barely a baby anymore!

So, the past month has been another busy one! Full of travels and outside time! Even though the lack of rain has sucked for our lawn and water bill, I'm thankful it didn't ruin any of our plans this past month!

The weekend of the 16th we met up with family - including Stephanie and little Brittany - in Brenham at Danny's Aunt & Uncle's house. Steph made them little matching ice cream cone shirts with their names and got them coordinating plaid skirts! They looked super cute :) Thanks again Steph!! We were hoping to see bluebonnets but this was just a bad year for them. Hopefully we will get the mandatory "kid in the bluebonnets" shot next year. Madison had a great time crawling around outside and meeting new people and animals!

The next weekend was Easter weekend. We went to CS for the Miller Family gathering on Saturday and were joined by almost all the new babies on the Miller side (we missed Miss Emily in PA)! Madison was the oldest, then little Daniel who is about 1 month younger and Evangeline who is about 6-7 mos old. Madison brought along a bunch of her toys to share and had a blast hanging with the family. She even brought home a bunch of goodies in her Easter basket, including some toys, snacks, $, and books! Sunday we went over to my Dad's for Easter dinner and she got a stuffed rabbit that was as big as her! She LOVES this rabbit :) She will go up and "hug" it all the time! She started a rowdy game of "clap after me" that had her laughing up a storm! She would start clapping and then me, Danny, Dad and his gf Jeanna would all follow suit and stop when she stopped - and she thought it was the coolest thing ever! I think we did this for like 10 minutes straight! I only wish I had video'd it but we were in the moment and I thought if I stopped to go get the camera she would stop too. Here's Madison with her bunny!

Also, over Easter weekend, Madison moved completely off the bottle to straw sippy's only! When I picked her up from day care on Thursday evening, she was only taking 1 straw cup/day and I told day care I would work with her over the 3-day weekend and sure enough, she took to it like a charm!! She has mastered it now and has no problem holding it on her own, one-handed, upside-down, whatever! She's a pro now :) It felt really weird, but great at the same time, to officially pack up all those baby bottles! Although, those darn straw cups are a pain to put together after cleaning :) LOL! Oh well, life with kids is just one challenge after another, right?

April 30th, I hosted a baby shower for one of my best friends Alissa. Madison spent those few hours at her old (drop-in) day care so Danny could get some work done downtown while we were doing the shower at the house. They enjoyed seeing her again after several months! She has changed so much since she was last there!

Then, Mother's Day weekend (7/8), we were invited to a wedding in Wimberley, TX. Since we had to stay there over-night and Sunday was Mother's Day, there was no way I was leaving Madison behind. So, we all got back on the road for the 3rd road-trip in 4 weeks! This was the first time we stayed in a hotel with her but we got a room at Embassy Suites, so she had her own separate room really. It worked out well! The wedding ended up being entirely outdoors and although the weather was "nice" for May, it was still hot, especially with that extra body heat attached to me all day. But we ended up having a great time! She was the only baby there and everyone commented on how well-behaved she was. Thankfully we had an outdoor blanket in the car so she could get down and crawl around some. With them help of Danny's awesome friends, Danny and I were actually able to mingle AND eat! And after a short cat-nap in someone else's arms, she lasted until 10pm (her usual bedtime is 7:30). She is definitely our little social butterfly :) It was great for so many of Danny's friends to finally meet her (or see her for the first time since she was a newborn).

Then, this past weekend, Mary had a 3-day weekend so she came in to visit. She brought her dog Harley along this time! :) Madison LOVED him! He was just her size :) We did a little shopping, went to the neighborhood park, and really just hung out around the house watching her be her busy self! Now that she has more control over her walking skills, we moved her push-walker toy out in to the living area so she has more space. I was hesitant because of the wood floors but she handled it with no problems (except we have to help her turn it around when she hits something)! I think the walker will reside out in the living area permanently now since it was such a hit. We also attended one of my good friend's graduation parties and her nieces were there - they were 4 and 18-19 mos (I think). I don't know if she ever took her eyes off them! It was cute and wild to look at the youngest girl running around and know that would be Madison in a very short amount of time!

Over the past week or so, she's been standing on her own more and more. She will pull up to standing using something as a brace and then let go (usually when she thinks we aren't paying attention). The longest she's stayed up is only about 5 seconds but it's progress! I think she will have it down in the next few weeks, and then I'm sure walking alone will be just around the corner! She has changed so much in the past month - not just in terms of her strength, but also in her looks. Several people have commented on how her face has really slimmed down and she's looking more and more like a little girl as opposed to a baby! She is acting more like a little girl too. She's definitely been more defiant and it's her way or the highway with just about everything! She's been more picky with me feeding her baby food. Sometimes, if she can't feed it to herself she refuses to eat. And Good Lord, it's never been this hard to give her medicine!!! Any tips or tricks?? As I said before, she is Miss Social! Even if she is tired, she is usually pretty well behaved if we go out to eat or anything. She LOVES to people watch! And she has been much more talkative lately as well.

My next big challenge is weaning her off the pacifier, which I will try to do over this 3-day weekend coming up. Right now, she's only using it to sleep (and she is sleeping well), but she's drooling so much when she sucks on it that it all just sits under the paci/on top of her skin around her chin/mouth and it's causing her to break out :( Last time I weaned her off it it she wasn't as attached as she is now but it only took 1 day of crying it out and she was off. Hopefully, it will be quick this time around too! Speaking of drool though, she still doesn't have any teeth! I think I see a bump on the top front of her gums, so maybe we will see something soon...

Next post will probably be her first b-day party!!! WOW!!!

What would you do?

This post isn't about Madison but rather a personal dilemma that I have been struggling with for a while now. Thoughts and advice appreciated!!

So, my cat Lucy is approximately 19 years old. I've had her since she was a kitten and she was always a tiny kitty with a big personality and also some big sensitivities. She has grown to be sweeter and more social with age, but her digestive and potty issues have gotten worse. We had to put her "brother" (they weren't actually related) down about 3 years ago when he was about the same age, but that decision was much easier because his problems were more immediately life threatening and his deterioration happened much faster. She hasn't used a litter box in years - instead she uses several doggie training pads with newspaper on them, one of which resides on our kitchen table since she decided that was her new spot about a year ago. Not only is it disgusting, but we basically can't use that table as long as she is around. Shortly after our last cat passed, she was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on a special diet and subcutaneous fluids at least 3x/week (fluid injected under the skin to rehydrate her-and yes, that is our job here at home), and since then we've had to introduce a variety of other different meds for thyroid control, mouth lesions, vomiting, heart murmor, and now after last week (and $400) pancreatitis. Giving pills to a cat is not easy. For the longest time, I would crush them up and put it in her food but she is not a good eater! She WANTS to eat like 10x/day but she either doesn't want anything I give her (and at this point she is allowed to eat anything she wants in an attempt to keep some weight on her), or she will take a few nibbles and wander off only for another animal to take the rest. On top of that, she has mouth ulcers and fractured teeth that need to be removed (which i doubt is cheap), which make it really hard for her to chew even the most watered down food I swear she is more dificult to feed than my own or any other child I have ever met!! So the medicine in the food is not the best way to ensure she gets her meds. Therefore, I am left with trying to force it in her mouth. I left Lucy at the vet for several days last week so they could get her rehydrated and feeling a bit better. They acted liked this pill pusher thingy worked "beautifully" with her. Well, she's apparently figured it out and is unwilling to cooperate with that now too. And even though they had no problems giving her fluid while there, she bit me for the first time ever in her life the first time I tried doing it when she got back home.

So, basically, she is still a pretty happy cat, walks around, still pushes the dogs around (although she is no match for Tiger, our younger cat), and sleeps most of the day. However, even with anti-nausea meds, she vomits almost daily, eating is a nightmare for both of us, and 3-4 times/day i have to wrangle her to try to give meds or fluids. Then there is the disgusting chore of cleaning up after her bathroom habits. She doesn't seem to be in any serious pain, but I obviously have to make her really uncomfortable frequently to give her stuff that is supposed to make her comfortable until these chronic conditions eventually lead to something fatal. we have tried stopping all meds/fluids, thinking leaving her alone would improve her quality of life (over quantity), but the vomiting and constant howling from being dehydrated gets too unbearable for all of us. I don't know how she would manage if I didn't work from home, but I feel like it is affecting my productivity. I feel bad saying this, but I felt so much more relaxed for those two days she was at the vet-until I got the bill that is...

I am really struggling with the thought of putting her down. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have always had many animals growing up. I have had to put some down before but it was always so much clearer that it was their time to go. With Lucy, not only is it tough financially but it is stressful emotionally and takes up so much time. I struggle because my reasoning comes across (even to me) as "she is an inconvenience," which makes me feel awful. It does not help that everyone at the vet just raves about her being such a sweet and cool cat. She is! But one thing I have learned is that your priorities completely change when you have a child. Before Madison, I never understood how people get rid of their animals when they have a baby, but I am starting to understand. However, Lucy is basically family to me and you don't give up on family members once they become an inconvenience. And I said 6 months ago we were not going to continue spending money on her, but you call the vet because she is vomiting more often than usual, and they insist on blood work and more meds and then you end up hundreds of dollars poorer and that could have gone towards Madison. Nothing they did at the vet is what I would consider drastic measures, but all the little stuff adds up!

So, that is what has been on my mind a lot lately. I have time to think about it, but every day is a struggle...