Happy Thanksgiving!

Can't believe the holidays are already here! Time really flies! This is certainly already 1000x better than this time last year - Dad was in the middle of cancer treatment and I was in the first trimester of my pregnancy, feeling miserable, so I certainly have a whole lot to be thankful for this year :)

Madison has always been fun but I think she's in a really fun stage right now! Everyone says this is the best part. She just babbles and squeals all day long. The past few days she's even woken up WAY early (like 3:30am and 5am this morning) just babbling to herself!! It's slightly annoying but she goes back to sleep eventually on her own so I think it's kind of cute :) When it's time for her nap or bed, she will lay there "talking" for about 10 minutes before finally drifting off to sleep. And she's OBSESSED with grabbing your face, especially when you're trying to put her to sleep. She especially loves chins and noses :) She's just such a happy baby! We were at dinner at our favorite restaurant last night and we seriously had people from like 4 or 5 separate tables come up and tell us how cute she was and what a good and alert baby she was. At one point she squealed (in delight) very loudly and I was worried it would bother people but they would just look over and smile! She also joined me at a "girls night" dinner at olive garden one night where she was a perfect angel! Danny came by and got her on his way home from work so she could get to bed and I could have some adult time, but I love showing her off so I was glad she came for a little while.

I mentioned in my last post having success with naps by taking away the pacifier and letting her cry. Well the day after that post, Sunday, she had an almost 3 hr nap but on Monday we regressed again. I think it's because I had to take her to day care. She just doesn't sleep well there and therefore gets overtired. When I was able to keep her home she did great, and especially after I came to the realization that she sleeps best when shes still in her footed pajamas. I went back to the wearable blanket for those occasions when shes not already in her pj's and that seems to helping also. We still have some nap times where she wakes up still tired and won't go back to sleep on her own but overall things are better. It would be awesome of she would have more days like she had last thurs/Friday. They were the perfect naps days! Two 2-2.5 hr naps and one short one in the early evening. I can get A LOT of work done during a 2 hour nap! Unfortunately I think those two days were great sleep days because she was getting a cold. She woke up Saturday morning with a super runny nose and sneezing. Fortunately Mary was visiting so she was able to prescribe something to help and we put her back in the angled hammock thing to help her breathe. She was still in a great mood so we all had a great weekend. We took advantage of the extra help with her and out up our Christmas tree. We even went to garden ridge together to get some more decor :) she loves the lights on the tree!

As of this past Tuesday, she finally accomplished rolling from back to tummy and now does it over and over again! She seems to be trying to "scoot," and is getting closer to sitting completely on her own. She gets super excited in her jumper now - kicks those legs like crazy- and still loves her clip on chair at restaurants as long as shes not sleepy. She's started dropping things (purposefully I think) repeatedly, especially while in her chair, lol! And I realized yesterday that her infant car seat isn't going to last the full first year as I had hoped! It will hold her up to 22lbs, which is fine, but only 29in. Well she was 26in at her 4 mo appt so I doubt she will make it another 2-3 months in her current car seat. I was hoping we could wait to go to the convertible seat until she could ride forward facing because with Danny and I being taller I'm not sure we would be able to put our seats in a comfy position with that big ole car seat in the back. But I guess we will figure it out! It's not like we carry her around in the seat anymore -she's too heavy- but I did think we would get a little more use out of it. Glad I got a neutral color scheme - next baby! :) they just grow So fast! We are also down to 4 feedings/day (7-8oz every 4hrs during the day) so that has been nice, and we have introduced green beans. She definitely prefers the sweet potatoes (who could blame her) but I think she likes the green beans more than the cereal.

So my only - I don't want to use the word regret - disappointment on this thanksgiving is that we aren't able to see/introduce Madison to most of our extended families. Danny has to work intake tonight/tomorrow morning (12-8am) so we can't really travel. It was just the three of us at home today but it was nice. We finished getting the lights up and made one of our favorite dishes, which included sweet potato fries so we got a little bit of classic turkey day fare in there! M dad is coming over tomorrow and I'm trying my hand at my late grandmothers lasagna, which used to be a holiday tradition. Then Saturday we will go to college station for the miller family gathering. So all in all it's been a pretty good holiday so far!

Also --- Gig'em Ags! Maddie was able to watch a few minutes of the game before heading off to bed. She LOVES football :) I would have put her in her cheerleader outfit but this one was easier to nap in throughout the day, and I'm not sure she would still fit in the cheerleader one!