Week Twenty-Nine

• Rode on an airplane for the first time.  She did pretty well for her first trip...there was a little screaming, some laughing, blowing raspberries all over the other passengers, knocking over a cup of ice on another passenger, smiling, and some sleeping.  Overall, not too bad.
• Stayed up past her bedtime every single night, but still managed to sleep until between 7-7:30am every morning....love that girl!!
• Said, "I love you".  Teta Nancy was telling Maddie how much she loved her and Maddie took her finger out of her mouth and said it too (in Maddie language of course)
• Went to her first big fat Greek picnic thanks to cousin Valarie.  Maddie was passed around to just about everyone all night and loved every minute of it!
• Spent time with her great aunts and uncles, papou, and lots of cousins.  
• Met her great grandmother who is 95 years old!  Maddie's due date was on Mya's 95th birthday, but we missed it by 6 days (gotta love our little tax deduction). :)  
• Was so good through the entire trip.  She adjusted to all the new places and new faces so well and acted like she had been there 100 times!  Everyone just loved her so much and said what a great baby she is...we just love our Maddie!
• Was happy to see daddy when he picked us up at the airport.  I know that daddy missed us too ...luckily Mrs. Catherine next door brought daddy some food one night, so we know he was taken care of without his girls! :)

Hangin' in the swing

Maddie was using her cousin's swing for the weekend...wind up dial and all!

Breakfast time at Teta Nancy's....thanks to cousin Val for the awesome highchair and pack n' play.

Uncle John and Maddie

feet in the water...

Maddie's clothes hanging out to dry on the clothesline!

Bath time at Teta Nancy's house

Falling asleep while the grown ups eat dinner

Yes, my crazy uncle mows the lawn in his flip flops and yes his lawn is crazy green!

Maddie waiting to board our flight back to O-town

I can't wait to see my daddy!

Maddie and her papou

Week Twenty-Eight

Happy 4th of July, Ya'll!!

• Celebrated her first fourth of July.  We stayed home and had a BBQ lunch with our neighbors, Vinny, Catherine, and their one year old son Jacob.  
• Slept through all of the fireworks!  We decided to just stay home since Maddie really wouldn't understand going out past her bedtime and a well-rested baby = happy mommy and daddy!
• Ate pear this week.  Maddie is now eating: sweet potato, banana, green peas, pears, apples, and avocado.  Next up will be yellow squash and zucchini and then we'll be into 7 month foods!
• Is eating some of her food a bit thicker.  I made the last batch with less water, so she can get use to the thicker textures and prepare for real solids!  She still eats banana and avocado mashed and not pureed, so that helps too.
• Has moved away from her Monday-Friday poppy diapers...Maddie is now quite regular at 7 days a week! (She still is pretty good about only during the day though, so Shawn still gets out of those most days)
• Is officially mobile now!!  She can scoot from one side of the play mat to the other in no time.  Once she gets those knees underneath her, she'll be crusin'.
• Sits up all by herself!  She'll sit and play for a few minutes if she has toys near her, but she is much more interested in moving from toy to toy on her tummy.
• LOVES all of her toys.  I put her in the middle of the play mat and scatter all of her toys in a big circle.  She just scoots from toy to toy all morning long!
• Is sleeping until 7:30-8am!!!  She is now sleeping between 12-13 hours per night. :)
• Has had two nights that she has woken up in pain 45 minutes after going down.  Since she NEVER gets up or cries we are pretty sure it's teething, so we've been giving her Tylenol and sending her back to bed.  
• Had another fun family trip to the grocery store.  This time when Maddie needed a new diaper it was daddy's turn.  Shawn never wanted to get his own gender neutral diaper bag, so when he takes her in a store to change her, he also carries my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag...such a stylish dad!
• Went to the Oviedo pool/splash park on Sunday.  Maddie enjoyed sitting in the water and putting her hands through all of the sprinklers...she wasn't afraid of the water at all and kept trying to face plant in the pool!  After about 45 minutes she was tired and took a little nap while daddy did some swimming.  The aquatic center is a 5 minute drive from home, so we will definitely be getting our seasonal pass next summer!
• Had her first Orlando theme park experience!  On Monday, we went to SeaWorld with Catherine, Kelly, Brayden, and Jacob.  Teachers get free annual passes to SeaWorld, so it was a fun and economical way to spend the day! We saw the dolphin show, the pet show, the sting rays, and played in the kiddie splash pad.  Maddie loved all the shows, talked a ton, watched everything, played so well in the splash area, and napped in the car with Jacob to and from the park (not much napping at the park).  She was so tired that she went right to bed that night and slept until almost 8am the next morning!
• Went to lunch with Courtney on her 28 week birthday.  We met at Panera for lunch and then did some shopping together!!
• Is such a challenge on the changing table!!!  She wants to roll over and off of the changing table every.single.time.  I have been singing songs to her because usually she watches me as I sing, but the last few days that doesn't work anymore.  I'm pretty sure Maddie would rather run around naked instead! 
• Must be entertained all of the time.  She isn't much for just sitting down and having quality time together anymore.  I have to make sure that I have a toy whenever we are out, so she is occupied.
• Sat in the top of the Publix shopping cart with her cart cover!  Such a big girl. :)

Stay tuned for next week's big adventure!  On Thursday, Maddie and Mommy leave for a 5 day trip to upstate NY!  This will be Maddie's first time on an airplane...let's hope we can all stay entertained for the 2.5 hour flight!

Maddie's awesome great Aunt Pauline sent her this outfit, but I think the pants are a bit too big!  Although, this is the style in middle school!

Hey guys, I'm sitting up all by myself!

Sitting up playing with my toys!

At the pool

Me and my dad at the pool

Family pool time

Napping after a long afternoon in the sun

Grocery shopping in the top of the cart!

First trip to Sea World!

Week Twenty-Seven

• Went on her first trip to the zoo! The central Florida zoo is located just up the road in Sanford and neither of us had been.  We all loaded up and headed out for a few hours to check out all of the animals.  Maddie stayed awake the entire time looking at the animals!  It was nice and shady, but still super HOT!
• Stayed up past her bedtime on Saturday night because mom got a crazy idea to rent a movie, make margaritas, and have take-out Chinese food (all after bedtime of course).  The three of us headed out about 6:30pm to get our stuff and still managed to have Maddie in bed before 8pm.  After she went to bed we enjoyed a nice date night! :)
• Had a super blowout explosion in Publix!!  Since it was family fun weekend, daddy got this crazy idea to go to the grocery store as a family.  We loaded up with the cart and stroller and headed through the aisles with our list and coupons.  Halfway through our trip I noticed Maddie needed changing, so I went to the restroom to change her and found our disaster.  We managed to get a new diaper and new clothes on before the associate waiting outside to clean the restroom got too worried (he kept asking if I was okay since Maddie was talking away and sounded like she was screaming).  I thought everything was fine and met Shawn back in the store to finish shopping (note: he was in the same aisle as when I left him...reason #5683 why I grocery shop).  After a few minutes, I looked down at Maddie and realized that her previous disaster was all over her new outfit and her stroller, so I threw the list and coupons to Shawn and told him to finish shopping and I'd be in the car.  I got the car to clean up and realized that the disaster started in the car seat and to top it off Maddie was now starving and letting the whole parking lot know!  I cleaned her up a little and sat in the car to fed her while Shawn finished.  Shawn came to car got in and told me he was never doing that again!  He had to do 5 transactions to get all the coupons and became 'that person' at the checkout (a few people moved to another lane)! We managed to get home, clean everything, get Maddie fed and off to bed on time (of course we ate at 9pm)!
• Ate avocados and apples this week.  She was very unsure of my pureed avocado, so I started to just mash it with a fork and she thought it was great! She is still messy, but loves mealtime!
• LOVES her fingers...those things are always in her mouth!
• Stopped in at daycare to drop off some papers.  We stayed for a bit and played in her classroom with the other babies.  Ms. J was so happy to see her and was so excited about all the new things she's doing.
• Went to story time at the library with Jacob and Mrs. Catherine.  She was much more interested and seemed to enjoy more than when we went back in March. 
• Enjoyed some nice long morning walks with the other neighborhood babies and mommies!
• Continues to enjoy her 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep!  We are on 4 weeks straight of 7pm-7am sleeping....Shawn and I are enjoying sleeping for 8-9 hours per night as well.  How did I ever survive on such little sleep??!!!??
• Is super determined to move...she is trying so hard to scoot around and pull herself forward.  She can move a little, but it's very tiring to pull that little body around!
• LOVES her giggle doll.  Oh my gosh...she has the biggest smile when she sees it!
• LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her daddy!  She gives him the biggest smiles and laughs when she sees him and oh my he eats it up!   There is no doubt that he is already wrapped around that girl's finger!! :)
• Is working on her sounds.  I say, 'da da' and Maddie repeats, 'blah blah'.  So far, 'blah blah' is her favorite phrase.  I haven't decided if she is still learning or if she has already found the attitude of a pre-teen!! 
• Is really trying to sit up.  I practice with her everyday, but she would much rather be on her tummy.  She loves to reach for everything, so when she sits up she starts to reach for her toys and falls over!

6 month stats...                                   compared to...               4 month stats:

Length- 26.5" (75%)                                                               Length- 25.75" (95%)   

Weight- 14lbs 12oz (25%)                                                      Weight- 12lbs 11.5oz (25%)  

Head- 16.5" (50%)                                                                  Head- 16" (50%) 

Trying avocados for the first time....pureed = no good 

It's off to the zoo we go! 

Shawn:  "Maddie, look at the alligator" Maddie: "I don't care about the stinkin' alligator...look at those other people!"

Maddie: "Okay..now I'll look, daddy"

She just loves her piano!

My little musician!  (yes, I already taught her 'Hot Cross Buns')