1-year check up

We got to go to the doctor today. I say "got to" because we were excited to see how Madi measured up against the norm after a year. Our nurse and the doctor couldn't believe how big Madi was, "never tell she was a preemie!" I love to hear those words after so many months of having to explain to people why Madi wasn't doing what they thought someone her age should. Not anymore, Madi hit every developmental check the doc had. Sleeping, self-feeding, crawling, cruising, waving, first words, sippy cup...all checkmarks. We need to work on being bottle-free by 15 months. We can switch formula for whole milk. Madi could slow down on motor skill advancements as her language skills develop so we're not to worry. Here are the stats:
Weight:  20lbs. 33%
Height:  29" 48%
Head:  18.4" 90%
Still has a big noggin!

After all the fun and chit-chat Madi had to get her vaccinations. Today was hep A, MMR and chicken pox. We got a little opinion from the doc on the last two. We are to thank all our friends that don't vaccinate as mumps and pox are becoming mainstream again. Northern Indiana and northwestern Indiana have continually had outbreaks of both. Yikes. I haven't researched the why-not-to in order to form an opinion, just sharing our doctor's.

We're loaded up and headed to Marshall for Madi's birthday party tomorrow. Looking forward to celebrating an answer to prayer and attempting to repay friends and family for their generosity last year.

Stay tuned for birthday pics!

so darn cute!

You already saw some of the pictures taken the same day as these but I couldn't pass up the chance to share them too. Anything shiny grabs Madi's attention and she loves exploring so it didn't take long for her to start wandering around the boat.

And then we played with the box:

Then she crawled to the back door and pulled herself up. She LOVES to stand there and look outside. The other day Dan was working right outside the door and Madi crawled over to watch and jibber-jabber with him.

NICU reunion

Saturday was the annual NICU reunion for St. Vincent Women's. Wow, what a production. I was expecting a cute little get together in one of the park's shelters, maybe a hospital spokesperson would say a few words and then everyone would chit-chat about their past year. Boy was I wrong! It was a mini-carnival. There was face painting, pony rides, rock climbing wall, bounce houses (plural), lasso the steer, topple the bottles and a car merry-go-round. There was even more that we didn't ever get to - it was huge! And busy. There were people everywhere. I was amazed how many families found themselves in the NICU...and this is just one hospital's graduates. When we pulled up I was nervous we'd never find any of our staff. But we did. Dr. Pyle, Dr. Ben Saad, Nurse Sarah, Nurse Alex, Nurse Ashley, Nurse Shelley and Dot were all there. It was so nice to see them again, better circumstances this time. All were amazed at how well Madi was doing. The docs joked that they didn't need to see us except at the reunion picnic. Of course that's always our hope but should we find ourselves in the same situation I know what hospital we will be going to, no question. The timing of the reunion couldn't have been better for us. Or maybe it could have. The reunion kicked off the week everything started happening for us last year.

As of about noon today it was exactly one year ago that we walked into Carmel St. Vincent so the doctor on call could make sure everything was okay. "It sounds like everything's fine but since I'm just up the road from you, why don't you come on in to confirm." was the conversation I had on the phone with Dr. Moore. He was the only doctor in the practice we hadn't met with yet. What an introduction it turned out to be!

learning to pull up

I pieced this together from some pictures I took the other morning. Madi pulled herself up on a box we had sitting in the living room. She's getting quite independent!

Yesterday she didn't want to eat much and she's been grumpy the past couple nights. During dinner last night I discovered why - MADI HAS TEETH!! Her bottom two teeth had broken through during the day. It's way too small for the camera to pick up so you'll just have to trust me and wait for picture proof. I couldn't find her sippy cup and she was grunting for something to drink so I grabbed one of our juice glasses. Madi does real well drinking out of a regular cup but sometimes still tries to suck on the rim. She did that twice, right in a row, and I heard something *clink.* I pulled down her bottom lip...Ta Da - teeth! They do exist!
    (some micro-preemies don't develop baby teeth so Mama was getting a little concerned)
The arrival of these pearly whites explains the recent grumpiness. Sorry Madi, we should've realized. I'd like to say she slept much better last night but not really. She and Dad hung out for about an hour around 4:30a. So far this morning she's grins and giggles.

First day of daycare

Just a few minutes ago I dropped Madi off for her first day of daycare. As you can tell from the picture, Madi wasn’t worried about a thing. “Ah, pretty necklace Mom.” I know she’ll do great, it’s me I’m worried about! Here’s to hoping it’s a busy day at work so time flies by.

crab crawl

I'm not sure exactly what to call it but Madi's crawling style has changed. She kicks out one leg so she's on one knee and the other foot is on the ground. It looks kinda like a crab so that's what I'll call it. She has been in such a good mood this morning, jibber jabbering and squealing.

One of those days...

Remember the movie Click? Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) is slave to a workaholic boss and on a late night trip to Bed Bath & Beyond meets a crazy store clerk named Morty (Christopher Walken). Morty gives Michael the ultimate remote - it fast forwards, pauses and rewinds life. Well, if today doesn’t get any better you can find me at the Carmel Bed Bath & Beyond later tonight looking for an employee named Morty.

Last night I had some time away from Madi. While we needed some groceries I said screw it, I’m doing what I want to do. That’s pretty tough on a Sunday night when most retail stores close at 6p or 7p and movie times have already come and gone. I figured I’d pick up groceries today after work on my way home since our nanny stays until 6p. After a fitful night on the floor because my back was bothering me, Madi wakes up ready to conquer the world at 6:30a. That or she had to poop and didn’t want to do it alone. 6:45a horrid smell reaches my nostrils. Good thing I changed her right away because had Madi decided to put any weight on that diaper it would’ve exploded. Poop was everywhere, maxed out the elastic on the diaper. No big deal, poop happens. Once she has clean britches on it’s about time to start getting ready for work. Bring her into our bathroom and start getting ready. 7:20a phone rings, nanny can’t come today because she’s sick. Wonderful. I have a big project to get out the door at work, have to go in. Call Nana & Papa, they can watch Madi until around noon. Crisis averted. Guess I should’ve gone grocery shopping last night instead of playing hookie as I no longer have a nanny until 6p so I can swing by the store on my way home. [slap palm on forehead] 7:40a pass Madi off to Dan so I can finish getting ready for work and pack up Madi. Load Madi and a few things into the car, head to Nana & Papa’s. 8a get to Nana & Papa’s and realize I brought Madi’s food but no bottle. They graciously offer to swing by our house to pick one up, thank you! 8:15a head to work. Guess what, construction on Keystone has moved all ramps to 465 and where I thought I needed to be was wrong. Do a u-turn in the median, get honked at, start back in the right direction. 8:30a arrive at work and it dawns on me that I also forgot to pack extra formula, call Nana & Papa. Smile and “good morning” to coworkers on the way in when all I really want to do is scream or cry. What a lousy morning. 8:35a begin reading emails from the weekend. Highlight a few, Shift+Delete to permanently delete ones I don’t need. Read a few more. Shift+Delete. Panic when I see my entire Inbox get wiped out.     Entire…Inbox…Gone.

The only lesson I can come up with for today is that I should’ve been responsible last night and gone grocery shopping but I don’t agree with that lesson so if I had a life remote it would definitely be on rewind right now. Definitely.

By the way, you can’t recover deleted items that have been shift+deleted. Better hope you have a good IT disaster recovery plan in place that archives your email. AND an IT manager with a sense of humor when you explain what happened.  J