Happy Holidays!

We had a great first Christmas with Emily! We drove to Minnesota on Thursday the 22nd (Emily's 9 month birthday) and stayed at Great Grandpa Paul's house along with Nana Ellen and Grandpa Lee for three nights and then went and stayed at with the Comer's after that (Grandpa Joe, Mary, Aunt Julia and Aunt Rachel).
Emily did really well on the 4+ hour car ride even though she still only sleeps for 30 minute naps while in the car. She adjusted to her new surroundings pretty quickly, only waking up a few times at night, but not needing to be picked up or anything. She was around so many family members and did a great job being around people she didn't know and staying happy. Being around all those people gave her a chance to improve her mimicking skills which she is getting very good at.

She also loved spending time in some houses that had more room for her to crawl around and explore. She is so curious about everything that is going on around her and wants to watch what everyone is doing. She has really perfected her crawling and is great at standing up while holding on to something. In addition, she is getting better at transitioning between crawling and sitting and vice versa. She did miss her gym/jumper station while traveling though and has been bouncing a bunch since we have been home. We did have to cut our visit short unfortunately. On Monday the 26th Emily woke up with a big rash on her torso, arms, and thighs. We think it was hives that she got in reaction to something she came in contact with, but aren't sure what exactly caused it. We left on Monday just because we were concerned about what was going on with her and wanted to be at home. By Wednesday it was pretty much gone.
On Wednesday she had her 9 month well baby visit and weighed in at 23 pounds 5 ounces (99%) and 23.5 inches (96%)! So she is a big girl for her age, but at least proportional, so no concerns. Everything else looked great at the doctor's office, she is developing fine. Still no teeth. Almost going to start wearing the 18 month size clothes we got for Christmas! Working on taking more and more solids to start weaning off the formula and even though she's had a sippy cup for a couple months, she is finally drinking from it regularly.