Week 53: January 14 - 20

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADELEINE!!

Welcome, readers, to YEAR TWO of Madeleine's life: the blog version. We no longer have the "Week by week" book, as that ended at one year. I really want to keep the blog going because it is a great place to record things that happen with the baby. But I've had trouble lately keeping up with it, and I'm going to try and figure out why. I want it to be easy so that I'll keep doing it. Even if no one else was reading, it's a way to record her growth. So, we'll see how the next few weeks go.

BIRTHDAY PARTY!

This was a very full week. It started with a quiet birthday on Friday. We didn't do much, just sang happy birthday to her first thing in the morning. Then I sang it to her after both of her naps. But that was all. I mean, she doesn't know the date is anything special.

But then, after her second nap, things started to get fun. First, Mimi, Poppi, Uncle Wes, and cousin Lola arrived. Madeleine was thrilled to see Mimi and Poppi, and even demonstrated her new walking skills for them. Then all the boys and Lola went on the hunt for sledding equipment and location. Madeleine and Mimi stayed home with me, and not long after the boys left, Papa Pete and SuSu arrived! We played for a while, and then it was time for bed for baby.

Once she was down, it was on to cake time. Mimi and I got the cakes made over the course of the evening. It was my vision to have a bird shaped cake. I'd wanted a white cake, while Matt had always envisioned it a chocolate cake. So to get a cake big enough for the expected crowd, we made two cakes, with the design of putting them together to make one bigger cake that would feed everyone.

Saturday was the big day. There was a lot to do: prep all the food, make the cake and icing, then ice the cake, pick up the house, get everything ready. I had a LOT of help, so there was no stress at all. Mimi and Lola worked on the icing, Papa Pete and SuSu ran some last minute errands and brought home lunch (YAY!). Then SuSu and Mimi and I went into high gear to get the house almost ready before Madeleine's last nap. We vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen, moved furniture, got the food mostly ready, and got the cake iced. It was rush rush for about an hour, and then when Madeleine went to sleep, everyone dispersed to get ready for the party.

And naturally, Madeleine slept longer than she usually does and woke up kind of late. I had to feed her before she could join the festivities, and I realized she was going to be "late" to her own party! LOL. Oh well.

The party went perfectly. Everyone got to hang out, talk, see the baby -- though all she wanted to do was walk. She sat at her high chair for probably half the time, eating her favorite foods of grapes, apples, hummus and crackers, and then, of course, THE CAKE. I was so excited to see her eat cake, her first sweet, but it was pretty anti-climactic. She tried it, got a little on her face, and then decided she really just wanted more grapes. :)

I think everyone had a good time. It was short and sweet, but it was just right.

WORDS

This section definitely needs to be carried over from last year! On Friday, or maybe Saturday, Madeleine started saying "eat." At one point, she even pointed to her high chair and said "eat!" Wow!

Word tally: Layla, Dog, Mama, Poppi (once), ball, here.

CRAYON/PEN

Last week, I wrote about Madeleine drawing with a crayon for the first time. Well, after a bit of that, she started to put the crayon in her mouth. I'd say no right away and pull her hand back. She just kept doing it, so I kept saying no. After a few tries, she'd start to cry. But she also started pulling the crayon out of her mouth by herself. It was weird, we couldn't figure out why she would cry. Because we didn't yell, we weren't harsh, we just said no firmly. Maybe she didn't want to disappoint us?

Anyway, this week I let her hold my pen. She acted like she wanted to write with it, so I let her use some paper. She made a few marks on the paper, but a pen is kind of hard for a baby. The tip has to be on the paper just right. So I got the crayon from before and gave it to her. It immediately went to her mouth. I said no. I tried to show her how to draw with it. Every time I let her have it, it went to her mouth. So I eventually took it away and gave her the pen back. But then she started putting the pen in her mouth! Which she'd never done before. I found it very interesting. Then I had to tell her no to the pen, since she doesn't understand the difference.

LEMON

We had some lemons left over from the apple cider recipe we used at the party. Matt was getting ready to toss them but he suggested we let Madeleine have a slice. She'd had lemon twice before (once with no response, the second time with some awesome faces and not much eating), so I cut her a slice and put it on her tray. She took one taste and made an even more twisted face. I kinda laughed and she did it again. Then Matt said, teasingly, "Why don't you have some, mommy?" So I took a little taste. MAN, it was bitter! I've never had straight lemon before, and blech! I made a very big face. Madeleine was watching me the whole time, and when she saw my reaction, she tossed her lemon on the floor! She was like, "If mommy doesn't like it, then I sure don't have to eat it!" But she threw it down with disdain. There was emphasis in her toss. :)

CONSTIPATION

I'd thought the problem might be gone, but it was not so. We had some tears shed this week, and Matt and I had to kind of help her go. The faces she made this week were the saddest we have ever seen. They broke my heart. More than ever, we are determined to do what we have to do to prevent this from happening again. We've got dried prunes (that we soak in water), applesauce, grapes. After her doctor's appointment, we're adding fruit juice every day, and we'll see how that goes.

MAMA / DADA

Madeleine has been saying "Mama" for weeks now. She knows I am mama. However, she also calls Matt mama. She used to say "dada" but it's been a while, before she was associated words with things or people. We always call Matt DADA, but for some reason, he's mama in her mind. BUT, she also knows he's dada, because I'll say "Let's go find daddy!" and she'll look for him. When she sees him, it's "mama!" One time, we were both close, and Matt said, "where's mama?" she pointed to me and said "mama!" Then I said, "where's daddy?" she pointed to Matt and said "mama!" We even think she tries to correct us whenever I call Matt "dada." She'll pointedly say "Mama" almost every time. I know she'll eventually get it, and it's kind of funny. In my mind, she sees us both the same. We are both home, safe, and comfort to her, so she only needs one word for that. And I'm thrilled that we are both able to be so close to her. All that said, I'll still be happy when Daddy is "dada."

ONE-YEAR APPOINTMENT

Madeleine's one-year appointment was Thursday--just got it in for this week's post! The appointment was very informative and ... interesting. Baby's one-year stats were:
Weight: 17 pounds, 14 ounces. Length: 29 inches. Head Circumference: 17.75 inches.

She grew TWO whole inches! She's up to the 45th percentile. BUT, she only gained 8 ounces. Half a pound. In 3 months? Her weight is down to the 6th percentile. We were stunned! I wasn't worried though. Madeleine met all of the developmental markers, and I knew if she hadn't been getting enough food, she would have slowed down on those. They checked her iron status (Hemoglobin was 12.7, in the healthy range of 10.5-13.5). The doctor wasn't worried either. She said it sometimes happens at this age because they are getting so mobile. She wants to recheck her weight in 6 weeks, instead of waiting the full 3 months for her next check-up, but yeah, she didn't seem concerned at all.

We asked about the dairy thing. The doctor said maybe she has a skin sensitivity, but she ordered a milk allergy test. Baby had to have blood drawn. A needle put into her vein and a vial filled. It stunk, but Madeleine did great. She cried of course, but overall she was awesome. We'll find out the result of that test ... hopefully soon. They said it could be days or weeks, depending on our insurance. It boggles my mind that our insurance company gets to determine how quickly a test is done, but THAT IS ANOTHER POST ALTOGETHER!

I don't really think Madeleine has a milk allergy, since she's been able to nurse all this time with no problem. A friend's daughter has a milk allergy, and my friend had to completely cut out fairy while she nursed. But it will be nice to know for sure so we can start giving her milk (or soy, or rice milk if necessary).

The doctor recommended straight fruit juice for the constipation. She also encouraged us to offer a cup at every meal. We'd been giving her water, but she never showed any interest in it. And who can blame her?? It's not very exciting. I don't just love drinking water.

A FEW OTHER THINGS

Madeleine has been giving out LOTS of kisses lately. She kissed Layla even! She kisses me more than she used to, daddy even more. One night after feeding her, she looked at me, said "mama", and gave me a kiss. I about melted! It was so sweet!

We've been working with Madeleine on walking, trying to help her build her confidence. One of us would hold the weasel ball, and she would walk to it. We'd always grab her and hug her when she reached us, so she started grabbing the ball and then continuing to walk until she was in our arms. She wanted the hugs, not just the ball! So sweet. Later in the week, she took some steps while holding the weasel ball. This was big, because at first, anything extra would throw her off balance. So it was awesome to see this growth. When she wants to go somewhere, she still looks for a hand, but she wants to hold the weasel ball so much now that she typically only walks holding onto one finger instead of two.

Speaking of holding onto things, Madeleine keeps trying to do things she's always done with the weasel ball in one hand. She's finding that it's more difficult to stand, crawl, grab something, when she's got the weasel ball. But that doesn't discourage her from trying! And the last thing she wants to do is put the weasel ball DOWN. :)


SLIDESHOW