6 (Almost 7) Months Old!!

Lukey J is 6 months old! And, in fact, 1 week away from 7 months old! Time is flying. I cannot believe that we have had Luke for half a year already. And what a 6 months it has been. A few highlights:

- At 6 month check up, he  clocked in at 16lbs, 10oz (34th) and 26 3/4in (54th). I am trying to bulk this baby up, but he seems to be doing his own thing and very slowly gaining weight. Doc didn't seem too concerned, and we will continue  to watch it. I think once we switch to all formula, he will really start to bulk up. That seems to be what happened with the other 2 as well.
- Speaking of feedings, he is currently eating 4 times a day (7oz bottles when I am not here) and then a 4oz formula snack at 5pm. We started solids just before he hit 6 months. He is a big fan of carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash, and all fruits. Green beans seem to be the only thing he turns his nose up at, but he will still eat them. We've tried a sippy cup a few times and he can do it, but chokes a bit on the water. Just need more practice.
- little dude is CRAWLING! He started getting up on his knees back in mid September, and then started inching himself along just before 6 months. He has been able to get where he wants to go using that method, but within the past week he has started to stay up on his knees to the point where I will officially call him a crawler. Crazy!
- He has his 2 bottom middle teeth that popped in just before turning 6 months. He still continues to gnaw away at his hand or anything that he can get in his mouth, so maybe there are a couple more coming soon.
-I believe this may be the culprit to the sleep issues we've had recently. Little man has had some whopper of bad nights where he is up many many times a night. Or, on the flip side, he has some nights where he takes hours to get to sleep. Both unusual for  him and something I pray passes very quickly. I am too old for this no sleep thing!!! I also think he is one of those kids that gets hyped on on meds vs relaxed/sleepy. Most of the nights where it has taken him 2 hours to fall asleep have been nights where I have given him Tylenol or motrin to help with teeth pain just before bed. Will be interesting to see how that plays out. He is taking 2 good naps a day and on a very good day he'll take a short cat nap before 5pm, but that has not happened in quite some time.
- He is the sweetest, most agreeable baby ever. Though I remember saying the say thing about Madelyn at this age and well, that isn't quite the same today...but I think Lukey will stay the path on this one. He always wakes up with a smile, even when I have to wake him early from a nap or in the morning before work. And there are plenty of days where he has shorter naps but he is never crabby about it. Only time he continues to cry is when you lay him down when he is either hungry or tired. He is so good at going along for car rides and drop offs and hangs out to watch his brother and sister do gymnastics or swim.
- He babbles a lot, and has "ba" and "ma" down. "So big" has not happened yet, though everyone is trying that one a lot with him. He has a smile for everyone, and has started to reach a bit towards someone he loves (me :)) to pick him up. He burrows in to your chest when he sees someone he  loves smile at him like he just can't  take it.
- he loves his sister and brother and watches their EVERY move. The kids will literally run circles around him in the living room, and Luke's little head whips around to follow them the entire time. The bigs also love him so much. They ask about  his every morning and have to give him kisses every night before bed. The other night when Luke was having trouble sleeping, I jokingly said to the kids that I thought it was time to give Luke to another family since he was keeping us up at night, and Jack's reaction was priceless. He was so surprised and on the verge of crying at the same time. He doesn't want his baby brother going anywhere, and neither do I :)

We love you so much, Luke, Lukey, Lukey J, Lukers, Babies, Tinker Man!

4 Months Old!

Lukey J is 4 months old today!!! Where in the world have these past 4 months gone?! I realize this is only my second post for Luke, but that's not because of lack of material, so let's get to it and get caught up on all the awesomeness that is Luke :)

- He is the happiest and sweetest baby ever. He smiles all the time and when he sees someone he loves, he smiles and shrugs up his shoulders like he just can't take it. He is always content and is only unhappy when he is either hungry or tired. He is very easy going with all of the car trips we need to take and will contently sit at gymnastics, tball, soccer and swim to watch J&M.
-He is doing a really good job of grabbing on to toys and is really interested in them. He works hard to try and grab his pacifier when held in front of him. He loves both of his bouncy seats, and is sitting up in the bumbo here and there. He first rolled from tummy to back the end of June and then back to tummy followed a few weeks after that. The rolling is starting to pick up - last night i laid him down on our bed 3 or 4 times and he immediately rolled onto his tummy every time. When he is on his tummy, he is starting to almost inchworm towards the toy he wants, or the edge of the blanket so he can put it in his mouth. He's a smart boy - you can see the focus in his eyes when he's trying to figure something out.
- He LOVES watching his brother and sister, but especially his brother. Jack can get the best smiles out of him and Luke will track him all around the room. Sometimes he looks at Madelyn like she's crazy, and she is, so he's actually pretty intuitive :) Both kids are really good and sweet with him. They are always concerned about him if he's upset and always want to give him hugs and kisses good night. Andrew took the kids to the river the weekend after July 4th and Luke and I stayed back. When they got home from the weekend away, no one cared about me and they were all about holding and talking to Luke.
- Luke is obsessed with his hands. He has been drooling a bunch over the past month or so, and his hands are constantly wet from him chewing on them. no signs of a toothie yet, but the past couple of nights he's had some issues at night settling down and we think it might be teething related.
-Speaking of sleep, for the  most part he is a really good sleeper. He is down for the night anywhere between 8-9 and will wake up between 6-7am. Bed time currently takes a bit longer than I would like. He will pass out after he eats and we'll rock for a bit before I swaddle him up, but then about 5-10 minutes after I leave, he'll start crying and we'll have to repeat the process. And some times we have to repeat it more than once. He is still swaddled at night, though we are trying to work our way to no swaddle. He has successfully slept all night once with both arms out, but that has not happened in almost a week. He breaks out of his swaddle constantly, but just can't seem to completely settle down once he's out. We'll get there, we're close. But man, is he a good snuggler. He is my chest/shoulder snuggle baby. that is our sweet spot :)
- Weight stats coming soon as we are headed to the doc tomorrow for our 4 month check up. He currently eats 5 times a day - 3 5oz bottles during the day and then nurses with me twice.
-We've had some skin issues that we can't quite figure out yet. Red blotchy spots on his cheeks, chest and tummy. Could be a cows milk allergy, could be eczema, could be teething, not sure. Hoping for some answers at the doc tomorrow. We've had a long month of a few visits to the doc with green poops and skin issues, but he is happy and not bothered by any of it!

LOVE this baby. He is always a ray of sunshine every day. I can't get enough of him!

"I'll eat you up, I love you so" my Luke!!! 

Luke James Noble

On Saturday, April 8th at 5:33am we welcomed a beautiful, healthy baby boy into the world - Luke James Noble!

Friday night, April 7th after the kids went to bed, Andrew was suuuper excited that I agreed to watch some of "The Force Awakens." Throughout the movie, they are talking about a map that leads to the secret location on Luke Skywalker - foreshadowing much?! We watched about an hour and went to bed around 11.

Right as we were going to bed, I started having a few contractions. Nothing out of the ordinary, because I had been having contractions off and on throughout the day for months. I felt a few, felt the baby doing a ton of moving around, and fell asleep. Around 1am I woke up and the contractions were still there and very consistent. At this point, I am thinking it could be go time. I went downstairs and downloaded a contraction app so that I could time them - which was pretty pointless because they were coming pretty much right on top of each other. They were fairly strong, but the intensity wasn't really picking up - yet. For some reason, I was trying to talk myself out of this being the real deal. Maybe it's because the past 2 times I was told I wasn't contracting when I got to the hospital (though I was) or because it was 2am and I didn't want to wake up my doc it this was a false alarm...I don't know. But just before 2, I decide it's time to wake Andrew and tell him what's going on. I then called Dr. Bush who said that at my exam earlier in the day I was "pretty ripe" and instructed me to head to the hospital. So, called P, calmed her down, and then waited.

By the time P arrived, I was super uncomfortable. I kissed her goodbye and went to wait for Andrew in the car...but he didn't come. apparently he had no idea I was ready to go and was just chatting away with my mom in the kitchen, while I was swearing at him waiting for him in the car. Once we got on the same page and were on our way, I started freaking out. The contractions were super painful and nonstop, so I kept telling him to hurry and instructed him to do a few illegal moves on the road in order to get us there faster.

Once we got checked into the hospital room, a nurse checked me and told me I was at 5cm and said we would be staying (duh). I then had to sit through what felt like 2 hours of questions from the nurse while I tried to get through the contractions. I may have asked about 5 times when I could get the epidural. I was just reeeeally nervous things were happening too fast and I would run out of time to get one. And based on how painful the contractions were, I honestly didn't think I'd make it without one! My sweet nurse, Felicia, sensed my panic and put a rush order on my blood work so that my knight and shining armor could come and administer the goods. Oh, sweet Jesus. I've said it 2 other times and I will say it any chance I get before I die, but epidurals are literally the greatest thing on this Earth.

By the time I got the epidural, it was about 4:15. Thought I'd close my eyes and get a nap in, but right after that Dr. Bush came in the check things out. He said I was complete, but that bc I was getting antibiotics, we needed to wait on things. So he just had me do a practice push...which resulted in a crazy loud "pop" as my water literally exploded over everything, including Dr. Bush's face! So so embarrassing. Thank God Andrew wasn't looking to see that happen either.

Shortly after 5am it was time to start pushing. I thought the pushing process would happen faster than it did, considering that Madelyn took about 3 pushes to come out, but this time was a bit slower. All in all, I think it took about 20-25 mins of pushing and out came our BOY, Luke James at 5:33am, clocking in at 7lb 7oz and 19.5inches long. He looks a lot like his Daddy, especially with his eyes open, and has the SWEETEST baby head I've ever felt. I seriously wish  I could make a mold of it...and I just might be crazy enough to do so :)

We are now a family of 5, wow! Lukey is a sweet baby - he loves to be held in order to nap and loves to eat. The big kids are totally in love with him and have adjusted so well. They have both become so much more independent and have yet to get upset that I or Andrew can't do something with them because we have Luke at that given moment. I am really, really proud of them. And, I'm thankful that Andrew got on board with my bananas idea to have another baby. It's not easy, and it will never be easy, but I really feel that we were destined to be a family of 5, and I am so happy we were able to bring Luke into our family. I cannot wait to see his personality develop and see how his relationship with his brother and sister evolves in the months and years to come. 

Locked and Loaded

Just got back from my 36 week appointment, and my head is still spinning a bit!

Major takeaways are as follows:

1. Baby is closer to head down!! At my last appointment at 32 weeks, baby was transverse. I could feel the head on my upper right side all the time. But the past couple of days, I wasn't able to and thought maybe this little one was headed in the right direction (get it?) I did NOT want a c-section, so this is great news!

2. I could have gotten 1 more progesterone shot, but doc said it was fine to stop now so I am dunzo!

3. She checked me and said I am dilated 1 cm but that my cervix is "very, very soft." She then dropped the bomb that she "expects me to go some time next week." Whaaaaaaaaa?! I literally yelled back at her "NOO?!" I think she was a bit surprised by my reaction and then said "yes, it is quite possible."

We will obviously just see how this all shakes out, but in any case it just gets us to make sure we are locked and loaded at home and mentally ready to welcome this new nugget! I feel that we are mostly there, but I do need to finish up stuff for my hospital bag, car seat needs to be put in, pack n play put up...minor things. Eeek! Can't believe we are so close!

Earlier in the week, we went to Key Lime Cove in Gurnee...it was good and the kids were great and had a lot of fun. Even though I didn't do much physically at all, I was exhausted the entire time. But now that I know my body is getting ready for baby, I'll use that as my excuse :)

I managed to take a 36 week pic while we were there. I have had some anxious thoughts about my belly size bc of all the comments I get about how "small my belly is, especially for a third baby" but Andrew reassured me I look the same, if not bigger, than with the other 2. Judging on the below comparison, he is clearly correct. There is nothing small about this bump!

37 weeks Mads

36 weeks BN3

Showing some Love

We've tried countless times, but every time I have Jack put his hand on my belly to feel the baby, he doesn't feel it. He's usually watching tv so completely distracted or moving a bunch himself so he hasn't been able to feel. BUT, last night was different and he felt a ton of movements!  Jack sat with his hand on my belly for a good 15 minutes and every time he would feel something he would look at me and say "I felt that!" And then when we were reading books a bit later the baby had hiccups so I had him feel again. And Mads felt last night too, but I think it slightly freaked her out because she promptly removed her hand and didn't put it back.

They have also both talked to the baby. Jack just says "Hi, I'm Jack. How are you baby? I'm fine" and then Madelyn just copies what Jack does...but then she'll end with a "oh, I yuv you" too :)

They are going to be great with their new brother or sister. Madelyn tells me all the time how she will hold, feed, rock, play with and love the baby. I just hope all this love and help actually comes to fruition come April :) 

Bump it Up

Hard keeping up with weekly pics this go around, but doing our best! Actually, not really doing great but whatever. Don't worry New Baby - as a fellow 3rd baby I promise there will be plenty of pics from your childhood :)

Week 19 - Baby Tomato

Week 21 - Baby Carrot

Week 25 - Baby Rutabaga

Week 27 - Baby Cauliflower Head. Bouts of hiccups have started pretty regularly now. This baby seems to really have a pattern to his/her movements at certain times of the day. Keep that up, Baby! We'll need you to be good at following schedules :) 

Curious to see how this bump is comparing to the other 2. Certainly looks like I am spreading things out all over this time...oh dear. Top is JHN, bottom MLN

Hello Little One

I felt my first nudges from this baby on Halloween, which was 15w 6d. Now at 19 weeks, I am feeling kicks and bumps many times a day (including right now :)). One night last week when Andrew was out of town, I swear this baby was moving around for a good 45 minutes or so. I told Andrew it was a bummer he was missing it, but that I was confident he would feel the baby once he got home. Sure enough, Sunday night once we got into bed I started feeling some movements and Andrew got to feel too :)

Noble: Party of 5!

We're having another baby! Baby Noble #3 is coming in just 5 short months, eeeeeeek! It honestly still doesn't seem real to me. Once we had Jack, Andrew and I had many talks that we would have 1 more baby and then be done, but since Madelyn was born (and even when I was still pregnant with her), I wasn't quite sure if I was done. So I got Andrew on board, and here is where we find ourselves :)

We found out on August 11th, though I knew by the 8th that I was pregnant. Due to previous circumstances, we decided to wait as long as possible to test, even though every day when I still didn't get my period, I knew I was pregnant. But finally when I couldn't take it anymore, I quietly went upstairs to test while Andrew was watching the Olympics. Once that double line came through, I just walked downstairs and set the test next to him. And then we went through the usual "No way! Holy shit! We're doing this again?!" moments, and then went back to watching the Olympics :)

The kids are super excited about the "New Baby." Madelyn already loves babies and has told me she is going to "hug and kiss" the new baby. I don't believe she gets that the baby is in my tummy yet and doesn't understand when or where the new baby is coming. She says she has a baby in her "Templeton tummy." And Jack is always asking me how big the baby is and if I've felt kicks yet. He's ready to feel some kicks himself. When we first decided we were going to go for this baby, we had 1 brief conversation with him in Jan and asked him if would want another baby around. He said yes, we explained that Madelyn would move into his room, etc and that was the end of it. Nobody talked about it at all after that. And then once I was pregnant, he started mentioning having another baby on his own. One morning he said to Andrew "You know what I really want, Daddy? A new baby." and another time he made a comment at my parents' house when I was hugging them both hello about how it would be even better to hug 3 nuggets. It's crazy, but I feel like he has this sixth sense about it.

I am currently 18 weeks, and feeling good. The beginning was a bit rough, I was definitely more nauseous this time than with the either 2. I don't know if that is just because I'm older and every pregnancy gets a bit rougher for me, or if it means this baby is a girl, or what. But thankfully, the nausea passed around week 12 and everything has been good since. I am definitely in maternity pants full time for the past 10 days or so, and still able to make non maternity shirts work for now. I've had 2 ultrasounds so far and baby is looking good, and I started the progesterone shots last week to keep baby cooking full time. We go back on December 7th for the anatomy scan but we will continue with tradition and be surprised 1 more time on D day :)

Week 14 - Baby Lemon

Week 15 - Baby Apple

Week 16 - Baby Avocado

Mads likes to get in on the action - Week 15

Week 16 :)

Ummm, we've fallen behind a bit on weekly pics, but I can say with certainty that there is a BIG difference from week 16 to where we are now at 18. Will update this weekend.

We are certainly nervous about adding another little person to the mix, but I could not be happier to have another little person to love and for our big kids to love on a new brother or sister. I have high hopes that they will really embrace the new baby and their role as helpers, and that the transition will be easy peasy (right:)). Can't wait for newborn snuggles and smells and completing our family come April 18th!!!

#SameParentsDifferentKids

Last night, Jack was super tired and was having some "I  just need my Mommy" moments. At one point, he was crying telling me he just loved me so much and he just wanted to spend time with me. At the same time, I hear Andrew and Madelyn upstairs brushing teeth and Madelyn saying "Go avay, Daddy. Go avay."

Earlier in the day, we were all downstairs and I asked Madelyn for a kiss. She refused, and so I started pretend crying. This never works on her. She never feels compelled to comfort me to make me feel better, and instead usually gets angry when I stop fake crying. "You have to cry, Mommy. Start crying right now." Jack witnessed all of this, and while he was not the cause of my fake tears, he still came over every time to console me and love on me. This only made Madelyn angrier and she would try to pull Jack off of me. 

Sweet Kids

There is no better feeling than driving along in the car and listening to the kids talk to each other in the backseat. Most of the time it's Jack saying "Madelyn, what are you talking about? You're such a nut," or Madelyn asking "You done crying now, Jack?" or one of them is yelling at the other to stop singing a song or to give the other a toy they are hoarding. However, there are times where one of them just spontaneously says to the other "I love you" and I get such an overwhelming feeling of "this is what life is about" I could burst.

This week, Mads had been down again for the count with another round of this pesky fever that comes up every month. On our way to doctor's appointment, the following transpired:

M: I wuv you, Gack
J: I love you too, Madelyn. You know what I don't love? I don't love it when you are sick.

Pillow

For whatever reason, despite her using crib bumpers and stuffed animals as pillows every night, we had not given Madelyn a pillow to use. Last night before bed she was dragging one of my pillows off the bed and brought it into her room, so I went into the closet and found the little toddler pillow we had bought for Jack back in the day. She didn't want to "try it out" before bed, but when we were rocking and I told her it was time to go to bed, she smiled and said she wanted to try the pillow. Once I put her in bed and we exchanged "I love yous" and "goodnights", she said "thank you for that pillow, Mommy." 

Let's Try and Resume

Jack was tired and whining over and over about wanting to see Grandma on the way home from Chillin' and Grillin' where he just saw Grandma.  We’ve been doing a word of the day and a week early the word was “fixated.”  Hadn’t used the word in a while.  Just when I (Andrew) was losing it and telling him to stop crying b/c he just saw Grandma he said while sobbing, “I know daddy, I know, I’m just really fixated on grandma right now. “

We also learned the word emit.  For a few weeks once a day Jack would stop whatever he was doing, pop up and run to the bathroom and say, "Sorry guys, gotta go emit some poop." 

These Kids

These kids crack me up. On our way to Grandma P's this am:

> Madelyn - saying "night night" and closing her eyes and pretending to sleep, complete with snores. Then we'd say "morning Mads" and she's raise her arms up and clap

> Jack - upon arriving to the house and being greeted by an excitable dog "ok, ok, just simmer down now, Jack. Simmer down."

Clearly my blog has suffered lately, but that is certainly not from a shortage of things to write about. Madelyn is 15th months going on 3 years. She is so coordinated - running, "jumping" and doing whatever big brother does all over the place. She says a ton of words and tries to repeat almost every time when asked. She is also VERY sure of what she wants and doesn't want. We've already seemed glimpses of tantrums out of her, and I am legitimately scared for what the future holds in that department. 

Jack is still hysterical and sweet. He just completed a week of vacation bible school and despite telling me he didn't want to go every single morning, I know he had an "aweshome" time. He's had a few weeks of some night time fears that started with a song from the Christmas Toy, but he's found a new friend, Teddy, that helps keep him safe every night. He is still taking gymnastics and has moved into the big kid class and goes all on his own while Grandpa Jim hangs out. We're doing soccer, though we've only had 1 game so far. And he does a really good job riding his bike, and loves going on bike rides around the block 

A Gem

Last night when I got home, Andrew and the kids were in the yard enjoying the 70 degree day. Jack LOVES to play in the car so he was doing that while I was brushing dirt and snot off of Madelyn. When it was time to go in, Andrew was trying to coax Jack out of the car. Jack's response?

"You're wasting your time, Daddy."

Andrew's response?

"You don't talk to Daddy that way."

Who does this kid think he is???? But, I can't stop giggling about it. 

11 Months!

My pretty girl:

Randoms

Jack is quite a character. When he's not causing us to pull our hair out with some 3 year old antics, he is the funniest person we know. A few funnies from the drive over to Grandma P's this morning:

1. Last night he started a new game called "Hotel." It works very similarly to "Restaurant." We check into the hotel, or motel, as he calls it. So this am I said I was taking him to the Mokena Motel for the day. I asked if he knew how to get there:
 J: "Yes. You just go, and then you stop at Starbucks and get a blueberry muffin, and then you turn and go to Grandma's. And then you did it!"

2. My parents had pulled out P's car out so that I could pull our car into the garage when we arrived:
J: "There's Grandma's car so we can get in the garage. How did she know that? Grandma is amazing!"

3. Grandma eating her granola bar this morning.
J: "What are you eating Grandma? A banola bar?"

Catching Up

I've fallen a weeeee bit behind on the blog. I'm not happy about it, it's just really flipping hard to find time to sit down and data dump with these 2 kiddos. So, this will be a gigantic catch up post to bring us up to speed and then promise I'll do better going forward.

Jack turned 3 last month! It can always be a bit annoying when you hear parents give you unsolicited advice on your kids (and I know I'm guilty of doing the same sometimes) but for all those that said 3 is worse than 2, you are so smart. People would look at me like I was crazy when I would say that Jack never had big tantrums or crazy mood swings...and then he turned 3. Like literally on his birthday a switch went off. I blame part of that first week of 3 on the holidays - lots of time home with no activities, too cold to go outside, etc. because since then it's not been as bad. We still have some big struggles sometimes, but the majority of the time our sweet boy is still around :)

He is such a hilarious kid. Every day I could write a page long entry with the crazy things he says. And sweet things. Just this morning I won Mommy of the Year for finding some tissue paper in the basement (tissue paper is used to make garbage to fill up his fleet of garbage trucks at Jack Harold's Garbage Co.) and he said "you're the best mommy in the world. Can I have you for the whole time?"

In addition to playing garbage company, he loves to play movies, and act out every scene of his favorite movies (Cars, Monsters Inc, Bug's Life). His favorite game is still playing chase, and no less than 5 times a week, you can catch the entire Noble family running like crazies around the kitchen. He is still taking gymnastics and has improved SO much! Just yesterday we were at a jump zone place with all these jumpy houses and an obstacle course, and he could do everything and jump without falling all over the place. He also does music glass with Grandma Susan on Wednesday mornings, and library with Grandma P on Thursdays. And, since November he also attends a preschool class at the Methodist Church. He still "cries" when I drop him off, but mostly I think that is because it's his routine, because there are never real tears and he's always done with it by the time I am even out of the building. But, it still stresses me out every week, so I'm really hoping he will cut that out very soon. But it's been so great for him to get some independence and I know he'll do great next year as well.

We went to Disney Jan 7-10th. It was freezing cold and rainy the day at the Magic Kingdom, and Jack had a horrendous cold, but we powered through it and had a great time. Jack was a trooper and waited in line very patiently, and we packed in everything we could in the 10 hours we were there. He met Pluto and Mickey, and saw all the other Mickey characters but didn't want to hug anyone else. He loved Mickey's Philharmonic show, the barnstormer roller coaster, and his favorite was the Magic Carpets. We did that one 4 times I think? He was awesome on both plane rides. On our way out, it was just me and him, and he kept saying throughout that day "I'm so happy to be on this plane with you, Mommy" and "It's just me and you today, Mommy."Super excited for when we can go back with Madelyn and do the whole Disney experience :)

And now for the little girl. Madelyn is 10 months old, though sometimes I think she is about 18 months :( She started crawling mid November, and within a week was pulling up to stand and cruise around things. Here and there she would test herself and take a step or 2 to go from the couch to a toy or something, and just last week she started full on walking. Andrew and I had made a bet back in November on when she would start taking steps - he said Jan 31st and I said Feb 28th. He hit it right on the head! The weekend of Jan 30th she was talking maybe 8-10 steps, and she is now ALL over the place, just a week later. She'll walk circles around the island, change directions, bend down to pick up a toy and continue on, walk with objects in both hands - she's nuts. And she's very aware and controlled with her falls, unlike her brother when he first started walking.

At her 9 month appointment she clocked in at 20lbs and 28inches, which I think was in the 80s somewhere for both. Oh, and so I don't forget, at 3 Jack is 40inches and 37lbs.

Right at 9 months, she finally got her first 2 bottom teeth! Nothing since then, but I think she is working on at least 1 more right now. She can now actually drink water from a sippy, and is starting to self feed little bites of puffs, Mum mums, banana, pancakes, bread, soft apples, and oatmeal.

She is taking 2 naps a day, and going to bed by 7:30pm and up usually between 6-6:30am. Since she cut her teeth, she has been sleeping very well at night. This will change now that I just wrote that. She still has 4 7oz bottles a day, and lunch and dinner with a few bites for breakfast thrown in there from time to time.

She is the sweetest, happiest baby. I seriously could eat her up every second of the day. She has quite a few tricks in her bag these days:

- she jabbers all the time, and puts phones and other objects up to her hear and says something that sounds like a "hello."
- she loves the push car she got for Christmas and loves to be pushed around the house in it. I always say "go! go! go! go!"to her when she's in it, and she can mimic that as well.
- she can do peekaboo with a blanket and do "so big." She used to do a baaa for a sheep, but I've not gotten her to do that one lately.
-The other day we were in her room after her last bottle and she wasn't falling asleep so I started singing "Let it Go"to her. I noticed when I got to the last line, she would raise her arms up all on her own. She consistently does this and it's the most awesome thing.
- she loves to be chased. She picks up speed and squeals when you get close, or she'll lay down on the floor as it to give up and succumb to the tickles sometimes too.
- she loves to feel her hair hit her face, and shakes her head back and forth all the time, especially when she is crawling.

She absolutely LOVES Jack and is interested in every single thing he does. As soon as she sees Jack in the morning she gets the biggest smile and squeals with happiness. Jack does not return the favor. He still struggles a bit with sharing toys and parents with her, but there are also moments when he's very sweet with her. If she's crying, he'll ask what's wrong, or say "I think she wants to see me" and he always includes her in playing movies or chase. He'll come around all the way, I know.

That's a decent update to get back up to speed, right??? Next up, weeding through the thousand of pictures to post from the past 3ish months...

7 month update...almost 3 months later

I STARTED this post back in November. I will be playing catch up on the blog soon...I hope

- She is army crawling all over the place, and will stay up on her knees to take 3-4 crawls before going down to her tummy every once and a while. Won't be long! She is also starting to half pull herself up to things, getting up on her knees in her crib and some toys.
- She is becoming VERY vocal, and I love it! She is always jabbering in the morning in bed with us, and loves to practice yelling and "talking" throughout the day. She seems to think she has some very important things to say :)
- She continues to be very content and can easily entertain herself. She spends most of her days crawling from one toy to another, especially ones that her brother has left scattered around every floor surface in the house. She is always interested in what Jack is doing and what he is playing. If he builds a train track or lego tower - the "Madelyn Monster" will have it in her sights and is quite persistent. But again, take something away from her, and she doesn't make a fuss, it's just on to the next thing.
- She is quite easy to entertain and loves to giggle. Shake a rattle in front of her. Crumple a magazine paper in her face. Crawl your fingers across the carpet towards her. Go on, try it. She'll love it.
-She is taking 4 bottles (26oz) and 2 meals a day. As of a week or so after hitting 7 months, we are done nursing. Ole girl LOVES to eat and is always pretty eager for her food. In the next couple of weeks we'll probably start trying some early finger foods and see how she does with those.
- It would probably help with finger foods if she had some chompers, but still no such luck! Hopefully they don't all sprout up at once.
- Sleep is pretty good these days, but we still have occasional random wake ups in the middle of the night. She's gotten pretty good at wailing if we attempt to just give her the pac back and leave, but that doesn't happen every night.  

Halfway to 1!

Come. On. This is nuts. But here we find ourselves on the downward slope to the big 1 for our Madelyn Lou. These past 6 months have honestly gone by in a blink of an eye. But as much as I miss that tiny little newborn, we are loving every minute with this crazy happy girl and love watching her discovering the world around her. Some 6 month fun facts:

- She clocked in at 16lbs 12.5oz (60th) and 26.5in (60th) at her appointment last week. Andrew would have one believe she was in the +100th percentile with all his comments on her belly size.
- Beneath all that tummy she is a strong girl. She sits all day no problem and several times when she has tipped over, she is able to pull herself back up to sitting position using her tummy muscles. She is also starting to try and move a bit more on her tummy. She has the makings of an inchworm going, and has successfully scooted herself backwards a couple of times.
- Still no teeth, though every day I think has to be the day based on how obsessed she is with chewing on her pac, hands, toys, my shoulder - anything.
- She is now eating 4 times a day (6-7oz) and as of hitting 6 months has started taking some formula here and there. She is eating 2 meals a day, oatmeal in the am or lunch and food at night (we've done sweet potatoes, carrots and pears).  She has taken every new food we've given her easily and with a face that says "that was good. what's next?"
-Sleeping. Oh, sleeping. After recovering from the 4 month regression, I fear we have fallen into another one. Naps lately have been even shorter than before - we had a whopping 15 minute nap Sat am, and she is up multiple times in the middle of the night. Right now she is only taking 2 short naps during the day, and if you attempt to put her down for a third one, she will wear you down with her screams and crocodile tears and will make you pay. It's been fun :) But she is usually so cashed by the end of the day, that after I feed her before bed she passes out on my shoulder and we rock for a bit. Heaven. We ditched the swaddle right at 5 months as she sleeps on her tummy all the time.
- Despite the no sleeping, she continues to be a crazy happy, smiling girl that loves to laugh and play. She loves watching her brother and is interested in anything he is playing with or saying (or screaming). For his part, he is getting better at showing her things and actually talking to her with some prompting from us first.

Love my baby girl! Aka Miss Lady, Boobalah Baby, Cheekers, Maddie Lou, Bubbha Gurrrrl.

here are some pics from the past month

hanging with my cousin, Hattie

practice for family pictures

CHEEKS

a "hug" from Hattie

First meal of sweet potatoes! 

Video Fun:

sweet potatoes

piano playing

start of the crawl

5 Months!

Baby girl is getting so big!

Since I was delayed in her 4 month post, there isn't a ton new to report, but here are a few gems:

- she can definitely sit up like a big girl! Put the boppy behind her and she can sit for a very long time. On her own, she can do several minutes at a time.
- KNOCK ON WOOD, nighttime sleeping is going much better for the last week or so. We are still swaddling to get her down at night, and then taking her arms out (if she hasn't pulled them out already herself) when we go to bed. She loves sleeping on her tummy, and stays that way for 90% of the night. She's been down by 8 at the latest and sleeping until 6-6:30
- She continues to impress me with her coordination and observation. She is constantly grabbing her pacifier, taking it in and out, passing it back and forth in her hands, etc. She loves reading books and grabbing and turning the pages. She loves watching anything on TV, especially big brother's cartoons, and LOVES "Let it Go." See evidence here of it being the only thing to get her attention. (Nice singing, Daddy!)
- I get the biggest smiles from her when I get home from work. And squeals and hugs. It is just the best. I remember when Jack would do the same around this age :)
- Pretty sure we are going to start trying solids soon. She watches every bite you take like a hawk, and is always grabbing at plates during dinner time.
- We've moved into some 6 month clothes, but most sleepers are still pretty roomy on her. I actually don't think she's beefed up much at all in the past month. She certainly still has her rolls though :)

Love my sweet sweet, happy Maddie Lou!


Laugh tracks!!

Excuse Grandma's shaky camera work

Happy Girl

Loves the puppy just like her brother
Jack and the puppy

Not the best big girl sitting up footage, but she's doing it

still a little big for me, but I like playing in it

big bro's sunglasses