Is this Baby Cruelty??

During Madison's "witching" hour, we try to use the pacifier to put off her fussiness until bedtime. However, Madison has not perfected the skill of keeping the darn thing in her mouth. Instead, she has perfected the skill of shooting it across the room. I mean this is quite the talent, but does not soothe her fussiness. So we have found an alternative use for her bows and a temporary fix for the pacifier spitting. The only issue is whether or not this is wrong? It looks as if we have kidnapped her, taped her mouth shut, and are holding her for ransom. But, I mean, looks can be deceiving...

Madison's Guide to Rolling

I have been trying to put Madison on her tummy as much as she will allow me to. On this particular day, she decided she would take tummy time into her own hands and roll to her back. I am not sure she is a certified roller yet, but she is slowly figuring out her strength. Lets hope that when she decides to roll from back to tummy I am aware of it before I leave her on the changing table. That would totally earn me the worst mother of the year award.

Our "Schedule" at 3 Months

[I thought I would record our day to day life so I can remember. But read with caution, our days are pretty exciting and might tempt some to jump on the having children band wagon.]

5:45 to 7 am: Madison wakes up. Obviously, one time is a bit more ideal than the other. Madison does not seem to grasp this. We are still trying to figure out what makes her wake up 5:30ish some days and 7 on others. Until we figure it out, it is just a really fun guessing game.

7 am to 8:30 am: Feed her a little bit. We make silly faces in bed. Talk in really intelligent sentences, ones that mostly consist of goos and gaaas. Say good bye to Will. Madison starts to really fuss and I try to eat breakfast with one hand. I attempt to get dressed, make the bed, etc, try to really put off feeding her again until 9.

9 am: First official feeding of the day. Followed by some burps and if I am really lucky spit up all the way down my chest.

9:15-9:30am: We "play." Sometimes we walk Aspen and she falls asleep in the carseat. Other days we just make more funny sounds at each other, until she doesn't smile anymore, then I rock her to sleep.

9:30 am: First nap of the day. Typically the only real nap of the day. She usually is down for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I know this probably goes against all sleep books, but she never sleeps in her crib for the naps. She just will not stay asleep. So if she is out in the living room in her rocking bassinet I can easily soothe her back to sleep.

During this nap is my most productive hours. I spend some time reading the bible. Praying for the self-control not to cuss at Aspen when she wraps the leash seven times around the stroller wheels, I really do not want our daughter's first words to be "damn dog." I clean up the house. Finish laundry. Blog. Do work out videos. Relax.

11:30 to 12 pm: Baby girl is up and ready to eat again.

12:15 to 1:30ish: Spend more time "playing." In the future all these playing times will hopefully be replaced with actual play. Book reading. coloring, you know kid stuff that comes when she has actual coordination. I also run some errands. Walk Aspen again.

1:30 pm: Attempt to get Madison back to sleep. This nap is at most an hourish. She does not ever seem as rested after these naps as she does in the morning. Hopefully at some point she will sleep longer in the afternoons.

3 pm: Time to eat again.

3 - 5:15 pm: Repeat from above. I have been running with her from 3:30 to as close to 5 as possible. This allows her to get some extra sleep and I kill time so I am not just staring out the window waiting for Will to come home.

5:15pm: Will is home!! He is greeted by a jumping dog, a tired mom, and a sometimes smiley baby (depending on her naps).

5:30- 7pm: The evening shuffle. We try to eat. Usually we have to hold Madison and try not to spill the meal on her. Will is on baby holding duty now and tries to prevent any breakdowns until bed time. She also gets fed again at 6.

7:15 pm: She is really starting to fall apart and we start the bedtime routine. Turn off lights. Turn on sound machine. Change diaper. Swaddle. Feed. Lay baby in crib.

7:30 pm to 9 pm: We try to connect. We sometimes watch TV, but try to at least talk for a bit and have some time just to ourselves. It is hard because I am usually so tired, that is why bedtime is around 9 pm, if we are feeling really crazy its 10 pm.

1:30 am: Baby wakes starving. I really wish she would put this off until 3:30 am, but right now she is pretty consistent with 1:30 am.

4:30 am: Yikes, she is up again. This is what really bothers me. I wish she would just stay asleep until 7. Then it would be two six hour stretches. Oh well, she will be sleeping through the night at some point. Until then we just get extra hang out times.

5:45 to 7 am: The day starts all over again.


Exciting stuff, huh? I am thankful there is some consistency that has formed. At first, I was just feeding her whenever she somewhat fussed. I had a huge fear she would starve to death. It helps to know when she should eat again, so I know if she is really hungry or just tired. We are both gradually getting the hang of having a kid of our own. It just has taken a little bit to get to know her and her different cries. I am feeling much more confident in what she needs and it makes my days much more manageable.

Dad's Magic Touch

Since Madison decides that napping is so overrated in the afternoons, she is quite demanding when Will gets home from work. She fusses on and off and needs to constantly be held. This is a little bit stressful because this is the time of day when I am trying to cook and catch up with Will. So when I have had enough, Will takes her and she seems to just melt. I mean, he is barely holding her in these pictures. It is adorable how quickly she fades to sleep when he holds her for just a bit. The only catch is she refuses to be put down during this time. So most dinners are eaten with only one arm.

Two Months

[I know Madison is almost three months old, but I want to try and document all her changes.]

*She is obviously still a mover. A constant mover, actually. We have to still swaddle her because her little arms keep hitting her in the face.

* She started sleeping 6 to 7 hour stretches. She had one 10 hour stretch and I keep hoping for that again, but I will have to settle for the 6 to 7 hour thing. When she switched from waking every three hours to every 6, it was a life changer for me. She still struggles to stay asleep during the day. Evenings are pretty rough before she goes to bed.

* Started to really smile all the time. It is such great fun to interact with her now. The gummy smile melts me every time. She started to smile at me during feedings. It is so precious to look down and see her staring at me, grinning ear to ear.

* She prefers to be held one way. Looking out with her feet dangling. She has to be able to see everything and move of course.

* She received her two month shots. I was not at all prepared for the side effect of her screaming for three hours. I did not have any Tylenol and no way to purchase any, so it was a long wait for Will to get home from work. I felt so sad for her.

It is true that you keep falling more in love with your children every day. I still remember what life was like before Madison, ha, but I can not imagine not having her here now. I find myself trying so hard to comprehend that she formed completely out of nothing, it is too amazing for me to grasp. She went from being two little lines on a pregnancy test to a laughing, giggling, animated little girl.

The Past Month

This is just a glimpse into what our days look like...

- Some tummy time. This is usually followed by a pool of spit up on the pillow and Madison loosing head control and smearing it all over.
- Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. Madison is an expert bed maker though.
- Trying on Gap Skinny jeans that finally fit.
-Snuggling up while I vacuum with her in the carrier.
- Getting ready to meet Will for lunch at a park
- Some self-portraits
-Running one evening with Will. This run ended in Will sprinting home because Madison decided to scream the last half.

This is the hike I mentioned. We went to the state park in Golden. At the end she decided she no longer wanted to be held in the carrier so Will had to hold her the last mile. She seemed rather pleased to be sprawled out in Will's arms. Then when we got back to the car we discovered she had blown out her diaper and I had not remembered to bring an extra pair of clothes. She sat naked in the car seat and cried all the way home.

We made it out to Estes Park. Madison had to see the place that inspired her name. We mostly stayed in town because I was a bit nervous to try hiking again. We learned that Madison did not feel comfortable sleeping in a new environment. So instead of holding her all night, we put her in the carseat. This seemed to work until 6 am rolled around and she was up for the day. Will and I are slowly learning to adjust to all the changes having a baby brings. No more relaxing nights in a hotel getaway.

This was the most exciting thing that has happened this past month. Madison finally got to meet Uncle Grant. She immediately started smiling and cooing at him. She was fascinated with his uniform and was studying every part of it. Everyone was quite emotional when he made his way down the escalator. Such wonderful memories.

Grant had to make up for lost time and held Madison almost constantly through out our visit. It was adorable how much she enjoyed his company. He got to give her baths, rock and sing her to sleep, make silly faces at her, but escaped with out changing any of her diapers. It breaks my a heart a bit to think of what a different baby she will be when he sees her again. We are already planning on making the trip to Hawaii when he finishes with his deployment in May.



Will finally came in for the last weekend we were in Texas. It was so wonderful to relax as a whole family and have everyone spend quality time with Madison. She did really great. Only a couple of melt downs, but nothing her Grandpa or Uncle couldn't handle with some country music singing. I was a bit sad to leave and head back to Colorado. It was hard to go from being surrounded by constant baby helpers to doing it all by myself again.

That is what we have been up to in a nut shell. I am getting the hang of being a stay at home mom. I get pretty restless sometimes. I now understand why one of my friends in Bozeman would pay me to come over for a few hours each week. Even if moms do not have an official job, they still need a break. We are working on ways for me to get a break, but right now I have to focus on how precious all these moments are. She will not always be this needy and when she is throwing herself on the floor because I won't let her ride on Aspen, I will want these moments back. Overall, I am really loving Colorado and the area we live.