Week 50: December 23 - 29

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
This week was split between Matt's parents and mine. We were in DeLand December 23-25, then drove to Tampa on the 26th and stayed there through the 29th.

Nursing
Thankfully, things are looking up! Finally!

Sleeping
We've had sleep disruptions, which are to be expected while out of town. I hate it though, because when she wakes early, I don't want her to wake other people in the house, but getting her up early messes up the whole day.

Solids/Food
Adding blueberries to the foods Baby loves!

I've noticed recently that Madeleine has started to break off pieces of food and put the smaller pieces in her mouth. If she's got a stick of bread, she'll pull off a little morsel and eat it. So cute.

Foods she LOVES: biscuits, apples, cantaloupe, peaches, tomatoes, blueberries
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 walk without help (not yet! but she is super close. We can feel it!)
2. Lowers herself easily to the floor (I'm not sure how they define "easily" but she is learning)
3. Takes covers off containers (hm! We haven't given her any containers with lids)
4. Responds to directions (yup!)
5. May speak 2 or 3 words (she has been saying Layla, dog, and mama for awhile)
6. Gives and takes a toy (yes! She loves this game!)
7. May refuse to eat new foods (hasn't happened yet!! awesome baby!)

New Things & Misc.
1. Madeleine really started waving this week! She first did it while reading "Pat the Bunny," whenever we got the to last page that says "Bye-Bye. Paul and Judy are waving Bye-Bye to you." She would wave as soon as we turned the page. But now she's started waving to people whenever someone says Bye Bye!

2. On the "Bye-Bye" subject, something exciting happened on Tuesday. Madeleine was outside with Mimi and Poppi, sitting in the grass in the front yard. One of the neighbors got in his car and drove away. Mimi and Poppi both waved without saying a word, as per usual. Madeleine then waved and said, "Bye-Bye!" *GRIN*

3. Baby is definitely getting at least one more tooth. Three, maybe four. Ouch! She's having quite a rough time, lots of chewing, gumming, drooling, but other than that, she's doing really well.

4. She continues to imitate sounds. It's hilarious.

5. Also new, she has started to crane her neck to look around corners. She looks for mommy, daddy, Layla, some new sound ... so cute.

6. We think she's trying to say some form of Papa. Matt and I both have heard her whispering "papa" every now and then. It's like she's too shy to say it out loud? And she doesn't say it TO anyone, we just hear it.

7. Matt and I noticed recently that her first reaction when she gets something in her hand is no longer PUT IN MOUTH. She usually inspects the item a bit before tasting it.

Christmas Day
Madeleine seemed to wake up fussy. She did okay for her first wake period, for the most part. She participated in the tearing of some paper off one of her presents, but that was it. LOL. I think she got overwhelmed. Her first present was from some friends of Papa Pete and SuSu: an electronic Bug Farm that makes noise. She was very intrigued, and played with it, but I still think it overwhelmed her a bit. After maybe 20 minutes, she got fussy. I took her and sat her in my lap, and we played with the puzzle she got from Papa Pete and SuSu. After a little bit, she was okay to continue playing. Daddy took her then and kind of walked her and got her doing other things.

She went down for her nap as usual, and the rest of the day was just blah. She was super fussy; we suspected teething pain. But she was totally adorable by the tree, checking out all the fun, new things.

Tampa
We went to church in Tampa, arriving in time for their worship service at 11am. I of course fed Madeleine at the beginning, then we sat in the auditorium with Matt. She was very well behaved, and I think she charmed the people sitting a couple of rows behind us. After church, she was thrilled to find willing fingers to let her walk: Mimi, Poppi, even Uncle Ryan. Lots of people wanted to meet her, but she just wanted to walk. What's new??

Sunday afternoon, we opened presents with my family. Madeleine basically wanted away from the center of the action and was quite content to sit with her daddy and play with whatever was at hand. Much fun was had by all, and she even got to see her great-grandfather, Grampa, for a few minutes. It was very special.

Slideshow

Video of the week!