Daddy Daughter Date

While I attended the General Relief Society Broadcast (with Madison), Jason and Callie had a daddy daughter date.

 

First stop: Target for a HUGE bag of Smarties (Callie's favorite candy). It was raining, so they both got wet.

  

 Next stop: Whataburger to pick up dinner (Callie fell asleep on the way). Callie got her very own meal with chicken, her "owm cries" (own fries), her "owm ketchup", chocolate milk, and a "coo-ckie".

 

Last stop: Home to eat a candlelit dinner. Callie got to eat in a big chair at the table instead of in her highchair.

Callie talked about her date with Daddy for days! Last week we went to Target as a family. As we drove up to the store, Callie said, "Daddy date!" A couple of days ago we got Whataburger for dinner. When we got home, Callie insisted on getting out the candles again and sitting at the table.

Half a Year

Madison is 6 months old! I guess the past couple weeks have gone by really fast, because I've been thinking she was 5 1/2 months old, but this morning I looked at the date and realized she's 6 months today! 

This little smile melts my heart.

She has seemed so grown up lately. More like a baby and less like an infant. She follows Callie's every move. She's less entertained by the little baby toys and is more interested in everything else. 

She's very very attached to me and she knows that I'm the one who knows what she wants and needs. When Daddy is holding her while I'm making dinner and she's upset about something, she leans around Daddy and the big rocking chair so she can cry right to me. Even if she calms down and gets distracted, the second she sees me walk past or look at her, she'll cry at me. Jason thinks she doesn't like him. I keep trying to tell him that it's because he's home during her cranky time--nighttime. 

After a couple weeks of enduring the rice cereal, we switched to oatmeal, which she very much prefers. Her eating is evolving. Her mouth is starting to do different things, trying to figure out how to deal with solids. She likes to stick out her tongue sometimes when I try to feed her. It's hilarious. I tried to get a picture, but failed. 

She's got a new trick up her sleeve. You may or may not be able to tell in the picture, but she can balance on three limbs instead of 4. She uses this trick when trying to look up to see what I'm doing, to use one hand to play with something, or just to pose and look cute (as pictured).

I know she still looks pretty bald, but her hair is growing longer. It's really light and thin. In case you've forgotten what Callie looked like at 6 months, here she is below on the left (notice how much more hair Callie had--and those little puckered lips). I just still think it's so crazy that they look so different. They both came from Jason and I and they're wearing the same clothes (not in the picture, but in general). Shouldn't they be twins? But they most certainly are not.

Here's a picture of me at 6 months.

I know I'm pulling a funny face, but who do you think looks more like me?

Maddie the Inch Worm

Madison has become quite proficient with her current mode of transportation: the inch worm scoot. She can get where she wants to go in a decent amount of time. I usually put her down to play in our living room, but her adventures of late have taken her to the hallway, the dining room, and the kitchen.

She loves to be a part of the action, especially when Big Sister is doing something. It's pretty funny to watch the two girls interact. Maddie likes to go after things like piles of shoes or toys that Callie has set up in a certain way, and Callie always jumps to the scene to take things away. Sometimes this is a good thing, but we're really trying to get Callie to understand that all of the sudden, the toys in our house now also belong to Madison. It's a difficult concept to grasp.

Callie (C) seems to have made her own rules for Madison's (M) toy allowance. They are as follows:

1. M may never, ever, play with toys that Callie is currently playing with. Parallel play only.

2. On RARE occasions, M may play with particular baby dolls as C sees fit, but NEVER Heavy Baby.

3. M may NEVER EVER touch, play with, or even get too close to C's special blankie. 

4. M may play with Minnie Mouse.

5. M may play with the Little people when C allows, but not the school bus.

6. M may play with the xylophone dog, but not with her robotic dog toys (they bark, move, and walk).

7. M may play with any "baby" toys as long as Heavy Baby isn't currently playing with them.

8. M may not play with non-toy items such as shoes, door stops, etc., but she may play with pillows.

It's pretty entertaining.

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

                                    
Last week, Callie woke up at 4:00 am one morning. When I opened her door she said "buggies getting me." I started searching the bed for bugs but Callie said, "buggies all gone." Then she went back to sleep without much trouble. Last night, Jason put her to bed and apparently she was afraid of the buggies getting her, so he put her big dog pillow pet on top of her to scare them away (as pictured above). Afterward, he told me about her being scared about the bugs and said, "maybe I should stop saying 'don't let the bed bugs bite' when I tuck her in. That's probably what's scaring her."

My Little Mockingbird

Earlier today, I was feeding Madison in the dining room. As she frequently does, Callie wanted to do the same thing with Heavy Baby. She put her in her high chair with a tray and pretended to feed her cereal. As I was feeding Madison, talking to her and trying to keep her attention, I realized Callie was copying everything I was saying, word for word, right after I said it. She's my mini-me. She's my little mockingbird.

Haunted

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but there are particular smells, feels, and tastes that bring back memories of being so nauseated during pregnancies. I spent most of last fall pregnant and very nauseous. I was driving Jason to work/school most mornings and I was also taking walks or playing basketball in the mornings. I remember, all too clearly, walking out of the house in the cool morning air, feeling quite sick. Also, the days when I left the house  to go grocery shopping or whatnot, having just put on my make-up, I would walk out of the house and feel sickened when I smelled the combination of fresh air and my fresh make-up (specifically my foundation).

Lately, as the temperature has started dropping, I am haunted by the memories of feeling so sick when I feel the cool morning air and/or smell my fresh make-up. It's really grossing me out...It also makes me sad because I am loving the cooler temperatures and love fall, but I'm having a hard time getting past the memories of awfulness so that I can actually enjoy it. 

Does anyone else have those issues?