Food/House/Life: February 2011

Almost forgot to take the 3 month picture - hence the jammies!

I can't believe my little girl is 3 months old already! A lot happened this month so let's recap!

She was quite a bear at the start of her 3rd month but has turned into a little flirt toward the end. Her personality is really starting to emerge and it is so much fun watching her develop into a little human with her own traits.

Sleep - she is still a great sleeper....at night. During the day is an entirely different story. This girl does not like to nap. Period. End of discussion. It is a good day if I get a solid hour and a half in, otherwise we spend the day with her sleeping on and off for 20-25 minute chunks of time. By the time I figure she's down for awhile and start to get something done, she wakes up within the next 10 minutes. At night, M is still sleeping through the night about 50% of the time. The other half, she wakes up around 3-4am to eat. Thankfully, we've figured out how to nurse lying down and both end up falling asleep during this process and she sleeps the rest of the night with Nick and I. I think her favorite sleep time is when Nick and I get up for the day and she gets the bed to herself. The kid could sleep until noon once she takes over our bed.

Diapering - I still absolutely LOVE cloth diapering. We have added a few diapers to our rotation as a result of shopping for Baby Stepke's shower gift. Walking into The Little Seedling is dangerous for my cash flow, even more so since learning they have a clearance section. I was able to score some pink and purple Fuzzibunz dipes for 10 bucks each! We just HAD to have these since all her other dipes were gender neutral. I went in with Georgette later so she could buy a shower gift and ended up buying a Blueberry cover and a Thirsties cover. I guess I'm now joining the prefolds, covers world of cloth diapering. I decided to go this route because I couldn't resist the idea of M's cloth diapered booty sticking out of an adorable little sundress this summer. The Fuzzibunz have to be washed after each use so I can't coordinate outfits with them. The covers can be reused so they can last the day. I realize this is a completely ridiculous excuse for buying diapers but I just can't help myself. I also bought a Happy Heinys one size diaper. There are a ton of snaps on that hot pink diaper but I like it for nighttime diapering since I can easily stuff extra liners in it. Check out my newest additions!

Fuzzibunz in grape

Fuzzibunz in Cotton Candy

Blueberry Diaper Cover

Happy Heinys Hot Pink One Size

Thirsties Diaper Cover

Also, we had an unplanned trip to Iowa this month and no access to a washing machine for a few days. Instead of toting around 3 days worth of used cloth diapers, we decided to use disposables for those days. What did we end up with?? A red booty and my first experience with a blowout. Let me tell you - I hated them both. Thankfully her booty cleared up within a day of getting her home and using California Baby diaper spray. The blowout - that was horrible! Up her back, through her clothes. Enough to make me consider toting the diapers next time.

Madelyn's Favorite Activities - we broke out the Bumbo and the Jumperoo this month. I could tell she was ready to be a part of the action but I can't hold her all the time and cooking with her in the Moby isn't exactly safe. Add that to the fact that she doesn't want to lay down because she can't watch everyone then meant that we needed to try out some new gear. She loves her Bumbo! We use it during dinner every night. M sits in the middle of the table and watches us eat. It allows me to eat without having to hold her or keep a foot constantly bouncing the bouncer or rocking the carseat and she feels like she's part of the crowd. The only downside is she seems to enjoy sneezing right onto my plate. Delish.

Uncle Jason gave Madelyn her jumperoo at my shower. When we first put her in it, her feet didn't touch the floor but she didn't care. The seat does a great job of cradling her upper body so she feels contained but she still has some movement. Finally we realized by putting a pillow under her feet, she could bounce off the pillow - duh! It seriously took us a week to catch on to that one. A couple days later she figured out how to bounce and has been a happy girl ever since.

She also is beginning to actually enjoy tummy time. She can hold her upper body up pretty well and rolled over for the first time this month!! I was sitting right there and am so glad I got to see it! She can roll from front to back but can't quite get back to front. She gets caught on her arm and ends up rotating around in a circle. I give her credit though, she will keep at it for a good 15 minutes before getting frustrated and crying.

Other Events - I went back to work this month. Sucks. No other way to put it. I am so grateful that family is able to spend time with her. I am in the office 2.5 days a week and working from home the rest of the time. I am scared that I will miss her first laugh or the first time she rolls from her back to her front. Sucks.

Also, Nick's grandpa died on Valentine's Day. Also sucks. This resulted in Madelyn's first plane ride. She did pretty well. We only had one screaming episode and it lasted for about 10 minutes. This was while the plane was still at the gate so I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with pressure changes and her ears but was entirely a result of Madelyn letting us know how utterly annoyed she was at being confined to our laps. The rest of the time she was a happy girl and she even napped on the last leg of the trip. We laid down our tray tables and spread her across them. She loved it. We ended up putting 1200 miles on our rental car in 2 days. The end result - a baby that refuses to sit quietly in her carseat ever again! She used to love her carseat - now she freaks out if she's in it for more than 10 minutes. I think she's afraid of another 3 hour car ride.

Sleeping on the tray tables.

Waiting for our plane

We met Madelyn's newest friend, Pacey Patrick Carlton. Pacey was born January 21st and was a whopping 9lbs 1oz. Welcome to the world Pacey!!

Madelyn and Pacey (he looks so tiny next to her)

Last major thing I can think of is that Madelyn loves her mama. So much in fact, she won't let anyone else hold her. It is flattering and exhausting at the same time. It is amazing to be the one that can calm her down and that she is completely dependent on but at the same time, a girl needs a break! Thankfully she is nearing the end of this phase and there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. The last few days she has allowed herself to be passed between her grandparents a few times and she let Nick hold her for awhile on the plane!

4 generations!

Snoozing in her gramma's lap

Snoozin' on her Daddy's lap (on the plane)

I signed up to host a house party for Coffee-mate and was selected to participate! For those who are new to the house party world, it's a pretty cool opportunity. Corporations want you and your friends and family to try their products. In order to do this, they create party packages. You simply fill out an application and wait to see if you are selected. In this case, I was! The company then sends you everything you need to make your party a success. Coffee-mate sent me

Cranium
a poker set
coupons to get free creamers for the party
Nescafe instant coffee packets
Coffee-mate powder packets
cups,napkins
coupons to give to each guest for a bottle of free creamer

I was able to score free creamer through some coupon endeavors in the past few weeks so I had quite a few on hand already. I decided to let each guest bring their favorite home with them. I also set up the Keurig and bought a variety of pods so everyone could mix and match creamers and coffee flavors. This party was a game night theme so I set out Catchprase, Apples to Apples and Pictionary, along with the supplied games. Not that it mattered, Catchprase was the game of the night.

Everyone had a great time but unfortunately, Madelyn decided I needed to hold her all night and I didn't get to play. Oh well, maybe next time!

Onto the pictures!