Emerson 3 Month Pictures

Emerson got his 3-month pictures taken on November 26th. He is usually such a good, smiley baby, but he was not happy at this photo shoot! I think he was tired. Luckily, I think we got 1-2 good ones. He looks so different in every picture...it's crazy! He is growing well and is starting to laugh and giggle. He likes to eat his hands and look at his feet when I sit him up. He sleeps well on my chest and on his tummy for naps. I wish I could go back to spending all day with him, but I am so glad that he gets to be with Grandma during the day! He is such a sweet boy. He is starting to notice toys and will somewhat grab at them if I put them close to his hands. He can lift his head a bit better during tummy time and is doing well with his physical therapy. He still has a slight tilt to the right, but hopefully it'll get fixed in the next month or so. He's got some cute chubby cheeks and legs and is our "chunkers." His eyes are still a pretty blue color, but I have a feeling they will end up brown, but we'll see. Still not much hair, as you can see below. He does not like being in his car seat still unless it is moving in a car or being held by someone. He is still eating about 6-7oz every 3.5-4 hours and sometime sleeps through the night and other times wakes up to eat. At this point, i'm used to getting up with him, so I don't mind if we have to get up once. He has been spitting up a ton though, which I do not like! I'm not sure if he has reflex issues or if something else is going on, but it's been a lot lately. He's also been stuffy again for several weeks, but he doesn't have an ear infection, so that's good. Deacon likes to make him smile and talk to him in "baby talk."

Thanksgiving

 We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We went to my Grandma Mecham's house in the afternoon for Thanksgiving dinner and then went up to Darin and Emily's that evening. Emerson did really well. He laid on the floor in my Grandma's room while we ate and didn't make much noise.

Matt's parents came to Bountiful for Thanksgiving this year because they were picking up a car they bought. Deacon got to spend the whole day after Thanksgiving with them. He went to some stores, got a Happy Meal at McDonald's, and then went with them and some cousins and other family members to see Moana. 

Deacon loves holiday decorations! Unfortunately we don't have any Thanksgiving decorations, and when we went to the store to get some, they didn't have any. 

Deacon and I went on a walk one day and he got to this turkey below up close. At least that made him happy.

My Great Grandpa Burns turned 100 on Nov 19, 2016. His family had an open house to celebrate. He's an amazing man and Deacon loved seeing him! Deacon wanted to sit by him while he ate his food, and Grandpa kept teasing him about eating his pizza. 

Emerson - 12 Weeks

Well we hit the 12 week mark and now i'm back at work ): Luckily my Mom is AMAZING and is watching Emerson for me. He is such a good baby! 
Below are a few facts about him:

• Emerson is such a good sleeper in the day time! He can fall asleep almost anywhere and puts himself to sleep well
• He was a very loud sleeper for his first few months at night. He would make noises that sound like pigs and sheep quite often (mostly due to a stuffy nose). Thankfully he has become a quieter sleeper recently
• He is becoming such a smiley boy, he smiles super easily now and it's fun to smile at him
• He is nursing/using a bottle and will eat about 7-8 oz every 4 hours when using a bottle. Nursing is sometimes a bit more frequent
• He sleeps ok at night, but tends to wake up several times in the night due to a stuffy nose or gas, luckily he only wakes up once to eat
• He will use a binkie, but doesn't seem to rely on it as Deacon did
• We have found that he gets tired at night and needs a nap. For a few nights in a row he would be really cranky and cry around 7-8pm. Once we figured out that he was tired, he has been doing much better
• He is starting to notice his hands and swat at toys if you dangle them in front of him
• Seems to tolerate Deacon yelling/screaming in his face well and being right in his face at times
• He has put on some weight and has some pretty cute, chubby legs and a double chin
• Still not much hair - just the "horse shoe" look, as I was told it is called
• He is starting to make bubbles and likes to eat his hands
• He does pretty well when taking a bath, but doesn't always enjoy getting dressed afterwards
• Luckily he doesn't pee on me as much as he did his first few weeks, but it does still happen occasionally
• Is wearing 3-6/6 month clothes now. They are a bit big on him, but the 3 month ones are too small
• He doesn't really enjoy being in his car seat at this point...he will usually cry when he is in it, unless he is in a moving car or being rocked
• He gets fidgety at times, especially if he's hungry, but is pretty patient if he has to wait to eat
• It's fun to watch him kick his legs and move his arms when he's laying on his back
• So far, he has been a wonderful baby and we are grateful to have him in our family!!

This is one of his favorite positions - fists clenched and pressed together in the middle of his chest:

Brother time:

Hanging out with Dad:

 Our smiley boy (:

 Getting stronger (13 weeks):

Emerson has a minor case of torticollis, which means he has tight neck muscles on one side. Ever since he was born he has favored looking to his right side. I tried to place him so that he would look to the left when he slept, but he would just turn back to the right. This has caused a bit of a bump on one side of his head, so he has to do a little bit of physical therapy to correct it. Below is one of the stretches we have to do three times a day. It has only been 2 weeks and I think he's pretty much cured, except that he still has a bump on one side. 

October

I'm starting to love October! The weather has been nice and since Deacon loves Halloween stuff, it has been super fun. He loves to see all of the bats, spiders, ghosts, skeletons, skulls, pumpkins, witches, etc. at the store and when we go on walks. I gave him his Spider-Man costume in the middle of the month and loved wearing it . He even had to wear it for a little while when we went to the Zoo.

On Saturday, October 15 we went to Cross E Ranch to let Deacon play around. We had never been there before, but they had a corn pit, hay pyramid with slide, farm animals, mini train ride, tractor ride, pumpkin patch, and mini corn maze for Deacon to enjoy. From how it looked outside, I thought it was going to be a cool day, so we all wore our jackets, but quickly realized we would not be needing them. Matt was nice to carry Emerson around in the baby carrier while I helped Deacon. He and I played in the corn pit and went down the slide. I fed Emerson while Matt and Deacon did the mini corn maze, and we all looked at the animals and went on the tractor ride. They didn't have a great pumpkin patch turnout this year, but we still let Deacon pick out a small one. It was a fun, but tiring afternoon.

Deacon, Livy, and I went on a walk together to see the Halloween decorations one day. They loved this house below that had TONS of blow up decorations, among other cute decorations.  

On Thursday, October 20, my Mom and I took Deacon and Livy to Cherry Hill Scary Hill.  Deacon loved the "spooky maze," and Livy loved the tractor ride. Deacon went through the maze 3 or 4 times, and Livy went on the tractor ride at least 4 times. I'm glad they both found something they enjoyed. They also played in a Hamster Maze which had a ball pit, went on a few bumper boat rides, and jumped in a bounce house and on a trampoline. Deacon wasn't feeling very good at lunch time and actually fell asleep on the picnic table. He ended up having a fever for about 2 days.

Bumper Boats:

 Spooky Maze:

Tractor Ride:

To quote my Mom, the tractor ride was very "clever." They had a whole bunch of scenes displayed using skeletons. They had Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Ghost busters, one in a tub, skeletons camping, Super heros, and many many other cute things. 

I have to document that Emerson was with us, too (: He's been such a good baby during out outings.

Deacon not feeling well and sleeping on the table. If you know Deacon, this was pretty shocking and out of character for him, so I knew something was bothering him.

On Wednesday, October 26, the Story Time at the Bountiful Library included a little costume parade and trick-or-treating event. Later that night, Deacon and Dad carved his pumpkins.  

On Saturday, October 29, my ward had a Trunk-or-Treat event. We invited Livy and Mandy to come with us, and the kids had a fun time going to all of the trunks to get candy.  Earlier that day, Deacon got his hair cut at Cookie Cutters, and he got a Skeleton cookie afterwards at a bakery. Once again, he did a great job getting his hair cut. They even gave him a toy for wearing his costume. 

On Halloween, Mandy and I took Deacon and Livy trick-or-treating on Main Street. It was okay, but not as good as I thought it would be. Many of the businesses did not participate. Then that night we they went trick-or-treating with Talise, Aspen, and Todd. Deacon loved it and always wanted to hold Uncle Todd's hand. He was also quick to get his candy and wanted to run to the next house. It was fun to go with them. I forgot to take any pictures of the kids that night, but here is Emerson. I had planned to take his picture later in the day with his pumpkin hat on, too, but also forgot. I almost with Deacon could go trick-or-treating more often because he was so worn out that he slept in until 10am the next morning, which never happens! It was great! 

Of course, I have to mention that Matt left me for 1.5 weeks at the beginning of October to go Elk hunting. The hunt didn't go quite as he planned, but he still ended up shooting an elk at 7 pm on the last Friday of the hunt.