 01:50:38 +0000

It may have taken Emmett a little bit longer than others his age to jump on the talking bandwagon, but it seems he’s hit quite a turning point recently. Starting to speak in full sentences and mimicking almost anything we say (EXCEPT any form of ‘mom’ — can you tell I’m bitter?), his favorite new question is, “Where did they/it/he go?” He’s even got the hand motions down pat!

Where did the skee balls go?

See for yourself in this recent video from Nana and Gran-D …

I couldn’t be prouder of his growing vocabulary!

Age Timer: 21 months, 2 weeks

Filed under: Milestones, video Tagged: talking

Superman Goes Trick-or-Treating

pamelump — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 21:49:37 +0000

With Emmett’s grandparents in tow, James and I took Emmett (AKA Superman) for his first ever trick-or-treating experience this past Halloween. Emmett made a pretty fabulous Superman, selecting the red and blue suit over the alternative lobster costume (though much to my dismay).

A sad lobster and Superman. Superman won.

While Superman was a pretty indecisive trick-or-treater when first presented with bowls of various goodies, he got the hang of it by the end of our adventure, knocking on doors himself and saying “Thank you — bye!” without even being prompted (video).

"Trick or treat!"

So much to choose from!

Nana and Gran-D even taught Emmett how to appropriately get into the Superman character. Watch the footage below to see Emmett flying and making sound effects like Superman.

Quite a step up from his first Halloween, huh? For more photos from Halloween, check out the Halloween 2010 set on Flickr!

Age Timer: 21 months, 2 weeks

Filed under: Firsts, holidays, video Tagged: Halloween

Vote Emmett the Next babyGap Model!

pamelump — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 20:31:40 +0000

Just so we’re clear, I am not trying to pimp out my child nor do I have the intention of becoming any kind of pageant mom whatsoever, but I just couldn’t help myself with this one. I’ve entered Emmett into the Gap Casting Call to become one of the next babyGap models, and he’d love your vote (seriously — he told me). If you don’t become completely frustrated by the crapiness of the website (could they have made Emmett’s photo any more pixelated?!), please at least attempt to vote.

Emmett loves Gap clothing. See? ;o)

Click here to vote for Emmett! Thanks for your support!

Age Timer: 20 months, 3 weeks

Filed under: contest Tagged: babyGap, Gap casting call, Gap contest

An Afternoon at Tougas Farm

pamelump — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:23:21 +0000

It may not be officially fall for another four days, but it sure does feel like it! Today we spent the afternoon at Tougas Farm in Northboro after a recommendation from James, who’d taken his students there on a field trip a couple of weeks ago.

This is my absolute favorite picture of the day. He was so excited to be standing on that rock!

We spent the afternoon drinking apple cider, feeding goats (video), getting heckled by roosters, playing on the playground and picking pumpkins. Despite the fact that there were a million people there and it was basically impossible to snap a photo of Emmett on the tractor (which was very disappointing), we all had a blast! We also learned, yet again, that a stick is always better than pretty much anything to little boys, even a patch full of pumpkins …

Emmett the Flower

Pumpkin Picker

Check out more photos from our afternoon in the Tougas Farm set on Flickr. Happy fall!

Age Timer: 20 months

Filed under: Outings, video, Weekly Updates Tagged: fall, farm, pumpkin picking

Last Days of Summer: Labor Day in Maine

pamelump — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:19:22 +0000

Traditionally, Labor Day marks the end of summertime. Usually, this is a major bummer. But this year, I think my family had a pretty awesome summer, making it a little easier to watch it go.

Emmett and His Shovel in the Boat

Some of this summer’s highlights:

Emmett got his first buzz cut.
James and I got engaged and started planning our wedding. (Have I directed you to our wedding website yet?)
We visited with Cousin Gus, Aunt A and Uncle Mac in Michigan.
Emmett took swim lessons.
We had Emmett’s first trip to the Jersey shore with Nana, Gran-D and Aunt Niki.

A couple of days in Maine with Gran Lucy, Grandpa Mac, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Sara and Cousin Ben were a great way to top off the summer. We enjoyed a yummy lobster feast (and learned just how much Emmett enjoys corn on the cob), spent some time on the beach and the boat, did some shopping in Freeport for Emmett’s fall wardrobe, and mainly just relaxed.

Emmett with Gran Lucy and Cousin Ben

Emmett Devours His Corn on the Cob

Emmett Confronts a Lobster With a Grill Lighter

Who else is looking forward to toddlers playing in piles of leaves in the fall and making snowmen in the winter? I know Em and I are.

For more photos from our Labor Day visit in Maine, view the set on Flickr.

Age Timer: 19 months, 3 weeks

Filed under: holidays, Weekly Updates Tagged: Labor Day, Maine

Emmett Experiences the Jersey Shore

pamelump — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:17:19 +0000

Last weekend was Emmett’s first trip to the Jersey shore! The three of us headed down for a couple of days with my parents, and despite my fear that he was going to hate the sand and the ocean, he completely pulled through and loved every minute of it. Apparently, all you have to do is plop that kid down in the sand, give him a shovel, and he’s good to go.

Good to Go!

Here’s a video of Emmett with dad and Nana, letting the ocean waves wash over his piggies (AKA toes) and jabbering about who knows what…

Emmett also enjoyed tossing sand, a leisurely bike ride, an evening stroll along the boardwalk, a ride on the carousel (which he was not a fan of) and some public dancing.

Emmett's First Bike Ride

Emmett and Dad on the Boardwalk

"I AM SPARTA!"

Thanks to Nana and GranD for planning such a fabulous long weekend at the Jersey shore!

Fore more pictures from our trip, check out the Jersey Shore set on Flickr.

Age Timer: 19 months, 1 week

Filed under: Firsts, video Tagged: beach

Little Swimmer

pamelump — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 23:42:07 +0000

Admittedly, a lot of my free time lately has been taken up by wedding planning (awesome for me, not so great for my blog readers). I’m sure any mom understands this, but having a kid (or kids) makes it extremely difficult to find time to do everything you wish you could. Luckily, I’ve been able to motivate myself to squeeze running into my schedule (I used to be a pretty dedicated runner before I got pregnant), and as I said, with the wedding planning, unfortunately my blog has taken a back seat. Not that I’m going to convert my blog into a place for wedding chatter in any sense, but for those interested, the wedding planning is going along quite swimmingly. We have the venue, the date, the officiant, a wedding website and I even found the dress!

Emmett and Dad

I’ve partially justified my lack of blogging by the fact that Emmett isn’t hitting the milestones as freqently as he did as a baby. Still, there have definitely been some developments:

He’s been all about the babbling for quite some time, but he has also been slightly behind on his vocabulary. Lately though, he’s really been excelling on the talking front. He can now say hi, bye, dad, one, two, blue, choo choo, ball, wow, wee and eye. Am I forgetting anything, James?
He’s developing quite a little sense of humor. He fakes sneezes when we sneeze, and he’s just a goofball in general.
He loves to dance. Like — loves it. He dances whether or not there’s music, and I’m pretty sure he’s already a better dancer than I am. This kid’s got moves. I can’t wait to catch him on video.
He now weighs about 28 lbs, and he’s half an inch shy of 3 feet tall.
He likes to swim. We’ve been taking parent-toddler swim classes at the Fitness and Recreation Center at Boston University, and he’s definitely a fan.

Emmett the swimmer

Also, can you believe Emmett is already a year and a half old? It’s unreal …

Age Timer: 18 months, 3 weeks

Filed under: Milestones, Weekly Updates Tagged: dancing, swimming, talking, wedding