Our sweet baby girl is officially a year and a half old today. Honestly, it has been a blur and I have no idea how we have already reached this major milestone. It is true that no matter how much time you dedicate to soaking in all the moments, time still passes at a mind-blowing rate. At the same time, life before she joined us becomes hazier and hazier in my mind with each passing day. She truly has completed our family in the most perfect way.
When talking about Emerson, I always say that I knew exactly how she was going to be long before she entered our lives. In my belly, she was constantly moving. She was constantly kicking me so hard that I would let out a yelp. Ryan, on the other hand, was so chill. So chill in fact that I spend many hours worried if everything was okay because I wasn’t feeling him move. Because Ry’s actions in the womb seem to perfectly indicate his personality on the outside, I just knew that it would be the same for Emerson.
When we scheduled the c-section for her birth, I matter of factly told David, “You know that she’s not going to wait for this date, right? She will have to enter the world on her own terms”. So, when she came fifteen days early, we weren’t very surprised. When the doctors had to take turns trying to pull her out because she hadn’t engaged and was spinning around not allowing herself to be “caught” (in the words of my doctor), it seemed like it was yet another indicator of her strong-willed nature. When she finally had to be pulled out by her feet, it was shocking but now such a great story. When she entered the world with a fractured collarbone because of everything that happened but didn’t seem to show any signs of discomfort or pain, we knew that we had a fighter on our hands. In fact, several nurses and doctors commented on the fact that they had never seen a baby have so little issue with a collarbone fracture before. When she was raced to the NICU less than 48 hours after joining us, it became clear that this little baby was going to develop into one strong, tough little girl.
While she certainly is strong (cough, cough, and unbelievably strong-willed), she also radiates joy. She is hilarious, sweet and inquisitive. She has “friends” at all of our usual places that we visit while running errands. Cashiers at our grocery store call out for us to use their lane and then proceed to ignore me while they smile and laugh with Emerson. We often hear the words, “She just made my day”. Her smile is infectious. She has the ability to gain attention of even shy teenage boys. People cannot ignore her as she smiles and waves as if she’s on parade. We joke that she enters stores and begins waving as if to declare, “I am here, my friends!”
Emerson’s current interests include building Brio train tracks alongside Ryan, using chalk out on the driveway, blowing bubbles, coloring and playing with construction vehicles in the dirt and mulch. Her absolutely favorite thing to do? Go through each and every drawer in our kitchen and take out 5,482 items in a matter of seconds. Interestingly, however, she does not like when things are out of place. If she notices a piece of paper on the floor, she immediately picks it up and throws it away. She doesn’t like for doors or drawers to be open…unless she’s the one who opened them in the first place. She is both fearless and cautious. (An interesting dynamic to navigate as a parent.) She loves to be silly and to laugh. In turn, she makes us cackle several times each day. When I asked David what Emerson does that makes him laugh the hardest he responded by saying, “Everything.”
Emerson is both sweet and feisty. She wants to do everything that her big brother does and constantly calls out his name when he isn’t in her immediate view. She likes to know where Ryan is at all times. This little girl is also OBSESSED with her dad and the feeling is clearly mutual. I cannot wait to see how her relationships with both Ryan and David continue to develop as time goes on. I’ll allow them to be her favorites until she is an adult and realizes that her mom is her lifelong best friend. That is how it works, right? Right? Seriously though, I can only pray to have the relationship with her that I have with my mom. Fingers so tightly crossed…
To document Emerson at 18 months, I thought that it might be fun to take some pictures of Emerson doing what she does best…being active. We headed to my parents’ house and I just followed behind her with the camera to try and document Twenty Minutes in the Life of Emerson Rose. Yes, all of these images were taken within a twenty minute period. All of these rooms were visited in a twenty minute period. All of these actions occurred within a twenty minute period. Girlfriend likes to move.
Happy 18 months, Emmy Girl! We love you so much!
Placing her foot directly on the baby’s head is a perfect depiction of her personality…
She kept going to this picture of her cousin over and over…likely because she thought it was her in the picture. The two look so much alike as you can see below!
When I wouldn’t give her my phone…
She plopped down in my lap and that was my cue to put the camera down…
| Adorable Tutu & fox clips from iloveplum |
Have an amazing day, everyone!
xoxo
Lindsey
