Fun in Florida

Emma and I headed off to Florida on Sunday to spend the holiday with family. Unfortunately, we had to leave Felix behind to work... we miss him so much!

Emma sleeping on the plane. The lady sitting next to us got up so we could have her seat- it was very nice of her as we very much appreciated the extra room!
You can barely see her head under the pink blanket (don't worry- I always make sure she can breathe. her nose and mouth were not covered, but this way her face wasn't touching the dirty plane seat.)

Emma enjoyed watching her cousins cook fresh apple pie for Rosh Hashanah!






My friends from preschool/middle school. We were all friends together all the way through college and now we live all over the country... but we get to come home to FL and visit with our babies together! So fun!!!! Audrey (on the left) is 9 mos old, and Sienna (on the right) is 14 mos old. They are all going to be such good friends!

Emma having fun in Ava's room with some old baby toys. Ava was having fun with my digital camera.

Teeth coming in??? Little Miss Emma is sucking on everything!

Sweet cousins! Notice Emma's green binky in Ava's hand... she LOVES putting Emma's binky in her mouth for her!

Helping to give baby Emma her binky!

Our Little Chatty Chica!

My Love

Here is little Ems after our walk today. I put her down while I was getting changed and she was just so smiley I had to take a picture! I think she will be giggling soon- we can't wait!



It is just so strange to me how she has to have something touching her face when she sleeps!

Then and Now

1 MONTH


3 MONTHS

Besides becoming my little cutie patootie.... it looks like she put on a few pounds in the belly over the past 2 months!

Soccer Mom

This weekend Felix had a water polo tournament at Harvard- so out to Cambridge me & Emma went! Here is Daddy in the stands visiting us after the game.

.....I think little Em's is teething.... but I'm about to start putting a bib on her with all that crazy drooling/spitting up. Poor thing is going to freeze in the winter if she keeps soaking her shirt!

Sunday was a long travel day of athletic activities... hence.... "Soccer Mom"- we started at 8am and headed to Cambridge for Brown vs. Harvard. Emma & I cheered in the stands, visited with some friends, and drove back home, just in time to take Matti out for HIS playdate!

After Matti started getting sick of being ignored and demanded attention by dragging the toilet paper from the roll in the bathroom across the house, we decided he needed to have some structured play time. So- I found a "meet-up" group on the computer that has doggies under 20lbs get together to play once a month, and it happens to be at the same place we board him that he loves.
So - off we went today to play, and when we got there- Matti TOOK OFF and had the time of his life! Emma was totally entertained by all the action while she hung out in the baby bjorn. - Nobody even noticed her....but many commented on little Matti Watkins! I was a bit embarrassed as Matti was the only one (out of about 50 small doggies) that could care less where is "owner" was, and was also the rattiest looking one!
Needless to say, I was able to get a recommendation for a good doggie groomer and we will be headed there shortly!

Communication Is Key!

Emma and I have been communicating really well lately. I tried to upload a video to show you how she is talking but it wouldn't work.
However- here are some examples from our recent conversations:

• I couldn't decide which of 3 outfits to buy for her in the store one day, so I was holding them up to her. The 1st two I held up to her, she looked the other way and scrunched her teeny little nose. The 3rd, which was a simple- yet very silky soft onesie- she grabbed onto when I held it up to her! So- that's the one we bought!!


• Tonight in her little rainforest tub, I was bathing her and thinking- 'when do I take the little net out and put her in the big girl tub??'. Not long after that thought- Emma decided to go poopies in the net on the tub, forcing me to remove the net and set her in the big girl tub part!! She sat up beautifully for the rest of her bath (with my support) and seemed very content. I guess its net-free tubbing from now on!!

And since we are talking about baby products- I wanted to include my absolute FAVORITE item we use with Emma. The baby video monitor. I struggled with the decision to buy this- it was very expensive, and the more traditional sound monitors were much cheaper. We made the decision to buy the video monitor since Emma's room is upstairs and ours is downstairs- peace of mind.
And let me tell you- it is the best decision we have made!! I absolutely LOVE this item- I can tell if she is just fussy or really awake, etc. without having to run upstairs with every sound I hear.

Plus.... I get a bit nervous when she is sleeping, because as you can see below, she really likes to put things on her face when sleeping! She is such a little snuggle bug- but I love being able to quickly check the video monitor to see that she is still breathing!!

Cousins Brian & Steph!

Nothing beats a visit with cousins Brian & Steph!!!!! They were actually on a cruise that stopped in Boston (which is a city they have BOTH lived in)- but it worked out perfectly because they had an opportunity to meet Emma!
I ventured into the city with Emma, the stroller, and the baby bjorn. It took a lot of guts doing it alone- but we survived with only one minimal mishap on my part! On our way there, I got off on the wrong side of the subway so there was no elevator to get me to the street (only a million stairs)- I had to wait for the next train to come so I could walk through the train to the other side and use the elevator. Not too bad!!!

Here is Brian's first time holding her as soon as we met up. He had the secret "bounce" move that calmed her when she would cry.... which was A LOT that day! In an effort to believe baby Emma really DOES like her cousins, I have come to the conclusion that she was cranky due to the cold, because both before & after our visit while on the trains......... she was full of smiles!!!

We then took what felt like an eating tour of the city- gracefully led by Brian. We stopped at Starbucks by the public gardens for my bathroom break, but had to leave when people started staring at Emma wailing away. So we headed off to Quincy market for some authentic tourist trap food and great conversation.
We finished off with a trip through the big dig to the North End for some pastries! Here is a 'cousin shot' with Bri & Steph in Modern Pastry. Deeeelicious!

After visiting a few interesting cathedrals, museums, & libraries (for those of you who were with me on my tour of Europe- you know how I just love these types of tours hehe), it was time for Bri & Steph to head back to the endless buffets on their cruise ship, and for me & Emma to try and beat the traffic. What a great visit!!!!!

Winter Baby

Happy 3 Months, Big Girl!!!

She is getting so big so fast! But look at those smiles!!!







Matti likes the infant seat more than Emma!!! I came downstairs and walked right past him expecting to find him in my room..... but there he was, all snuggled up on the seat (i keep it folded flat on the floor under her jumparoo)!!!

Start Of The Season!

All decked out!!!!!
Emma's carseat is the complete baby play station!She has her little yellow pillow to rest her sweet head on, her pink rattle strapped to her seat belt for some mindless fun, her binky hooked on her headrest, and for some visual stimulation you can see her toy on the top right of the picture that hangs from the stroller handle. (which as the picture shows... has been EXTREMELY captivating recently!)

Still sporting the cockatoo look! We just stick a bow on it... see below

We stopped by Daddy's office for a quick visit to wish him good luck before the first game of the season tonight!

We had a long day- getting to visit with Uncle & Aunt Audrey for lunch in Burlington and then headed back down to Boston for the game. We got to visit with some old friends at MIT before the start of the game.
You can't really see him- but Felix is on the side of the pool deck on the bottom right....

Here is Emma watching her very first water polo game!!! She was very interested- her eyes were wide open taking in all the action! I think she recognized all the screaming and buzzer sounds from when she was in the womb!

We lost the game in double overtime - it was intense.... but from what I know of water polo (which is pretty much nothing..hehe) I thought we played very well for the first game! I think Felix thought so too!!!

Daddy's Little Girl

Check out Emma's swimsuit!!!!!

I brought Emma to the JCC to test out the pool..... and she loved it!!!!! She didn't whine or cry at all when I put her in the water. She was just looking around- and when I put her on her back to float, she reached her head back in the water to get her hair wet.
I think she really liked the jets that would blow bubbles onto her.
I tried to move her legs in the egg beater position- but they are a little chunky right now for that motion! Still.... I think she is definitely a water polo baby!

Levine's visit!

Hello Sunshine!!!

This is my favorite- sometimes at night during her "middle of the night feeding" I burp her and she falls asleep on my shoulder, and it brings tears to my eyes knowing that she won't cuddle with me forever. I absolutely love it when she snuggles up into my neck.

The Levine's came for a surprise visit on Monday- it was so so nice to have you here!!! Just like family! We are so happy Emma got the chance to meet you. We talk about you all the time when we show her our new neighbors who are moving in behind us.