MoMonkey MoMonkey

It ain't No Jive, Clive. Mo is turning 5

5 months. Wow! It might be late in the day, but Madeline is 5 months old today.

Looking through our photos putting together this timeline gave me a glimpse of how much she has really changed. When you see her everday you tend not to notice the drastic changes.

MG and I want to thank all of those who have sent a kind word, or included Madeline in your prayers. To friends and family that have opened their hearts and withstood the slobber and spit-up, you are wonderful.

For your viewing pleasure, Here's a videoclip of Mo. We were at a picnic today and while the adults were conversing, you'll see that Mo is focusing her attention on her toy. Maybe I should say she trying to gnaw on the toy.

Click here to see Mo in action

*note* It might take a few seconds for the movie to load. It's about a minute long. I wanted to make it shorter, but I couldn't resist the cuteness.

PART LION? HMMMM...

Well, my little Mo-monkey is getting to be a big girl! She has 2 teeth already. The first one came in about 3 weeks ago, and the second one about a week ago. Actually, one day it was just 1 tooth, the next day it was 2. That 2nd one came out of nowhere. Surprisingly, Madeline has been pretty good about her teething. She really hasn't been fussy or sick or anything. She's got 2 main symptoms of teething: the incessant urge to agressively gnaw on everything in sight and extreme tiredness.

When I say agressive gnawing, I mean AGGRESSIVE GNAWING! She reminds me of a wild animal walking through the jungle with her dead prey hanging out of her mouth while she's growling and telling the whole world...(insert evil tone here)..."I'vill get you my precious..."

And the sleeping? Let's just say it's far more than her usual comatose patterns. On Thursday, she slept the entire day away...even through several diaper changes. When Whistler came home from work (just before 6 pm), he never even got to see her. She slept from 4 pm to midnight. I woke her for a bottle, and she went back to sleep until 7:30 the next morning. She had another quick bottle and went back to sleep again. Unbelievable!

For a short time, I actually forgot what it was like to have a baby in the house. Not for long though. After that final nap the next morning, she woke up with a big, tooth-bearing grin on her face - full of excitement and energy and chatting up a storm! I guess she had a lot to talk about since she slept the prior day away! And I love to listen to her talk... although, I'm sure I'll regret this statement later when she turns into a mini version of her father and can't keep her mouth shut for more than 5 minutes!! (It's a joke, people! Lighten up!)

Mo Meets The Phanatic

Housekeeping, Daddy-Style

Since the site has been live I haven't had much time to get it quite the way I want. Well if you look around you'll see a few minor changes. I've updated the pictures you see to your left and added a few links to the right.

If you want to have your site linked to ours, please drop us a line.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

It's strange how when you become a parent, you can't remember what life was like before your child came along. And it's also strange how you don't really want to remember! Whistler and I were workaholics before. We still are to some degree, but we've managed to scale back considerably. And I wish we could scale back even more. Fortunately, I have the luxury of working from home 3 days a week and only have to take Madeline to the sitter 2 days a week. And those 2 days are very good for both of us. Madeline has a wonderful babysitter - or should I say family of babysitters! They treat her like one of their own kids. And I have the opportunity to have uninterrupted work time - which makes me all the more refreshed to spend time with my little girl. And who wouldn't want to spend time with this?

The DQ isn't just an ice cream shop!

THE ROMIG COMA GENE

Whistler and I are blessed to have such a good sleeper! The first couple of months were rough until we figured some things out. We had to change Madeline's formula 3 times - and we finally found the one that did the trick. It's soy based. More importantly, though, we learned that she sleeps best on her belly. Sssshhhhh... don't tell her doctor! These days, of course, the rule is that babies must sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS. But from day 1, Mo could not sleep on her back. She had such a strong startle reflex that she would wake herself constantly. Out of a 24 hour day, we were lucky if she took 3 to 4 twenty minute catnaps. And of course, she was always miserable because she was so tired. One day I tried giving her a nap on her belly and she slept for hours. Since the doctor drilled into my head to never do that, I checked on her constantly out of sheer paranoia. But after that first good sleep, she was a different baby because of being so well rested. Eventually - around the 2 month mark - I started letting her sleep on her belly through the night. And WA-LA! We have COMA BABY! Madeline regularly sleeps 9-12 hours every single night and wakes up every morning smiling and happy as can be! And get this! She takes a bottle and within an hour, she's sleeping again for another couple of hours! Are we blessed or what? Madeline has what Whistler refers to as the ROMIG COMA GENE.

Romig is my maiden name and let's just say that my family loves to sleep. It was not uncommon in my house to hear 4 or 5 different alarm clocks going off at once because nobody heard them (except for the person who happened to be visiting). In fact, the first time Whistler visited my parent's house, he had no idea I had 2 brothers because they slept until 5 pm! We were wrapping up our day when they were just rolling out of bed!

Daddy and Mo: A wonderful friendship

Sorry I've been so neglective of my little Mo's site lately. I've been stockpiling things to say, but seem to forget when the time avails itself.

Nonetheless, it's amazing to see how in four short months this little girl is developing such a unique personality.

Overall, I would have to say that she is a happy baby. She loves to laugh, and will even find ways to amuse herself.

Mo is also fiercely independent. She wants to try to feed herself. She gets frustrated when she wants to crawl, but her body just doesn't have the strength to do so.

More importantly, Mo is Daddy's Girl. This is the personality trait that I love the most. There is nothing better than being able to soothe your little girl when she is crying or when she hears your voice, her face lights up with a smile. Tonight when I got home, I put on a couple CD's that I recently purchased. I held Mo in my arms and we danced around for quite some time. I could try and write down how I felt, but I'm sure that it would not do the moment justice. For a second, I thought about some day off in the future I would get to dance with her at her wedding. Between now and then, I am looking forward to all the times that we are going to share together. If I can achieve anything, I want her to know that her Daddy loves her with all his heart and that she means more to him then she will ever know.

As I write this, she is fast asleep on my lap. I would have gone to bed an hour ago, but watching her sleep was more important.

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TRANSLATION: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAM STINSON!
LOVE, MO!

FOUR MONTH CHECK-UP

Our little girl is growing up so fast! She turned 4 months old last week - and today was her 4 month check-up (complete with shots). She weighed 16 pounds 14 ounces and was 25 & 1/4 inches long. The doctor said her height and weight are in perfect proportion.

She had such a huge growth spurt in the last month. When she turned 3 months old, she was just starting to wear size 3-6 month clothing. She grew so quickly in the last month, though, that she's already wearing some 6-9 month clothing (because of her length).

Madeline handled her shots beautifully today. She cried at the moment the needles were inserted, but she was in my arms smiling in less than a minute. And Mommy didn't cry this time around, so that was a plus!

It's time to start giving her baby food, which means it's time to buy a high chair! I started doing some comparison shopping online and the choices are endless. And just when I thought I narrowed it down to a couple of choices, the reviews were so mixed that I got tired of reading about them. Here's what we're looking for:

1. easy to clean and use (remember, I'm a neat freak!)
2. portable & lightweight
3. compact in size - I don't like the idea of having this huge clunky high chair taking up all kinds of space! I want to be able to fold it up and put it away when needed.

Any suggestions?