Yummy! Yum! Yum!!

"Fingers are yummy, but I like other things too!"

Munching on one of her pals

Dadda's knee is just an appetizer

Practicing the chomping skills

When all else is out of reach.. it's back to the fingers.

Baby, Baby!

Ryan, Em's not big enough to act as a shield!

The webcam captures granny with Em

It's summer time dresses now!

Holding her hands together now...

Chubby Bunny!

I know how to reach for my toys now!

Orbit AF QuickCam Review

Big Brother.. okay.. more like over-sensitive, borderline lunacy, Big Mama is watching now. With all the crazies in the world these days, an additional measure of security provides a little comfort from being away from Em for 8-10 hours of the day.

My latest techno-gadget purchase, the Logitech QuickCam Orbit AF, was inspired by the local Internet sensation of the Owl Box.


The reviews are pretty decent for this cam, and there seems to be a wide multi-functional use for it.. from video conferencing to streaming video of the owl box to personal security surveillance camera, etc. Still working out the kinks, but the sound quality is decent. The video quality can be good, but that seems more dependent on the computer I am using. There is probably less than a second of delay and quick motions have a blurry effect on the video. The RightLight technology is pretty neat and the image even in low lighting is not too shabby. The cam can pan and tilt to provide a greater viewing area, however I have not figured out how to setup remote control access for that. So, all in all, it seems to be a good cam so far. The only complaint is that it is not wireless. A wireless setup would be ideal with remote control access.

However, all this may be moot if we decide to send Em to daycare. Wonder if the daycare would allow me to set this up in their place? As of now, we're still exploring our childcare options.

Sleeping Milestone

Baby Em hit a milestone a few weeks ago when we moved her into her own room to sleep. She had been sleeping there during the day for several weeks, but we finally decided to cut the cord completely and have her sleep there all of the time. The transition for her was seemless as she really doesn't seem to care much where she sleeps. I think it was more difficult for Momma to have her precious baby sleeping all alone in a separate room. But as you can see, she has the company of her rainforest mobile, owl, and wall animals.

Yup, that's her leg sticking out. She's a restless sleeper, and she often frees at least one leg from the swaddle. She also rotates up to 90 deg, and twists her head back and forth 180 deg. All that movement is wearing a bald spot on the back of her head. So the Mohawk will probably never extend below the top of her head :^(

Playtime with Winnie

Play time consists of some rumbling...

and some chomping...

and of course some cuddling...

Em's 3 Month Report Card

Baby Emilia has now passed the 3-month mark. As you can see, she's growing in a lot of ways.


So what's new? Let' see...

• She's now a bit under 12 lbs (11.75 lbs to be exact). She entered this world at 7.2 lbs so she's gained 65% of her birth weight. In the chart below, you can see that her weight gain has really leveled off. Not really sure what this means as she doesn't "appear" underweight.

• We measured her length at 23" (head to toe). That's 3-1/4" over her birth length.
• She's now able to "sit" by herself for a short period in her little green chair. Her head/neck stability are much better.
• At our last pediatrician visit, we were told that we needed to work on Em's asymetrical head orientation (i.e. she was very biased to looking right). We've worked on this very hard (and Em has cried very hard), but we've seen major improvement. She's still biased to the right, but she now voluntarily rotates in either direction.
• Tummy time is her nemesis, but she's definitely improving at it. She holds her head up, and arches her back. And she's just starting to support herself with her arms. Crawling may not be too far away. Thankfully tummy time is no longer a full-time crying session.
  

• Baby Em wants to see everything. She'll often cry if you hold her in a position where she can't see. Being at this very visual stage, she's fascinated by new people. She'll stare impolitely, and then smile politely.
• She'll "talk" up a storm at times. We can't quite understand what's she's saying, but sometimes we think we hear words.
• Her sleeping habits are both good and bad. Nightime sleeping is still very good. We have her on a schedule where she sleeps from 9 pm to 5 am straight through. But her daytime routine is still unpredictable. She's generally on a 3 hr cycle (eat, active, sleep), but some days she just won't sleep and others she's sleepy all day.
• Now that Connie's back to work, we're bottle feeding (pumped breast milk) on a regular basis. She's taken to the bottle really well, and I haven't had any daytime feeding issues so far. She's graduated to the Dr. Brown bottles since she can now handle their flow much better. The Dr. Brown bottles seem to give her less gas than the First Years Breastflow bottles we were previously using.
• As Connie has posted, Baby Em's hair is wild. It simply will not lie down. We think at some point gravity will have to take over, and bend those strands off vertical.

• Em has discovered that her hands are fun to suck on. She'll suck on either hand (yes, the entire thing), and will sometimes even try to suck on both hands. She's also discovering a thing called a thumb, and that'll probably replace fist-sucking at some point.
  
• She's always been very grippy, but now seems to consciously grasp at things. But things still don't totally click for her as she'll have a surprised look on her face when something ends up in her hand even though she's the one that grabbed it.

Baby Em has made it through 3 months now with nary a hitch. We cross our fingers that things will continue this way. Her development (both physically and mentally) seem to be on track, and we look forward to seeing what the next month will bring.

Mr. T Ain't Got Nothin'

Ms. Em shows Mr. T how it's really done

"I pity the fool!"

Most people work hard to maintain their tough, mohawk image with hair products, metal bling accessories, etc. Ms. Em however has an original, all natural 2" high mohawk.


I'm not sure when her hair started going upright. It was a gradual progression from first a few strands up, then some more, and then whoosh - the whole mid-section. For a while I tried towel drying her hair down, but then I thought, why not leave it be? After all, how often can one sport a natural mohawk while growing up?


And her hair gets tons of comments from friends and strangers alike. Its a great conversation topic and I even have moms of 6+ month old babies telling me of their jealousy for such abundant locks for their baby.

Her hair has been compared to Mr.T, Elvis-King of Rock, and Turk (from Disney's Tarzan II).

Tantor, Tarzan and Turk in Tarzan II

Elvis' Jailhouse Rock

Not only does she have lots of hair and long strands, a mohawk with hefty sideburns, but she also has highlighted tips, usually a finished product of chemical dyes of hair salons, but alas, her muff top that we so affectionately like to pat is just a natural by-product of her being the Ms. Em.