Maureen Todd, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is conducting research on what makes GLBT families strong. She is interviewing couples who have been living together for a minimum of two years. You don't need to have children or live in Nebraska to be part of this study.
For more information about participating, contact Maureen at: maureen.todd@huskers.unl.edu.
If you don't fit the criteria for this study but know a couple that does, pass on the information!
Emmett was six months on Friday and with it came his six month well baby visit and shots. He passed with flying colors, weighing in at 25.3 pounds and measuring 29.5 inches long. His height and weight are about average for a one year old but they continue to be proportional, so our doctor isn't worried. Emmett was less than impressed by the shots but was totally over by the time we left the exam room. Over it enough to flirt with the receptionist while I made his next appointment anyway.
Emmett, Crys and I now have both kinds of flu shots. This was something we discussed a couple of month ago. Do we or don't we? Maybe if Emmett weren't in day care or maybe if Crys didn't work in the day care or maybe if my job didn't involve regularly meeting with people I don't know, often from other parts of the world (we have a large population of international graduate students) we would have made a different choice. But we decided the risk for our family of not getting the shots was greater than the risk of getting the shots.
Emmett's mobility continues to be fairly limited. He can roll from his back to tummy like a pro but has only managed the other way a couple of times. He isn't getting up on all fours yet in preparation to crawl, but he has started humping the floor from time to time, which always manages to amuse us. Emmett can move himself on his back and pull himself around on his tummy. Of the two, he prefers being on his tummy.
We're expanding his diet to include meats. He enjoyed the roast beef last night and this afternoon I'll probably bake some chicken for freezing. The beef was taking off our roast out of the croak pot and mashed up with sweat potato puree. It worked pretty well. We're going to start experimenting with blending some of our milder meals for him and maybe working on regular table foods. He tried and loved zucchini the other day and we have squash just waiting for him.
Halloween was a bit of a bust. We visited Bev, the woman who watched him in July. Then headed over to my parents house so my dad could show off our little pumpkin to the neighbors. We don't really know our neighbors and my parents still live in the neighborhood where I grew up. So dad thought it would be fun to take Emmett around. Unfortunately, Emmett did not enjoy the trick or treating. We think he's afraid of the dark. There's always next year. Or the year after....
Emmett is exercising his lungs at the moment. He is on the floor screaming. He's screaming so loud, I'm sure he can be heard on the street, even with the windows closed. Seriously. He takes great pleasure in being loud, something we are absolutely positive he got from me. But Emmett's vocal prowess is not the reason I'm blogging.
Emmett is going to be a pumpkin for Halloween this year. So are the dogs. Actually, we won't dress them up on Halloween, they'll enjoy the peace of their kennels while we're giving out candy. They did dress up for pictures though. But I digress.
On Sunday we carved pumpkins with my sister (who was visiting for the weekend), soon to be sister-in-law and my mom. Emmett slept on my brother while all this was going on. But woke up in time for pictures and had a good time showing off his costume.
We took Emmett to the pumpkin patch on Sunday. He wasn't impressed but that was because it was exceptionally windy. Usually he loves being outside. We did manage to get a few cute pictures before leaving though. Emmet and both of the dogs are dressing up as pumpkins this year. We have the costumes, we just need the pictures now!
Occasionally someone asks how the dogs and cat are adjusting to Emmett and what he thinks of them. Our cat, Thor is a fairly typical cat and really doesn't think much of any of us. Unless of course he needs something. He has sniffed Emmett a couple of times but that's it. Emmett's arrival in our home has changed very little about his life. Having said all this, I like to think he misses us when we go out of town. Its usually just for a few days so we leave him with a clean litter box and plenty of food and water and don't have anyone come check on him.
The dogs are a much different story. Before Emmett was born we spent a lot of time cuddling with them. During my pregnancy, I'd lay on my side on the couch and they'd lay on my every growing middle. We'd doze together that way in the evenings before Crys got home from work. They were our children before we had a child. One of the first things we discussed when trying to decide if we were really going to have a baby was how this would affect the dogs. We knew our relationship with them would change. They'd go from being our babies to being our pets. But we decided we could still make it work and we have. As expected, they get less attention than before but still enough. They like napping with Crys on the weekends when Emmett naps in his crib (sadly, I can't sleep during the day because it keeps me up at night). They still sleep in their kennels at night but have the run of our kitchen and living room the rest of the day (we used to kennel them while we were at work). Things are working out better than expected but not quite as well as we had hoped.
As for what Diego and Fynn think of Emmett? They're curious and like to sniff his head, hands and feet when he plays on the floor. They get anxious when he cries and curious when he squeals. Diego (Chihuahua) seems a little more nervous about Emmett than Fynn (Terrier) but that is just how they our. Diego is a more nervous dog than Fynn.
What does Emmett think of the animals? He LOVES them. We always see his biggest smiles when he sees the dogs and cat. He likes to touch them and I think if he had it his way, they'd play all the time. We think that Emmett and Fynn will be great friends when Emmett is steady enough on his feet to run because they'll be able to play together in the backyard. He'll win Diego's love by slipping him food. Well, he win both dogs over that way. Whatever happens as he grows up, Emmett loves his pets and loves being around them. These early signs of liking his pets make us hopefully that his relationship with them will continue to be positive.
Emmett is showing more personality every day. He loves smiling and laughing. Eating is most favorite thing and he is eating large portions with rice cereal or oatmeal with a puree three times a day. He bangs his chains on the floor every chance he gets and thinks he is the most hansome little guy ever. Baths are lots of fun, even if are increasingly wet from his kicking and splashing.
I love his new fleece pajamas and the way he gets excited when we put them on him. My favorite time is rocking him to sleep while he gets all sleepy and cuddly. I often stay in his room rocking him after he's fallen asleep so I can just hold him while he sleeps. But I love it when he plays too. He shrieks and laughs and its adorable.
Crys loves it when he snuggles. And lately, he's started this thing where he lays his head on our shoulder and talks to himself. His smiles and giggles always make her day.
I can't remember how much I've posted about Emmett and food. Maybe a little in the beginning when he started rice cereal. We kept him on plain cereal until he was 3 and half months old for reasons I don't remember any more and then started adding purees. He does not care for apricots but as of today he can eat sweet potatoes, pears, peaches, bananas, avocados, pumpkin, nectarines, green beans and plumes. His favorites are sweet potatoes, pears, peaches and pumpkins. He seems to have a thing for 'P' foods. Introducing solids started out as a challenge but Emmett took it on like just about everything else, with lots of energy and not much concern for his clothes. Something that started out as an unpleasant task has become something he enjoys and more often than not, when we're eating at the table, he wants to eat too.
We decided before he was born that we wanted to make all of his baby food. I'm sure there is nothing wrong with the store bought food, it's just something I wanted to do. So far, this has been my pet project and Crys really hasn't had anything to do with making Emmett's food. I like knowing exactly what ingredients are in his food. And I have to say, I take great pleasure in feeding my baby something I've made. This is something that I've wondered about for a few weeks. Why should it matter to me who makes it? I its because even though I can't b.reastfeed my baby, I can make the next stage of foods for him. There is a part of me that wishes I had waited to have my m.astectomy so that b.reastfeeding would be possible. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets about having the surgery before having Emmett. But sometimes, I wish I could b.reastfeed too. But I can't have it both ways though.
When I started making his food, I did what I've been doing since deciding to have a baby, I turned to the internet and found a great Web site on making baby food. As a gift to us, Mel made our first batch of baby food for us while I "helped" (watched and played with Emmett). Between Mel and SKN I have two great resources when I have questions. But the Wholesome Baby Food site has been an addition help. Like finding the easiest way to get pumpkin and acorn squash to a puree-able state (half it, bake it, peel off the skin). This site also outlines age appropriate foods, something I don't strictly follow, but it's good to know.
So, for anyone else interested in making your own baby food, you can buy a book or check one out at the library. But the internet is free.
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