Yesterday Maddie and I met up with the Babyville girls at Little Feet. It's kinda like a Gymboree (I think, having never been to a Gymboree, I don't really know for sure).
As I explained to Seth last night, it's like baby heaven. There's a big open room just packed with different types of exersaucers, bouncers, big bouncy balls and moveable mats that come in all shapes and sizes - like stairs, slides, little houses to crawl through etc etc etc.
Maddie spent the afternoon just crawling, pulling up, standing, climbing, playing. In a nutshell, yeah, I think she liked it. It will definitely be our place to go on those really hot or rainy days I guess - at least until I have to (sniff sniff) go back to work.
It was so funny to watch her interact with the other kids there. She LOVES little kids. Large, small, younger, older - she doesn't care. She just wants to be where the kids are, doing what they are doing. And if they'll let her - kiss them all day long!
Yes, my daughter is quite free with her kisses to other kids. Mommy has to beg for a kiss, but random babies with drool and snot all over their face? Yeah, they get more kisses than they could ever want. In fact, I had to pull Maddie off one baby yesterday because she was making the little girl howl from her over-zealous-kissiness.
Cute, but also a little strange (in an adorable, funny, kids-do-the-darndest-things kinda way).
And last but not least, I'm happy to report that last night she was only up ONCE. That's right. ONCE. I know it's probably a culmination of a week of not sleeping due to teething and then one really tiring day - but I don't care. We all got 7 solid hours of non-stop sleeping last night (as the once that she woke up was midnight - to nurse and then out until 7:30 this morning).
Hopefully this is the beginning of a (much-needed, much-wanted) sleep trend. And hopefully I didn't just jinx it...
xxoo.S
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
So much news!
The weekend before last we spent in Kingston, attending the Vallier family reunion. We didn't drive down until Saturday morning, and after a few attempts, finally made it to the right location! It was ridiculously hot and muggy that day, so Maddie only lasted a couple of hours before she was begging to be taken home and put to bed.
Here's a pic of Seth and his cousins and his nanny:
Last week was a busy one - on Monday Maddie and I headed to Vone's house for a playdate with her little ones (Isla and Lilo) and Deb, Austin and Alex. We were there for the latter half of the morning into early afternoon and the kids played played played. It's so funny to see Maddie interacting with kids - she's so interested in other children. Not necessarily babies, but little kids that are older than her - she LOVES them. So Maddie spent the playdate crawling around the backyard chasing after Lilo and Austin, trying to play with them and with the ball getting tossed around. It was cute and very exhausting for her. She fell asleep within minutes of being strapped into the car seat and I was, for once (miraculously), able to get her out of the carseat and into her crib without waking her up. She ended up sleeping for 3 hours that afternoon!
Tuesday we spent at the zoo with the Babyville group. I'd say we're getting good use out of our zoo membership - at least we've officially gotten our 'money's worth' by this point. Maddie doesn't really notice/see the animals through the cages, but she loves the watching the people. I think as long as she's getting pushed in a stroller and is outside, she is a happy camper.
Seth was on the road for work the rest of the week - which was sad and tough - it's hard to be a single parent, even just for a few days! Liz came over on Wed night for a visit - we ordered take out steak salads from Shoeless Joes and she enjoyed a visit with Maddie. Thurs was spent running errands and Friday was spent getting stuff done around the house. We now officially have all our paint touch ups done, and most of the pictures/wall hangings hung. Wow, we've only been here for a year, and it's starting to look like a decorated house. Imagine that...
This past weekend Seth and I took it easy - getting things done around the house, watching a few movies and spending time together/with Maddie. She showed off her new standing abilities to him all weekend. In fact, if she had the option, she would spend all day climbing on her Daddy!
And our biggest piece of news - last night while getting her ready for her bath, I felt inside her mouth and felt a hard little pointy ridge poking through! Miss Madeleine has finally cut her first tooth!!! That explains the nightmare sleeping habits since Wednesday - she was way worse than usual and very cuddly during the days. I was thinking it had to do with teething, but since I had thought it so many times before I was still doubting myself. But apparently my gut instinct was right - and so she is now officially no longer a little gummy bear. It's her bottom left tooth, and she spent all day rubbing it with her tongue.
So now that it's here, does that mean we're going to get a bit of sleep? Even if it's just one night?
xxoo.S
PS - have updated our Flickr page with pics from June and July - take a look here.
Here's a pic of Seth and his cousins and his nanny:
Last week was a busy one - on Monday Maddie and I headed to Vone's house for a playdate with her little ones (Isla and Lilo) and Deb, Austin and Alex. We were there for the latter half of the morning into early afternoon and the kids played played played. It's so funny to see Maddie interacting with kids - she's so interested in other children. Not necessarily babies, but little kids that are older than her - she LOVES them. So Maddie spent the playdate crawling around the backyard chasing after Lilo and Austin, trying to play with them and with the ball getting tossed around. It was cute and very exhausting for her. She fell asleep within minutes of being strapped into the car seat and I was, for once (miraculously), able to get her out of the carseat and into her crib without waking her up. She ended up sleeping for 3 hours that afternoon!
Tuesday we spent at the zoo with the Babyville group. I'd say we're getting good use out of our zoo membership - at least we've officially gotten our 'money's worth' by this point. Maddie doesn't really notice/see the animals through the cages, but she loves the watching the people. I think as long as she's getting pushed in a stroller and is outside, she is a happy camper.
Seth was on the road for work the rest of the week - which was sad and tough - it's hard to be a single parent, even just for a few days! Liz came over on Wed night for a visit - we ordered take out steak salads from Shoeless Joes and she enjoyed a visit with Maddie. Thurs was spent running errands and Friday was spent getting stuff done around the house. We now officially have all our paint touch ups done, and most of the pictures/wall hangings hung. Wow, we've only been here for a year, and it's starting to look like a decorated house. Imagine that...
This past weekend Seth and I took it easy - getting things done around the house, watching a few movies and spending time together/with Maddie. She showed off her new standing abilities to him all weekend. In fact, if she had the option, she would spend all day climbing on her Daddy!
And our biggest piece of news - last night while getting her ready for her bath, I felt inside her mouth and felt a hard little pointy ridge poking through! Miss Madeleine has finally cut her first tooth!!! That explains the nightmare sleeping habits since Wednesday - she was way worse than usual and very cuddly during the days. I was thinking it had to do with teething, but since I had thought it so many times before I was still doubting myself. But apparently my gut instinct was right - and so she is now officially no longer a little gummy bear. It's her bottom left tooth, and she spent all day rubbing it with her tongue.
So now that it's here, does that mean we're going to get a bit of sleep? Even if it's just one night?
xxoo.S
PS - have updated our Flickr page with pics from June and July - take a look here.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Another milestone
She pulled herself to standing today! She's been trying to do this for a while now, but hasn't really made it past the knees - today she managed to do it at her activity table.
She's growing so fast - it's bananas.
xxoo.S
She's growing so fast - it's bananas.
xxoo.S
I give it to the end of the month
If I don't see at least one of her teeth by then, I'm going to get a pair of pliers and rip one of the suckers to the surface myself.
Or shoot myself.
I haven't decided which yet.
xxoo.S
PS - before you get offended by this post, I dare you to spend the next 9 months without getting longer than a 3 hour stretch of sleep. Once you've done that, you will see just how much sense the above sentences make.
Or shoot myself.
I haven't decided which yet.
xxoo.S
PS - before you get offended by this post, I dare you to spend the next 9 months without getting longer than a 3 hour stretch of sleep. Once you've done that, you will see just how much sense the above sentences make.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
First swim
As promised, here is the vid of Maddie's first try in her baby pool (it's not that pretty, but I do promise you that she enjoyed herself immensely about 5 mins later when Liz tried her in it again)...
xxoo.S
xxoo.S
Dear Miss Maddie
You are 9 months old today! Wow - you still seem like a baby at times, so it's hard to believe that 9 whole months have gone by. Then again, you also are constantly reminding us just how quickly you are growing, as I feel like you are adding something new to your repertoire every day! Just yesterday I realized that you can climb stairs (and caught it on video), which means we really need to get more baby gates for the house!
This past month has been a bit bittersweet, as it's been spent doing (A LOT) of interviews for daycare. I dread the day that I have to leave you with someone else munchkin, and it's very quickly approaching. I keep telling myself that it will likely be harder on me than it is on you - that you'll probably really enjoy being around other kids and getting outside and playing, doing crafts - all that fun stuff, but you still seem like such a little baby, that I can't imagine someone else doing what I do all day long. That's just silly sappy mom stuff though - let's get into more fun and interesting stuff...
Some of the more memorable moments of this month include:
But in the end you are our pride and joy - we love you very much and can not even begin to imagine life without you now. Just try to give Mommy and Daddy a bit of a break and start sleeping through the night though, okay?
Love you monkey...
Mommy
xxoo
This past month has been a bit bittersweet, as it's been spent doing (A LOT) of interviews for daycare. I dread the day that I have to leave you with someone else munchkin, and it's very quickly approaching. I keep telling myself that it will likely be harder on me than it is on you - that you'll probably really enjoy being around other kids and getting outside and playing, doing crafts - all that fun stuff, but you still seem like such a little baby, that I can't imagine someone else doing what I do all day long. That's just silly sappy mom stuff though - let's get into more fun and interesting stuff...
Some of the more memorable moments of this month include:
- your mastering the quick crawl (that's the crawl towards something I don't want you near when you think I'm not looking - like the cat's food dish)
- learning to clap (the CUTEST thing ever - and I love how happy with yourself you are whenever you do it!)
- starting to feed yourself - you've had Gerber puffs, Cheerios (you LOVE cheerios), broccoli, potato and banana
- you're trying your best to learn how to pull up and stand - you plant your feet, lock your knees and stick your bum up in the air a million times a day, but still haven't mastered that standing position - which is just fine with me! I'm still getting used to you being mobile, you don't need to learn to walk just yet!
But in the end you are our pride and joy - we love you very much and can not even begin to imagine life without you now. Just try to give Mommy and Daddy a bit of a break and start sleeping through the night though, okay?
Love you monkey...
Mommy
xxoo
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Camping and other updates
It was just as rainy and soggy and wet as was forecasted. In fact is was so wet on Saturday night, that many of the campers had to abandon their tents and headed to Rob's sister's house in Huntsville for the night.
We were in an older tent, and perhaps on slightly higher ground, so while soggy, we weren't entirely rained out and decided to stay. Yes. We are troopers.
Overall the trip was lots of fun, lots of kids playing, enjoying themselves in spite of the crap weather. The bugs were pretty terrible - but we had a net for Maddie, so she pretty much lived in her monkeywrap, attached to me, with a mosquito net over her. Sounds ridiculous? Well, she's the only one of us to come back with nary a bug bite on her, so I guess it worked.
The food was fantastic, the company was fantastic, it was just mother nature that didn't want to cooperate. I decided that camping wasn't all that enjoyable with an (almost) 9 month old - she couldn't crawl around and therefore was frustrated much of the time. Oh, and she refused to sleep in her playpen. So we are now officially cottage people, with the potential to go camping again when she's 3 yrs old (and as long as it's in a tent trailer).
Life since getting back has been hectic - but here's a synopsis...
xxoo.S
We were in an older tent, and perhaps on slightly higher ground, so while soggy, we weren't entirely rained out and decided to stay. Yes. We are troopers.
Overall the trip was lots of fun, lots of kids playing, enjoying themselves in spite of the crap weather. The bugs were pretty terrible - but we had a net for Maddie, so she pretty much lived in her monkeywrap, attached to me, with a mosquito net over her. Sounds ridiculous? Well, she's the only one of us to come back with nary a bug bite on her, so I guess it worked.
The food was fantastic, the company was fantastic, it was just mother nature that didn't want to cooperate. I decided that camping wasn't all that enjoyable with an (almost) 9 month old - she couldn't crawl around and therefore was frustrated much of the time. Oh, and she refused to sleep in her playpen. So we are now officially cottage people, with the potential to go camping again when she's 3 yrs old (and as long as it's in a tent trailer).
Life since getting back has been hectic - but here's a synopsis...
- Tuesday was spent in our backyard enjoying the sun and warmth as much as possible. We had Greg and Liz over for a bbq and Maddie tried out her pool for the first time. We have it on video - will post soon.
- Wednesday was Maddie's 9 month check up - she's doing well, hitting all her developmental milestones on time, but she dropped in height and weight down to the 10th percentile (from the 25th) ... nothing the doctor is worried about, but we just have to make sure she's eating until she's full every time she eats. Which now means I feel like if she's not sleeping, she's eating.
- Wednesday also saw us do the last of the 2 daycare interviews ... I think we found 'the one'. We'll see when I call her on Monday.
- Thursday brought Grandma and Grandpa Vallier to visit for a few days - they just left this morning to go to a family reunion of sorts near London, and will be stopping back in on their way back to Kingston tomorrow. Somehow they restrained themselves and only brought one toy for Maddie with them this time, it's shocking.
- Last night we went to G&L's for dinner - and to check out their new outdoor fireplace/pit-type-thing. Fun, except Miss Maddie was grumpy so we had to leave earlier than anticipated.
- Maddie is now eating Cheerios. She loves picking them up and feeding them to herself thankyouverymuch. No, she doesn't need help. No, she doesn't want help. She's a big girl now, you see...
- I have finally uploaded all of our Ireland pics to Flickr, and written descriptions for everything so it makes a bit more sense. Click here to take a look...
xxoo.S
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)