Holidays 2011

As expected, we have been quite busy since the last post and I have actually had some pretty significant updates to report (although I think everyone that reads this is also friends on facebook so you already know, but oh well!

The week of Thanksgiving, we ended up converting Madison's crib in to a toddler bed. Initially, we did it hoping if she had the opportunity to get out/play that she would stay (happy) in her room longer in the mornings. Well, she still often throws a fit if we aren't in there within 5-10 minutes of her waking up (especially if she doesn't have anything in there to drink) but at least she seems to like her bed. She rarely gets out and when she does she usually crawl right back in! So it didn't solve our initial issue but we figured if she was doing well in it, then we weren't going to go back to a crib regardless! She is also now traveling with a cot instead of the pack N play, which is great because she was pretty much too big for the PNP anyways and the cot is smaller and easier to set up!

December 1st, Madison's FIRST TOOTH finally broke through! It ended up being the top left tooth, just as the dentist predicted. Her 2nd tooth (bottom left) came through 12/18. She seems like she is still working on some more (maybe in the back) but I don't think anything has popped through yet (she doesn't let me feel around in her mouth willingly anymore). She has become SLIGHTLY less of a picky eater now that she is getting some teeth, but it's still a daily struggle...it's still so weird to see her with teeth though :)

It may have been a complete coincidence but with both teeth, Madison came down with nasty colds that lasted for nearly a week each, with fevers (up to 103 at one point) as well. She even ended up on antibiotics with the first tooth! I really hope she doesn't get sick each time she gets a cold, although I know I will be checking for teeth next time she does get sick :) LOL! But everyone has asked me if she's been fussy with her teething and the answer is yes, but was it because of the teeth or the fact that she couldn't BREATHE and had a fever!?!? I'd be fussy too...

Thanksgiving Day itself was fairly uneventful, although we did go to Barnwood (CS) to have lunch with the Miller side of the family the Saturday afterwards. And my Dad came over for my Thanksgiving Lasagna lunch on Friday. My nanny-Mary (Dad's mom) used to make lasagna for T-Giving each year and I have made it my own tradition (using her recipe). I love lasagna and have never been a big fan of the standard holiday foods anyways! We spent the rest of the break decorating for Xmas, although we never did put up the outside decor. Oh well...at least the inside looked nice :)

The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas were busy - both at work (for both of us) and personally, trying to prepare for Christmas (decorations, shopping; etc). Madison got an early Christmas present from her Mimi because it simply would have been too big to transport back from Clifton!

She loves her "Weee!" I'm so glad our house has such an open floor plan that we are able to pull off having this thing in the living room, given Texas' crazy weather. I hope to move it outside once things are consistently warmer - although by then I'm sure it will be wet! This thing may reside in the house for quite some time, but oh well! She also calls her tree swing a "weee" so it's up to us to figure out which one she is referring to :)

Over the month of December, we:

- visited Santa at Bass Pro Shop (she didn't cry but didn't seem happy about it either)

- went to "Lights in the Heights" (one night each year they shut down traffic on several blocks of the historical Washington Heights area of Houston where they have a lot of older homes with lots of character decorated to the nines with practically every house having a theme/entertainment from caroling, to DJ's - you walk around with the beverage of your choice taking in all the sights and sounds and it really puts you in the Christmas spirit)!

- Danny and I took one day completely to ourselves to go play golf for my birthday. I hadn't played in almost 3 years so it was great to get back out there and great together time for us :)

- Had her 18 month appointment (yay for no shots!) - her stats showed she is definitely "long and lean" as she has been at each well-baby visit so far! 33.75in tall, 23lb 15oz which is something like 97% / 50% perspectively.

- The funny thing about that 18 month visit is the Ped asked us if she talked much (because she was, of course, quiet during the visit). She talks up a storm now! It's amazing how much her vocabulary has expanded in the past month alone. She is picking up new words faster and faster and we've been doing a lot more sign language now that I recognize WHAT she is doing (they taught her at day care). The most consistently used signs are "more" (even though she can say "more"), "eat", and "please". She sometimes does milk and finished but they aren't as easy to recognize. She is also much more animated and loves to copy everything you do (so we have to be much more careful about what we are doing/saying)!

- Danny's cousin Greg, Libby and their daughter Emily (1 month younger than Madison) were in town for a few days from PA so we got to visit with them. It's amazing how much has changed since their last visit together, which was about 9 or so months ago.

- Then we made the rounds to family around Texas - spending most of the time in the Clifton/Waco area but also taking a day trip up to Dallas to see some of my family. Thanks to movies on the iPad and trying to plan most of our driving around sleep times, the driving wasn't as bad as I had expected, but we were all very ready to get home by the time it was all said and done :) It was great to be able to spend time with all of our family, especially with Madison being at such a fun age! She really racked up in the gift department - my next task is to go through her old stuff and make some donations! She also started saying (uncle) "Eric" (sounds more like "A-wick"). It's too cute :) Other than Dashall, it's the first real name she has said (everything else has been more of a nick-name)!

- She loved everything she got from everyone, but some of her favorites are her play cottage/house, her kitty rain boots (that she can put on herself), and her pink cow that she can jump on!

- New Years Eve was low key. We went to the Children's Museum during the day while Danny, Eric, and Megan went to the aTm bowl game here in Houston. She had such a blast - even more so than the first time we went! However, she is unfortunately at the age where she doesn't really want to share - she was both the pushee and pusher at the TotSpot at the museum that day, LOL! She took one of her longest naps ever when we got home, and that was after falling asleep for 30 minutes in the car on the way home!

I hope everyone that reads this blog has a fantastic New Year! I am going in to it with the ultimate goal of making me and my family healthier (changing diets for all of us in addition to more exercise for me). So far, my plan is going well, although I often give in to giving Madison anything she will actually eat, which is usually cottage cheese, chicken salad, or some sort of bread, LOL!

I'm not putting a lot of pics on this post because I've just finished upload a TON on to Flickr (I haven't uploaded in almost 6 months). I also have a lot of videos I need to go through and get up at some point. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but I think I hit all the significant points and I am now ready for bed :)

I've been a very bad blogger!

Clearly, life with a toddler keeps you busy!!! Over the past few months, in addition to normal day-to-day stuff, we've made another trip to Clifton for a wedding, a trip to Bryan for Madison's great-granny's bday party, Halloween festivities, and unfortunately have also had a bad few months of sicknesses around this house! Madison has had pink eye twice, an ear infection, and recently viral pharangitis (spelling? Essentially a bad sore throat) that caused a fever up to 104 at one point last weekend! I think she's finally back to normal so hopefully this weekend will be better :)

I've included a bunch of pics in this post and will comment on them later, but generally speaking I don't have any major updates to report with Madison. We took her to a pediatric dentist and they were not concerned about her lack of teeth. They could feel there was certainly something there and suspect that her top left tooth will probably be the first to pop out, although they didn't say they expected that to happen soon necessarily! They will come when they are ready I suppose! :) November/December are busy months in the family for birthdays, and we've all been wishing for a tooth. So far Danny and Mary have not had their wish come true. My Dad's is next week - maybe we will get lucky then! :)

She's doing well in day care and will be moving up to the next class within the next week most likely (18-24 months, 1 teacher : 9 kids). She spent most of the day in there on Weds, visiting, and did really well, although I personally feel like 9 kids of that age would be really difficult for 1 teacher! I asked her current teacher if she felt Madison was ready to move on and although she loves Madison and would love to continue being her teacher, she said Madison really is too smart for her current class :) I have to remind myself how much she grew when she moved in to her current class and know this is a positive thing for her. She will adjust to less attention and become more independent (which is scary as well, LOL!)

I've lost track of the number of words she can say but I'd say we are probably getting closer to 10+?? She is clearly smart and able to communicate what she wants fairly well, and definitely throws tantrums when she either doesn't get her way or we aren't understanding what she wants. "Terrible two's," we are definitely there already! She never wants to sit still long, making eating out and traveling more difficult again. We gave in to turning her car seat around a few months ago and it's definitely better now (although still challenging on longer trips). She was really too tall to still be sitting backwards. It was fine when she was asleep but when awake her legs were squished up and she got bored fast! We are somewhat dreading the holidays (traveling) and will most likely try to arrange most of our driving at night. Although we usually hate driving at night, it's the easiest thing with her at this age. As far as eating out, I'm contemplating trying a booster seat at restaurants instead of a high chair...when do most kids start that?? She really is good at restaurants but has a limit of 30-45 minutes!

Madison's favorite things right now (no particular order):

1. crayons/coloring

2. play-doh

3. bubbles

4. wagon rides

5. Sesame street (Abby is still her favorite)

6. our iPhone/iPad

*(5&6 - I know "screen time" is frowned upon at this age but it's limited and I try to show her the most educational things and never leave her alone with it - always interacting with it/her - so it's not "baby-sitting" her. But anyone who has a toddler knows that sometimes you just need a little break!!! And we are a technology driven house-hold/world, so it's inevitable)

7. cottage cheese/cheese in general

8. Mio "juice" - I personally hate water and she doesn't seem too fond of it either. In an attempt to get her to drink more, I started using that Mio Liquid that you see in commercials - just a little squirt. And now I've created a Monster!! God forbid you forget to put the Mio in there she throws a fit. She now prefers this to milk. But it's sugar free and zero calories, so better than regular juice, in my opinion!

9. HER CUP! Some kids "security object" is a blanket, doll, I had my "pi-wo" (pillow), and she has her cup. I have tried desperately to get her to attach to something else but have had zero luck so far! She usually just wants to hold on to it and gum on the straw. I keep a straw sippy cup of water in the corner of her crib because she wakes up so thirsty. She will usually grab it in the mornings, take a few sips, and lay back down for a while. Now, she actually wants to fall asleep with it! I went in last night to move it back in to the corner (so it wouldn't spill) and she had her arm wrapped around it so tight that she woke up when I tried moving it. When I looked at the video monitor again around 6am it was back under her arm and had apparently leaked all over her and saturated the top of her diaper so much that it literally exploded - causing these little beads of - who know's what - whatever fills the diaper - to go all over!! I guess I will have to give her an empty one at bed time and sneak back in at some point to put the full one in for her to have in the morning. Crazy girl :)

10. Music and dancing

11. Her sunglasses - especially now that she can put them on herself

Now on to some photos from the past month!

One of Danny's friends from Clifton (the bride in the bottom pic) got married in Clifton towards the end of October. The ceremony was about half an hour and we sat in the back row. I didn't see a thing in my attempts to keep her quiet with crayons, play doh, crackers - whatever I could think of at the time. She was happy, but just didn't want to stay still! It was quite amusing really :) Because most of the people that we were hoping to introduce Madison to were in the wedding party, we were hoping Madison would make it through at least the beginning of the reception before her Mimi picked her up so Danny and I could enjoy the rest of the evening and she could go to bed at a reasonable time. Well we were only at the reception about 10 minutes before we called Mary to come get her, LOL! The wedding party arrived about 30 seconds before Mary did, so there wasn't much time for introductions! She was just too much of a handful. Although she was adorable out on the dance floor she was drawn to the bride/groom table which had a long table cloth and candles on top and I kept picturing her yanking it down! And she refused to hold my hand or let us hold her!!! It was a fun night though :)

PS - the pic with Danny looking like a PIMP among a bunch of women is actually him among all the Clifton HS kids that were there, LOL!

PUMPKIN PATCH!

Same pumpkin patch - 1 year apart!! She definitely had a blast there this year. We were going to try having her in her costume but it was too hot and I'm actually really happy we didn't because I love this picture and I feel like I can display it any time without immediately thinking Halloween :) At first she started drumming on all the pumpkins, then she found the small ones and thought they were balls, so she started throwing them! We went home with SEVERAL pumpkins that day! I don't personally know the little girl that is handing her the pumpkin but she was SO sweet to Madison, wanting to share :) She had apparently just turned 2!

HALLOWEEN!

The top 2 pics are from her day care's Fall Festival. The one on the left is her current teacher, whom she LOVES - Ms. Kristina. The 2nd pic is with one of her classmates, and birthday buddy, Mason! The bottom pics are from Halloween night when we took her trick or treating. We walked to our neighbor's first and she was a little unsure but once Mama showed her how to do it, she was game! We went to probably 15 houses up/down our street. We had her in the wagon between houses and then she would walk up to the door herself. She would then point to the next house and say "more!" She seemed most interested in the lollipops but would only lick them a few times then just hold on to them. I offered her some of the other candy she collected but I guess she's not too in to sweets yet (good for her, bad for mommy and daddy since we were FORCED to eat her candy)!

Her hair is really starting to come in now! These pics really don't even do it justice, but let's just say she definitely has a party going on in the back, with some business in the front :) HAHA! Not sure if you can see in the bottom left pic - she has a little cupie-doll look going on!

Modeling her shades at the park!

The rest are just some misc shots I've taken recently. She's playing in a puddle in the bottom center one - right of passage for any kid, right!?!?

As far as Danny and I are concerned, life outside of Madison has been busy as well! I'm proud to say I've had my best year to date at work. Working from home has its' ups/downs but I guess I can now saw that it's not hindering my productivity :) I've been spending a lot of my free time taking some online photography classes and just absorbing as much as I can through this great online forum specifically geared towards mom photographers - whether they are just hobbyists or professionals (www.clickinmoms.com). I discovered it through the photographer that took Madison's 6 month photos and although it's taken me some time to realize what a valuable resource it is, I am now hooked and loving every minute of it! I've always been an artistic, creative person but photography is really one of the first things I've discovered that I literally CRAVE knowledge about! If I had time, I would read every resource out there and take 1000 photos a day! I really just want to capture memories of MY family but we'll see where this road goes in the future. For now, I'm just happy to have found a hobby that I truly enjoy!

Danny has been busy in felony court. He's tried a BUNCH of cases over the past few months (I've lost track). He also just started as a member of the VAT team - Vehicular Accident Team - where he is on a monthly rotation where he is on call 24/7 (one week at a time) to respond to vehicular accidents that could have a criminal element to them, in order to ensure that evidence is properly (and completely) collected. It's something you have to be recommended, and go through training for and should help him to continue growing in his career within the office! Plus, he gets an unmarked police car (including lights and sirens) when he's first on call, so he get's to play cop for a 1 week/month (live out his boy-hood dreams)! :) I like to tease that this is the only reason he wanted to do this VAT thing to begin with, LOL!

I could go on for days but we will leave it at that! Hopefully I will get a chance to update again during the holidays or else it will be another long post afterwards! :) Thanks to anyone who cared enough to get to the end of this LOOONG post!!! :)

15 months!

Madison is 15 months old today! In some ways, she acts like a 15 year old :) She is really a sweet girl, but she certainly has her defiant, stubborn moments! I've heard easy babies are tough as teens, maybe tough babies will be easy as teens? LOL! I can only hope! But really, she's not a "tough" baby, she just knows what she wants and doesn't want and isn't afraid to make these desires known :) Eating can still be a challenge, and we've given in to putting yet another gate up in the house to keep the dogs out of the kitchen when she's eating). She prefers to feed them over herself most of the time.

She had 4 shots today (including the flu) and cried bloody murder but quickly got over it once I was able to pick her up and give her some juice. I say cried "bloody murder" but really, she did one of her "silent screams," which is mouth wide open, eyes tightly shut, tears already flowing but no sound for a good 3-5 seconds and then an ear-piercing SCREAM! You know it's bad when you get the silence first before a scream, LOL!

Doctor said she looks great. He thinks the fact that she STILL has no teeth is very unusual and suggested seeing a dentist, at least to get her acclimated to it. I told him it's clearly genetics and I wasn't terribly worried about it, but we would visit a dentist. He wasn't worried either really, but definitely found it odd...

Height: 32" (91.15%)

Weight: 23 lb 9.5 oz (63.25% for her age, but the % is much lower for her height - she's slim)

Not much new has happened in the past month, except we spent Labor Day Weekend in the Clifton area. It was a busy 3-day weekend, for sure, but fun was had by all! Well, most of it was fun. We USUALLY try to plan our road trips when she will be napping. Even if she doesn't sleep the whole way, if she sleeps in the beginning she's usually more mellow when she wakes up for the rest of trip. This time around, schedules didn't allow that to happen. We picked her up from day care about 30 minutes after she woke from a nap so she was ready to PLAY by the time she got in the car and didn't take sitting down for an extended period well. So, the drive there was a little rough but we made sure to get on the road when was ready to sleep on the way back to Houston and that was much more pleasant :)

Madison got to go to her first Clifton Cubs football game! This was literally 45 minutes after we got to town, and it started past her bedtime. She handled the game pretty well, considering, and lasted through half-time. We left after that but the Cubs won! Go Cubs!

That Saturday, we went to a family reunion (Danny's mom's side). Madison had the most fun chasing this lone balloon around the dance floor of the venue we were at, and shaking her booty to the latin music :) She was getting in touch with her 25% hispanic side! LOL! Then we went to visit Granny Jo and Aunt Lillian for a bit.

Sunday we spent the mid-part of the day at the Waco Zoo with some other family members, including Madison's Aunt Megan! We usually bring the stroller to the zoo, but we've found that she doesn't like to get in/out of the stroller. She enjoys seeing the exhibits better when you take her out but doesn't want to get back in (it's not that she hates the stroller - she loves it - but prefers your arms), so you are then forced to carry her around a big, hot zoo for the rest of the trip. We decided to try out a wagon and she absolutely LOVED it!!! :) We were able to take her in/out without any problems. A wagon is definitely on my wish list now! We can always rent one when we go to the zoo, but it would be great around the neighborhood or parks as well.

We spent Sunday evening at Dan Sr's house, where Madison got to meet all of their animals, including a bunch of dogs, cats, and horses! She was timid with the horses, but hopefully she will grow to love them like her mama :) The dogs, on the other hand, she loved! They also have the sweetest Persian cat, appropriately named "Princess," that actually let Madison kiss and love all over her! Maddie loves to give her animals - real and fake - snuggles and kisses :)

So, back to Madison's progress/challenges...

She's working on a few more words (some I'm not totally sure of, but they are close enough and in context with the situation)

1. I think she's trying to say milk but it comes out as 'mi-mi-mi-mi.'

2. More = 'mo'

3. Nose = 'no' but point at either her or someone else's nose. She's also taken to sticking her finger up her nose, lol!

Challenges:

1. Food always seems to be a bit of a challenge. I often have a hard time figuring out if she's not actually hungry and that's why she's playing/throwing her food, or if she doesn't like what I've offered. Lately, I've started offering up to 3 different things (not all at once), and if she's still refusing to eat, playing around; etc. then I assume she must not be hungry. I'm not going to offer her one of everything in the pantry/fridge. My grandmother used to make a different meal for each of her 4 kids for each meal (even when they were older) - whatever they wanted - and that is NOT going to happen in our house!

2. I can tell she knows a lot of words and even her day care teachers have said that she takes direction very well. I believe she is a smart little girl; however, she isn't as talkative as some other kids. I know kids will progress whenever they are ready, but I feel this is partially my own and Danny's fault. I know it's important to keep a constant 'conversation' going with her, but this is something we have both struggled with from the beginning. I am a more talkative person, by nature, than Danny; however, it's challenging even for me to continually talk to her during normal daily activities - all day - when she's obviously not talking back to me. It just still doesn't feel natural to me. This month, I have made a more concerted effort to do this - describing things I/we are doing - and her teachers have said she's been more talkative at school lately, so hopefully it's helping! :) She also happened to be pretty talkative at the Doctor visit today, and he usually comments about how quiet she is, so I think he was happy with her progress!

I will leave you with some pictures from Labor Day Weekend!

with her Pa-paw with Aunt Megan

At the zoo 4 generations!

Summer 2011

It's been HOT and BUSY around here!! :)

We've had a very busy couple of months! The most significant happenings have been...

- we are officially BACK on whole cow's milk. In my last post, I thought she may have been lactose intolerant and went through all kinds of drama between Lactaid and Soy Milk, each of which seemed to ease her gas but caused her to poop so much she was constantly having bad diaper rash problems! We finally made the switch back to milk when we took a week off in August so I could closely monitor her reactions and it's been 1000x better ever since! I guess it was that darn piece of watermelon that started it all...

- She's doing well in her new class at day care. She's sleeping a bit better (better than I thought she would in a cot) but still doesn't sleep great at day care. We went through about 1 month of awful crankiness and tantrums until I realized I needed to start putting her to bed earlier. So, she usually goes down between 7-7:30pm now and has been much happier and easier ever since.

- She's still a picky eater...you never know what her mood will fancy or hate! She tends to eat better at day care (probably because she sees other kids eating the same thing) but she almost always loves some sort of carb (and who can blame her) or something sweet! I've given in to giving her the occasional V8 Fusion drink if I can't get her to take in any other veggies in a day. She loves it! She also figured out how to use a "snack trap" while we were in SA and she's obsessed with it. I have to be careful not to put too many snacks in there (and to keep them healthy) because she won't give it back until it's empty! She would also prefer to take her calories in through a straw - will take her milk over just about any type of food you offer! Some of the sneaky foods I've discovered in the past few months have been pumpkin butter, sweet potato pancakes, veggie burgers, and spinach nuggets.

- She still has NO TEETH but that hasn't really stopped her from consuming just about anything (that she really wants), even a tortilla chip. I finally gave in last week and gave her a chip after she wouldn't stop whining and pointing at them, thinking she would realize she couldn't eat it and give up after trying. Well she proceeded to take little bitty nibbles and suck on them until they were soggy enough to get down, lol!

- Speaking of pointing - she has certainly mastered that along with walking to (and then pointing at) the fridge when she wants milk or the pantry when she wants something to eat. She doesn't verbally say much related to most of her needs, but she certainly knows what she wants and can convey those desires physically to anyone!

- She babbles and squeals quite often, most of it doesn't make any sense, but she does have several words that she says on a regular basis:

- that (along with pointing at whatever she's referring to)

- cat (directed at the cat but sometimes hard to distinguish "that" and "cat")

- mama and dada (mama was her first word but dada is her favorite)

- HI! (along with waving)

- she pretty much has "dog" although it sometimes sounds like Homer Simpson's "DOH!

- "night, night."

- "Uh, oh!"

- "NO!" - at first I thought it was more random but there have been several incidences where it's been clear she knew what she said and directed it at someone/thing specific (usually the dogs)

- She has mastered walking and is now at the point of running, which resulted in a fall on to a toy at day care this week that caused a cut and swelling on the outside edge of her eye yesterday. She apparently didn't even cry though!! She's also much more willing (and eager) to walk out in public - i.e. restaurants, stores, sidewalks; etc. Which is nice because she is getting HEAVY!

- Her hair is finally coming in, although it's super blonde so it's kind of hard to see in pictures unless it's wet

- Kisses!! They usually happen when mama or dada is lying on the floor and she's standing over us, and have just in the past week been happening more frequently. It's so sweet! :)

- She LOVES her shoes!!! Any shoes really, but we have a few recently acquired pairs that are her fav. I think she's fearless when she's wearing them, which is both good and bad, LOL!

- She's now officially part of the "biting" age group - but she's been the victim (obviously, since she has no teeth). She's been bit twice in the past 2 weeks at day care, which is frustrating. The 2nd one was very, very minor, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I know the DC talks to the parents of the biter, but they won't tell me which kid is biting her (same or different each time?). I just hope she doesn't start biting once she gets teeth!

We've had a fun filled summer! I recently uploaded a BUNCH of pics to Flickr but here's a few:

- Several trips to various Splash Pads (though our neighborhood's pad seems to be a little too intimidating - and cold - to her, so she usually insists on mama or dada carrying her through that one)

- Houston Children's Museum - they have a great "Tot Spot" for toddlers only

- The Zoo (I think she finally really enjoyed our most recent trip - she seemed more aware of the animals)

- San Antonio (including Sea World, San Marcos Outlet Mall, and german food in New Braunfels)

- Kemah Boardwalk

- Anything OUTSIDE! She loves being outdoors so I have not been able to avoid the Texas summer heat like I have in the past, but it's been fun :) This is the most tan I've ever been I think (which isn't much - I'm just thankful I've avoided sunburns so far) and Madison is darker than I am. I think she got her Daddy's skin, which I am also thankful for! We spend many weekends with her in the baby pool outside or running through the back yard sprinklers - au natural - like last weekend!

- Her Uncle Eric was in town all summer working at a local law firm. Although he didn't stay with us, we saw him at least once/week. I kick myself for not taking any pictures of that, but I'm happy they got to spend more time together.

- Mary has also come to visit us many times this summer, which is always fun!

- We've also had more opportunities to catch up with old friends! In fact, one of my best friends from childhood - Mandy - will be in Texas from Colorado tomorrow and we are meeting her in Bastrop for lunch. This will be her first time meeting Madison! And we saw her sister (and her 2 kids), who live in Kansas City, last weekend!

It's been such a great summer! Madison is at such a fun age and it amazes me every day how she has transformed in to a little GIRL so quickly! The changes in her awareness, understanding, and personality in the last month alone are drastic. She will always be our "baby" but she has definitely outgrown the baby stage. There are always new challenges, but the positives definitely outweigh the negatives. The feeling you get when she runs to you with open arms, giggling, with a huge grin when she sees you walk in the room is amazing! I just LOVE being that little girl's mommy :)

Madison is 1 year old!

I think the ONLY thing that HASN'T changed in the past month is the fact that Madison still doesn't have any teeth! LOL! :) It's been quite a whirl-wind month in the Werlinger household, with mostly positive news to report. I'll try to make this as short as possible...

1. Madison took her first steps on Memorial Day - May 31st - a few weeks before her 1st bday! It took her a week or two to really get the hang of it but now, 1 month later, she definitely prefers to walk over crawling and can easily stand up on her own (without pulling up on something). She's getting close to flat out running but often gets a little too fast for her to maintain her balance. She takes her tumbles like a champ though! She's also come to love her shoes and will hold them out to you and put her foot out so you can put the shoe on her.

2. She just started opening the cabinet doors in the kitchen and entertainment center about 2 weeks ago so I finally had to childproof those. Danny and I are still getting used to that! :) Bookshelves and possibly the oven knobs are probably next on the list.

3. Had a great 1st birthday! I think we basically ended up celebrating for 3-4 days straight in one way or another. We had a great party with a ton of wonderful friends + family and she really racked up in both the clothes and toy departments! I've had to buy several more storage/organizational units to try to get everything under control :)

4. Her 12 month appt stats were 21lb 14oz, 31.5 in long - so still around 98th percentile in length but her weight is below normal for that length (which explains why we are in yet another awkward stage in the clothes department - too big for most 12 mo but too small for 18 mo). This was probably the most she's been affected by the shots - both during and after - out of all the well-baby visits we've had. She was super tired for days (the party probably didn't help though) and I'm pretty sure she has just developed a rash for the MMR vaccine. She's okay otherwise...

5. She moved in to the next class at day care (12-18mo) where they eat table food "family style" and take only one 2-hr nap/day. Her first 3-4 days were a little rough but she seems to be adjusting pretty well. She is definitely having fun with the big kids (and learning a lot - walking well and has been more talkative), but she's still having trouble adjusting to the 1 nap/day. They also sleep in cots, which hasn't been a big deal after all. We also weaned her off the sleep sack which was actually no problem, but we did have to go buy pajamas again! With the new DC sleep situation, a regular blanket would be much easier on the caretakers. They usually get all the other kids to sleep and save her for last since she's the one that's most difficult to get to sleep. There's been a few times where I've watched her online during nap time and she's walking around messing with the other kids as they are trying to get them to sleep. It's awful but I can't help but laugh! And they've told me there's been a few times where she wakes up early and starts talking so much/loud that they have had to take her back to her old class for the rest of the nap period so they other kids can sleep, lol! Fortunately, with my work situation, I've been able to go get her around 4pm so she can still get a decent nap in before bed, although there have been several days this week where she didn't need it!

6. She is finally on whole milk and exclusively table food! The whole milk wasn't as easy a transition as I thought. She was on soy formula so it's a very different taste. We ended up mixing formula/milk and decreasing the amount every few days and she was on 100% whole milk after 5-6 days. She loves it now but her body itself is still adjusting (she's quite gassy, and sometimes it actually hurts her). Hopefully it will adjust soon! She's also had quite the variety of table food at DC and they say she eats well!! We still struggle with veggies (although she will usually eat peas and carrots) but I've found she does like veggie burgers so at least I can get them in her some way! MONDAY UPDATE: we are beginning to think Madison is lactose intolerant. She keeps having this seemingly random outbursts of crying but it's when she's passing gas, so we think her tummy is cramping. We are now trying Lactaid...

7. We are without a doubt in the toddler tantrum stage and it's not fun. Diaper changes are the absolute WORST! She sounds/acts like you are trying to murder her or something! It's ridiculous!!! The only thing I haven't tried is food (because I desperately don't want to be that mom that resorts to food every time I need her to be calm) but I'm about to cave and try some cheerios or something. People keep telling me that she understands more than I give her credit for at this point, but I just don't think she gets it when I say something like, "you can either sit in time out or get a diaper change," or "if you are good, then..." I've tried special toys, giving her my cell phone, singing, funny faces, EVERYTHING (but food)!! It's really ridiculous :( She's thrown tantrums for other things too but the diaper changes are the absolute worst. And I finally got DC to admit that she's the most difficult in the class to change...

8. We decided to wean her off the pacifier! The ped said the sooner, the better (partly because she would get over it faster the younger we did it). However, she already has a tough time sleeping at day care and I've been reluctant to take away ANY tool that might help. We really only use the paci during naps/night - very rarely do we pull it out during awake "tantrums," but it's been nice to have that as a back-up option for those moments when you really need it! She's done really well so far (going on almost 3 days now), but let's just hope she doesn't resort to thumb-sucking now...

It's been an eventful month on a personal note as well. The good news is I've been getting more in to my (portrait) photography and even had a complete stranger ask for me to take her newborn's pics after seeing the ones I took for our mutual friend! I've done 3 newborn portrait sessions in the past few months and then the ones I've taken of Madison recently, so I've been able to get more practice in, which has been a blast :) I've been doing a lot of self-study and learned a lot just from trial/error and feel like I've grown quite a bit in the past 6 months or so. I still have a LONG way to go, but my ultimate dream would be to take my hobby full-time down the road!

The bad news is this past Monday, Lucy (my 19-year old cat) took a turn for the worse. She's been chronically ill for a while but Monday morning she turned in a way that made the decision to put her to sleep a little bit easier. She was okay around 8am and within a few hours she was clearly not doing well. Danny and I think she may have had a stroke or something with how quickly she deteriorated. She has been with me for most of my life and was a very sweet cat, full of personality, so she will be missed. But a part of me feels a lot of relief as well. She was beginning to be more difficult to care for than Madison was at times...

So I started this blog post on Friday and it is now Monday and I'm just now getting around to finishing it :) What started as a long weekend with no plans quickly became busy but we've had a blast! Saturday we took Madison to the neighborhood splash pad. She didn't really want to get down on her own much but she was having a blast with mommy and daddy holding her and running through the water. Yesterday we made another trip to the zoo and I think she (finally) genuinely enjoyed the experience this time. For the first half of the trip I had her in my little pack on my back so she could see better than in the stroller. But once she got tired, she decided she wanted to be held by Mimi (she came to visit us this weekend). In spite of the heat, we all had a good time. We plan on being pretty low-key today though!

I was going to add some photos in this post but I recently posted a lot of new pics on Flickr so feel free to go there if you want to see new stuff. I will never post this blog entry otherwise! We took more pics this weekend and I hope to get around to posting those soon.

Happy 4th of July!!!

barely a baby anymore!

So, the past month has been another busy one! Full of travels and outside time! Even though the lack of rain has sucked for our lawn and water bill, I'm thankful it didn't ruin any of our plans this past month!

The weekend of the 16th we met up with family - including Stephanie and little Brittany - in Brenham at Danny's Aunt & Uncle's house. Steph made them little matching ice cream cone shirts with their names and got them coordinating plaid skirts! They looked super cute :) Thanks again Steph!! We were hoping to see bluebonnets but this was just a bad year for them. Hopefully we will get the mandatory "kid in the bluebonnets" shot next year. Madison had a great time crawling around outside and meeting new people and animals!

The next weekend was Easter weekend. We went to CS for the Miller Family gathering on Saturday and were joined by almost all the new babies on the Miller side (we missed Miss Emily in PA)! Madison was the oldest, then little Daniel who is about 1 month younger and Evangeline who is about 6-7 mos old. Madison brought along a bunch of her toys to share and had a blast hanging with the family. She even brought home a bunch of goodies in her Easter basket, including some toys, snacks, $, and books! Sunday we went over to my Dad's for Easter dinner and she got a stuffed rabbit that was as big as her! She LOVES this rabbit :) She will go up and "hug" it all the time! She started a rowdy game of "clap after me" that had her laughing up a storm! She would start clapping and then me, Danny, Dad and his gf Jeanna would all follow suit and stop when she stopped - and she thought it was the coolest thing ever! I think we did this for like 10 minutes straight! I only wish I had video'd it but we were in the moment and I thought if I stopped to go get the camera she would stop too. Here's Madison with her bunny!

Also, over Easter weekend, Madison moved completely off the bottle to straw sippy's only! When I picked her up from day care on Thursday evening, she was only taking 1 straw cup/day and I told day care I would work with her over the 3-day weekend and sure enough, she took to it like a charm!! She has mastered it now and has no problem holding it on her own, one-handed, upside-down, whatever! She's a pro now :) It felt really weird, but great at the same time, to officially pack up all those baby bottles! Although, those darn straw cups are a pain to put together after cleaning :) LOL! Oh well, life with kids is just one challenge after another, right?

April 30th, I hosted a baby shower for one of my best friends Alissa. Madison spent those few hours at her old (drop-in) day care so Danny could get some work done downtown while we were doing the shower at the house. They enjoyed seeing her again after several months! She has changed so much since she was last there!

Then, Mother's Day weekend (7/8), we were invited to a wedding in Wimberley, TX. Since we had to stay there over-night and Sunday was Mother's Day, there was no way I was leaving Madison behind. So, we all got back on the road for the 3rd road-trip in 4 weeks! This was the first time we stayed in a hotel with her but we got a room at Embassy Suites, so she had her own separate room really. It worked out well! The wedding ended up being entirely outdoors and although the weather was "nice" for May, it was still hot, especially with that extra body heat attached to me all day. But we ended up having a great time! She was the only baby there and everyone commented on how well-behaved she was. Thankfully we had an outdoor blanket in the car so she could get down and crawl around some. With them help of Danny's awesome friends, Danny and I were actually able to mingle AND eat! And after a short cat-nap in someone else's arms, she lasted until 10pm (her usual bedtime is 7:30). She is definitely our little social butterfly :) It was great for so many of Danny's friends to finally meet her (or see her for the first time since she was a newborn).

Then, this past weekend, Mary had a 3-day weekend so she came in to visit. She brought her dog Harley along this time! :) Madison LOVED him! He was just her size :) We did a little shopping, went to the neighborhood park, and really just hung out around the house watching her be her busy self! Now that she has more control over her walking skills, we moved her push-walker toy out in to the living area so she has more space. I was hesitant because of the wood floors but she handled it with no problems (except we have to help her turn it around when she hits something)! I think the walker will reside out in the living area permanently now since it was such a hit. We also attended one of my good friend's graduation parties and her nieces were there - they were 4 and 18-19 mos (I think). I don't know if she ever took her eyes off them! It was cute and wild to look at the youngest girl running around and know that would be Madison in a very short amount of time!

Over the past week or so, she's been standing on her own more and more. She will pull up to standing using something as a brace and then let go (usually when she thinks we aren't paying attention). The longest she's stayed up is only about 5 seconds but it's progress! I think she will have it down in the next few weeks, and then I'm sure walking alone will be just around the corner! She has changed so much in the past month - not just in terms of her strength, but also in her looks. Several people have commented on how her face has really slimmed down and she's looking more and more like a little girl as opposed to a baby! She is acting more like a little girl too. She's definitely been more defiant and it's her way or the highway with just about everything! She's been more picky with me feeding her baby food. Sometimes, if she can't feed it to herself she refuses to eat. And Good Lord, it's never been this hard to give her medicine!!! Any tips or tricks?? As I said before, she is Miss Social! Even if she is tired, she is usually pretty well behaved if we go out to eat or anything. She LOVES to people watch! And she has been much more talkative lately as well.

My next big challenge is weaning her off the pacifier, which I will try to do over this 3-day weekend coming up. Right now, she's only using it to sleep (and she is sleeping well), but she's drooling so much when she sucks on it that it all just sits under the paci/on top of her skin around her chin/mouth and it's causing her to break out :( Last time I weaned her off it it she wasn't as attached as she is now but it only took 1 day of crying it out and she was off. Hopefully, it will be quick this time around too! Speaking of drool though, she still doesn't have any teeth! I think I see a bump on the top front of her gums, so maybe we will see something soon...

Next post will probably be her first b-day party!!! WOW!!!

What would you do?

This post isn't about Madison but rather a personal dilemma that I have been struggling with for a while now. Thoughts and advice appreciated!!

So, my cat Lucy is approximately 19 years old. I've had her since she was a kitten and she was always a tiny kitty with a big personality and also some big sensitivities. She has grown to be sweeter and more social with age, but her digestive and potty issues have gotten worse. We had to put her "brother" (they weren't actually related) down about 3 years ago when he was about the same age, but that decision was much easier because his problems were more immediately life threatening and his deterioration happened much faster. She hasn't used a litter box in years - instead she uses several doggie training pads with newspaper on them, one of which resides on our kitchen table since she decided that was her new spot about a year ago. Not only is it disgusting, but we basically can't use that table as long as she is around. Shortly after our last cat passed, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on a special diet and subcutaneous fluids at least 3x/week (fluid injected under the skin to rehydrate her-and yes, that is our job here at home), and since then we've had to introduce a variety of other different meds for thyroid control, mouth lesions, vomiting, heart murmor, and now after last week (and $400) pancreatitis. Giving pills to a cat is not easy. For the longest time, I would crush them up and put it in her food but she is not a good eater! She WANTS to eat like 10x/day but she either doesn't want anything I give her (and at this point she is allowed to eat anything she wants in an attempt to keep some weight on her), or she will take a few nibbles and wander off only for another animal to take the rest. On top of that, she has mouth ulcers and fractured teeth that need to be removed (which i doubt is cheap), which make it really hard for her to chew even the most watered down food I swear she is more dificult to feed than my own or any other child I have ever met!! So the medicine in the food is not the best way to ensure she gets her meds. Therefore, I am left with trying to force it in her mouth. I left Lucy at the vet for several days last week so they could get her rehydrated and feeling a bit better. They acted liked this pill pusher thingy worked "beautifully" with her. Well, she's apparently figured it out and is unwilling to cooperate with that now too. And even though they had no problems giving her fluid while there, she bit me for the first time ever in her life the first time I tried doing it when she got back home.

So, basically, she is still a pretty happy cat, walks around, still pushes the dogs around (although she is no match for Tiger, our younger cat), and sleeps most of the day. However, even with anti-nausea meds, she vomits almost daily, eating is a nightmare for both of us, and 3-4 times/day i have to wrangle her to try to give meds or fluids. Then there is the disgusting chore of cleaning up after her bathroom habits. She doesn't seem to be in any serious pain, but I obviously have to make her really uncomfortable frequently to give her stuff that is supposed to make her comfortable until these chronic conditions eventually lead to something fatal. we have tried stopping all meds/fluids, thinking leaving her alone would improve her quality of life (over quantity), but the vomiting and constant howling from being dehydrated gets too unbearable for all of us. I don't know how she would manage if I didn't work from home, but I feel like it is affecting my productivity. I feel bad saying this, but I felt so much more relaxed for those two days she was at the vet-until I got the bill that is...

I am really struggling with the thought of putting her down. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have always had many animals growing up. I have had to put some down before but it was always so much clearer that it was their time to go. With Lucy, not only is it tough financially but it is stressful emotionally and takes up so much time. I struggle because my reasoning comes across (even to me) as "she is an inconvenience," which makes me feel awful. It does not help that everyone at the vet just raves about her being such a sweet and cool cat. She is! But one thing I have learned is that your priorities completely change when you have a child. Before Madison, I never understood how people get rid of their animals when they have a baby, but I am starting to understand. However, Lucy is basically family to me and you don't give up on family members once they become an inconvenience. And I said 6 months ago we were not going to continue spending money on her, but you call the vet because she is vomiting more often than usual, and they insist on blood work and more meds and then you end up hundreds of dollars poorer and that could have gone towards Madison. Nothing they did at the vet is what I would consider drastic measures, but all the little stuff adds up!

So, that is what has been on my mind a lot lately. I have time to think about it, but every day is a struggle...