11 Month Pictures

Ready for bed
Always being silly!

I was really late posting Madison's 11 month "letter". Finally got around to it, but forgot to post the pictures.

Sick Babies Learn New Tricks

Last Tuesday night, I slept about 45 minutes. It was so strange to me that Madison didn't sleep well at all during the night. I expected to get a call Wednesday from daycare that she wasn't feeling well, but they never called. However, by Wednesday evening she had started with pretty severe cold symptoms. She didn't sleep well again Wednesday night - I was up with her just about every hour or so. By Thursday morning, I wasn't feeling well either. I decided it would be best to call in Grandma! Thank goodness my mom was able to come and take care of both of us.

I called the doctor to let her know that Madison had been exposed to RSV at daycare and that she was showing symptoms. The doctor said that it probably was RSV, and to let them know if her symptoms worsened. We went back to Man with my mom Thursday night and came home Friday evening. By Saturday, Madison's fever started to rise higher. Her breathing was more rapid and she just seemed so tired. She had taken such a small amount of liquids and just seemed so out of it that we decided it would be best to take her on to the emergency room.

Once there, we did a lot of waiting and then poor little Madison had to go through so much - a nose swab, some blood tests, a chest X-ray, a catheter, and an IV of fluids. The tests confirmed that Madison does have RSV. She also has an ear infection. We got home at about 2am. Madison seemed to perk up a bit after getting the fluids - she was beginning to get dehydrated.

The next few days, she's been on the mend. Grandma Peggy and Aunt Jennifer stayed with us Sunday night and went to Madison's follow-up appointment with us Monday. They stayed an extra night to take care of Madison on Tuesday so I could get back to work. Madison was able to go back to daycare on Wednesday. She seemed happy to be back!

Somehow, despite being sick, our baby girl learned a few new tricks. Madison is now crawling - really crawling. She had been army crawling for so long that we thought she was just more comfortable doing it that way. While at my parents' house in Man on Friday, she started crawling using her knees and elbows (with her belly off the ground). After a short time, she finally got the hang of it and pushed up to her hands. We are so proud of her! She is also pulling up on everything with little trouble. She's getting so much stronger!

11 Months

Madison,

You are 11 months old! Overall, the last month has been a great one for you!

You now have 8 teeth (four on the top and four on the bottom). We adore your smile - and you show it to us so often! You are such a smiley baby! I hope you are always as happy and smiley as you are now. Your smile is so beautiful, and we can't help but to smile every single time you do.

You stopped crawling army-style and started crawling with your belly off the ground. I was so surprised! I was beginning to think you would just crawl army-style until you were ready to walk. I love watching you crawl! I don't even mind chasing you all over the place!

You started pulling up this month. At the beginning of your 11th month, you started pulling up on your bouncy seat and on the blocks at daycare. After a short time, you were pulling up on just about everything. You've even started cruising a bit! We are so proud of you! You are pretty proud of you, too! When you started pulling up, we would yell "yay!", and you would yell back to us. You are so funny!

You are babbling so much now. You also say mama, dada, cat (you started with kitty, but traded it in for cat), no, stop, done (and, sometimes, "ah done"), bye-bye. We also think you are trying to say duck. You've been calling Daddy "Matt". I'm sure this is completely my fault. After you started repeating "Matt" when I called out to him to come help me with something, I realized I probably need to always refer to him as "Daddy" in front of you. You're still calling him "Matt", but I'm hoping it will pass quickly.

Your new favorite thing is dancing. You've always loved music, but now you bounce and tap your feet with the beat. You love it when we sing to you, and we do very often! Your new favorite song is "Barbara Ann". After we sing it a few times, you chime in with "Ba Ba Ba". We get so tickled!

Your favorite toys this month are your Elmo (the one the blows kisses), your new puppy from Aunt Patty, and your musical table. One morning, we even took Elmo along for the car ride to daycare. You just didn't even want to leave him behind. You cuddled with him in the car until you fell asleep.

This is the last month you'll be a baby. Next month, you'll officially be a toddler. We still can't believe how quickly the time passes!