Home for the Holidays

Emmett's parents dragged him home to visit family and friends, celebrate his first Christmas, and tour him around their respective home towns. The holidays were full of fun, festivities, and many firsts including Emmett's first plane ride. He handled the outbound flight like a champ.

On the return flight, however, he was lucky to not be hauled off by security when just before pushing back from the gate he spat up a smuggled stash of breast milk cleverly concealed in his belly. Fortunately, the volume of liquid amounted to less than 100 mL.

Relatives from the clan Stran eagerly awaited his arrival. His cousins were smitten with the newest member of the family, as were his aunts.

Not sure if Uncle Blair was as smitten, though he eventually started to come around...

Luckily, Grampa and Poppa came to the rescue, giving Emmett some quality armchair time.

All in all, Emmett received more than his fair share of attention and cuddling over the holidays. Hey, when you're as cool a Christmas character as Emmett is, who can resist?

Emmettstivus

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse

In his crib, he was sleeping, the babe with no hair

His parents, they had hopes..."Through the night, does he dare?"

The adults were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of a full nights sleep danced in their heads.

When from the babe's belly, there arose such a clatter

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter

Over to his crib, I flew like a flash

Bent down and discovered...wee Emmett had gas.

His pampers all changed, his nose, it was kissed

He drifted to dreamland while sucking his fist.

He stirred only once more, for a late night snack

Then giggled and cooed while lying on his back.

But I heard him quite clearly, as I turned out his light

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

From our little family to yours...Merry Christmas!

Cross-cut paper shredder

Relaxing in the run-up to Christmas at Nana and Grampa's, Emmett gives a sneak preview of his enthusiasm for destroying gift wrap:

Emmetthermometer

It's been a cold, cold December where Emmett lives. When the mercury plunges, why waste time on fancy meteorological synopses or even conventional glass thermometers when the average baby can accurately gauge current outside conditions?

Holiday soundtrack 2.0

The next generation of Emmett vocalizations has officially been launched. Emmett's parents have affectionately dubbed these new sounds as "Piercing Shrieks". Oh, what a long way we've come from Vitamin D Squeaks.

All who plan to see Emmett over the holidays, consider yourselves warned. Bring earplugs.

Volume up. But not too much.

Three months old...

...and Emmett continues to grow.

Growth spurt

Today marks Emmett's three month birthday. Based on his insatiable appetite, his parents figure he's going through a growth spurt. As a result, they are more sleep deprived than usual. So today, they're only capable of putting up a random assortment of photos to keep the Grandmas happy...

Winter is in full force in Calgary, with temperatures expected to drop to -28 this weekend. Bring on the snowsuit...

There are few pictures of Emmett's dad when he was a baby, so his parents can't compare baby photos. But it's pretty clear who Emmett looks like...

Emmett made some new friends this week at his Mommy and Baby class. He showed a clear affinity for the ladies -- this shot narrowly missed an attempt by Emmett to hold hands with the girls to his left and right. And of course, nothing is more appealing to a woman than a man wearing an outfit saturated with his own spit-up...

Holiday soundtrack

Emmett celebrated a wintry December day by spending much of yesterday morning providing his own brand of festive music for his parents. Nana and Gramma will comment on how smart their grandson is. Little do they know that Emmett is receiving $4.00 for participating in a Pavlovian conditioning experiment at U of C.

Shorty Longback

A previous post on this blog claimed: "There's an old adage that says the cloth of the alma mater that touches a child's skin first shall too be that child's alma mater." Whether or not that's true is still to be determined, but yesterday, Emmett cast some doubt on this claim as he showed a clear preference for his mom's alma mater.

However, given Emmett's current mullet hairstyle (a.k.a "Shorty Longback"), he might actually fit in better at his dad's alma mater...

Three bears in the bed, and the little one said...

Emmett's mom had witnessed it before, but this was the first confirmed sighting for Emmett's dad. Volume up.

CAUTION: At 113 seconds, this video is a little longer than the others. I just couldn't bring myself to leave any of this on the cutting room floor.

Grey Cup weekend

This weekend saw the 97th Grey Cup game come to town. On Saturday, Emmett's folks took him to see the Grey Cup Parade. He slept through the whole thing. His parents, however, enjoyed watching hundreds of Saskatchewan fans display their Rider pride...

...but not as much as they enjoyed watching one silly intoxicated Edmonton Eskimos fan drink cheap beer from his glove.

On Grey Cup Sunday, Emmett showed his Rider pride by wearing bright green diapers. And, in an impressive display of solidarity with a million Saskatchewanians, he pooped his green pants when Montreal came from behind and won the game in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter.

Baby head muffin

Once upon a time, long before Emmett, Emmett's mom introduced Emmett's dad to Beamer's Coffee Bar, promising a baby head muffin.

"What's a baby head muffin?" asked Emmett's dad.

"It's a muffin the size of a small child's head," replied Emmett's mom.

They visited Beamer's and Emmett's dad agreed that the muffins at Beamer's are, indeed, big.

With fairly easy access to a baby, Emmett's mom recently laid to rest any question about the accuracy of her nomenclature of Beamer's muffins. They are, indeed, pretty close to the size of a small child's head.

Nasty case of sucker's cough

HEALTH CANADA WARNING: When you suck on your fist, you inhale over 700 different chemical compounds. In a short time you can find it difficult to control how much you suck or to quit sucking. Many babies don't realize they are dependent on fist until they try to quit. Even lifelong suckers can and do quit.

You CAN quit sucking. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

Fledgeling wingspan

Emmett's dad saw the parallels in a photo taken last week:

Michael Jordan

Steve Nash

Emmett

He's got Jordan's hairline, Nash's Canadian spirit, and his head is bigger than both Jordan's and Nash's combined.

This NBA thing might just stick.

Two months old

To celebrate his two month birthday yesterday, Emmett took his parents out on the town. First to the Remembrance Day ceremonies at the war memorial, and then to the H1N1 vaccination clinic where they got their shots. He's too young to receive the shot, but served as a backstage pass to get his parents in as part of a high risk group.

At his two month checkup, Emmett's doctor was pleased to report that he is growing like a weed. Weight and head circumference are right where they should be, and his height continues to be off the chart compared to other babies his age. That NBA contract is looking more promising.

Emmett was pleased to hear that news too, though not so pleased to hear he has to get his vaccinations next week...

Candidate for a Poo-litzer

Volume up. Soundtrack is solid. Elvis-like lip curl right at the end puts it over the top.

Candidate for a Pulitzer

Ooh, we almost forgot. During an emergency in-car feeding in Banff, Emmett's dad happens to have his cell phone camera at the ready and with only a split-second warning, achieves photographic near-brilliance.

First night away from home

Every year around this time, Emmett's mom and dad meet his Auntie Clare in Banff for the annual Winterstart road race, a 5 mile night run up Tunnel Mountain. This year, Emmett joined the trio, and stood on the sidelines with his mom, cheering loudly for dad and Auntie Clare. All that night air and cheering meant he slept soundly during his first night away from home, in an unfamiliar hotel room. Of course, hanging out with Auntie Clare helped to ease the transition... she allowed him to spit up all over the hotel bedsheets.

EMSalute

In the spirit of the a-ok sign, the shaka sign, or the common thumbs-up sign, Emmett was quick to develop his own hand gesture. The EMSalute (pronounced ee-em-essalute) was first captured on camera before Emmett left the hospital. It consists of extending the pinky finger of the left hand while keeping the thumb and three middle fingers curled.

Emmett illustrates this gesture in the video we posted yesterday, and in the photos below. The EMSalute should not be confused with a similar gesture on the right hand which generally means, "Somebody stinks, and it sure as heck isn't me."

Giggle or cry?

Emmett's mom says he's giggling. Emmett's dad says he's revving things up for a big ol' scream.

Emmett, Outlaw Biker Dude

With all the hubbub around Halloween, we almost forgot to mention Emmett's first visit to Kane's Harley Diner, his parents' favourite weekend breakfast haunt. Despite continuing to show off for Gramma and Poppa, Emmett was able to muster his best outlaw biker snarl for the camera. The fuzzy bunny suit is an interesting juxtaposition.

Speaking of interesting juxtapositions, Emmett's dad did some research to try to find a good biker name for Emmett. One particular online biker name generator claims that all a baby needs is a good one percenter name, and soon everyone will cringe in terror. Apparently, Emmett will be a hog-riding outlaw who kills his enemies as "Lil' Monkey of the Donkey Punchers Motorcycle Club."

First Halloween

Emmett celebrated his first Halloween but unfortunately displayed an early aversion to spicy food. Let's just say he was underwhelmed by the chili pepper costume his dad picked up a few months ago.

He did, however, ultimately embrace October 31 and all its scariness by laughing in the face of fear at Dr. Cousin Rod's haunted house. Being in Gramma's protective care obviously helps.

Second Round of Reinforcements Arrive

Emmett and his parents headed to the airport late last night to pick up his grandparents, Gramma and Poppa. Emmett was extremely excited to meet his dad's parents, though the late night arrival meant he conked out en route to the airport.
Gramma spent the day with him, and used her grandma magic to put him to sleep. Little does Gramma know, Emmett's parents have hatched a plan to keep her in Alberta, and destroyed her plane ticket home.

In the meantime, Emmett's mom learned a valuable lesson today. When a crying baby is put in a bouncy chair in the bathroom with the hairdryer on, the baby will fall asleep almost instantly...

H1N1 and the flu shot

Emmett's mom and dad headed to the vaccine clinic today to get their flu shots. Dad got his, and half an hour later, came down with a really bad cold. Alas, the clinic did not have the type of vaccine needed for lactating women, so mom was turned away. The H1N1 clinic was just down the hall, but having heard of the six hour lineup, she decided to hop on the train and head home instead. (Emmett's first C-train ride).

Emmett woke his mom up every hour the night before for a little snack, so his poor mom was exhausted today. No new pictures as a result...she couldn't string three words together, much less operate the camera. So here are a few from the archives...