Look Who’s Talking!

Miss Maddie has officially begun talking and by talking I mean saying full sentences (sometimes up to six and seven words). I really took notice at the beginning of December when she started putting three words together. For the longest time she would get frustrated and start yelling “IMO, IMO, IMO”. We had no clue what she meant by this, until recently when the “IMO” has turned into “I want ___” Her wants and needs are now being verbally requested and this makes things so much easier on us! We can understand pretty much understand anything she says now! I will never forget as we walked into the doctor’s office a few weeks ago {right before Christmas} and she said clear as day “Doctor said no monkeys jumping on bed” I looked at her and was completely taken off guard. Yes, I have been singing this song to her nonstop for weeks, but for her to just say it out of the blue was incredible! She seriously surprises me every day with the things she says and remembers. I know she is my own, but I have to say she is so smart!

I wrote down at 18 months that she had about forty words. I would think that this number has at least quadrupled. And to think just a few months ago I was worried about her lack of language. Well, my child has proved me wrong…WAY WRONG. I have to say my favorite thing she says is “I love you” which is more like “luh you”. Also just today while we were walking up the stairs I started to count and then all of the sudden she took over and counted 4-10! We have a talker and this mommy couldn’t be more proud!

Soak it in

While Maddie was in the bath tonight and was brushing her teeth {we usually let her brush her teeth while in the tub} I had to stop and just stare at her and smile. She probably thought I was crazy, but as she was brushing her teeth this overwhelming feeling came over me and I thought “she is not my little baby anymore”and I just wanted to cry right there. She is becoming independent and wanting to do everything on her own. After I got her dressed and we started reading our books I began to reflect on just a few things that she has said recently that has made me smile.

The other morning after I handed Maddie her milk she looked up at me with a cheezy grin and said “thank you!” My heart just melted. It was the first time she had said ‘thank you’ on her own without us prompting her to say it.

Every meal I ask Maddie “what do you want to eat?” I try and give her choices and she never has answered me straight up. Well yesterday I asked her “what do you want for lunch?” and she stared at me for a few seconds and then said “GRAPES!” I was shocked! Thank goodness we had grapes in the fridge!

Today while we were in Cracker Barrel for breakfast she was looking at the toys and she went up to these big stuffed horses and picked them up and said “camel!” This really threw me off guard considering camels is not an animal we talk about often. I had to think about where in the world she got camels from and I finally realized that a camel is in one of her picture books. I don’t even remember the last time we read it. She doesn’t forget anything.

While I was rocking my sweet girl, I held her especially close, and reminisced about when we first brought her home from the hospital. She was just a little peanut then and now she is overflowing out of my arms. She will never be this little again, so for now I just have to soak it all in each and every day.

18 Months Old

We went to a little engagement party tonight and Maddie was such a little ham the whole time. First of all she was running on little to no nap today…Gabe said it best when he said “is grumpy Maddie or happy drunk Maddie going to show up tonight”. Thankfully we had “happy drunk Maddie” entertain everyone at the party. She was running around laughing and just being a little social butterfly. She made lots of new friends and she was being so good we kept her out until 9:00. I told someone that they needed to call DSS because our poor baby was up way past her bedtime. On most nights she is in bed by 8. Needless to say we got home about 9 and then we sat outside in the bed of the truck and looked at the moon for a few more minutes. Maddie LOVES the moon. The look on her face and the delight in her voice when she saw how big and bright the moon was tonight was priceless. One of our little traditions is to read the book “Goodnight Moon” and Gabe always says “Night night Moon” as he kisses her goodnight. After an exhausting day and no bath (she smelled of sunscreen and sweat) she was in bed by 9:30.

Maddie is now eighteen months old-halfway down with ONE. Time needs to slow d.o.w.n. At her Eighteen Month well-child check:

29.88 lbs (97%tile)

34 in. (97%tile)

20.47 in head circumference (above 97th %tile)

Yes I know she is a big girl, but I do get tired of people saying “she is only 18 months? I thought she was 3!” Oh well, what can you do?

Her next visit isn’t until she turns TWO. I can’t believe it. I thought it was sad when we had to wait three months in between visits, but now to wait six months-it is devastating!!!!

Tonight as I jotted down all the new and wonderful things that our little gal is doing it made me excited, but sad at the same time. She is really a little person now and oh so smart…sometimes too smart! She is saying a lot of new words, but she still mostly points to things and gets frustrated when she is not understood.

{words at 18 months ~40 words} {no two word phrases yet, but we are aimlessly working on “I love you”}

mama	daddy	mimi	pop-pop
nana (natalie)	Brady	Omi	moon
more	milk	snack	didtee (paci)
bye	hi	rock	bottle
baby	monkey	duck	dog
turtle	bubble	bucket	water
knee	eye	tractor	hot
hat	blue	mine	no
balloon	night night	book	go
juice	please

Also at Eighteen months Miss Maddie:

• sleeps 11-12 hours at night
• takes one nap (1.5-2 hours)
• loves pretend play
  • rocking, feeding, burping babies
  • talks on the phone
  • gives animals/babies drink, food, and paci
  • makes smacking sound and pretends to eat and drink out of empty bowls and cups
• loves to “help” do chores
  • vacuums
  • cleans furniture with wipes
  • puts trash in trashcan
  • folds clothes
• feeds self with fork and spoon
  • we just give her a bowl of cereal and let her go to town…she has been successfully feeding herself for a couple of months now)
  • likes a variety of foods, but is picky about certain textures
• walks upstairs and down holding on with one hand (I have actually taught her to come down the stairs on her bottom, but she can do it standing up as well)
• builds towers of blocks and loves to play with her Mega blocks
• scribbles on paper
• shows LOTS of affection-gives lots of kisses and hugs
• identifies most body parts
• identifies and points to common objects
• kicks ball
• can sit for a long time reading books

I haven’t uploaded pictures from August yet, but I have to leave you with this ‘sweet as can be’ picture of Maddie and Carter. Natalie and I went to JCPenney to get a few pictures of the two of them wearing their matching sailor outfits for a surprise for my mom. We wanted a plain background…this was the first time in a portrait studio and Maddie really did great with it. We got some cute ones!

15 Months Old

Our little princess is growing up. Exciting, but sad all at the same time. I had all these high hopes of writing everything down that Maddie did from birth, but those dreams quickly faded when you are exhausted, getting spit up on, changing diapers, and running after a little girl with a mind of her own. If I don’t write it down right away it will be forgotten. So that is why I am so glad we have this blog so I can look back on it one day to read about Maddie’s life. She is a little person now and man is she smart! She surprises us every day with the things she is learning to do and now say. You show her one time how to do something and she picks it up so easily. For example, my mom has this shell necklace that she wore about a month ago. She showed Maddie how to listen to the ocean by holding it up to her ear. No joke, yesterday my mom was wearing that same necklace and Maddie picks it up and puts it to her ear! Smart? I think so.

Maddie had her fifteen month well child appointment yesterday. Right before we were leaving I was walking up the driveway to check the mail and little miss was running behind me. Next thing I know I hear a thud and she had fallen on the drive way. Both knees scraped and bleeding. She screamed so I quickly ran her inside and cleaned her up the best I could. She was a trooper as I cleaned the wounds and put band-aids on. We then headed out the door (late as usual). Well it gets worse...while we were waiting in the doctor's office I noticed beneath Maddie's bangs on her forehead was a HUGE oval shaped scrape. When she had fallen she must of hit her head, too! I freaked! My poor child! At least we were at the doctor's so she was able to check it out...the doctor said that it was a pretty good bump, but she would survive! I know this is only the beginning of many more bumps and bruises, but geez this was traumatic! I am seriously stocking up on band-aids and neosporin for the summer.

As far as her well-check, everything looks great and she is right on track developmentally. The doctor asked if I had any concerns and being a normal parent I told her my only concern was Maddie’s expressive language and if she is saying enough words for age. Her doctor wants her to have about five right now…check, we are good! By eighteen months she should have 10-20 words. You would think I would remember all of this since I used to be an Early Interventionist. I guess I worry just like any other parent! She also had two shots today and did really well. She double-fisted her lollipops and she was good to go! So leaving the doctor's office Maddie had a bump on her head, four band-aids on one leg and one on the other leg, red face from crying, crusty nose from allergies, and sucker slobber all over her and me. AWESOME. I'm just glad nobody called DSS on me when I dragged her into Publix to grab some milk on the way home...Anyways, here are her stats…

28 lbs 4 oz (98%tile)

32 inches tall (91%tile)

18.9 in head circumference (94%tile)

Her head has not grown in three months…thank the lord! haha I think her body is finally catching up

At fifteen months old:

• Wears size 24 months-2T in clothes now (Honestly, I do not understand clothes sizing…really what is the difference in 24 month and 2T???)
• Wears size 6-7 in toddler shoes. Big foot for sure.
• Runs and by run I mean awkward arms in front of you like a zombie type of run. So cute though, except for what happened above.
  
• Has a total of twelve teeth now. All of the one year molars have broken through! Thank goodness for a good teether; we didn’t even know she was cutting her molars!
• Says a few words consistently, including tractor, no, more, mama, daddy, NaNa (for Natalie), nana (banana) tries to say milk & Brady. There are other things that she has randomly said such as “choo choo” and “bless you”
• Mostly points to what she wants right now
• Knows body parts-ears, nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, feet, and boobies (yes I know-blame my mother for this one)
• Sleeps between 11-12 hours a night and takes 1-2 naps a day
• favorite foods include: grilled cheese, kiwi, blueberries, pancakes and waffles, spaghetti, any type of beans, macaroni & cheese, and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
• LOVES to be outside doing anything, playing in the dirt, running after Brady, helping pull weeds, etc.

We are so blessed to have a beautiful, healthy, and smart little girl!