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12 Months!

Charlie is one year old!

Ooh, boy - what a month it was!  So many changes this month.  Charlie got FOUR teeth this month, his four top front teeth.  At first I thought they were the canines but they were not, so no vampire for Halloween.  Instead, Charlie was a bumble bee, for all of about 5 minutes.  He enjoyed taking the candy out of his sister's bucket, but otherwise was not terribly interested in Halloween!

He shifted to one nap this past month, at the encouragement of his daycare teachers who were trying to get him ready to move up to the "walking room", as Maddie calls it (it's for 12-18 month olds who are mobile).  His naps have always been terrible, so it's been kind of nice to only have to deal with it once a day!  He seems fine with it, and now has more time to enjoy all the fun things he has to do at school. 

He eats everything these days, with enthusiasm.  No eggs or fish, but otherwise no food is off limits to him.  His favorites are fruit (pears, peaches) and spaghetti.  He started getting whole milk at school, though we are still nursing mornings and evenings at this point.  He loves to eat and is a pretty big boy to show for it!

Biggest news this month is that he finally took off walking on his own.  After months of hand-holding, and a short time of cruising on furniture, he just decided to do it.  After a week or so of requiring someone to hover behind him to catch his falls, he got the hang of it and now there's no stopping him.  He LOVES it, and has really blossomed into a fun little boy as a result. 

This past year has simply been amazing, and I can't believe it's over!  We are looking forward to getting to know toddler-Charlie in the coming months.  I'll continue to update here as I can, but I will probably not do monthlies anymore.  Pictures are always posted, though, so keep checking in here!

 

11 Months

Charlie is 11 months old!

This will be a quick update, since we are coming up fast on 12 months anyway.  Charlie had a good month!  His top right canine tooth came through this month, making his smile a bit lopsided since he only has just the bottom two teeth as well.  We thought if the canine on the other side broke through he could be a vampire for Halloween, but it didn't happen. 

He continues to be an excellent eater, and the teachers at daycare have really been testing his limits.  He now eats all manner of casseroles, breads, sandwiches, hamburgers, and other big-boy foods.  He's still nursing but has cut back even more and we're well prepared to wean next month. He had his first bout with stomach illness, unfortunately, but it was short and he was a trooper and Maddie and I were thankfully spared (Daddy wasn't so lucky) so in all it could certainly have been worse. 

He still loves his daycare and his teachers.  He still hates to nap.  He stays at daycare until around 2 pm, when I pick him up and bring him home for a proper nap, after which we go pick up his sister back at the school.  It's not exactly the "quality time" I'd envisioned when I proposed a part time schedule to have the afternoons to spend with him, but it's what he needs so it works for us.  Night sleep is still good, and overall he's just a pleasant little boy!

He's still walking with assistance but is so close to heading off on his own (given that I'm writing this as if it were his 11 month birthday, I will refrain from adding that he is, in fact, at 11.5 months, walking on his own!  I'll include that in the next update, though).  He crawls around everywhere and would love to get himself up the stairs if we'd only let him try.  He enjoys grabbing at cat fur when the opportunity presents itself, and has started barging into whatever Maddie is playing, which certainly does not make her very happy but he seems unfazed.  He likes to play with his little pink piggy bank and any of the little dolls from Maddie's doll house (those go in the mouth).  He is starting to have interest in books, but I admit we have not been very good at reading to him.  He doesn't sit still long enough!  

Looking forward to November 18th, when our little guy officially moves out of his infancy.  Hard to believe!  See you then. 

Rest in Peace, Grayson.

Grayson, a.k.a. Fatty, Fatty McFatboy, Fathead, Big Boy, was born in June of 1996 in Tuscaloosa, AL to a mama kitty who had snuck out of her apartment and returned in a delicate condition.  A lover of belly rubs and stinky shoes, he never met a person he didn't like.  He was a big kitty, topping 20 pounds at his heaviest, with dense fur that was satiny soft.  He made my college apartment living more enjoyable, he helped me through a summer in North Carolina with my sick mother, he lived the sophisticated kitty life for a few years in New York City, and travelled across country with me (again) to grad school in Illinois.  He lived in 8 different apartments/houses in 4 different states.  He was my first "child," a beloved member of my family, and over the years he welcomed with me a husband, and eventually two real children.  He died on October 22, 2011 at age 15, after living with chronic kidney failure.  He is greatly missed by his brother Cody, to whom he was deeply bonded.  We all loved him, and miss him very much.

10 Months

10 months old!

 

Month 10 was great fun!  Just before his 10 month birthday, we learned that there was a spot for him in the infant room at his sister's new school.  This center is a well respected daycare/preschool that has been around for decades.  In fact, both Charlie's dad and I attended when we were kids!  Charlie started in mid September, and has absolutely loved it.  No separation anxiety, no trouble napping, just tons of fun with all the toys and the space to roam and new little baby friends.  He literally reaches for the teacher when we enter the room.  This has been a great transition for him, and I hope he will have many good years at this school.

Meanwhile, he has honed his walking skills and can now do it holding onto only one hand (although he prefers the safety of clutching *something* in his free hand - usually a block or a ball of some sort).  He also learned to pull up on almost everything, and can cruise down the couch like a pro.  The cats have had to find new places to sleep because he will come out of nowhere are grab a fist full of fur.  He also, finally, learned to crawl!  It's a gimpy, one-legged procedure that involves using his hands in front and one leg to propel from behind, but the other leg just gets dragged underneath him.  He can drag himself around pretty quickly this way, though, and it sure is cute to watch.  The bad news is that we are not well baby-proofed and, unlike with Maddie, if you let him out of sight for a second he will immediately go for the power strip, the heating vent cover, or the cats. 

He still enjoys the bin of balls, and now likes refrigerator magnets and miscellaneous junk from the pantry (e.g., ziploc baggies, spare diapers, bags of rice).  He has started to use his walking toys a little bit, and can push them along pretty quickly before face-planting.   

Sleep remains decent, with two solid naps (daycare in the morning, always about 45 minutes, and 1.5 at home in the afternoons) and 10-ish hours at night.  He did go through a period briefly of standing up in the crib.  For a couple of days straight, he spent nearly 2 hours awake, standing up, or falling asleep while sitting up in the crib.  It was pretty pathetic to watch, but I quickly learned that going in to help him lay back down was a bad idea and resulted in an extra hour of cranky wakefulness.  So he learned to sit down by himself and after a few nights learned that it's actually better to save the standing up for the daytime hours.  

Eating is good, too.  He still nurses about 3-5 times a day (depending on whether he's at daycare or not), though we're looking towards weaning next month.  He eats purees with glee and has just started on finger foods in earnest.  Daycare has really driven this, offering him green bean or carrot pieces and crackers, while I have been too nervous/lazy to go further than Cheerios and avocado spears. 

Month 10 was a good one, and I expect month 11 will be good as well (of course, we're nearly halfway through month 11 already, and I can tell you it's a good one!).  Hard to believe his 1st birthday is right around the corner.  Looking forward to some great milestones in the coming months!  I'll try to be more timely in my updates for those, I promise.

 

9 Months

9 Months Old!

 

Month 9 was an interesting one, and full of transitions and change.  After spending a brief amount of time napping 3 times a day, Charlie shifted to 2 naps pretty easily.  One is usually about 45 minutes long, and the other is usually 1.5 hours.  He continues to sleep well at night, going to bed just before his sister, at around 8:30 and waking up at 7.  Month 9 also included a change in his daytime companions.  Our dear babysitter Casey moved on to work on her internship for her Masters degree at the end of July.  Maddie was also shifting to a new school, and for 2 weeks both kids were home with dad (and mom, in the afternoons).  We had a lot of fun during that time, taking outings to local playgrounds and doing fun things in between nap times.  We all missed Casey, but Charlie took the change in stride. 

Mid August, while Maddie started at her new school, Charlie started spending his mornings with our friend and neighbor Janet.  Janet cares for her younger son (and her older son, when he's not at school) plus another baby, and Charlie enjoyed the extra company.  He struggled to nap well, though, not surprisingly.  But in general, he enjoyed his time with Janet. 

At 9 months, Charlie began walking, assisted.  He could walk while holding onto someone's hands for balance.  But he didn't crawl, at all.  He could sit for long periods of time, and even pull up on certain things, but otherwise was only mobile if someone hunched over and held his hands.  This was exciting for him, but backbreaking for us. 

At 9 months, his favorite toys were probably his bin full of plastic balls.  He also enjoyed playing with empty plastic water bottles and any type of cardboard package.  He liked to eat mail destroy magazines, too. 

And finally, following in his sister's late-teething footsteps, Charlie's bottom teeth came in this month!

 

4 Years

Maddie is 4 years old!

 

Oh, what a difference a year makes.  Maddie has grown up so much this year!  She is truly a wonderful little girl.  Her biggest life change was the introduction of her little brother Charlie in November.  Maddie has been a terrific big sister from the start.  She wanted to hold the baby all the time, and mostly was very gentle and careful not to harm him.  As he grew bigger her affection became more rough, but thankfully she is so enamored with him that it's hard to fault her for it.  She has been a good helper with him, and really never seemed to resent his presence or the resulting upheaval of her world.  She has welcomed him as part of the family, and he adores her, too.

 Not surprisingly, Maddie has gained a lot of independence this year.  She is adept at navigating playground equipment and doing other physical things by herself now.  She attends a weekly gymnastics class that a year ago she refused to participate in without the security of mom or dad holding her hand.  Now she runs in, follows directions, learns new things, and takes pride in her skills.  It's nice to see her learning confidence. 

 The love of all things girly really took hold this year.  Barbies, My Little Pony, and Strawberry Shortcake are strewn about the house at all times.  More than any of those, however, she loves dogs.  She has accumulated a pile of stuffed dogs, which she carries up to bed with her each night and back down each morning.  Her Baby is still required for naps and night time, but these days a stuffed dog accompanies them as well.  One of her favorite birthday presents was a dog leash we gave her, so she can drag her animals around to her heart's content.

 There has been a recent shift from picture books to story books, which means that we need to build up her library some more.  Most of her books are for littler kids, so we'll save them for Charlie, but she needs to get some more big girl books.  Must remember to try out our local library soon.

 Socially, she has also grown by leaps and bounds this year.  She is beginning to prefer other kids to grown ups as playmates.  When we go to a playground, she gets so excited if she makes a friend.  She's also learning to navigate the social world (for better or worse).  I used to get so frustrated and sad for her when she would say "Hi" to an older child and the child would ignore her, causing her to look at me with confusion.  That never happens now, since she knows better how to approach someone, to get their attention, and to talk to them.  She happens to be very nice to younger kids when they try to talk to her, which is nice, too.

 The other major change this year involved a change in schools.   In August, she left her small, home-based daycare, which she had attended since she was 11 months old, for a real preschool in a large center.  The center is fantastic, and we knew it would be a great place for her to prepare for kindergarten, but it was also a big shift for her.  She adapted so smoothly, and we are so very proud of her.  It was hard to be the "new girl" (many of the girls had been in class together since they were infants), but after a couple of weeks she made friends and now she runs to her classroom when we enter the school.  School has also taught her a lot about rules and interacting with other kids without constant intervention from a grown up.  This will help her when she heads off to "real" school.  One downside to preschool has been that apparently the go-to game on the playground is "Boys Chase Girls."  Man, I remember that from my own kindergarten days and I really hated that game.  Apparently, Maddie does too, so she often feels left out during recess, saying, "Everyone was running away from me!"  She'd rather sit on the picnic table and pretend to be a dog, apparently.  Occasionally she say that she was able to find another kid to play dogs with her, too, so it's been fine.

 Well, age 3 was an interesting one.  We are beginning to see a lot of challenging behavior as her new-found independence morphs into a little defiance.  It will be interesting to see what age 4 brings in this regard.  Meanwhile, we continue to marvel at our wonderful little girl.  Looking forward to the next year!

 

8 Months

Charlie is 8 months old!

Sorry, I forgot to post an update!  Life is pretty busy, what can I say.  Charlie turned 8 months old on July 18th.  His 8th month was pretty fun... he learned to sit by himself.  One day, he couldn't do it.  The next day, he could sit for 20 minutes without falling down!  He has been gaining a lot of physical skills lately, but no crawling yet.  He loves to play with his toys, and really loves to watch his sister play with her toys!  One of his favorites is the tub of plastic balls.  He likes to kick them, and sometimes we sit him in the tub and let him bang them around for a while. 

He has been pretty vocal this month, too.  Lots of yelling, and some mamamamama and dadadada, and the occasional ahh-ta (which reminds me of one of Maddie's first words, which was hee-ta). 

His sleep is still OK.  Good sleep at night, but naps remain crazy.  He just recently started taking 3 naps, one about an hour and a half and two about 45 minutes, instead of his typical 4 short naps each day.  That's been nice.

He has warmed up to the stroller and loves to go for walks in one of the carriers.  We graduated him from his "bucket" carseat to his big-boy convertible seat (which was Maddie's until recently).  He is a pretty big boy! 

Still exclusively breastfeeding, but he's eating solid foods 2-3 times a day now, too.  He's a big eater, so it's no wonder he's so chubby!

This month has been a lot of fun, and I hope to post his 9 month update on time in a couple of weeks!

 

7 Months

Charlie is 7 months old!

This month has been a mixture of fun and not-so-fun.  In fun stuff, Charlie started eating solid foods, and has gone to it with gusto.  So far he loves prunes and sweet potatoes.  Oatmeal seems to make his tummy hurt, but everything else has been just fine.  He eats a ton, too, so his weight is still above average. 

His eyes appear to be officially blue now.  Sometimes they look a bit green, and may actually end up being hazel, but right now they are mostly blue.  No teeth yet, though lots and lots of drool.  His reflux seems to be getting better, which is good. 

Sleep is going OK.  He sleeps well at night - nearly 9 hours on most nights - but naps are all over the place.  Most of this month he has taken 4 short naps each day, each about 45 minutes long.  This makes for a difficult day fo us, because we can't get out of the house for very long before it's time for another nap, and there is not much time to get anything done while he's sleeping.  But it's OK.  He is still sleeping in the swaddle and we're kind of afraid to stop it!  He doesn't roll over in it, so I'm not worried about it for now.  But we'll probably need to think about getting him to sleep without it soon.

Recent development is sitting!  He can sit by himself for several minutes now.  He rolls both ways, though he doesn't do it too much.  Just in the last few days he's shown frustration at not being able to crawl, so I think he might be motivated to start that soon.  We'll see!  He still loves to stand, and has been enjoying his exersaucer and jumperoo.

He's so much more interactive now, it's fun to see him be a true part of our family.  Madalyn loves to play with him, and he adores her.  There's no easier way to make him smile than to bring Maddie into the room.  He also recently discovered the kitties, and loves to see them, especially Cody.  He grabs handfuls of fur, but the kitties seem to be very patient with him. 

We're waiting for a hot day (June has been kind of chilly this year) to get him into our little splash pool.  So far, outside activities have been limited to going for walks in the carrier, and sometimes in the stroller.  We have a little swing for him on the swing set, but it's in full sun so we only use it in the evenings. 

In all, this was a good month.  See you next month!

 

 

6 Months

Charlie is 6 months old!

Where have the last 6 months gone? 

Charlie has grown so much, so fast.  He is a big boy, weighing nearly 18 pounds.  He's shed many of his 'helpless newborn' qualities, and now is a curious, excitable, social little baby.   Now that the weather is warmer, he loves to be outside.  He can be a cranky mess, but if you throw him in the baby carrier and walk outside, he immediately calms.  He loves to see other people, but only from the safety of his parents' arms.  He's developed some stranger anxiety, which is typical of babies his age, but we're hoping he gets over it soon.  He LOVES to see his big sister.  His eyes literally light up when she bounds into the room. 

We started offering him some infant cereal, which has gone over well for the most part.  He eats from a spoon like a pro, but his tummy has some trouble dealing with the new stuff, so we're taking it slow.  Initally we had hoped the cereal would help with the reflux that has been bothering him so much, and it looks like it has.  We expect to see some more food exploration this month as we start to offer him more. 

Physically, he continues to develop.  He can roll from his tummy to his back, but has yet to find the motivation to go the other direction.  He has been practicing bringing his knees up underneath him, which looks like might lead to some crawling at some point.  He still loves to stand, and doesn't love to sit, so we'll see where that takes him.  He enjoys his jumperoo, but still hasn't figured out how to jump in it.  He has also just recently decided to tolerate the stroller, which is nice for going on walks. 

He isn't doing much babbling, and when he does it's more gutteral and growly than babbly.  He does some occasional squealing, though, and I'm hoping he starts "talking" more soon. 

Sleep is still decent, though naps are still tough for him.  He fights them, even on days when he is clearly tired.  Recently he began to shift away from his 4, 45 minute naps a day schedule to extending at least one nap, and also has started adding about an hour to his night sleep, to be around 8 or 9 hours (if we're lucky) without a wake up.  He recently went through about 5 days of complete, screamy sleep disruption, but that hopefully has abated (but will surely return at some point!).  We have firmly established the swaddle as a sleep crutch, so when we are forced to ditch it (which I fear will be soon, with all the rolling he's doing) I'm sure we'll see some protests and disruption.  Par for the course, I guess.

Overall, he's a pretty good kid.    We'll see where month 7 takes us.

 

5 Months

Charlie is 5 months old!

He is a big baby!   Weighing nearly 17 pounds at last check, he's much bigger than his sister was at this age.  We have been lucky enough to have exclusively breastfed so far, despite some issues with my supply following the flu about a month ago.  Thing seemed to have rebounded and we'll be looking to start solid foods in a few weeks.  I think he will enjoy that, as he seems very interested in what we put in our mouths these days.

Motor skills are changing every day, though he still doesn't roll over, except on a few fluke occasions.  He has very strong legs and wants to "stand" all the time.  He has some issues with reflux, so this position seems to be most comfortable for him, though it's exhausting to hold him that way for long times!  We got a jumper/exersaucer thing (great deal at the local consignment sale!) that seems to be a hit, since he can stand up in it.  No jumping yet, though.  When he's on his tummy he will sometimes pull his knees kind of up under him, so he seems to be doing some pre-crawling work.  I expect big motor skill development in the next month or two!

Sleep is still OK.  He sleeps great at night, with just one nightly wake up, usually between 4 and 6 A.M.  However, the last two nights he slept from around 10 pm straight through till 7:30 A.M.!  I don't think it will last, though.  Naps are not the best.  Most days he takes 4 naps of 45 minutes exactly.  You could almost set your watch by how his naps are exactly 45 minutes long!  This is kind of an exhausting schedule to maintain all day every day, but it's OK.  He is a bit of a fusser before he does down to sleep, so I'm not sure if this means he will never be a great napper?  Who knows. 

He has started holding his toys easily now, and will of course put them all in his mouth.  He's also seemed to make better peace with his car seat in recent days, though only for short trips.  More than 20 minutes or so in the car and he'll let us know he's done with it.  But, it's a big improvement from before! 

With the weather warming up we've found that Charlie LOVES to be outside.  He can be fussy and cranky and as soon as you step outside with him, his eyes perk up and he quiets down and just takes it all in.  We're having more success in the baby carriers, so now we can go for walks as a family again.  Still doesn't like the stroller but I figure the more we stick him in there, the quicker he'll get used to it. 

Looking forward to the next month, and getting to the 6 month mark! 

 

4 Months

Charlie is 4 months old!

Charlie is doing great!   At his 4 month check up he weighed just over 16 pounds!  He's a pretty chubby kiddo.  Very cute, too!  He is grabbing toys now, and of course putting them in his mouth.  He's super-drooly but I hesitate to say there will be teeth anytime soon, since Maddie's first tooth didn't come in for 5 months after the drooling began.  We'll see.  Charlie is an OK sleeper - he goes to bed around 9:30 and sleeps till around 5 or 5:30, takes a quick feeding and then goes back to sleep until around 8:30 or so.  His naps are not as great - 45 minutes at the longest, and 4 times a day.  Doesn't allow for getting much work done during the day, but hopefully he will begin consolidating naps soon.  We went for our first BBQ out of the house and he did great, even though we made him skip his evening nap.  He melted down in the car on the way home, but he went straight to bed and generally was a trouper about it all. 

He has rolled over a couple of times but doesn't seem that interested in it.  He has very kicky legs, though, and is pretty active on the floor, where he spends most of his time.  He likes to 'stand' and doesn't really like tummy time.  He has just started tolerating the car seat a little more, but still hates the stroller.  So far we've had some success with wearing him in a soft carrier, so that's good.

In all, this month has been exciting and more fun.  Looking forward to the next one!

 

3 Months

Charlie is 3 months old!

We are all doing pretty well these days.  Charlie is growing like gangbusters - he's more than 14 pounds now.  Breastfeeding has gone pretty well so far, without all the difficulties we had when Maddie was nursing.  On the flip side, Charlie doesn't sleep nearly as much as Maddie did at this age.  But, we really can't complain.  He will sleep from around 10 pm till around 6 am, then go back to sleep for another 1-2 hours.  Naps are all over the place, lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours.  But generally he's easy to get to sleep so it's all fine. 

He's getting much more interactive these days - lots of smiling and giggling, and a little cooing here and there.  He kind of tests his voice out every now and then, which is cute.  He will smack his toys around a little if you hold them in the right spot, but he doesn't really grab things yet.  He is drooling like crazy, requiring a bib at all times now.  He can hold his head up really well and likes to look around when he's on his tummy.

So far I have not been able to get him to like his carseat, the stroller, or any of the baby carriers that I have.  So that means any - ANY - trip outside the house results in screaming the whole time.  So we don't get out much.  Once the weather gets warmer I think we'll just have to grin and bear it.  We're getting stir crazy here!

Overall, Charlie is a pretty good baby.  We're looking forward to the fun developments in the next few months.  We'll keep you posted!

 

Funny Talker

Maddie's language skills are pretty good - she uses pronouns correctly almost all of the time, she can do verb tense, etc.  Still, she has some of those little kid quirks that I think are so darn cute.  Some new words that are similar to words she already knows can stump her, and she uses the old word, or incorporates it somehow.  For example, a "flashlight" is pronounced "flush-light" because "flush" is a word she already knows.  Last week, Andy gave her a Rice Krispie treat for the first time.  Later, she told me that she ate an "ice Christmas tree".  Those are words she knows, while Rice Krispie is not a phrase she recognized.  Another cute version is when she's singing the "Ring Around the Rosie" song.  Here's her version:

Ring around the posie

Pocket full of rosies

Ashless Ashless

We all fall down!

 

"Ashless" comes from "Ashley" - which is a word she has pronounced for a long time.  "Ashes" is too close to "Ashley" to come out correctly.   I love the way she speaks, and I know it will be all too soon before she perfects her language, and these cute little quirks will be long gone!

Here's a recent conversation she had with us.  She has been requesting to go to the store to get a toy, and we've been talking about how toys at the store cost money, and to get money you have to go to work.  When we said that we make money at work, I think she took that literally and now she thinks Mommy and Daddy physically create money at work.  Anyway, she is explaining how we can go to Daddy's work and make some money and then go buy the Ferrari and the Strawberry Shortcake (two of the toys she currently covets).  Here's her take on the situation:

 

Untitled from Terminator Bunny on Vimeo.

Cuteness

I mentioned in my last post how Charlie likes to play this game where we pat his hands while he holds them out...  Here's the cuteness captured on video:

 

 

Untitled from Terminator Bunny on Vimeo.

2 Months

Charlie is 2 months old today!

 

This past month has gone by quickly!  We had a lovely Christmas...  Charlie participated in Christmas morning festivities without a fuss, and then took a long nap so that Maddie could have some time to play with her new toys.  It was a lovely holiday with both the kids. 

Charlie is growing quickly.  Weight gain has been steady, and he now weights nearly 13  pounds and is 23 inches long, a gain of 2 inches and 4 1/2 pounds since birth!  He can hold his head steady while being held upright on your shoulder, and loves to look around.  When on his tummy, he can lift his head up and sometimes can raise his shoulders with his hands (push-up style).  He is smiling all the time, and often we can get him to giggle.  His favorite game is lay on his back and let us slap his hands.  He'll raise his fists up in front of him to try to get us to play this fun game!  He also really enjoys watching and listening to his big sister.  He will look for her in a room if he hears her voice. 

Sleep is going okay.  Most nights we get a six hour stretch of sleep, with another 3 or 4 hour stretch after that.  I'm hoping he can stretch that 6 hours into 8 sometime soon.  I will return to work this week (part-time, thankfully) and I could use all the sleep I can get!  Sleeping swaddled seems to be the best method for getting solid sleep.  He's not much into the binky at all.  He'll use it to calm down when he's trying to fall asleep but he almost always pops it out and goes without.  He's eating his hands a lot lately, but hasn't yet found a finger or thumb to suck on.  We'll see if that ever develops.

He is not a terribly fussy baby, thank goodness, though he does have his periods of crankiness.  Usually these are accompanied by some kind of gastric distress.  One big poop usually solves the problem.  We've found that a lot of the tricks we used with Madalyn don't work for him.  The swing is the biggest - Maddie slept nearly all of her naps for the first 6 to 8 months of life in her beloved swing.  Charlie can't stand it!  Also loathed by him is the wrap, which I'm desperate to reverse because I really loved wearing Maddie around in the wrap or other baby carrier.  Maybe once he can see out?

The weather has been awful this winter so we haven't been out of the house much, but he sure does hate to ride in the carseat.  He screams bloody murder every time.  Hopefully this will lessen as he is better able to see out the window.  Looking forward to the weather improving so he can go for walks in the stroller.

Looking forward to the next month and hoping to see him change even further from a floppy newborn to a bouncy baby! 

 

Photos

I created a new photo album where I will start putting all the pictures of the kids, rather than splitting them into separate albums.  I haven't figured out yet how to move the photos from their existing albums into this new one, though, so I'll leave the old albums up for a while.  But if you are looking for new pictures, they are in the Family Photo Album to the right.

1 Month

Charlie is one month old!

 

There is not much to report at this point.  We are all adjusting to being a family of four.  Charlie is a great eater, and has gained nearly 2 pounds now.  He sleeps OK - at night he does fine, waking every 3-4 hours but going right back to sleep after nursing.  During the day he sleeps less than most infants - he spends a good 5 hours each day being awake and fussy.  But overall, he's a pretty typical newborn.

He has enjoyed some tummy time, has napped in his swing (though he doesn't seem to like it much) and the wrap on occasion.  He hasn't warmed up to the wrap yet, but I'm hopeful because I love the wrap!

This first month has been challenging and rewarding at the same time.  We are adjusting well, and hope to have lots of new things to report next month.  See you then!

 

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

So, he finally made it here!  The boy was born on Thursday, early in the morning, after a long labor.  He weighed 8 pounds and 9 ounces and was 21 inches long.  We're all at home now, getting a new set of routines in place.  I'm trying to heed the advice that I didn't when Maddie was born to sleep whenever possible, so I haven't had much time to post pictures.  Here's a good one, though, with more to come soon:

 

Update on the Family

 Only 4 more weeks to go till the big Due Date!  We're feeling good, and are really excited to meet our son.  His name is Charles James, by the way.  After Andy's grandfather.  We'll call him Charlie, I think, although C.J. is kind of cute, too. 

Pregnancy has been relatively kind to both of us this time around.  Having a pre-schooler running around makes for easy distraction from the craziness of growing another human inside your body.  I'm starting to get nervous about the birth, and hope we luck out with an uncomplicated, normal delivery.  At 36 weeks, this baby could come anytime in the next 5-6 weeks (please, don't be 6 more weeks!), so we'll be keeping everyone posted as things progress.

Some people have asked us if we need anything for the new baby.  We are lucky to have a great network of friends and family who have generously given and loaned us most of what we need (thanks!).  There are a few things we would still like to have, though, and since people have asked, I thought I'd share our list:

Our Amazon Wishlist

With a few exceptions (like, say, the nursing pads or the carseat base), we would welcome any of these items second-hand. 

We'll try to stay on top of updating here when things get going.  Wish us luck!

 

 

 

The Year in Review

See the slideshow of Maddie's 3rd year in pictures here.  Enjoy!

A Third Year in the Life of Madalyn

36 Months

Maddie turns 3 years old today!

The last three months have involved the most significant leaps in development so far... she has grown up so much since the last update! 

We moved to a Big Girl Bed in March, and the transition was really easy.  Her new bed was in a whole new room, and the move went really well.  She now sleeps with all her stuffed animals and toys in her big bed, and never looked back at the crib. 

We also successfully potty trained this summer.  Also a really easy process - the pediatrician had told us to wait until she was 3 and she would "train" herself - and that's mostly what's happened.  She uses the potty consistently and without accident 99.9% of the time.  She loves her Underwears, which are special because they have Woody and Jessie and Tinkerbell on them.  She loves to show them to people, something we're working on.  She wears Underwears during the day and at night now. 

She is still an expert puzzle-maker, and has shown an increased interest in reading books on her own.  She loves to watch Scooby Doo, and seems unfazed by the somewhat scary content.  She still loves her play kitchen and has increased her pretend-play a lot.  She will now play independently with her toys, making up pretend conversations between them and making them act out little scenes.  She has recently developed an increased attraction to "girly" toys - princesses and Tinkerbell in particular.   She still seems less girly than some other girls her age, so we'll see where that goes.

She still takes a mid day nap, though recently some days she will not nap at all.  This is a real problem, because she very much seems to need the sleep.  If she doesn't nap, she's a pill by the end of the day.  Her bedtimes have also become more difficult and we're really hoping it's a phase that will be outgrown and she'll return to her easy-sleeping ways.  Fingers crossed.

Otherwise, she is a delightful little preschooler, with great conversation skills and and a warm, loving personality.  She is the little helper at her daycare when it comes to taking care of the smaller children.  We're hoping this will continue at home in a couple of months when her new baby brother comes to join us.  We'll see!

 

Update

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated!  I'll do a birthday post soon, but meanwhile I've uploaded a ton of pictures from the summer.  It's been a fun one!  Only pictures missing were from our trip down to North Carolina (I forgot the memory card for my camera - duh!).  Must remember to get some from Aunt Jenny. 

So this has mostly been Maddie's website, but we're so thrilled to report that we will hopefully be posting pictures of a new Farthing kid soon - Baby Boy is due November 9th! Maddie is super excited about her new baby brother and will undoubtedly be a terrific big sister.   Here's his first photo, for posterity:

 

More to come soon, I'm sure...

30 Months

Maddie is 30 months old today!

Gosh, I don't know if I can write a full update anymore!  She has grown up so much.  She has full language abilities, learning new words and phrases all the time.  A few months ago she started saying my favorite phrase:  "We could try!"  Usually it's said when I tell her something she's requesting can't be done.  She says it with such earnest that we generally do have to give it a try. 

She got her first hair cut last month.  It looks very cute and grown up.  She weighs 30 pounds now - hard to believe, isn't it?  She's a decent eater - though like most kids her age she isn't a huge fan of vegetables or things with a lot of flavor or spice.  She often requests a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but no butter, just jelly.  She still loves yogurt and recently decided she likes strawberries.  She still drinks soy milk, though I think we'll try cow's milk sometime, just to see what happens. 

She still has 4 molars left to come in.  I really wish they would just come through because I'm dreading the process and just want to get it over with already.  Preferably soon, since we are planning to get her into a Big Girl Bed soon and teething always messes up her sleep.  No potty training yet, but we're hoping this summer will be a good time for that.  She's not too interested yet, and we're not really pushing it. 

Physically she has come leaps and bounds in the last six months.  She can climb the playground equipment mostly by herself, and go down the big slide all on her own!  Now that the weather is getting warmer, we're going to try to teach her to pedal herself on her tricycle.  Fun! 

One of her favorite things to do is work on jigsaw puzzles.  She is really good at putting them together - even the big, multi-piece ones that are meant for kids 5+.  She must get the spatial-orientation skills from her dad.  She knows all her upper case letters by sight, and can count to 15, so she's also a smartypants like her mom.  Best of both worlds!

Gosh, what else?  A lot has changed since her birthday, and we continue to be amazed by her.  Looking forward to the next update on her 3rd birthday!

Sentimental Part 2

When Maddie turned 2, I decided I would do another photo montage to recap the year.  I did one for her first year, and really like going back and looking at it, so I thought it would be cool to have one for each year.  Who knows how long I'll keep it up, considering it took me 6 months to make this one.  But here it is, for your viewing pleasure (click the link and it will take you to the video):

Maddie Year 2

First Haircut

I have been trimming her bangs for quite some time now, but finally decided she needed a real haircut.  I think I did a pretty good job!  Though I was sad to see the hair she was born with go...

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Kitty Love

Maddie has  a special relationship with the kitties.  She loves to get right up in their face and scream (oh, they love that), and chase them around the house, and generally torture them.  All done in love, of course. 

After a round-the-house chasing the other night, Fatty finally wised up and took to hiding.  He tried the pantry first, but she found him pretty quickly. 

Finally he ended up in an excellent hiding place, and was able to elude the Toddler entirely.  Can you find him?

Merry Christmas 2009

We had a lovely, lovely Christmas this year!  Maddie really enjoyed all the Christmas traditions - we did a "Christmas House" which was a little wooden house with advent calendar doors and windows that she opened every morning.  Lucky for her, there were stickers in there!  She really liked the Christmas tree, and kind of understood the idea of Santa coming on Christmas day and leaving presents for us. 
Christmas morning was a ton of fun.  She loved every single one of her gifts, except for a pair of PJs that Mama got her.  She played with all of them, one by one.  

She also enjoyed hanging out at Grammy and Papaw's, and at Aunt Angie's.  We all had a really great Christmas!  Hope you all did, too.

North Carolina Trip

We drove down to my dad's in NC over Thanksgiving to celebrate his birthday with the rest of our family (and their families, too!).  It was lovely!

We got to eat great seafood, caught right off my dad's dock:

Got to hang out with cousins we hadn't seen in 2 years:

And hang out with cousins we see nearly every day:

Got to go to the beach (it was a bit chilly, but beautiful still!):

Got to go to the Aquarium and see the big tanks of cool fish and frogs and otters:

And generally just have a good time.  Maddie did terrific on the 16 hour drive (each way!) and that made the trip so much easier.  Can't wait to see everyone again soon, I hope!

2nd Annual Pumpkin Hunt

We took the munchkin to the Curtis Orchard pumpkin patch today, to pick out her Halloween pumpkin.  She kept tripping over the snakey vines on the ground, and after 3 face-plants, decided she wanted to be carried the rest of the time.  We hadn't grabbed a wagon, so it was a workout carrying two heavy pumpkins plus one heavy toddler all the way back to the car.  It was a beautiful day, though, and I would have liked to have stayed longer and enjoyed the festivities - there was a band playing and loads of families around.  That didn't work out, but maybe next year! 

And - oh, what a difference a year makes!  This is her at the orchard last year:

24 Months

Maddie is 2 years old!

I really can't believe how much growing up she's done these last 3 months!  She interacts like a real person now, rather than a baby who can't really communicate.  I have to say, these past few months have been the absolute best. 

She is talking like a grown up now.  She calls us 'Mom' and 'Dad' sometimes - she sounds like a teenager.  She is very polite, almost always saying "thank you" when appropriate.  She is less likely to say "please" without prompting, but does it sometimes.  She is very into giving hugs when she leaves somewhere, especially daycare.  Some days, she hugs every man, woman, and child present before we can leave.  I love that she's so affectionate. 

She knows most of her colors now, and can count to 10 easily.  Sometimes she can even count things - at least up to 4 with about 50% accuracy.  She recognizes many letters, but not any words, of course.  She is really into asking questions, mostly of the "what's that?" and "who's that?" variety.  We haven't gotten to "Why?" yet, thank goodness. 

She can climb all manner of playground equipment now, though we tend to hover in spotting position most of the time.  She recently started going down the big curly slide by herself!  Scary, but she loves it.  She likes to do it on her tummy.  She is not very into the stroller anymore, unless it's a promised vehicle for reaching the playground.  Too bad, I will miss our stroller walks very much.  She likes her trike, and she likes to ride in the bike seat on our bike, so we have several transportation options these days. 

Lately, she's been into little matchbox cars and small zoo animal toys.  Very Big Girl, I think.  She still has her Baby, which is more of a sleeping friend than anything else right now.  But we still bring it everywhere, just in case.  She has just started to do full-on pretend play - for example, she'll ask if I would like some pancakes as we're driving in the car.  I'll say, "Sure!" and she'll "cook" them on the arm of her carseat, then offer me one.  Or she'll wave her Buzz Lightyear doll around, pretending he's flying.  Often, if she drops a toy, she'll say to it, in a very soft voice, "You OK?  Buzz OK?  You're OK!"  and pat it on the head.  

She is somewhat of a picky eater, but what 2 year old isn't?  She's actually pretty good at eating, but is less friendly to veggies and more friendly to french fries than we'd like.  She still has a problem with dairy.  We are going to see an allergist to determine what the problem is.  Cheese is good!  I'd like her to be able to eat it. 

She still has her back molars to come in, but otherwise we are almost done with teething.  Hopefully these will be not too terrible.  Teething stinks. 

I can't think of much else to say.  She is a delightful, wonderful, loving, sweet little girl.  I'm so excited to see what this next year holds!

Edited to add: brief birthday party video is here.

Rest in Peace, Mama Kitty

We met Mama not quite 4 years ago, when she was a feral kitty who lived in our neighborhood.  She became a part of our family when we discovered her and her 5 kittens living under the shed in our backyard. 



We knew the kittens wouldn't all survive if they were left outside, so we trapped them, one by one, and brought them into our home.  I fostered the kitties for several weeks, until each of them was adopted by other families.  Mama lived for a few months in the back room of our old house, where she could be kept separated from our other two kitties.   She spent most of her time in a window seat we put up for her, guarded by a curtain.



Over time, she grew more comfortable and we allowed the kitties to access each other through a gate.  Soon, she was acclimated enough to her new home that we let her roam the house freely.  She made friends with the other two kitties and grew to love snuggling with them during naps. 



She never even once made any effort to escape back to her outdoor life.  She liked living with us.  When we moved, I thought it would be difficult to get her into a crate.  She had long since grown out of most of her feral ways, but she was never comfortable enough to let one of us pick her up, let alone handle her enough to get her into the kitty carrier.  She surprised me, though, when she walked right into it, without any effort from me.  She was a very good kitty.

In our big new house, she had access to every room - the gates we put up were no barrier to a kitty who used to scale walls and fences in her "street" days.  She occasionally scoped out the upstairs bedrooms, but mostly she slept behind the couch, or in her window seat.  She was mostly hidden during the day, but came out at night for some petting and some quiet time looking out the windows.  She was kind and never mean and we loved her very much.

She died this morning, of no apparent cause and without any warning.  We are heartbroken, but also thankful for the short time she spent with us.  We will miss her always. 

 
  

21 Months

Madalyn is 21 months old!

 

Seriously?  My kid is nearly 2?  Doesn't seem right, but here we are!  The last 3 months have been a series of ups and downs.  The ups were great - this is such a fun age.  The downs were not so fun - teething is a cruel joke on toddlers.  So is "cold and flu season."  We're getting through it, though, and lately things have been "up," so that's good.  Looking back at the last update (18 months), things sounded about the same - lots of sickness and lots of teething.  So we've been dealing with both of these for 6 months?  Yikes.  4 more teeth to go (the 2nd year molars are all she has left now that all 4 of her canines have poked through the surface), and it's summer now, so hopefully the colds are on break now, too.

Her biggest developments these last few months have definitely been with language.  At 18 months, she was just starting to use 2 word statements, but mostly was communicating one word at a time.  Now, she uses full sentences most of the time.  We actually have conversations!  The other day, she came over to me, rubbing her knee.  I asked, "What happened to your knee?"  She said, "I bonked it on the bunny's cage!"  Amazing, my little baby is talking like a grown up. 

She's also been growing a lot recently.  They say that growth slows down around this age, but I don't know.  Pants we bought her 3 weeks ago are too short.  She's definitely getting taller and thinner, with her giant buddha belly going away and her chubby arms thinning out.  It's sad, she looks like a little kid now instead of the chubby baby.  Her cheeks are still fat like a chipmunk's, though.  :)

She's been thriving at daycare.  She knows several of her colors, and I've observed her count to 6!  I haven't gotten her to replicate it, so I don't know that she knew what she was doing, but still.  She can also reliably identify the letters U and O.  They do a lot of teaching at daycare, and the other kids are older than she is so she benefits from the activities that they do, I think.  It's nice to see that she really enjoys it, too.

She likes songs now, which for a long time were not at all interesting to her.  The ones she demands most are "Wheels On the Bus", which she tries to sing, but she only knows the verse that involves monkeys on the bus jumping up and down, and she just sings, "Monkeys!  Up and Down! Monkeys!  Bus!"  But she clearly thinks she's singing the song to a T.  It's cute.  She also likes a song on the Music Together CD called "Hello, Everybody."  She calls this song "Body", and almost every time we're in the car she'll request it by shouting, "I WANT BODY!"  So cute.

As for food, she's gotten to the stage where she isn't much interested in vegetables.  She'll eat a few green beans, and maybe some corn, but mostly she sticks to fruits, breads (she loves bagels, but thinks we have to eat them while sitting on the porch, which is what we were doing the first time I gave her one), chicken nuggets, and her beloved waffles. 

If nothing else, this age will be remembered as the period of time when Madalyn totally messed up her sleeping habits.  Her whole life, she's been a great sleeper.  Suddenly, the last few months have been touch and go.  While she was sick, we really indulged her (I think she needed it), and now we're working on getting her back to being able to go to sleep on her own.  Besides that, though, she also just seems to need/want less sleep right now.  We extended her bed time a little bit, which seemed to help, but this morning for example, she was up at 6:15 AM (her norm has been somewhere around 7:30 for the last year or so).  I don't mind it so much, and it's kind of nice - I bring her to our bed and we snuggle for a half hour, or watch Curious George on PBS.  She will stay quiet until she sees one of us sit up, then she looks at us with her huge brown eyes and, without fail, says, "HI!" with this huge grin.  It's those little things that make this age so wonderful.

So, hard to believe but the next update will be on her 2nd birthday!  See you then.

Highlights:

-Visits from Aunt Jenny, Uncle Jeff, and Baby Avery
-"I want Body!"
-Her new bike and helmet
-Graduating to size 5 diapers - the largest size!  I guess potty training is next?
-Finally having enough hair for pigtails ("pretty!")
-The wearing of sunglasses (usually upside down)
-Running "whheeeee!" down the small hill in our backyard
-Dancing and singing "It's raining, it's pouring" on our back deck in the rain
-The way she says "Peek-a-boo" (sounds more like "boo-ka-coo")
-The Earth Day march at daycare, where the kids wore paper sack jackets and carried signs that said "Give a hoot, don't pollute!" while marching around the block (I've got to get pictures from Allison of this - it was so, so cute.  I happened to be there that day, and they got all kinds of waves and honks from passersby)
-Sleeping on a pillow for the first time ("piw-wo")

God Bless the Kitties

Madalyn has a special relationship with our kitties.  She loves to give the boys big hugs, but also enjoys bossing them around, yelling at them to go away, and smacking them around every once in awhile (which we, of course, are trying to deter!).  No matter what, the kitties have been so sweet to her.  They permit the full-body hugs, and submit when she tries to use them as giant pillows.   Even Mama Kitty will occasionally tolerate being in the same room with her (that's saying a lot for the formerly feral Mama Kitty).  The only downside is trying to teach her that not all kitties are so welcoming.  But Her Daddie has been real helpful with teaching her the difference between the two to make the transition go smoother. Thanks Dad!

This last sentence added by Daddie

 

Untitled from Terminator Bunny on Vimeo.

Sick of Being Sick

I haven't posted in a while.  When I realized that my last post was of our awesome outing at the library, I realized it was because that was the last time that all were well.  Maddie developed a cold 2 days after that outing (right in the middle of the swine flu panic, of course - couldn't help but worry about her).  I followed a day behind her.  We were both sick for over a week.  Then we had a brief period of non-sickness and now here we are again - Maddie has been running a 102 temperature for 2 days.  I'm so tired of the sickness.

Maddie has also suddenly forgotten how to be a good sleeper.  We lasted over a year and a half of easy lay downs, no night waking, etc.  Now, for the last month, sleep has gone waaaaay downhill.  It started with her waking at night, which she never used to do.  At first it was easy to get her back to sleep - didn't even have to pick her up!  That lasted about 3 days, and she started requiring a pick up.  But she'd fall asleep quickly and I could lay her back down and be done with it.  That lasted about 2 days and she started refusing to let me put her back in her crib.  So then we tried letting Andy handle the night wake ups.  That went well for about another 2 days, until she started requiring him to lay down on the floor.  Next, she started refusing to be put down for bed at all without the put-downer person laying down on the floor and going "night night" too.  Finally, she's done all of the above with naps.  So, no sleep occurs without one parent spending an hour on the floor as she falls asleep. 

I know it's not a good long term solution.  I know we're probably setting a bad precedent for sleep for her, but I honestly have no other good ideas.  "Crying it out" is not a good option for us.  Oh well.  We're just hoping it's a prolonged phase, that perhaps will subside when her teeth are fully emerged.  Who knows.  In any case, since evenings and nap times used to be my chance to post things to the website, I'm guessing posts will be sparse until we get through this.  In the meantime, here's one of the brief happy moments we've had these past few weeks.  On Mother's Day, no less!  Enjoy!

Fun at the Library

I took Maddie to a children's program at our local library this morning and man!  did we have a great time.  The program was a guy with a banjo doing fun songs and musical games with dancing (the guy's name is Jim Gill, here's a link to the program if you're curious).  Madalyn didn't stop moving for the entire hour.  Mostly, she did her own thing, grooving and flailing around, but she definitely followed along when she wanted to.  It was such a good time.  It helped that several of her friends were there (one toddler friend, three adult friends, including her two daycare providers!).  Here she is, dancing like a fool (you'll notice that she's dancing when there really isn't any music - she was like that the whole time!  She was justing having a good 'ol time):

Untitled from Terminator Bunny on Vimeo. 

Unfortunately, most of the programs like this at the library are during the week so we rarely find something like this that we can actually attend, but it was totally worth it.  Such fun!

Our Visitors from Down South

Maddie's AuntyJen and her family came to visit over Easter and we had such a nice time.  I was a bit nervous about how Madalyn would handle having a baby around.  She's pretty Mama-possessive right now, but I hoped for the best.   At first she didn't know what to make of Baby Avery:

But soon she warmed up to the whole gang.  She spent the first half of the visit insisting Uncle Jeff's name was Mark (her other uncle's name, and one of the few men in her life, aside from Dada), but by the end she learned to say his name properly.  It was so nice for her to spend time with her extended family.  I wish we all lived closer to each other.  She has 2 other cousins whom I know she'd love to play with, if only we were closer to where they are.  Sigh.  Maybe someday.

Anyway, the visit was lovely, and when they left, Maddie kept going into the guest room looking for "Jeh-nie?"  We had a nice time.

Me Want Cookies

Maddie likes Cookie Monster, so she was thrilled when I showed her that Cookie Monster himself appears on the front of the box of Earth's Best organic "Letter of the Day" cookies I bought recently.  I sometimes give her the cookies for snack on the weekends, maybe 2 or 3 (they're small).  This afternoon, I must have left the box within her reach on the table, because when I turned around from putting the dishes away, I found her with the box in hand, elbow deep in cookies.  I guess she likes them!

Wha' Happened?

Whenever something falls on the floor, or the music CD ends, or something else out of the ordinary occurs, Madalyn likes to say, "What happened?"  Except it comes out exactly like the guy from the movie A Mighty Wind - "Wha' happened?"  It cracks me up every time.  If I manage to catch it on video, I'll post it, but in the meantime, here's the reference:

Crazy Sunsets

I am obsessed with the sunsets these days.  I'm just amazed at the spectacle that takes place every single evening.  It's amazing.  This series was taken just this evening, from our back deck. 

A Lovely Day

Our new neighborhood has a small playground, but it doesn't have any swings, and Maddie loves the swings these days.  So today we ventured to another nearby park, about a 15 minute walk from our house.  It was great!  Clean, safe, small-kid friendly equipment, Maddie-sized slides, swings, and stuff she could climb easily and which allowed me to follow her easily to make sure she didn't launch herself off any ledges (she tried, though!).  We had a great time on a lovely Spring afternoon!

On the way home, we stopped at the lake in our neighborhood (have I mentioned how much I love our new neighborhood?) to see the ducks (mostly they're geese, but she calls them all ducks).  She LOVES to see the ducks, especially when they quack.  It was fun.

18 Months

She looks so serious, doesn't she?  At 18 months, she's all grown up now!  You wouldn't know it, but 2 minutes before this picture was taken she was writhing around on the floor, laughing, begging me to tickle her tummy.  She just wanted to look serious for the portrait.

Well, here we are at 18 months, and we are truly out of baby territory and fully into toddlerhood.  She has grown quite a bit in the last few months... we'll find out how much at next week's doctor's appointment.  I have a plan to make a growth chart for her that we can hang on her door and track her height, but I have yet to find the time to actually make it.  Maybe soon.

The last few months have been a mix of really great stuff and kind of crummy stuff.  The crummy stuff has consisted mainly of her being sick for quite some time.  She still has a cough at night, which wakes her up, which makes her want to sleep late, which makes Mama late for work, and so on.  I'm hoping it goes away with this batch of warmer air we've gotten this week.  Also in the category of crummy has been the eruption of two of her molars.  Half of the top two molars are showing through, but they are taking their sweet time getting all the way through and the discomfort is obvious.  I cannot wait until we are done with teething.

As for the good stuff, there's been lots.  Her verbal exercises continue to amaze me.  She has started with the two word sentences, and often she produces very long, intricate sentences, of which only one or two words are understandable.  And usually one of those words is Dada or Elmo.  The sentences sound very descriptive, though, so I look forward to being able to understand her better.  I won't list all her words, because she has too many now, but my favorites right now are "c'mon" (which comes out more like "mon") and "o-kay" when said in response to a request (for example, I say, "Stay on the sidewalk, please" and she says, "O-kay..."  And also when we first come downstairs in the morning and she says, "Mo-ning!" ("morning") to the kitties.  It amazes me how much she understands.  If we're looking at a picture of a duck taking a bath, I'll point to it and ask, "Who's that?" and she'll say, "Duck!"  And I say, "What's he doing?" and she'll say, "Bath!"  She totally gets the idea of conversation, and she's just constrained by her lack of ability to string words together, which I assume will come soon enough.

Her favorite at-home activity these days is watching Elmo on Sesame Street.  It's partly an effect of being cooped up inside for most of this ridiculously harsh winter.  I feel a little bad about letting her watch 40-60 minutes of TV at a time, but she truly enjoys it, and I figure if there are no commercials that has to be a good thing.  We mostly keep the TV off otherwise, so hopefully we're not doing too much damage to her.

These days she enjoys stacking her big blocks, riding her Wheeliebug, and reading her books.  She really enjoys books right now, so it's a good thing that we have a lot of 'em.  She still loves her Baby, but is better about being without it sometimes.  She used to demand to hold the baby while she was eating, or if we went outside, but now she mostly needs it at night time, nap time, or if she's upset. 

One great thing that happened since the last update was the end of formula and the switch to soymilk full-time.  She's finally able to digest it without enormous amounts of gas, so that's her milk drink of choice these days.  Some of her favorite foods include chicken, green beans, bananas, jello, and Amy's Organic Pot Pie.  She will refuse to eat chick peas, blueberries, and other random things at random times.  Generally, though, she's a pretty good eater.

She still sleeps great, and now she sleeps on a cot at daycare!  She used to sleep in her playyard, but it was recalled for a major defect (I'm still waiting for my $100 refund!) so we tossed it and never looked back.  She moved to the cot in the nap room with the other kids with absolutely no trouble at all.  We're very proud of her. 

Mostly, she's doing all the things most toddlers do.  She's running around with very few tumbles, she loves dancing and making funny noises and hugging the kitties.  She can stack her blocks and knock them down.  She can propel herself on her riding toys now without needing to be pushed.  She can climb stairs (up and down) and open doors, and she loves to get the mail out of the mailbox.  She's just a ton of fun and a bundle of energy - all the things you'd expect at this age.  We'll see where the next few months take us.  It's hard to believe that we're already halfway done with her second year.  Where does the time go?  Until next time...

Sick

We have not been doing so well this past week or so.  Maddie and Mama have both been sick with The Cold, complete with spasmodic coughing all night long, crusted-over noses, and all the other various joys of being sick.  It has ruined sleep for both of us, making us one cranky family.  To make it worse, there's a round of pinkeye going on at the daycare - two of the kids and two of the parents have had it during the last 2 weeks - and I'm one of the lucky parents!  Yay!  I'm desperately hoping that Maddie escapes it.  Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease...

Last week, on day 1 of The Cold, Maddie zonked out on the couch with Daddy, which she hasn't done since she was a little baby.  It was sad, but kind of cute too.  Here's hoping things start looking up over here soon.

Little Helper

We use a Swiffer sweeper to clean our hardwood floors.   We had an extra broom handle for one, so we just took the middle part of the handle out and voila!  A Maddie-sized Swiffer!  She loves to help.  Here she is after having pulled her sweeper out of the closet:

Here she is swiffer-ing her playmat:

Here she is helping Daddy as he mops:

Now, if we could just get her to start doing her own laundry...

Winter

The temperature outside finally got above 20 yesterday, so Maddie and I managed to get out for a walk in our new neighborhood.  She did pretty well, given she has hardly had any practice walking outdoors, let alone on snow.  She enjoyed herself.  This was taken on the path behind our house:

We tried to sled, but the snow wasn't packed enough so we just kind of sunk.  The little berm that separates our backyard from the path is just big enough to be a nice little bunny slope - maybe we'll try again.

While this winter has been pretty awful, weather-wise, there is one benefit to living in the midwest that we were reminded of yesterday: lovely sunsets.  You can see the whole sky, and the sun sets on the flat horizon the way it would over the ocean.  We have a nice westerly view out our back windows.  This one was taken from our upstairs bedroom:

Perhaps my favorite picture ever

This was taken at daycare, and I'm not sure, but I think she's wearing a child-sized kimono!  I love it.

So, I don't have actual internet access at our new home yet, though I do seem to have "unofficial" access due to a mysterious unsecured wireless network (ahem).  I don't have the bandwidth for uploading many pictures, but as soon as the real internet comes on, I'll post some of us enjoying our new house.  We just love it, perfect for us.  Can't wait for any and all of you to come visit, as we now have an official guest room. 

Holiday recap

We had a lovely Christmas! 

On Christmas Eve, we exchanged gifts with Axel.  Madalyn got some great toys to go in her new play kitchen!  She loved playing with Axel, too.

Next, we had dinner at Grammy and Papaw's house, and opened presents with the Farthing family.  Madalyn got some great gifts!  She especially loves her new toddler chair and her foam balls.  Mom and Dad love her playmat, which we can't wait to use in the new house.

Christmas morning she got to open all the gifts she's been ignoring under the tree.  She loved everything!  Her puzzle from Grandpa Spud and Carol was an especially big hit.  She kept making her "Oooh" face, which she hasn't done since she was a little baby!

The next day, we drove to Indy to visit Aunt Angie, Uncle Chad, and her cousins Ally and Logan.  Madalyn was in hog heaven, with the big house to run around in and all the amazing toys.  Plus, she couldn't get enough of her new playmates, who were very welcoming of their young cousin.

After a short stay, I travelled to North Carolina to see my Dad and Carol, and of course my sister Jen, her husband, and their new baby.  It was a lovely visit, though short. 

Now I'm back at home and we three are ready to ring in the new year.  Happy 2009!

Merry Christmas!

We had a lovely Christmas morning, and now we're off to Indianapolis.  I will be travelling to see my lovely sister Jen and her new baby, so it may be a few days before we update with Christmas joy.  Thanks to everyone who gave us gifts, I know Madalyn loved absolutely everything she got!  Love to you all!

Snow Suit

We finally had to bite the bullet and shell out some cash for a snow suit for Maddie.  Those things are expensive!  The one we got was $28, but it was 60% off of an original price of $70.  That's a lot of dough for something she will grow out of in 2 months.  Anyway, we got one and decided to try it out today.  It's bulky, but it does the job - she was quite snuggly.  However, her range of movement is pretty limited.  After dressing her up, I asked her to sit down so we could put her boots on.  After struggling for a second, here's how she ended up:

Once we were outside, she seemed to move around better.  Aside from the ice covering every surface, she managed to walk pretty well in her get-up and her boots.  It was a good decision to get her some winter gear.  She has been cooped up inside for so long now, and she really seemed to enjoy being outside again!  Hopefully at the new house she'll be able to run around in the snow all she wants.

Sick Baby

Madalyn had a rough week.  She had her 15 month well-baby visit last Wednesday, where she did a fantastic job at the doctor, being charming and showing the pediatrician what a precocious 15 month-old she is, and taking her two immunizations like a champ.  That evening, she was fine, except for an unusually negative response to taking a bath, and a weird thing where she didn't seem to want to bend down (like, to pick something up off the floor, for example).  She slept fine and the next morning I decided I wanted to see if the bending over thing was still going on, which it was.  She otherwise seemed OK, if not a bit grumpy, but I chalked it up to the typical post-vaccination unhappiness, and took her to daycare.   She wasn't particularly happy when I left, but that's not unusual so I didn't worry about it.  I told the daycare provider to give her tylenol before her nap and let her sleep as long as she wants.

Fast forward to afternoon... the daycare provider called me at 3:30 to say that Madalyn had finally woken from her nap (after an outrageous 4 hours!) and was BURNING UP.  Her temp read 105, which I think was slightly inaccurate given it was taken with a temporal artery thermometer, but nevertheless was enough to make me panic.  I immediately called the doctor, who told me to bring her in. 

I picked up my completely sluggish and out-of-it baby and we saw the available doctor (who was not our regular ped, who we'd seen the day before).  He downplayed my suspicion that this was in response to one of her vaccines, and instead said it was probably viral.  He tested her for the flu and RSV and sent us on our way.  He assured me that unless her fever went over 106, she'd be fine. 
The next day was a repeat of Thursday, where she seemed better in the morning, but by afternoon and evening she was practically comotose and extremely hot.  She literally sat in my lap for 3 hours without moving.  Her legs were so weak that she couldn't support herself to stand.  She hardly ate, but was happy to sleep.  I set my alarm and got up to dose her with tylenol/motrin every 4 hours through the night.  She slept soundly; I didn't. 

Saturday was better.  Her temperature receded and she was in better spirits.  For several days she alternated between seeming fine and developing bouts of strong crying.  She was also kind of stumbling around every now and then.  I took her back to the doctor today to make sure she hadn't developed an ear infection (she hadn't).  Tonight she is much better, so hopefully whatever it was has resolved.  I don't know if was a reaction to the vaccine or not.  The internet research I did on the national database of adverse events following vaccines indicated that many of the symptoms she had have been reported by others following the Prevnar vaccine.  However, the doctors seem to think she just had a badly timed viral infection.  Who knows.  In any case, the last 6 days were not very enjoyable for anyone in the Farthing house.  Luckily, things seem better now.  Here she is, taken this evening, happily giving her baby a warm hug.

The Little Tyrant

Meal time is fun!  When she's not yelling at me to hurry up, she's yelling at me to serve her something different.  NOW.  Here she is, oh-so-politely making her baby sign for MORE.NOW.MOREMOREMORENOW (finger pointing at palm of other hand), after having already smeared the pasta dish I so lovingly prepared for her into her hair and all over the front of her shirt before deciding it was not what she wanted to have for dinner tonight (no, her shirt does NOT have a pattern on it.  That would be her food.).  I don't know why she bothers with the sign language, she's pretty proficient at yelling "MORE!!!" these days.  She was pretty cranky tonight - see my earlier post about her naps being haywire right now.  I really just had to laugh at her, the poor little monkey.  She really just didn't know what she wanted.