Sunday, December 30, 2012

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas from our family to yours!



Decorating the tree!

Seeing Santa at GymQuest. She was a little nervous around him at first!
Me, Kim, & Maddy
Some of the Forst/Partynski cousins with our Grandma

Christmas Eve!

Kisses from Bapa

Getting ready for bed with Mar!

The girls with Aunt Krystle

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Maddy is 3 Months Old!

Madelyn is now 3 months old! She continues to be the happiest, most easygoing baby ever. She has been sleeping very well, usually going down between 8:30 and 10:00, waking up around 3:00 for a feeding, and sleeping until 7:00. She's been getting up slightly more often lately, because she likes to bust out of her swaddle and then cry because she isn't swaddled. She also has a little cold, so that's been bothering her too. 
She has discovered her hands, and they are her whole world now. She stares at them, touches her face, and tries to hit any toys dangling by her. She once grabbed her own hair and screamed in pain, not knowing that she was causing it.
She still spits up like crazy, despite being on Prevacid. Taylor and I call her the Spit Up Queen. She has had days where I had to change her clothes 6 or more times. 

Maddy likes...
Splashing in the bathtub, listening to her sister talk, smiling, playing on her activity mat, playing in her aquarium bouncer, her hands, "talking" with people (hearing people mimic her coos, and cooing back), swinging in her swing, being swaddled, cuddling, listening to music.

Maddy dislikes...
Tummy time, being cold, being sick... that's pretty much it! 






Saturday, December 1, 2012

Much to Celebrate!!

Last weekend, our beautiful daughter Taylor turned 3! We can't believe how fast the time has gone. We celebrated by going out to Red Robin (our yearly tradition), having a few of her neighborhood friends over for a "sleepover" party, and combining her family party with Madelyn's Baptism! It was a busy, but very FUN, weekend!

Happy Birthday, Taylor!
Here are Taylor's current stats:

Height: 38 inches (73%)
Weight: 36 lbs (90%)
Shoe size: 7
Diapers: Pull-ups for nighttime and nap
Clothing: 4T

Taylor knows all of her colors, all of her letters and sounds, and can count to 25. She can dress herself (pants, underwear, shoes, and socks - she still needs help with shirts), and has an amazing vocabulary. She asks lots of questions and is very interested in the world around her. Potty training is going ok, she is in underwear for the day but then waits to go #2 until she has pull-ups on at night. This is very frustrating to us but the doctor says it's normal! Overall, she is doing very well developmentally!

Taylor likes:
"The Little Einsteins", singing, dancing, pretending she's in a gymnastics show, "Dora the Explorer", Disney princesses, family movie nights, "Frosty the Snowman" (the old-school cartoon!), reading books, playing on mommy's iPhone, playing on her new swing set, playdates with friends, painting, bubble baths, cutting with scissors (a new skill!), nature walks, being a big sister, helping mommy cook and clean, pretend play of all kinds, and playing with friends.

Taylor dislikes:
Elevators (terrified of them!), eating dinner, being cold after a bath, the light from the cell phone tower that she can see from her bedroom window (don't ask! We aren't allowed to leave her window open at night!), spiders, scary Halloween masks, trying new foods, going in time out, and having the timer set for dinner (she takes too long, so this is our last resort!).

Sisters!

At Red Robin for her birthday dinner!
Decorating cookies at her "sleepover" birthday party!
Taylor and Gianna decorating cookies

The whole group decorating cookies!

Getting ready to watch a Dora birthday movie!

Getting sleepy!
Getting ready to blow out her candles with her cousin Haley!
Taylor and Aunt Kim playing video games

 Madelyn's Baptism & 2 Months Old!

We had Maddy's Baptism on November 25th at St. Ann Catholic Church in Channahon. Her godparents were her Uncle Mark and her Uncle Eric. The ceremony was done during mass, and we had a small party afterward. We were so happy to be able to do this between Sam's chemo schedule and his surgery. Maddy was an angel, and was so good during the Baptism.

She is now 2 months old! Here are her current stats:

Height: 23.3 inches (77%)
Weight: 12 lb 3 oz (78%)
Head Circumference: 39.4 cm (60%)
Diapers: Finishing up size 1's, about to move to size 2's!
Clothing: 6 month

Maddy is a very smiley baby. She loves cooing and interacting with anyone around her. She is usually her happiest right after a nap. She sleeps very well, usually from about 10-3 and then a couple of hours before and after. She is a VERY easy-going baby! She does have reflux, like Taylor did, but Prevacid seems to be helping with that. She hates tummy time, and hates getting out of the bath and being cold!

She had a few tests done on her left kidney, which determined that her kidney is having trouble draining, but that's it's functioning perfectly fine. We will continue to follow up and monitor with ultrasounds. Her pediatric urologist, Dr. Smith, says that he is concerned, because it is very large, but he wants to put off surgery as long as he can without compromising the health of the kidney. 

There will be more Baptism pics to come! Here are a few that we have:

Ready for her Baptism!
Our beautiful angel


With Uncle Eric
The Pavelka clan
With Bapa and Mar
With Grandma G