7 months old!

I can't believe my beautiful little girl is seven months old. She is growing up so fast. Even though I am having the time of my life with her giggling, crawling, screaming self, I sometimes think back to those first few days and wish I had soaked it all up a little more. You blink and she is completely different. This is definitely been the biggest month of change yet.

This month Maddie
-started crawling. She doesn't go fast yet, but she gets where she wants to go
-has starting pulling up to stand for things she really wants
-has perfected her ear piercing scream
-laughs hysterically when you scare or tickle her
-has TWO teeth
-is drooling everywhere and chewing on everything so I think another tooth is coming soon
-weighs 13 pounds and 15 ounces (4%). The doctor thinks she is going to be long and lean.
-is so social. We can't go anywhere without people stopping us because Maddie is smiling at them.
-still loves to cuddle
-will eat almost anything. So far we have had apples, bananas, pears, peaches, oatmeal, rice cereal, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, yogurt, mashed potatoes, and bread. She loves it all.

Maddie, I love you so much. You have made my life so much fuller. I love the little personality you are getting. I miss you so much when I am away from you and love the way your face lights up when I see you. You are the best thing that ever happened to me!

Ooops! Is she 5 months already?

School has started up and that makes for one frazzled mama. Hopefully things will settle down as we get more and more into a routine. Unfortunately I missed doing a 5 month update on Maddie, so here goes (only 2 weeks late).

Maddie
-has discovered she can get somewhere by rolling. She will often roll across the bed to reach a toy.
-is doing great at the sitter's. The child who refused to take a nap, now goes down with only a little fussing. She has so much fun with the other two kids that go there.
-can have a temper. Take a toy away from her and she will let you know she is not happy.
-started eating rice cereal. We are going to start oatmeal this week.
-is getting closer to crawling everyday.
-can sit up alone while leaning on her hands


Our little princess is becoming more independent. She still loves to cuddle, but also likes to play by herself. We sure do love her!!

Isn't she the cutest in her "Nobody puts baby in the corner" shirt?

Rice cereal

Maddie finally got her first taste of real food on Wednesday. Everything I had read said to prepare for a huge mess. So I stripped her down to her diaper, stuck a bib on her, and put her in her bouncy seat. To my surprise, she ate every bite. My girl looked a little unsure, but made sure everything made it into her mouth!

Not ready

        Why am I sitting here at 10:00 crying? Because tomorrow is I have been dreading for the last five months. Tomorrow Maddie goes to "try out" her babysitter for the first time. She will go two days this week, then full time next week. How did it get here so quickly? I know being upset seems selfish. After all I've had way longer with her then most working moms get. Although I had to go back to work before the school year ended, it didn't seem that bad. I only had six weeks of the school year left, and we were very lucky to be able to leave her with family. Plus she was still in the newborn stage, so she would sleep most of the day away. Now she is a babbling, moving cuddle bug. She has become a little person with her own personality. It kills me that now during the week someone else will spend more time with her than I will. Someone else will get to cuddle her, and hold her, and see that adorable face she makes when she first wakes up from a nap. Someone else will comfort her when she is upset, and make her laugh, and I will be down to only 5 hours a day with her. I will have to spend 15 minutes three times a day hooked up to a pump instead of nursing my baby girl.
          Realistically I know it is going to be fine. We really like our sitter. She is very highly recommended from a friend, and I really feel like she will love Maddie (I mean really who couldn't :). We will settle into a routine, and I will cherish the times I have with Maddie more than I do now. She will have someone else to love her and get to form friendships with the other three little ones there. I know no one will ever replace her momma. We have had an incredible five months. We've done more snuggling, playing, and loving than I thought was possible. We have a bond I can't even begin to describe, and I know that won't change. I love what I do, and my income ensures that not only do we make our bills, but have enough money to do fun things (vacations, new toys, cute clothes), and necessary things (health insurance for me and Maddie, a college fund). I will get to have conversations with adults again, and actually have to get out of my pajamas everyday. We are going to be fine.
         Now can someone tell that to my heart....cause I'm just not ready.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”-Elizabeth Stone

BinkieBear

Every book I read during pregnancy said to enjoy the first couple of hours with your baby, because right after birth they are alert. Then they usually get very sleepy for the next few days. I should have known I was in trouble when Maddie only slept for about five hours the first TWO days. My child hates to sleep. Thankfully she does really well at night. Naps on the other hand, are another story. She will only sleep if she has her pacifier and is holding onto something. We've tried everything-a blanket (she tries to suffocate herself), a teddy bear (she grabs onto it and rolls on top of it so that her paci falls out), and holding her hand (unfortunately that really cuts into getting anything done around here). So I was super excited last night when I found this online.
                            

BinkieBear is attached to the pacifier so that even if the pacifier falls out, the baby can easily find it. Or so the company claims. I'll let you know if it works ;)

The many faces of Maddie

Silly girl!!

Four months old!!!

Wow I can't believe my precious little one is four months old. She is growing up way to fast! She is getting such a bubbly personality.

                                                                                                                

At Maddie's four month appointment she was charming Dr. Nelson and the nurses with every smile and giggle. She weights 12 pounds 2.5 (15 percentile) and is 25 and 1/4 inches long (83 percentile) Because she went down in her weight percentile, I asked the Dr. if I should be concerned. Dr. Nelson said Maddie was still following the same curve and she is just going to be long and skinny. As someone who has to ask help to get anything on a tall shelf, that makes me excited. After examining her, the Dr. also said she was advanced developmentally. Yay Maddie!

This month has been a busy one for Maddie.
-She got a new cousin. Aubrie is almost exactly three months younger that Maddie. They are going to have so much fun together.
-rolled over all the way.
-started sleeping in her crib.
-is sleeping through the night!
-went on her first plane ride to Florida to see Pop-Pop. She did great on both plane rides.
-went in the ocean for the first time
-went in a pool for for the first time.
-went to her first professional baseball game. Go Tampa Bay Rays!
-went to Sea-World
-discovered and fell in love with Elmo.
-"talks" all the time
-started giggling (its so cute!)
-is dying to be mobile. Anytime she is on her belly, she starts "swimming", and gets so frustrated she can't move.

Maddie, you are the light of your mama's life. You always have a big smile on your face. It takes twice as long to grocery shop now, because everyone loves to stop and talk to you. I have so so enjoyed spending these summer days with you, and plan to take full advantage of the month we still have. I love watching you discover new things everyday. I am so proud to be your mama!! Love you more than all the stars in the sky and all the fishes in the sea!