9 Months Old.... and Very Busy!

Wow! My little Emma Grace turned 9 months old.
Milestones so far? Well, she has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom), she can push and walk with her walker toy, holds her arms out for us to pick her up and give her lots and lots of hugs, pulls up and stands without holding onto anything for a few seconds, signs "more" every once in a while, and she knows where her belly is when we ask (every now and then), eats anything and everything- whether it is food or not, climbs onto and over and under anything, dances when Sid the Science Kid comes on PBS, laughs and squeals, and really interacts with us.....she has become quite my little buddy- and she just LOVES it when her Daddy comes home and dances for her!
And she officially bit me while nursing today! She stopped drinking, looked up at me and CHOMP...with a little smile. Oh boy. In an attempt not to panic and have her bite even harder I looked at her and calmly said "no" and sat her up and told her she was "all done". woohoo- that could have gone a lot worse!
And she is ON THE MOVE!

Climbing up on anything and everything. Walls included (although no pic of that)! We are really going to have to keep an eye on this little one. All of these pictures were taken this evening in about 20 minutes- she was all over the place.

Extremely interested in the details...... she really likes to take her time and examine things very carefully.....then usually tries to eat it.



Speaking of eating- that has become quite difficult in the Mercado household! Felix & I can't eat anything without Emma climbing on us to have some herself. Gone are the days when Felix could sit on the couch with his cup of coffee and breakfast and watch Sports Center in peace & quiet!

Felix gave in and is feeding her some crumbs.

Emma has a very brave mommy!!!!!

Last week, we were spoiled with 2 warm days filled with sunshine so I really wanted to take advantage of the weather and hang Emma's new swing outside. Felix was out of town, so I had to do this all on my own. My plan was to take an old leash of Matti's and try to throw it around the tree branches and then attach the swing to it.

Look at how high the tree is! You can't even see the top of it in this picture. So clearly, my throwing skills were not good enough. But I couldn't let my little girl down..... look at this smile...

So I actually got out our huge ladder, climbed up and, without looking down- threw the leash around the tree (since I STILL couldnt reach it) and successfully attached the swing. It was very high and very scary, I think I was shaking the entire time- but boy was it worth it!!! I liked that I was able to do it myself.

Next up..... I am going to attempt to grow peppers in my garden. I'll keep you posted on that one!!