Monday, September 22, 2008

Madison 2 year Update


Like I said, I'm a little behind in my updating. It's been several months since I posted Madison's developments. On September 11th she had her 2 year check up (we tried to do it earlier, but Dr Pattan was busy with back to school physicals for her other patients). Madison is 33 1/4 inches tall and weighs 27.4 lbs. This puts her right at the 50% for growth in both areas. People often tell us Madison looks so tall- it must be her long legs that are deceiving. Her weight gain has slowed down, but Dr Pattan says this is normal for her age. The doctor continues to be impressed with Madison's intelligence.
We stopped counting her vocabulary words a long time ago as there were too many to keep track of. Every day she says or does something new. She knows all her colors now, but often gets pink and purple mixed up. She recognizes all basic shapes including, circle, square, rectangle, oval (which she refers to as 'egg'- we're still working on that), triangle, diamond, star, and octagon. She also recognizes most letters in the alphabet. We are still working on F, H, I, J, Q, R, U, V, and Z. She knows all the others. She can count to 15 now, but skips 13.
Her favorite things to do are watch Noggin, play with her kitchen-including 'cooking' her snacks, and reading. She also loves her new Potato Head family (Mommy's friend Darcy got her a set with Mr, Mrs, and baby Potato Heads as a late birthday present) and can often be found with 'tato head' lips on her face. Madison thinks it's funny to hand Mommy a tato head arm and hold one herself, then wave them and say 'Hello, hello'.
She has bins of books in every room of our house! She even reads to us now. She memorized Little White Fish Gets Bigger-a book about a little fish who turns two that Gramm brought, Good Night Moon, and parts of Queen Clara- a book Pop brought back from England, and Ten Apples Up on Top- a birthday book from 'Grandma' Quessie in Florida. Probably the most impressive is the two year old book as it has words like Sea Urchin, Shrimp, and Octopus.
Madison makes us laugh with the silly things she says. Everything is a sentence these days, although she often gets her nouns and verbs backwards. Example: 'Mommy, hurt the eyes' instead of 'the eyes hurt' when she gets water in them in the bathtub.
She is fascinated with her baby sister now. Madison is always touching her legs, arms, and head; and pointing out her different body parts. 'Baby Kennenee's ears, mouth, fingers, toes, shoulder, etc...' . She laughs and makes a surprised face every time Kennedy poops since it is pretty loud, and is quick to point out every time her sister cries. Madison also thinks its funny when Kennedy nurses. She points and says, 'Baby sister has the mommy bottle'. Of course Matt thinks it's hysterical Madison refers to Mommy's boobs as bottles. We are just thrilled she doesn't want to nurse, too.
We are not pushing potty training just yet. She tried it a little before Kennedy arrived and didn't take to it. The pediatrician recommends relaxing on it for now as she has lots to get used too with the arrival of baby sister. Ironically, this weekend she decided it would be fun to sit on the potty until she had to go 'tee tee'. We sat in the bathroom together for 20 minutes at one point! She went tee tee on the potty twice this weekend, otherwise she is still in size 4 diapers during the day and 5 at night. We tried pull ups but she isn't interested.
It's truly amazing how quickly the is learning and discovering new things. Almost every night Matthew and I sit back and laugh at the new phrases that come out of her mouth or the silly dances and songs she makes up. She is quite the crack up!
In this posted photo Madison is having a tea party with Daddy and her caterpillar.

Tuesday at Madison's




Last Tuesday the kids came to Madison's backyard funland to play. We started in the pools, then finger painted, back to the pools, inside for clean-up, more playing, lunch, and a movie before naptime. Busy, but fun morning. The kids particularly enjoyed painting. Madison enjoyed it so much, when everyone else went back to the pools, she stayed and painted more. She's so meticulous with her projects.

Big Girl Swing


Last week was fantastic! We played with our friends, Spencer, Ryan, and Caleb almost everyday! Monday we went to Spencer's house then walked to the park. Our new double stroller really came in handy as we had 3 toddlers and baby Kennedy with only one double stroller. This was also Mommy's first real exercise. I carried Kennedy in a BabyBjorn, and pushed the 39 lb stroller with Madison and Ryan. Whew, what a workout!

When we got to the park all three kids sat in the big kid swings all by themselves! Madison loved it. We had a quick snack then headed back to Spencer's for more playing and lunch before we headed home for naps.

Note: Madison is wearing the shirt Pop got her in Italy this Summer.

Baby Acne


It's breaking our hearts. Miss Kennedy has baby acne. Madison had it too, but only for a few days. Kennedy's had it a few weeks now. Some days are worse than others. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. Just have to let it run its course. It's so sad to see her beautiful face with red, splotchy bumps all over. The worst was when it covered her eyelids. This picture is one of the good days.

Go Dawgs!


As usual, I'm playing catch up with the blog. It's been busy around the Shemenski household. The Georgia Bulldogs are off to a fantastic start this season. 4 wins already. The girls look so cute in their red and black each weekend. This pic was taken September 13 just before the South Carolina game. Madison found her gloves and insisted on wearing them all day.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Smile!




Madison started taking note when we pull out the cameras. Today she asked to 'hold it-the camera' when we were trying to take pics of her with a barbie bride dress on her head like a hat. Looks like it's time to get her a play camera as Mommy's camera is not exactly a 'toy'. She was very careful and we put the strap around her neck just in case she decided to drop it. Maybe she will take after Mommy and be a photographer.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Pumpkin Update



Today Daddy snapped a few photos of Madison in front of this year's growing pumpkin. It is already over 200 lbs and is on track to beat last years and break 300 lbs. We're excited to see where it ends up!

They finished their little photo shoot with a wagon ride around the yard. Sierra followed behind as always. She's such a protector.

Weekend



We had another great weekend with the girls. We started with dinner at the Briggs to celebrate Scott's birthday. Madison had a great time playing with her friends and Kennedy enjoyed meeting more of Mommy and Daddy's friends. Saturday was a fun filled day of Georgia football and a visit from Mommy's friend, Stacy. We always forget to take pictures when Stacy is here. This time we squeezed one in at the last minute. Madison wore her Florida Gator jersey from Uncle Matt to bed and was snuggling on the sofa with Stacy just before she went down for the night. Stacy brought all the girls (Mommy included) super cute clothes, too! Madison enjoyed wearing her new jacket around the house. She also enjoyed showing Stacy how fun it is to take all the toys out of her bins and sit in the bins instead. Oh, and she tromped around the house in Daddy's boots, had a big girl snack of 'cheesy chips' aka cheese doodles, and enjoyed cheering for her Georgia Bulldogs. Kennedy took several naps on Mommy and Daddy's laps at different points throughout the weekend, and enjoyed a nap in Stacy's arms ,too! Daddy snapped some photos of Kennedy sprawled out with Madison playing in the background.

Sunday we watched the Steelers win their game (Thank you NFL Sunday Ticket!) and enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home before Daddy has to head back to work tomorrow. Oh, and the fun Hello Kitty tattoos Madison got in a birthday card FINALLY came off her arms today. She had them on nearly a week! She loved her star and heart.
We'll post all the pics from this weekend and the rest of the month in a few weeks.

Official #1


No, we are not choosing favorites already. Kennedy is officially in size one diapers now. She made her transition yesterday, September 6th. We can't believe how BIG she is already! Looking forward to Thursday's appointments for both the girls- Kennedy's 3 week, Madison's 2 year.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Bad day, Good Day, Bad day



What a great way to describe this week! Wednesday morning all the girls were bathed, dressed, and headed out the door for Madison's regular Gymboree class when all hell broke loose! Madison decided she did NOT want to leave the house. She screamed and cried as I put her in her carseat and loaded up Kennedy. I thought for sure she would calm down when we got to class- boy was I wrong. She kept screaming as I loaded her into the new double stroller and continued the fit into Gymboree. Mommy sat in the lobby of Gymboree with both girls in her lap for 10-15 minutes before we decided to forgo class for the day. We drove home the 'long way around' on the freeway to get Madison to sleep. She fell asleep in the car but woke up screaming again when we got home. Man, there is nothing like a 2 year old with an ear peircing scream waking up her infant sister.

Thursday was a phenomenal day. Kennedy slept well Wednesday night and spent most of Thursday morning napping by herself, (sometimes she prefers to be held when napping). This allowed an entire morning of Mommy and Madison time. We pulled out some baking clay from Mommy's craft bin and made all kinds of shapes- including rings for Madison's fingers. She got to sit in her 'big girl chair' aka the booster seat we kept in the RV and eat a special chocolate chip muffin for snack. We sang and danced to her toddler songs cd, snuggled on the sofa, and rocked before nap. It was an incredible day!

Today, Friday, is another day like Wednesday. Madison started her morning by throwing a fit about taking a bath and waking up her sister in the process. Considering Kennedy kept Mommy up most of the night, waking her from this early morning nap was a bad thing for all of the already crabby girls in the house. We are so happy it's Friday and Daddy will be home for a few days. Hopefully no more throwing toys and sippie cups, or tantrums for the next few days. Days like this make Mommy VERY tired!

The pics are from the Good Day- Wednesday. Madison and her clay, Kennedy and her naps.

Spencer's 2nd Birthday


We wrapped up our Labor Day weekend by celebrating Spencer's 2nd birthday at a cookout. Madison doesn't have any cousins close in age (or proximity) so Spencer and his cousins are Madison's adopted family. We LOVE playing with them. Madison enjoyed sharing Spencer's alligator birthday cake and cupcakes and new toys. She and Spence had a great time trying to dump his new fish out of its container. Spencer's dad, John had to give the fish new water when they were finished as it barely had enough to flop around, let alone swim. The kids thought it was great!
In fact, Madison enjoyed Spencer's presents so much, she threw a total fit when it came time to leave. She decided she wanted to take Spencer's new Mr Potato Head home. She grabbed the handle like a purse and said she was ready to go. Then she grabbed Caleb's Woody doll under the other arm and started walking out the door. This marks the first time Madison tried to take possession of someone else's toys.
At times, when we leave her friend Noah's house she likes to borrow one of his toys, but she always identifies whatever we take as "Noah's". This time, she said, 'Come on Mommy, Madison's tato head, Madison's Woody' as she attempted to steal the toys.
The entire week following has been a challenge for us. This is Mommy's first week alone with the girls since Gramm left and Daddy is back at work. It's definitely a re-learning process for us.
Check out the pics from Spencer's day.

Celebration!



Last Saturday, August 30th, we had a celebration at our house. It was a day to get together with friends to introduce Kennedy, celebrate Madison's 2nd bithday, Matt's 33rd birthday, and the start of college football season!


Daddy set up a projector to watch the games. We ended up with a 200 inch screen! Almost as great as being in the stadium.


Kennedy slept thru most of the day. She didn't seem to mind being passed around and held by everyone.


Madison had a super time showing all her friends her new kitchen and playing outside in the nice, new play area Daddy created outside with her pools and sandbox. She loved wearing her Georgia overalls with special ribbons on them. We've had them since she was born and are so excited they fit this season!


We were so happy Gramm got to help us celebrate the day, too. Sunday was a sad day at our house as Gramm had to head back home. We miss her already!