Day Trip with Daddy

Daddy had Monday off (yay federal employee!) this week, so we loaded the girls up for a drive to Guadalupe State Park, about 45 minutes north of us. The weather was beautiful, but COLD. We took a picnic and had planned on enjoying a nice lunch, playing on the playground, and hiking along the river, but once we got there and felt the wind blowing, our plans changed. Claire played for about ten minutes before deciding the metal slide was just a little bit too uncomfortable, so we unloaded the food and found a table as much out of the wind as possible. None of us wanted to sit on the metal benches, so we stood around, gobbled up the food, watched the most impatient fisherman ever, and booked it back to the car. When we got home C started saying she wasn't feeling well, and by bedtime was running a fever. And now she's been home sick all week! We went to the doctor this morning and learned that she has an ear infection and possibly the early stages of pink eye and croup. I know being out in the wind didn't cause this bug, but it certainly isn't helping my mommy guilt!

Where's Claire?

J went to wake Claire up from her nap the other day and discovered an empty bed! This is where she decided to sleep instead:

She was so confused when she woke up, and when we asked her why she was sleeping there, she said that she wanted to play at her table but then got tired. I don't know why she decided a metal bar would be more comfortable than a pillow.

Dance Class

Here are some pictures from dance class a few weeks ago. There's only one window into the classroom, so these are the best I could get.....

They were practicing walking "heel-toe". Now C does this all over the house.

The first part of ballet is a free expression time. I think they were dancing like elephants here.

The second half of class is in the gym. They were running and galloping as their warm up.

I love that ponytail.

Claire's still having so much fun in her class. She starts whining as soon as it's over because she wants to stay longer, and every morning she asks me if it's dance class day. Thank goodness this class goes until June, followed quickly by the summer camps!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2-Month Stats

Three shots and an oral vaccine later, and we're finally home from Madeleine's doctor's appointment. Here are her stats:

Weight: 9 lbs, 14 oz--50% percentile
Height: 22 1/2 in--50% percentile
Head Circumference: 25% percentile

Madeleine is Two Months Old!

Today is Madeleine's 2-month birthday! It's so hard to believe she's already this old. Time is flying by so fast!

Here's what M's been up to lately:

Growing! According to the Wii, she's just about 11 pounds. (Yes, she has a Mii, and it's hilarious.) We'll go to the doctor tomorrow for an official weight and percentiles. (And shots...) Newborn-sized clothes are too small for her now, and with her length, I won't be surprised if she's out of 0-3 sometime soon. She's also in a size 1 diaper, and the cutest little fat rolls on her thighs.
Diaper rash! We've been battling a monster diaper rash for the last couple of weeks. I'm doing everything I know to do, using every product I know to use (even one from Europe), but it's still there. Anyone have any ideas on this?
Smiling! M's a super smiler in the mornings and during diaper changes (which doesn't make sense with the rash), but she definitely makes you work for it.
Cooing! (Well, some.) The grunting is just about all gone, except for very early in the morning. She's working on figuring out how to coo and is getting better at it every day.
Colic! We avoided this with Claire, but M's proving to be more difficult. Just about every night at 9PM, she starts crying. And crying. And crying. I've figured out that fast rocking in the rocking chair, with the hair dryer on high, does the trick. If I can get her to sleep for about 15 or 20 min, she'll wake up happy. Or at least not crying. It's been rough, nonetheless.
Sleeping! She's sleeping for longer and longer stretches at night, and mostly in her own bed now. Just this last week she started sleeping from 10:30 or 11 until 3:30 or 4, which is so nice for Mommy! She also has a nice awake time every morning and afternoon, with a long nap in between, as long as Big Sister's schedule doesn't get in the way.

Birthday Parties!!

We've been busy these last couple of weekends with birthday parties! We first drove to Houston to celebrate Nolan's FIRST birthday!! It was the longest Madeleine's ever been in the car, and she luckily slept the entire time on both drives. We drove in on Friday afternoon, ate dinner, and crashed at the hotel. We stayed at a Homewood Suites, and J and I agreed that the next time we need to stay in a hotel, we will insist on this one. It has a full kitchen and living area in one part and a large bedroom and bathroom in the next part. But here's the kicker. There's a DOOR in between. So we could put children to sleep and watch tv! Or read on the couch with the light on, instead of on the bathroom floor with a book light! It was glorious! We woke up leisurely on Saturday (or as leisurely as one can expect with a 3-year old and 7 week old), then headed to the carnival! Claire and Nathan were so happy to see each other, and I was so happy to see my friends! All the kids had a great time playing the games Kellie had worked so hard to make. Claire's favorites were the bean bag toss (that girl has an arm), the water balloon toss, and the duck pond. C didn't get that you were just supposed to reach in with your hand to get a duck--she insisted on bobbing for them. After the party was over, all 4 families had dinner at a burger place with an arcade. I think the dads had more fun playing than the kids, but Claire, Nathan, and Brady really showed their stuff on the Dance Dance Revolution. We were so sad to have to say goodbye, and drove back home on Sunday.

The whole gang together again!! (Thanks for letting me steal this from your blog, Kelley!)

Time for cake

Bobbing
Success!
Waterballoons
There were even rides!
The little couple
They love to sit by the fireplace together.

And Madeleine slept through the whole thing."Dancing"

This past Saturday, Claire and I ventured out to another birthday party for a friend in her class. This was a princess party, and it was so cute to see all the little girls in their dresses. The parents even hired a make up and hair lady to come out to finish everyone's princess look. (C of course wanted nothing to do with it.) Honey stayed home with Madeleine for this party, and it was nice to give C a bit of one-on-one attention.

Peekaboo!

Just popping in....J's finally home after traveling on and off for the last 3 weeks, so there should be some new posts coming soon! We've had birthday parties, a trip to Houston and dance classes to keep us entertained. Stay tuned!