Maddy 1st interview

This is Madeline talking at 6am one morning. She was very talkative so I rushed to get the video camera and record it. This was the best one of her chatting it up so far. She soon noticed the red light on the Flip Camera and got "camera shy". The best incident of her talking was when Amanda and I were at our Parenting class and during introductions, Maddy decided it was her turn to tell the class her name and what she did that day. Quite entertaining and hilarious! It's always fun to hear her talk, especially at 3Am!

Maddy's first "Take me out to the Ballgame"

This is Maddy's 1st Dodger game and her first Take Me out to the Ballgame! She enjoyed the many sights and sounds of Dodger Stadium and, of course, she "roots, roots roots for the Dodgers!"

I didn't realize that the camera would pick up my voice out of the crowd ...sorry!

(This is from August 4 , 2009)

Maddy says "Keep Reading"

I have been posting blogs that I wrote a few weeks back, but didn't publish then due to not having uploaded the photos from our cameras yet. They get published for the date I drafted them, so you'll have to go back a bit to see all the new posts. Once you reach the post entitled "LA County Fair", you have reached the end. Sorry if this is confusing, but I am happy to say I have successfully updated you on the last month!

This photo was taken on day 4 of Maddy's fever, a couple hours before her rash developed, which I managed to not get any photos of. I am now a pro at taking rectal temperatures...the joy of motherhood!

Carpooling

Now that we have less money coming in, with me only working part-time, we are getting creative finding ways to save money. We have started carpooling in the morning. Mike drops me off at work, then drops off Maddy at Grandma Jane's house, then Mike rides into work with his dad. This saves me time in the morning not having to be the one to drop her off. I get to sit next to her in the car on the way there, giving me a little more Maddy Mommy time on my work days. The only thing we didn't think about is that Mike and I have much different taste in morning radio shows so we have to compromise on which station we listen to. We are all a little sleepy on work days, leaving the house by 6:30, causing an early wake up for us all. The days that I don't work, Mike rides the Metro train into work. 

Then and Now

The seats we had at our last Dodger game were the same sets we had when I was 36 weeks pregnant, had to take a then and now photo!

Dodger Game # 3

On September 6th, Mike was given great tickets to a Dodger game so Maddy was taken to her 3rd Dodger game. Luckily, we have lots of Dodger attire for her to show off at the games. These seats were great; right behind home plate. Tommy Lasorda was sitting in the section in front of us. Maddy did great during the game and I think we will stick to night games in the future. The people sitting around us commented on how well behaved she was during the game.

Dodger Game # 2

Over a month ago (just uploaded these photos too), we took Maddy to her 2nd Dodger Game. We got seats in the Bleacher Beach section, which was in the HOT sun with no shade. We ended up leaving our seats and finding some in the shade, but it was still too hot and we ended up leaving in the 3rd inning. With our tickets we got all you can eat BBQ, so at least we got lunch out of our trip! Before we left, we saw them spraying a hose on the people sitting in this section to cool them off..not very baby friendly :(

Bonfire #3

About 3 weeks ago we had our last bonfire (I finally uploaded the photos from our smaller camera today). We tried to have another one the week after also, but it didn't happen...pits were full on weekend nights and Laurel and I went back to work so couldn't be out so late on school nights. The wood is officially all burned now!

Four Months Old

I think I start every monthly update by saying how fast time is flying by...but my goodness, time is REALLY FLYING BY! Four months already! Poor thing was sick on her 4 month birthday, but we managed to get pictures of her still.

Four months finds Madeline:

• Weighs 15.1 pounds (I would have sworn she was at least 18 pounds) (60 %tile)
• 26 inches long (90 %tile)
• We just started buying size 3 diapers, although she has not completely outgrown the size 2s yet, they fit tightly
• Wears 3-6 month clothes, can even wear her 6-12 month pants
• giggles and laughs (still mostly for her daddy, not so much for mommy)
• spits, blows bubbles, does a motor boat sound with her lips and mouth
• sits up in her bumbo chair and when propped up against something
• talks/babbles a lot (like when out to eat or during my Back to School Night presentation to the parents of our students...luckily most of them thought it was cute)
• she set a new record and slept for 5 hours straight in her crib (being sick has made her regress to waking every couple hours again...who needs sleep anyway?)
• reaches out to grab for toys, improved hand eye coordination
• puts weight on her legs when held up and steps like she is walking (see last photo)
• received 4 month shots
• rolls over both ways

      We started a parent child class through the local adult school and we missed the last class due to her fever. We have only been to one class so far and are looking forward to having Maddy make some friends in her age range, and for us to meet some other new parents. The class runs like a traditional school year calendar and so we will be meeting weekly with the same group until June. We chose to attend the night class so Mike could come with us too. Most of the other moms and babies came with their dads also.

      I made the decision to be ok with having Maddy drink some formula while being watched by Grandma Jane. I really wanted her to be 100% breastfed for the health benefits, but I just couldn't keep up with the pumping without completely exhausting myself and I think the stress of it was making my supply go down. So Maddy will get the milk I am able to pump and then have 1 or 2 bottles of formula each day that I work. Luckily I only work 2 to 3 days a week, alternating every other week. We did a formula tester bottle the night before she would get it the next day with Grandma Jane, she took the formula fine and didn't seem to notice the difference. We had to get the lactose-free kind because she is still allergic to regular milk. We were reminded of her allergy after I had pancakes last weekend....pancakes = made with milk. I didn't make the connection until I changed her diaper later that day, oops.

   This last Wednesday, Maddy developed a fever of 102 degrees with no other symptoms. The fever would go down to around 99 after giving her Infant Tylenol but would not go away. By Friday, when we had her 4 month check up, the doctor was a little concerned that there wasn't any obvious reasons for the fever. The pediatrician  checked Maddy's ears, eyes, throat, and nose for infections. Everything looked fine which was actually bad news. When a baby has a fever with no symptoms for days in a row, it can mean something internal is going on and the ways to find out are not very pleasant. The doctor had the nurses use a catheter to collect a urine sample to test for a UTI or bladder infection (lab work came back normal). Luckily (I say luckily, because I found out through internet research that a spinal tap would most likely be the next test ordered) Maddy started to develop a small rash on her face yesterday and I internet self-diagnosed her with Roseola. She has all the symptoms: fever for several days followed by rash. Luckily she  just had splotchy red marks and it was not an itchy rash. It traveled down her face, neck and belly. Her fever finally broke this afternoon, and I am hoping this it the tail end of her being sick. It's no fun holding your baby down while she is screaming to be poked and prodded :(

We love you Maddy, please stay healthy from now on!

(Monday night=Maddy's fever and rash are both gone!)