Emmett spent last weekend up in Maine with Gran Lucy and Grandpa Mac to give James and I some time alone to celebrate our 2-year (dating) anniversary.  While it was fun to do some adult things like go out to dinner in Harvard Square, have intelligent conversation and see a movie at the theater, I’m not gonna lie – I missed the little goober.

Of course he just had to do some growing while we were away.  Lucy noticed a budding tooth in the front, top row of his gums while he was in her custody, which has without a doubt contributed to his crankiness this week.  Luckily though, Lucy also came up with what I’m calling the apple remedy: a semi-peeled apple for Emmett to chew on, which really does the trick.   It keeps him occupied, and it feels good on his gums.  A lifesaver!  Check out the apple remedy in action:

Tart!

The Apple Remedy

In other news, it’s my sister’s (Aunt Adrienne) birthday today.  Happy Birthday, A!

Age Timer: 9 months, 3 weeks

That’s right – ferocious.  Or maybe just adorable.  Either way, Emmett’s costume is awesome.  Too bad he’s a little young for trick-or-treating and we have no place to show it off.  I’m actually thinking of taking him to the supermarket today for some grocery shopping, because at least some people will be able to see him costumed in person.  That is, if he can tolerate being in it for more than 5 minutes (the current record).

Ferocious Blue Monster

"Too Cute to Scare" shirt from Aunt Sara & Uncle Shawn

For mischeif night last night, I carved a pumpkin, toasted the seeds (which are DELICIOUS) and James built our first fire in the apartment’s fireplace.  Needless to say it was a nice little fall evening.  I’m also pretty darn proud of how well my jackolantern came out.  It’s an owl!

Owl Jackolantern

James and Emmett cozying up by the fire.

In past news, Emmett had his 9-month checkup the other week.  He was a super champ through the bloodwork.  He didn’t even make a peep -  it was incredible – though he wailed when they gave him his shots.  He’s now a whopping 20 lbs. 4 oz. (46th percentile) and 30.5 inches “tall” (97th percentile).  Again, one of the tallest kids in his class!

We  had a couple of fun visits this past week.  My best friend Niki stayed with us last weekend, and we had a visit from my good friend, Lauren, from high school last Wednesday.  More aunts for Emmett!

Crazy Aunt Niki - "We're drying our hair!"

Aunt L

I’m also convinced that Emmett is extremely close to saying “mamma.”  In fact, it sounds like he’s already saying it (although he might not exactly know what he’s saying)!  Check out this video for evidence.  What do you think?

Age Timer: 9 months, 2 weeks

When Emmett has a bad day, he goes straight to the bottle.  I guess it’s never too soon to have that “Don’t Drink and Drive” chat with your son…

Drunk Baby

Good thing it’s only formula.

Age Timer: 9 months, 2 days (In two more days, Emmett will have spent the same amount of time outside the womb as he did inside!)

What a busy weekend!  My parents were in town, which is always fun.  Saturday we headed down to Providence, where we enjoyed the last night of WaterFire, a sculpture of bonfires on the rivers of Providence.  It was really cool and entertaining.

WaterFire man playing with fire

Lit WaterFire braziers

On Sunday, we took Emmett on his first pumpkin picking excursion.  We stopped at Shelburne Farm in Stow, where Emmett seemed to thoroughly enjoy the farm animals, a big mound of hay, chewing on pumpkin stems (ugh) and riding tractors like a true farmer.

Mmmm ... pumpkin stems. Nom nom nom.

Playing in the hay with GranD

Farmer Emmett on his tractor

For more pictures of Emmett on the farm, check out the Pumpkin Picking set on Flickr at http://bit.ly/14BsjK.

Age Timer: 8 months, 3 weeks

Benjamin Alec finally graced us with his presence yesterday afternoon, following a 2-day long induced labor and subsequent C-section (phew!).  Mother, father and baby are all doing well despite their excruciating exhaustion.

Congrats to new parents, Sara and Shawn – you two were definitely troopers!  Ben clocked in at 8 lbs., 11 oz. and 21.5 inches long at 2 weeks late.

Now for a look at the handsome little fellow …

Baby Ben

Daddy Shawn with Son Ben

Uncle James (Officially!)

Me and Little Ben

Cousin Meets Cousin (An Attempt)

Age Time: <1 day

James’ brother and sister-in-law headed to the hospital yesterday to induce labor.  Poor Sara was almost 2 weeks overdue, and it seems Mr. Baby K (for their last name) was getting a little too comfortable in his crowded little motel room.  Although it seems like it was a little slow going at first (apparently they spent last evening playing cards and eating hospital food), there has been no word from them yet today, so we’re wondering if things are starting to move along.

In the life of Emmett, there’s not too much exciting going on this week over here.  He seems to have a runny nose, so his nickname of “SlobberPuss” has slowly been evolving into “SnotterPuss.”  His Halloween costume came in the mail the other day, and it fits him perfectly!  We can’t wait for all of you to see him in it!

Happy Stander

Flying Baby!

Content to Crawl

Other than that, we’ve basically just been waiting for the exciting news of Baby K’s debut.  Hopefully by the end of the evening I’ll be able to update this post and announce the news of his arrival!

Age Timer: 8 months, 3 weeks

At my Boston baby shower last year, I could’ve sworn I’d already nailed down Baby Lump’s first Halloween costume (pictured here – a gift from Lindsay, Maggie and Julie).  Turns out I was slighly off at estimating how big Emmett would be at his first Halloween.  I tried Emmett’s monkey suit on him last night, and well, you can see for yourself how funny he looks.  It fits him perfectly now, but I doubt I’ll be able to squeeze him into it in a month… (Can you spot the toofers?)

Emmett the Monkey

Monkey Close-Up

Happy Monkey. Watch out for those toofers! Ferocious!

Don’t worry, I have a few other Halloween costume ideas up my sleeve, and they’re all as equally adorable as the monkey suit (if not more adorable).

Age Timer: 8 months, 2 weeks

Now that I have a camera, I can share with you pictures of our new place!  But first, Emmett and I would like to take you through a virual tour …

And now a few photo highlights …

our galley kitchen

Our living room with exposed brick and a working fireplace!

"Master" Bedroom

Emmett's Nursery

For more pictures of our new digs, click on the “Our Place” tab at the top of this page.  Hope you like it!

Age Timer: 8 months, 1 week

Of course as soon as I post a video about Emmett’s awesome army crawl, he decides to one-up it.  Emmett is officially a normal crawler now, and honestly, it’s all he wants to do.  Seriously – he’s sooo over his walker now…

Official Crawl Pose

He’s so into crawling that I had to purchase a baby gate to keep him contained in one spot.  It gives him free range of the hallway, which really helps to support my productivity during the day…

Age Timer: 8 months, 1 week

In college, a few of my friends appropriately nicknamed my camera “Pamera.”  It went with me wherever I went, and everyone appreciated how well it documented our college years.  When they heard about the loss of my camera a couple of weeks ago, the nickname resurfaced.

Well I’m pleased to announce I received my replacement Pamera in the mail yesterday!  Pamera III, I think it is.  I haven’t stopped taking pictures and recording video since!  A few highlights (though I added tons more to Flickr – check the blog’s right-hand column) …

Smiles at the kitchen table

Duck Lips (And Escape)

I finally got a proper video of Emmett’s army crawl …

And in case you’re a baby and are interested in knowing how to escape from your bouncer seat, check out Emmett’s how-to video:

In other news, Emmett pulled himself up to standing position for the first time the other day!  I know what your reaction is (since everyone’s reaction has been the same): “You’re in for it now!”  Yup – I know.  I’m hoping to capture his new stunt on video soon; right now all I have is a shoddy photo from my Blackberry (the camera hadn’t arrived yet).

Look for pictures and a virtual video tour of the new apartment this weekend!  I’m also working hard to get a shot of Emmett’s two toofers, but it’s a tough one to capture.  Emmett doesn’t exactly follow the “open your mouth” direction very well yet.

Age Timer: 8 months, 6 days