Brusha, brusha, brusha...

Practicing good oral hygeine! ;)

So many teeth already!

She's so independent, she insists on doing it herself!


Watching and learning (Heaven help her if she has a mouth full of teeth like mommy!)

Ooooooowwwwwww!!!!!

In our quest to prove to the masses our bald baby is, in fact, NOT a boy (as if the pink carseat and dresses weren't enough...), we decided to have Maddie's ears pierced. Poor thing. I felt awful. I mean, shots are a necessity...for her well-being. This was just a selfish desire for her to have the girl's rite-of-passage, to put cute earrings in her sweet little lobes. I, of course, made Garret hold her so I could be the hero and swoop her up to smother her with kisses after the torture. So as she is screaming bloody murder through the mall, I felt so horrible. I cried. Seriously. Then, as quickly as the blood-curdling scream began, it was over. And in the place of porcelain skin were two beautiful, sparkly little diamonds. Instant femininity. Let's see if anyone calls her a boy now.

Maddie's first Easter!

Another "first" down! We had a great Easter...lots of fun, family, and as per the usual, food. The festivities began with a little "photo shoot" Monique and I did for the girls in their Easter dresses. Maddie did great...except the fact that I kept having to take the Easter grass from her basket out of her mouth! Then we went to a fun little Egg Hunt event in Monique's neighborhood. Maddie found her first egg...ok, mommy might have helped juuuust a little. She just kind of stared at it like, "Now what??". Easter morning, we gave Maddie her first basket while making her wear these ridiculous bunny ears (hey, why not get away with it while she's still too young to fight back??). Since she's clearly not ready for a basket-full of candy, we got things like finger puppets, a book, snacks, a toothbrush, a stuffed lamb. She promptly put it all her mouth, so a few photos later, it was out of her reach. We did brunch at Uncle Greg's (I made quiches...not bad, if I say so myself) and then to Monique's for Honey Baked Ham. DELISH. It was a great day, all around. Beautiful weather, great food and family=perfection.

Sick baby, tired mommy.

So Maddie is sick. For real sick. Not just a little sniffle (like a couple weeks ago), but high temperature, whiny,not sleeping...real sick. I feel so bad for the little munckin. She wants to be constantly held, is generally unhappy about, well, everything. I feel so bad for my little clingy baby...she's usually so independent and happy but she now just wants to be held and is so sad. She has such a high-pitched voice as it is, that all this whining is satrting to sould like a dolphin calling expedition. I swear she's going to be an opera singer one day...Soprano, of course. And love her as I do, I feel the need to gouge out my eardrums with a sharp pencil in order to stay patient with her Flipper-speak. I have to remind myself she doesn't feel good. Hopefully the Pediatrician will give us some answers today...and they better not say "It's just Viral...let it run its course" or "She's just teething". Makes me crazy. It goes against the fix-it nature of my mommy ways. Poor Mads....

UPDATE: So several visits to the Pediatrician later, Maddie ended up having Pneumonia!!, an ear infection AND a urine infection. Yes, ALL at once. The doctor explained that bacteria begins somewhere and rests wherever it does and apparently, it RESTED all over my poor baby! She had a fever of 102-104 for an entire week!! Two rounds of antibiotic injections and two oral antibiotics later, she is back to.her sweet self. Thank God...we were really starting to worry. I hadn't seen her smile in days! We have to have a follow-up this week but hopefully everything will be just fine! Sheesh....

Bad mommy....

I hate to admit this, but I have sorta lost count...of exactly how many months Maddie is. I know, bad mommy. When I was pregnant, I joined an online site that would send weekly updates about pregnancy, the baby's development, etc. Now, it does the same, only with updates for Maddie's age. I didn't have Internet for a while, so I checked my email and it informs me my baby is nearly 9 months old!!! Huh?? When the heck did that happen?? So, to attempt to make up for my lapse in updating, here goes! As of today, 1 week from her 9 months, Maddie:

~ can sit up, unassisted for quite some time.

~ can roll to both sides (which is how she is currently getting where she needs to be!)

~ has 5, yes 5 teeth with two more coming in (3 on the bottom and 2 on top)

~ cannot crawl, but is thiiiis close....

~ has not a hair on her head (ok, some "peach fuzz", but barely mentionable amounts)

~ eats stage two foods, with sweet potatoes and bananas leading the pack of faves.

~ is obsessed with Meatball and is waaaay more entertained by him than anyone else.

~ is "funny" around certain people and gets upset if they try to hold her...even people she's used to!

~ sleeps through the night, 12 hours...God love her.

~ had her first official cold last week (and is still hacking and emitting liquids from various orifices as I type).

~ loves to jump in her saucer (she didn't realize she could jump until a couple of weeks ago...)

~ likes swinging, going for long walks with mommy, daddy and Meatball, anything that lights up, rolling and having a ball rolled to her, being sung to, books and baths.

~ smiles more than any child I have ever met her age.

~ weighs 17 pounds and 9 ounces

I suppose she has reached most developmental milestones and she sure seems happy and healthy, so we just let her do her thing! She is outgrowing all of her clothes more rapidly and seems to do something new every day...it's all happening so fast!! We are so excited to see her grow and learn and do...but I also love these last few months and wish I could stay in this space in time just a liiiittle bit longer!

Sitting up and spitting up!

Maddie can sit up! YAY!! Seven months and she can balance her cute, chubby little thighs for a couple of minutes at a time. Mind you, she still topples over...she hasn't quite grasped the fact that she has to re-balance herself as she's going sideways, but hey, give the kid a break! She's just learning! Crawling seems a bit far off still...she air swims, however. What? You have never heard of air-swimming? Well, let me educate you on my daughter's advanced activity. She gets on her tummy, lifts her head, arms and legs and flails around like a fish out of water. So funny. We keep telling her "Baby, if you would put your limbs on the ground, you may actually propel yourself." She just flashes those two (and a half!!) bottom teeth and repeats the process. It's so funny to watch their little brains work through the motions. I swear I can see her thinking. Love every second of watching this little person become a bigger (sniff) person!

Love is in the air....

Breakfast in bed, roses, champagne, Children's Parade...huh?! My how Valentine's Day gets a whole new spin on it when you have a child!! I have to admit, though, we made it pretty great, in my humble opinion. The day was filled with the perfect combination of family time and romance. We got up and I made a big, yummy breakfast. Then we met Susie for a belated Birthday lunch. We then went to the Edison Children's Parade with Monique and Bella. Lastly, we put the baby's little, exhausted self to bed and ordered take-out sushi, drank a cocktail and enjoyed our alone time. The perfect Valentine's Day with my two favorite Valentines....