2 Month Checkup

Today was Maddie's 2 month checkup. She weighs 11lbs 8 oz and is 23 inches long. She's growing right on track. The nurse gave her the first round of immunizations and she didn't even flinch. She did get mad though when it was time to leave and I had to put her in her car seat. She hates getting strapped in.

Here's the only picture I could get of her before we left to go to the doctor. As you can see, she wasn't happy then either. Isn't she just pitiful.

Staying Put

Gary started teaching at a different school this year. He moved from teaching 3rd grade at Gilchrist to teaching 3rd grade at Florida State University School. It has been quite an adjustment especially with a newborn baby. His school is completely across town and it takes him close to 45 minutes some days with traffic to get there. We have been in our house for almost 5 years now and we thought, even with the downturn in the market, that we would at least be able to sell our house for what we bought it for and look for something closer to Gary's new school, which would make it closer for me too since it takes me about 30 minutes to get to work, and give us room to grow since we are busting at the seams now. So we called our realtor to come over and discuss our situation and give us options. Turns out, after working up some comps, that our house is only worth about $1,000 more than what we owe... and that's after paying almost $200 more every month AND... it's still expected to decline some more before it gets better, GREAT :/ However, we are in better shape than a lot of people who bought at the same time. We are very fortunate to have a home. Plus, we are going through Financial Peace University and we are on our way to becoming debt free. Knowing that we really can't afford to move has actually put our thoughts at ease and has helped us focus our efforts on paying off all of our debt. So, we are going to stay put for now.

Maddie's 2 Month Birthday

Yesterday was Maddie's 2 month birthday. She is doing so much better than she was a month ago. We have gotten her into more of a routine and she has actually been sleeping through the night. Tuesday night she slept 10.5 hours! But, on average, she sleeps 7. Her daytime napping has been good too. She is up to eat and play for a couple of hours and then goes back down for 2-3. She still hates tummy time and hasn't rolled over this week, but she is getting better at it. She does, however, like to be on her back and look at the toys hanging down from the play gym and hitting them with her arms. Her reflux has gotten better and she is not crying all the time. In fact, she is cooing and smiling a lot more. Next Thursday we are going to start daycare. We will start out part time to try to develop a routine for her and mommy so that when mommy goes back to work it won't be so hard. Wish us luck.

Big Milestones

Madison has been sleeping 6-7 hours through the night! Woo Hoo!! However, it all comes at a price. She is very fussy and won't sleep well from 5 until about 11 at night, but then she finally poops out and goes to sleep and sleeps for a long time. Madison doesn't sleep well during the day either. There's about 5 hours during the day where she just won't go to sleep. When she does sleep, she has to be tightly swaddled. She fights it, but it sure helps her sleep. She's constantly moving and her arms and hands flail around and she hits herself in the head. I am hoping she gets control of her movements soon so that we can stop swaddling her.

She's also eating like a pig. From 5-11 she will consume 10 or more ounces of formula and still wants more.

She is getting so big and strong! She has held her head up since the day she was born and this week she has rolled over from her tummy to her back 5 times; although, she only does it for mommy. She has now discovered the tv. She loves to watch tv and just look around at everything. She is so nosy. I wonder where she gets that from. I think that's why she's so hard to get to sleep.

Oh and don't try to fool her with a pacifier, she already knows the difference between the pacifier and the bottle. If you try to put the pacifier in and she's still hungry, she will tighten her lips and keep pushing that pacifier out with her tongue. She's a smart one :)
Madison has really started enjoying bath time. We have a whale tub that fits over the kitchen sink. She just sits back and relaxes while she has her bubble bath.

Our First Long Trip

On our first long trip, we went to Port Charlotte to see Gary's grandparents on Labor Day weekend. We were so worried about this trip. Was she going to sleep or scream the whole way there and back? We decided that it would be best to leave early Saturday morning. She had started a pattern where she would sleep from like 11:30 and sleep 3 - 4 hours and then she would be back up again to feed and down for another 3-4 hours and continue on this cycle until about noon. So, Madison woke up around 3, we got her fed and packed up and on the road we went. We left Tallahassee at 4am and had to stop at the rest area in Ocala to feed her, then 30-45 minutes later we were back on the road and arrived at Port Charlotte around 10:30am. On the way down, we saw some hot air balloons passing over Tampa (It made us think of our friends in Albuquerque where they have the hot air balloon festival every year in October... maybe they were getting prepared to go to NM). We had a nice visit and Gram and Pa just loved her. The car ride back; however, was not nice. We decided to leave during her 'fussy' period so that when we got home we would be able to sleep. So, we packed up and left Port Charlotte at 9pm Sunday night and headed home. She cried a lot and was just kinda fussy all the way home. But, when we got home at around 2am, she was out like a light. She slept for 6 hours. Even though the ride home was rough, it was worth it. She was going to be fussy anyway, so we thought we might as well ride... plus it kept us awake.

Madison's First Bible

We went to church and they presented Madison with her first bible and prayed over us.

2 Week Checkup

Madison had her 2 week checkup and everything looks good. She weighs 8lbs 10oz and has grown 2 whole inches to 21.5 inches long. However, we were telling the doctor about her excessive and forceful spit-ups and that she had not been sleeping well and was hungry all the time. She believed that Madison had reflux and asked that we go to the hospital to have an Upper GI done to confirm what she believed was reflux and to make sure that nothing else was going wrong. In the meantime, she was prescribed zantac and reglan. That night was the first night Maddie actually slept through the night. Hallelujah! The following week we went to have her Upper GI done (after hours of her crying because she couldn't eat for the test, so pitiful) and it did in fact confirm that she had moderate reflux. We struggled with her for several more days, she was still spitting up a lot and crying and just not sleeping well. Because I was breastfeeding, I tried making changes to my diet, but nothing seemed to help. We tried everything that you are 'supposed' to do. Elevating the bed, feeding her upright, burping frequently, mylicon drops, etc... After a couple more weeks, we decided to change her to an Anti Regurgitation formula and it finally seemed to help. She is now actually keeping her food down much better and is actually sleeping for 3-4 hour periods.
We go back to the doctor on 9/28 for her 2 month checkup.