Missing you two

Gary and I are heading out of town for a wedding. My precious babies will be with YaYa for three whole nights! This is the first time I am leaving Melanie over night and the first time I won't see Madison for so long. Hopefully I'll be having so much fun that it will seem like no time at all. Until then...here are the lights of my life.

Carnival

YaYa and I took the girls to the carnival tonight (poor Daddy had to sleep b/c he had to work tonight). I can honestly say that Madison and I were super excited for the carnival and especially for ice cream. Maddy actually screamed as we were walking in. Although we did all have a good time it was too hot to have a really great time. Mellie was too hot and fussy after we all ate dinner and by 8:15 both girls were crying and it was time to run back to the car. Before the meltdowns began I did get a few cute pics.

Madison listening to the karaoke and people watching. Later she had to push the stroller herself with her sippy cup riding. It was quite the adventure to keep her from hitting people. Her meltdown began when I kept "helping" her steer the stroller.

Me and Mellie trying to take our own pic.

YaYa took this one for us. We were relaxing here after dinner listening to some interesting karaoke.

YaYa

For the past two years or so, my mother, formerly called Grandma, has waited ever so patiently to hear the sweet voice of her granddaughter Madison. Now that Madison is talking nonstop...mostly in a tongue we can not understand but talking none the less...she has been waiting to hear her say Grandma or really anything even remotely close to Grandma. She even tried asking Maddy to say Grandma and Maddy just shook her head no. (Pretty hilarious to the rest of us.) So, with her quick thinking, Grandma has morphed into YaYa. Yep, she changed her own name. As of today, Madison is saying YaYa if Grandma asks her who she is. She loves saying all of our names...mama, dada and especially MeMel...she screams MeMel all the time at poor Melanie. Apparently now we will also be hearing YaYa.
On a side note, I did ask her tonight if she had fun at YaYa's house and she looked at me like I had two heads. It might take a bit longer for this name to stick :) In the mean time, here is one of the only pics we have of Maddy and YaYa. (This is something we will have to fix.)

Bath Time

Bath time has definitely evolved over the years. At first it was a sort of rushed experience trying not to get Madison's cord stub wet and keep her warm.

Then came the baby tub...good times. Madison liked it and so did I.

Then came her big girl bath...sitting on the foam for support but able to sit up on her own.

We eventually got to just Madison and the tub and all of the toys. Sometimes she didn't want to leave the tub. Since the addition of Melanie, bath time looks something like this:

It is very hectic trying to bathe two little ones at once. Most nights I am pulling two crying children out of the bath. But honestly, have you ever seen anything so cute?

Weekend Wrap up

Is this the sign of a good weekend?

Cluttered house with toys everywhere. We had a great weekend with family. Met up with the Ricketts clan on Saturday in Annapolis. You girls actually didn't do too badly in the car. I did have to sit back there and give Mellie her bottle and keep Madison entertained. Melanie took her first nap in a pack n play. I must say that get togethers with two young children are very different. Did I talk to anyone but my kids? Who was there? At least you both looked super cute! (I forgot the camera so no pics..sorry..bad mommy!)

Could this be the sign of a good weekend? Toddler stretched out on the couch, ready for bed. Madison carried that purse she is holding all over the place today. She packed it with Play Doh and doggie and took it to the supermarket with us. She was sort of anti-food this weekend. I guess the heat can do that to the best of us. Oh, Granddad came by for a bit today and played finger painting with us. Maddy was so excited she was shaking. Now she is out of paints though...I can't tell if she has more fun squeezing the paint out or painting. She also went shopping with me. She flipped through the dresses and shirts like a pro.

I tried to get a picture of all of us but Melanie didn't fit. Someday I will remember the camera and will ask someone to take our picture.










This is my favorite picture....the sign of a good weekend...super happy baby!

Apologies

Today I must make apologies to both of my girls. My sweet Melanie, I take such great personal pride in making your baby food. It saves us money and is better for you and gives us more cabinet space. I must apologize because I have been preparing it too thick and chunky. I just thought you didn't like carrots! (Bad mommy). Now I know you want it smoother and thinner...you are only six months old! I will do better! My little monkey Madison, I have no idea where all of those mosquito bites came from! I tried to pin it on Grandma (or ya-ya as she was trying to get you to call her today) but she didn't take the bait. Could I have locked you in your room with a mosquito last night?? If so, I am very sorry. I am glad that the bites don't seem to bother you much!

Off to sleep now. Busy day tomorrow!

Six month check up

Melanie had her six month check up this morning. She was a perfect angel. She now weighs 19 lbs 8 oz and is 28 inches tall. She is in the 97th percentile. She had to have two shots today but seems to have handled them very well. Madison had speech therapy today and I am still not convinced that the therapist actually does anything. She's only here 45 minutes twice a month. This session when Melanie and I came in from being at the doctor's we completely disrupted everything but the therapist did seem very happy with Madison's progress. Tonight was our usual hectic adventure but we did find time for:

Play Doh

And...

Music!

6 months old today

My baby Melanie,
I can not believe that you are six months old today. I can't say that it seems like you were born yesterday because in all honesty it feels like you were born an eternity ago. I truly can't imagine my life without you in it. You have changed so much in six months. You smile and laugh at things I do all of the time. Of course you laugh at Daddy and Madison too but I only care about me :) You make lots of talking sounds and zerbert constantly. You can roll all over the place, have two teeth (got one today!!) and are sooo close to sitting up on your own. You love bath time and patty cake. I hate to admit that you stare at the tv when Madison is watching yo gabba gabba so I think you like that too. You love pulling hair. You are the most mellow, easy going baby girl. I can only imagine what wonderful things you will be doing six months from now.

Here you are then.

Here you are now.

Here we all are tonight!










Happy half birthday my chubbers!

Monday

I definitely have a case of the Mondays. Crazy busy day at work...or should I say year at work. It never lets up! Makes it very difficult to transistion from Mommy to worker to mommy again. I feel like toward the end of the day I am so full of stress over whether I will get home on time and if I'll have the energy to be fun for the rest of the night. Something about seeing my two girls....the stress kind of melts away. Especially now that Madison gives really honest to goodness tight squeezing hugs. I love it!
Aunt Gina watched the girls today while I was at work. Everyone had a good time and took very good naps. Ofcourse they did, stinkers.
Funny story....After bath, Maddy picked out Melanie's jammies and said poop. (Another new word that she has been saying a lot). I said Melanie didn't poop. Maddy "poop" and points to the floor. She didn't poop but instead peed. Nice. It's so cute when she says poop though. I think it might be her first word :)

Weekend wrap up

Ahhh, another weekend has come to an end. So much to tell.
Friday night: Aunt Gina came down from NJ for the weekend. We all went out to chinese buffet dinner. M and M were so good. Maddy enjoyed a very healthy dinner of duck sauce :) I brought Melanie some oatmeal and sweet potato so she was happy too. Mellie's favorit was being able to chew on a fortune cookie. Here she is at dinner:

Saturday: We all were kind of lazy and just hung around the house for awhile. Maddy chased Aunt Gina's dog Dahlia a lot and because of Dahlia now says her d-d-d sounds and says Dada and Dahhhha (Dahlia). Saturday night we went to the creek so Gina could take some night pictures for her class. It was crazy hot, we were all sweating (especially poor Mellie). Madison had a blast running all around and just having so much room to play in. Daddy chased Maddy a lot. I ran into a few people I knew from high school and I loved showing my girls off!! They were so cute! Then the trip started going down hill for Melanie. She was tired and hit a wall. I ended up having to walk with the girls in the double stroller...Madison happily eating her ice cream and Melanie screaming the entire 12 or so blocks home. It was awesome. Next time I try and do something later in the evening I am going to remember this and not do it. Gina's pics turned out pretty cool though.

Sunday: By now, poor Aunt Gina is totally exhausted from having to get up at 7 am two mornings in a row. We kept her busy though. No naps for either girl in the afternoon so we all ran errands for two or so hours. Again, we get home with two crying kids but I had food for the week and laundry was getting done.

Overall it was a great weekend. It was nice to have someone here to occupy you two while daddy slept. I was able to give each of you some much needed individual attention.

Wednesday #2

Had to share. Melanie asleep holding her froggie. Love you baby girl!

Wednesday

Here is Madison tonight drinking from her cup. Fingers covered in ketchup. The girls spent the day with their Granddad today and it seemed like they all had fun. Especially Madison who convinced Granddad to let her take her purse to bed with her that had Mr. Potato head in it..I know this because I found the arm in her bed when I put her down tonight. I don't think Granddad ever says no :) I did get Madison to eat meat tonight...if you call McDonald's chicken nuggets meat. Now I have to go to the store and buy some nuggets so we can continue this meat eating trend! Melanie is good...she has been struggling a bit with her new schedule and bottles and solid food and teeth but she's surviving. I have a ripe avocado with her name on it for tomorrow night. Hopefully she likes it.

Talking

Madison,
You are like a little parrot now. You try to say almost everything that we say. Tonight you said "sissy's baba" and I was so happy. I feel like you were just taking your time and are now talking because you are ready. I bet in the years to come you will be a chatter box like your mama. In the meantime, I will cherish every little word like sound that comes from your mouth. On another note, I made the yummiest cream of crab soup tonight and you had two bites and then refused to eat any more. What is going on with you and meat?? I am not raising a vegetarian!
Hugs baby girl
--Mama

I was trying to get a pic of us together. You didn't want to cooperate.

Weekend Wrap up

We all ended up having a wonderful weekend full of family and laughs and new things. Here is brief recap...
Saturday--Melanie cut her first tooth!!! Bottom left. That thing is super sharp and I haven't been able to see it yet but I sure have felt it! Madison called Melanie "sissy" instead of M-mel. She has also been saying "yeah" a lot and very clearly. We had crabs and Grandma, Uncle Andy and Christine came over. Both girls were so excited and Madison loved being the center of attention. She is also crazy about her Uncle Andy...holding his hand, wanting him to put her to bed at night, wanting him to play with her (oh and she's doing the sign for play a lot now). I think he might like her a bit too. Melanie was, as usual, a perfect angel and very content to just hang out with us. She has started going to bed at 7:30pm which is good and bad. It means I'll have less time with her during the work week.
Sunday--Lots more sissy and also shoe and home! And Madison was calling Daddy "a-a". Granddad came over and Madison was shy for about 2 seconds and then excited to have someone new to "entertain". I took the girls grocery shopping after their afternoon naps and we had a good time. Melanie was perfect just riding up front in her carrier playing with her feet. Madison was so cute sitting in the cart collecting all of the groceries. She was super excited to help me and put things on the belt to check out. I love that she is my little helper. She even knows to go get a Madison diaper or a Melanie diaper depending on who needs changing.
These four days have flown by and I am not looking forward to going back to work. M and M--Mommy would give almost anything to be able to stay home and teach and play with you all day. Unfortunately I can't. I do take comfort in knowing that you spend your days surrounded by love and come home to me extremely happy and content. I've never seen such happy children. One day we'll have to treat your Grandma to a special trip or something.
I didn't take any pics on the camera this weekend so here are a few more from the photo shoot the other day.

Little Melanie

Madison stealing the spotlight :)

So cute. I am so lucky!

Friday

Today we all went to the mall. Madison got to run around, or rather stand still squealing at the other kids and Melanie ate oatmeal with banana. In general it was a much more relaxed mall visit then we have ever had before. I don't know if Daddy is more comfortable because Mellie is older or what but he didn't rush us around and run out of the mall screaming :) Oh, and Madison had her first soft pretzel. She liked dipping it in cheese. I know...healthy lunch but don't worry I paid for it...no nap today for her either.
Melanie rolled over from back to belly and then belly to back in succession several times today. First milestone officially completed!
Now you are both in bed hopefully sleeping and Mommy is going to go rest with Daddy and get ready for another family day tomorrow!!

Photo shoot

We had a photo shoot today. I have been feeling like I am missing so many photo opportunities and I will never get this time back. Melanie woke up from her nap first so I took some pictures of her. Then I tried to get pictures of Maddy and Mellie together. Unfortunately Daddy was taking the pics of the you girls together and I was standing above him singing patty cake. That is why you are both looking up. Next time I will try to be just above him so we can get a better shot.
Today was an ok day. It is just too hot to do anything really fun outside and it's hard to get the timing right with both of your nap schedules so that you will both be happy doing something. I have three more days off and I am going to figure out something fun that we can all do!

Melanie rolled over!

My gorgeous baby at 5 and a half months has finally decided to roll over from her belly to her back. We were starting to get a bit nervous but now she's doing it like a pro. The doctor told us at her four month appointment that if she wasn't rolling over by sixth months we would worry so thankfully she has made the deadline. Melanie decided to treat her Grandmother to this first today at grandma daycare but was nice enough to repeat it for Mommy and Daddy later tonight. I can't wait for her to start sitting up so she can play with toys that are more fun. So now my toddler is starting to talk and my baby is rolling over....life is good.

She speaks...Finally!!

My dearest Madison,

Mommy and Daddy have been waiting for two years for you to decide to talk to us. Because you actually did not speak at all at 18 months we have had you enrolled in the Infants and Toddlers program for a bit. You have been working with a speech therapist twice a month through that program. People kept telling me....oh I know so many kids that didn't talk until they were two and they are fine now. But I am a worrier and have been worrying about whether you are going to talk or not for months now. Well you turned two almost two weeks ago and you started really expressing yourself vocally....almost two weeks ago!!! I will never be able to describe to you how wonderful it is to hear you say mama and mmel (melmel for Melanie). You are so proud of yourself when you say something that I can understand. As of today you say:

Mama

Mmel

Aaee (Allie)

Buu(Blue)

Pp (purple)

Uh oh

Eee ooo (I don't know what this means but you say it a lot)

Hhhh (hi)

B Bye

Yo (Yo gabba gabba)

BaBa (baby)

Uice (juice)

Eeee (eat)

I can't wait to hear what you will say by the end of the weekend! I am so proud of you baby girl and I am beginning to worry a little less everyday.

Ewwww

Tonight I tried unsuccessfully to sneak food into my daughters' dinners. Madison--I tried mixing tuna in with her noodles. She has been on a meat strike for awhile. Melanie--she just started with oatmeal so I tried to give her some green beans. Melanie spit it back up and Madison managed to pick all of the tuna out of her noodles.

We went for another walk tonight but this time I had Melanie in the ergo (am I the only one who can't figure this thing out?) and Maddy with her doll in the umbrella stroller. In the end, I, again, had two crying children. Melanie because I tightened the ergo too much and it was pinching her legs and Madison because I wasn't taking the route that she wanted to go.

M and M--you may wonder why Daddy is not mentioned in most of these posts. He is working nights right now and is sleeping while we eat dinner and go for walks and usually during bath time. It is hard on me to be a "single mom" at night but I do feel a sense of accomplishment when I get you to bed full and clean and happy. Madison knows Daddy is sleeping and puts her finger to her mouth and says "ssshhhh" when we walk upstairs and Daddy is still asleep. I'll try and get a picture of that some time.