I swear that on our dry erase board it has said for the last two weeks : Update the blog!
I'm not entirely sure how many people even still follow the blog, however for those faithful few I will continue to try and keep updates coming.
So, what is new and exciting in Maddie's world?? Well pretty much everything!
She has been able to hold her head up for weeks, however she is really starting to be able to keep it up for longer periods of time. She LOVES to be on her belly and when she is there she is always kicking her legs trying to propel her body forward. Maddie has also been trying to work on rolling over. She seems to have an easier time rolling from her back to her stomach, which is harder to do, than from her stomach to her back. She will definitely be a tummy sleeper!
Just a couple days ago, Maddie discovered her hands and they have been in her mouth pretty much ever since! Sometimes she even spits the paci out so her hands can go in.
We also got Madison a Bumbo chair. I originally thought they were a waste of money, however she loves to sit in it. I'm not comfortable enough to leave her alone in it yet, but I can see this being helpful in a few months when I need to throw a load of laundry in, since you can buy a table that snaps on top of it, just put some toys on there and voila! instant independent playing.
Maddie also is quite the conversationalist. She enjoys "talking" to us about what she did that day. I've read that to help babies begin to understand words and how conversation works that you should ask them questions, wait for a "response" and then respond back to what she said. Maddie has really taken to this and I've been able to have atleast 5 minute "conversations" with her.
Madison also has a new favorite game: Peek-a-boo! One day she was sitting in her bouncer and I threw a receiving blanket over top of her head, pulled it off and said in a "very happy" voice Peek-a-boo and she just about cracked up! Now she even tries to pull the blanket off to get the "peek-a-boo!" quicker.
Since summer has unofficially began we've had lots of time to play outdoors. Madison has even tried her hand at swimming--unfortunately, she slept through most of it, although I take that as a good sign of her liking it :) She also likes to go for stroller rides around the neighborhood. Tonight we even took her to St. Leo's carnival. There was so much to see and do, she fell asleep right in her snugli about 5 minutes after we got there LOL. We will try again on Saturday.
We also have been trying to get Madison on a loose schedule- although bedtime is always between 8:30 and 9:30, except for when she stays at Grandma's who lets her stay up until 11pm!! During the day she is usually up between 8 and 9 and then will play for a good hour. After that she fights sleep, even though you can see she is tired, and will finally nap for about 30 minutes. Then it's storytime/relaxing with mommy. After lunch, she plays in her crib until she falls asleep. Then its up to either eat or play games, depending on how long the nap lasted. By 6:30-7:00pm she has finally fought sleep long enough and will usually take an hour nap before bedtime routine starts of bath, lotion & pj's, story, eat and cuddle with mommy. I must say that even though she fights sleep all day long, when bedtime comes, she is out for the count! At just 9 weeks old she is sleeping most of the time for 5+ hour stretches.
On Aidan's birthday, May 16th, we had a picnic with friends and family to celebrate life! I can't believe he would have been 2 years old already!! We had a balloon release to send Aidan birthday greetings and it was absolutely beautiful. During the release it was perfectly sunny out, yet still raining! I believe it was Aidan, crying tears of joy from all the love he felt!
Early in the month of May we got an invitation to a banquet to honor families of organ donors. We decided it would be a nice opportunity to take Madison on her first plane trip (since she will be flying out to Europe in a few months) as well as see where her brother spent some of his life. We received a medal from the governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty and his wife, as well as got our photo taken with them. The governor's wife told us how beautiful Madison was when we were up on the stage. We then told her we were here because her brother donated his heart and she got "the look" on her face. The "I'm so sorry, I'm not sure what to say, but that must be heartwrenching" look. I always feel bad for people when we tell them about Aidan. No one really knows what to say, and I understand that. A few years ago, if a person I knew lost their baby, I'd have no clue what to say either.
The next day, we showed Madison some of Minnesota AKA The Mall of America and Stone Arch Bridge, where you can see the new bridge that replaced the one that collapsed while we were out there. While driving around, Mike made the comment, "wow there are only two season out here: Winter and Construction!" and it's the truth, every road we travelled had some sort of construction going on....some of it was the same construction going on 2 years ago!
Anyways, that's pretty much our lives since the last update... hope you enjoy these ramblings and the pictures below.
Maddie in her Tutu
I'm one month old!
Happy Birthday, Aidan!
Family Shot at the Pool
Maddie and Daddy
Taking a Dip!
Maddie and Mommy!
Say What?!
Happy Baby!
Chillin after a bath
Trying out her Bumbo
I like it!
4 comments:
With a baby that cute it is a CRIME, a CRIME I tell ya for waiting so long to post! You selfish parent you:) Just kidding...calm down everyone...Mike and Laura know I am just kidding...but not about the cuteness and really you should post more:)
I don't think I realized that Aidan's heart was donated. That is amazing and amazing. O.k., so since you HAVE been through losing a child, what DO you say to someone who has? What a neat thing to attend that banquet. I also loved the balloon launch...awesome!
So why are you going to Europe? Did I miss that part somewhere?
And I agree...the Bumbo ROCKS! You definitely need to get the tray for it too!
Talmage is turning two...right now! I can't believe it! I was talking to Erin Meoli tonight...do you remember her? And she was saying that it seems like yesterday and yet it seems a lifetime ago. So true, so true.
Yeah what do you say? And were is she going ?
Rebecca, we are going to europe with some of mike's family in september for 2 weeks. I'm a bit anxious about all the gear we will need for maddie, thank goodness though we won't have to bring 2 weeks worth of diapers LOL. There isn't a real reason why we are going, other than to enjoy Italy, Mike and I have never been. We will be starting our journey at Zurich, Switzerland and then taking what is supposed to be the most beautiful train ride in the world from Zurich to Milan. From Milan we will stop in Venice. Venice to Florence. Florence to Assisi. And then finally ending our vacation in Rome.
I can not believe that Talmage has turned 2! Where does the time go??
I do remember Erin, next time you talk to her tell her Mike and I say hello :)
As far as what to say, honestly there isn't really much you can say other than I'm sorry, although I'm never quite sure how to respond to that so I usually just say thank you and try to move the conversation along for both our sakes. It's much easier to list what NOT to say lol. First, NEVER say i know how you must feel/i understand your pain (even if you yourself have lost a child, bc it's different for every family). Also don't try to say that you know how the family feels because you lost (insert random family member). The loss of a child can not be compared to any other loss. It opens a wound that never heals. But by far, the WORST things to ever say is "you're young, you can have another baby" or "it was all part of God's plan/it wasn't meant to be." No matter how many babies we have, none of them will EVER take the place of Aidan and if it was really God's plan to have us fall madly in love with Aidan and then rip him away from us, well than that plan just plain SUCKED and we had a better plan! And before you ask, did people really say those things to you, in short, Yes they did! and do you know how i felt when they said them? i pretty much wanted to punch them in the throat LOL
OMG :O she is SOOOOOooooooooo beautiful, i havent seen that page like a year now. I wish her the best with ALL my heart. Have fun happy parents
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