"I'm NOT crawling in this grass"

 

Bite Marks

 

If you look at her tongue closely in this photo you will see bite marks on both sides of Madelyn's tongue where she bites herself. She is biting her tongue constantly probably b/c it hangs out so much and she doesn't know how to keep it in her mouth. She bit Logan today on the knee while they were playing together.

On the bright side she is pulling up in her crib now when I go into her room. She's also pulling up to us when we sit in the floor. No cruising yet but at least her legs are getting stronger.

Madelyn's Quilt

A few have asked who made Madelyn's Quilt. I cheated. Or should I say I chickened out of making it myself but I did attempt. While in the wait for Madelyn, in the wait for our new home, also in the wait to give birth to our bouncing baby twin boys, I participated in the quilt square exchange, took a quilting class and attempted to make it myself. I got frustrated with sewing it together and was in agony from being pregnant that I called it quits. I met our quilter, Cheryl, through a yahoo group of expecting moms due in April 2006.

I never knew then that Madelyn would also have an April 2006 birthday. I was due 4/10 with the twins (which is Logan's birthday) but they came 6 weeks early. Madelyn's birthday is 4/23. I was probably close to the same gestational date as her birthmother.

Here's my attempt at the quilt. I did get a little further than this but it still never looked as nice as the one we sent to Cheryl. I may one day finish the one I started. I could still start over too. I ended up with over 300 squares.

How do you stop a biter?

Madelyn is biting us, her brothers and our friends now. Today she chomped down hard on my arm. After one of the naps, we found teeth marks on Andrew's upper arm close to his shoulder on the outside. We're pretty sure he didn't do that to himself. A friend of ours was visiting also today and Madelyn bit her on the shoulder. She also got me on my shoulder and leg today and tried to bite Tony a few times too. What stops a biter?

Madelyn posing with her 100 Good Wishes Quilt

 

Self-Feeding - FINALLY

 

Don't know if this will last but at least she's trying to feed herself a cracker now.

Snot Queen

 

Is this snot ever going to disappear? Yesterday was three months post-gotcha and still no sign of this going away. She's had this as long as we've been her family. She's on her third allergy medicine and still no sign of relief.

Stinky Girl

 

Madelyn and Tony missed Logan's preschool graduation tonight. She decided to blow out her diaper in her carseat. They had to go home and by the time they got back the ceremony was almost over. She was dressed all cute in a pink dress including a hairbow. Well, that didn't last.

Congrats Logan! Off to Kindergarten you go!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I still haven't figured that out yet but Logan has an answer....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF12Yeigg6Q

Big Cheese

 

She wasn't smiling when I was trying to put the bows in her hair.

What's the Latest?

I haven't blogged in a while. I've been dealing with Nate and Andrew who have both had ear infections and tonsilities and Andrew had pink eye. And now tonight Madelyn has started pulling her ears and sticking her fingers in there. All have snot.....GROSS!

Madelyn had a visit again last Friday with CDSA. The OT used a NUK brush and swabbed it in yogurt and rolled it into crumbled up crackers. For the first time she was eating pieces of crackers without gagging. She didn't gag on any of those bites. She's eating her baby food much better now. She still hasn't advanced into more textured food nor will she pick up food and put it to her mouth. She will pick up food but she throws it on the floor.

The OT (occupation therapist) also worked with her pulling up. She wanted her to go from a sitting position with her feet on the floor and push up with her feet to make her stand. She also had her trying to stand up against the table holding her from behind to keep her balance. Madelyn does not like this. She gets mad and cries really loud.

Madelyn has the tendency to keep her feet curled inward and her toes crunched in. The OT said this is from laying so long and never having stimulation to bear weight on her feet for so long. Madelyn has a hard time keeping shoes on due to this and the fact she pulls them off herself. Fortunlatey it's summer time so shoes don't always have to be on plus we're always home anyway. How many moms you know go out with three one-year olds by themself? It's not easy. It's just safer to stay home.

Our homework was to let her crawl to me and let her pull up on her own to me. We also need to let her try standing up against something supporting her from behind. Our other homework is to work on the feeding brush. I still haven't been to a pharmacy to buy that yet. Tomorrow we have a different worker coming out to observe and I'm not sure what else.

She's Moving!

Short clip of Madelyn crawling.

Squeaky Shoes

Now that we have a walker, we can get some good squeaks out of the squeaky shoes picked up in China. Unfortunately this pair wasn't all that durable and already has the sides peeling off of them.

How many babies can fit in a baby pool?

 

Three and a five year old is about the limit.

This was a test today to see if I alone can handle three one-year olds and a five year old at the pool by myself. The answer is "NO WAY, NOT EVER, NOT BY MYSELF." Madelyn liked the water even though it was very cool. She stayed in it longer than anyone else. She splashed and laughed and turned around looking at everything. Andrew was being Andrew...in and out, in and out, just like he's starting to do with the bathtub. He would get out and start exploring around the house then come back in and drag dirt and grass into the pool. He likes it but he's got to be on the move at all times. Nate is not the biggest fan of the bathtub so he didn't care much for this. He also wasn't feeling good. He was diagnosed with an ear infection today. I was brave and took all the little ones out with no diapers nor the swimming diapers. There was probably some peeing in the pool but luckily no one made any poop accidents.