Madelyn - six months

Happy half-birthday, Maddie! It also happens to be the first day of winter! (Levi has been waiting for the first day of winter almost like it's Christmas - every time we say he needs to wear his jacket because it's winter, he reminds us that actually it's still fall - no longer! Now it's actually winter!!!)

Madelyn is just so adorable. It has been a wonderful six months. They have certainly not been without their trials, but that smile! It just outshines any frustration we've had. Maddie has a beautiful smile and the sunny personality to go with it. She is easy-going and curious and energetic. She loves to experience the things around her...touching, tasting, feeling. But she is also happy to just sit back and watch. She will smile and giggle with our family all the time but is a bit more shy with others. When we are out with others, she likes to look up and check in to be sure she knows who is holding her. She will even do the check-in when I'm holding her in front of the mirror. She sees me in the mirror and then looks up at the real me to be sure that I'm still the one holding her. She sometimes makes strange with other people holding her and other times she's fine.

Madelyn is still small for her age. She hasn't been weighed or measured since November but I'm guessing she's around 15-16 lbs. She is wearing 6-12 or 9 month clothes. I've already put away all of her 6 month clothes. Crazy. It always happens faster than I expect! The little bald spot that she did have is filling in nicely. And her eyes are definitely turning brown! 

Maddie loves to sit and play with toys. She really likes tags and ribbons to suck on and skinny, chewy, rope-like things to chew on (like rubber hoses and such). Oh, and paper...she LOVES to eat paper! It has just enough crinkley noise and gets nice and soggy in her mouth. She gets so mad when we take it away from her! She bounces a lot...if you hold her so she's standing in your lap, she will likely be trying to jump. She likes the exersaucer more than the Jolly Jumper, though. I wonder if it's because she feels like she's more a part of the action in the exersaucer as the Jolly Jumper has to be put in a doorway which is out of the way in our house. Toys that make noises that are too loud aren't her favourite. She does get startled or overwhelmed when things are too loud or sudden. We were at church the other night for the Christmas program and the first time everyone clapped for a performance, Maddie burst into tears! She calms down very easily when she's with me, though, so all I had to do was carry her to the back of the sanctuary and she was fine before I was even out. So I turned around and sat back down! She rarely gets so upset that she doesn't calm down quickly when I hold her. She mostly only cries when she's tired, hungry, overwhelmed, or shy. Or hurt, obviously. But that doesn't EVER happen, what with two older siblings to watch over her and all...

Maddie can sit by herself and has been able to for most of the past month. She knows how to roll over but doesn't do it much anymore, probably because she's too busy sitting up and standing in her exersaucer! She has been eating really well but I haven't been in a hurry to start giving her solid food at regular times each day because once you start, you kinda have to keep going. So instead I've just been giving her pieces of my own food which she loves and does really well with. I believe the term for feeding a child like this is "baby-led weaning," though that process involves absolutely no spoon-feeding or purees and I'm not kissing those goodbye just yet. This is very similar to how Kayden learned to eat and it worked for her so I think I'll just keep going in this direction and see what happens. She loves when we put Cheerios on her tray during supper, though is still mastering the skill of being able to get them into her mouth consistently! She is very grabby and nothing within her reach is safe. So why not offer her bites of this and drinks of that? She gets so excited when she sees something coming in the direction of her mouth. It's so funny to watch!

Maddie has been sleeping really well this month. She is still up an average of twice a night and hasn't slept through the night at all this month. But she goes back down after a feed with no fuss. That's all I ask at this point! Perhaps this month will involve some sleep training, though. I WOULD like to have a full night's sleep again one day soon! She is still swaddled, sleeping on her side. She naps in her crib in her room and nights are still in the playpen in our room. She goes down with minimal fuss for both naps and nights. The odd time that she protests a bedtime longer than a few minutes, it usually just takes me going in, picking her up and patting her back for a minute or two to calm her down and then laying her down in a dry spot in the playpen (drool). She goes to bed around 8pm, wakes between 7-8am and naps around 10 and 2. Unfortunately that means that her afternoon rarely lines up with Kayden's nap and Levi's quiet time but hey, the time is coming! And this is the first month that it hasn't lined up most days so it's not too bad. I get more quality time with each kid this way, even if it does mean no me-time during the day.

Maddie has started being a fussy traveller this month. We have had a couple evening drives where she has cried/screamed the whole way home. I'm hoping this isn't a new thing! Just a phase...please, just a phase... She also met Lennox up close and personal this month. I realized that she hadn't really ever touched him or seen him more than just in passing from her car seat (if that), so one day I let him into the entrance and  they met. She was quiet at first then started squealing and reaching for him and laughing. It was the best! Babies and dogs are great together. :)

Well, that's Madelyn at six months! We love her to bits. Happy six months, my girl!

This is what happens when I say that I'm going to take pictures of Maddie. Notice the little hand under Kayden's armpit? Yup, that's Madelyn's! Kayden was right on top of her :D Maddie didn't mind, of course.