Wet Socks and a Rubber Duck

Riddle: What do wet socks and a rubber duck have in common?

Answer:Bath time with Daddy

Tonight I was on the phone with my aunt Ann. She had treatments today for her cancer that has come back; so I was seeing how things went today. Kevin knew I was on the phone and it was time for Madalyn to get her bath; so he took it upon himself to give her a bath. (Now that Madalyn is older and bigger; he feels better about giving her a bath. So I have shown him how to because school is around the corner and I can't always be the one to give her a bath.) I came through the house to find out where Kevin and Madalyn were and what they were up to and was very surprised to find them in the bathroom with Madalyn in the tub. Now you see this picture I have of white wet socks and a rubber ducky. Kevin forgot to take off Madalyn's socks before he put her in the tub. He said that he noticed that Madalyn was picking her legs up an looking at her feet with a funny look on her face. Then he realized that she had her socks still on her feet. I wish I could have of seen this. I have laughed and laughed all evening about this. I wish I knew what Madalyn was thinking. Probably "my mommy doesn't leave these on when she gives me a bath." Oh, me! At least he is trying to be helpful and if the price is a few wet socks, that's okay. They were going to have to be washed anyway.

Blog Title

You may have noticed that I have been changing my blog title. I wanted something different besides just "The McCormicks" especially now that we are a family of 3 plus a fuzzy family member. I think I have finally decided on our new title and I got it from a picture frame that sits in our den. I got this frame sometime within the past 4 months at the Hallmark store.

4 Month Check Up

Madalyn went for her 4 month check up this afternoon. She weighed 13.8 pounds. She was 10.4 lbs. her last check up (she is in the 50th percentile for her weight). She was 26 inches long. She was 23 1/4 inches long last check up. (she is in the 90th percentile for her length.) She got a good report. She can start cereal now for the next few weeks then she will get to start her solids. We tried some cereal tonight, but she was so hungry it didn't go over too well. We will try again tomorrow. Madalyn got another oral vaccine today and 2 shots. Her first shot, the nurse hit a vein and she bleed on her outfit and cried and cried. I felt so sorry for her. However, she seems to be her normal, happy self this evening. Kevin went with me and he said that he thinks all the vaccines should be oral; it hurt him to see her get stuck. She goes again in 2 more months for her 6th month check up. She is growing up fast!

Good Morning

In the morning when I get up; this is the picture that I see. Madalyn has her feet up in the air and she bangs them down on her bed. And then you hear her sucking her fingers. She will do this off and on for like an hour or more. This is how she wakes up.

She is just about to get too big for this bed and will soon be moving to her own room. However, it's on the opposite end of the house to where our room is, so there's a few steps that will have to be made to get to her when she moves there. But I think she will be glad to have a bigger bed. She ends up sideways when she wakes up now. She always wakes up with a smile, but that smile wouldn't show with the light of the camera because she would stop smiling whenever I put the camera back up. Oh well...

Madalyn is also holding her own bottle now! Not all the time, but she can hold it and take it in and out of her mouth. I quit taking a bottle when I was around 9 months old, so I guess she might follow me.

It's funny, my mom gave me my baby book so I'm comparing Madalyn's milestones with my own. And some of the things Madalyn has done is right when I did or at least close to it. The big difference is that Madalyn was 14 days earlier and I was 5 days late so I was an older newborn. The other big difference is that I started off sleeping on my stomach so I was sitting up and crawling early; but now they don't want you to put the baby on their stomach; on their back instead. There are many things that I have done a lot sooner than Madalyn has too as far as milestones but like I was eating cereal at 2 months and had apple juice for the first time at 2 1/2 months. But times were different 30 years ago and things have changed.

My Classroom

I mentioned on an earlier post that they were remolding our classrooms this summer; they are finally finished (almost) to where we can get in there and start working. So, Madalyn went to stay with Meme (Kevin's mom) and Hunter today while I was at school working. I got to school at 7:45am and left around 4:45pm. I would have of finished today, but there were two shelves that were not screwed back into the wall, so I will have to finish up one morning next week. I was very proud of myself and what I got accomplished today. I did it all by myself too! I will later post pictures of the completed room when it's ready for the kids.

Before....

After...with only one day of work and one person working

Madalyn is 4 Months Old

My baby girl is 4 months old today! Time has gone by so fast! She will go this Monday to the doctor for her 4 month check up.

Here is what Madalyn is doing now:
-cooing and laughing out loud and squealing with delight
-drooling like crazy ( I think she is in the early stages of teething)
-her hands still go in her month a lot along with her bib or clothes or anything she can get to.
-she can roll over from back to stomach and just this week she rolled over from her stomach to her bad.
-She has very good head control and sits up well with you holding her.
-She wakes up with a smile on her face
-She still really loves her rain forest. You lay her down in one direction and she can make a complete circle.
-She still loves bath time. She can even splash me now with her kicking.
-She is still sleeping good through the night.
-She has been taking 5 oz. of her bottle, but I think she will be excited to start on cereal. That just at times doesn't seem to satisfy her.
-She loves anything that is very colorful or moves
-She is starting to reach for things
-She moves her knees back and forth sometimes when she is on her tummy
-When you are holding her or she is in her bath tub, swing, bouncey seat, or car seat, she tries to sit up.
-When you go in a store, she wants to be out of her car seat and up to where she can see and look around. If she goes to someone's house, she is constantly turning her head and looking around. She is very curious as to what is going on around her.

This was probably the easiest photo session I have had with her so far. However, it's very difficult to make faces and shoot the camera at the same time to get her to laugh. It was hard to choose my favorites.

Charm Bracelet

For my birthday this year, there really wasn't anything special that I wanted, so I mostly got money, which is always nice! Since Madalyn was born, I have wanted something with her birthstone in it. Today, Madalyn and I went to Aiken for a short outing, and we stopped at one of our favorite gift shops. They sell the Pandora bracelets and beads, but they also sell Davinci bracelets and beads (which look just like the pandora ones, but are so much more afordable). I decided to use some of my birthday money to start this charm bracelet. I thought this will be something fun that I can add to and other's can give me, especially Kevin. He's always wanting to give me something special for Christmas, or my birthday and now, there are so many charms he can choose from.

They have 3 types of bracelets, I chose the one with the lobster claw because I thought it would be more secure. The charms I got today are:

-diamond birthstone for Kevin's April birthday
-ruby birthstone for my July birthday
-aquamarine birthstone for Madalyn's March birthday
-a "faith" bead sepperates Kevin and my birthstone
-a "mother" bead sepperates Madalyn and my birthstone

Then I have a stopper at each end. The stoppers have rubber in them to keep the beads from moving and sliding around. I got all these beads and bracelet for the price of one Pandora bead. Pretty good deal I think! I was very happy with my choice and I have already enjoyed wearing it.

Butterfly

Sunday, I came home from a weekend in Greer. (Madalyn and I headed to Greer early Friday morning. The idea for leaving at 7:00 am was that she would take her normal 3 hour morning nap. Did she? Of course not...she fell asleep as we left Blackville and woke up somewhere in the middle of hwy 3. I had to feed her in Cayce, 40 minutes earlier than she was suppose to be, but it was either that or stop somewhere on 26 in the middle of nothing. When we got to Greenville it was raining and 67 degrees. Our first stop was for me to go to the teacher store there, which I ended up having to feed her in the store. (The joys of traveling with a baby...they eat and get changed anywhere :0) We got to visit with my friend Lindsey and her baby Mason. Mason and Madalyn were both asleep when Lindsey got to my parent's house. Then Madalyn woke up and it was time to feed her, Mason woke up and he needed his diaper changed, then he decided it was time to eat. So, hopefully, the next time we meet, both will have just been fed and in good moods. Madalyn and I on Saturday went with my parents and Papa to my mom's side of the family reunion at Lake Keowee. Madalyn was the star of the picnic. Kevin didn't get to come with us because he had just spent 2 weekends away from the farm on our lake vacation, so he couldn't be away again that soon. On the way home, Madalyn slept most of the ride; I did have to pull over in Newberry to change her diaper. She slept until then and then went back to sleep and stayed asleep until we got home. I think she was tired after her busy weekend. Which it made it much easier on me, since I was by myself that she did sleep the way home). Anyway, while we were unloading my car, I saw these butterflies flying around my lantana at the back porch. After the car was unloaded, I found my camera and got a few pictures of one of the butterflies.

Madalyn Squeal.mpg

Along with Madalyn cooing, Tuesday I put her in her crib for a minute after a diaper change and I heard her squealing. I grabbed the camera and got a short video.

Madalyn Cooing.mpg

Madalyn really started cooing last week. On Tuesday, I was able to get a video of her "talking".

Madalyn at 3 months

Madalyn is growing up fast! This past week she has filled out more and really has started cooing all the time now. She has developed such expressions and reactions that have the perfect timing. She was the entertainment on our family vacation. Here are some highlights of the photo session that Brantley did.

Our Lake Vacation

This past week we were on our family vacation at Lake Hartwell. We had a pretty busy week; I have already blogged about some of our week so here's the rest. Thursday, we had some more family come down, Papa, my great aunt Ann and my great uncle Bobby. Papa spent the night and Friday, my uncle Keith, Felicia, and Emily came down. Then Saturday, my best friend from college, Noelle, came down with her little girl, Elizabeth and they stayed the night Saturday. We had a wonderful week full of family, fun, water, sun, a mini day trip, a decade birthday to celebrate, and precious memories of our first family vacation with Madalyn. Madalyn did so well for her first vacation. She slept well at night and did well during the day. She stayed at the house all the time; my mom kept her in the house;because Madalyn was way too little to go to the lake and get in the water and be out in the sun. It was a nice week; it was hard to come back home; but Abby was so glad to see us!

Papa and Madalyn; love how she is looking at him!

Madalyn and Grand Dad; looks like she's ready to ski!

Madalyn and Elizabeth (4 yrs.) watching a Barbie Fairy movie

Happy 30th Birthday to Me!

Today was my 30th birthday. Kevin had asked me what I wanted for my birthday and my answer was to go to the lake and eat at The Galley Restaurant in Anderson at Port Shoals Marina; and that's what he gave me. I had a nice day and got to spend it just like I wanted to. I am very blessed to have a loving husband, a sweet and healthy baby girl, and a wonderful family and great friends. I couldn't ask for anything more!