Week 76: June 24 - 30

I'm telling you, the weeks are just so much fun around here! I love this little girl so much, and I'm really enjoying getting to know her.

POOL TAKE TWO

The first pool trip barely counted. So this week, Madeleine and I went to the pool with Molly Ray. I got her all dressed after her nap, and we headed up to Woodstock. When we got to the pool, I was a bit concerned because it was SO bright. The last time, it was overcast, so I wasn't too concerned, but yikes! So much sun. Fortunately, there was one table with an umbrella available, so we claimed it quickly.

I put on Madeleine's little hat, and she started to cry. Uh oh. It was this sad little pitiful cry that was somewhat funny, too. Anyway, Molly distracted her with some grapes that Liz had cut up. Then when we put on baby sunscreen, she cried again. We tried to make it light and easy, but she wasn't fooled. There was something about that water she wasn't excited about--quite the opposite! Finally, she was all ready to go in, as were we. As I stepped into the pool, she held it together until her feet got wet. Then she started crying and clinging to me. I remember Leslie and Julie saying that it took time for their babies to get used to the water, so I tried just holding her and waiting it out. No such luck.

There was a beach ball in the pool, and some little girls were playing with it. That was able to distract her some, but if she lost sight of the ball, she cried again. Le sigh. So Molly suggested that we get out for a bit, and we did. Madeleine ate a bunch more grapes, had something to drink, and we watched some other people in the pool.

When it was time to go back in, Molly went first and actually did some swimming where Madeleine could see her. We think it helped. Madeleine didn't cry as we got into the water this time. She was still clinging pretty tightly, but now she was actually looking around. It was adult swim, so no kids, and the beach ball was just floating around. She kept pointing to it, saying "Ball!", which I took to be a good sign.

Basically, over the next half an hour, she turned into a totally different baby than the one we first got into the pool with. She started by kind of splashing tentatively in the water. Then she'd kick her legs. She wanted to stand on the step, without mommy holding onto her. She tried walking a little, but the currents in the water were pretty unpredictable. She often had to reach out for me. She smiled, she grabbed the ball, she let me hold her away from me at arm's length. She kicked her legs some more. A couple of times, she even accidentally got her face wet. The first time, Molly and I were expecting her to try, but she just wiped her eyes and yelled for the ball. LOL. The second time, she was standing on the ledge and took a step off. Mommy was right there, OF COURSE, but still, she didn't shed a tear over getting her face wet! YAY!!

We had SO MUCH FUN. Molly got to hold her, and by the end, Madeleine was even asking to "get down." She wanted us to let her go in the pool! Which of course we would never do. But it was a total blast, big success, and I can't wait to do it again!

DIAPERS (GRUMBLE GRUMBLE)

I really do not like disposable diapers. We are using more earth friendly ones, less harsh ones, but she STILL gets these awful rashes. We have to put these ridiculous creams on her more often than not, and I just don't like it. I'm considering trying cloth again with some NEW diapers. I may buy one to see if it works all right and go from there. The good news is that we can probably sell our current stash for a decent sum, which will go toward the new stash should we decide to go that route.

WORDS (& SIGNS)

Signs she still does regularly: drink, down, light, bird, milk, bath.

No new words, really. She has been saying "oww" to mean cup though. At first, it just applied to her stacking cups, but now any cup she sees she says "oww."

One strange development: when Madeleine HAS a drink at the table, but she can't reach it, she'll just point to it and fuss. It finally occurred to me, so I've started asking her to sign for her drink again or at least point without fussing. Tonight at dinner, it worked!

I wonder if she's supposed to be using more words, because she hasn't added any lately, really. At least, not actual words. There have been new strings of syllables, all kind of in a rush, but they aren't intelligible.

MILESTONES 13-18 MONTHS

My wonderings about words made me google 18-month milestones, and I found a chart. It's nice to see these sometimes because I often don't write down every little thing she does, and I also don't know when something even IS a milestone. In order to comment, I'd have to look back over the weeks to see how she did, and I don't that time. LOL.

So here are the skills she should have mastered over 13-18 months.

13: Uses two words skillfully, bends over and picks up object
14: Eats with fingers (definitely had this one down!), empties containers of objects, imitates people
15: Plays with ball, uses three words regularly (yes), walks backwards (no, she only started walking forward at this time)
16: Turns pages of a book (definite yes), temper tantrums (not really), becomes attached to soft toy (yes)
17: Uses 6 words regularly (yes), enjoys pretend games (um?), likes riding toys (we don't have any)
18: Will "read" board books on her own (definite yes), scribbles well (working on it)

Here are the skills that are emerging over 13-18 months.

13: Enjoys gazing at her reflection, holds out arm or leg to help parents dress (yes, she did this early)
14: Toddles well (no?), initiates games (yes), points to body part when asked, responds to instruction
15: Scribbles (a little), runs (nope), adopts "no" as favorite word (she still doesn't say this one! Is that good or bad or neither?)
16: Discovers joy of climbing (not yet, definitely now at 17.5), stacks three blocks (I know she did this, dunno when), uses spoon or fork (yes to spoon?)
17: Feeds doll (doesn't have one), speaks more clearly (not really), throws underhand (um, nope. Over all the way!)
18: Strings two words (yup, did this already), brushes teeth with help (yes! Been doing this), stacks four blocks (she can stack 6)

Here are the skills that are advanced for 13-18 months.

13: Combines words and gestures to make needs known, rolls ball back and forth
14: Uses spoon or fork, matches lid with right container, pushes or pulls toys while walking (not walking yet)
15: "Helps" around the house, says "shh" with finger to mouth
16: Takes off one piece of clothing (she did this once in crib, not sure when), gets finicky about food (I think so?), goes from 1 nap to 2 (um, did that already!)
17: Dances to music (did this already), sorts toys by color, shape or size (she sorts things somehow, not sure about her methods!), kicks ball forward (we'll have to try)
18: Throws ball overhand (she's done this almost from the start), takes toys apart and puts back together, shows signs of toilet readiness

Interesting list. Good to look at and see where she kind of falls. :)

AH, DISCIPLINE

Apparently, Madeleine is at the stage where we should start disciplining her. And I do agree, I don't want her to be a terror, for our friends to dread our visits with her. The thing is, she doesn't do a lot that bothers US, but maybe she does some things that SHOULD bother us. I dunno, we've talked about it a little. Maybe she does things that other parents would correct, but we are actually pretty laid back about things. We've moved all the breakable things or things that we'd be really sad to have messed up, but we just don't have that much STUFF so.... there aren't a lot of things that she can't touch or play with. The book shelf is one, and she's really very good about not touching it. Now that I'm writing this, I can't remember her going over there at all this week... Hmm! Maybe something paid off??

Our biggest areas of wanted to correct are throwing food on the floor from the high chair and her mini-tantrums on the changing pad. We have a little system for when she throws food that involves some hand-squeezing and isolation. The isolation REALLY kills her. She hates it WAY more than anything else. So maybe she'll catch on quickly and we won't have that issue anymore! She's also getting a little better (I think, but I have no idea!) with obeying with we say "no." We try not to say it often, but it is inevitable.

I took her to the post office the other day to mail something, and she wouldn't stay beside me. I'm not sure how to manage that one.

So anyway, things are always interesting around here! She is truly SUCH a delight. The little areas for correction are just blips in our days, so that is fortunate. I just hope to keep it that way!

BIG HELPER

Madeleine has really started enjoying helping around the house. She'll hand me silverware from the dishwasher to put away, she helped me load clothes into the washer today. She likes to "fold" laundry, and she likes to help me put laundry away. She helps clean up her tray and other spills.

CRIBZ

For the last couple of weeks, Madeleine has really taken to playing in her crib after her nap. I'll go in there, and she won't want to get out. She bounces around, plays with her blanket, a stuffed animal if one happens to be in sight. And of course ME. But sometimes, she just plays and ignores me. It's funny when I try to get her out before she's ready. She'll try to sit down and she shakes her head "no."

Her naps have been really pretty great lately, averaging about 2 hours. We always leave her for 2 hours, even if she wakes early, but we don't see any need to leave her longer if she's awake. We totally could though, she's so happy in there. And I love that time because she is ALWAYS in a great mood. :)

LITTLE THINGS

Remember in Week 74 the little rhyme in the baby magazine? [“Grasshopper hops! Worm wiggles! Spider spins, Madeleine giggles!”] This week, Madeleine has been ALL about the spinning. She'll spin herself dizzy even, and it's cute and a little sad because then she can't quite walk straight. But she's mastering the spin technique. :)

Madeleine pointed to her own eye in the mirror.

She loves squeezing through tight spaces. If there's a little narrow passageway, she'll choose that over the wide open way. It's really quite cute.

Whenever one of our phones rings, Madeleine puts her hand up to her ear as though to answer it. :)

She knows what a curtain is, probably with help from the Dr. Seuss book "There's a Wocket in my Pocket." Silly rhymes are really fun.

Another fun (and something frustrating) thing Madeleine does is get between me and the kitchen cabinets whenever I'm working in there. She'll be in another room, playing, but then get it in her head that she wants to see me. She comes in, then squeezes in front of me. But she doesn't just stand there, it's like she wants to stand on my feet or climb up my legs. LOL. And she usually steps on my toes because I'm wearing flip-flops! Ouch!

SLIDESHOW