19 Months Old

On Christmas eve Madeline turned nineteen months old! We love watching her learn new things and become a little girl and sadly, not a baby anymore. The cutest thing she is doing now is trying to hop, and while she does it says "hop", she has managed to actually hop a couple of the times.

19 months finds Maddy:

• about 24 pounds
• around 31 inches
• size 4 diaper
• size 7 shoe
• size 18-24 month, size 2T clothes
• obsessed with (real) babies, loves to help feed them their bottles
• loves to read books, and will "read" to herself too, smells flowers in the illustrations
• says "Ho Ho Ho" when she sees Santa
• says "hello" "happy" very clear now
• attempts to say or imitate many words now
• can identify some friends and family in photographs, even her baby (3rd) cousin Claire who she hasn't seen in person yet
• very shy to strangers, but enjoys her grandparents, cousin and aunt and uncles very much
• refuses to smile for pictures

We love you Madeline Mae!

Love,

Momma and Dadda

18 months old!

Today Madeline is 1 and 1/2 years old! We'll have to start planning her second birthday party soon. 18 months is a funny age, fiercely independent while still being our baby. This month she enjoyed her 2nd Halloween, her favorite part was helping to pass out candy to to the Trick o' Treaters, and trying to go inside all the houses that she trick o' treated at, especially if their was a dog inside. On Halloween she wore her cowgirl outfit after refusing to put the cupcake on again.

She started to enjoy swim class (water in the pool is warmer now too), took trips to the zoo and aquarium, and "walked" in her 2nd Diabetes Walk at Universal Studios. To celebrate her age milestone we bought her a seat to go on the back of my bike for family bike rides. Daddy even found her a cupcake helmet!

Spent a whole Friday with Daddy; went to the aquarium (but was asleep so we drove around town), went to Target, walked around the mall, walked around the block, enjoyed breakfast, lunch and dinner together, drove around the airport. She did very well, only crying when Amanda got home.

18 months finds Maddy:

-wearing 18-24, 24 month and even some 2T clothes

-size 7 shoe

-size 4 diaper

-one nap (between 2 and 3.5 hours long!)

-has started to pout when she is frustrated, walks away and puts her head against the wall or head on the floor

-LOVES reading books, comes to us with a book in hand and says "re re" for read

-can go down the slide at the park by herself

-loves to push shopping carts in stores, her car stroller, and her stroller while on walks. She will remove either Mommy's hand or Daddy's hand wanting to push herself

-Thinks "no" is the funniest word in the world to say to everything (even when she means yes)

-can be prompted to clean up when she hears the Clean Up song

-can point to most body parts when asked and name some them, new this month: "toes", "ears", "nose"

-will scan the sky when asked "where's the moon" and point the moon out, along with stars and airplanes, or as she calls them "air".
-she says "ready" when asked if she is ready to go.
-will nod her head "yes" when she likes something she is eating.
-loves to give hugs

-says: cupcake, turkey, ready, stroller, fish, help, off, down, up.

-started to put sentences together.

-will hide and then say "boo".

-will start giving you something and then pull it back and run away.

-had her first eye exam and just like Daddy, has great vision.

-loves to stand in her car seat and look to make sure where Daddy is, shakes hands with Daddy and proceeds to sit.

-loves to throw her balls, screams "BALL!" and laughs.

We love you Madeline Mae!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

17 Months Old

Today our little Maddy is 17 months old!!! Wow, time sure is flying by.

This month has been quite busy. We celebrated Uncle Kevin's birthday, my (Daddy) birthday and Grandma Judy's birthday as well as Auntie Laurel's.

Maddy went back to Underwood Farms just in time for pumpkin season. Grandma Judy came with us and we met Uncle Josh, Auntie Laurel and Cousin Bella there. Maddy had a wonderful time looking at all the varieties of pumpkins, riding on the "grain train", on back of a wagon and seeing all of the animals.

Maddy has also started Wet Tots, a parent and me swim class at the Culver YMCA. The first couple times she wasn't too thrilled about it; screaming at the top of her little lungs while trying to figure a way out of the pool. Last Saturday was much better. She now enjoys sitting on the edge of the pool and slowly falling into Amanda's arms. Not as much screaming so I think we're getting better with the comfort of the pool. We used to take Maddy to Uncle Kevin's kiddie pool which she loved, maybe the Y pool is too cold for now.

We also went to see one of Amanda's friend's brother's art show in Beverly Hills. They had all kinds of art and we bought a few things from the Children's Hospital booth. The kids at the hospital have "art time" and the proceeds of their drawings and paintings go back to the hospital. We bought a fish for Maddy's bathroom and one tear-art that looks like Amanda and one that looks like me. We also bought a painting from the "pop art" section; the alphabet using the letters of different brand labels.

Because October is the month of pumpkins, Maddy went to a few pumpkin patches. One was in Culver City. Maddy rode on a pony and a on a train. Amanda and I were looking for pumpkins good enough for carving but Maddy could care less. She was more interested in the hay. Maddy's play group also met at the pumpkin patch as well as her baby class. We got a few good pictures but it's kind of difficult trying to get her to sit, smile and say "cheese" when she wants to run around, exploring all there is to explore.

Amanda made a cupcake costume for Maddy. We took her the YMCA for a Halloween Carnival which Maddy won 1st place in the "most original" category. Maddy's 1st award!!! Both of us were very proud. Every morning after Maddy awakens, she puts the medal on and walks around the house with a "prouder than proud" strut.

Maddy at 17 months old:

• Wears 18-24 month clohtes
• Size 6 shoe
• Has all four molars and that 4th front bottom tooth finally came through, we now have a symmetrical smile
• New words include: sock, ugg, tights, teeth, nana (banana), arm, cheese, bubbles, head, pee, poop
• Can say and point correctly to her eyes, nose, mouth, arm, feet
• She taps on her diaper to let us know she has pooped and needs to be changed
• Tries to dress herself
• Feeds herself
• Is becoming a much better sleeper and napper (thank goodness!)

Each and every day our little girl is growing up. We love you very much so!

Love,

Momma and Dada

Happy birthday Daddy!

Happy 35th Birthday Daddy! Thank you for taking care of me and Mommy. I look forward to many more birthdays with you!

Love,

Madeline Mae

16 months old

Maddy turned 16 months old on Friday, September 24, 2010.

September has been a very busy month for Maddy. During Labor Day weekend, Maddy took her first Disneyland visit courtesy of Uncle V's sister. Maddy was taking in all the sights and sounds of the "Happiest Place of Earth". Her first ride was "Monster's Inc." and just sat on Amanda's lap throughout the entire ride with amazement in her eyes. We then walked around Disney's California Adventure and eventually got her first pair of Mickey ears. Maddy walked around, happily smiling ear to ear. We made our way into Bug's Land where immediately something caught Maddy's eyes; Flik's Flight. Basically it's like the Dumbo ride but in take-out boxes. We thought since Maddy was laughing and smiling while pointing at the ride she wanted to go on it. Boy were we wrong! Maddy was ok as we sat inside the Chinese take-out box but once the ride started, all we heard was "DADDA!". I didn't particularly enjoy the ride either.

After our Adventure ended, we had lunch near the locker rooms leading towards Disneyland. Instead of paying the ridiculous food prices, I decided to pack our own sandwiches, a savings of what would appear to be a mortgage payment. Shortly thereafter, we walked through the gates of Disneyland. It started getting hot so we found a seat in Tomorrowland. There is a big ball made out of marble near the entrance to Space Mountain that moves around by a water fountain. Maddy loved it! She kept putting her hand on the ball and was pushing with all of her might, thinking she was moving the ball herself. We then walked around more and had chowder bowls for dinner in New Orleans Square.

We had to eat pretty quickly since we had tickets to the World of Color show; a water show in California Adventure. Maddy was showing off and dancing for the crowd of people in our waiting area. We enjoyed the show.

We didn't take a stroller for the trip to Disneyland (Amanda always told herself that she "wasn't going to be one those people who'd bring stroller to Disneyland." This was Amanda's motto pre-Maddy.) so instead, we brought the Ergo carrier. While Maddy slept on Amanda, Uncle V and I "took advantage of naptime" (as Amanda said) and rode on rides.

On her 16 month birthday, she got to take a trip to Las Vegas; her first. The trip was actually to celebrate the marriage of Blakely and Juan. We packed the car and suitcase(s) and got on the freeway around 5pmish. We finally arrived in Las Vegas around 11pmish. Unfortunately, Maddy was fast asleep to see the glitz, glamor and bright lights of Sin City. We are going back in January for a softball tournament so we'll show Maddy the glitz and glamor then.

We met the Lundy's in Flamingo Bay Resorts (located off the strip about about 2 miles West of the Rio), unloaded the car, got settled and stayed in the remainder of the night.

Maddy also took a trip to the aquarium (with Daddy) and went to the Zoo. We also went to the LA County Fair but none of us really enjoyed it enough to write about it. Orange County Fair > LA County Fair, sorry to say.

At 16 months, Maddy:

• Is talking a lot, well actually more blabbering.
• New words include "gamma (grandma), dadda (and signed "more"), egg, one, two, shoe, ball, fish".
• Is blowing kisses.
• Started going back to Grandma Jane while Mommy works.
• Started our 12-18 month baby class where Maddy gets to see all of her friends.
• Has 10 teeth and brushes them on her own.
• Wears 18-24 month old clothes
• Wears size 4 diapers
• Wears size 5 1/2 shoe.
• Imitates how Mommy was walking like a penguin.
• Takes one nap starting around 1:30pm for at least a couple of hours.
• Eats the same thing as Mommy and Daddy.
• Strangely enjoys sticking her fingers in her ears.
• Gets into everything! Loves opening the cabinet doors, or at least trying to.
• Can close the front door on her own.
• Can climb up and down stairs.
• Loves throwing things.

Each day that goes by, Maddy still continues to surprise us, make us laugh and smile, and amaze us with all of the things you do. We love you!!!

Love,

Momma and Dadda.

Fifteen Months Old

Today Madeline turned 15 months old! She is so full of personality these days. Her latest obsession is accessories, she finds one and MUST wear it. Her favorites are purses, shoes, and hats. She still loves her babies, and got to enjoy a real baby this week while we watch Hazel's little brother, baby Jack for a few days.

I have been lacking on the blog due to having to chase a toddler around and we haven't fixed my computer yet, it is difficult to do much more than read email on it. Due to the broken computer screen I haven't been able to upload any pictures to my computer, so there are no new ones. I decided that her monthly chair pictures up through her first birthday were enough and let go of the guilt of forgetting to do it every month now.

On a happier note....

15 months finds Maddy:

• with 7 teeth, working on # 8 and 9
• size 12-24 month clothes (just pulled out all the 18-24 month clothes I had stored away)
• outgrowing her size 5 shoes
• says the words: mama, mom, dada, dad, cat (her favorite), baba (for baby), fish, ball, woof, meow, I or eye
• She doesn't mind riding in a stroller anymore, which has helped with my new efforts to exercise more
• Rode her first pony at Griffith Park on an outing with her cousin Bella
• Has decided to now suck on a pacifier (I think this goes along with her accessory obsession)
• She still nurses and sleeps with us, there were a couple failed attempts at sleep training, but it hasn't felt right for us, so never lasted more than 15 minutes
• She discovered how to bite (hopefully this is ending, and only teething related)
• She gives hugs and kisses
• Understands and follows simple instructions (bring me your shoe, sit down, etc.)

We love you Madeline Mae, this month we keep finding ourselves marvel at all you can do, and what a big girl you are becoming. We love your new independence, but miss our little baby.

Love,

Mama & Dada

Fourteen Months Old

Today is Madeline's 14 month birthday! It was a busy month, she traveled to Michigan for a great trip to meet her Grandma Judy's side of the family and to the San Francisco area to meet her Grandma Jane's cousins. She took plane rides to both destinations and fell asleep during take off each time. She is a great flyer! She also had an 8 day virus, with 2 trips to the doctor when her fever reached the high 104s. We even had to visit the E.R. in Berkeley while on our trip.

She managed to break my 2 most expensive beloved belongings, she broke my D-SLR camera (lens and body) and cracked my MacBook screen ( I am still using it but am working with half a screen now). We are slowly baby=proofing and learning to put things out of her reach...live and learn.

14 Months finds Maddy:

• wearing 12-24 month clothes
• size 5 shoes
• size 4 diapers
• walking everywhere, no more crawling
• signs "milk" "more" "please" and does more and please together
• bedtime is now closer to 8 pm, instead of 9 pm
• only 1 nap during the day (around 12 or 1 depending on wake up time)
• wake up in the morning around 7:30/8:00
• loves baby dolls and Little People toys
• has developed a whine when she wants something (not a good one)
• loves to drink from a straw
• eats all table food now
• stills ride rear-facing in her car seat

We love you Madeline Mae, you continue to amaze us with all you can do now!

Love,

Mama and Dada

(Photo coming!)

Thirteen Months Old

Today is Madeline's 13 month birthday! She is such a character and is really showing her personality these days.

13 months finds Maddy:

• WALKING (although she still prefers to crawl)
• 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom)
• size 4 diaper
• size 12-24 month clothes
• Signs "more" "food" "all done" and today did "water"
• Says "mama" "dada" "cat" "naanaa" for meow
• Calls everything CAT, and will argue back if you try to correct her with the right word
• Waves bye-bye, gives hugs, claps, dances and sways to music
• Wants to feed herself now and eat whatever we are eating
• More Social
• Smiles for the camera

This is brief, I am getting us ready for Maddy's first flight tonight! We are flying out to Michigan to visit family and celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday. It'll be everyone's first time meeting Maddy and Bella, and our first time meeting my cousins' daughter Sophie, who is about 8 1/2 months older than Maddy.

We love you Maddy, our silly girl!

Love,

"CAT"

(or Mama and Dada)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Madeline's Great Daddy! 

We love you and appreciate all you do for our family.

Blog Star!

A couple months ago, we had professional pictures of Maddy taken and have to share the results here:

http://www.pastelphotography.com/blog/los-angeles-baby-newborn-photographer/

(I am working on remembering to take her 12th month picture in the rocker...can't seem to remember when she is awake and happy.)

12 Months Old, One Year Old!

We made it a whole year as our family of three! We are still recovering from throwing her Cupcake themed party on Sunday. We had so many people help us celebrate Madeline's birthday and had a great time. Will do a post of pictures from her party soon.

Yesterday, May 24th on her actual birthday the 3 of us went to Mommy Movie to see Shrek and then to her 12 month doctor appointment. The big news is she took her first 2 steps on her own in the doctors office while we were waiting!

One Year (12 months) finds Madeline:

• 30.25 inches long
• 20 pounds 7.3 ounces
• 4 top teeth, 2 bottom
• Size 4 diapers
• 12 month clothes (dresses, onesies, shirts, dresses)
• Size 4 shoes
• Walking (3 steps on her own so far)
• Crawling all over the place
• Eating table food, along with baby food still
• Waves bye-bye
• Signs "more"
• Says "Mama" "Dada" "Cat" and when asked what does the cat say will respond "na na" for meow
• uses the word "cat" universally for all animals
• much better sleeper, usually does not wake more than one time during the night, and snoozes back to sleep right away (with the help of nursing)
• loves and dances to music
• loves to walk holding on to daddy's hands
• is a Daddy's girl now (see above reason) :)
• we are trying to get her to drink whole milk, and she isn't too fond of it but will drink a little bit

This last year has been amazing, we are so lucky to have such a great daughter. We love you Madeline Mae!

Love, 

Mama & Dada

Happy First Birthday Madeline Mae!

We've made it a year! Happy Birthday to our little cupcake! Loving our life as a family of three.

12 month update coming tonight...check back!

All Caught Up!

I took photos of Madeline this week for a picture to put on her birthday party invitation, these are some cute ones, but none are the one we picked. I love the one of her looking up, she looks like such a big girl to me, she has the best expressions :)

Zoo Day

We recently spent the day at the Zoo with the Rexons. Daddy wore her in a carrier facing out most of the day so she could see all the animals and practiced her pointing. She loved spending the day with her cousin Bella.

Spring Fling

These pictures are from the Spring Fling in the community Uncle Kevin lives in, they had an egg hunt and other activities for the kids.  Uncle Kevin was able to get tickets and the Rexons joined us for the fun. We didn't take mall Easter bunny pictures, so tried to get them that day with this bunny, but Maddy was not amused.

Easter Basket

Madeline opened her first Easter Basket on our bed early Easter morning before our family came over to celebrate. Madeline has the best bed head when she wakes up in the morning!

Back to the 80s!

For my 30th birthday, we had an 80s party at our house. I didn't get any group pictures on my camera, but got one of Laurel, Bella, Maddy and myself. Bella partied hard and passed out by the end of the night. Side pony tail anyone?

Bath Tub Fun

Maddy is lucky enough to have her own bathroom, pink and perfect for a little girl. We've filled it with all her sea themed toys and inflatable bath tub (one of our best baby item finds) in the big tub. The cats love to come hang out and see what's going on. Maddy loves to splash and play with all her toys in the warm water.

First St. Patrick's Day

Playing in the backyard on St. Patrick's Day in her green. 

Standing

This is one of my favorite photos ever. She had just started pulling herself to stand on furniture and we left a hamper out while folding laundry in just the perfect spot for her to use it to stand. She looks so happy and proud of herself, makes me smile every time I see it. (Also from Mid-March)

*Old* Backyard Fun

One of the best things about our move has been having a backyard to play in! These pictures are from the middle of March, I'm hoping to pick some of my favorite photos to share from the last couple months while I've been a bad blogger.

Eleven Months Old

A whole month flew by, and Maddy seems so much older this month! She is moving all over the place, and we are not baby proofed, so we have to have our eyes glued to her at all times. Just tonight she fell over with a tv tray table she was walking along, with a glass on it that shattered, luckily only the glass was hurt, but makes me realize that I can't take my eyes off her for even a second. 

She had her first blood test done, and took two nurses and both arms for them to find a vein. Unfortunately she has difficult veins like me. She was tested for allergies to the fruits that were causing her to have itchy "girl parts". She also was tested for a milk allergy and the normal 12 month blood tests so we don't have to go through a blood test again so soon. All her tests came back normal, even the milk one! The doctor thinks the fruits change the PH level of her stool, and it irritates her causing the reaction. I am slowly mixing in a little bit of fruit into her veggies and she hasn't had another reaction, hope we can build her up to full servings of fruit.

11 months finds Madeline:

• wearing size 3 diapers
• wearing 12 month pants and shirts, 6-12 month onesies
• 2 bottom teeth and one upper tooth (top right front tooth)
• CRAWLING (a real crawl)!
• Cruising along furniture
• Gets into everything, loves to empty baskets, boxes, cupboards, bags
• Can go 6 + hours between nursing 
• Isn't balancing or standing on a regular basis yet, but has stood for up to 10 seconds on her own
• eating chicken, turkey, egg yolk, bread, pasta (pureed), along with any veggies
• second hair trim (a little off the back)
• says mama, dada, cat 
• does the sign for twinkle during "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
• claps when you say "clap"
• gives hugs to the cats and stuffed animals

We love you Madeline Mae, almost one whole year!

Love,

Mama & Dada

Ten Months Old

•  Today makes Madeline 10 months old! We're in the double-digit months now. 

  
  

  (I am officially the worst blogger ever, but may have more time after June...I received a pink slip from LAUSD, and for now it looks like they may not take it back like they did last year.)

  
  

  10 months finds Maddy:

  
  

  • with her 2 bottom middle teeth
  • becoming so much more mobile, but not moving too far yet
  • she gets herself in the correct crawling position and moves her knees or hands, but not together yet, so she doesn't actually move anywhere (although it sometimes results in her moving backwards), she does get herself around her play area by doing the army crawl
  • pulls herself up to standing on everything now, and will take steps while holding on too, almost cruising, and only wants to be standing now
  • makes a sound for cat, anytime she sees the cats she makes a "kea" sound, it started as a spitting sound, then "ts", then "teea", she also has an almost grunt sound when she hears them meow, but can not see them, like she is calling back to them
  • we are avoiding fruits for the time being, they make her itchy in her diaper area, which is pure torture
  • she has "ma ma" and "da da" almost figured out, and uses them for the right people sometimes
  • initiates her own clapping, claps when she is excited or happy, especially for music
  • dances (knee bend bounce) for music
  • sings (makes noise) in the car to the music playing
  • loves to empty baskets of toys or clothes, or to move a pile from one area to another...now to teach her to put everything back to where it came from!

  We love you to pieces Miss Madeline Mae! One year is almost here already!

  
  

  Love,

  Mama and Dada

First Hair Cut- Before & After

Before:

After:

I finally decided it was time to cut her wild hair...well at least her bangs. She wanted to turn her head each time the scissors came near here and her hair doesn't really have a natural part where her bangs should hang from, but I did the best I could. I think she looks so cute with her freshly trimmed bangs, glad I actually did it. Mike thinks I'm weird for saving her hair, but I call it tradition, my mom saved mine!