Talkie McTalkerson

Maggie, Zac and B-Dog after our morning walk with the new buggy.

Magnolia has a lot to say lately. Her new thing is chatting it up with anyone who will listen. She's definitely got the range of vowel sounds down, and she's working on her pitch too. It's so nice to hear her little voice. We had a very serious conversation this morning about the painful gas she's been having--"it's very frustrating," is what she had to say about that.

A walk in her new stroller helped her forget about her upset tummy though. She seems to enjoy it as much as her sling. Daddy is also SUPER excited about the new stroller/buggy. It's got conversion kits to become a jogger, cross-country skier, hiker and of course a bike trailer. All the components just pop right in and attach to the buggy when they aren't being used. This will be very convenient when we bike down to the market and switch from the bike trailer to the stroller. Zac is giddy thinking about all the outdoor activities him and Maggie are going to be doing soon.

Maggie had her second visit to her school on Friday, and everything went well again. Grandma Tara went with me to drop her off, and had some trouble leaving her. Chris asked me if she (Grandma Tara) was alright when I came back to pick up Maggie. Apparently she had a harder time leaving her little grand baby then most of the moms in the class had leaving their own babies, including myself. When I arrived to pick Maggie up, one of the student staff was taking Maggie on a little walk in the stroller. Maggie was very content getting a little walk--just looking around checking out her new school. A little too much electric blue and construction orange for her liking though.

This week Maggie will be going on her first vacation. Zac and her are joining me in Sun Valley for an annual conference I attend. I'm actually president of the early childhood subdivision, so not attending wasn't really an option. We have a room in the Inn, and Zac and Maggie are going to go on lots of walks, visit the swans, maybe do some shopping in Ketchum, have some coffee at Tully's and come back every so often so I can breastfeed between sessions and meetings. It should be fun. I'll definitely get some pictures taken for the blog. So keep checking back!

2 Months Old Today!

Happy 2 month birthday today Magnolia!
If you can't tell, she's usually in her pajamas for smiling pictures--mornings are just her super happy time.

Just this morning Maggie got a simple rattle to her mouth to suck on it!

Our little Vandal!

Our little girl is two months old today. She's already doing lots of two month old things. She's visually scanning her environment now, she's bringing a simple toy to her mouth to suck on it when it's placed in her hand and she's calming down when she hears mommy and daddy's voices (for a moment anyways). She's rolled from her stomach to back one time, she's starting to push up her head and chest when in prone (on stomach), she's said "ga" once, and when she cries you can hear the "m" sound.

I'm sure she just loves having a child development specialist mommy.

We go into see Dr. Ally today for her two month check-up, so we'll be checking her weight, height and how our new diet is doing (it seems to be helping her a lot)--we'll keep everyone updated.

Maggie Goes to School

Maggie, Mommy and one of Maggie's new friends at school.

Today Maggie went into school for a couple hours for our first trial run at me being able to leave her (she's only been left with her Grandmas and Auntie Sara so far). I have to admit, I was getting a little emotional this morning thinking about it, but as soon as we got there Chris made it pretty easy for me.

Chris and Kim believe in getting the children outside everyday, so they went on a walk after I left. Apparently Miss Maggie fell right asleep in the stroller. All bundled up in her blanket. She also took a bottle just fine for Chris. When I got there she did a nice "welcome back mommy poop" for me. She was as happy as ever while I changed her diaper--I think she's going to do just great at school!

Happy Maggie!!

"I'm getting SO big!"

"I love my doudou and sticking my tongue out at Mommy. And yes, I woke up with a mowhawk."

"Here's my dog and I working on our yoga poses--always do yoga with your dog!"

Maggie has lots of reasons to be happy today. This weekend her and mommy hit up the Hyde Park Street Fair to listen to some good music, visit with people, and do some shopping from "green" vendors. The HPSF is an event put on by the Northend Neighborhood Association. When Maggie's a bit older she'll be able to participate in the activities they have set up for children as a fundraiser for Giraffe Laugh, a non-profit childcare program. It's events like this that remind us why we live in the Northend--the community feel, all the families that value getting outside with their children, everything within walking and biking distance, and more.

Daddy is home after being gone for four days, and he's taking a "stay at home day" to be with Maggie (also very nice for mommy!). Zac was in Couer d' Alene for work, and then caught the Vandal game on Saturday with Sara, Brad, Hailey and some other friends.

We've really noticed Maggie is starting to take in more visually the last few days as well. She is always looking around now, and searching for our faces. As soon as she sees us, she usually sticks out her tongue to initiate our little copy game. Last night she was even imitating my mouth movements as I spoke to her. It was so funny--it was as if she was having a little silent conversation with me.

Last but not least, Maggie got all stocked up on some more super cute Vandal gear from Auntie Hailey. Auntie Sara even got her some Vandal socks. She's set now for football season!

Auntie Hailey turned 22 years old yesterday!! We hope you had a fabulous birthday Auntie Hailey.

Go Vandals!!

Tummy Time!

Looking from side to side during her tummy time. We used to get her to fall asleep so fast when we put her on her tummy. Now she just wants to look around.

I don't think Zac's going to be too happy about me posting this picture, but it was too cute--they love to sleep in together on the weekends.

So Maggie, being a Vandal baby and all, had a great weekend. The Vandals won their game--by more than the 3 point spread!! We figured since the last two seasons started out well in the opening games (and ended very poorly), with this one starting out so horribly with the game against Arizona we might finish a little better this year.
Maggie got all dressed up in her Vandal gear--she looked very cute. Uncle Brad has a picture of her and Auntie Sara in their Vandal gear, and as soon as he e-mails it to me I'll get it posted.

On Saturday we did an infant massage class. One of the physical therapists with my program is now trained in teaching infant massage, so we decided we'd go ahead and try it to see if it helps Maggie, especially when her tummy hurts. Maggie seemed to really enjoy it. We've been practicing at home, and I think she likes getting her feet massaged the most.

Next week Maggie will start making a few visits to her classroom. Although it's already making me a little sad to think about leaving her, I know that it's going to be a great place for her. Chris and Kim came and did their home visit last week, and they both seemed very excited to have Miss Maggie in their classroom.


On a special note: Chris is being awarded the Early Childhood Excellence Award for the work she's done with our program from the Division of Early Childhood (DEC), a professional organization for early childhood special educators.

Congrats Chris!!

Maggie's Morning

All full of smiles first thing in the morning.

A little more serious now.

Now it's time to cuddle with doudou and suck on her paci!

Of Course Our Child Would Have Allergies!

Mommy and Maggie's story time. She's loves listening to her books. I told Zac it was worth it to read to my pregnant stomach for all those months.

Maggie's new favorite hold. It makes her tummy feel so good!

Well, since my last post, we've had some new surprises from Miss Maggie. On Thursday we went to go meet her daddy for lunch at the park, and while changing her diaper I noticed there was some blood in her stool. We called into her pediatrician, and of course they had us come right in. On Monday, Dr. Ally had mentioned to me that if the reflux medicine didn't seem to work, as a last resort we would check one of her stools for blood to look for a possible milk protein allergy. I didn't think too much about it, because she told me it was very rare that this is the case, especially with breastfed babies. So after our second visit of the week to the pediatrician, I'm on a no milk protein (which means a lot more than just not eating dairy products) and a no soy diet. No soy because 30-60% of babies with milk protein allergies are also allergic to soy. This of course is all in an attempt to keep breastfeeding, which is supposed to be the best option for helping babies NOT develop food allergies--ahh, fun times!

Anyways, I'm trying to remain very calm and positive about the whole situation. I'm just hoping we can get it all resolved so she can feel better. I guess it takes about two to three weeks for us to get the milk proteins out of our bodies. I guess one positive is that eliminating this many things from my diet has to help me loose the baby weight a little faster:)

Onto other topics, it's Uncle Brad's birthday today. Maggie wishes Uncle Brad a very happy birthday. It's also football season, so Maggie got all dressed up in her Vandal gear yesterday. Of course being the dedicated alumni/real fans of our college football team we listened to the un-televised game on the radio. I don't really feel like commenting on it much though.

Well, that's all for now. I'll keep everyone posted on my new diet (did I mention Zac's doing it as well--he's so supportive) and Maggie's allergy recovery in the next post.

Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!!