One More Lake Trip

Over the Labor Day weekend, we were able to fit in one last trip to the lake. After Emmy's pink eye, my new job, and Boomer's academic and sport schedule in full swing, it was the perfect relaxing getaway. Plus, having the extra day was pretty nice! We left after work on Friday, made a quick dinner stop on our way out of town, and got to the lake around 8PM. We were the only family there this weekend with Granny and PawPaw; we joked that Emmy enjoyed not having to share with her cousins! :)  We certainly spoiled her, and Emmy liked spending so much time with her grandparents. On Saturday, we rode on the boat to the marina to have lunch at the new restaurant there. Emmy did great sitting in a high chair like a big girl. She probably would have been ready to do this sooner, but we have mostly been keeping her in her car seat at restaurants. We usually prop her up so that we can feed her while we are also eating. The car seat has kept her contained, and she doesn't really fight it as long as we keep the food coming. Now that she has sat in a high chair, it looks like we will continue to do that moving forward. The weekend included several boat rides, coffee on the porch, and college football on tv. Boomer and I even went for a ride on the jet ski like old times. We are already looking forward to Memorial Day when we will be back at the lake kicking off the summer again.

In addition to the high chair, Emmy crossed two other milestones this weekend. On Saturday, we had come inside to watch some football (yay, football season!), and without any help, Em used the coffee table to pull herself up to a standing position. She didn't stay up for long, and then she was able to lower herself back down to the floor. The second big milestone was moving food to her mouth. Her primary food right now is still breastmilk; we are also giving her rice cereal in the mid-morning (around 8:30AM) and then usually Gerber 2's around lunchtime and again in the late afternoon, with a bottle. We have started to introduce the next stage "Lil Bits," but we have had mixed results. She either doesn't like the flavor or she will gag on the small bits that are in the broth. I sure hope I'm not buying baby food and pumping until she goes to kindergarten! But just this weekend, Boomer was successful in getting Emmy to take both puffs and yogurt melts from his hand and getting them in to her mouth. She struggles just a little with getting the pieces off of her fingers, especially when they begin to dissolve and get sticky. Boomer was persistent throughout the weekend, and it paid off. She is doing really great moving food to her mouth. It makes me think we should start introducing real food, rather than pushing the Lil Bits. We'll see!

We stayed at the lake through Sunday evening and then enjoyed Monday here at home. Meg and I knocked out a double digit run (10 miles!) early in the morning, had some downtime in the afternoon, and then we had dinner over at the Houston's. Meg made a delicious meal, and all of the cousins played for a bit. This time last week, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed, but by Thursday and Friday, I was beginning to gain a better grasp on my new position. This week, I am speaking in the senior English classes and then I will also be prepping for the field trip to the community college on September 12th for the county college fair. I hope the days are productive so that I am picking up Emmy at a reasonable time. It continues to be a balance that I know all working moms face. For now, I hope the rest and memories from the weekend will carry over as we conquer this four-day work week!