Letter to Maddy

Maddy James,

Happy Birthday Sweet Baby girl! This has been, by far, the fastest year of my entire life. I feel like I just had you and a blink later you are turning one year old. I have loved every minute of getting to know you and watching your personality emerge. You absolutely light up our word, and I feel so lucky to be your mama. You are spunky, funny, smart, sweet, sassy, persistent, determined, goofy, musical, flirty, and as cute as can be. I love cuddling with you on my chest in the morning an getting your giant, sloppy-wet kisses. I love the way you pounce on us and want to wrestle "daddy calls it Zombie Baby!" You love to laugh and play and make us laugh with your silliness. You babble and talk to us all day long, and love to dance and sing to any music that comes on (at any moment too!). You love your big brother with a fierce passion despite the many times he has knocked you over  or taken thing from your hands (sorry about that!).  When you see him your entire face lights up! I love to watch you play as you completely immerse yourself in it already. You are so smart! I love watching you pretend to cut your hair with the playdoh scissors, wash the floor with baby wipes, stack and knock down blocks, play with the pretend kitchen and food, climb in the mini chair and bounce, "jump" on the trampoline with such joy and excitement, and find every little crumb ever left on the floor and insist on eating it. You are so happy and joyful but if we try and take something you want or stop you from doing something you are determined to do, boy do you let us have it! You have a big voice and and even bigger persistence! You also have a sweet, sensitive side and you seem truly devastated when we calmly say "Maddy I can't let you do that." Like we deeply hurt your feelings. It just melts my heart, I see myself in you in those moments. Perhaps you got your mama's deeply feeling, empathic heart.  I want to keep you my little baby girl forever an yet I am so excited to see who you become. I have loved having a daughter and am truly enjoying our special bond and connection. My goal as your mama will be to create a bond and connection so strong that you will come to me for anything and everything and trust that I will understand you and have your back. I didn't have that person to go to growing up and I am determined that you will.  I love to dress you up in adorable headbands, outfits, and moccasins! You give the best, giant gummy smiles and you still only have two "official" teeth on the bottom. You seem to like to get your teeth in twos though, because now the top two are preparing to poke through any day. You love to chat on the phone already and say "HI!" as loud as you can while giggling. Today I had my eyes off of you for two seconds and I heard you squealing and giggling, I turned the corner and saw you standing on top of one of the new chairs nana got you for your birthday just as thrilled as can be with yourself. You are brave and love to climb on anything you can find. It is such a joy to witness you growing and learning new things. I want to wrap you in my arms and keep you right at this size and age forever sometimes, but since I know that is not possible, here is to many more beautiful years and joy-filled birthdays with our special Maddy cakes.

I love you!

Love,
Mama

Micah Starts Preschool!

Our big boy started preschool on July 5th, 2017!!! Technically it's summer camp but it's the same school,  teachers, times, and number of days he'll be going in September so we are counting this as "day one". He was a little sad that we were dropping him off rather than staying but he quickly moved on as he got immersed in the play opportunities.  We are so in love with this preschool! It's play based,  they follow the parent effectiveness model, they have a huge outdoor space with open play layouts that allow for imagination and creativity,  and a beautiful garden where the kids eat grapes right off the vine!!! It's been amazing to watch him grow these last couple weeks, he already seems so much older! We are so proud of you bubs!

9 Months!

I can't believe our sweet girl is 9 months old! She is army crawling everywhere-getting into everything! She is a ninja when it comes to picking up crumbs-seriously this girl's fine motor skills are on POINT when she is crawling on the floor she just plucks it right off of the floor and pops it in her mouth before I can even say a word! She loves to explore and has a knack for finding all things off limits (cords, said crumbs, dangerous items). We are looking into baby gates but in the mean time are loving her curious spirit.  She is certainly persistent! She loves to play independently and scoot all around the house looking for new things. Much to Micah's dismay, her favorite items are all of his toys! She loves to reach out for him and touch or grab him-she just can't get enough of her big brother! She is starting to eat more finger foods despite still having NO teeth (not complaining LOVE her gummy smile!). She likes avocado toast (but not plain avocado), strawberries, and cucumber sticks! She is devouring her new cold-pressed baby pouches and getting exposed to a variety of super healthy foods. She loves to babble and say mama, dada, bobo (for Micah), and niiinii (for night night I think). We love to her her voice and it is still loud as ever! Her little personality is emerging and it's so fun to watch unfold. She is so super happy....until she's not. Then she is MAD and she will let you know all about it. Whether it's taking away a crumb, putting her in her PJS or item she shouldn't be playing with or putt her down for a diaper change when she doesn't want one she gets a very exaggerated pouty face going and let's you have it! We love that we have a girl who is so joyful but not afraid to express her feelings!! She is still nursing like a champ and waking up several times a night for milkies and cuddles.

She is super impressed with her waving abilities and loves to wave at everyone. When she wants someone (a neighbor, patron of a restaurant, etc) to look at her she is very intentional with how she gets it. She will stare at them with a huge smile until they look her way or make squealing sounds at them like she did when our waitress was talking to Micah instead of her. She doesn't like when people get too close and talk to HER but she likes to flirt with them and get compliments from a safe distance. She LOVES to dance and has totally got rhythm. Anytime she hears music she starts dancing and clapping, moving her whole body to the beat. So cute!!!

She adores bath time and splashes with hilarious gusto the entire time. Today she gave mommy three giant, wet (wide open mouth) kisses on the mouth when she woke up. She never fails to greet us with giant smiles and looks of pure delight.

7 months!

Miss Maddy James is 7 months old!! We can't believe how quickly these months have been flying by. She is still her happy, joyful, sparkly self; full of smiles, laughter, and flirty looks! She has been sitting up on her own, clapping one to two times in excitement, babbling, and she's enjoying throwing things and knocking them over (cause & effect!). She loves her chew beads, teething biscuits, and all of her baby purees (not a huge fan of avocado-which is crazy!). She loves to be held and talked to/sung to but can also play with her toys on her own for good amounts of time. She still love to watch big brother Micah more than anything else and gets super excited every time she sees him. Micah has been giving Maddy kisses and hugs and bringing her toys but he does not want her to touch HIS toys or books! Maddy is crazy ticklish and if you kiss her neck or sides she goes into fits of full on belly laughs. She is so laid back and it takes a  lot for her to get upset (unless she wakes up in the middle of the night-that's when she gets the loudest). She is always making people oooh and ahhh over her in the store because she will make eye contact with them and smile at them as they pass her. Certain people just don't it for her though, and as soon as she sees them she will make the saddest face and cry and cry. She love bath time-splishing and splashing and chewing on her duck and seahorse. If I go in the bathroom to set it up and then walk out with her in my arms to get something she starts crying like I am not going to give  her a bath. so cute.

Kiddo Update

5/17/17

Maddy is on the verge of crawling! She took one big crawl a couple of days ago but mostly just pops up on her knees and hands and rock back and forth. She is waving hi and bye and her first word is officially daddy, much to mama's chagrin! She sat on the floor and waved bye and said "byyyye dada" over and over today when daddy left for work. So stinkin cute. She is talking a lot more and it's so fun to see her personality emerging more and more. She feels her happy feelings and her sad feelings in such a powerful way and we just are so excited to learn more about her.

She is still as happy as can be most of the time but certainly lets us know when she is upset....especially at night! She does the cutest little snort-smile, where her gigantic smile gets even bigger and more of her gums show when she is super excited. We are loving her gummy smile and are still waiting for that first tooth to pop through. She seems as if she is teething but we haven't spotted anything as of yet.

Micah is just amazing us more and more everyday with his increasing vocabulary and ability to communicate in very adult-like, conversational ways. He uses words like "actually, eventually, and unfortunately" and remembers EVERYTHING. He is very sweet, intense, and expressive. He loves to dance, make up songs, and use rhyming words. He has been super creative lately in his rhyming, storytelling, and pretend play. He LOVES everything construction and any sort of truck (firetruck, garbage truck, "spit up" truck, etc." He has so many cute expressions that we can never remember all of them, though we want to burn them in our brain forever. One of my favorite is "for some reason." I wish I could record all of his little conversation and explanations because they melt our heart and we already know how much we are going to miss that little voice as he gets older. He already is looking so big and seems so independent. We are about to embark on the potty training journey so that he is ready for preschool in September (and summer camp in July). He loves to spend time with his whole family and will say as much "I love spending time with my family" "don't go do X, I want to spend time with you!" <3

Micah's 3rd Birthday!

Our baby boy turns three in the morning! How is that possible?!? We started our celebration early with a stay at the Anaheim Marriott and Disneyland! We checked in to the hotel on Sunday and had a fun and chilly afternoon swimming in the pool before walking to the Garden Walk for a yummy dinner at PF Chang's-they have a surprisingly tasty vegan selection!  Micah's favorite parts of the hotel were the phone (not sure how many times he got through to a real person but he kept saying-"I am talking to the guy!"  and the balcony where he could watch everyone in the pool.We all cuddled up in the hotel room (so sweet...one of those "burn in your brain memories") and woke up early to spend the day at Disneyland. We had so much fun and got to do so much! When we first got there it wasn't too busy and the weather was nice and cool so we were able to do a lot right away before it got busy. We did the Redwood Creek Trail, the Little Mermaid, the Zephyr, King Triton's carousel, Toy Story, a couple rides in Bug's Life (including the Ladybug Boogie which was Micah's favorite!), a cute interactive show with the Crusher the turtle from Finding Nemo, saw a band performance, the Dumbo ride, King Arthur's carousel, and the Tiki room! When Mama & Micah were on the Ladybug ride they giggled non-stop and Micah wanted to go on it again immediately. He was soooo brave! He didn't bat an eye at the rides flying in the air an spinning. He loved the Little Mermaid Ride and we were stoked we got on when the line was so short! Micah got his birthday button and had a special birthday song sung to him by the entire children's room! We decorated the downstairs with balloons, streamers, and other decorations for Micah to come down to in the morning.

We've noticed that Micah's brain has definitely been through a developmental leap as his thinking and speaking has grown increasingly complex over the last two weeks. Today he had us dying laughing by saying things like "I am a man" or in response to us trying to get him to leave the hotel "BUT I am celebrating my BIRTHDAY!!!," He is also telling very long, adorable stories and isn't afraid to tell his opinion to anyone who will listen. He is also quite the skilled negotiator.

At Micah's 3 year check-up he was in the 68th percentile for height and weight!

Madelyn 6 Month Update

Maddy gives big belly laughs when you give her light tickles, kiss her belly, or do something she deems funny. Micah is still number one but Mama gets her fair share of giggles these days too. She is still as happy and as laid back as can be but is moving more. She is sitting on her own for small periods of time in her little play nest, rolling onto her back and playing when she is supposed to be napping, and chewing on everything. On March 14th she had her first real food...avocado! We gave her a few slices in her tray to play with and she pushed them around a bit and then Mama gave her some mushed up on a spoon. The first few bites were huge hits she kept pulling the spoon back to her mouth and leaning in for more but then she was over it and started making funny little "yuck" faces and spitting it back out. Her tummy and diapers seemed a bit off after so we decided to hold off a couple more weeks before introducing anything else but she is definitely interested in everything we eat and drink an reaches for it every time. She is talking more and more when she in play mode but is still most likely just hanging out observing while sucking on her little fingers. She so rarely cries but when she does she MEANS it! Everybody loves to say hi to her because once they make eye contact she delights them with her big, bright smile. One of our favorite moments is when she wakes up from a nap and we go into get her. She will be laying tummy down with her face sideways on the mattress and as soon as we open the door she gets this huge adorable smile on her face before she even lift her head to look at us. We sometimes feel guilty that she doesn't get more individual attention (like all second children) but we noticed that when she does get attention when Micah is not around she is happy and playful for a few minutes but then seems bored like "where is that funny little guy I like to watch?"

She is talking and babbling more, and every so often, letting out a funny high pitched scream. When she gets excited she squeals and bounces! She loves to play hide and seek just like Micah did at this age it's so funny she literally does the exact same thing...pulls a lovey or blanket over face and then excitedly shakes her legs and arms until we or she pulls the blanket off and she has a giant smile on her face. Or we will say "uh oh where is Maddy?" and she peeks out. So cute.

4/5 Maddy had her 6 month check up today and is still a little peanut in the height department! 25 inches 13th percentile! he is 15.8 lbs in the 45th percentile! She has now tried avocado, banana, green beans, sweet potatoes, and peas. Her faves were definitely sweet potato and peas, she kept saying "mmmmmm" over and over again an leaning in with an open mouth for her next bite. SO CUTE!!!