The Hutchins Family: Star of the Week, Glow Bath and 11 Months

WARNING!!! Get ready for picture overload!

As you no doubt have noticed, it has been a little while since I last posted. You will see that we have been keeping ourselves pretty busy! With Jesstine going to school three days a week and me working the days in between, it makes for a pretty busy week most of the time! So, now for what all that busy looks like in pictures!

At Jesstine's preschool, each class has a mascot. At the end of each week, a child is picked at random to take the class mascot home with him/her. They also get to be the "Star of the Week" the following week. Being the "Star of the Week" means that the child is the first person in line (usually), gets to bring show-and-tell every day, gets to bring a treat/snack one day, and gets to have mommy, daddy, grandpa or grandma read a book out loud to the class on the last day of the week. It is a pretty big deal! Last week was the third week of school. Jesstine came to me and said, "I really wish I could bring Friend Bear (the mascot for her class) home." I said, "Well, sweetie. Why don't you pray about it and maybe it will be your turn." (If you don't remember, last year it was a little over halfway through the year or further that she got her turn.) So she said a prayer right then and there! Lo and behold, she was picked!!! I was so excited for her for two reasons. One, it is exciting to have the mascot and be the "Star of the Week." Two, because she said a prayer and God answered it (luckily in the way she wanted)! Hopefully she has learned that when she talks to God, He listens! So here are her weekend adventures with Friend Bear. (Friend Bear comes with a blanket, DVD, and storybook along with a binder in which you are supposed to document your adventures to share with the class.)

SO excited (this was taken right outside of school)!!!

Reading Friend Bear's storybook.

Taking a nap with Friend Bear.

An after nap snack while watching Friend Bear's movie (she thought it was too long and I have to agree).

The next day she played "Hungry, Hungry Hippos!" with Friend Bear.

Watched Daddy play X-box.

Ate lunch with Friend Bear.

Played iPod.

Went Shopping.

And even went to Sunday School!

This week has been a long week. Stephen has been gone all week for a conference in California for work. I have had some glow sticks for a while and had fully intended to let the kids take a glow bath. I just hadn't done it yet. So, I thought I would give them some fun time in the bath while Daddy was gone. It is difficult to take pictures of it, but this was what I came up with:

Baths lately with Emmitt usually entail getting soaked!

(Me AND the wall!)

And of course, today is Emmitt's 11 month birthday!! I have really enjoyed watching him grow up, but it just happened SO fast! Here is the scoop:

Emmitt at 11 months-old is doing SO much! He now has 4 teeth. He is wearing mostly size 18 month clothing (although I still put him in some 12 month because we are kind of going back and forth between cold and warm weather right now). He is in size 4 Huggies Snug and Dry diapers. He wears size 18-24 month or 5-5.5 shoes depending on the brand/sizing.

Communication: He has learned the word no. He still often chooses to ignore it unless it is emphatic enough! He can say a few words too. He says Mama, Dada, Mamom (Grandmom), Memo (Elmo), Meow (what he calls cats; he used to say cat, but now just meows), Uh-Oh, NahNah (usually for night night, bottle, or food in general), BahBah (bye bye), Hiya (hello although it is hard to get him to say it), moo, monkey sounds and maybe one or two more things. He squeals with delight EVERY time he sees and animal! He LOVES the song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and tries to sing along with it! He can also sing to the first part of Beethoven's 5th (thank you Baby Einstein!).

Likes: Elmo, Mickey Mouse, toys that sing, phones (toy and otherwise), his sister's hair, anything Jesstine is playing with, getting into trouble, and all living animals (we went to the zoo recently and he was seeing things in cages that Jesstine didn't notice until she was a bit older and he squealed with delight at each animal).

Dislikes: The word "no," bed/naptime, green beans, sitting still, and I am sure I am missing something.

Food: He eats just about anything we give him (cut up of course). He typically eats 4-5, 8 oz. bottles a day. He will eat a good size portion of "table" food when we eat meals. He can really pack it in! Lately he has really enjoyed feeding himself! A typical day would consist of the following: 8 oz. bottle as soon as he can get it after waking up in the morning; Cheerioes/puffs and yogurt melts while Jesstine eats breakfast; 2 tbsp carrots or other veggie, puffs, yogurt melts, little crunchies, 2 tbsp fruit (usually apples or bananas), 1 tbsp meat (usually lunch meat or hot dogs, but sometimes chicken nuggets); 8 oz. bottle before nap; puffs or cheerioes after nap and/or 8 oz. bottle; dinner with us pretty much the same as lunch; 8 oz. bottle before bed.

Physically: Emmitt weighs 22.5 lbs. (with his clothing on) and is 29.5 inches long. He is still pulling up, cruising, crawling to get around. He is standing more and more though, so I bet it isn't much longer and he will be walking. He has also recently started to try to climb things. His favorite thing to climb is the hearth. He can wave bye bye (and hello). He still has very little hair, but it is dark and mostly in the back. He still has his BEAUTIFUL long eyelashes!! He is GREAT at cuddling!

Standing!!!!

Better picture, but I think he is supporting his self with his leg against the hearth.

The chair pictures are getting MUCH harder! I think I am doing better than some of my other blog friends have been able too with their kids at this age! There are still some more bloopers! Here they are!