"Hi, I'm Preston- and I'm TEN months old."

It is still hard to believe that baby boy is TEN months old.  I know people say time flies- but I didn't think it would be THIS fast.  Now let's by honest, the first two months drug on and on and on.  (The sleepless night, long days, nursing every 2-3 hours, diapers, cleaning, diapers, etc.).  I didn't know if those days would ever end- but now, oddly enough, I already miss them.  I miss him sleeping on my chest throughout the day, staying in one place (where I left him is EXACTLY where he would be when I returned), ugh, and SO much more.   I am VERY happy where we are right now, but every stage is different.  There is always something to look forward to next and always something to miss in the past.  

Here are a few things Preston has accomplished in his 10 months of life on Earth:

1.  Sleeping through the night from about 7 to 7/8 in his crib (this happened around 6 months of age, and is by far, his greatest accomplishment from my point of view).

2.  Seating, pulling up, crawling, and easily transitioning between the three no matter where he is or what he is doing

3.  NAPPING in his crib (he usually takes 2 - 2 hour naps a day)!

4.  Saying: Mama, Dada, B-bye, Hi, and a bunch of other consonant-vowel sounds (I'm still not sure he is saying these on purpose aside from Dada and Hi- those are usually used appropriately).

5.  Clapping and waving (though he is currently taking a hiatus from these for some reason).

6.  Throwing (why we taught him this is still beyond me).

7.  Getting into anything and everything (aside from dog food- for some reason it scares him- and I am grateful for that).

8.  Eating some table foods (he is gradually starting to like some): he's had chicken, grilled cheese, peaches, mangoes, bananas, tomato soup, potato soup, saltine crackers (these are a favorite), avocado, toast, green beans, french fries, mac and cheese, and that's all I can think of right now).

9.  Playing independently

10.  Fake coughing, copying sounds

11.  Drinking from a sippy cup (he does this all day at Katie's- doesn't even use a bottle there)!

Here are a few pictures capturing Preston at his finest at 10 months of age!

Standard monthly shot

Yes, I'll play with this toy

Playing in my drawers

Teething on my lotion

I need the camera, Mom

Yes, Dad, I can help pull weeds

Smile for mom while trying to work

What's up here that I can get into?

It only took 10 months... but we finally got a TOOTH!

After what seems like months of what I thought was "teething," Preston FINALLY got a tooth.  I swear I thought the kid was teething at two months old, and every month after that.  He'd had most of the symptoms- lots of drooling, lots of chewing, some fussiness, etc.... turns out those are also just symptoms of being a baby from the ages of two- ten months.  SO- when Preston was being extremely fussy with a low-grade fever (99.7 at the highest) along with the rest of the previous symptoms the Monday after he got his tubes- I was convinced he wasn't teething and was just having a little reaction the surgery.  As life would have it- the one time I didn't think the boy wasn't teething- he really was! 

The next day (Tues), Katie called me at work to tell me Boo was FINALLY getting a tooth!  We we're SO SO excited- then it was just a waiting game for it to pop all of the way threw.  It took awhile- but as of last week- you could really see the white little tooth!  It clearly isn't all the way threw, but almost! 

After our 8 month "teething" journey.... (drum roll please) I am proud to introduce:

PRESTON'S FIRST TOOTH!!!!!

A Day in the Sun

STARRING: PRESTON AND CAROLINE

A day soaking up the sun and a little ball playing!

A special thanks to Katie for the camera skills!!!





Life (well 5 days) AFTER tubes...

Just a quick update on Preston AFTER tubes...

All seems great!  What a quick recovery he had:)  Surgery was scheduled and started at 7:00 AM.  By 7:05, the doctor was out and letting us know how he did.  They had warned us that children this young usually come out of the anesthesia VERY fussy because they are confused about what is going on (Brad and I still question this because how exactly do they know that is why they are crying?... How do they know it isn't from pain?) 

Anyway, the doctor proceded to take us back to Preston, and I could hear him screaming all the way down the hall.  When I got to the room, a nurse was holding him and trying to comfort him.  He just wasn't having it.  I thought I was prepared for this, but it was pretty tough.  Preston has NEVER been inconsolable- NEVER.  I can always calm him down... but not this time.  Brad made him a bottle and fed it to him (in between the bouts of crying of course).  I then asked the nurse when we could go home, and she told us that by their accounts he has met the standards - woke up, woke up crying, and now eating.  She then said it was just up to us. 

By 7:35, we decided that if he was going to be fussy, we'd just rather deal with it at home rather then there.  On the way home (about a 5 minute drive to our house), Preston feel asleep.  Then, we arrived at the house, and Brad put him down in his crib- the boy passed right out again.  He slept for about 1 1/2 hours and woke up completely normal. 

I went into work about 11:30 (I decided to just take the morning unless their were complications, which clearly there weren't).  When I got back home, Preston was back down and Brad had the entire kitchen SPOTLESS!  (Sometimes I just wish he was a stay-at-home-dad because he is beyond productive when he is home with the baby <clearly, opposed to myself, who does the "surface" cleaning!>)

By Friday morning, it was like nothing had happened!

He seems to be already sleeping better (not that he was a bad sleeper, it just seems better now).

So now that we seem to finally have everything under control, we wait for teeth and the wonderful teething process to begin!

Superbowl XLV

Superbowl Sunday was great with Super friends, Super food, and, I guess (even though I barely watched it) Super game:)

First- it's CRAZY what a difference one year can make-

That would be Preston in my belly LAST Superbowl

The three of us THIS year:)

Now, here are some action shots from our evening!

My baby girl

My baby boy

Get it...

Uncle J and P Diddy

The Kiddos (and we couldn't get the sippy cups out of their hands).

Caroline showing us TOUCHDOWN!

A little hallway playing

I hope everyone has a great of an evening as we did!!!

An (Ice) Day in the Life of Preston

Someone is WAY too busy- did all of this during the minute that I was brushing my teeth....

Trying to help Mom clean

After a busy day of being Preston, it was time to say goodnight to his fish:)

Also, as of last night, we lost our "shark" fish.  Here is how I found out (via text)-

Me: What happened to Chum?  He isn't in the aquarium?

Brad: He was as dead as a doornail.  I threw him in the flowerbed this morning.

Me: That's sad... and the reason you didn't flush him?

Brad: I didn't want to wake up Preston with the flush.

That was actually a very good reason.  Now we have a frozen solid fish somewhere in our flowerbed...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Um, Christmas in February

Anyone living in the DFW area knows how truly crazy our weather can be.  Last SATURDAY, the weather was beautiful- 70s to UPPER 70s!  We played outside, went for a walk, and so much more.  Tuesday we were hit with an "Ice Storm."  School has now been cancelled for the 4TH DAY in a row!  It has been VERY nice to have this extra "surprise" time with my baby boy.  Brad joined us both Tuesday and Wednesday, but decided he had to go in yesterday.  Last night/ early this morning, we were only supposed to get about 1-2 inches of snow, but man were they wrong.  Talk about 6-8 inches of snow!  IT'S BEAUTIFUL!  Brad still went into work this morning (and it took him a nice 2 hours), so it's just P and I enjoying the nice scenery!  I took him out this morning- all bundled in his snow suit (which why we had that is still a little surprising to me) and a hat what was a little too snug (but I would like to point out is sized 12-18 month).  He was VERY confused at first and still a little unsure at this point.  Here are some of the great pictures I got of Preston Robert (Snow-Puppy)!

Almost ready to head outside and a little irritated with his mommy for
squeezing this hat onto his head!

Our new yard gnome!

We also visited Preston's amazing pediatrician today!  It was time for his NINE MONTH well check (man has time flown by)!  We actually made it to this appointment without a sick visit in between!  Yay!  Anyway, she said he sounds perfect (YES!!!)!  He's developing right on schedule!! 

His stats were as follows:

Weight 18.10 lbs (25%)

Height (85%)

Head (90%- yes you read that right, 90%- he a has big head)! 

The doctor was not concerned about his weight at this point as he has been so sick the past 7-8 weeks and it is an increase from the last time we were in there.  She expects him to start putting back on the weight gradually.  He has gotten even taller as last visit he was in the 80% for his height!  That's my boy!  Now onto his head, fortunately, is LOOKS proportionate to his body and that is because he is tall.  I honestly can't say I was shocked by this number because both his Mommy and Daddy have larger, I mean slightly larger, heads!  We are starting to add more foods and less formula!  This will be great as the kid LOVES food and isn't a huge fan of the bottle (to be honest, he never really has been after I stopped nursing)! 

I would like to give a special thanks to my amazing friend and co-worker, Kitti, who can to the rescue when I just didn't know how I would drive my low-to-the-ground Acura TL in this deep snow.  She came and picked us up in her 4-wheel drive Hummer and took us to the doctor.  Just another reminder of what wonderful people we have surrounding us.  We are beyond blessed to have so many caring people willing to help out whenever and wherever!

Little Laughs!

This video was also on the camera... love hearing my boy laugh!!!

No need for a sit-com with you have a Daddy that makes funny noises!

It's Polite to Wave and Say "Hi!"

Now that Preston is into pretty much anything he can get his grubby little hands on, life is crazy.  I did get in a tug-of-war match with the little turd (ugh-turtle) this morning.  He had a death grip on our mini-Kodak camera.  I really didn't know who was going to win, but with a quick distraction from a fancy cup, he surrendered the camera, and I won.  On it, I found this video from about 2 weeks ago.  Sorry I'm behind on posting this, and I'm even more sorry for, again, my camera voice and my face with no make-up.  BUT- the boy LOOKS (key word looks) precious!! 

Preston LOVES to wave.  So much so that when I (and Candace) have tried to rock him to sleep, he raises his little head to wave at his own shadow (future gifted and talented right there)!  We VERY rarely rock Preston, as I refused to do it when he was little bitty because I didn't want him to become dependant on it.  Well, apparently I did a great job with that, as he now just thinks it's play time.  His daddy does do his nightly feeding in his rocker, but that's about as much rocking as we do.  Luckily, he USUALLY falls asleep pretty easy after his nightly routine! 

Now, onto the video of my baby boy who has learned in the past two days (of being stuck at home with Mommy and Daddy) to:  pull picture frames off of shelves, pull plugs out of walls, bang blinds into the windows, crawl underneath both his highchair and table (and usually get stuck), dump dog food everywhere (and cry about it because it scares him), shut doors in his mommy's face, and finally, fake cough.  Man, oh, man, we are in trouble-  ENJOY!!!

What's Happening?

I would like to introduce you to the 4 newest members of the Emerson Family.  Though I wasn't the biggest fan of the idea, seeing Preston with the fish is simply amazing!  The boy LOVES to just sit and stare at them.  Every night, after his bath, we take him in his playroom to say "Night, Night," to his fish.  Every time, without hesitation, he gives them a big grin and wave!



"Pongo or Purdy"

"Two Tone" AND "Pongo or Purdy"



"Chum"



You will notice that we went with the 101 Dalmatian theme for the "dalmatian molly's" (clever, yes I know).  And with the shark from Nemo with the "shark fish."  (I had Candace research this because I couldn't remember the name of the sharks, so I was just going to go with JAWS... Brad thought the one from Nemo would be better).

AND NOW TO PRESENT (drum roll please) PRESTON'S PLAYROOM!  Yes, it has taken almost 9 months (note that is also the age of our child) to FINALLY finish almost all of it.  AND I have to say I am VERY pleased with it all! 



This is the view when you walk in.  I'm in LOVE with the super cute rug!
It has the perfect colors:)
I can't decide if I am going to leave the football and baseball pictures on the window seat-
oddly enough, Candace just sat them there to fold out the couch for Ava, and for
some reason, I kind of liked them there... we will see.



This is the window seat that I hope one day to fill completely with books. 
I have already started, but kids books just don't take up a lot of room, so his library
looks kind of sad.  The little lamp adds the perfect touch of light for the table (and height
that was needed).  The table fit perfectly under the seat.

Please disregard Preston- he was everywhere when I was trying to take the pictures.
I couldn't keep him out of the view.  This is his little couch from IKEA that also folds out into
and extremely uncomfortable bed, but Ava seems to already love it.

And my favorite part of the whole room (again, please disregard Preston- yes, I know it is
HIS playroom, but come on).  If you know me, you know I LOVE organization
and storage- these cube storage units from IKEA couldn't be more perfect.
I still have some things to add to the shelves hanging on the wall.  And yes, that TV is a bit ridiculous
for a baby, but we did get a great deal.  AND as it turns out, his parents enjoy watching it
while Preston entertains himself (I know, go ahead and judge, but we all need a break
at times).

So far, the playroom is a HUGE success in Preston's eyes.  He has started just crawling in there all on his own.  Of course, Brad or I immediately follow because he is into EVERYTHING these days... and he can't be trusted alone.  He LOVES to pull everything off of the shelves and everything out of it's spot.  I have to remind myself during these moments that it is HIS room to PLAY in, but it's so pretty and when he goes in there it just turns into a wreck.  During bath time, Brad always goes in there and puts everything back where it goes... which is nice because I can go to sleep knowing everything is in it's place (yes, I know I am a bit anal, but you shouldn't be surprised by this).

**On a side note I would like to thank the following stores for helping make his playroom possible: Target, IKEA, Best Buy, Petco, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, and NUMEROUS toy stores. 



Being silly

Playing with Daddy

Preston has learned some dance moves (thank to Katie and Caroline).
He seems to take after his daddy in that department... haha!

"Alright, I know the ball goes up here, but I just can't quite figure it out." -Preston
AND from a teachers stand point, I was VERY excited when he figured this out on his own:)

"Well, I guess I'll just have to pick up the whole thing to put this on top." -Preston

 The weather was GORGEOUS on Saturday, and while Daddy finished his "garage project," (which is a whole other story), little guy and I went for a walk and a trip to our neighborhood park.  He was VERY unsure about the swing at first.  BUT eventually relaxed a bit and LOVED it.  I can't wait to do this all summer (of course only in the morning because I don't want to be covered in sweat from the 100 degree heat).

The following pictures would be Preston "helping"  (cough- hindering-cough) me unload the dishwasher.  Nothing is more relaxing then doing the dishes with a 9 month old attached to your leg like a dog in heat (I'm sorry for the dramatic example, but that's really what it's like).  Finally, I opened the dishwasher, and you would have thought it was a treasure chest.  He LOVED it... me....well.... I wish I looked at it that way.  Maybe the other household duties would be easier to do:)

Yes, his hair is starting to touch the collar of his shirt.  And yes, that is a clear sign
that he is getting a mullet- TRUST ME, Candace and I learned our lesson with Ava's mullet, so
I promise to cut it some weekend when we have some down time.

 Finally, I'd like to wrap things up with a picture that pretty much sums up most nights at the Emerson House.  This is Preston (shirtless and ever-classy) eating his oatmeal dinner while laughing at his Daddy making funny noises!  Now, how that much food got all over his face is beyond me, but I didn't complain when I saw this adorable smile underneath it all.  I guess boys will be boys (both son and father).