Baby Bear

We had a fun little photoshoot this week cause he looked so cute it had to be documented!

Happy Camper

The other day I layed Emmett down under his Baby Einstein Playgym, and he was in awe. He LOVES to look at things, and his arms go crazy trying to reach them! He looks like such a big boy in these pictures! He really loved that whale lying next to him. He stared him down for a good long time.

Emmett is such a curious, smart baby. He loves to listen to music. I bought him some "rock-a-bye" baby lullabys, which are lullaby renditions of popular rock songs. It seems that his favorites are "Hotel California" by the Eagles, "The Scientist" by Coldplay, and "Hey Jude" by the Beatles. Anytime he's upset, no matter how hard he's crying, I turn on one of those songs and it immediately subsides! He also prefers Bach as far as classical composers go. He's a man who knows what he wants. He's definitely inherited his parents love of music.

We have also discovered he LOVES to be next people. Even if he's asleep and you're not holding him, he wants to sleep in his boppy pillow RIGHT next to you. He doesn't want to be put in his bassinett or bouncer, and he knows if you try to pull a fast one on him. The other night I was writing thank you cards and tried to set him in his bouncer while he was sleeping. He realized a few minutes later I wasn't there anymore and started to fuss. I ended up pulling up a chair right next to the bouncer and writing my cards right next to him, and he settled right down and fell back asleep. I didn't even touch him, give him his binki, etc. I just went and sat next to him. That's all he wanted. haha. After spending the first three months of his life alone in a hospital bed, I don't blame him one bit. So I let him be next to me as much of the day as possible. And he is a happy camper! He is the sweetest little love, and I just can't get enough of him.

Talkin Bout' Best Friends...

Sayonara NICU!!

Finally the day arrived!! It felt so surreal. I told Jared on our drive over there that I felt like I did the morning of our wedding - Giddy with excitement over this life-changing event I knew was taking place. Butterflies were having a hayday in my stomach. I knew our lives would be different from that day forward and I couldn't be happier about it. I spent 93 LONG DAYS trekking back and forth to the hospital and crossing day by day off the calendar. I had my share of sleepless, nervous wreck nights where I broke down and called the nurse at 2 in the morning to check how Emmett was doing. Now that he's home my nights are still sleepless, but in a much happier, satisfying way! It actually makes me appreciate when he wakes up at 3 am crying to be fed.

Here's a picture I took of Jared holding Emmett our last night there. I love his clear, sparkling eyes! That look just makes my heart melt!

Emmett's last feeding at the hospital!!

His "Coming Home Outfit"

Folded Hands :-)

Pure Bliss

The Happy Family

All loaded up and headed for the door!

This is Carly, one of our favorite NICU nurses. Yes, I look like a giant next to her. Haha. She took great care of Emmett and we are SO thankful for her and ALL our amazing nurses and doctors. All of them have played such a major role in our lives and we will never forget them.

Sleepover at the NICU

1 day before Emmett came home, we had a "trial run" to get us comfortable with his home oxygen and monitors. We got to sleep over at the NICU in this special "sleep room" created for parents. They wheeled his crib in with us, and I was so excited to have him lying next to us all night long. I just kept looking over at his crib and smiling.

It was also our first night taking care of him all by ourselves. He did really well and only woke up about three or four times. I think we did pretty good for our first time too! Don't mind the pajama/no makeup pictures, I just wanted to document this memorable night!

We thought it was a pretty quaint little room!

Room for 3, please

In case you havent heard the news.... EMMETT IS HOME!!!! I am going to put up a more complete post with the details and pictures, but I haven't gotten around to that yet and I can't keep it in any longer!!

This cracks me up. His face says "Ahhhh home sweet home" You can see the joy is his face, and trust me it was on ours too :-)

My Hollywood Baby

Give this baby a role! As you can see by the many faces of Mr. Emmett, he has quite the range of emotions already! You name it, he's got it...

The "Chillin" Pose

"You don't say!"

"Oh my gosh Mom, what are you doing? You're going to give me wrinkles"

 

A little hungry...

Blown Away

Contemplating

Perfection

Innocent, puppy dog face :-)

"What in the World?!"

Don't tell me this guy wasn't made for the big screen!

Little Gruntsworth

Emmett has a newfound love of grunting. He grunts when he eats, grunts when he wants his binki, grunts when he wants his diaper changed, grunts when you pick him up, and grunts when he sleeps. haha.
 I've been pretty bad at updating the blog lately, but its hard to stay focused when I have the worlds cutest baby to spend all my time with! Emmett has grown and progressed by leaps and bounds in the past few weeks!

• Moved back to his big boy bed (This is what it looks like)

• Drank from a bottle for the first time (and drained every last drop!) It's a process that involves ME learning to feed him, as much as it is HIM learning to eat. Feeding a Preemie is a lot different than feeding a normal baby! It's pretty intensive and a little nervewracking, but I'm quickly becoming a pro!

I love this picture because he's looking at me like "Mom, I'm not sure about this..." LOL
• Hit five pounds (and is well on his way to 6! Last night he weighed in at 5 pds, 12.5 ounces)
• Met Aunt Kaity, Kirsten, Kendall, and Sarah for the first time
• Took his first ride in a swing and loved it!

• Had a surgery to repair his hernias, and did awesome! Practically every preemie boy develops a hernia when they're term, so now that Emmetts is taken care of, its one step closer to the door!
• Had his first picture taken with the Easter Bunny!

It's kind of a scary looking Easter Bunny, but how adorable is it anyway?!

Meanwhile, I have been working like crazy to get everything ready and prepared for the day he comes home! It's not an easy thing to prepare for your first baby with no baby shower! (If you want to visit Emmett's virtual shower it's http://www.ericksonshower.blogspot.com/) For everyone that has already donated or sent a gift, thank you SO much!! You have no idea how much it is appreciated! :-)

I am so proud of the way his room is turning out, and it's far from done! I'll give you a peek at it's progress though!

And check out this adorable bedding!

Emmett's feeding is the only thing left keeping him in the NICU!!  He is currently taking about 3 bottles a day. They will eventually increase it to 4, and after that they'll give him a 24 hour period to wake up and request a bottle on his own (instead of their scheduled feeding times). If he requests a bottle as many times a day as he needs to, he's FINALLY COMING HOME!!! We're hoping this process takes about 2 weeks. Let the countdown begin!!!