Madeline 22 & 23 Mon

Weight: You're are still tiny.  Everyone mistakes you for much younger than you are because of your height and weight. 

Health: You had some minor cold stuff throughout the last two months.  We all got hit hard with a respiratory virus.  You had it first and gave it to your sister and I!

Social: You keep expanding your vocabulary; sometimes it seems overnight! You put full sentences together and are starting to replace some of your words with actual ones the rest of us can understand.  You love playing with your older sister and doing everything she does.  You're not too sure about kids your age and mainly like to "dictate" what they do when you guys are playing together.  Bossy little thing you are!

Diet: We're starting to see some pickiness come out in you.  Sometimes you will love a dinner one night and then hate the leftovers the next.  You defintily have your favorites (aka you could eat just yogurt and be happy I think) though and are willing to try most things. 

Clothes: You are still in 18-24 month items although I think some of the strictly 18 month things are becoming a little short all around.  You will defintily be in this size for the forseable future though!

Mama's Favorites: I love the faces you make! We are solidly into the two sassiness and you show it.  You have the most hilarious tantrum faces (although we try not to laugh). 

Crying: Really only when you are throwing a tantrum.  There's no arguing with you lady.  You want what you want and that's it. 

Sleep: I didn't think sleep could get better for you but it has!! You go down without little prompt. We still rock at night but I can rock you as little as 15 minutes and then you are happy to lay in your bed till you fall asleep.  We could probably even do less but I think I am selfishly holding on to this a bit.  You go down at 8 and now sleep/hang out in your bed comfortably till about 9.  It's still dark in the mornings here at that time so I think that helps.  Naps are a tad shorter most days and you rarely sleep for more than an hour. 

This Month: These past two months have been slow.  Mama was in the last few months of her pregnancy and feeling large. We tried to get out and play with friends and enjoy the last few weeks of just the four of us. 

We celebrated Halloween and you were Madeline.  I couldn't resist the play on your name! We also had Thanksgiving at our home and saw Santa!

Baby Likes: You love to play with your older sister.  You love your "Anna's" (aka anything that resembles a princess).  You have started dressing up in Mara's clothes.  You love to play nap spreading a blanket and pillow down.


Milestones: You are responding to instruction.

You help clean up your toys when prompted.

You color with crayons and markers.

You play make believe with dolls and figures.

Best of Times: Watching your personality bloom.  There's not a single day that goes by that you don't have us laughing. 

Worst of Times: The week in here where you thought it was awesome to put your hands in your diaper and pull them down while you slept.

Sister Diaries: We are still constantly breaking up fights between your sister and you.  You guys play great but there is definite times where Mara needs her space.  She is so patient with you and lets you really rough house.

Madeline-20 Months

Weight: You're are still a solid 20-22 lbs and short as ever!

Health: Nothing major this month to report.  You have had your fair share of boo boos as you are super mobile and into everything.

Social: You are talking SO MUCH now.  I love how you have your own language and have serious things to tell us.  If we don't seem to understand what you are saying you will repeat it back to us until we ackowledge you.  We are still working on a better way for you to get our attention than just screaming.

Diet: You are fully on regular food this month and don't seem to even remember nursing.  You love your yogurt and will eat more than your older sister.  You also love string cheese, crackers, pretzels, mashed potatoes, bananas, rice, apples, water, etc.  You aren't super found of meat but will eat the occasional seasoned ground beef!

Clothes: You are in 18-24 months and fitting comfortably.  I am really disliking any onsie outfit on you at this point which I think I also felt with Mara.  It's just easier to have the shirt and bottoms with your cloth diapers.

Mama's Favorites: You are super cuddly lately and have really attached yourself to me in that regard.  You will find your paci and then come cuddle in my lap for awhile.

Crying: You are still doing your tantrums and I'm sure this is something that will continue for a few years lol.  We aren't even into the twos yet so you have a ways with those.  Otherwise you generally only get angry when your sister takes something away from you or your frustrated you can't do something the way you want to do it.

Sleep: You are still a solid sleeper.  You sleep through the night from 8-8 for the most part.  I can tell you wake in the night from the monitor alarms but you have taken to putting yourself back to sleep which is amazing.  Your sister didn't master this till well past three. Naps have been getting shorter but you are still taking them and we are not letting those go anytime soon.  Somedays you'll be out for over 2 hours others barely an hour.  Not sure why but we're just going with the flow and encouraging you to keep taking them.  We've pushed nap to 1pm from noon and that seems to help a bit.

This Month: We did a little bit more traveling going up to the mountains and then to the vineyards for the harvest.  You are a great traveler although defintily wake up more in the night than you do at home.  You are getting to the stage where you will walk on your own a lot which makes things easier. 

Baby Likes: You are still in love with your sister and want to do everything she does.  Daddy was huge this month as you love rough housing with him when he gets home.  You are also really into your music showing off your killer dance moves at the drop of any beat.  You also have this weird fedish where you have to rub my arms when we cuddle.  Most of the time I'm cool with it but HATE it in the morning.  Weird how you do this and your sister pinched elbows.

Milestones: You are putting together sentences.  You continue to add new vocabulary daily and repeat almost everything we day.

You love helping around the house and will load the dishwasher with me and help fold cloth diapers.

You are mastering pretend play.  You seem to have gotten this from your sister and love to play with the Little People making up stories and doing animal sounds.

You say cheese when someone takes a picture of you.

Best of Times: Watching your dance moves on the regular.

Worst of Times: Dealing with the constant tantrums and moods.  You have more spirit than your older sister did...if that's possible.

Sister Diaries: You guys have your moments of great play and interactions and then others where you are screaming at each other.  Completely normal I'm sure.  Mara still tries to take your toys away as she thinks you still won't notice....you do.

Maddy's Accident

Fly with two kids alone...pregnant. Yep folks thought I was nuts, BUT we were doing it.  There wasn't really another option.  The day before we were pretty much packed with only those last minute things to throw in our bags.  Josh had gotten home early and we were enjoying some family time and soaking up the time together before we were seperated for the next few weeks.  

Mara wanted to play outside.  We had been letting her lately as she is pretty capable of entertaining herself.  The only problem...what Mara does, Maddy wants to do too.  So here we were with one screaming toddler inside who just wanted to be out.  Mara despite her best intentions just can't be alone outside so she was in and out attempting to shut our heavy front door by herself.  

I had never thought too much about this door until I hear Maddy's screams.  She had gotten her left pointer finger stuck in the door jam resulting in it being about 70% detached.  Talk about a parent's worse nightmare.  I didn't initially register what had happened except that there was a lot of blood.  Josh snapped me into reality and we went into go mode.  

Shoes were grabbed and keys.  Kids thrown into the car and we were off to the ER.  So scary.  So many thoughts race through your mind as a parent.  What could I have done to prevent this? How do I make this better?  

At the ER the doctors moved fast getting her into xray and then seen by a surgeon.  In just over an hour she was headed up to the operating room to reattach it.  As a mama this was the hardest thing for me.  They had me carry her up and I just couldn't consul her when they were trying to get everything started.  Finally they just told me to go....

After about an hour they were finished and we were able to be with her in recovery.  Everything went so well.  The doctor was pretty confident in the attachment and even said that after all of that we could still fly in a few hours.  

The night drug on as we waited in recovery and then finally were able to go home with Maddy.  She was in crazy good spirits (likely due to the pain killers) and blessed us both with a ton of smiles and laughs, just music to our hurt parent hearts.  

We got a quick nap (literally 1.5 hours of sleep) and headed to the airport.  The girls and I began the long trek to Tulsa.  I was so nervous as to how she would do but girl is a trooper.  She never once touched the bandage and handled any pain she may have had with ease.  

Once in the states we had her seen by local doctors and a hand surgeon.  Both came back with amazing news as to the prognosis.  Her finger would be fine.  Likely she wouldn't notice any difference besides maybe a bump on her nail and maybe some sensation lost.  The blessing is she is so young she will never know the difference.  This will just be her normal.

It was an ordeal and one I never want to repeat in the slightest but through it all we had so many blessings in the form of folks dropping their lives to help in instance, friends taking Mara, family who went with me to the doctor appointments and even our insurance who never batted an eye with our needs! 

Madeline-19 Months

Weight: You're 21 pounds and SHORT! We never really realized how short you actually were till we were back in the states this summer.  You are in the 2% for height!

Health: You are doing great this month! No illnesses to report.

pretending to nap

Social: You are still our social butterfly.  You bless everyone with your smiles and are quick to make friends.  You are very chatty and always have a "story" to tell everyone you meet.

Diet: This month we officially weened.  We cut you back pretty durastically to just before nap and bed at the beginning of the month and then cut out the nap nurse.  One night you fell asleep without it at night and we just kept going with it (like your sister).  I have had to tell you no a few times and you get a bit upset, but a few cuddles later you are back to your normal self.  Otherwise you are eating everything we are and love it.  You will try anything and are very demanding that you have a bite if someone is eating something you think looks good.

Love that your sister taught you this

Clothes: You could probably still wear 12 months but I recently switched you over to your 18 month old items.  With you so small your clothes are really getting some wear!

Mama's Favorites: I love this silly surprise face you have been doing lately.  You do it when you hear a noise or anything that surprises you.  It's hilarious and you know it.

Crying: We're a bit into the tantrums that come around two.  If you are frustrated or angry you will storm away, throw something or go cry in a corner.  It's kind of laughable as we can see that you are truly frustrated.  I wonder if you picked up this little habit from your older sister...

trying out sister's potty

Sleep: After a little struggle this month to readjust to your room/crib you are rocking this department.  You go down easily around one for an hour-2 hours daily.  You are also sleeping through the night from 8:30-8ish every day.  Such a blessing!!

This Month: We adjusted to life back here in Georgia after two months in the states.  We've been swimming at the community pool and have reached out to new folks in the neighborhood to meet new friends!

Baby Likes: You love your sister and will follow her anywhere! You love to be outside and most recently prefer to do so with bare feet and no clothes...like your sister.  You love legos and your dollies.  Buddy is your best friend (after your sister) and you love chasing him and keeping him on his toes.

surviving the 100+ heat

Milestones: You are talking up a storm. You say: stuck, mama, dada, mara, no, up, down, here, sit, and will literally repeat anything we prompt you to say.

You are getting more confident in the water and will walk around in the baby pool without much assistance.

You are getting really good with taking apart legos and stacking them up.

Reading with sister

Best of Times: Watching you bloom into a toddler.

Worst of Times: The start of the tantrums.  You are one spirited little girl.

Sister Diaries: Mara still needs her alone play time but she is including you in on her play more and more.  She loves to have you "help" her pick up her toys hahaha. She misses you so much if you guys are apart and I can see you two being a duo to reckon with as time goes on!

Will say cheese now when I pull out my camera

I'm not above bribery to get the shot

Madeline-13 Months

Weight: You continue to hover around 20 lbs and 27 inches as far as I can tell.

Health: You were cutting your molars for the majority of this month which was really hard.  You didn't drool but I could tell you were in a lot of pain.

You were so over the sticker 

Social: You really interact with all around you.  You ask to be held and then proceed to take whomever is holding you around on your whims.  "get this" "go there".  You're so sweet you get away with this often.

Diet: You are still so demanding when it comes to food.  It doesn't matter what it is you have to try it if someone else is eating it.  This goes for drink too.  Last night at dinner you had 3 different water bottles around you simply because others were using them too.  You still really love: rice, chicken, pasta, cheese, apples, bananas, etc.

We are still nursing a lot (maybe 5 times daily), more so with the teething.

Clothes: You are still in 12 month clothing.  We are straying away from any onsies as it's hard to snap them underneath your diapers but you still fit comfortably in any regular long sleeve shirts.  Your pants are slightly too short so we may be moving up to 18 months in a month or two.

Mama's Favorites: I love watching you carry around your dolly.  You are obsessed with it and will walk around all day with it by the arm.  You pat its back and give it to us to "love".

Crying: There isn't really much crying unless you wake in the middle of the night or are hurt.  Otherwise it's mainly a whining cry to get whatever you think you need at that moment.

Sleep: You are going to bed at night around 8 pm and sleeping till 8 in the morning.  You've been waking up 2-3 times a night lately and it's killing me.  I'm hoping that it's a combination developmental stage and teeth.

You do your one nap a day around the noon hour.  This nap is usually 1.5-2.5 hours.

This Month: You traveled in the states visiting your cousins, aunts and uncles.  We also came back home to Georgia and spent a few weeks getting back settled into life here. 

Baby Likes: You love to eat.  You love your sister.  You love to do whatever she is doing.  You love your dolly.  You love Buddy.  You love to watch your Daddy leave from the window and greet him when he comes home.  You love to sit down to eat dinner.  You love going on walks in the wagon.

Milestones: You are walking!  You finally got enough confidence to go for it.  It was literally 2 days later and you are walking more than crawling.  It's so cute to see you waddling along.  You have mastered the stairs and can easily get down as well as up.

Best of Times: You're happy attitude always.

Worst of Times: Jet lag....

Sister Diaries: Mara gets frustrated easily with how you want to be where she is always.  I see her needing alone time to play and try to give it to her.  She still loves being near you and asks to play with you alone in her room.

Maddy's First Birthday

Like Mara's first birthday, we ended up in Illinois at my parents to celebrate.  It was really fun to continue this little tradition and my mom was super excited to host again.  Since we would be traveling only a few days prior I knew I would have to forgo my usualy party philospy of making everything and purchase the decorations.

Decor

Thank goodness for my mom and her picture printing!

We went with a confetti/sprinkle theme and kept it super simple! I ordered some balloons, confetti, happy birthday banner, paper flowers and candle.  Josh also was super helpful getting everything assembled and I think its the least amount of party prep I have ever had to do!

So many of our family, including my cousins, their girlfriends, my brother, Mallory & Patrick, family friends, Drew.  It was such a blessing!

Birthday cake and smash cake

Rocking the same skirt and shoes that her sister did!

Give me cake!

Maddy and Mara had a ton of folks to keep them entertained and defintily twisted my male cousins into pushing them around the house in both the car and little semi.  Maddy dug into her cake a lot faster than Mara did.  She even went in for a face plant.  I quickly stepped away from that situation and took to slicing the cake (no baby clean up for mom!)

We opened presents and just visited with family until everyone had to leave.  It was such a great day!

We let Mara in on the fun

I think I'll just eat the box instead

Yes Aunt Mary gave empty bottles.  Perfect gift for a one year old!

So many family and friends!!

Teamwork