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.