Week 48: December 9 - 15

BIG week this week, lots going on, but IT IS OFFICIAL: MADELEINE IS CRAWLING!!

Nursing
Well, I'm on round 3 of antibiotics. Meh. Not having a fun time, but it only hurts half the time....

Sleeping
OH, I can't wait until I don't think about sleep like I do now. Sometimes -- LOTS of times -- I wish I didn't think about it at all. I wish I could let it go and be easy about it, but .... that's not going to happen any time soon.

Two days this week, Madeleine skipped her second nap entirely. She would go down, I guess not tired enough for her nap yet, and she'd play awhile and eventually get to standing in her crib. Then she'd want down and she couldn't get down, so she'd cry. But it was a mad kind of cry, like "COME HELP ME NOW" cry. Because she'd cry for a few seconds, then stop and try to sit down. Repeat. For the rest of her nap. I once again googled what to do when baby gets stuck standing up, and everything said to let them alone. Going in often makes things worse. Meh. It was not fun, plus Matt was at work so I was all alone, wanting to go in but having to make myself be strong.

Solids/Food

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes, HUMMUS
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. May take a step without holding onto anything (nope, not yet...)
2. May stand on toes (YES! She definitely does this.)
3. May carry spoon to mouth (she tried, got the spoon in sideways)
4. Turns pages of book (um, yes, been doing this since week 43) -- HOWEVER, new this week, she can turn the pages of a board book without any help from us!)
5. May pull off shoes and socks (been pulling her socks off for ... months!)
6. Speaks long, babbling sentences with full inflection (she's starting, saying more and more)
7. Seeks approval (still no sign of this. LOL! Oh wait, except when she does something. She'll smile really big and look at us.)
8. Engages in parallel play with another child (not much opportunity to play with other kids. But she enjoyed Marshall and Lola at Thanksgiving)

New Things
1. SHE CAN CRAWL!! The real thing! It is awesome. I took video.







2. Little baby has started really imitating sounds. She does it with Matt way more than me. He'll play with a lion and make roaring sounds, and she will try to make the same sound. When reading a book about neighborhood animals, I make all the animal sounds. Madeleine will try to make the kitty "meow" sound. It's great.

Also, Madeleine will copy ... not sure what to call them ... but nose sounds. If someone sighs, she'll copy us. If Layla blows her nose, Madeleine will pretend she did too. If Matt sniffs, she will sniff. It's hilarious!

3. Madeleine now points to things in books. She was pointing out the egg in the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" but now, she'll point to something on every page, or just little things. Especially animals.

4. Daddy showed Madeleine how to flip the light switch. We aren't sure if she likes it because it turns the light on and off or if she likes the physical aspect of flipping. More research is required.

5. One of Madeleine's favorite things to do now is pull things off tables. She pulls her books down, makes a lot of noise. She pulls things off the ottoman.

6. A MAJOR FIRST: On Tuesday, Madeleine lowered herself from standing at the exersaucer to crawling position!! I got the feat on video! Now little baby is on her way to super mobility. She can crawl, cruise, pull up, go from crawling to sitting and sitting to crawling, and NOW, she can go from standing to crawling. In some situations, at least. GO BABY!





7. Similarly, Madeleine can also now pick up flat objects from the floor. She's been able to pick toys up for awhile, but now she can pick up books and pieces of paper.

8. Finally, Madeleine has started pointing at things, not just in books. All over the place.

Misc
1. I LOVE HER HEAD. I adore washing her head. It's the perfect size to hold and kiss and touch. LOVE HER HEAD!

2. Madeleine's confidence in walking grows every day. Now she is feeling more and more capable of walking while holding only one hand. IT's so cute when she does it, too. She'll hold one hand, and with her other, she'll hug it to her body and take little jerky steps, all the while grinning, so happy with herself. It's awesome.

3. Mommy got lots of kisses this week!

4. I think that Madeleine "told" on Layla. Baby was eating, and Layla came around her high chair. I told her to leave harshly, and she did. A few minutes later, the dog returned, and Madeleine leaned over, pointed at her, and said something, while looking at me. IT was hilarious.

5. Matt is convinced that she's trying to say "love." HE'll say "I love you," and she will say "yyaahh". I can see where he'd think that. :)

Slideshow

Video of the week!





BONUS LAYLA VIDEO!!

Week 47: December 2 - 8

SUPER late and short, I know. Apologies! It was crazy getting ready for the holiday trip.

Nursing
I have a theory I am currently testing about pain during nursing. Cold + Caffeine = NOT GOOD. During the summer, things were a lot better, but when colder weather came around, pain started to return. But it wasn't absolute, didn't happen every time, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then I noticed that when my mom was here, I drank more sweet tea (from Chick-Fil-A of course) and the pain was worse. The worst nursing time: the one after lunch when I had the tea.

HMMM! Coincidence? Probably not.

I haven't had sweet tea now since last week, and I've also had virtually no pain on nursing. If that isn't motivation to skip the tea, I don't know what is. I'm sad, but I don't miss it enough to risk it! I could maybe have it at night, but I rarely did that anyway. It was usually a lunch thing.

Sleeping
We have hit the 11-month sleeping problems that I read about back when we were struggling through her 6th month. She is waking early again, taking a LONG time to fall asleep for naps (usually just afternoon nap, but morning nap on Tuesday). It's all connected. If the night sleep is messed up, the naps get messed up, which messes up night sleep more. Tuesday night, she went to bed super early and slept GREAT at night. Then we tried to do some holiday shopping Wednesday, and that got her messed up. She didn't get to bed early, and woke early again Thursday.

FUN. At least we have some ideas for how to help: early bedtime and shorter waketimes. This little girl is like her daddy: needs her sleep like WHOA!

Solids/Food
I'm getting frustrated with Baby-Led Weaning. It doesn't seem like Madeleine will EVER eat real meals. She still eats just a little at a time, not enough to fill her tummy. She still can't drink from a cup or sippy cup or straw. She can hold a cup and bring it to her mouth, but then she just tries to nurse it.

As for food, she is still awesome, still will try anything, so that is good. BUT she hasn't decreased her nursing at all. There was a week or two before Thanksgiving where I thought I saw a change, but after the trip, it's back to what it was before that time. SO FRUSTRATING! Maybe we aren't doing it right, not enough.

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Lowers herself from a standing position without falling (she can't completely sit, but she's really good now at picking things up)
2. Deliberately places objects (I haven't seen this yet)
3. May untie shoelaces (HA! I bet she would if she had shoes with laces!)
4. May nest objects, such as boxes or cups (no opportunity yet. She has put items into a box or bowl before)
5. Tries to avoid disapproval (lol. haven't noticed that yet! )
6. Shows guilt (yeah, no. really?)

New Things / Misc
1. On Tuesday, Matt was playing with Madeleine and the mirror in her room. I was washing my hands in the bathroom. They came around to say hi, and Madeleine waved after I did! That's what she and Matt were playing in her room.

2. When we walk with Madeleine, she likes to step on things. First she kicked them, and now she tries to step on the stuff in her way. It's hilarious!

3. Madeleine's sleep sack hinders her movement in her crib. It's both good and bad at times, but she's lately learned to overcome the sack hindering her ability to stand up in her crib. She has started doing it a little more! Whenever she's standing after a nap, I like to rush in and praise her.

4. She doesn't seem to be into reading much these days. She doesn't want to sit for us through a bunch of books, like usual. I might get through one or two, but then she's squirming and trying to get down or starting to cry. I think she just wants to WALK.

5. Talking. She doesn't say Layla anymore. She said it for about a day, and hasn't said it clearly and plainly again. She now says "ghee-yah" for Layla. But she is definitely talking about the dog.

6. Madeleine also says "Mah-muh" a lot, and it means ME! It's totally awesome to hear her say MAMA and look at me, smile at me. :)

Slideshow

Thanksgiving 2010

This year was Madeleine's first Thanksgiving. We took a little road trip to Gainesville, Florida, to spend the holiday with family.

Thanksgiving at the Farm in Archer, FL, is a tradition in Matt's family, and this year, my parents and brother were also invited. We were super excited to see everyone, to introduce Madeleine to a whole slew of aunts, uncles, and cousins, but first we had to get there.

THE DRIVE DOWN
We left Atlanta on Wednesday morning to make the normally-five-hour car trip to Gainesville. It would naturally be more, as we'd have to stop to feed Madeleine, let her out of the car seat, and let the dog out. Oh yes, Layla came too. We got started a little later than we'd hoped, but only by half an hour. I sat in the backseat with Madeleine, a decision we made after our rough trip in May.

Madeleine was a STAR. She was pleasant, played on her own a little, and hardly complained. When naptime came around, we were prepared. We'd brought her special blanket, plus a blanket to keep her warm, and a heavy blanket to cover the car seat so she wouldn't be distracted by sights and also to make it kinda dark for her.

She slept a full hour!

It was awesome. She had one little foot sticking out from under the blankets, and it would twitch occasionally. Haha, so cute! After that, we stopped for lunch for everyone, changed her diaper, and got back on the road.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT
When we arrived in Gainesville, Madeleine was a little late for her nap, so we rushed to get her in bed. She did NOT like being left in a strange new place, and after a few minutes of protest, fell asleep.

That evening, she got to play with her cousin Marshall, Aunt Suzanne, Uncle Russ, and Grampa Solan. She was shy at first, but once we got her outside on a blanket, she started smiling and playing and enjoying herself.

Then it was bedtime. Either from the long day or the short naps or both, she fell asleep quickly. Then Matt and I spent the next few hours in a state of constant tension. The house was noisier than we are used to, and we were worried that Madeleine would wake up. She NEVER wakes up at home, and we really didn't know what we'd do if she did. Well, it wasn't an issue because she slept beautifully through all of the extra noise--if she even heard any of it!

THANKSGIVING DAY
The morning went by quickly, and before we knew it, we were headed to the Farm, with all of Madeleine's nap gear in tow. Her first nap was awesome, so I wasn't too worried about her second one. I thought she had a good chance at a decent nap.



We arrived at the same time as Matt's parents and Wes and Lola, and Madeleine got right to business: find someone who would walk with her! Papa Pete stepped up and Madeleine took off. Now, Madeleine is generally wary of new people, but the prerequisite for her attention today was walking with her. So Papa Pete then got to hold her for awhile.





My parents arrived soon, and they all joined in the fun of walking with Madeleine.







We even got some mixed grandparent walking!



The spread was AMAZING, all of the food delicious. The tables were dressed beautifully, and the light was perfect.





Mimi held Madeleine while she ate, which was a first. Madeleine had her favorites: the asparagus, the Brussels sprouts, and the carrots. She also liked Uncle Russ' fried turkey. Poppi offered her mashed potatoes, and she grabbed a little lump of it then tried to put it down, but it was stuck on her finger! She didn't know what to make of it!







After the meal, a game of flag football was started, then interrupted for the family picture.





Then it was time for Madeleine to go to bed. Her nap was only 30 minutes, and she was super tired by the end of the day. So Mimi rode back with Madeleine and me and helped me get everything ready for baby's bedtime. We were soon joined by Matt, his brothers and their kids, and Poppi and Alan. We all hung out and talked until the Tampa crew left. It was a wonderful day!



THE REST OF THE TRIP

The next morning, we got to spend time with Madeleine's uncles and cousins. It is so awesome seeing her interact with Marshall and Lola, and watching them be so sweet to her. Family is awesome! Wes and Lola left to return to Tampa with Papa Pete and SuSu, and Madeleine went down for her nap.

For lunch, we went with Russ and Marshall to Pizza Vito, which was DELICIOUS! Then Matt and I took Madeleine to a bookstore nearby (avoiding the mall!) and bought a couple of used books. Then it was back to the house for nap #2.

After Madeleine woke and was fed, we headed over to Dave and Angela's, to spend a few hours and meet the new little baby, Vincent--or Vinny. Baer was so big! He was talking a lot more than he had when we saw him in May, and the little one was all big smiles. We had a great time visiting, though it went by way too quickly. We ended up leaving kind of late (for Madeleine's bedtime, anyway), and she was SUPER over it by the time we got home.

The late bedtime set the tone for the rest of the trip. She woke early Saturday morning, barely slept in the car, took a horrible nap when we finally got home, and was a basket case in the evening. We put her to bed pretty early, and she slept all night, waking happy the next morning.

THOUGHTS

Because Matt and I are generally quiet people, and our house is generally quiet, we both had a hard time relaxing whenever Madeleine was asleep at the house. People talked and continued their lives as though there wasn't a baby sleeping in the other room (imagine that!). We still continued like we were home, not using the ice dispenser in the fridge, not making too much noise. But other people did, making noises that we were certain would startle Madeleine out of her sleep or somehow disrupt her.

Nothing happened. She slept peacefully right through every noise (granted, we used Marshall's sound machine, but still!). It was a learning experience for us. When at home, maybe we don't have to quarantine ourselves on the opposite end of the house while she's sleeping. Maybe we can get a load of clothes out of the bedroom, talk in normal voices in the living room, do some dishes. It's just that, in such a quiet place, any noise seems that much louder. I know we learned that we don't have to be so quiet at home, which was very good for us. Whether we'll really be able to embrace this knowledge remains to be seen! There are some things that just won't change: we will still be generally quiet. We'll still hang out in the rumpus room, where we both work. But we'll definitely breathe easier knowing that little noises won't disturb her.

And if they do, it's not the end of the world!




We are thankful for our safe trip to Gainesville and the time we got to spend with our family. It was a memorable, delightful trip, and we are looking forward to Christmas!

Week 46: November 25 - December 1

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nursing
SO MUCH BETTER. I nursed Madeleine on the bed because the chair was too painful. It was great! I was so happy. I was worried that things would go back to being bad once we got home, but I nursed on the bed again and it went really well. Yay!

Sleeping
We were out of town, so sleep was all kinds of crazy. But now that we're back home, I think things will return to normal. And actually, I've noticed that her naps seems to be longer. She seems to sleep more during the day. It's kinda nice!

Solids/Food
As usual, I think we're moving forward with food, and then it seems we go backwards. I guess this is to be expected. She'll eat really well for a few days, then not so much. It sometimes feels like she will NEVER eat with us, but my friend who did this method assured me that eventually, yes, she will totally get the hang of it.

We ordered Madeleine two sippy cups in the hope that we can help her learn to drink, as she doesn't know how yet. She has no physiological need to drink right now, but we need her to know how so that when she weans, she'll go straight to milk. I'm sure I'll be reporting on that in weeks to come! So far, she doesn't know how to use the sippy cup. She tries to nurse it. But if I tilt it back so water comes out, she swallows it -- which is an improvement. She used to just let it run out of her mouth. We tried water in the bathtub again, and she did better. Got a lot more water down than previous attempts.

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. May lean over while standing against support (she started this in week 43, trying to pick things up that she dropped)
2. Squats and stoops (she tries to pick things up that she's dropped and sometimes manages!)
3. Holds out arm or leg to help you dress him (yes.... started about week 42)
4. Lifts lid from boxes (um, hasn't really had the chance to do this)
5. Speaks a few intelligible words (YES, just started this!!)
6. Asserts himself among siblings (not valid...)

New Things
On Friday, Madeleine kinda sorta started saying "Mama", only she pronounced it like "Muh-muh". And she would say it whenever, it had nothing to do with me. Though occasionally, she will say it AND look at me, and I still really love it.

After returning from Florida, Madeleine really started talking more. Even to the point where she would look at Layla and say "dog." But like "Muh-muh," sometimes she wouldn't be looking at Layla and say it.

BUT! On Monday, Madeleine said her very first bona fide word!! The word was .... (drumroll...) LAYLA! LOL. Naturally. Very fitting. Not mama, or dada, but LAYLA. She would look at Layla, and say, very plainly, "Lay-la." She did it at least 3 times Monday evening, and then first thing Tuesday. Matt went to get her up, and I heard her say it from the other room! It was unprompted, uncoached, and TOTALLY cool. Her first word!! YAY!!

As I've mentioned over the last couple of weeks, Madeleine wants to walk. And walk, and walk, and walk. And every day, she gets more confident. This week, she took a couple of steps while holding onto only ONE hand instead of two, and twice, she let go entirely to grab something else. She's had a few instances of standing, but it's not been intentional. This little girl is going to walk soon, and then WHOA!

So when I think about her walking, it always makes me think about her crawling. She just doesn't dig it. She doesn't want to crawl simply for the sake of crawling, and not much seems to motivate her to crawl. There's not much we can do about it, so we're not going to worry. Keep encouraging her, giving her the opportunity, that kind of thing. :)

Wonder Week 46
Week 46 ends the latest of Madeleine's developmental leaps. Last week was supposedly the worst, and I guess it was slightly harder than previous weeks.

Anyway, after this leap, Madeleine will develop the ability to perceive sequences. For example, pulling a string to get a toy attached to it. She will start to realize that she can achieve an end through a variety of different means; she doesn't always have to do things in the same order. One thing she'll supposedly be able to learn is to put things together, to build. I'm excited to see this, as up until this point, we've dubbed her the Unmaker, due to her tendency to tear things down.

Another fun thing Madeleine will start doing soon (and sorta does) is point to objects and try to talk, try to name the object. She sorta does this, only doesn't point.

Slideshow

Video of the week!

Week 45: November 18 - 24

I apologize for this being so late and so empty. This week was a blur, and not much new happened. I'm sure future weeks will prove more interesting. And I know that week 46, which I hope to get up later today or tomorrow, will be MUCH longer. Enjoy!

Nursing
UGH, why does this have to be such an issue? I just wish it could be NORMAL. I am hoping for good things in Florida -- my current theory (there have only been a hundred over the last 10.5 months!) is that the warmer weather will make it easier (read: less painful).

On an interesting note, Saturday night Madeleine did something interesting. Usually, she eats on both sides before bed, but this night, after the first side, she went to eat on the other but then laughed. Laughed! I kept trying, and she kept laughing. I got up, tried to wait for her to calm down. Eventually, she started crying, so I thought she was hungry. We tried again, but she wouldn't eat. I could tell she was tired, so when she wouldn't eat, I just had to put her to bed. She ate less than half as long as she usually does, so I was worried about her waking in the middle of the night, but she didn't! She slept all night. I wonder if it means something--is she ready to drop a meal? The rest of the week, she had some light meals. The total nursing numbers were down, but she was just fine. :)

Sleeping
Sleep is going pretty well right now. This is the last week of the Wonder Week crazy (so the book says), and it definitely seemed a little crazy. But it isn't that bad, it isn't as bad as it has been in the past. NOTHING was as bad as that period before she turned 6 months!

Solids/Food
Every day, it seems she improves, but then there will be a meal or two where she doesn't eat anything. *SHRUGS* Oh well, this is how it's supposed to go.

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Cruises furniture (YES! Started this week 42!)
2. Picks up extremely small objects (she touches very small object, has yet to really pick them up)
3. Holds cup and drinks from it (NO. She doesn't drink out of cups yet, but I'm not surprised, really, since we did things differently than the norm)
4. Recognizes words as symbols for objects--e.g. knows cow "moos" (I don't know!)
5. Can imitate speech rhythms, inflections and facial expressions
6. Does not always cooperate (ha! This is the story of the changing pad)
7. Withdraws from strangers (Yeah, been doing this)

New Things / Misc.
Nothing really new this week. All she wants to do is walk, walk! Seriously. This baby isn't happy unless she is walking or cruising.

Slideshow
Sorry for the light load of pics again this week! But there are some really good ones. :)

Video of the week!

Week 44: November 11 - 17

Madeleine turned 10 months old this week! I can't believe how time has flown. Pretty soon, she'll be turning ONE! Our tentative date for her first birthday party is January 15th, a Saturday, and I hope everyone can make it, though I know that won't be possible. It will be a short, low-key affair, where we basically get to celebrate making it through alive! Oh, and Madeleine will get her first CAKE!

Nursing
Mostly still going well. We had some biting incidents this week which were NOT fun, but I think they're past. Hasn't bit since Saturday.

Sleeping
Well, we've hit some bumps in the sleep department. Everything was going super last week, but this week she started having problems. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, she took her normal morning nap, but then for her second nap, she wasn't tired when she went down (I guess!). She would sit in her crib and play, coo, talk to herself for up to 30 minutes, then take a super short nap (30 minutes). She seemed fine in the evenings, however, so we weren't worried.

But after the third day of this, she woke super early in the morning. Le sigh. So we think she got just a little more chronically tired each day, and then it started messing with her night sleep. It's crazy the way sleep works for babies--and how it gets messed up! Anyway, the first day of early waking was Sunday, and we had to wake her from her first nap to get to church. Then we went out to eat, so Madeleine went down for nap #2 kinda late. She slept great, until almost 4, so we all went to church that night. Well, she ended up being up too late. Got a short (which for her means less than 11 hours) night's sleep, then slept fine for nap #1 and nap #2 was again about 30 minutes.

Since then, however, her naps have lengthened again. I believe it has to do with her waketimes; I think she's able to stay up longer than before, which is a natural progression for babies. These things just tend to surprise us! Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty good, so hopefully it was just a phase-thing.

Solids/Food
It's funny. Some meals she will eat a lot, and others she'll barely touch. We've decided to start waiting at least 30 minutes after she nurses before giving her solids, just to give her a little time to want to eat. She still loves it, and overall, there is positive progress. It's still kinda slow, but the book says that one day, it'll just CLICK. Can't wait for that! I bet it'll be her first birthday party, when she gets her first taste of CAKE!

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes, grapes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Climbs up and down from chairs (HA! Not a chance. Matt has walked her up and down an incline though....)
2. May differentiate use of hands (definitely.)
3. Likes to take things apart and put them back together (YES to taking apart, NO to putting back together. Haha. She is still very much the Unmaker)
4. Opens drawers and cupboards to explore contents (she did this last week but the contents of the cabinets weren't okay for baby to play with. She was super unhappy and let me know about it!)
5. Experiments with means to a goal, such as using a large wheeled toy for a walker (she kinda did this in week 43 with the basket)
6. Helps dress herself (yes! She's been doing this for awhile with her arms and recently started with her legs)
7. Enjoys games, such as hide-and-seek, rolling back and forth on floor (she LOVES games, especially the ones with daddy!)
8. Drops objects for someone else to pick up (maybe she started doing this a few weeks ago?)

New Things
Kind of a slow week. She's started cruising a lot more, and walking (with the help of one of us) with one hand.

OH! She attempted to clap this week! Matt was clapping to her while she was on the changing pad, and she was kinda trying to bring her hands together in the same way. It was great!

Teething Update
No good pics of the teeth this week. They're sticking out just a little more than last week.

CAMP CRAWL!
Crawling ... is about the same, I'd say. I dunno, she just doesn't seem to want to get her belly up. She does the right motions with her hands and legs, but she doesn't get up on her knees. *Shrugs* I don't know what else to do, other than just not worry too much about it.

Slideshow
Lots of outdoor activities this week: Swings, parks, battlefields.

Video(s) of the week!
These were taken in Roswell on Saturday. Madeleine LOVED walking through the leaves!!

Week 43: November 4 - 10

Nursing
Nursing is going great!

Sleeping
Sleeping is going great, too. We were a little worried about daylight savings on Sunday, but Madeleine once again rose to the challenge. On Saturday, we went to a friend's house, and Madeleine took her second nap there. She was asleep before 2pm and she slept until about 3:50! On any other day, I would have woken her at 3:30, but because of the time change, we let her sleep. She was asleep for bed at 7:45pm (way later than usual), then woke at about 6:30am (new time; to her, it was 7:30am). She did great most of the day, but by bedtime, she was super tired. Even though she'd slept great, her little body still said it was up too late.

Monday she woke at 5:30, Tuesday at 6, and Wednesday she slept until 7am. Totally awesome little baby! Things are looking good! Also, her naps are great. I think it may be because she is so much more active, what with cruising and crawling all over the place. :)

Solids/Food
Madeleine really likes eating with people. On Sunday, we went out to eat with our friends Todd, Amanda, and Manning. We'd gone out with them and Amanda's family two Sundays before. On both occasions, Madeleine sat in her high chair with her cloth napkin bib on and ate her little pieces of food with complete contentment. She smiled at everyone, laughed occasionally, and generally seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

The Baby-Led Weaning book says not to make a big deal out of baby eating, to just go on with our meal like normal. Matt and I have gotten used to doing this. We give her some food and then talk like normal. Sometimes one of us laughs, and more often than not, Madeleine will laugh too. It's as though she's trying to participate in what's going on at the table beyond just eating. It seems as though she knows that meals are important and she wants to be part of them. It is totally awesome. SHE is totally awesome!!

She tried green peas for the first time this week. I'm not sure if she was just not hungry at the time or if she didn't like them, but she had a great time smashing them one-by-one on her high chair tray!

Her progress with eating is phenomenal. She's starting to swallow! Less food is hitting the floor! Her poop is getting more solid! All good things. I've noticed that for certain foods, like biscuit, we give her one or two pieces and she'll work on those for the entire meal instead of eating some and then dropping the rest. She used to go through half a biscuit at breakfast, but now just those 2-3 pieces. Yay!

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. May be able to raise herself to a standing position (she still needs us or furniture)
2. Carries two small objects in one hand (um? haven't seen her do this...)
3. Reaches behind herself to get a toy without seeing it (um... she definitely reaches, not sure about her seeing it or not...)
4. Is interested in fitting things together (not yet. Supposedly, this comes with the next Wonder Week, which is after week 46)
5. Seeks social approval (YES! I think the mealtimes with others is evidence of this)
6. Seeks companionship and affection (well, she wants to be with one of us at all times. She's more cuddly sometimes)
7. Fears strange places (haven't seen this yet)

New Things
Oh boy, does this girl like to walk! She loves standing against furniture and playing with things or pulling perfectly folded laundry off and dropping it on the floor. :) BUT, if I get too close to her, she reaches out and grabs me--my hand, my pants, my arm, whatever. Then she's trying to get me to help her walk. I feel like one of those robots that is controlled by a person perched inside the machine. Think "District 9." She will get "loaded" and start walking. When she wants to stop, she'll let go of one of my hands, explore or whatever she wanted to do. When she's done, she searches for my hand again so that she (and I) and move on. It's hilarious.

Matt has taken Madeleine on multiple walks around the house. He holds her hands and she walks all over the place. It's one of the best things for her to come around the corner and see me. She smiles really big and turns on the jets, walking faster to get to me. Of course, she gets distracted halfway there, but it's still totally awesome.

More walking news: a few times this week, she played with her basket, but in a different way. I turned it over so that it wouldn't tip (in the carpeted room), and she stood beside it with her hands on the bottom. Accidentally, it scooted forward a little because of Madeleine's weight. It was kind of like using a walker. She was surprised, kinda like, how did I get to here from there? But then she just kept playing. :)

We got Madeleine a cool toy for crawling or walking after (you can see it here). She does crawl after it, but what's more fun to watch is her holding Matt's hands, walking after the worm, and kicking it. Yes, kicking it! See the video in the video section.

On a totally unrelated note, Madeleine has become VERY ticklish, and it seems like it's happened just in this last week. We noticed that she's ticklish under her arms a few weeks ago, but lately she's ticklish on her tummy, her feet, her neck, and sometimes totally unexpected spots, like her elbow! She is so delightful when she's laughing that we have a hard time not trying to tickle her ALL THE TIME. I personally hate it (though I don't know many people who like it), so I don't want to tickle her if she isn't enjoying it. Cuz it's hard to tell---laughing isn't a voluntary reaction. But there are times we just can't help it. She is simply too cute!

Something NOT so cute: crying when a toy is taken away or she is moved from somewhere she was playing. I think she has more trouble with this when she is tired, because she doesn't do it very often. We are always surprised when she protests like this, so I think that speaks to its infrequency and unpredictability. We are never sure what to do, though. Cave and return the item? Or stick with our reason for taking the item away? My gut reaction is that it's about naptime, and distraction is always good. I don't know if she's too young to try and teach her that crying doesn't get her what she wants---though, crying is the only way she can communicate.

Misc
Madeleine has a game that she plays with Matt. He'll have something in his hand, and he will give it to her. Then she'll take it, but almost immediately try to put it back into his hand. She'll do this over and over. It's fun to watch, though I wouldn't mind if he didn't play this game while driving. HA! Just kidding. Only when we're stopped at lights.

Madeleine is awesome right after she eats. She's always in a great mood. She and I play for a few minutes after each meal, anywhere from 5-15 minutes. We do all kinds of little things, but she'll get this awesome smile on her face and lean into me, like she's shy. Sometimes, she'll give me little kisses, but this week, she put my whole nose in her mouth and licked it. LOL. She's so funny!

For months, I've been singing the same song to Madeleine before bed. In the last week or so, she's started to relax and lean her head against me while I sing and rock her. It is one of the best things ever. She also will do this for naps, but there's something super special about bedtime.

CAMP CRAWL!
On the subject of crawling. It is true that Madeleine doesn't crawl much, and that her technique is not textbook when she does crawl. We discussed this with her doctor at her 9-month visit, and the doctor said not to worry. She thought Madeleine would have it down by a year old. Madeleine doesn't get a ton of practice crawling because our floors are mostly wood and it's a lot cooler now than in the summer. If she has warm enough clothes on, it's hard for her to get good gription on the floor.

Still, we do want her to learn to crawl, and we need to provide those opportunities. So starting Wednesday, we put her on the floor a lot. This is the inaugural run of Madeleine crawling. She's already improved since starting Camp Crawl. She's got a decent grasp of technique, but she just needs to realize that it's more efficient to get her belly all the way off the floor. And the doctor said she'd get it eventually.



Teething Update
Madeleine seems to really like having four teeth now. She can rip into food, and chew on her toys differently. The food, especially, is great. I think her improvement in eating may have something to do with her teeth. Anyway, in this pic, you can kinda see both sets of teeth.



Slideshow

Video of the week!

Week 42: October 28 - November 3

HOLIDAY ANNOUNCEMENT: I know it's a bit early, but we're working on Madeleine's Christmas List. I'll post the link each week, but if you want to, you can bookmark the page if that's easier. I'm posting it early because some of the items are for sale at Etsy and might therefore be very limited, and with the holiday season approaching, I wanted to give you the best chance of getting what you'd like to get Madeleine. I do apologize for the lack of pictures on the list. I don't know what the problem is. Sorry!

Nursing

Matt suggested I move this section down, to give the reader something they WANT to read about first. However, I figure this is the only section where I really get to mention what's going on with ME, and it's first, so people can skip it or read it and forget it when they see stuff about Madeleine.

SO! All is well. Almost great, actually. :)

Sleeping

YAY. Sleep is going superbly, despite a few little bumps in the road (pun... intended!) Madeleine's naps are consistently over an hour, and on Tuesday, she even slept almost 2 hours for her second nap! It seems as though she's starting to make up for lost sleep in her naps. If she has a short night, she'll have longer naps, which is great. No issues here right now!

Solids/Food

Last week, I reported that she was really into food. And she definitely is. However, she still doesn't seem to quite get the concept of swallowing. I know she IS swallowing some, because the food disappears more now, and we see it in her diapers. But a lot of food still comes out of her mouth. She'll chew on it for a few minutes, then - bloop! - out it comes, pushed by her little tongue. She also doesn't get the idea of drinking. We've tried giving her water, and she has swallowed some, but it seems to be more by accident. OH well, we'll just keep trying!

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...

According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Sits down from standing position (um, not really. She's super close, though. She uses Matt or I to help her sit -- smart baby!)
2. Responds to music by rocking, bouncing, swaying, humming (maybe??)
3. May repeat word incessantly, making it an answer to every question (she doesn't seem to talk with us much)
4. Grows aware of self (vague......)
5. Imitates gestures (YES!!)

New Things

BIG week this week. I think it has something to do with Madeleine FINALLY getting over her month-long cold.

To begin, a little setup: on Thursday, Matt put Madeleine down for her second nap, but she didn't seem too tired. Also, it was pretty warm, so we didn't put her in a sleep sack (either the light or heavy). Both of these things resulted in a FIRST. Madeleine stood up in her crib!! She was just cooing and talking to herself, and I looked at the monitor to see her in the corner of her crib in a new stance. I told Matt she was trying to stand, and then I turned away. When I glanced back, she was pulling herself up!! It was awesome! She made such pleased sounds.

BUT THEN, it occurred to me that she would have to get down in order to actually take her nap. The question became, do we go in and put her down, or let her figure it out? I frantically looked online for what other moms said to do, and the conclusion was unanimous: leave her. It was sad, because eventually her happy sounds turned to cries when she couldn't get down. Eventually though, she did, and I didn't see it. It took her a few minutes to calm down from being so upset, but then she fell asleep and slept for an hour. We had to wake her in order to preserve her bedtime.

So yay, Madeleine, standing up in her crib! It was super cool. She hasn't done it since, and I suspect that's because we do put her in the sleep sack for naps. It's probably got pros and cons. The good is that she won't get stuck standing up and have a hard time getting down, but the bad is that she doesn't get to practice getting herself down (and up of course, but I think down is harder). Also, at the end of her naps, it would be cool if she could stand up. But with the cooler (cold!) weather, this is the best way we can keep her warm during sleep.

MOVING ON! NEW TEETH! This also happened on Thursday. When I was feeding her before bed, I happened to see something in her mouth. I felt around, and felt the tip of a new tooth! It's the top middle. After a day or so, it was obvious she was getting both top middle teeth. Yay!

The new teeth are causing some bumps (as alluded to in the sleep section). Sometimes she avoids meals because her teeth hurt, and she's nursing longer and gnaw-ier (not a word, I know...). She's also been a little fussier. It's odd that she doesn't seem to have any symptoms until AFTER the teeth break the skin. I've been giving her meds before naps the last few days, and I think it's helping. She had started to wake early, though by early, I mean around an hour (nothing like those 30-minute beauties we had around 6 months! DO NOT miss that time!). Tuesday's 2-hour marathon showed me that the meds are helping. :)

Okay, so WHAT ELSE? How could there possibly be MORE, you ask? Well, it's not as big, but on Saturday, Matt was helping her stand and she was holding onto his fingers. Then she got a block in one hand and had to let go of one of Matt's hands. Then she grabbed the block with her OTHER hand, and she stood ALL BY HERSELF for about 5 seconds! She had no idea what was going on, though. Her concentration was on the block, so when Matt tried to duplicate the move, it didn't work. She hadn't set out to stand, just to hold her block.

FINALLY, also on Saturday, we saw some genuine crawling action. There were verified belly lift in her movements! Plus, for the first time in 2 weeks, she crawled all over the place.

Sunday morning, she woke early and had a runny nose, and we were SO bummed that she was getting yet another cold. But Monday saw no signs of a cold, and she actually slept until 7! Oh, she slept til 7 on Saturday as well, for the first time in at least a month. This was MUCH celebrated by all -- we got to sleep IN on Saturday, yay!

I've noticed her using her pointer finger more. Which is great, because soon she'll be able to pick up things using the pincer grasp.

Misc

Monday, we had a hair-brained, last-minute impulse to go to the Pumpkin Farm and Apple Barns in the Ellijay area, so we made our plans, packed everything up, and headed for the North GA mountains. It was awesome. Madeleine was crazy about the pumpkins -- pics and video below. We only got to spend half an hour there, but it was completely worth it. Then we went to my aunt's house in Jasper for her to take her afternoon nap, and for us to hang out a little bit. We got to see my cousin Matt (so hard not to write Matthew, as I have always called him!) and play some serious ping-pong. I think 6 games while Madeleine napped? Oh, and speaking of her napping, she slept for over an hour at my aunt's house, slept through the phone ringing, the answering machine (which was in the room where she was), a little dog noise, and us playing ping pong below her. She is seriously the BEST BABY ever.

Madeleine still loves to stand and walk on our fingers, but she's also started cruising from one piece of furniture to furniture. :)

Seriously, right now, she is so awesome. Almost every moment is a ton of fun. She laughs easily, smiles, plays.... I can't believe how much I am enjoying her and life right now. I love being with her, watching her learn, watching her grow. It's incredible that she will soon talk, think, and reason, and that we get to be part of her life.

Teething Update

I think we had one week without this on here. LOL. There are now four teeth of note in Madeleine's mouth. It will probably be some time before I can get a picture of all 4, but here you could definitely see the top two. I had to use the flash, but I think it's a decent picture anyway. [Click to see bigger]:




Slideshow

You could say that I did my best to make up for last week's lack of pictures. :)

Video of the week!

Two videos this week from the pumpkin patch. Madeleine LOVED the pumpkins!

Week 41: October 21 - 27

Nursing
Not much to report, thankfully. It's not 100% perfect, but it's close! Yay!

Sleeping
Toward the end of this week, the sleeping was much improved. The humidifier was key. If for some reason we decided not to turn it on for bed, she'd wake early the next morning. No idea why, but whatever! Madeleine's naps are averaging a little longer, too, I think. About 1 hour 15 minutes seems "normal." Of course, that will change tomorrow, haha.

Solids/Food
I can officially declare that Madeleine is VERY into food. Every time we put her in her high chair, she is on the lookout for munchies, and when she sees food, either on my plate, Matt's, or her own, she gets so stoked. She waves her hands in the air and makes her "I want food now" grunts. LOL. She gets more down, she is HAPPY to eat, and she really likes being involved with the meal.

On Sunday, we went out to eat with some friends, and Madeleine sat in her high chair and ate asparagus (first time!) and tomato, very pleasantly and happily, while the rest of us ate. It was awesome!

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes
Foods she likes: zucchini, green beans, chicken, carrots, asparagus
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. walks while holding both of your hands (YES! See the new things!)
2. may begin to show preference for one hand and one side of the body (yes. We think she favors her right hand.)
3. searches for an object if she saw it hidden (YES. She's been doing this for awhile)
4. shows various moods, such as hurt, happy, sad, angry (ha, definitely! Especially angry, when something isn't going her way!)
5. imitates facial expressions (yes, a little)
6. imitates sounds (sorta?)
7. enjoys variations of peek-a-boo (sort of. she's never been a fan of peek-a-boo, and I think the reason is because she's got a book called "Peek-A-Who?" So... I think she associates the "Peek-A....." phrase with that book, so she doesn't really get the game. BUT! She likes the "Where's Madeleine?" game a lot, which is pretty similar......)

New Things
So Madeleine is all about standing, as you may remember from previous weeks. Well, this week, Matt decided to try letting her walk toward the exersaucer while holding onto his fingers. It was a HIT. Madeleine is just SO proud of herself when she walks!

Misc
During lunch on Wednesday, it occurred to me that we hadn't had to wipe Madeleine's nose that day. Yay! She is feeling much better. Let's hope she stays unsick for as long as possible now. :)

We went to the park on Tuesday, and Madeleine LOVED the swing. Matt also helped her down the slide quite a few times, and eventually, she was smiling as she went down. The battery in the camera died though, so we didn't get many pics of the outing. BUT! It was still really fun, and Madeleine enjoyed it.

Slideshow
This week has to be a record LOW for pictures taken! It's a bummer, but there is an explanation for it. We've been inside more due to a heat wave, and when she's inside there is ONE thing only that will satisfy her: STANDING. Since one of us has to be right behind her the whole time, it's very hard to snap a hundred pictures of her. So, that said, enjoy this much abbreviated slideshow, and let's hope for more pictures next week!

Video of the week!


The GOOD news is that we have some video! And to make up for the light post this week, I'll post two! :)

Week 40: October 14 - 20

MADELEINE TURNED 9 MONTHS THIS WEEK! I cannot believe it; we are closer to her first birthday than her day of birth. There were a few weeks I thought we'd never make it. LOL. We're already discussing her first birthday party, so keep that in mind for January!

CONTEST!! Huge thanks to everyone who entered! We'll do this again for the one-year appointment, and we hope to see increased participation. The winner was decided by less than ONE (1) point! It was ridiculously close.

The winner is ..... (DRUMROLL.....) Uncle Weh! (With Papa Pete JUSTTHISCLOSE!!) Your prize is a picture with Madeleine. It'll be in the mail very soon. :)

Madeleine's 9-month stats were: 17 pounds, 6 ounces (17.375), and 27 inches. She's in the 29th percentile for length, 22nd for weight. Her head circumference was 17.5 inches, which is the 63rd percentile. Her weight-for-length is right on the 50th percentile line, which is excellent. I also plotted her head circumference for age, and it, too, falls DIRECTLY on the 50th percentile line on the CDC growth chart. We are so blessed with a happy, healthy little girl!

Nursing
Well. It's going. I don't really think I have that Raynaud's disease. There's not a lot of information for nursing moms. I certainly have never had my fingers turn white and/or blue, so I'm not sure what to think.

Here are my symptoms: pain on initial latch, pain between feedings that is alleviated by warmth.

I never got around to calling the lactation consultant this week, so I'll try to call her Monday. It was certainly not an intentional decision; I only remembered to call after Madeleine was in bed, and I don't want to call after business hours. So Monday!

I finally called Anne on Tuesday. We had a good talk. She said she is sure I don't have Raynaud's disease, but she believes I have what are called vasospasms, where the tiny blood vessels spasm and blood gets cut off. This often happens as a result in temperature drop. There are some treatments, and I've been doing a couple of things in an effort to help the pain. One big thing is Madeleine's latch. I suspect it's always been slightly wrong, but for a while, it didn't seem to bother me. Since meeting with Anne in September, I've been working on Madeleine's position and latch, and I have definitely seen improvement. I will continue to do the treatments listed here that I've been doing and will also add those I haven't been doing. All in all, things are getting better, and I'm looking good for making my goal of nursing for one year!

Sleeping
Madeleine was feeling better earlier in the week, but after coming down with another cold, she started waking early again. So we are back to early bedtime. It's bizarre: she cannot handle being awake too long before bed. Supposedly, babies can go longer as the day goes on, i.e., each successive waketime is longer than the one before it. I ... suppose, actually, thinking about it, that her third waketime IS longer than the others. I guess it just can't be much longer, and we need to be very careful about getting her to bed in a timely manner. Otherwise, she wakes too early and has a poor sleep day.

As of Wednesday, things are again getting better. We bought a humidifier, and I think it really helps her sleep. She's still super snotty when she wakes up, but she doesn't wake too early.

Solids/Food
There is definitely a difference in how she's eating. She is really EATING. She still spits out a good bit, but she is really going to town on her food. Now, we just need to be good about offering a good variety of good foods. Especially veggies. This week, she's enjoyed green beans, chicken (of course!), beef, more zucchini, apple, biscuit, and cheese toast.
Foods she doesn't love: bananas, cucumber.
Potential problem foods: cheese, yogurt (dairy??)

We talked to the doctor Monday about the dairy sensitivity, and she said to try offering dairy foods occasionally to see if there is still a reaction. If the condition persists to her one-year appointment, there's a test they'll do to check for allergy. I SURE hope there's no allergy, as I am looking forward to having cow's milk as a weaning option, but we'll deal with it if she can't have cow's milk. Since Madeleine hadn't had any dairy in a few weeks, we gave her a little this week, and she still had the skin reaction.

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Stands with little support (she is crazy about standing. CRAZY! She sometimes goes "no hands" but it's only for a second or so)
2. May develop sleep problems caused by practicing standing in the middle of the night (not yet....)
3. Voluntarily releases object in an awkward manner (not sure what this means. She's been doing this for a while, dropping one toy for another...)
4. Grasps tiny objects with thumb and index finger (not yet. Watching closely for this one! I think she's close)
5. Increasingly imitates actions of others (YES! She's been doing this lately! SO cute!)
6. Understands and obeys some words and commands (she's learning "no"; we don't give her many commands at this point...)
7. Enjoys water play (BOY, does she! In the last week, she's started really splashing. It's fun and very wet!)
8. Prefers one of several toys (she doesn't seem to have major favorites. Except the exersaucer, which she wants to walk around)
9. Repeats sounds and gestures to get attention (dunno?)
10. Waves bye-bye (not yet)

New Things
On Saturday, Madeleine sat up from a crawl/tummy position for the first time!! For WEEKS I've been hoping she would learn this because it will greatly increase what she can do. She woke from her first nap at 10:15, and we were waiting for her to really wake up before getting her. Matt came over to see what she was doing, and he said, "Is she awake?" Often, we can't tell exactly what she's doing. I looked at the monitor -- and she was sitting!! Matt and I rushed in her room, and she looked so pleased with herself. We praised her and clapped our hands, and she just grinned! It was awesome. One of the coolest moments with little baby.

Madeleine is getting a lot of practice standing and cruising. Her favorite thing to do is hold onto the exersaucer and walk around it. She goes slowly, plays with the toys as she goes. Mostly she goes counter-clockwise, but she can go both directions. Thursday, she started attempting to climb the exersaucer. She put her feet up on the bowl portion (here's a picture of it) and kinda bounced. We have to stay very close because she's almost tipped the thing twice now. I sorta miss the days when I could set her down and leave the room. It is HARD to get anything done!

OOOOOh, oooh. On Wednesday, Matt and I were sitting on the couch, and Madeleine was playing on the floor. She had a couple of books and various toys, but there was one book in particular she wanted to look at, and she had to crawl to it. So she did. Then I noticed her trying to do something. She'd get her knees tucked up under her as far as they would go, then she'd kind of rock back and forth. That didn't work, so she tried putting her feet on the floor and "standing" (with her arms still on the floor, so kind of like a bridge?). I elbowed Matt, and we watched her, FOR THE FIRST TIME, successfully sit from a crawl NOT in the crib!! It was awesome. We praised her, and she looked at us with a HUGE grin on her face! Big baby girl.

Misc
This is Madeleine's second runny nose, but it is WAY worse than last time. She is just constant snot. She'll sneeze or cough and it'll just fly. She blows snot bubbles, sometimes out of both nostrils. LOVELY, right? LOL. And then, since she doesn't love snot on her face, she'll rub it with her hand and smear it all over her. It gets on her crib sheet, her clothes, MY clothes, Matt's clothes ---- everything! But she is just as happy as can be ... until we try to wipe her nose. Then she lets us know she is not pleased.

And, like last time, she liked the nasal aspirator for the first day. It was fun, novel, and we blew little puffs of air in her face with it. On day 2, it was just this annoying this we kept trying to stick up her nose. So basically, we have no recourse against the snot, and we just have to do our best to keep it out of her food.

Slideshow

Video of the week!

Week 39: October 7 - 13

I am sorry for being so late the last four updates. Madeleine is a bit clingy these days, and I've got a lot of work-work to do. So annoying! I don't have as much time for fun stuff. AND everyone here is sick. Hope you all are doing well! :)

Nursing

It's going much better! Still hurts at the start of each meal, but it doesn't really last. Also, as of Friday night, Madeleine might be feeling better. She wasn't so focused on eating like she has been lately. I hadn't mentioned it before, but recently, since she's been doing her 20-minute nursing sessions, NOTHING distracts her. NOTHING. But Friday night, my reading was distracting. So that is good. Haha, sorta!

Sleeping

I think (???!?!) we may have figured it out!?!? We've had 4 nights in a row (so far) of putting Madeleine to bed early. Or really, the main change has been feeding her 3 hours after she wakes from her second nap. It's been really good. It takes her a LOT less time to fall asleep, and I talked about this repeatedly for a few weeks. It took anywhere from 15-45 minutes to fall asleep, and she was rolling around, cooing and talking the whole time. These last few nights, it's been 1, 8, 13, 7, and then 7 minutes again. And most of that time was spent very still, with just an occasional little kick or arm movement. I think she was overtired before and so it took a long time to fall asleep.

As for wakeup time, we have four days of data to report. 6am, then 5:15 (boo), 5:49, and 5:40. Not close to the 7am time I want, but Madeleine is getting closer to 12 hours at night. This is GOOD. She's been happier, her naps have been consistently good, and her schedule is actually extending, getting later. I think if we continue this, she'll eventually be able to make it closer to 7pm, and hopefully be caught up on her sleep, and SLEEP til 7AM. This is our hope. Then of course, we have to deal with Daylight Savings Time. But ... we'll give this a little more time.

So. Sunday night, I fed Madeleine at 5:20, and she was in bed by 6pm. However, she didn't fall asleep until about 6:30! I just knew we were in for an early morning, but she slept until 6:27! JUST under 12 hours. She is feeling a lot better, so I suspect the poor sleeping was simply due to being sick! It needs more evidence, but that's where I am right now.

Solids/Food

Going well. Though we suspect that Madeleine has developed some kind of allergy to dairy foods. In the last two weeks, we've noticed red splotches around her mouth when she's eaten cheese. We'd noticed red splotches when she put metal in her mouth. So this week, we did some tests to see for sure. I gave her cheddar cheese alone, and she barely touched it. Then I gave her some quiche, with cheese in it, and she ate that but got splotches. On Saturday, we gave her yogurt, which she's loved in the past. She barely touched it, and got the red around her mouth. So, no more dairy, and we'll be talking to the doctor at her 9-month checkup. There haven't been any other symptoms, just the splotches and avoidance. It's just weird that it would pop up now and not at the beginning. *SHRUGS*

Madeleine loves biscuits. We've bought a few from Chick-fil-A lately, and Madeleine clearly swallows a lot of her parts of biscuit. It also seems that she's really getting into food more. She ate a lot of zucchini this week, and whenever there's food out, she wants some. A lot. :)

By the book...

According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Climbs (OH! She's been climbing over low obstacles for a couple of weeks!)
2. Crawls up stairs (we don't have any...)
3. Clasps hands (she has been doing this for weeks. No clapping yet, though...)
4. Follows simple instructions (kinda? She obeyed when I told her "no" this week...)
5. Is becoming afraid of heights (I wish! She still has no fear of edges of furniture.)
6. May begin to protect herself and possessions (not yet)
7. Performs for audiences; repeats act if applauded (she's been looking for approval from onlookers for a long time. Not sure if that's the same thing? Doesn't really repeat)

New Things

Madeleine has started really talking a lot. A LOT. It is SO adorable. No words, of course, but she makes word noises. "Dadadadada", "mumumumumumu" and "Dahdahdahdahdah" are favorites. I cannot really describe her little voice, but I LOVE hearing her talk. I'll try to get a video up of her talking soon. We haven't been too good with videos lately.....

She also LOVES standing. There is nothing she would rather do. She's getting so good at it, too. She stands with one hand, walks around the outside of the exersaucer, pulls up on furniture. On Friday, I put her in a big cardboard box, and she started moving around the edge of the box, going from one side to the next and so on. Box is the new basket!! At least, for Friday. The sides are taller, which helped, but when she fell, it wasn't as good as the basket. That didn't stop her, however, from wanting to GET BACK UP and KEEP STANDING AND MOVING!!

Misc

CONGESTION: Finally, as of Friday, I think she's on the mend. She's generally happier, and as I mentioned above, the nursing times are starting to go down. YAY!

CRAWLING: Madeleine still doesn't really crawl in the traditional sense. She would MUCH rather spend her time standing and practicing that. We have to work to get her to crawl because she gets unhappy if she isn't standing. LOL. However, this week, we've noticed that she's been moving with a lot more belly clearance than in previous weeks. She just has never taken off like we'd been warned. Not sure what to think.

As of Monday, Madeleine is clearly feeling better after her bout of congestion. The first evidence was the decreased nursing before bed. Only that nursing time was affected though; still ate 20 minutes every other time. For her second meal Monday, she ate only 14 minutes. She doesn't cry immediately upon being set down. Matt put her on the floor and stood up, and no tears! She crawled a whole bunch today. She played by herself for longer than she has in a while. She is happier. More alert, less fussy. YAY MY BABY IS HEALTHY AGAIN!!

On Wednesday, however, Madeleine started to have a runny nose again. *grumbles*

There are some pictures of Madeleine with Layla in the slideshow. Layla was a super sweetie one day, letting Madeleine lean against her while standing. Layla just stood there for a long time beside baby. At one point, Matt gave her a good petting, so Layla moved, but then she returned to standing just behind Madeleine--who again leaned on her. :)

Teething Update

I guess they are what they are. Probably won't do another one of these until there's more to say or show! [Click to see bigger]:




Slideshow

Video of the week!

Week 38: September 30 - October 6

Nursing
I left last week's post saying I was going to stop doing anything external and use only the shells I got recently. On Saturday, things were going well. There's some lingering pain after meals, but it is gone by the next meal. I've finished my anti-fungal meds and am still taking my antibiotics. I've also started a "high potency" probiotic. (Which I just noticed is like the opposite of antibiotic... probiotic... eh...)

Well, as of Wednesday night, things are going pretty well. I'm wearing the shells during the day and following some other advice from Anne, the lactation consultant. She mentioned "vasospasm" and blood circulation a few times in the past, but I never paid much attention. We talked on Monday, and I told her that it still hurt right when Madeleine started nursing. I asked her if cold and/or dry air might contribute, and she said yes. I realized that during the warm months, I had basically no pain.

I googled cold and nursing pain, and the first result was an article on something called Raynaud's phenomenon. I read through the abstract and it could definitely be talking about me. I plan on calling Anne later in the week and talking to her about it. There's a medication that some women in the article took that led to "prompt" relief from pain. I'd love me some of that! It's called nifedipine, and it is primarily used to treat high blood pressure and angina. It is safe to take while nursing. BUT, I have generally low blood pressure anyway, so I think I'd have to be closely monitored if I were to take it. BUT! It would be AWESOME to have an answer and a solution.

Sleeping
Madeleine is still basically on a 6am-6pm schedule. Her parents just keep putting her to bed late. That will change now. :)

We've also got something coming up that worries me a bit. Daylight Savings is November 7. Never in my life have I known about it so far before the event. But once Daylight Savings hits, 6am becomes 5AM. NOT GOOD. We plan to attempt to extend Madeleine's schedule by 15 minutes a week so that when the time change comes, she'll be at 7am, which will go to 6am. Of course, we want her to get to 7am on a regular basis.

Well, after attempting to get Madeleine in bed by 6, and in reality getting her in bed closer to 6:30, FINALLY we did it right. Madeleine went to bed at 6:01 Tuesday night and fell asleep by 6:03. She hasn't fallen asleep that quickly for bedtime in ... months! I was SO beyond happy. I couldn't believe it. I kept staring at the monitor, waiting for her to start moving around, like she usually does. BUT NO! And then -- the ultimate in making mommy happy -- she slept until 6am. 12 hours! This is SUCH relief after weeks of 11 hours or LESS. Looks like we finally got something right. Yes, 6pm is an early bedtime, but she clearly needs it. She's been getting overtired, her naps have been getting short, and if this is what we have to do so she gets the sleep she needs, then this is what we'll do. LOVE THAT BABY!

Solids/Food
Not much to say on this right now. Still progress, still very slow. But that's to be expected, according to the book. And I am in NO hurry to wean. :)

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Takes a few steps if supported; walks with adult holding hands (YES! At least, the first part. She'll walk while holding on to us or furniture...)
2. Reaches for small objects with thumb and finger (not yet. I'm watching for this one!)
3. Grows bored with repetition (YES! Hahahahaha. So very much. Hard to entertain!)
4. Is aware of vertical space (for a week or so she's been looking down, from her high chair, the chair and a half, etc.)
5. Begins to evaluation other people's moods (dunno? Never know about these social ones. They seem hard to know because they are often internal)

New Things

MOMMY GOT A KISS!! YAY!! It was wet and the most precious thing I've ever received. Madeleine was quite pleased with herself after kissing me, and of course I was beyond thrilled. :)

She maybe said "Dada" while looking at Matt??? We don't think it's intentional at this point. Of course not. But it's kind of exciting.

Misc
We went to the park again with Mimi and Madeleine got to swing again. This time, she was more rested and happier and we got to enjoy the playground a little more.

One day, Madeleine and I were sitting on the floor playing. Suddenly, the floor shook. I looked at Madeleine, and she had the poop face. HILARIOUS! It wasn't that much, but the force was directly on the floor so I felt it a few feet away.

CONGESTED: Madeleine definitely caught something. Her little voice, her coughs, are all scratchy. Add that to her super long nursing sessions (for pain relief), some extra fussiness, and she's got a little cold. Poor little baby. For the most part, she seems unaffected. I think she kinda likes hearing her scratchy voice sometimes! We're dressing her warmly at night and for naps and doing our best to make her comfortable. Hopefully, she'll get better soon!

We have been spending a LOT more time outside since the weather turned cooler. It is just so amazing. It's sunny, cool, there's a crisp, gentle breeze almost constantly... BEAUTIFUL. We take a big blanket out, a few toys, the camera of course, and we just hang out. Madeleine loves it, Layla loves it, Mommy and Daddy love it.... Expect a lot of outside pictures in the next month or so!

Teething Update
About the same. I used the macro lens this week to get a picture, and it's super cool. [Click to see bigger]:



Slideshow

Video of the week!

Week 37: September 23 - 29

Nursing
Well. It's been quite an adventure. I don't want to bore you with details or too much information, but I've really been struggling. Saturday night things kind of boiled over. I've been nursing through pain that has been increasing, despite medication and my topical cream. So we decided to try mommy milk in a bottle Saturday night so that I could rest from nursing for a little while. It was hilarious. At first, Madeleine put it in her mouth like a toy: she tried to chew or gnaw it. Then I think she got a little milk out that way and so she was like, "HM!! I know this stuff. I want more." But she had no idea how to get the milk out of the bottle. She chewed the end, but that's not a very efficient way to get milk. Eventually, she just kind played with it.

So I let her nurse on the side that hurt, and it HURT. Matt had to hold my hand the entire time while I cried. Ten excruciating minutes. Well, we both decided that I couldn't keep going like that. Sunday, I tried just feeding her on the less painful side, which worked fine until the feeding before bed, when that side was killing me too (though not as bad). We tried a bottle again, with no luck. (on a side note, we've really stepped up the table foods!) So, again, I decided to feed on the side I'd been resting. It went just fine. Hurt a little just at the beginning.

Monday I started making phone calls, though the most important one I made Sunday night when I asked my mom to come up to help. :) She played with the baby while I called around. I went to my doctor on Monday and got an antibiotic because Lesli said I might have picked up an infection. Tuesday, I called Lactation at Kennestone, and Mary told me how to keep Madeleine from gumming me (did I mention that she was going through some serious teething pain Saturday and Sunday and Monday too? When it rains, it pours!). Then she recommended a specialist to have a look, so I made an appointment with them for Wednesday.

I also called Ann, the lactation consultant who came to my house in February to work with Madeleine and I. She and I talked for an HOUR, and then she said I could come over and she'd look at Madeleine and me and help us out some more. So we did. Matt got home from work, and we walked out the door 5 minutes later. Got home just in time to put baby to bed. Her analysis: we need to work on Madeleine's latch and position during feeding. Ann was AWESOME and helped a bunch.

Wednesday, I went to the specialist, who basically said the painful side looked "completely, perfectly healthy" and the other side "was a little inflamed." I was told to keep taking my antibiotic and that the pain was probably due to "wear and tear." NOT encouraging. When I got home, I called Ann, as she'd asked. She didn't think the wear and tear explanation was any good, either.

Thursday morning (sneak peak for week 38, LOL!), Madeleine spit up a little blood, so I called Ann again to get her help with just healing. She suggested that I just STOP everything I'm doing (except the meds, have to finish those) and see what happens. To use the shells I bought that allow air flow and not put anything on anymore. No cream, no lanolin, nothing. I said, WHY NOT? Let's see. So that's what I'm doing now, and I'll get to post more about that next week!

Sleeping
For whatever reason, Madeleine's sleep has been off for most of this month. It was very regular and predictable during month 8, but month 9 has been the opposite. What we CAN predict is that we have no idea what she'll do. :) We did have about a week and a half where things approached regular, but then they went haywire again. THAT started around the time my pain nursing got really bad. Coincidence, perhaps?

Her morning wake times are very irregular. She's woken as early as 5:15 (!!) and slept until her "ideal" time of 7am. We haven't found any pattern, but we're working on it. Getting good nighttime sleep is super important. So, we are working on that.

Solids/Food
As I mentioned above, we've been doing much better with this. A few days, she has even eaten three times with us. Yay!

By the book...
According to "Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week," during this week, Madeleine:
1. Crawls with one hand holding something (er, she still doesn't classically crawl...)
2. Turns around when crawling (she can do this--again, not really crawling, still army crawling)
3. Bangs objects together at center of body (yes indeed)
4. Uncovers a toy that she saw hidden (not sure?)
5. Deliberately chooses a toy for play (YES!)
6. Imitates some sounds, such as cough, hisses (yes!)
7. Manipulates and drinks from cup (er, no... it's still quite a mess)

New Things
Madeleine got her first balloon on Friday! (It was orange) We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch, and Matt got her the balloon. She played with it almost the entire time we were eating. Her favorite thing to do was bang it against her high chair--repeatedly. Sometimes it would bonk her in the head, and she's just keep right on banging. :)

She LOVES standing, and her favorite place is the white basket. She likes to stand at all times, almost. It's the newest, coolest thing. She's also started letting go with one hand, and BOY is she proud of herself when she does!

Matt reports that she stood facing the couch and walked sideways along the couch. Go baby!

Madeleine crawled from the living room to the kitchen for the first time! She got distracted by the electrical sockets though, so I had to go out and buy the plastic plugs for them.

On a totally new front, Madeleine seems to be getting very verbal. Matt said that he was standing in front of her bookshelf, picking out a few to read, and she said "buh." Of course, it could totally be nothing, BUT we'd like to think she was trying to say book. Because she is so fabulous. Then on Wednesday, she and I were sitting on the floor beside Layla. Madeleine looked at her and said "dah." NATURALLY, that meant "DOG!" She is brilliant.

MIMI has also been the recipient of TWO (2!!) baby kisses! The only two, I might add (no, mommy is NOT jealous, not the slightest, thankyouverymuch!). The first was Tuesday, the second Thursday (sneaky peak again).

Misc
My friend Manda from Illinois came to visit and stayed with us Thursday through Saturday. She loved meeting Madeleine and Matt and just hanging out around the house.

Mimi came up Monday and has played with Madeleine A LOT. The weather has been awesome this week, and we've spent a lot of time outside. On Wednesday, we played outside for about an hour, and Mimi got some pics of Madeleine and I. This made me SUPER happy because I don't have many of my baby and me. :)

She also LOVES crawling over stuff. Matt will let her crawl around on the chair-and-a-half or we'll put cushions on the floor. This pleases her greatly.

Madeleine was possibly a little congested as of Wednesday -- we'll see how it goes. Hope she doesn't get sick!

Special Topic: Wonder Week 37

This was a Wonder Week for Madeleine, during which her little brain developed the ability to learn the world of categories. (Note: This can happen any time between weeks 36 and 40, but it's most common at 37) This means that baby is able to "recognize that certain objects, sensations, animals, and people belong together in groups or categories" (Wonder Weeks, pg. 194). Basically, she's now got the ability to understand that a dog is a dog live, in a book, or stuffed. Dogs can be brown, white, black, grey. This doesn't mean she now KNOWS all of this, but after this leap, she'll be able to start figuring this stuff out.

It's so fascinating. The good news for us is that, unlike the last Wonder Week (two, really, 19 & 26, which kinda of just ran together into one long Wonder MONTHS), we barely felt a bump from this one. She met all the symptoms -- fussy, whiny, grumpy, discontented, impatient, restless -- but it was no big deal. Her sleep wasn't disrupted (the biggest problem last time). She was a little more clingy, a bit shier, wanted to be around mom and dad more, but that was really it. I am SO THANKFUL that her sleep wasn't disrupted. That just made all the other "symptoms" so much worse.

Although... it just occurred to me that her sleep HAS been affected, and it JUST hit me this MOMENT! Haven't I been writing about poor sleep at night lately? It never crossed my mind that it might be related to the wonder week. LOL! Wow. Well, it still may not, because she has been having long awake times before bed, and I've been trying to fix that. Just wanted to mention the Wonder Week, since we had such a rough time last time around. The next one is due to peak at week 46 and will probably start around week 42. WOO! Let's hope it's as smooth as this one was.

Teething Update
I think they've pushed out a little more. And I KINDA suspect she's getting another tooth? But there's no telling. I don't feel anything. [Click to see bigger]:



Slideshow

Video of the week!