Weekly Update 1

So as I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to try to blog more and I was going to try to blog on Wednesdays as it's approximately mid week and normally a slower night for us.  And here we are on the first of those Wednesday blogs. I'm hoping to be able to keep it up but we will see.

This past week or so since my last post has been pretty busy. Maddie was sick but is feeling much better and has been great. We're working on getting her to sleep through the night still and the past few nights she's only gotten up once which is a lot better than where we've been in the past. While there are certain things that I would do differently next time in terms of sleep i don't regret the closeness that i have with Maddie and our nights of cuddling.

It's been crazy to see the changes with Maddie in her personality and even in looks. As she is getting more hair it is starting to curl more, especially after bathtime.  She is also learning cause and effect and likes to pull things off, knock things down, and just see what kind of reactions she can get.  She is talking more these days as well and signing more too. She has more down pat and is pretty good at eat and we're working on drink, please, and thank you. I'm always very excited when she says please as it's very cute and she always looks so proud of herself when we clap for her.

One of her favorite toys right now is her picnic basket that sings and talks and has shapes with it. She dances and claps her hands when she gets the shapes in the correct spot and its very cute. That's about it for this week. Until next week - Happy Wednesday!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012!

2011 was a great year and it went very quickly. So much has happened only some of which we've been able to write about. Maddie has grown so quickly and has gone from being our little baby to an independent little toddler.

She is starting to get into everything and give us a run for our money. Right now some of her favorite things to do include playing in the dog's water bowl, pulling tissues out of the tissue box, trying to make a grab for the toilet paper when it's bath time and anything else you can think of. :) It's sometimes hard not to laugh when she is doing these things but I've found for the dog bowl that raising my voice just makes her laugh. So now I just have to try to find someplace else for her attention and to put the dog bowls up when Marco's done eating.

Maddie and Marco are getting along better these days for the most part. Marco tolerates Maddie crawling near him/on him most of the time. Maddie will give him hugs and kisses which is very sweet. We do have to watch Marco sometimes during dinner to make sure he waits till Maddie is done to clean up but other than that they are pretty good.

As far as resolutions this year I haven't done great at them yet but I'll give myself a bit of a break because Maddie was sick on Wed/Thursday and then I caught it so was out of commission on Friday/Saturday. I figure they are a work in progress anyways but I will list them below.

1. Keep on top of laundry

2. Eat at home more

3 Keep up with housework

4. Blog More

I figure if by the end of the year i've improved in these categories that will be a success. Little by little I'll get there. We are slowly getting some of the tools that will make this easier. Other than the housework I think I'm going to try to blog on Wednesday nights. I can take 20-30 minutes to write about our past week and what we have upcoming and of course to post new pictures. Speaking of pictures here is one of Maddie from Thursday with a doll she got for Christmas. Soo sweet.

Not quite sure when she became a toddler but that she did. :) I can't wait to see how she grows this next year.

Till next week!

10+ Months

I was looking at some old pictures of Maddie's first month and while she has changed a lot in the last 10 months she still has some of those same features but at the same time she has grown so much.

Here is a picture of Maddie when she was only about a week old.

And here is a picture of Maddie from earlier today.

As you can see she's definitely a bit more active these days. She has recently started walking and while she only goes a few steps at a time (at this point anyways) you can see her climbing skills are pretty decent. She is quick to go up the stairs if you leave the gate open and is very adventurous. I can't believe how quickly the past 10+ months have gone by and all the changes that have happened from those first teeth to the first steps to the next firsts that will come over the next few years.

Changes

Well a lot has changed since the last post and I can't believe how big Maddie is getting. She is almost 7 months old and the new things she can do daily is impressive. She's not crawling yet but she is definitely mobile and while attempting to crawl she does go forward although she also goes backwards just as often. She has also pulled herself up from sitting into standing a few times. And last night when she was in the bath on her hands and knees (in that crawling position) she managed to figure out how to get back to sitting. Now she's only done it that one time but I know our lives about about to change quite a bit.

It's hard to believe how much she has changed in the last 7 months from that helpless little infant who while never tiny was small to the little girl who is the center of our lives and makes us both very happy. I love her smiles and her giggles and even now I would say that most of the time she is a happy baby.

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So I started the above blog about 2 months ago. Maddie is now almost 9 months old and has changed even more since the last blog. She is crawling around like a champ and pulling herself up onto everything she can. She is even starting to get a little adventurous and she lets go with one hand and occassionally both hands but falls onto her bottom quite a bit. But she's a tough cookie and hardly ever cries when she falls although like some babies when learning to stand she does have some bruises.

Her personality is shining through more every day and I am happy to say that she is a pretty happy baby. I've found that since she has been sleeping better at night (not perfect but definitely better) that she's even happier during the day. She's also quite the talker and I love listening to her babble along.

It's hard to believe that in a few short months that she'll be one. I'm not quite ready for that milestone but I figure in the mean time we'll enjoy the next few months. Till the next time.

Time Flies

It's hard to believe that it's been more than 5 months already since Maddie came into our lives and even just the last month has gone by soo quickly. We've had lots of visitors and Maddie has learned to do quite a few new things.

In April Auntie Sara and cousin Arden came to visit. It was girls weekend and it was fun to watch the two girls play. They were so funny together. I can't wait till they are both a bit bigger and can talk and really play together.

This past week Grammy Sue and Aunti Kait came to visit. They were here for 41/2 days and even got to watch Maddie for a full day while both Jym and I were at work. It was great to see how Maddie interacted with them.

Maddie has also decided that she is a rolling fiend. She had been rolling front to back fairly consistently and from back to front occassionally. Now she rolls front to back to front to back to get places. She also pivots and is scooching backwards a bit as well. She will also every once in a while pull her legs up but hasn't quite figured it out as I think it's more on accident. The other little girl at day care who is a month older is starting to get on her hands and knees so I figure it's only a matter of time before Maddie is there. She's also been doing a lot better at sitting up by herself. She does sometimes fall and do a faceplant but for the most part does a great job at sitting up. And as always she is chatting up a storm.

We are currently working on getting her to sleep in her crib at night. We had two great stretches yesterday (4 hours and 5 hours) and hopefully tonight goes just as well. That being said as I haven't gotten a decent amount of sleep in months I'm going to bed! Till the next time.

4 months

Well it has been 4 months and a lot has happened during that time. At the beginning of February I went back to work. It was definitely hard but the daycare maddie goes to has been wonderful. Maddie has grown quite a bit and has some new tricks up her sleeve. She is now rolling over from tummy to back pretty consistently and has added in rolling from her back to her tummy. And she is quite the talker. I know with jym and I as her parents it shouldn't be surprising but it is super cute. She of course smiles a lot more now and has even started to laugh a bit. It's absolutely adorable and I love the gummy smiles.

She's normally a very happy baby which is great and makes our lives a lot easier. We're working on having her sleep in her crib. Last night we tried the cry it out method. I decided after an hour (and she fell asleep but kept waking up and crying) that I did not like that method and was going to do a different method. So we are trying the no-cry method. It will probably take longer but in the grand scheme fo things I'd rather take a few more weeks/months to get her to sleep through the night then to have to listen to her wail.

I'm sure it will have it's ups and downs but it's something I'm a lot more comfortable with and I think will work with our personalities.

And because it's been a while here are some new pictures of Maddie

Pictures and 2 months!

Well my baby is 2 months old. As I mentioned in my last post I have some weekly pictures. Without further ado here are weeks 5-8 as well as Maddie's 2 month picture. As you can see she is getting a lot more interactive and fun.

As you can see she is changing quite a bit and getting a lot more fun. She's a very sweet baby and has a pretty good temperment although when she is unhappy she does let you know it. She's been a little clingy with me over the last few weeks which we attributed to being a little over stimulated after our trip to NH and Maine and everyone holding her. I figure I'll ask the doctor about it on Monday when we go in for our 2 month visit.

Jym has had a few experiences of being by himself with Maddie and has done fairly well. The first time she cried for the majority of the time but had calmed down by the time I got home. I was only gone for an hour. The second time I was gone for 3 hours and while she cried for a bit he figured out what she needed and did better although he was definitely glad when I got home.

I go back to work on the 7th which is a little over a week away which is kind of sad but it's time. The first two weeks I'll be doing some work from home and the third week of February is when Maddie starts daycare 3 days a week. I'm still going to try to work from home 2 days a week just till Jym gets a bit more comfortable.

Anyways we head up to NY for Maddie to meet the rest of grandparents, great grandparents, and second cousins (i think that's what we call my cousins). It will be a long weekend but should be good and we're looking forward to it.