Eleven months old... one month until the big 1!

At eleven months…
* Mady weighs 21 lbs and is 28.5 inches long.
* She still fits in her 6-9 clothes but is quickly moving into the 12 month outifts
* Is still really into the remotes. In fact, one day Momma found her standing on the couch with one remote in each hand. Don’t ask how she got up there?!?!
* Loves music. Is beginning to do some dancing too.
* Loves the music from Two and a Half Men. Sings along making the Mmmmm noise when the song comes on.
* Loves other little kids. Is happiest when she’s around other little kids.
* Absolutely loves fresh raspberries.
* Eats just about anything, just not hot dogs. Makes hilarious faces when you try to give her them.

Ten months old

At ten months…
* Mady started walking! She’s walking all over. In the matter of a week she went from toddling around to cruising all over the place.
* Finally says “Momma”. One day when she was getting picked up, Mady walked right
* Went to Chuck E. Cheese with daycare for the first time. Ate a piece of pizza and two cinnamon breadsticks. Loved riding in the little cars with Chuck E. or Stuart Little
* Went to Poppa and Grammy’s house and went on the pontoon.
* Touched her first fish. She didn’t seem to care one way or another.
* Went to Oshkosh to visit Uncle Bill, Auntie Steph and cousin Malayna
* Went swimming in the hotel pool and loved it!
* Went to Tracy’s house for a family reunion and played with her cousin Dakota for the first time

Nine months old

Mady is already 3/4 of a year old.

At nine months Mady...

* weight 18 lbs, 4 oz. and is 27.5 inches long
* has two bottom front teeth
* learned how to clap
* does not eat baby food anymore, except oatmeal cereal that we are trying to use up
* loves chicken noodle soup
* eats just about anything
* likes to feed herself, especially fruit, snacks and bread with jam
* is getting closer to walking, has taken a few steps at a time on accident
* loves other little kids
* went to the county fair and was scared in the bird building and the sheep building because they were both so loud
* plays shy
* "talks" as loud as she can, especially in rooms that echo
* the only way to keep Mady still on the changing table is to give her the chime toothbrush she got as a gift
* has figured out how to open cupboard doors and entertainment center drawers
* loves to help to do laundry... aka throw it all over the floor
* knows when she has something she shouldn't and when we go to get it from her, she runs away as fast as she can crawl

Mady's First Word!!

So Mady has been babbling for a while... dadadadada...bababababa... but never connects them to anyone or anything. When someone asks her where Dada is she definitely knows to look at Eric and has done that for a while now. On the Fourth of July, Eric, Mady and I were sitting out on the front lawn, looking out at the lake when Mady crawled over to Eric and stood up and said "Dada" plain as day and just once. I wish you could have seen the look on Eric's face! It was the best!!!

Fourth of July

We spent our Fourth of July/family vacation up at Grandpa Roger and Grandma EJ's house. While we were there we went to the Duluth Zoo. Mady absolutely loved the petting zoo and Momma and Daddy loved watching Mady get so excited about the animals. Momma's favorite parts of the zoo were seeing the Kookaburas and singing "Kookabura sits in the old gum tree..." to them (which I'm sure they've never heard before). Daddy's favorite part were the creepy bats that made lots of creepy bat noises.

Grandpa Roger took us and Uncle Terry out on the boat on Thursday night for a while. That was fun.

On the Fourth of July Grandma Sylvia and Grampy Lee came down to visit as well. We all went out on the pontoon for a trip around Island Lake. Mady slept... she seems to like to do that on pontoons. :)

Mady and Momma didn't make it out on the lake for the fireworks that night, Mady was in bed by 9 (her usual time) and I didn't want to wake/get her off her schedule.

The trip home was long, but it was nice to be away from home for a while.

While it was nice being away, it was wonderful to come home. Mady went around to each of her toys Sunday night when we got home and touched them all. Then she found her baby doll and kissed it over and over (more like sucking on its head, but you get the picture). She also was THRILLED to see Ella and walked back and forth on the futon cooing and screaming for Ella. :)

Weekend in Battle Lake

We had a very nice weekend in Battle Lake with family for Grandma Helen's burial. Grandma Sylvia, Grampy Lee, Auntie Toni, Auntie Gail and cousins Mike and Andy were all so good to Mady. Mady had a tough time sleeping, therefore Momma had a tough time sleeping too. During the day Mady was very well behaved for being around so many people and off of her routine. Mady also went on her first pontoon ride out in Battle Lake. She slept for the first hour and then crawled around a bit and drove the boat with Grampy Lee. Daddy took her swimming in Battle Lake too. It was very important to Daddy that we got to see where he spent a lot of his childhood and I'm glad that we went.

Big Road Trip

This weekend will be Mady's first big road trip away from home. We're going to Battle Lake, MN to bury Grandma Helen. We're driving to Great-Aunts Gail and Toni's home on Thursday night and then going to Battle Lake the next day. We'll be spending the weekend with Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Lee, Great-Aunts Gail and Toni, and cousins Mike and Andy. On Saturday Grandma and Grandpa rented a pontoon so we'll actually get to go out on Battle Lake and see where Grandma Helen lived.

Momma's going to have to bring a load of ear plugs along since she has to stay in a hotel room with Snore 1 and Snore 2. :) Mady could definitely give Daddy a run for his money in the snoring department!

Daddy's first Father's Day with Mady will be spent driving six hours home. Not the best way to spend Father's Day, but glad we get to spend the weekend with family, celebrating Grandma Helen's life.

Eight months old

Mady is eight months old already! Can't believe it.

At eight months Mady...

* just got her first tooth! There's a second one that's just about through too.
* wants to eat anything that Eric or I have.
* stands next to the futon and walks back and forth.
* likes to watch Daddy exercise and laughs at him.
* loves going into any room she's not supposed to, so we have to shut every door.
* likes the bathroom toilet and would hang out in the bathroom all day if we'd let her.

Visitors

This weekend Grandma Linda and cousin Malayna visited. Poor Grandma, Mady really has stranger danger and would cry every time Momma left the room or when Grandma held her. On Saturday we took the girls to have their pictures taken together at Penneys. They turned out really good, I'll post them when I get them back. Saturday afternoon we went to the Children's Museum of La Crosse and had a blast. Malayna loved playing dress up and playing the piano. Mady liked that they had a foam area for her to play in. She and a little boy played in that area for a long time. Malayna also climbed the rock wall... she's so adventurous.
On Sunday we went to visit Sand Lake. Mady crawled all around Momma's classroom without having 30 little faces looking down on her. Malayna loved the keyboard and drawing on the whiteboard.
It was so nice to spend time with Grandma Linda and Malayna!

Swim baby Swim!

We set up a small baby pool for Mady this weekend. We have a large pool that Eric and I have used in the past, but we thought we'd start small and in a few years haul out the large one again.
After letting the water warm up in the sun, we put Mady in. She absolutley loved it. Of course, she kept crawling around all over in the pool and playing with the toys. Then she decided she was curious about what was outside the pool, so she kept trying to crawl out of it.
It was about 75 degrees out, so she was only in the water for about 20 minutes, but I can see this being a fun thing to do all summer long!

First boating excursion

Today was Mady's first boat ride. We went out on the Mississippi. Mady was all bundled up in her life preserver and sitting in her stroller. She did really well as we rode around and then stopped to fish for a while. She started to get uncomfortable in the big, bulky life vest, so I held her for a while and then she did much better back in the stroller. After taking a short cruise, enjoying a bottle and cruising some more, Mady fell asleep; which allowed Eric and me to fish for a while. Mady lasted close to 2 hours, which is way longer than I thought she would! It was so nice to be out on the boat, and now that I know she can handle it, we'll probably go out more often.

Seven Months Old

This year is crusing right by! Mady is now seven months old.

At seven months...
* Mady eats stage two foods, loves freeze dried yogurt pieces, biter biscuits and little cereal poofs.
* Still has no teeth.
* Has been crawling for a while now and can cruise really fast on those knees. Her knees have developed some good crawling callouses.
* Pulls herself up on EVERYTHING! Pulls herself all the way to standing occasionally, too, which we have been discouraging.
* Likes to pull all of the cds and movies off the entertainment center shelves.
* No longer has an old-man bald spot.
* Still loves swinging outdoors.
* Still hates being in her carseat.
* Could care less about baby toys right now, it's more about whatever else she can find to put in her mouth that she's not supposed to have.
* Is terrorizing Ella, our cat.
* She pet her first snake last weekend. Was confused by the big tortoise that was crawling just like she was.
* Enjoys coming to school to see my students.
* Hates to wear hats in the sun.

Summer will hold lots of new opportunities for us to be out and about with Mady and many more firsts, I'm sure. Keep watching for more updates!

Mother's Day

Mady and Eric gave me a beautiful jewerly box that Eric made me for Mother's Day. We went to Myrick Park to spend some time outside on a gorgeous day. Mady went down the slide twice, spent some time on the swings and crawled around on the spongy ground of the playscape. It was a very nice way to spend my first Mother's Day with Mady.

Big Eater

Since Mady began crawling two weeks ago, she seems to have a hollow leg that she's stuffing all this food she's eating! She's drinking about 30 oz a day and eating half a jar of food for breakfast, a jar and a half for lunch and a jar and a half with cereal for supper! Thank gosh she's so active!!

Mid month update

Mady is a crawling machine. She's everywhere, especially places that she shouldn't be. She's trying to pull herself up on the entertainment center to get the tv or the CDs. When she hurts herself she will come crawling to Eric or me for comfort. The other night I had some music on tv and she was laying on her back in the middle of the living room making this shrieking noise, for a good 15 minutes. Eric finally came up from the basement to see what was going on. He thought she was hurt or something because she was making this loud shrieking. It was her way of singing. She was trying to make the loudest noise possible. Way too funny!

First hospital trip

Mady got very sick last week. On Sunday she had a fever of 102.3 and then started vomiting. We could not get her to eat and she kept throwing up and the fever was not going down. We went to the clinic and they told us that it was just a self-limiting virus and to give her Pedialyte. We went home but Mady would not drink the Pedialyte. I don't blame her, that stuff tastes like crap. So we had to syringe it into her mouth throughout the day and still try to give her as much in fluids as we could.
Monday I stayed home with Mady and she seemed to be doing a bit better, no vomiting, but no eating either. She had a few ounces of fomula and actually played a bit so we thought she was on the path to getting better.
Tuesday I picked Mady up from daycare adn found out she had only drank 3 ounces of formula all day. We went to the clinic but they sent us to the emergency room because they were worried Mady was dehydrated. Mady was a little trooper, smiled at everyone, but just laid in my lap. That's how I knew she was sick, she never wants to just lay in someone's lap and she has such a fear of strangers, but she was so good!
After force feeding her some pedialyte, they let us go. Mady's fever was gone, so as long as she was getting some formula and pedialyte, they wouldn't have to give her an IV, thank god.
Day by day, Mady's getting back to her normal self. Since she's my daughter, I'm sure this, unfortunately, will not be her only trip to the emergency room in her life, but we can still hope! :)

Showing Off My Oshkosh BGosh Bibs

Mady's first day crawling

Mady's First Easter

We spent Mady's first Easter at home. Mady and Momma went to church across the street at First Lutheran. We got the last two seats in the sanctuary (luckily, in the last row!). The service was beautiful and Mady was perfect... she didn't make a peep. Boy were Momma's arms tired after holding her for an hour and 15 minutes though, she doesn't stop moving!
After church we went home and Mady had a lunch of apples and ham, which she seemed to enjoy. We took tons of pictures of her cute little Easter outfit.
The Easter Bunny brought Mady a few books and a ball for Easter. The bunny also brought Momma some maples and Daddy some Cadbury eggs. :)
For Easter supper, Mady had Ham and Veggies while Momma and Daddy had a late Easter supper of ham, mashed potatoes, corn and turtle cheesecake. :)
It was a great first Easter and it's hard to believe that last Easter was when we told people that I was pregnant!!

Mady at six-months-old

Mady at six-months-old

At six months Mady…

· eats just about anything she can get my hands on. Recently started step 2 foods and love chicken noodle! Had ham & apples and ham & vegetables for Easter lunch and Easter dinner.
· make a mmmmm noise when eating something she likes.
· When Momma doesn’t feed her fast enough, she slaps her hands on the high chair tray and open her mouth in a big O-shape.
· sit up by herself for quite a while, like 5 minutes. She hasn’t figured out how to get out of the sitting position, so normally she just tips over.
· can crawl backwards and rock on her knees, but still hasn’t quite mastered the moving forward yet.
· is beginning to laugh at things all by herself, without someone doing something funny. Loves to laugh when she’s getting her diaper changed, like she knows that it’s nasty!
· is in the last of her 3-6 month clothes and is onto her 6 month outfits.
· just discovered that she has toes. We realized last week that for her whole life she’s always worn outfits with feet in them or had socks on. We’re trying to let her go barefoot more now. Seeing that she is part Brehmer, she will probably prefer to go barefoot always.
· has a drool rash around her mouth from her constant drooling and the nuk rubbing on it.
· has lots of stranger anxiety. Did very well at Easter church service, until people started coming up after the service to ooh and ahh at Mady. Then she cried.
· is 26 inches long and 15 lbs. 13 oz. Quite a difference from 6 months ago at 20.5 inches long and 9lb. 2 oz. J
· would rather spend time on the floor than in anyone’s arm or on anyone’s lap anymore.
· is normally a very, very happy girl. We are blessed.

I can sit up by myself!!

Mady can sit up all by herself! She stays up for quite a long time, even grabbing for things while she's sitting up. She hasn't figured out how to get out of the sitting position, other than just falling over. :)

Hoppy Easter!!

This is Mady's Easter card for 2009! We will be celebrating Mady's first Easter at home, just the three of us. I think she's going to love Easter service with all of the music!

Teething

Teething

Mady has started teething… poor thing is in a lot of pain and is taking it out on everyone around her. 
She’s having a hard time falling asleep and naps are pretty much nonexistent right now.
We went to Family Fun Fest at my school this weekend. It was fun to see so many students. Mady had a lot to look at and was a very good little girl. My kids loved seeing her, too.

Mady is hoping that Spring comes back very soon! It was nice for the few days it was here!

Five months old

Mady's five-months-old already. She's doing a lot of fun things and growing every day.


At five months:

* She drinks about 26 oz. of formula a day

* Eats two small meals of baby food, one of fruits & vegetables and the other of a mix of rice cereal and baby oatmeal cereal

* She loves sweet potatoes! That's new this month. She doesn't dig peas (who can blame her!).

* She shakes her head and lunges forward for food and makes a small grunting noise. Very funny to see how into eating she is.

* She showed us that she can crawl by crawling forward a bit one afternoon, but now she only crawls backward. Then she gets very angry because she can't move to what she wanted in the first place.

* If there's somwhere she needs to go, Mady will just roll and roll and roll until she gets there. I'm going to attach Swiffer sheets on her and have her clean our kitchen floor... just kidding!

* Mady chews on everything in site or in reach.

* She's finally really noticing and interacting with our cat. She gets so excited when Ella comes in the room, to the point that she will stop crying if Ella's around. She also loves River, our babysitter's dog.

* Mady can sit up on her own for about 10 seconds or so, but if she gets distracted or excited by something, over she goes.

* Her sleep pattern's been really messed up lately. Hopefully we can get her back to going to bed around 8 instead of 10.

* She tries really, really hard to make a shrieking noise, but can't quite do it yet. (Eric's thanking God that she hasn't mastered it yet.)

Little Black Dress

Mady in her "This is My Little Black Dress" onesie.

Outside Adventure

Mady went out in the snow for the first time on Saturday. The weather was pretty decent and we got 4.5 inches of snow, so I thought I'd dress her up in her snowsuit, mittens and hat and try it.
Eric set her in the snowbank and right away she started to bawl... I did take the opportunity to take a few good questions of her unhappy in the snow! (I know, mean Momma!)
Mady's been really, really drooly and cranky lately. Maybe she's cutting a tooth? I guess we'll see.
She slept through the night both Saturday and Sunday night. You would think that would mean that I would sleep through the night, too, but I'm up thinking about why she's not awake or wake up and listen to hear if she's crying. I've got to get over that so I can sleep, too!
Mady tried pears for the first time this weekend. The texture was a little weird for her, gritty, but she did like it and ate pretty well. She still prefers her carrots and applesauce!

Grandma's Memorial

Last weekend was Grandma Helen's memorial service. On Friday afternoon we left for Monticello. When we got to Gail's house we were greeted by lots of family. Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Lee got there with Uncle Chris and cousin Michael shortly after we arrived.

This was the first time that Mady got to meet Uncle Chris. Boy, did she love him! Her face would just light up. Cousin Michael didn't pay much attention to Mady on Friday night. He was too busy playing with all of his cool new toys.

Uncle Norm and Aunt Linda arrived a while later and after a good meal the family watched the video tribute that I made for Grandma. It was really nice to watch it with everyone and hear all the stories. Mike and Drew got to Gail's around 10 and after they ate we watched the video again.

Mady did very well on Friday for being overtired and around so many people.

Saturday morning Daddy, Momma, Mady, Uncle Chris and Michael went to the outlet mall for a little shopping and to get out of the house before the memorial service.

At the memorial service, Mady did very well, once she was in her stroller. The service was beautiful. I especially loved the stories that people told about Grandma.

After the service Mady got to meet her Uncle Keith, Aunt Michelle and Aunt Sheri, along with cousins Ashlynn, Sasha and Matt. Once Ashlynn and Sasha started paying attention to Mady then Michael decided it was okay to pay attention to her as well.

Once back at Gail's we spent more time with the family. Michael played with Mady a lot on Saturday night and even held and fed her. Auntie Toni also spent a lot of time playing with Mady, mostly playing "up down" and watching Michael ride down the stairs.

It was a nice weekend to spend with family remembering Grandma and making new memories. I'm so glad that Mady got to spend some time with her Uncle Chris and cousin Michael.

Four months old!

Time flies! Mady's now four-months old.

Feb. 7th Mady was baptized. Uncle Bill and Auntie Kim are her godparents. The service was at English Lutheran in La Crosse and couldn't have gone any better. Mady was great through the service and when it was time for her to be baptized, she smiled each time Pastor Mark put water on her head. It was too cute!

Mady received many nice gifts to honor her baptism: a necklace with a heart and cross from Grandma Linda and Poppa, a beautiful bracelet with her name on it from Grandma Sylvia and Grandpa Lee, a Tooth Fairy silver container from Grandpa Roger and Grandma EJ, a bible from Uncle Bill, Auntie Steph and Malayna and many other things.

At four months Mady:

* weighs 14 lbs, 3 oz.

* is 25 inches long.

* eats about 27 oz. of formula a day

* enjoys applesauce and carrots, especially carrots

* doesn't dig the rice cereal.

* sleeps about 9 hours at night, getting up usually once

* reaches for Eric, Jennie (her babysitter) and Courtney (one of my students)

* loves her toy frog and Lola the pink dog.

* tries to sit up all the time.

* rolls from front to back and back to front.

* crawl-scoots backwards instead of forwards and gets mad when she can't get her toy.

* smiles and giggles a lot.

* is still the love of our life!

Changing from Babysites

My subscription with Babysites.com is almost over, so I decided to find a free version to blog and keep you all updated on Mady's life. Make sure to bookmark this site and come back often!!