Looking back, there are certain things I hope to always remember about Emerson at this age (there are also things I hope to forget but let’s stay positive). We’ve been having a blast these past few weeks and it’s certainly a welcome distraction from the winter blues. I’m talking about an extraordinarily happy baby, folks! She wakes up smiling in the morning and keeps it up all day long. Like her mom, she gets pretty cranky without adequate amounts of beauty sleep – you know she’s beyond tired when the screaming begins.

Throughout the day… she’s amused by our faces, hair and voices; she loves playing on her activity mat while giggling to the funny animals overhead; diaper changing time is always a real treat and her favorite time to be tickled; she shows independence while eating and likes to control the bottle and sometimes even hold it herself; anything mom sings to her is good for a laugh; tap-dancing in a few inches of bath water makes her feel like a star; Bela is almost always on her radar; and most recently, she’s obsessed with making low-pitched growling/hissing noises — a huge departure from the usual sweet tones of her chatter and very funny.

I think I’ve accomplished more in these past 4 months than I did in 4 years of college! I’ve found a way to hold on to Emme’s 10 second smiles throughout my day, overcome my fear of singing in front of other people (well, babies anyway), built up my mom muscles, perfected the art of nose suctioning, embraced myself with some curves, formulated a way to remove any baby stain from clothing, and read at least 3 books a day (love me some Dr. Seuss)!