Madelyn's naps were quite impressive today! She woke up at 5:45AM. Tried to get her to fall asleep on her own at 7. That didn't work. Had to wait another hour and a half. She was easily soothed and fell asleep by 9. Mommy quickly checked on William and set him up so she could shower. Then Mommy and William waited, and waited, and waited. And kept looking at the monitor to make sure she was still breathing! Then, finally, at 10:30 she woke up! That's three times her normal length!
Mommy thought Madelyn would have a 3 hour period of wakefulness due to the long nap, but after 90 minutes she was ready to sleep again. She slept for half an hour. Another 90 minutes it is 2 o'clock and William is sleeping. Madelyn, again, is soothed easily and sleeps until 3:50! Whaaaa? Is this the end of her half hour naps? Is she starting to fall into a morning and afternoon nap sleep pattern? The saga continues...
Today the uppercase letter B retired. Moving on to the letter C. B probably had an extended week and a half to two weeks due to nice weather, making cookies and, of course, the all time favorite, Play-Doh. William cut out letter C's from a magazine and glued them onto a piece of construction paper to start. He pulled out some toys that begin with the letter C: play food - carrot, corn, and a matchbox car. Not many toys begin with C.
William and Mommy had some quality time together while Madelyn was sleeping today. It was a sunny, but cool spring day - perfect for lunch on the deck. William had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a red pepper. The pepper (along with some corn and unrecognizable green stuff) came out later in a really nasty poop that Daddy took care of! He's been eating peppers for the last week. Not sure why all of a sudden they aren't being digested.
William soaked in some rays while swinging on his seesaw (which he loves saying), filling the bird feeder and checking on the progress of the peas and grapes.
William protested nap time today. He was crying about something - he gets aggravated when he can't do something, but gets even more upset if someone tries to help him - and Mommy couldn't understand him so she said, "Take a deep breath" and showed him how to do it. He's done this before and if nothing else it distracts him and stops him from crying. Today it didn't work. He kept repeating "Take a deep breath" while crying. Finally, Mommy bypassed reading books and sang a couple of songs and put him in his crib. He continued to cry for five minutes or so, but was sleeping before long.
Yesterday William learned to say his whole name. Here is the proof!
After dinner, William and Daddy made pear muffins. William loves cooking AND most other things!
Everyone up early, as usual. Daddy had a late night out with the boys so he was extra tired! Mommy and Madelyn went grocery shopping after her morning nap. Daddy and William stayed home and got the backyard set up for our guests and then went for a walk.
Daddy's college friends, Alanna and Ian came through from Canada on their way to the Buffalo airport. They brought their cutie kids, Izzy and Liam. Daddy grilled yummy burgers and chicken sausage - so great to be out in the yard! The new trellis is amazing. It makes the yard look so much bigger!
Madelyn visited for awhile, before she took a nap. After lunch and playing on the play set Daddy drove them to the airport.
Alanna and Liam
William took an early nap, so the afternoon was wide open. First, Daddy and William planted a basil plant. Then, they watered and checked on the grapes. The whole family went for a walk to Dairy Queen! Yum, yum. Since lunch was late it was basically dinner.
On the walk to Dairy Queen Mommy and Daddy explained to William that he has three names: first, middle and last. He practiced a few times and now he knows his full name!
It was planned that Madelyn would nap on this walk. She was a little fussy at first, but was able to fall asleep for her normal half hour.
Later in the day, while watching a bit of the Master's Daddy and William were being silly with Cheerios.
Before bed, William had a turkey sandwich. Had to make that disclaimer.
Everyone in the house is still sick to some degree. Daddy seems the worse, then Mommy, Madelyn and William. It makes for rough nights and early mornings. As you can see, everyone is still tired. Daddy especially. Madelyn is hanging out in the back so she doesn't watch TV. She nearly breaks her neck trying to see it when she can.
Later in the morning Mommy got a video of
Madelyn's newest hobby: making raspberries!
Daddy and William went to Mimi and Papa's and Ed and Kathleen's. Kathleen gave him more stickers! They also cleaned up the yard.
Mommy and Madelyn went shopping. First to the outlet mall. Mommy finally found a dress for Laura's shower and a great pair of shoes too. The shoes don't go with the dress very well, but Mommy thinks she's going to keep them anyway. Then, they went to get more supplies for Laura's shower. Madelyn was a great little shopper. She is on her way to learning how to spend money.
Today Mommy had more of a plan to work with Madelyn. No progress yet, but she did stay up for a 4 hour stretch in the early evening.
Katie (a GREAT friend) called Mommy to see if William wanted to play with Safina so Mommy could get some things done for Laura's shower. Mommy wasn't sure, but Madelyn napped shortly after the call so Mommy got in the shower while William watched a Chuggington on Disney.com. Then they completed two sticker books waiting for Madelyn to wake up from her nap.
William had a great time with Safina and even ate lunch with her. Mommy and Madelyn went to the mall to look for a dress for Mommy to wear to Laura's shower. No luck, but the trip wasn't a complete failure. Mommy hadn't been shopping in so long - this trip gave her an idea of what is out there and what she thinks she'd like. She will go out on her own to try on more.
After William woke up from his nap Mommy had to take a picture of his hair. His hair always curls up beautifully after his naps.
Madelyn, William and Mommy played for awhile since Mommy didn't have to make dinner. Daddy was coming home with Kentucky Greg's take out! Woo Who!
Who can make the silliest face?
Ah, who are you?
Today, Mommy, William and Madelyn never left the house. We focused on Madelyn's napping with no signs of dramatic transformation yet! We will get there.
Daddy brought William a surprise home yesterday, but he gave it to him this morning. Play-Doh! Not just a couple cans, but the BIG BARREL with 6 cans of Play-Doh, the Fun Factory and over 15 other accessories. William loves it! The only time he wasn't playing with it is when he was eating and napping! It allowed Mommy the time she needed to soothe Madelyn to sleep.
While Mommy was decorating Ed's birthday cookies, William (playing with his Play-Doh, of course) said, "Good job, Mommy." CUTEST EVER!
Daddy cleaning up the Play-Doh that had been out since he left for work in the morning!
The Play-Doh under the tower. Daddy asked Mommy if this was a bad idea. Mommy says the mess is worth the entertainment value.
ONE WEEK UNTIL LAURA!
While Madelyn was napping this morning William and Mommy played hide the egg. Ever since we started practicing for Easter, this is William's new favorite game. It is fun, but if William had his way this is what he'd do all day long! Mommy puts a treat in 4 or 5 plastic eggs (today it was red peppers) and then hides them as William counts. Then he scans the room for them. He is pretty good. Perhaps it is the food that motivates him!
Later in the morning, Madelyn, William and Mommy went to Katie and Safina's for a play date. Lots of little girls playing with William, the only boy. He was a great sharer and he hugged his friends goodbye.
William ate a lot today.
Breakfast: 1/2 cup protein shake or as he calls it, milkshake, and a bowl of cheerios.
Lunch: 1/2 peanut butter and nutella on wheat, 1/4 red peper, and a ton of grapes.
Dinner: chicken, rice, zucchini, red peppers, and a ton of strawberries.
He also had red peppers, rice crispy treats, strawberries, blueberries and cheese and crackers as snacks throughout the day.
William made "cookies" using the left over cookie dough from Laura's practice cookies. He rolled out the dough so much that it turned into a sticky mess. It kept him busy for quite a while, which was good since Mommy was soothing Madelyn to sleep for what turned out to be a 15 minute nap...ugh.
Madelyn is sleeping for 1/2 hour every 90 minutes after a good amount of soothing and it is wearing on Mommy. This is just a phase and eventually it will be over and on to the next one, but man, oh, man, it is exhausting. This week the plan is to figure out how to lengthen her naps!
ONE WEEK, ONE DAY UNTIL LAURA!
Today William, Madelyn and Mommy went to play at Katie and Safina's. It is always so fun there. The basement has a super cool kid area with a tunnel, pool of balls and a balance beam!
This was a last minute photo. Mommy forgot she had the camera! William is smiling extra hard and Safina is wondering, what are you doing?
Madelyn hanging out in her jumperoo while Mommy and William eat lunch.
William finding, cutting and gluing letter B's while Mommy makes dinner. You can see Madelyn in the background enjoying her activity gym.
Last night was rough for William and therefore Daddy too. Must have been all the sugar and activity yesterday. The day started late - it took awhile for everyone to get back into the swing of things. Mommy, William and Madelyn had a successful grocery shopping trip! It was simple and quick.
William and Madelyn had a duel doctor's appointment today. It was CRAAAZY! William DOES NOT like going AT ALL. William is average for his weight and in the 90th percentile for his height. Tall boy. Madelyn, well the doctor was rushing and didn't really talk about her measurements. She is 17 lbs. 6 oz. and 25.5 in. long. She is growing well. Four shots and one oral today. Poor baby!
After dinner William had Jell-O for the first time. He didn't like it much. He opted for the chocolate pudding instead. Thanks Nana!
Easter morning started with William searching for his basket. He had been practicing finding eggs last week, so he knew exactly what to do. After a few hints, because 8 o'clock was quickly approaching, he found it under his tower.
It was a mad rush, but everyone made it to church. Not early enough for seats though.
Next was brunch at Mimi and Papa's with Jessica and Chris. William found 16+ eggs all with yummy gold fish crackers inside.
Then he searched for his second Easter basket. Found it - in the bathtub! Madelyn slept through the wild hunt.
The loot!
Trying to get a nice sibling photo.
The best shot of William:
The best shot of Madelyn (minus the blur):
The best shot of the two of them:
The worst shot of the two of them:
And just too funny:
"Give me a piece of that Rice Crispy Egg, would ya?"
And the family photo.
Best:
Worst:
Dinner at Nana and George's.
William searches for yet another Easter basket. To be continued -- trying to upload video.
Madelyn, Mommy, Mimi, Jessica and Natalie had a girls morning out looking for bridesmaid dresses! The trip was successful - everyone agreed on a beautiful dress.
Daddy and William stayed home because they had work to do! They went to Home Depot, put down mulch, planted seeds, cleaned up wood and gave Duke a bath.
Peas are frost tolerant crops, so they are first in the garden. To Mommy's dismay, the seeds are coated with a pink fungicide. There was vigorous hand washing afterward.
Not sure who is having a worse time - William or Duke?
The whole family enjoyed lunch outside in William's play set.
Madelyn woke up from her nap when Mommy was cutting up chicken so she watched for a few minutes in the Bumbo while Mommy finished up.
The day ended with a Butwin family Black Eyed Peas dance party! BOOM, BOOM, POW!
William and Mommy had some quality time together while Madelyn was sleeping today. It was a sunny, but cool spring day - perfect for lunch on the deck. William had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a red pepper. The pepper (along with some corn and unrecognizable green stuff) came out later in a really nasty poop that Daddy took care of! He's been eating peppers for the last week. Not sure why all of a sudden they aren't being digested.
William soaked in some rays while swinging on his seesaw (which he loves saying), filling the bird feeder and checking on the progress of the peas and grapes.
