Madeline at 10 Months

Sweet Madeline – You are now 10 months old! At 10 months you:

• Are close to eating all table food (as the doctor suggested should happen around 9 months), but not quite there. We're working on it! Our schedule was a little upside-down this past month while your sweet PaPa was sick. You're still drinking 4 bottles of formula a day - about 6 ounces each.
• Are drinking well out of a sippy cup, but mostly drink water instead of diluted juice. You like water just as well and Mommy and Daddy decided there wasn't any need for you to drink juice nutritionally for now.
• Are still wearing size 4 diapers.
• Are wearing exclusively 12 month clothes now. The season has changed and we don't have many 12 month clothes for spring, but we're not going to buy many. Your 12 months clothes fit "well" right now and I'm sure we'll move you to 18 month clothes very soon! You've also graduated to your first pajamas that don't have "feet". 
• Weigh 23.5 pounds according to our rough calculations at home. At your 9-month checkup on February 24th, you weighed 21 pounds 12.5 ounces (91%) and were 29.25 inches long (94%). 
• Have 2 more teeth coming in up top. They're not the central incisors, they're the lateral ones! Maybe you'll have fangs like Dracula!
• Still take a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
• Usually go to sleep between 7:00 and 7:30 pm and wake up between 7:00 and 8:00 am, but the time change this past week has thrown you off. You've been sleeping a little later and staying up a little later.
• Still only have one word...Da-Da. Our conversations usually go like this...
• Me: Madeline, can you say Ma-Ma?
• Madeline: Da-Da
• Me: Madeline, can you say Ma-Ma?
• Madeline: Da-Da
• Still love your furry brother, Bond.
• You recognize many words and will look at the object when you hear the name - like milk, bath, paci, shoes, socks, book, "Lizzie Lu" (the name of a puppy dog toy), "Purple Puppy" (the stuffed animal you love sleeping with), and peoples' names like Mommy, Daddy, Gran, MiMi, etc.
• You love your baths! When you hear the water running, you crawl to the tub as fast as you can and try to climb in. :)
• Have started letting us rock you a little bit more, but not much. When you're ready to get in the bed, you're ready! Instead of being cradled, you like to be hugged and rocked. When you're content and almost asleep, you make the sweetest little grunting noises.
• Still making raspberry sounds. 
• Are hearing us say, “No No!” and “Don’t Touch!” more and more. You stop, look at us, smile and laugh. Then do it again until we move you across the room when you proceed to crawl back to where you started. We eventually have to move you to another room to distract you.
• Still kick your feet whenever you get excited, especially when we read books, take a walk with you in your stroller, or swing at the park.
• Love giving “hugs” to your stuffed animals and will give hugs to people sometimes, too. We love it! You wave at people, but not all the time, and Cousin 'Lis taught you how to do the motion for touchdown! We know you have no idea what you're doing, but Daddy loves it.
• "Cruising" everywhere and can walk as long as you're holding on to someone/something, but haven't taken your first steps alone. Everyone tells us it will be any day now! You can also stand on your own without holding onto anything. I haven't put a timer to it, but you can probably stand about 30 seconds.
• Aren't falling and banging yourself up as much, thankfully! You're much better balanced now. That's good, because your poor forehead needed a break!
• Still use your pacifier, but only during naptime and during the night.
• Have started sleeping with a blanket. You love how soft it is and you like us to tickle your face with it.
• Are still very ticklish – on your sides, tummy, and feet.
• L-O-V-E swinging at the park. We're so glad the weather is pretty now so we can take you more often. You squeal with delight.
• Are still “dancing” when we sing or play music. You used to bend your knees up and down and make a bouncing motion, but you also move your arms back and forth like a washing machine agitator.
• Learning your body parts: nose, tummy, head, toes, etc.

We'll be planning your first birthday party very soon! CANNOT believe it!

Missing Something?

Madeline lost something on her walk this morning. For those of you who know her well, you probably know what it is, but I'll give you some hints.

Hint #1: And no, we didn't lose Bond. :)



Hint #2: A closer look.

Hint #3:



Do you see what's missing?

 And no, I didn't know it was missing until we were home. So we had to backtrack through our neighborhood to find her sock! Fortunately, I haven't found any tire marks on it!

A Busy Afternoon!



Playing with her new toy.



Starting to learn about shapes and colors.



EATING  her new toy.

Checking out her library.

 


I KNOW Mickey Mouse is in here somewhere...



"Reading" a Bible story.

Looking guilty?

WORN OUT!



Sleeping angel. :)



Pa Pa's Lake Frankston

Lots has happened in our family since I last posted and I may or may not make posts about the past few weeks, but I definitely wanted to document our day yesterday. My precious father-in-law lost his battle with cancer on March 6, 2011. We celebrated his life with a funeral service here in Tyler and a memorial service at the church where he and my mother-in-law attended for 25+ years in Cedar Hill, Texas.

Yesterday was the first day in several weeks that we didn't have to be anywhere or do anything. We relaxed some at home and let Madeline catch up on her sleep. We really wanted to check on Harold's grave since we hadn't been there since his burial on Thursday the 10th and we left before everything was finished there. So, Alan, Madeline and I picked up Alan's Mom and headed south for the Frankston City Cemetery.

Just before we got to the cemetery, we stopped at Pandora's Box in Frankston. It's an interesting little place (Alan says it's just a lot of junk!) but I always enjoy looking through places like that. There's always something unique that catches your eye. They also have garden decorations and plants. Alan's Mom was specifically looking for some azaleas but she also had in mind to buy a tulip tree. There was a BEAUTIFUL tulip tree at the Hospice where Harold was and she'd mentioned planting one herself someday. Pandora's Box had several of them and she bought one to plant at home. I also learned from Lourene (my M-in-L) that they're also called saucer magnolias. I'd never heard that! If you don't know what they look like, here is a picture:

After stopping there, we went on to the cemetery. Harold's grave was all in order and the flower sprays and arrangements that were at the graveside service were placed on and around his grave. Lots of the flowers were still in wonderful shape so we decided to take some of them to put in vases at home. We felt sort of weird for a moment and Lourene even said, "Honey, we're stealing your flowers!" But, we all knew Harold would have laughed and told us to take them - he obviously didn't need them and they would just wilt in the sun! He'd want us to enjoy them. :)

Stewart Family Funeral Home had a very nice temporary marker for Harold until Lourene has time to pick out a permanent one. On a side note, words cannot express how wonderful the people are at Stewart. Chris Stewart and his staff made a difficult time much easier, and we highly recommend them.

We went on to our family's lakehouse on Lake Frankston since we were so close. Alan's parents have had a home on Lake Frankston since Alan was in middle school and it was one of Harold's favorite places to be. He loved spending time there - it's beautiful and peaceful. None of us had been there since Thanksgiving. Harold had just not felt like making the trip. I think Lourene wanted to check on a few things and asked Alan to prime the water pump so we could run the sprinkler system and prepare for spring/summer.

As we began driving down the lake road, we all got teary and Alan commented that he wasn't sure he was ready to be there. Harold loved being there so much that it was painful to be there without him. We spent several hours there while Lourene accomplished a few tasks. While Alan was working on the pump in the boathouse, a duck swam up to the pier. Lourene ran in and got some crackers to feed him. Madeline LOVED watching the duck! I was holding her while Lourene fed him, and Madeline tried very hard to get down so she could see him up close and personal! It will be fun to let her feed the ducks on her own someday.

The golf cart battery had been charging while we were waiting for the sprinkler system to run, so we decided to take a quick trip around the lake. We only made it part of the way around before we had to turn around and come back because we didn't have time to let the battery charge the whole way. Harold and Lourene loved taking golf cart rides around the lake (we all do!) and it was fun to do that together while thinking of memories of Pa Pa. We also got some cute pictures of Madeline "riding" one of the cement pigs in the front yard. We have pictures of Elissa and Bret (my niece and nephew) doing that when they were little. Alan's legal assistant, Marty, gave Madeline this cute little outfit. The front says, "What does the pig say?" and the back of it says, "Oink Oink!" Isn't she adorable? Irresistible, I think! It was a beautiful day to spend the afternoon at the lake and remember how much Harold loved being there. 

Madeline at 9 Months

Dearest Madeline – Today is your 9-Month Birthday!
At 9 months you:

•  Are eating more and more table food. You are still drinking 4 bottles a day at 6 ounces each. You still eat Gerber Stage 2 & some Stage 3 foods. You really like Gerber’s lasagna! Some new table foods you have added to your repertoire are green bean pieces (your favorite), carrot pieces, peaches (a girl after Papa’s heart), black-eyed peas, and today you age some white meat chicken out of a can and some fresh strawberries!
• Are still drinking diluted apple juice and white grape juice from a sippy cup and drinking a little more every day.
•  Are still wearing size 4 diapers.
• Are outgrowing your 9 month clothes (mostly in the length of the legs and sleeves) and wear mostly 12 month clothes.
• Weigh 23 pounds according to our rough calculations at home.
• Got your second tooth around February 2nd! You have a nice matching set now. It’s pretty much caught up to the length of tooth #1.
• Take a morning nap and an afternoon nap.
• Go to sleep between 7:00 and 7:30 pm and wake up between 7:00 and 8:00 am; However, you’ve thrown us a curveball this week and have been getting up a little earlier to eat, and a couple of times during the night. We think you’ve hit a growth spurt because it’s been hard to fill you up this week!
• Said your first word (Da-Da) on January 24th. We’re pretty sure you didn’t know what it meant when you started saying it, but you do now! You look at Daddy when we say it to you. We haven’t heard anything else clearly yet, but you like to babble a lot and we babble to you right back!
• Are still working on your friendship with Bond. You’ve become his little shadow – everywhere he goes, you’re right behind him. You like looking out the windows with him in search of squirrels.
• Don’t like rocking before your naps/bedtime much anymore, much to our sadness! After reading some books, you’re pretty much ready to go to sleep! You still snuggle some at other times, though.
• Are making your “raspberry” sounds again! We think it’s because it feels good on your sore gums.
• Greet us every morning standing up in your crib holding onto the rail. It’s a GREAT way to start the morning!
• Are hearing us say, “No No!” and “Don’t Touch!” a lot!
• Still kick your feet whenever you get excited.
• Love giving “hugs” to your stuffed animals. They always make you smile.
• Have developed a silly face where you crinkle up your little nose and eyes and smile with those pretty two teeth!
• Are crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. We’ll see you let go every once in a while and stand on your own before sitting down or reaching for something to balance with. You like standing on your tippy-toes! You’ve “cruised” a few times – for example, holding onto a chair and reaching for a table next to it and taking a step toward it.
• Have had your fair share of bumps and bruises – mostly on your sweet little head! Breaks our hearts, but we know it comes with the territory due to the activities listed above!
• Still use your pacifier, but only during naptime and during the night.
• LOVE playing peek-a-boo. Through the slats in your crib, with a blanket covering your faces, hiding behind a door, etc.
• Are very ticklish – on your sides, tummy, and feet.
• Enjoyed your first Valentine’s Day!
• Have fun playing in the kitchen with your pots and pants to bang on while Mommy is working.
• Still love being read to.
• Have started to “dance” when we sing or play music. You basically just bend your knees up and down and make a bouncing motion! Too cute!
• Have discovered “Baby Einstein” videos and love them. You giggle at the puppets and are G-L-U-E-D to the TV. Mommy loves them, too, because it gives her 30 straight minutes to get things done around the house!

 We praise the Lord that you’re a beautiful, healthy growing girl!

What Has Madeline Been Up To?



Playing with her Busy Ball Popper from Mimi and Papa

Learning how to stand up in her crib.

This how I'm greeted every mornig. I'm so blessed!

 

Going to church with Daddy...

....and Mommy!

Being a ham!

Being an even BIGGER ham! Appropriate for a Pigg, eh?

Eating more table food. She LOVE green beans!
Now to teach her Daddy to eat them...

Getting more and more balanced while standing.

 



Playing peek-a-boo!



Trying out a new toy - my walker/scooter from
Uncle Bruce and Aunt Michelle.

 

Boo-Boo's

Madeline has had her share of falls this weekend - it comes with crawling, standing, and exploring! Maybe we'll get her a football helmet for playtime...poor baby! She's a tough cookie!