Maddie turned two months old today. I wish I could say time has passed quickly but honestly it seems like she should be two years old by now.
December* was a busy month in too many ways. We did a marathon trial of a whole slew of formulas -- none of which really helped Maddie's reflux. We also tried going off the Zantac for a short period of time to see whether it was doing more harm than good. The results: the Zantac is working and Similac with a little bit of rice cereal added seems to be our best bet. I'm afraid to mention any of this to our pediatrician at Maddie's appointment tomorrow. I know we've broken about a zillion rules (e.g. don't change formulas without your doctor's approval; don't add rice cereal to your baby's formula or she'll sprout three heads and spew flames; etc.)
Maddie lets us see a little more of her personality each day. Matt says she looks like him but has my personality. I don't know about that, but I think we've definitely got a spirited kid on our hands. I can see the teenage years are going to be splendid. Maddie is both charming and challenging. She voices her dislikes in no uncertain terms with a short clipped cry of annoyance. It's cute if you're not on the receiving end.
Her current likes:
- Making Daddy walk her around the house endlessly.
- Staring at the ceiling fan in the living room. We've also viewed the other ceiling fans in the house, but the one in the living room seems to be her favorite.
- Swinging in her swing. This is a recent development.
- Being held... and held... and held.
- Passie -- Maddie has always liked her pacifier, but in the past week she's demanded it A LOT. Which means that a passie war generally ensues where Mommy and Daddy are forced to keep popping the stupid thing back into her mouth each time she spits it out. I took Passie away from her one night after two hours of warring. A huge fit followed, but once that passed she finally fell asleep. Part of me felt so mean, but the other part (the part with what was left of my patience) rejoiced in the fact that I get to make the rules and don't have to be a slave to the passie.
- The changing table. I'm not sure why this makes her so happy (other than the obvious -- except she's happy even when a diaper change isn't involved). She'll laugh and talk and generally be in a wonderful mood while she's on the changing table. Saying "poopy, poopy, poopy" in a high-pitched voice results in laughter and a mega-watt grin.
- Her crib mobile. She has discovered this cool thing that hangs above her crib. It has animals that move in a circle while music plays. Very cool. She coos and talks to them as they move and when the mobile stops, she'll look around to find me and give me that "make it go again, Mommy" look.
- Baths. Still likes the water. We can't wait to enroll her in water babies when she's old enough (probably this summer)!
- Looking at faces.
Maddie's current dislikes:
- Being bored. This is no surprise. I'm miserable to be around when I'm bored.
- Sleeping at any time other than exactly when SHE is good and ready to sleep. Any talk of "night-nights" or similar causes a fit. She refuses to be rocked, shushed or patted in an attempt to force her to go to sleep at some appointed time (read "schedule" or "routine"). I feel like a complete failure at the routine thing because I don't have her on any sort of predictable napping schedule. All of my parenting books suggest putting her in her crib when she's tired but not fully asleep and to set a clear pattern of events that lead up to sleep. Hah! Maddie will have none of this. If she even detects any hint of parentally-imposed routine, she fights it. I know she's only two months old, but she's already on to me. I finally gave up and we're going with the flow. If I can get her to sleep for 30 minutes -- whether it be in the swing, in my arms, in the car or on our bed (all no-no's) -- I'll take it. I've found that letting her fall asleep on her own when she's ready with no intervention on my part works better than trying to force my schedule on her. Makes sense to me, but I fear I may be in for problems down the road. I guess we'll see.
- Over-the-head shirts. She hates the endless arm-tugging required to put on shirts, and since it's winter, this is multiplied by two because I insist she wear an undershirt.
- Being hot. This goes without saying. I really try not to overdress her so when we go out she generally doesn't wear a snowsuit or coat. Instead she has a blanket and zippered fleece top on her car seat to keep her warm. This seems to do just fine without getting her too hot. I do feel a little guilty though when we go to the store. I'm the mom who doesn't have her kid bundled up like a little stay-puffed marshmallow man in a suit and heaps of blankets.
- Hats. Trying to put a hat on her head leads to a huge protest.
- The car seat. The only thing that makes it tolerable is being in motion. When the car or stroller stops, watch out.
- Tummy time.
- Story time. This is sad, but I know it will pass. I thought it was a coincidence at first, but every time I try to read the Itsy-Bitsy Spider book, she cries. I guess spiders are a little icky. Maddie would much rather look at our faces than look at the book.
Maddie took her first stroller ride around the neighborhood today. She pitched a huge fit about being in her car seat until the stroller was moving. She slept through the entire walk (including the pack of 12 neighborhood kids yelling and laughing while they were playing wiffleball).
I only have two more weeks of maternity leave. As challenging as Maddie can be sometimes, I'm really going to miss spending so much time with her. January 22 is going to be a tough, tough day.
*Sorry to those of you (Lori) who wanted to see Christmas photos. We got a new video camera that also takes photos and just haven't had time to process everything and post it here. At the rate we're going, you should probably look for them sometime in June. ;) Just kidding. I'll see what I can do.
