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...

Walking & Dancing!

walkdance
Originally uploaded by jesswerlinger

Another month gone by...

I'm terrible at updating this thing!

In the last post I mentioned that we were going to get to visit with Danny's cousin's family - Greg, Libby, and their daughter Emily who is 1 month younger. It was a great visit and so nice to meet miss Emily! She's adorable!

Mary has been down twice since my last post!! :) We love having her visit! She and Madison have so much fun together and Mommy and Daddy get a little break!

In the last month, Madison has become much more vocal! I think it's funny because she's either super quiet or super loud! When we went in for our 9 month ped visit, the doctor asked me (with a concerned look on his face) if she ever babbled, because of course she decided to be quiet when he was in the room. Anyone who has seen her in the past month would know that he has nothing to worry about!! She's got both mama and dada down for sure! I think she's starting to understand that I am mama and say it more discriminately...dada is still pretty random! We swear she said ty-ty the other day when she was reaching for our cat Tiger but it's not like she says it every time. She definitely LOVES her animals though! She gets SO excited when she sees them :) Just like her mama!!! Maybe she will enjoy a trip to the zoo (this time) if we go again soon...

Going back to the 9 month check-up - I never posted her new stats! I can't remember the exact numbers now but I think it was 19lb 14oz and 28.75 in. Numerically speaking, there wasn't as much growth between the 6 and 9 month visits as I had expected. She feels much bigger though and has certainly gone through the clothing sizes. She's filling out the 12 month, no problem. Length wise, she actually fits better in 18 mo clothes but her waist still fits in some 9 month pants and her tummy fits best in a 12 mo shirt. So, she's already difficult to find clothes for :) I've learned 2 piece outfits are best, or dresses. One-sies aren't worth it anymore since she outgrows them in length so fast. And we need longer tops, for sure!

Madison is still crawling up a storm but LOVES to stand up and cruise around now. This past weekend she even started pushing a walker toy we bought for her! I will post a video :) I know she has the strength to stand on her own but she doesn't have the balance or confidence yet. I think once she learns to stand solo we will have a walker on our hands quickly!

Also this past weekend, she finally learned how to drink out of a straw cup. We'd been trying sippy cups for about 1 month now, but she never got the hang of it. I even bought like 5-6 different kinds to try! I had tried the straw cup earlier too but decided to try it again about 1 week ago and after much patience and persistence (and her watching me do it), she finally sipped out of the straw last Thursday or Friday - but only little short sips and that was it. Then Saturday, she just started guzzling it! Well, it seemed like guzzling compared to the mini-sips she was taking before but she still drinks really slow from it compared to the bottle. At least she likes it now! She grabs the cup to drink herself :) I've tried giving her formula in the straw cup but she will only take a few oz (and it takes a LONG time) before she's over it. I eventually put the rest in a bottle for her to finish, but we will keep working on it. I'm just glad we can skip the sippy cup stage all together. I never have to wean her off a straw! Heck, I STILL love to use a straw :)

She still doesn't have any teeth but has been much more open to new foods and always wants to try whatever mommy and daddy are eating. I have to make sure I always have snacks she can eat with me if she goes out to eat with us. We've let her try some of the things we eat but only if we feel she can get it down okay. She LOVES refried beans!!! I usually don't even order them with my meal but now I get them for her! She will push a bottle away if she sees beans - and she recognizes them immediately! As soon as they bring my plate to the table she gets super excited! She's also more open to the baby puree meats - if mixed with something else - and likes the 3rd foods more now too. We've also been giving her whole (cooked well), sliced, carrots and green beans so she can pick them up and feed it to herself and she really loves them both - especially carrots :)

We took her to YMCA indoor pool - finally - this past weekend! We've been talking about it for months now! It's supposed to be a heated pool but it felt cold! She definitely didn't HATE it but she didn't seem to love it either. Maybe if it had been warmer...she just sat in her little float looking around with this indifferent look on her face, lol! Of course, she perked right up when we got her in to her nice, warm bath later on at home :) I'm sure she will grow to love the pool eventually!

We've got a busy month ahead so this will probably be my last post for at least another month, lol! Tis' the season for weddings and baby showers :) I can't believe I'm already having to think about her 1st birthday party too!!! WILD!!!

Here's a few pics from the last month - just uploaded a bunch to flickr (including more video)

on the move!

So, my last post was 2/18 and I guessed within 1-2 weeks she would be crawling. Well, she crawled for the first time on 2/23! It took her only a few days to get the hang of it and now she's all over the place :) She started pulling up around the middle of last week. Her favorite thing to do is pull up on the windowsill in her playroom (which is low to the floor). She could stand there looking outside forever! She still hasn't quite figured out how to get down on her own from a standing position, which sometimes gets her upset! I'm sure she will figure it out soon enough though. She even tries to stand up in the bath tub!

On Friday, the 25th, she started saying Mama! I'm still not sure if she knows what she is saying. She has had some serious separation anxiety since we started day care. They've told me that she doesn't say it there but she frequently says it at home (usually when I walk away for a second and she gets upset, even if she's with Danny). She will get upset and say Mama. Then again, she's also randomly said Mama so who knows...

She has been going to this new day care for 2 weeks today. I know she has fun there (I can see her with online viewing), but obviously she's not getting as much personal attention as she did at the old place and she's not used to being away from me for that long every day (I drop her off at 8 and try to pick her up by 3, 4 at the latest. Plus, with 8-10 babies in one room and with the lights on, sleeping is still challenging for her there. She usually takes two 30-45 minute naps, which is already a lot better than the old day care. I think she plays harder there too though, so she usually comes home fairly tired. Evenings have been tough so I'm really hoping she gets used to it soon.

We have successfully managed to get her down to 4 bottles a day and she's eating more solids, although she's been more picky about it lately. She really likes to feed herself but the only thing she can successfully feed herself right now is dry stuff, like bread, crackers, or puffs. She is very easily distracted during her feedings, so spoon feeding has been challenging. She loves to eat off your fingers though! LOL! We are also trying to get her to use a sippy cup and I've tried every method I can and she just doesn't get that you have to suck on it. She seems interested but just bites on the tip of the cup. But at least I was finally able to get her to drink apple juice yesterday!

Another big challenge we've had is she throws a fit every time we try to change her diaper and/or clothes on the changing table. I've resorted to changing her on the floor half the time. Although, that's not easy either! She doesn't typically cry if we do it on the floor but she still tries to crawl away!

We are looking forward to a visit from Mary this weekend and a play date with another one of Maddie's new cousins - Miss Emily Paul - on Saturday. They live in PA, so this will be our first time meeting Emily who is about 1 month younger than Madison. Should be fun!

8 months!

Well I guess it's been another 3 weeks since my last post...I swear I try to do this more often but I think the only people that read this probably already know the majority of what's going on anyways! I'll try to make it short and sweet.

1. The week after our trip to SA we all got sick - Danny and I started the week with colds, by the end I had some sort of stomach bug, then Madison got a bad upper respiratory infection that left her with a fever most of the next week, which meant she had to stay home ALL week, being clingy and fussy, while I tried to get work done. Not. Easy.

2. The end of her second sick week - which was the week of the first really bad cold weather - our heater went out on the coldest day. Thank goodness Danny was home since work told him not to come in. I don't think I could have handled it all on my own that day.

3. About 1.5 weeks ago, we discovered that Madison LOVES wheat ritz crackers and gets better at feeding them to herself every day. She also tried yogurt (which she thinks is just okay), tried cottage cheese once but that wasn't happening, and then this morning a wheat pancake which she also loved! :)

4. A few weeks ago we put away the whale tub and put her in this mini-inflatable tub that basically serves as an intermediary between the whale and the adult tub. She loved the adult tub with Brittany in SA but I don't want to have to fill that thing each time.

5. I tried cutting her back to 4 bottles (from 5) the week before last but that DIDN'T WORK! She was a fuss-bucket. But I think she may have gone through a growth spurt because we flew through the size 6-9 mo clothes and are now filling out the 9-12 month ones!!! She JUST turned 8 months old. I was able to weigh her a few weeks ago due to her being sick and it was 18lb 12.5oz!

6. This week, She learned to push herself in to a sitting position which is good and bad. She is more content to play by herself since she can get back up when she topples over but she now decides that nap time is a great time to sit up in her crib and play. She will eventually fall asleep by collapsing face first in to the mattress with her knees tucked under her. Well when she naturally wakes in her sleep around 30-45 min in, she wakes screaming. I guess because she is uncomfortable and it's harder to fall back asleep? Who knows...

7. She's SOOOO close to crawling! I give it 1-2 more weeks...

8. Finally, I made the tough decision to put her in full time day care starting next Tuesday (they are closed Monday because of presidents day). I hate doing it but work is busier than ever and she's awake more than ever. I know she enjoys being around other kids and I feel like she will start sleeping at day care if i take her every day at the same time. My goal is to get my work done, try to get a work out in, get dinner prepped and be able to pick her up by 3-ish every day. We shall see how that goes. Thank goodness the day care has online viewing for the parents so I can check in on her throughout the day. I sure will miss her though :(

I think those are all the major updates. Will upload pics soon!

Busy 3 weeks!

We have been super busy this month, with both work and play! The first part of the month we were just busy playing catch up after the holidays. I can't remember anything significant happening. But the last 2 weeks have been filled with lots of visitors to our house and a trip to San Antonio!

The weekend before last Danny's Mom decided to come down since it was the last bit of spare time she had before her classes started for the PhD program she is in. It's always nice having her in town :) Although Madison has been a little fuss bucket on/off this past month (I'm pretty sure it's teething related), we had a good visit as usual. That same weekend my best friend's Mom (another Mary) stopped by to see Madison. She hadn't seen her since she was probably 3-4 weeks old! And my Dad stopped in as well - he can't go more than 1-2 weeks without a "Maddie fix!"

This past weekend we took a longer weekend and went to SA. Madison still hadn't met my mom or her side of the family and we wanted to see Danny's cousin Stephanie whose daughter is 6 weeks older than Madison. It was a really great weekend! When Madison was first born I found a local Mom's group online that I joined with good intentions of actually going to events but it just never happened. So, aside from day care, Madison has never really been around any other kids! And even at day care, I never got to witness the interactions myself. Well, she was SURROUNDED by kids last weekend and it was awesome! Last time Brittany (Steph's daughter) and Madison "met" they were both pretty young and on opposite sleep schedules so they never really noticed each other. This time around, they had sooo much fun together! At the first introduction Madison reached out to touch Brittany and was just so intrigued by her all weekend! Madison is definitely an observer like her Daddy. You can just see the wheels turning in her head as she soaks it all in :) Brittany is already crawling like a champ and pulling up to standing. We've been trying to encourage Madison to crawl for weeks now so I though Brit might be a good influence. Well, she's still not there yet but I think she made some big strides. We are convinced she's going to learn to crawl from a sitting position (leaning forward in to a crawl) as opposed to her tummy since she just wants to roll from that position. This weekend she went further and further over and is now going from sitting to tummy (although not always gracefully)!

We also joined Brittany at The Little Gym (which is literally a little gymnasium complete with tumbling mats, balance beam, parallel bars; etc) where we did things like forward rolls over the hot dog, practicing walking, clapping, etc. It was a lot of fun! Madison's favorite exercise was definitely standing at the parallel bars (not surprising) but we also learned that she LOVES bubbles and a good 'ole plain jane rubber ball! :) She also learned to clap at TLG and has been doing so frequently since then - on her own! It's adorable! I had tried it with her before but she would just keep her hands in a fist when you "clapped" them together but ever since doing it in class she keeps them open and can even make a clap noise!

Of course, we took the girls on several outings to restaurants and a little shopping. I'm sure all the waiters and other people at the restaurants just loved having a table with 2 babies nearby :) They were actually both pretty good most of the time. Although, the Girling's and Werlinger's have both definitely mastered the art of efficiently eating out with an infant. We never lingered anywhere long...

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting family. One of my cousin's just had a baby 3 weeks ago and the other one has 2 daughters, 1 just a little older than Madison and another that's 3-4 years old. It was the first time that my grandparents had all the great grandkids under one roof so, of course, we had to get a picture! That was sure challenging! :) I don't think we ever got one really good shot of everyone but what can you expect with 4 kids ages 3weeks-4years old? LOL! And for some reason, despite having tried on numerous occasions to get Madison to wave at us, she decided to wave back at my grandfather and has been waving more often since! :) It's really more like reaching (I think) but I'll take it :)

We decided to drive home Sunday night, in part so that Madison would just sleep the whole way (which she did for the most part), but right before leaving we threw both girls in the bath together and it was soooo cute :) They had a blast! It was Madison's first time in the big tub (and I think Brit's too) and she definitely enjoyed it! I realized last week that she was just about done with the whale tub but I'm now compromising with an inflatable baby tub that's bigger than the whale but this way I don't have to fill the entire tub just yet. We still haven't had a chance to introduce her to the pool at the YMCA but as much as she loves her baths I think she will love the pool too!

We had originally taken Monday off as well (with plans to stay in SA) but we had a lot of stuff we needed to get done around the house and Madison did a little "window shopping" in Brittany's playroom, so we decided to do a little real shopping on Monday :) Danny likes to tease me so much about how I always like to buy stuff that Steph gets for Brittany but this time Danny was the one saying "we have to get this!" LOL! Now he understand how easy it is to do :) With such a huge selection of toys (and other baby gear) out there - some crap and some great - I don't know how else to figure out what's worth getting unless someone recommends it or I see her play with it - and love it! So we got her a bunch of new stuff, some that Brittany also has, other different things (including a tickle me Elmo which puts the biggest smile on her face)! As much as she still loves her play mat we decided to put it away to encourage her to move around more. She often remains content in one spot when we put her on the mat, which is nice at certain times but it's not helping her. And speaking of moving, she's really starting to move in her walker - albeit backwards! :) I think she had the most fun ever in it last night (while squealing at the dogs)! With our wood floors, once she figures out what she's doing she's gonna be all over the place! :)

The only negative thing to report is that she's been waking up crying more the past few days. She did it a few times in SA but would usually go straight back to sleep. She kept waking up and rubbing her face, but there was something in SA that was triggering everyone's allergies, so I wasn't too surprised. When we got home I decided that I wanted to try to get her off the sound machine (partly because I didn't think she really needed it anymore and mostly because it's a pain to have to take on the road with us). She did okay with the naps but woke up crying earlier than usual Tuesday morning (and she usually never wakes up crying, especially from night-time sleep). She went back to sleep on her own then but she woke at 4:30am this morning crying so I went to her and she was wide awake and calm while I held her but would immediately cry when I put her down. I finally turned the machine back on, gave her a paci, turned on her mobile and left the room. She eventually fell back asleep but this is all really out of character for her. She went to day care today and didn't sleep as usual (but was still in a good mood). She will usually take a nice long nap after day care but today she woke up really upset after only 3o minutes. Once again, I used to the paci and mobile to get her back down and she's been really fussy ever since :( Danny and I both came home with colds. I'm hoping she's not getting one. Maybe it's teething? It's so hard to figure out what's wrong sometimes. No fever or vomiting (except when she was really upset after eating yesterday and gagged). We go back for the 2nd part of her flu shut on Friday, so I guess I can ask the ped about it then if this continues.

Well, obviously it took me forever to get around to writing this post. I was going to upload some pics but everything has already been uploaded to Flickr. There's a link on the ride side of this page - lots of new pics and several videos!

Happy Holidays!

I cannot believe it's already a NEW DECADE! And as my Dad pointed out, this will be my first full year as a mom :) I'm definitely looking forward to every minute of it!

So we had a super busy Christmas! 4 cities in 4 days, approx. 15-16 hrs in the car total! Most of the cities were in central TX (around the Waco area) but we also made a day trip to the Dallas area to see my family. Madison did really well! We tried to time everything around her naps and if she was awake for more than 30-45 minutes then someone was usually in the back with her. I think she definitely enjoys traveling more now in her big car seat since she can see more. She also slept really well in the pack N play which I was nervous about. I brought her sound machine and she had zero problems :) Regarding presents, she racked up - especially in the clothes department! I think I have enough pj's in the 6-9 mo range that I wouldn't have to do laundry for several weeks :) Too bad she will grow out of them so quickly! She also got a few new toys and a swim float and diaper that I can't wait to try out at the YMCA's indoor pool! And a shopping cart cover with cushions to support her. I never really cared about having a cart cover for germ reasons (I think kids need to be exposed to germs to an extent), but I wanted this since she outgrew her infant seat and there was really no easy way for her to go in a store with me since she couldn't sit in the cart for super long without the support. I've only tried it out once so far and she seemed to really like it! :)

There's not much to update on the milestone front, except that she is sitting like a champ now! She can completely twist her torso and sit for a super long time without falling over. She can also stand really well leaning on to something/someone, but getting her to crawl has been a different story! That girl is stubborn! She just does not want to move on her tummy. She does this hilarious thing where she tries to pull her feet/legs under her when flipping from tummy to back (like she would need to do to crawl) except she won't bend her knees so she ends up with her butt way up in the air, one arm awkwardly tucked to her side blocking her complete turn, and head to the ground. It's hard to describe...but I am working with her trying everything I can think of to get her on all fours. I have a feeling she will either skip crawling all together or crawl for a very short time. She needs to learn to get in to a sitting position on her own before she can pull herself up to stand/walk though, right??

It's crazy how fast they grow! I spent the entire (long) last weekend re-organizing the garage and attic to put up stuff she's already outgrown (mostly clothes) and make room for other stuff that will be going up there within the next 6 mos or so (like the swing and jumper). I purposefully bought as much gender neutral stuff as possible to save for the next child but finding a place to store it in the meantime isn't easy! And I want to keep girly stuff too, just in case ;) Never know what the next one will be, plus I've got several good girlfriends having babies this year! We are not allowed to move until we are done having kids so that I can get rid of all this stuff before then!!

One other thing - we got our family photos/her 6 month photos back the day before we left for Christmas! They are posted on my Flickr account here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesswerlinger/sets/72157625653220146/

I will post pictures from the holidays ASAP!

Well, this is surprisingly going to be a shorter post. Not much new to report and I am one tired mama! I was thinking to myself last weekend that the bag of dog food I bought didn't seem nearly as heavy as it used to now that Madison is getting so big! I think I get an upper body workout daily :) I think work is going to start getting pretty hectic here in the next few weeks so I'm going to have to start taking her back to day care more often again, which I'm not looking forward to :( But I know she gets lots of entertainment and social interaction, so hopefully that makes up for the lack of napping she does there.

Here's a few new pics (playing with some of her new stuff)

puzzle playmat

look at me stand!

Yes, I put the lid on her head but she seemed to like her "helmet" :)