Yay - a sister for Maddy

Well, today we found out that we are expecting a little girl, I had mixed feelings about what I wanted bubs to be, but am a little excited for Madison. Shame, little Maddy loves kissing my tummy, its almost as if she senses something - even though we have made no attempt at explaining anything to her ... I think 15mths is a little young.

My little big girl has now been weened for about 2-3 weeks and has taken to cows milk in a bottle so easily, I didn't really even try to ween her as I was trying to keep the boobs prept for the new baby. But she was really interested in my mates little girls' milk bottle, so one afternoon I thought I'd try and the rest is history.

On the 30/10 Maddy was weighed and measured, she was 10.1 kgs and 78.5 cm tall. The plunket nurse noticed that her putting on of weight has slowed down, but I said to her that she has started walking since her last weight check.

I must take some recent photos - yes I have been terribly slack with that.

A sibbling for Madison

Yes, Maddy is going to have a brother or sister - due 22/04/08. This was definately an unexpected supprise and Maddy is totally oblivious to the fact. I have attached a link where you can give me your opinion on names, please give me your feedback.

Madison is now 14 months an becoming quite a determined and semi independant little ' darling', I can't believe the rate at which she is learning new things: for example she taught herself how to blow a kiss just by observing others. The body parts she knows are: Cookie (the first one I taught her - lol), tummy, toes, mouth, nose and hands. I can't even begin to list the words and phrases she knows and this gets me so excited as communicating with her is so rewarding.

Physically she remains quite petite and quite clumsy, but enjoying the fact that she can get around quicker by walking - I would say that she walks 90% of the time vs crawling. Recently Tammy and I invested in a baby swing for the girls and boy does Maddy love it and refuses to get out voluntarily. Just this week we all went inside and left her sitting in it cause she refused to get out - there she sat waving goodbye - we peeped out the window and she was doing the hand signal for gone.....so so adorable.

First Adventure in Aussie

Well, Sunday and Monday were kind of lost due to lack of sleep - Madison was just not well and had a temp that continually spiked. Poor little Maddy just wanted MBJ (Magic Booby Juice) and cuddles with Mama.

Tuesday was a better day, but today was the best so far - after a half decent sleep - Maddy was in good spirits. Although still tired, she was quite playful. Madison is starting to get familiar with Aunty Bibi and Uncle James.

We decided to go to Dairy Koala Sanctuary, there were plenty tall trees, it wasn't very beautiful in the true sense of the word, in the nature sense it was so peaceful. We managed to get real close to a Kangaroo and Madison even managed to touch it and wasn't even scared. A little further away was a mommy with her Joey, we saw the little Joey climb in and out of his pouch a few times it was very enthralling.

We then sat by our picnic site for what seemed at least 20min, while Maddy occupied herself with the dried leaves lying around - it was as if she was in her own little world. The birds were quite close to her and she wasn't even bothered or interested in them, she was probably just enjoying feeling better.

All in all it was a much better day!

Guess who's back...back again.

Yes, yes.. I know -it's been a while. So let's get right into it.

Maddy now has 4 teeth, with the most dashing smile, it melts my heart every time. She is starting to get very brave and lets go while standing, not for very long.. but definately no rush.
I got a little kitten for Mother's day and Madison and Jasper are greatest of friends, she plays peek a boo with him and he of course loves the attention. Both are gentle with each other. One thing I must say is that Maddy really understands 'No' and 'gently'. Whenever she is about to do something I don't want her to and I say' No, Madison', she stops straight away and looks at me with this little grin, I then explain to her what she mustn't do and why - she really understands and 99% of the time I don't have to tell her twice. Long may this continue.

Lately she has been sick... for about two weeks, and has been such a softy. The bottom lip trembles a the smallest thing: If I say no just that little too harshly for her liking or if her friend, Shelby bounds up to her, or if she bumps herself (even just softly). However, today she seems like she is on the mend and on her way to becoming herself again. Shame she has had this nasty little cough and a runny nose which are slowly going away. The only thing that is being stubborn is this horrible nappy rash which is, I told, due to the poisons she is swallowing from the throat infection.

Oh well, her system can only get stronger as she get older. Speaking of older.... who would have guessed that 10 months ago she was this wee little thing, who did nothing but feed, sleep and projectile poos.....

She is on the move

Beware Madison is on the move ... oh my gosh she is starting to find things she shouldn't. The CD rack has been knocked over, Daddy's stick lights broken, cats and dogs conquered. By despite all that it is too gorgeous to watch this little person discover her surroundings, almost as if all she has seen before is new to her again. Maddy can now pull herself up, so she is standing against things - this is a little bit of a pain in the butt as she hasn't worked out to get back to crawling. For example she will stand up in her cot, after I've put her down to sleep, and yell out to me. This morning I had to go in 4 times and lie her back down and then when I walk out again she is really upset. However, she knows how to work her mobile (I've taken the part that turn off) and will sit there pushing the buttons over and over 'selecting the correct chanel' ( must get this from watching daddy).

Madison is such a curious little sausage and has even ventured down the passage looking for me, thinking I'm in the bathroom, when in actual fact I'm in the kitchen. At night I go to run the bath and call out to her, you can hear ..pat .... pat , this is her crawling to me. It is just wonderful to see her peek her head around the corner. Then she'll crawl up to the bath and pull herself up to look over the bath edge and watches the water running.

I think I'm going to have to trim her fringe soon as it is getting quite long, up to her nose, and heavy so it falls down into her eyes sometimes. She is a real little girl and is quite particular about textures ... if I put her down grass that is a little long she will sit there with her hands up and starts shaking them - she won't even crawl to me, also she sometimes won't hold finger foods if they feel funny. Oh, but she is starting to understand the waving concept - but her technique is a little strange as she flaps both hands and arms.

One thing I'm not looking forward to is the day she is no longer a Mommy's girl, probably when I have to start telling her no all the time. Then daddy will come home and say of course you can my Darling. I try to say no once and the distract her. Well, we both are absolutely in love with our daughter.

First Easter

Today is the first day of the long weekend and Connor and Becca are visiting. At the moment she is having a long sleep, but when she wakes she is going to show off her crawling skills to them, oh and her new pearly white. Madison is getting the hang of the art of going from lying down to sitting up all by herself... the only problem is that when she gets to where she wants to and decides to sit, she ends up about a foot or so short of where she wants to be. Oh well, I suppose practice makes perfect. As the days go by it dawns on me how nothing is very far out of Madison's reach, especially with her being mobile. On Monday we will be going to visit Nannie and Brucy - there will also be family to meet for Madison.

Two Milestones in one day

Well, this was quite a day for Madison - she cut her first tooth... aah, my little girl is now moving on in life. I was so proud that I had call Nana to come see. Then the little muchkin decided to crawl for the first time..... yes you read correctly, crawled for the first time. She is such a clever girl, cause we brought out the video camera and she managed to do it again. Go Maddy... Go Maddy.

Two thirds of the way through her first year

Child - proofing here we come

Well, personally, I think my little baby is about to venture out into the big world - yes, start crawling. She has started to try go onto all fours to reach things and if there is something infront of her she can pull herself onto her knees and almost pull herself into a standing position.If I place her on all fours she can support herself and rocks back and forth. Man oh man is she going to be a handful - I can just imagine the things she will get upto.

She is also making so many new sounds and trying plenty new foods. Her favourite is chewing on a chicken bone dipped in gravy and don't you dare take it away from her. Oh and she enjoys her cheese.

Maddy enjoys her videos like her older brother, Kyle, she is glued to the TV when I put her baby einstein (Baby Beethoven) on, to tear her eyes away from it is such an effort. The other day we went to visit Nana and Baloo and we will all sitting out on a sleeping bag at the back while watching Nana do some gardening and along came Tula, Aunty Bibi's cat, oh my gosh - Maddy did a double take and so wanted to 'play' with her. You should have seen Madison's face when she managed to tough Tula's fur, it was absolute glee (just the hugest smile).

Being Madison's mommy is such a pleasure, I absolutely adore my baby girl.

Whoa ... slow down little one!

Well, Maddy is now 7 months - now in her second part of her first year. One thing does always remain the same - how cute and adorable she is, but she can be a little rubbish at times. This is especially true when it comes to her going to sleep, I ended up having to take her to the Family clinic, where the assist you in putting your little 'darling' into a better sleeping routine. The nurses were great and Jenny had the most wonderful sense of humour. For example she said that I need to give Madison an opportunity to 'enjoy' her cot for a minimum of an hour, what she chooses to do in her bed is her business. If Madison chooses to write revenge notes for an hour then that is her choice. Well, the nights are SO much better - she now remains unwrapped and has maximum two feeds, but I try push her to only have one. However, during the day she really pushes her limits of how long she sleeps for and probably spends 45min, of her hour, yelling profanities at me.

I am also starting to teach her sign language for hearing babies. Currently I am teaching her:

MILK - Open and close your extended hand, as if milking a cow

EAT - Tap the fingers and thumb of you dominant hand to your lips repeatedly

MORE - Tap the fingers of one hand into the open palm of the other, as if placing an object into your hand

It'll take a while for her to learn, but I do think she kind of understands.

Oh my Gosh

I just can't not believe how time is passing - Little Maddy is now 6 1/2 months old and such a little person. She voices her opinion continuely and boy does she let me have it when I won't give hersomething she wants, usually cause she isn't really allowed it, she has a little temper on her.

At the moment she is sitting pretty well and rolling - she prefers rolling towards her right - this means that she will roll right across a room. A few weeks ago I put her in Shelby's (a friend's - Tammy- little girl, Shelby, only 4 days younger than Madison) jolly jummper, my my does she love it. If you jump beside her she squeals in delight and giggles.

Madison truely is such a treasure and adored by all. What is so wonderful to see is the lovely bond she is forming with her Baloo, whenever they are together they have long conversations and Maddy stares at her Baloo. Last night he brought her Boudoir buscuits and she wolfed down one- golly golly did she love that.

Also, she loves the shower and tries to grab the water, as well as open her mouth and tries to swollow the water. The spray goes in her face but she doesn't mind.

Both Greg and I feel so blessed to have her in our lives and adore her through the hard and wonderful stages she goes through.

Visiting

Yesterday, Madison and I went to visit a friend from Space. Maddy was very social with Joseph, but he was a little unsure of this little girl trying to speak to him. It was very cute to watch Maddy reaching out to him, while giving him her bigest smiles - she was definately working the crowd.

However, last night I didn't respond quick enough to her tired signs and it ended up taking 2hrs for her to go to sleep. She slept from 9pm - 3:30am and then 4am-7am. So that wasn't too bad. Tonight I will be incredibly strict with putting her down quicker and see how that goes.

So good so far!

The last couple nights have been much better, after getting some great advise from Plunket. What I have to do is put her down and let her try put herself to sleep for 10min, if she doesn't then I must go in and sooth her till she stops crying. do this three times and on the forth help put her to sleep. So on Monday she eventually put herself to sleep, but woke an hour later (8pm), so the whole process started again. Eventually I had to feed her and put her down at about 9pm - she then slept till 8am the next morning. Last night she went down at 8pm, but 8:45pm I eventually feed her and put her down at about 9pm - she slept till 2:10am (which is perfectly acceptable for her age), I then put her down at 2:40 and she slept till 9am.

This is so much better than the last 2-3 weeks have been, basically I am showing her who is boss.

A nice long walk

Yesterday, late afternoon,we went for a walk around Cornwall Park ..... yes all the way around! It was extremely plesant (hot, but with the right amount of breeze). Once we had finished we put out a canvas and sat down to feed Madison her dinner. She thoughly enjoyed moving her feet in the grass and scrunching a leaf.

It was too cute ... this little lamb got left behind and so began bleating and running off after mama, it caught Madison's eye and she followed it with wide eyed facination. At this stage of the walk I was holding her facing forwards, so she was able to see so much. All passerbys thought she was too cute.

I definately hope to do that more often!

A wonderful day

Well, today Daddy and I set about regulating Madison's sleeps so she doesn't sleep as much through the day. We are hoping this will cause her to sleep more at night. Sooo ....

She had a morning nap for about 1 and1/2hrs and we set off to Aunty Julie's house ( she had a small nap in the car) for lunch. This was good fun and as usual Maddy was so good and in quite a jolly mood, using her charm to work the crowd. Then again she had a small nap in the car, on the way home. We stopped off to get her a night light, as we feel this may play a part in her not being able to put herself back to sleep at night. Got some dinner stuff.

Then she remained in good spirits, having mixed veggies for dinner - and loving it at that. Then at about 8pm she lost the battle and fell asleep. Right now Daddy and Mommy are sitting having a rum together. Even if she has a bad night it is great just to have a little while with Greg.

Tomorrow I will say whether the night light had a possitive effect or not.

She is getting so big!

Well, I forgot to write that Madison now weighs 7.71kgs, that is 4.56kgs more than her birth weight. Gosh my baby girl is no longer a newborn, but is on her way to becoming a crawler in the next few months.

She is so very close to rolling, but she isn't stupid ... she knows that if she rolls then she will have to get her own toys.

At the moment she is sleeping terribly at night and to remain sane I remind myself that she won't be like this forever. for example she was up from 5:30pm last night till 11pm and then woke again at 1:30am. This means I am on edge while trying to get to sleep. She woke at 8am, so this was actually a good night. Anyway, she is lucky I love her

Nana and Baloo are visiting Aunty Bibi and Uncle James in Brisbane and have been there since the 01/01/07, Maddy is definately missing their visits - I know she will recognise them immediately, when she sees them.

We love you Nana, Baloo, Aunty Bibi and Uncle James!

She's got an Eina!!

On the evening of the second, Madison and I had a very long night, she woke up screaming and I wasn't able to console her - this was incredibly upseting for me. I didn't know how to help my baby girl! So she spent the night in my arms suckling. Dispite her being in pain, Madison tried to keep up her beaming smile for me.

So yesterday I took her to the Doctor ..... it turns our she has her first ear infection, my poor little baby girl. Maddy is now on antibiotics, she has her 5 month immunisations as well - thank goodness the Doc prescribed some paracetamol. Last night she was awake from 7pm - 11pm and just battled to get off to sleep, eventually the little angel passed out at 11pm and slept till 8:30am.

Right now Madison is in La La land. She is so beautiful, I truely am blessed to be her mommy.

New Year

Once again I have been terrible with updating - I've been caught up in the festive season. Christmas Day was great, a long day for Maddy, but still great. She loved all the unwrapping of gifts and really 'tore into' the paper. I think Madison formed a special relationship with her Aunty Bibi - pitty it was just so short a time.

We had Connor and Rebecca from the 24/12/06 - 01/01/07 : this was a great time of bonding for Madison and her sibblings. She responded to them so well and would play with them for ages while I was able to get a few things done. I do think from now on Maddy will take less time to remember who they are each time they come to visit.

At the moment Madison is starting to recognise her name and turns towards the person calling her, well most times anyway. Another thing taking place is that she is starting to notice her feet and is trying so hard to put them in her mouth, but that gorgeous tummy of hers tend to get in the way. Lately she has been very talky and lets me have it when she isn't getting the attention she wants .... yes she raises her voice and tells me off. Sometimes I sit her down on the floor with cussions around her or between my legs and she sits by herself, not very well but sitting none the less. She looks like a little ape, leaning on her knuckles.

One thing that remains constant is that she is a very content and happy baby!