All about Emmett

This post is all about Emmett, because he's awesome and he's been changing so much in the past month.  His little personality is really coming out, he's learning new things every day and it's so fun to see.  He'll be 15 months old tomorrow.

Walking
Emmett took his first steps a week ago, and then decided never to do it again. ;)  Seriously, I still don't have a picture or video of him walking.  He did it a few times and then wouldn't do it anymore.  Just spaghetti legs.  Yesterday and today he's taken a few steps again, so maybe he's decided that it's not so bad.

Reading
Emmett has suddenly developed a love of books (why couldn't this have happened before our plane rides??).  Up until lately he had very little use for books, other than to chew on them.  However, now he loves looking at the pictures, and he loves to be read to.  He'll even crawl into your lap with a book and snuggle in to listen (sometimes - there are times when he still can't sit still).  He always has to have a book to look at during diaper changes, and he's very particular about which book.  If I give him the wrong book, he'll scream and point until I get the right one.  Same with before bed.

Growing
He hasn't gained much weight (only about a pound in the last 3 months), but he's definitely getting bigger.  I haven't measured him lately (maybe I'll do that when he wakes up from his nap), but I can tell from his clothes. Shirts are getting tight, pants are getting short and it's a good thing that winter is almost over because he'll soon be too big for his one-piece snowsuit.  I'm thinking this growth spurt is perhaps why he's been taking 3-hour naps lately (not that I'm complaining!).

Teething
Emmett's teeth have been very slow to come in. Until this past week he only had 2 teeth on the bottom and 4 teeth on the top. However, now his top molars have just started coming through and it looks like the bottom ones won't be too far behind (his gums are pretty swollen-looking).  Fortunately teething has been relatively kind to him.  Other than the fact that he usually gets a runny nose just before a tooth comes in, things have been fairly decent (although I hesitate to say that - am I jinxing it??). ;)

Learning and exploring
It seems like he's learned so much lately.  He can wave goodbye (that he learned a while ago), blow a kiss, and point to his nose, toes, hair and belly button.  The belly button one is really cute, because if he's wearing a onesie and can't lift up his shirt, he'll put out his hands, palms up, like he's saying - "where'd it go???"  He also loves to climb - one of his favorite spots is the ottoman next to the window.  We originally put it there to block the floor vent, when he was constantly pulling them open and trying to put things down there, but now he likes to climb up there and look out the window.  He's only fallen off once. ;)  He also loves to do stairs - he's pretty good with going up, but down is a bit shaky.  I still keep the stairs gated.

First words
He says a couple words, but they don't quite sound like the real words yet.  However, I'm going to count them as his first words, because he uses them consistently and correctly.  He says "bye" (it comes out "bah") and "book" (it comes out "buh" - a subtle difference, but it's there).  He can say "mum-mum" and "da-da", but I think those are still just babble noises, rather than real words, because he doesn't seem to connect them to us or use them consistently.  Mostly he still just grunts and points.

Personality
Emmett seems to be more outgoing than Annika ever was (or is).  He loves to flirt with old ladies especially.  It's quite funny sometimes.  When we were in Florida, having breakfast at Denny's, he yelled (yes, literally yelled) at a table of old ladies a few tables down from us until he got their attention and they started waving and smiling at him.  And of course, he returned the smiles and waves. :)  He also has his favorite Sunday school teacher, and he loves giving high-fives and "knuckles" to all our friends at church.  The last time we left him at home with one of his aunties, he had no problem with saying goodbye to us (not a tear - he actually looked quite happy to see us go), although he will still cry occasionally when I leave him in the nursery at Y Neighbours.  I think seeing his personality develop is perhaps the most exciting thing of all.  He's really becoming a little person, and not just a blob that eats, sleeps, cries and poops.  I love this stage. :)