dear emmy.

dear emmy,

you are growing up right before my very eyes.  just like your older sister did, you are now rolling over... and over... and over... to get where you want to go.  it's so funny watching you.  daddy and i just sat in the living room last night before we put you to bed and watched you go.  all across the room.  we thought you were going to be our chill, calm one... but we might be wrong.  bampy used to watch bella and call her a little "scamp"!  i just keep hearing his voice in my head while i watch you find a way to get from place to place... and get into all the things you're not supposed to.  i can hear him calling you a little scamp, too, and it warms my heart because i feel like he is watching and he gets to know you, even if it's different than i would have liked.

your arms and hands are constantly on the go too.  you flap your arms like crazy when you get excited.  it's as if you're trying to fly away!  you're hands are constantly grabbing at the air.  you just started clapping your hands this week and it's so adorable.  those chubby, dimply little hands of yours.  you are eating so many things now.  your favorite?  cheese.  you get so excited when we cut you up little dices of cheese.  just like your mama and your daddy!  you also love daddy's veggie fried rice and mama's homemade bread.  you still have no teeth, but i think you're working on some.  every night while we're making dinner, we put you in your high chair and give you your mesh feeding spoon and fill the little mesh pocket with frozen fruit.  you go to town and you LOVE it!

you really are just so happy almost all the time.  you've been doing the cutest little smile thing, where if you catch us smiling at you, you'll squint your eyes and scrunch up your nose in the cheesiest smile ever, and stay like that for a few seconds.  it is awesome and i wish i could catch it on camera!  you love your sister so much.  she loves giving you hugs and kisses and you get so excited.  you love bath time too and being in the tub with bella and your toys.  you got so excited the other night you tipped right over :)

one of the cutest things you do is at bedtime.  the minute i carry you into your room and you hear your sound machine, you snuggle into me and your thumb goes right in your mouth.  sometimes you just love going to bed.  if you're fussy, i put your lovie right up to your cheek and once you feel it, in goes your thumb.  it's like magic.  actually, if you ever feel anything soft; you grasp onto it and start sucking your thumb.  it's just so cute.  i used to do that when i was a little girl :)  i see so much of your daddy in you, and i also see myself.  you are just the perfect little combination of us both.  only better, because you're you.

your growing so much, my little emmy ems.  9 months in a few days!  and all of your 9 months clothes are getting too small.  i just want to squeeze you all the time.  so full of cuteness, you are!

you've been sick the past couple of weeks.  last week i had to take you to the dr for conjunctivitis.  you got really good at giving us a struggle putting your eyedrops in!  i can already tell you are innovative and determined.  you figured out how to squeeze your eyes shut as tightly as you could; we couldn't even pry them open if we tried!  this week you have had a really bad cold.  it makes me so sad.  earlier we were on the floor playing and i picked you up and you just snuggled your head right into my chest. i started singing to you and you just sat so still.  when you're fussy, i can usually calm you down if i sing.  i love singing old hymns to you... and you love listening.

i was thinking today (as i do every day) about how much i love you.  i remember being nervous when we were about to come home from the hospital with you.  how would it feel as a family of four?  would it be an adjustment?  how would i balance my love for you and my love for bella?  my sweet emmy faith, you have made it so easy.  i can't imagine my life without you.  you exude joy, and brighten our lives in so many ways. i love you much more than i could ever begin to say, my pumpkin.  so abundantly blessed to be your mama.

i love you to the moon and back (and back again),
mama