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

God Bless Madelyn Lou

On Sunday, August 24th we had Madelyn baptized at the United Methodist Church in New Lenox. We were honored that all of our immediate family were able to celebrate with us (we missed you Kim and Hattie - our fault for catching HFM and keeping you away), and a very special thank you to Amy and Rob for agreeing to be our girl's Godparents.

Madelyn was a little angel baby through the entire church service, and put on the charm during the baptism. After she was baptized, Pastor Carr took her on a little walk around the congregation, and she smiled and greeted everyone like the sweet little miss she is. She then fell asleep in my arms for the rest of the service. Jack did great too, and was pretty hilarious:

- When we pulled up to church, he said "we made it just in time to church!"
- Upon the end of the first song, he shouted "peekaboo!"
- There were 2 violinists that played during the service. When they first started, he shouted "ooooh"
- We were seated right next to the exit door, with a blinking red fire alarm that Andrew was able to stop him from pulling less than a second later!

Only hiccup on the day was that we forgot our camera :( Thankfully, everyone has a camera phone

A Day Out With Thomas!

Jack has had a very busy August so far! A couple birthday parties, Boys' day with his cousins to Santa's Village and the water park, and yesterday we kept the fun going with a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum for a Day Out with Thomas!

Jack had a great time! He especially loved walking up and down the aisles of all the old trains, walking through the cars, and climbing on everything they allowed him to! When it came time for the Thomas ride, I think he may have been expecting more of Thomas and his friends, but he had a great time on the train and especially loved when Thomas would blow his whistle. He also go a big kick out of hearing Thomas talk and thank him for coming out to see him. A couple funnies from the day, not necessarily related to Thomas, but just b/c he's a riot:

- We did not take Madelyn with us. Instead she spent the day with Gma P and Gpa Jim. While dropping her off and explaining to Jack that she wasn't coming with us, I asked "are you going to miss her?" He replied "Mmm hmm...but, I'll be fine."

- When walking around we heard an announcer come on in the background and say that there was a train approaching and not to walk on the tracks. This was for the tracks behind us, announcer was barely audible, we didn't pay any attention to it. That is, Andrew and I didn't pay any attention to it. When we approached another set of tracks a minute later Jack said "we are not supposed to walk on the tracks." Further proof this kid does not miss anything.

- Last night he was on my lap watching a bit of Frozen before bed. I smelled what I thought was Andrew changing the diaper genie and commented on how awful it smelled. Jack said "I tooted." Me: "you tooted just now?" Jack: "I did! I tooted big." I thanked him for his honesty :)

On our way on Thomas video

All aboard! 

Thomas blew his whistle!