Gobble, Gobble!!!

What a big month number "NINE" was and at the end of it all, I can't say enough how blessed we are.  This has been a great year and we have so much to be thankful for, but all that really matters is our good health, loving families and wonderful friendships!  I am so proud to report that Miss Madelyn is still growing and after thanksgiving she may have even doubled her weight (just kidding).  She weighs 18 lbs 8 oz and measures 28 inches long (I think.....hard to measure her); but that's not even the beginning of what this month has brought.  Miss Madelyn insists on being a "Big Girl" (as she lifts her arms high in the air when we say that).  My other favorite thing is something I think she learned from Nana, which is making a "clicking" noise with her tongue on the roof of her mouth.  If you do it, she looks at you and then starts doing it back.  It's so, so cute how you can see her watch, process what she sees you doing and then start doing what you were doing while going back to whatever she was doing.  Also, the verdict is still out on whether or not she really is saying "DaDa" and "MaMa" or if she just likes those sounds and it is a coincidence that we are around to hear her saying them.......but she definitely tries to say dog when we tease Buddy & Juliette from the opposite side of the puppy gate; but the sounds just aren't right yet  :o(


Since she has mastered the "zoom zoom" (walker), we decided it best to step it up a notch and let her try the next step.  A friend of ours had this push walker that resembles a grocery cart that Madelyn loved so we had to find it.  She really likes it, but the wheels would turn a little to fast so we would have to crawl next to her and hold on to it so it wouldn't rush out from under her and cause her to fall.  Boy did we we get some rug burn and callouses on our knees the past couple of weeks!  After that, everything became the so called grocery cart if it would slide across the floor.  Whether it was a box or the laundry basket, we pushed it all over the house.

     

So, we were showing PaPa how we love our new toy so much but how we had to slow it down to keep her from falling and he decided to find a way to fix it for his little Gidget.  While he was working on it she was so concerned and wouldn't leave his side (or maybe it was the toy she didn't want to leave or maybe concerned what he was doing to her toy.....) and, as with everything else right now, was so intrigued by every little detail.  But once he was able to fix it, it wasn't long before she was out on her own.  Before I know it, she'll be moving out and going to college.  OK, maybe not....but it sure does feel like things are moving that fast.  She's only nine months old and trying to walk.  

 Our first Thanksgiving was soooo Mmmmmmmm...mmmmmmmmm......good!  I couldn't really tell which was her favorite new flavor, but I think the pumpkin pie was pretty high on the list  :oP  We also had a whole weekend to share fun times with all our families that we don't get to see that often.  We sure are thankful for all we have!

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

Tricks and Treats!!!!

Happy Halloween from the cutest boogie monster!  Madelyn turned 8 months old and it has been filled with many tricks and treats.  She weighs 18 lbs and measures 28 inches long.  We didn't grow any this past month, but we did add a couple of rolls :o)  And we realized how much that really is when we went trick or treating at my office for the annual Halloween Festival.  We carried around the biggest sweet pea in the whole world for almost one hour through 3 floors of spooky decorations and tons of candy.  Boy did our arms get tired in a hurry. We had to keep taking turns holding her to give the other one a rest, but had to call it day after the Blues Clues area since the switch was down to about a minute apart...But month 8 altogether was filled with lots of "gobbling and drools".......

We are so excited for this past month and the next upcoming months with all the holidays that will be her "1st".  It has made us more in the spirit as we try to make sure any holiday traditions are experienced.  So not only did we do the trick or treating, but we also did PUMPKIN CARVING!!!!!  I was actually a little hesitant since she didn't seem to enjoy the pumpkin patch at heritage village all to much.  I think she was scared of the the huge orange balls that were almost bigger than her.  But in the Halloween spirit we were determined to carve our 1st pumpkin.  After we cut the top off I thought she would love reaching in and squeezing her little hands in the ouey-gooey pumpkin mush since everything she sees now has to be felt.  But she ended acting like a little sassy girl and immediately pulled her hand away with a scrunched up nose that would accompany the word "Ewwwweeee" if she could talk.  Over and over I kept trying to get her to play with it, but she just wanted to play with the top we cut out. 

So, before she was born I kept wondering what she would look like and which particular aspects of each of our personalities she would have.  Every day we get to see more and more of the both of us.  One night we were cleaning her room and stocking up the changing table while she was playing on the floor.  After while I noticed that she was just babbling away.  I turned around and she was standing at her crib, her pointer finger on one of the lambs on her bumper pad and babbling to him that looked like she was yelling at him for doing something wrong.  It was so funny.  Ever since then, everything she touches is with that pointer finger.  So I took a picture and sent it to my family.  Both of my aunts replied to remind me that I use to do that to them as a child to annoy them.  It is so funny to watch Madelyn doing it and I laugh more then ever about my finger pointing days now.  Here's another story.  When sleeping at night, Ryan likes to cross his legs (like a guy does by making a square shape) and it rips the covers off of me and wakes me up every time.  I was sharing this with Nana once and she told me that as a kid, Ryan's brother would do the same.  Well, guess who likes to do the same thing while drinking a bottle......you guessed it.  Miss Personality  :o)

Lastly, since we are pointing with our tiny fingers at any and every small detail, we thought it was a good time to start practicing how to feed our self little snacks like Gerber puffs and Cheerios.  It took a few good practices, but now we are a pro.  Just have a few misses now and then (can you see the little runaway puff that is stuck under her chin....HaHaHa!

Is it "Fall" already?

Yep it's that time.....  almost has a certain feel...... Summer has come and gone.  Not only has fall arrived, but Madelyn is falling everywhere too!  In the blink of eye she has gone from crawling and pulling up to walking the edges of everything and starting to take those first brave reaches on her own!  Mommy and daddy are so proud of our big girl!  She now weighs 16 lbs 8 oz and measures 28 inches long (I think....hard to measure the little wiggle worm).  Like I said, BIG girl  :o)

Before summer was completely gone and while it was decent weather without smothering heat, we decided to make a couple of special trips.  Our first trip was to check out the community pool!  She loved it!  She kept splashing like she does in the bath tub and stared at all the other kids trying to figure out what exactly they were doing!  It was the first time we put her in a bathing suit and couldn't resist to pick one with lots of ruffles.  Our second trip was to the aquarium for daddy's birthday celebration.  He picked it and said that is what he wanted to do!  We had so much fun checking out all the different fish and other strange wildlife outside.  The best was probably the sea otters that would do crazy flips as they dodged at the glass while she was watching them.  She would just stare in amazement and then blink as they kicked off the glass.  We decided that their little fat bodies and short legs reminded us of our dog "Juliette". 

Since she is standing and showing a strong desire to walk, we decided it was time to get a walker!  We looked everywhere and really didn't like any of them.  Then Nana found the PERFECT one!  And after a long weekend with Nana, she figured it all out and has been non-stop on the go ever since!  CAUTION:  When visiting you must be very careful, because if you don't watch out you could get your feet run over or get stuck outside!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmUKOcLHrus

Although we haven't quite figured out the whole talking thing, we are at least making all the sounds that count.  It honestly is a toss up on which came first, but she's making the "MaMa" & "DaDa" sounds.  However, we're pretty sure that she doesn't know what either of those mean.  On the other hand, we've learned how to wave "Hi"....only "Hi" and not "Bye-Bye".  For some reason she just stares at you funny when doing it as "Bye-Bye" as though she's about to tell you "you're doing it wrong silly, it's Hi".  One day I went to pick her up from school and while talking to the front office manager I saw her in the teacher's arms through the window of the door.  She saw me and I waved and she waved back--it was the best mommy moment ever!

Lastly, we had two little visitors show up and it was in a matter of days of turning six months old.  It was almost like two birthday presents!  She really did well with those coming in, but I'm not so sure I can say the same for the next two.....to be continued.  On a good note, she is eating really good with a spoon!  Mash potatoes are a HUGE hit and we usually mix in a different veggie to give them different flavors.  She gets much more excited over mashed potatoes than cereal.  We hope to have a "trick or treat" for you in our next update  ;o)



How do you get Houdini in 6 months?

We cannot believe that half of a year has already came and gone!  In just a blink of an eye everything has changed soooo quickly!  We just had our 6 month wellness visit and little girl weighs 15 lbs 8 oz and measures 27 inches long.  Her height measures in the 75th percentile and weight just shy of the 50th percentile.  Last month our scale said 16 lbs, so either our scale is wrong or the introduction of vegetables has not been as successful as the fruit.  We've only tried carrots and sweet peas, but if only I had a picture of that face when we first tried them.  We've been trying out the eating with a spoon philosphy, but we often resort to the feeder to calm us both down!  We also started trying out the sippy cup and that turned out better than the spoon ;o)  We've tried Vanilla waffers, ice cream and many other little bites off mommy & daddy's (mostly daddy's) plate at dinner time.  But that's not all that is new; Madelyn has all sort of new tricks that seemed to happen in a matter of two weeks!  It was insane how quickly things started happening.

Magic trick #1......One morning mommy takes her into the bedroom to change her diaper after we finished breakfast.  Remember how active she was in the belly, well nothing has changed once born.  Since the little girl is so active, we can't change our diaper or clothes on the changing table.  Nope, no sir!  Not happening at all.  Instead, we have to change her in her crib.  So mommy lays her down in the crib and pivots (didn't even turn) to the left to grab a diaper and wipe and when returning what do I see????  Magic trick #1; Madelyn just sitting there looking at me!  Prior to this she would lean on a hip and one arm, but this was fully sitting up straight.  I didn't even get to see her do it!  As a result we had to lower the bed a notch.  Which was a lot of work by the way.....but wait!  It gets even better!

Magic trick #2......Mommy was so excited for her to be able to sit up and play together without her falling over, but instead I already have her running away from me.  The little girl just wants to go!!  In less than one week, daddy was changing her in her crib when she suddenly did a few inches of crawling trying to get away from the dreaded clothes changing monster!  I couldn't believe it when I got the text while at work late in a staff meeting.  Sure enough, the following day as we were hanging out on our play matt she started moving all over the place.  Although a little uncoordinated, she was really starting to figure the whole crawling thing out.  Before the next week rolled around, she had finally figured all the mechanics out.   I picked this video because it reminds me of Bambi just starting to figure out how to use the limbs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfxWqsm0B1k

Magic trick #3.....Daddy lays on the floor while we play and Madelyn likes to crawl over to him and either smacks her hand on his chest, trys to pull out his leg hair or seems determined to pull his nose off  :o)  While he was laying there on his side one night, she suddenly started trying to pull up on him.  We seriously had only had the bed lowered for about two weeks and already we needed to lower it again.  But since it's so much work, we talked ourselved into believing that it was just a fluke and we had time.  Sike!  Again one morning while little girl was playing in her crib, I walked into her room and said hello and then proceeded to pick out her clothes from the closet.  I turn around and she's pulling up on the crib!  Guess more work was the only option we really had.  After the unveiling of magic trick #3, we had to lower the crib.....again......in about two weeks!!!

The best magic trick of all.....is the little personality that seems to have bloosomed late.  Last weekend she just started laughing at everything.  Everything is funny!  Funny when she sneezes, funny when daddy sneezes, funny when the puppies shake, funny just looking at her!  It has been really cute and fun for us!  When she laughs we laugh too, so I'm sure we sound like a bunch of crazies.  Although we do seem to be less stressed  :o) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SyWMSBgyos

Lastly, I just had to share a picture from her first play date with Miss Evie!  Miss Evie is two weeks older but they don't look a day apart.  It was so neat to watch them interact with each other :o)

On Your Mark, Get Set, .....Maybe Go???

So she started getting up on her knees and before we knew it she was on her hands and knees!!!  Forgive me Madelyn when you read this later in life; but at times I just want to push her over and keep her my little baby :o)  But she’s not a baby anymore….She weighs 16 lbs and measures 26 in long!  Where did she get all that chub from?  Well, she found a new love…..cereal with fruit!  Her first encounter with some rice cereal didn't agree with her very well, so we waited a little while.  Then our first successful meal included Oatmeal with Peaches and she loved it.  It went down real quick, which made me feel like I was starving the poor child.  Her teachers at school said, "she eats it so fast--the whole thing is gone in less than 5 minutes".  Since then we've tried bananas, pears and prunes (because we needed to--although I think she actually liked them).  Can't wait to start on those veggies; look out green peas, here we come!  Stay tuned for those pictures.

After we found our feet and hands, she connected them and now feet go into the mouth every chance.  She has also found her fingers and becomes very concentrated on little things and trying to work her fingers with them.  I even catch her in the morning trying to pick the printed lambs off her bumper pad.  As she tries to learn so much with those hands, she demands not to lay back or recline anymore.  The bouncey chair is no longer a successful play time anymore.  She wants to sit up and see the world!

The truth of the matter is that I was bald until I was like 5 and Ryan is bald now; so Madelyn is just doomed in the hair department.  Sorry kiddo!  Although, I am proud to announce that it appears we grew about two hairs this past couple of months!  Yes, I am trying to be funny :o)  But it is cute because I can see a few that have gotten longer and they just stick straight up.  So I must take a poll to see....what color do you think her hair is?????

School continues to be lots of fun and a great place to learn new things.  The teachers there have been so helpful with solutions to her teething and getting time to practice new things like sitting up and crawling.  I must admit that my favorite part is the art work that she gets to make.  It just melts my heart when I come home and open the diaper bag to find the most adorable things that my little one made!  I don't know which I like more, the elephant butt from last month or.....the Fire Dragon!!!!!  Arrrrggghhh!

Another great delight is the little noises and sounds that little miss has learned.  When she's concentrating really hard she makes this little moaning sound that is adorable.  If you "eat" her belly and make cookie monster sounds she'll laugh out loud.  Ryan even got her to laugh back at him when he laughs.  But she won't do it with me :o(  She also has started doing a repetitive squeals with huge smiles of happiness in between each.  Our favorite is when she sounds like she is imitating George Jetson's space car. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F8fPiX6CLM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST6uHZmwNns 

I don't know if I can even describe exactly how much she has changed this last month.  It seems as though she completely grew out of being a baby so quick within this month.  When I write out the above, it just seems a lot less than what it really is.  Again, maybe words can't describe it but hopefully I'll always be able to remember it.

The 4th of Madelyn!!

Just when we thought she couldn't grow up any faster, the fourth month came with all sorts of new things!  She weighs 13 lbs 5 oz and measures 25.5 in long!  It's been two months since our last wellness visit, but everything (other than those darn shots) went well!  Her weight falls in the 50th percentile still, but her height went from the 75th percentile to the 90th percentile!  Looks like I'll be tall like my cousin Ashley or my Aunt Trudy :o)  I've sat here
for hours trying to figure the best way to share all the new happenings, but it is really difficult.  So I thought the best way to share would be by pictures.  Here is everything that we have been up to this month!!!

We found our toys on our swing

Found our hands, which helped us find our feet

Which then helped them find our mouth :o)

Found some crazy socks mommy picked out

for entertainment  :o)

Found some new tastes

like real whip cream, sweet tea, & coca-cola...mmmm  :op

Found the polka dots

on the new big girl carseat

Found the school near our house

while daddy & mommy work

There, we found our favorite teachers

Miss Schneider and Miss Barrerio

They help us find how to make art work

like an elephant's butt

Found a new cousin Riley,

cousin "Gunner" from Germany,

And a whole gaggle of cousins at the Fitzpatrick's!!

Found the dogs (or did they find us)!

Found out how to make daddy quiet

and how to listen finally!!

Found out how to roll over...and over

and practice every chance we get; even during diaper changes.  Yikes!

And with little time left over.....

have to squeeze in sleeping during bath time sometimes :o)