Celebrating Baby Walker

We timed our trip to Texas in February so that we were able to make it to Taylor's showers to celebrate our new nephew!

Madelyn fit right in with all the girls during the shower and got to hang out with family & friends.

There was a day shower and an evening shower so after Madelyn's nap it was on to the next one.  It was a full day of celebrations!

Madelyn - 7 months

Size:

You are weighing almost 19 pounds and we are loving all your rolls (especially our favorite…the wrist rolls).  You are wearing size 3 diapers & mostly 9 month clothes.  You have started to outgrow most of your winter clothes, so I am hoping the weather warms up soon!  Your hair is still growing!

Sleep:

We are still working on sleep.  You are still great at putting yourself to sleep for naps & bedtime, but you are waking up about once a night to eat.  It has become gradually later so I think you are close to sleeping through the night. 

Activities:
You are active & really want to be on the move.  You have started getting on all fours & rocking back & forth.  You still love to jump in the jumparoo & “play” with your brother.  He entertains you so much & you just laugh at him.  You love to grab any of his toys that are within your reach & they go straight to your mouth.  You are an excellent sitter now & can just sit on the ground with toys in front of you & play.    

Foods:
You LOVE to eat your solids.  I don’t remember your brother wanting to eat so much but you love it.  You are still eating foods that I have made & include sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, avocado, butternut squash, pears, & green beans. 

New Things:

You want to be on the move.  You aren’t crawling but you can roll all around the room to get where you want.  You also get bored easily & we have been putting all the baby toys to good use. 

You are excellent at sitting up & rarely fall over now.  If you do, it is sometimes on purpose so then you can roll to wherever you want to be. 

You sat in the high chair at a restaurant for the first time & rode next to your brother in the cart at the grocery store recently.

You made your first trip to Texas & met SO many friends & family.  It was full of meeting new people & you did great!  This was also your first airplane ride (with just mom & Jack).  You slept on the plane ride there and were all over the place on the flight home.  It was a long couple of hours for me!

Madelyn - 6 months

Happy Half Birthday to our Miss Madelyn!  You have brought so much love & joy to our family in the past 6 months.  Adding you to our family has been a smooth transition and I cannot imagine it without you.

Size: 
You are a growing little girl!  You weigh 17lbs 2oz & are 26.25 inches tall.  You are wearing size 3 diapers & mainly 6-12 or 9 month clothing.  I love all the rolls on your wrists & legs!  They are adorable.  You hair is still growing!  It has thinned out a bit in the back but is about 4 inches long.

Sleep:

We have overcome the rough patch that we experienced during the holidays with your sleep. Your bedtime is between 7:30-8.  You will normally wake up once and cry once and either put your own pacifier in or we will do it for you.  Then you normally wake again between 4 and 6 and  I try to coax you back to sleep but most of the time you are ready to eat.  You go right back to sleep and will wake up for the day between 7 and 8.  You are getting a bit more predictable with naps & are officially taking all of your naps in the crib (you were napping in the swing prior :/).  You pretty much will only sleep on your tummy, even though I still put you down on your back. You roll over soon after we put you down, if not immediately. 

Activities:

You LOVE your jumparoo!  You play with all your toys, watch what is going on around you, & continuously jump for a while.  When you are bored you give a few very loud screams out and let us know.  You still like to play under your jungle gym every once in a while but you pretty much roll right to your stomach and then get aggrevated.  You can now sit up.  I'll put the boppy around you in case you fall, but you'll play with the toys right in front of you.  You also love watching your brother and he often spends time entertaining you & loves to help you jump when you are in the jumper.   

Food:

You are eating 5-6 times a day.  You have tried more solids this month including avocado, banana, butternut squash, sweet potatoes & pear.  I have been making your food and you seem to like it so far.  You are normally ready to eat & open your mouth continuously until you et full.

New things:

You are sitting up on your own!  You still tumble over every once in a while but definitely prefer to be sitting up & looking at your surroundings.  When we were at the doctor and you were laying on the table, you were in a constant crunch position trying to pull yourself up to see what was going on.


You like to pull everything to your mouth including your bows, which is a new habit!  I have been putting them on top of your head to keep the hair out of your eyes and also because they are harder for you to reach.


You want to reach for everything including my phone, my hair, my necklaces, and all your brother's toys.
 
You love to blow raspberries & make the loudest noises while you are doing it! 


You had your first Christmas and we loved having you be a part of it this year.  Even though you can’t appreciate it, yet you got your first baby doll for Christmas & I know you will love it soon enough!


You love interacting with your brother and he loves you!  Every time he wakes up from sleeping the first thing he asks is "baby awake?"  When you take your morning nap he asks about you often (we are working on staying quiet during this time) and misses you.  He insists that you be present when we read books & pray before nap & bedtime.  He holds your hand when we pray and must give you a hug & a kiss multiple times (he also insists on doing this on his way into his classroom each Tuesday & Thursday).  He keeps you company in the car and keeps me informed on if "baby awake" or "baby nap."  When you cry he'll reach over to you and tell you that it's ok ("baby otay").  He also enjoys dance parties with you and loves to play in your crib with you when you wake up from naps.  He has accepted you from the first moment you entered our family and been nothing but positive towards you.  Now if we can keep it that way when you start crawling & walking & playing with his toys that would be awesome :)

Happy Half Birthday Miss Madelyn!

We love you SO much!

PS - She's not always happy.  This is what happens when she is done with the photo shoot :)

Polar Vortex

We had the FREEZING days last week that much of the nation saw.  The high on Monday was 9 in Nashville! 

We had rain & snow the night before & luckily it was Tyler's day off so we had a lazy/fun day at home. 

Jack put his new sled that he got for Christmas to good use, too!

Madelyn even came out to play for a few minutes & got some pictures in her first "snow"!