Breaking news....

Emmi has her first tooth coming through. The bottom left side. Sunday Jacob said "I think she has a tooth coming in, I feel bumps." I doubted him at first since there havent been any signs, but sure enough there is a tooth.

Here are some pics.
Jacob went mtn biking in the mountains on Saturday but before they left Emmi needed to get in on the action.


She definitely can sit by herself now. I am a little cautious so I put her Bobby behind her most of the time to make sure she doesnt hit her head on the ground when she decides she is done sitting.


Emmi rolls and scoots a little to get herself where she wants.

Respect vs Fear

Been thinking alot about this lately. Taryn and I had a short discussion the other day about snakes that started this thinking ball of thread. Are we going to teach Emmi to fear things or respect things. From my childhood my parents always said they were afraid of snakes. I think because of this I was predisposed to be afraid of snakes. Recently I've started to overcome this and my fear has been turning into more of a respect. I don't run in the other direction screaming like a little girl anymore. Now I stand at a safe distance and observe.

Last night we had a similar experience with my little pumpkin. We had a pretty bad thunderstorm. Taryn decided that while the wind was whipping and it was raining buckets, to take Emmi out on the porch so she could experience the weather. I've heard horror stories of people's young children hiding in closets and soiling themselves during such storms. I never want my daughter to experience such fear. Everytime lightning would strike I would smile at her and tell her that was lightning and it was ok. She would smile and laugh and clap her hands. I figure that if we start teaching her that such things are ok, she will not fear them. When she gets old enough to understand, then we can really start to hammer home that these things don't necessarily need to be feared, but respected. Another thing with this type of mind numbing fear, you can't think straight, mistakes happen, and accidents happen. Having respect clears the mind of fear fog and allows you to be proactive rather than reactive.

Anyway, that is all I have. Maybe some will take some of my little rant and use it, maybe not.

Spiders, couches and pools......it was a busy weekend

Let's see, our weekend started off with Emmi being attacked by a vicious spider. She was playing on our bedroom floor with Taryn while I, being the greatest husband/father of all time, folded and put away all of our laundry. Taryn screamed as this spider the size of my fist jumped on Emmi's head. Me, having a freshly washed onesie in my hand managed to fold and smack the spider off of Emmi in one shot. They both expressed their never ending gratitude and I assured them it was just part of my duties as the greatest father/husband...................ever.

Next up we have the couch. Taryn went shopping today so me and Emmi were hanging out with her new toys. She had just pooed so I cleaned her up and changed her diaper. Knowing we were going to the pool, I just left her in her undies. Wondering how far she would crawl I let her roam. This is where she ended up:

And finally, we made it to the pool today. I think we're in trouble. I seen kids that are a little freaked out by the pool the first time and need to be held the whole time. Emmi was all about it. We even let her use the floaty with us next to her. When we got home I gave her a bath. All she wanted to do in that was splash.

Vaccines

Yesterday was the rally in DC on "Green the Vaccine". Here is a link to another blog with all sorts of pictures from the day. I personally couldnt go through them without shedding some tears. Many of the posters that people are holding are the exact reasons we have Emerson on a delayed schedule. Everyone must decide what is best for their personal situation but at this time we have choosen to delay vaccines. I just think further research and answers need to be given as to why we see some rising statistics for our children on things like autism, allergies, ADD, ADHD, etc.

Another one of the posters someone was carrying was, "If Steroids in Baseball warrant a State Investigation, Why wouldnt the potential poisioning of a Generation of Children deserve the same? Our children deserve the truth."

Here are some things to think about.....

"In 1983, the Centers for Disease Control recommended a total of 10 vaccines for our children. In 2008, the CDC recommends 36, an increase of 260%." taken from the generationrescue.org website.

"One in every 150 children born in the US has autism (read CDC report). It is estimated approximately 1 million in the US have this disorder." taken from talkaboutcuringautism.org. Some of the signs people were holding said 1 in 90.

Yes there are still vaccines that children are receiving that do have mercury in them, "Despite its removal from many childhood vaccines, thimerosal is still routinely added to some formulations of flu (influenza) vaccine administered to U.S. infants, as well as to several other vaccines (e.g., tetanus-diphtheria and monovalent tetanus) administered to older children and adults. " taken from a archive.newsmax.com article.

Sweet Potata Sweet Potata

Who knew that sweet potatos were so good? We have started Emmi on solid foods, not daily but usually 2-3 times a week she will get either Bananas, Avacado or now Sweet Potatos. As you can see she feeds herself with us helping for one or two bites.

Nina you will be sad, her trademark is going away. Most days her hair is pretty flat. Kinda makes me sad.

Gas Prices.....

We have had many discussions lately because both of our vehicles get 17 miles per gallon and prices are rising. How can we save money on gas? Me working from home 4 days a week certainly helps but Jacob has to go into the office. After many long discussions from getting rid of my vehicle or his to get a car, we decided that maybe we should get a motorcycle. Jacob found the bike he wanted and also took a motorcycle safety course this weekend. Now is just time for him to practice, practice, practice for the next few months before he starts to commute. In the mean time he will make UJ proud by taking the bus a few times a week to cut down on costs. We figure with current gas rates it costs approximately $8 a day to drive his truck and only $3 to take the bus. It will only cost him $2.50 to ride his motorcycle.



While Jacob was taking class Emmi and I went to the playground in our neighborhood to swing. This was her first time swinging by herself. She certainly seems to love it. Maybe we will hit the pool today. But don't want too much excitement in one weekend. :^)

New Dr Visit

Emmi's stats were she is 26 1/2 inches long. She weighed in at 17lbs 11 ounces and her head was 18 inches.

Love the new doctor we went to. First impressions is it is a newer office so it felt so clean. The rooms were painted in bright colors and the room we were in had circles in a bubble pattern on the walls. They have computers in each of the rooms so they can enter the information in directly opposed to writing everything down.

The nurse was great, very nice. The doctor, Dr Samarel, was also great, except for being a Yankee fan. :^P He asked questions about Emmi. As he would talk to us and she would scream, he would respond to her in different ways. Very cool. Then when he held her she was a little bit fussy due to it being nap time, so he handed her back and proceeded to check her out while she was on my lap so that she was most comfortable. He liked how we werent over aggressive with trying to feed Emmi. He said since we live in a middle to upper middle class area, you often see lots of competition, like being at baby playgroup and hearing a baby is eating rice cereal the parent will come home to feed their baby steak tips just to stay ahead.

He talked about vaccines with us. His point of view was great, we didn't feel like since we have been not vaccinated her we were doing anything bad. He also said it was refreshing to finally have someone come in who wasn't just asking about the MMR (due to autism) shot. At this time we still didn't vaccinate and will continue to research and analyze what will work best for us.
He was funny and made you feel like you had all the time in the world to ask whatever you needed. I think this will be a much better fit for us.

(See below for yesterdays post)