Madeleine at 10 Months

On Christmas Eve, one day before the official 10 month mark, Madeleine took her first steps while we were at my parents' home. She is so little to be walking, which makes it extra cute when she does. And only in 1-2 step spurts. When she gets bored of this, she likes to just flop right into the waiting receiver's arms. Either way, she loves the applause. She also loves to applaud others, especially if she sees other people applauding. And she often will "lead"music. Really. It is so cute.

Madeleine still has 4 teeth--I thought for sure there would be 5 by now, since you can see another bottom row tooth just beneath the surface, and she seemed to have a lot of pain associated with it.

Madeleine is a pooping machine. For example, today she had 4 such diapers. And that is totally normal for her. Considering how much she can eat, I suppose it makes sense, since I think she often eats at least as much as Avery or Abigail, plus breast milk.

Madeleine loves to bite me. Not so much when she is eating, but when she wants to tell me she loves me, or she is feeling neglected, or wants to be set down. Those 2 daggers on top and 2 on bottom make the most perfectly painful pinch on my thigh, my upper arm, the top of my foot, my chin...Sometimes I wear a jean jacket just because she can't bite me through it.
A few months ago, Andy gave a Family Night lesson about being a good example, what that means and how people learn by watching. As an experiment, he told the kids that if every family prayer we all folded our arms, Mattie would too, and it would be so cute. Well, that day arrived this month and it was SO cute. You can watch the short video below.
It's been a big month for her arms, as she also waves now. Tonight, she just kept waving at Andy across the room while he read to the kids. Very sweet.

Madeleine is very adept at mimicking words and intonation. Once it was "clever", another time it was "fold your arms." She also has done "Madeleine", "Papo", and "Sarah". Her pitch/intonation imitation is very accurate and funny, and when she tried to say the mouthful "Madeleine" I laughed out loud.
She loves to be outside, and can get there very quickly. She loves to swing. She likes cups and trying to drink from them. She even likes other people more than last month; 2 weeks ago she crawled over to my friend Becky and sat on her lap during church. I was stunned.
Madeleine is delightful and an extremely determined child. She is loved by all her siblings, as evidenced that each time she awakes from a nap, Abigail sings, "Hail to our princess!" repeatedly.
We love you Mattie!

Nutcracker

I love the pleasure and concentration evident in these photos. It was Christmas Eve Day and I needed pecans cracked and shelled for candied yams. I called out, "Who wants to make 50 cents cracking nuts?" thinking Warren or Abigail would respond. But it was sweet Avery who called out, "I do!" and walked right into the kitchen. I had my doubts, but I showed her how the nutcracker worked and she set herself to the task and stayed at it quite a while. She is such a doll lately, so sweet. On a related note, whenever I am mixing something for baking, Avery always helps, and she loves to surreptitiously "sample" whatever we are eating. Always one finger sneaking into the bowl.

Christmas Deconstructed

Abigail took about 15 ornaments off the tree today to play with them at the table. It seemed the perfect start to taking down the Christmas tree. So she spent part of the afternoon with me taking the ornaments off and sorting them by owner into boxes. I left for an afternoon sanity run since Andy was home from work--he's been going in at 5:30 am so he can come home early--and asked him to finish the ornaments and put away the tree.
Tonight as I put away the rest of the Christmas decor, I couldn't find a few items, like the tree skirt. I asked Andy about it, and he said, "The kids protested when I started taking the tree down, yelling 'Save Christmas' and carrying the top third of it into their bedroom."
Sure enough, there at the bottom of the closet was the tree skirt, and a few other items were tucked in their blanket basket. Ha ha ha.

The Stockings Were Hung...With Care

This is what our family room looked like after "Santa" visited our house. (And Aunts Nat and Sarah who pitched in with a little late night wrapping session--I love having sisters!)

This is what Andy foaun when he woke up about 7. Guess who got up early, checked out his lookt and then went back to bed?

Of course, no Christmas is complete without the Polar Bear Swim. I went in. Yikes, it was cold.

Christmas Fun

Go here for Christmas laughs involving my kids! Merry Christmas.

Friendly Beasts

Here is the follow-up to last week's post about the kids' Nativity roles requests. They all got their top choices. Even Avery as a monkey. But I suppose if you can get a picture with Santa Cow at Chick-fil-A then you can have a monkey in the Nativity, right? Madeleine even had some forced participation, as a sheep. I think the enjoyable part for her was eating the cotton balls off of the ears.

Believe

Abigail: "We believe in Jesus, Santa and the Tooth Fairy, right? Cuz they're the ones we need."

Hmm. Should I be concerned?

Happy 3rd Birthday Avery!

Dear Avery,
What a delight you are! I love being your mother. You are a firecracker--full of sparkle and energy, dazzling.

Your birthday display highlights some of the things you love. The books "Madeline" and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." You {exasperatedly} love how dad starts every book with you by saying, "I think this book is too scary." A boot from the set you wear in all sorts of weather, a bit a of a trademark for you. "Mary Poppins," your favorite movie, full of music you love to sing and to dance with. A baby picture of you in the swing, something you still adore and ask to do multiple times a day. Your Tinkerbell lunchbox; you remind me of her, flitting about from place to place, and a fiery spark along with your sweet personality. Your "Avery: The First 2 Years" book. You love reading it and looking at your pictures, and you got another book this year, all about your 3rd year. A box of Macaroni and Cheese--yum. A picture of you a year ago, with concern all over your face. You are more lighthearted now, but still very conscious of the underdog.

You asked for a tea party birthday, so we had Carolyn and Kate, & Payton and CJ over. You ate Cheetos--compliments of Warren--crackers and cheese and orange smiles, and apple juice, all on my China set. Then you each got to choose your own frosting colors and decorate mini-cupcakes. You wanted a "big, blue cupcake." Once I showed you a teapot cake to see if you would like that, and you reminded me that you wanted a "cupckae like the one [I] made for Tutu."

You keep me on my toes, always keeping me humble and realistic about my parenting abilities. You love to answer, with a mischievous grin, "I don't know" when I ask you, "Why do you think?" You don't love to stay in time-out, and you definitely don't have an "inside voice." You have a booming singing voice and great dance moves. You love to be naked, and cold doesn't seem to bother you. Bathtime is a favorite with you, as is a cup of water before each nap and bedtime. You love to help me mix and bake. You love to sample the batter or dough even more.
You have a twinkle in your eyes that melts me and a sincere heart that disarms me. You are every sibling's best friend.
I love you Avery.

Mom

Abigail's Dance Recital

Abigail loves to dance anywhere, especially on our rug at home and on our backyard stage. It is delightful to see the added grace that pre-school ballet class adds to her moves. She was so excited to wear make-up for the recital, by the way.

Nativity Role Requests

I asked my kids what they wanted to be in the Blake Family Nativity and this is what they said:

Warren: "I want to be Joseph" (his second choice would be a shepherd and his third choice would be an angel)

Abigail: "I want to be Mary" (her second choice would be an angel)

Avery: "I want to be monkey" (her second choice would be a monkey)

I included this picture since it illustrates the allure of the monkey. For Halloween, Avery had a really cute butterfly costume, very much like Abigail's, but in blue and purple. After wearing to to one party, taking off her wings, taking off her tutu, taking off her antennae--she only had her leotard on--we got home and she asked, "Mom, can I be a monkey?" I thought about what was in our costume bin, and said, "Yes." So we dug out the monkey costume and had a happy little monkey all night long. Avery flipped the long tail and loved it. Not to mention it was SO COLD that night and she stayed nice and warm.

Avery also asked me yesterday, "Tan I be a monkey when we do Chritmat Caroling?" (Can I be a monkey when we go Christmas caroling?) I told her yes.

(This is my neighbor with my kids; he was dressed as a redneck for Halloween, he is very respectable looking in real life :)

Generous Hearts

This picture is from last month, but it is such a happy memory, so I had to include it. Abigail is really in to having tea parties, and we spontaneously had one with Abigail and Avery's good friends. We used my real china and Abigail served crackers, carrots, pudding and apple juice, I think. The cute thing was that it was Kate's birthday, and Abigail didn't know that, just that it was close to her birthday. So, she made sure a candle was lit for her to blow out. When we found out it was her birthday, we turned on special "princess" music and we all sang to her. She loved it and they all loved it, even though they weren't all the center of attention.
This morning, Abigail couldn't find her lunch box, and without a moment of hesitation, Avery said, "Abigail, you can use mine." Actually, it sounded more like, "Abidail, you tan ude mine!" Avery emptied the whole thing out and sent it with Abigail. It was so sweet.

Laundry Gnome and Pretty Pilgrim

While moving laundry today, Madeleine and I discovered this forgotten hat. And now I have a laundry gnome. She really liked it and talked very excitedly to herself in the mirror for a long time.
Below is Abigail's pilgrim hat. It was embellished all over with drawings of red-cheeked pilgrims with broad-brimmed hats, rainbows, rain, sunshine, flowers, and striped in the back with pink and black.

Madeleine at 9 months

I love the moments when you really know your baby is communicating with you, interacting with you in a deliberate way. So naturally I was thrilled this month that Madeleine learned to clap. I think it came about because she stood up independently, and I clapped for her. She liked it so much, she began clapping, too. It's like talking to someone who speaks French and yet knowing your nonsense signing and pathetic French is somehow understood. Pure delight.

Madeleine finally got her top 2 teeth this month. It was a struggle, and she still bites me much more than any of the other kids have, so I think she still has more tooth-associated pain than any of the others did. She was pretty sick a few weeks ago, but seems to be over that now, and as a result, is generally napping better. Night time sleep is still not so great. Just ask Andy. (Andy--we love you!)

Madeleine has passed the "durability" test, since for some reason, all of her siblings try to carry her around now. This generally annoys her and terrifies me, but we have all survived. Yeah.

She crawls so quickly now. I still think it is the cutest movement ever--her little hips rotating as she scurries around--since none of my other children have been normal crawlers. She is getting better at standing independently and that makes me wonder if she will walk this month.

When Madeleine wants food and feels she is being forgotten, she lets me know by grunting/growling very urgently, usually accompanied by some form of spastic tensing. It is pretty funny. She likes pretty much anything we put in front of her, with the exception of whole green beans. I love that she wants to feed herself now, as it keeps her entertained and helps her coordination. Didn't God design us well?

Thankfully, Madeleine is warming up a bit to other people when they want to hold her. Truly, I think my dear father-in-law got to hold happy, non-newborn Madeleine for the first time just last week. She is more comfortable crawling away from us, like in Sunday School for example, where she heads right for the piano and reaches up to play it. She still loves the piano at home, and gets downright frustrated if I put her down when she is "playing." She loves to attack the books her siblings are reading.

Still not much hair, but the squeeziest body ever. I love to snuggle Madeleine. Her cheeks are so soft and kissable, and she has the friendliest thighs of my kids thus far. I think Warren summed her up best on Saturday. I was listening to a Christmas song that says, "One tiny child can change the world." Warren stopped playing video games, turned them off, walked over to me at the computer and said earnestly, "Mom, that's true that one tiny child can change the world." I agreed and asked how he knew that. He replied, "Well, Madeleine is a tiny child that has changed our world." Followed by a Big smile.

Madeleine at 7 and 8 Months

Of all my children, I probably have enjoyed Madeleine most as a baby. Not because she is the easiest--she isn't, or because she sleeps great--she doesn't, but because I have decided not to let this sweet time pass me by. I get told so often "how quickly they grow up" but I don't think I used to believe that when people said it like I do now. Funny then, that I go to get pictures of her for this entry, and I can't come up with anything. My hands are so full with so many other things, I just don't get the camera out as much as I used to, and I feel a little bad about that. Thankfully, we had some awesome family pics taken a few weeks ago, and when I get those, I will post them. That will be Madeleine's 8 month photo, this post only has pictures of her at 7 months (I missed posting about her at 7 months, so I'm doing both now).
The biggest development for Madeleine at 7 months (end of September) was that she learned to crawl! I don't remember seeing such a deliberate progression to crawling with my other children, but for Madeleine, it was so fun to see each progressive step. The very first time she crawled, the girls and I were all playing in Madeleine's room on the floor, so she had a full cheerleading section rhythmically chanting "Go Mattie go!" If only that video had survived my accidental delete on the camera. Madeleine mainly scoot crawls, like an inchworm, but she can also crawl traditional-style, and does so more than any of her siblings. Here are some pictures of that day that survived my accidental delete:
At 7 months, Madeleine also began saying "mamamama" and "dadadada" and I'm pretty sure she knows she is referring to us. I mean, why else would she know to call out for "dadadada" in the middle of the night, instead of "mamama" since it is always Andy who gets her at night when she is crying?
Also, for a short, beautiful few weeks, Madeleine returned to taking good naps (at least 2 times a day, at least 2 hours each time). She also seemed to like other people who aren't me and Andy a bit more for a few weeks, too. She is still breastfed but highly distractable, and there is always a distraction at our house. She loves solid food too, but still has no teeth to help her out. Poor kid, they've looked ready to burst through for at least a month now.
Madeleine is very "grabby"--she grabs anything she can. She pinches me a lot and is always finding some extra skin on me to grasp with her vice-grip. She continues to love to swing and gets excited to be pushed high.

At 8 months (end of October) Madeleine has learned to pull herself up to stand. She did it for the first time about 2.5 weeks ago. She now seems to prefer standing to sitting, whether she is being held or just alone on the ground. This month she finally got 2 teeth--the bottom center ones. The top ones look like they will follow soon. Teething has been really hard for Madeleine. It seems like with our other kids one day the teeth just popped up and were there. Not for Mattie. She feels them and we can see them for weeks before they finally break through. She has also had bad, lingering ear infections this month--the 4th diagnosed set, but I'm confident she has had more.

She is a very determined child, and lets us know when she is frustrated by crying very loudly and urgently. I actually think I've had some hearing damage from her crying in my ears. I told my aunt this--who has 6 children--and she affirmed my beliefs after holding unhappy Madeleine and saying, "She has the loudest cry I've ever heard." Generally, though, she is a very smiley, engaging child. She still loves mom and dad above anyone else, and doesn't like to be held by anyone else, but she sure loves other people from a distance. She loves to smile adoringly at people as soon as they have returned her back to her parents arms, or sometimes, just the floor. More about her determination: she loves to play the piano. If I carry her past it and she doesn't get to play, she protests by squirming and grunting. Each day when Abigail and I get our violins to practice, Madeleine is our biggest fan. She really likes to watch, and I'm sure if she could get the chance, to play. One day she woke up crying from a nap, and after trying "everything" Abigail unpacked her violin and took it in to play for Madeleine. It was a happy distraction. She is still very determined to hang on to anything she grabs.
Sometime this month, Madeleine stopped spitting up! This is a big deal, since she used to spit up a lot. All of our girls have, but the other ones quit at 6 months. She can now pick up food placed on her high chair tray and get it into her mouth. I think Madeleine weighs in at 18 lbs. 12 oz. he doesn't grunt very much anymore, but she loves to click. And last night, as Andy was carrying her out the door, she lunged for some bananas on the counter and said, "Nana!"

I mentioned Madeleine doesn't sleep very well. None of my kids were great at this at night, and it used to really bother me. Every time I heard about someone else's kid sleeping through the night, I'd feel like I was failing and not doing something right. So it was with great joy that Madeleine slept through the night back at 2 months. Then, she stopped. She got ear infections and it all went out the window. Now she wakes up around 11/12 and 4/5 each night. But it doesn't bother me much anymore. I mean, I'm sure I'm physically altered, but still not as much as with other kids. The difference? I decided it didn't really matter much to me. I stopped waiting for it to happen and just accepted what was happening and I became less tired, and more happy. I even have treasured a few (just a few, not most of them :) of those 11/12 times together--if I haven't gone to bed yet--as I've held her close and rocked her. She is so sweet to hold, even if she is scratching my neck to pieces as I do so. Sometimes I think she wakes up and just wants to be with me and Andy. She gives us her best smiles at night. So I've decided to think that is cute rather than be depressed about it--which I definitely have been with my other kids. It really has made a difference.

"The best night I ever sawn"--Abigail

After much delay and procrastination, and despite a load of unfilled Etsy orders and a really messy house, tonight we put up our Halloween decorations. My kids would say our "fall" decorations, and they are right, I am not much of a Halloween decorator. Luckily after they unloaded all the decorations onto the rug and found them lacking, Warren and Abigail decided to make their own "homemade decorations, the best kind," as Warren said knowingly. This is is pumpkin with chicken pox. (Really, that's what he said)

About 9:00, Warren got hungry and I had wanted chocolate chip cookies all day, so we turned on some Halloween music and made cookies. I let them eat at least 5 "dough balls" each. They relish the opportunities to pour, to stir, to crack eggs.

Pretty soon after we put the cookies in the oven, Warren fell asleep on the couch. Abigail, however was still going strong. She decorated the Thankful tree with all the paper leaves on hooks, and she was so starry-eyed over the whole thing, you'd have thought she was decorating the Christmas tree. Really, she was almost crying she was so happy. The whole night she kept saying things like, "This is the best night I ever sawn"; "This is the best night ever" (at least 6 times and even as she was cleaning); "Mom, I'm going to have to tell the Yuma cousins about this night" (me and the kids are going to Yuma tomorrow); "This night feels just like Halloween"; "This is the most perfect night ever." Really. I did not make any of those up. My favorite moment was, "I'm happy with the way I am. I bet you're happy with the way you are, too, Mom. (Pause) Because that's the way God made us."

She made me this heart and said it was the best heart she had ever made. This picture pretty much captures the night for her--full of love and homemade fun. At the end of all the moving stuff around on the shelves to make room for the Fall decor, a plaque I made that reads "A home of peace, righteousness, spirituality, fun and laughter" was lying on the couch, homeless. Abigail found it and placed it on the mantel, right in the center (but not until after I had taken the picture below.) She didn't know what it said, but it had special meaning for me, like a "They lived happily ever after" at the end of a story.

THE END

Family Pictures

It's that time of year again--family picture time. Now I know this is a phrase that often causes more cringing than smiling, but not at our house. My dear friend Tiffany has done our photos for two years now, and she is so acommodating and open to ideas and delightful. Like today, I brought along violins, childrens books, a chapter book, paper airplanes and dancing clothes to use in our photographs. I wanted them to really reflect what life is like for our family right now--what we spend our together time doing. So for 2.5 hours Abigail and I practiced violin, Andy read to Avery, Warren threw paper airplanes, Madeleine crawled in the grass, Abigail danced around the landscaping, Warren and I read our chapter book together, all while Tiffany took pictures. It was mostly fun--like living our everyday life, but with a better background (we went to the MAC since it is so close to our house and has special ties to Mesa for us, which I like.)
Warren actually had the idea for this picture, and asked if he could hug me for it. I love that, and I love that to me it signifies a good step forward in our relationship as of late. I have really tried to make more "deposits" in Warren's account than "withdrawals", and I have had more joyful, sweet moments with him as a result. To me, this picture personifies that.
Afterward, on Abigail's suggestion and a family vote, we went to Organ Stop Pizza. The kids all loved it--even Madeleine--and they played Andy's request of "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", which is the current favorite of my kids. It was a night of fun memories.

(If you want Tiffany to do your photos, email her here: tiffanyannphotography@live.com)

Paper Dreams Taking Flight

3 weeks and 4 days ago Warren came home from school with a new interest; no, that word is not strong enough. Maybe fascination, passion or life's purpose is more appropriate. Paper airplanes. We immediately went to the library, where we checked out 3 books on the subject. Truthfully, he didn't do many of the designs in the book, but he loves to look at them, make the same few models over and over again, occasionally try a new one from a book, or make up his own. Watching this process is like watching a step-by-step tutorial on how to develop creativity: start with the basics--the things everyone knows, and do them over and over again. Then when your mind is free from having to think about the basics, the creativity flows. All of these "creations" are taped to Warren's headboard, where, I imagine, he dreams about paper airplanes at night.
He likes them so much that 2. weeks ago, he bought a ream of paper with his money. I saw it tonight, and I think only about 1/3 of it is left. Then when you add in all the paper he uses at school--he has brought home 3 bags FULL this week--you begin to get an idea of how much he loves paper airplanes. His second purchase was a paper airplane book from Amazon.com. I'm grateful that he has something worthwhile to spend his money on--as opposed to the Dollar store. And we are learning about basic principles of flight. And it really is fun to throw paper airplanes, and even more fun to see his face light up as they take flight, a vision in his mind, now soaring through the air.

In other Warren-related news, last week he spontaneously challenged Andy to "race him reading the Book of Mormon." He delightedly commented, "Yeah dad, I am so going to beat you, because I could read at recess, at reading time, at school, at night and you have to work all day!" Well, he has yet to read at school--it's pretty complicated reading for an almost 6.5 year old to do alone and silently--but we read together every night. He reads a verse, and then I read four. He loves that multiplier, and thinks he is getting the best of me when he reads 4 verses and I "have to" read 16. I think I really get the best deal of all: a time each night to practice reading, snuggle close and share my testimony. Another paper dream taking flight.