Hawaii

Well, we made it back from Hawaii safe and sound. It was one of the best trips I've ever taken. It's absolutely gorgeous...even more than I thought it would be. The plane ride there was pretty uneventful. After we got separated from Jackie with our seating, she conned the people in our row to move, basically telling them that they really didn't want to sit by our three little "angels." Macy maybe slept for 35 minutes of the 8 hour and 11 minute flight, but she didn't get too cranky. I'm still not sure how we were able to entertain her for that whole time, but it went just fine. We stayed at Jackie's for the first six nights. We were able to spend a lot of time driving around the island and finding things to do with her. We went to a Buddhist temple, on a hike to the top of a mountain that overlooked a lighthouse and the gorgeous southern shoreline of Oahu, to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona Memorial and the battleship Missouri, on a hike through the rainforest, to the Polynesian Cultural Center complete with a lu'au and show, and of course the beach. It was hot and humid, so it was nice to have a place to just relax and stay cool. Jackie has a beach across the street from her house, so it was easy access. We spent the last three nights at the Hale Koa hotel on Waikiki Beach. We had an ocean view room and spent the last two full days just by the pool and beach at our resort. Macy was a champ the entire time, and it was so fun for us and for her to hang out with Jackie, Donovan, and Sadie. I hope you enjoy the few pictures I put up. (I have 121 more if anyone is interested.)

Since I last wrote, Macy has been up to a lot. She is now officially a crawler. She started the day before we left for our trip and is now completely mobile. This means she is into everything and cannot be trusted. She also pulled herself to a stand in Hawaii, so she now greets us in her crib standing up. She talks constantly, the funniest being when I ask her to say mama and she responds with "da-dee." I'm still convinced that her words are not purposeful, but I think she's such a stinker. She also has three teeth coming in on the top at the same time...poor kid. I'll be sad when they're in and she doesn't have her sweet, gummy smile anymore. My baby is definitely growing up whether I like it or not!

Summer Updates

Sorry to those of you who check this regularly. I know it's been almost a month since I last posted. We have just been enjoying the summer! It has truly been one of the most relaxing and fun times I have ever had. We've spent time at the zoo, at Wirth Park, in Madison with relatives, and at my mom's pool. It's been super busy, but in a good way. I can't believe it's the middle of July all ready! We have really enjoyed having Jackie, Donovan, and Sadie here as well. It will be sad to see them go back to Hawaii. But Dan, Macy, and I are going with them! We'll be on Oahu for about 10 days. I'm a little concerned about Macy on an eight hour plane ride, but we'll just have to deal with it! I'm sure we'll all make it there and have a great time. (This means I won't be able to post until we get home...check back after the first of August.)

As far as Macy updates...she is changing daily. She's close to crawling. In fact, I think she could do it if she wanted to, but she's pretty content to roll wherever she wants to go. At her nine month appointment, she was 18 pounds, 13.5 ounces (25-50%). Her head is still big - 90%, and she grew three inches in the last three months to put her in the 90% range for height. She loves to stand, attempt to pull herself up onto things, and she constantly wants to be moving. She talks all the time in her own Macy language, and she has graduated to some big people foods. She eats bread, cheese, yogurt, and bananas now, and she loves the Gerber snacks like the Yogurt Melts and the flavored puffs. Dan and I watched some videos of her the other day from when she was first born, and I can't believe the difference. It truly doesn't even look like her, and I can't believe how much she has changed. It makes me sad that she will never be like this again, but I love watching her grow up. I am really looking forward to working part time next year, so I can spend as much time as possible with her.

Summertime!

Sorry to those of you who are regular blog checkers. I didn't write last week due to lack of time. We are so excited that summer is finally here, and that we have three months to spend with Macy. She had a blast with Aunt Jackie, Donovan, and Sadie. She swung on the swings at the park and even took a trip to the museum. We are so grateful that they are here and that we get to spend the summer with them.

Macy has some new tricks. She can pull herself to a stand while holding onto our hands. She loves her music table, and even whines when she sees it out of her reach. She also loves her cousins and her dogs. We are still a no-go on the crawling, but she definitely gets where she wants to go by rolling all over the place. It's amazing where she ends up when you leave her on the floor! She's a determined little girl, so we're expecting her to be mobile soon. She also has a new set of scrunched nose faces that are hilarious. We'll get it on camera soon and post for all to enjoy.

Cousins

We had the best time yesterday! Donovan, Sadie, and Jackie are here until the end of July, so Macy got to meet her aunt and cousins for the first time. Aunt Jackie fell in love with her instantly, saying that she loves how "squishy" she is. She called her a teddy bear. Macy gave her lots of hugs. Donovan was hilarious. He was playing with a toy crane, and Macy and I were sitting next to him. The end of the crane fell off, and Donovan said, "Momma, Macy broke my crane." Then he turned to Macy and said, "That's not very nice Macy. Don't break my crane." We couldn't stop laughing. Then, as we were about to leave, Macy and Sadie were sitting together on the floor. Sadie started to cry, and Macy put her arm around Sadie, leaned over, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. Dan and I both know that Macy was truly only trying to eat Sadie's nose, but it was so cute. She did it about 10 more times after that too, probably knowing that we were all loving it. We are in for a fun summer with the cousins!

Macy's First Parade

On Monday, Macy hit another milestone...attending her first parade. Anyone who knows my mom knows that parades are not only awesome, but that they are also mandatory. So at 10:00 we headed out to Menomonee Falls for the Memorial Day parade. It was fun...lots of bands and typical parade things to watch. We got some cute pictures that you can check out on the side.

No success on the crawling yet. However, I have found Macy sleeping on her belly a little more lately, so maybe she's getting used to being on it. It will be interesting to watch her over the next few months to see if she becomes mobile. I can't wait for summer to have time to spend with her.

We are looking forward to this coming weekend when we get to see Aunt Jackie, Donovan, and Sadie! They are geared up for babysitting next week :)

New Routine

Dan is back to work tomorrow. Our time with our daughter has officially come to an end. It's funny because Dan didn't think he would miss being at home as much as he is going to. He's pretty sad about being away from her again. I told him that I think I can relate :)

In other news, Macy has mastered rolling in both directions now. We put her on the floor, and she's a rolling machine. Maybe there's crawling in her future after all! She also likes to sleep on her side and sometimes on her tummy now. I put her down for a nap yesterday morning, and I heard her whining a little. It's not atypical, so I just let her go for a little while. Finally she let out a loud yell, so I walked into her room and saw her in an interesting position. She was on her belly, sideways in her crib. But both legs were sticking out between the bars of her crib, and she was completely stuck. She didn't really seem to care, but she couldn't roll out of it, so she looked a little angry. It was quite cute.

We also went to Madison yesterday for Steph's graduation. Macy got to spend the day with my cousin Michelle, her husband Sean, and their adorable 10 month old baby Coen. Macy and Coen had a great time playing together. It was neat to see her interact with someone her age. We can't wait for the summer when we can get together with them more often, and when Macy's cousins Donovan and Sadie will be here to play!

School Visit

Since I've been back at work, I've had to do a lot of hurrying home so that Dan can get to his tennis matches on time. On Friday he had a match in Greendale and had to catch the bus at Brookfield East by 2:45. The plan was for him and Macy to meet me in the parking lot at school, so he could go right to East at 2:30. To my surprise, at 2:25, as I was wrapping up my 7th hour class, in walked Dan and Macy. The students were very surprised, as was I. So Macy and I walked around and chatted with people at Pilgrim Park for a little while until the buses left. It was a fun surprise on the Friday of a busy week.

We're also working on crawling. For a few weeks, Macy would flip onto her back the second we put her on her belly. So Mean Mommy put the Boppy on the side she rolled, so she couldn't flip over. Now she'll stay on her belly for a little longer. We're putting toys in front of her and out of reach to try to encourage her. Her legs are moving the right way...there're just not taking her anywhere yet. I feel like it's progress!

Tongue Clicks

Dan read somewhere that if you click your tongue at your baby, it helps her learn to speak. So he's been trying it, and I don't know about talking, but it sure makes Macy smile. She even did it back once, though I'm not sure it was on purpose.

Macy is 7 months old today! That sounds old...she's now closer to one than zero. It's amazing how far she's come. She's sitting up on her own, standing with help, and is a solid-food-eating champ. She has her own baby language and says "dada" when she's angry. She's a great sleeper and can be put down without too much hassle. She also loves the dogs. Dan takes her to the doctor tomorrow for a head re-measure, and then hopefully no more visits until July.

Food update: Macy likes vegetable turkey dinner (yuck) and pears & mangos.

Work News and Toothers

It looks like I will be working part time next school year! This week I was offered a 40% contract to teach Read 180 in the mornings at my school. This means I start work at 8:15 and am done by 11:00. Macy's daycare has half days that end at 12:30, so it works out perfectly. I might also be able to bump up to a 60% by adding a 1st hour class, but if not, at least there is a plan right now. I'm very excited about having the time to spend with her again!

My transition back to work is getting better. I feel like I'm finally getting comfortable again. It's hard to get home and only have a few hours to spend with Macy. She has been going to bed earlier, so it's tough. It is nice to have some time to myself at night, though :)

Solids update: Macy likes bananas and chicken with sweet potatoes.

I also noticed the other day that while Macy was standing in front of me she picked up her foot and put it down again. I don't know if that's any kind of milestone, but it makes me believe that she's thinking about what else she could be doing with those feet. Her bottom two teeth are pretty much out now. They're still tiny and close to the gums, but I think they're out. We had a couple cranky days before they surfaced! It's so weird to see her smile change. I don't see the gummy newborn smile anymore! Our baby is getting big!

The Zoo

Macy and I took our first outing to the zoo on Friday. We met Nicki and Riana for an awesome day in the gorgeous weather. I wasn't sure how long Macy would last in the stroller. Sometimes even on our walks around the block she gets antsy. She made it about 10 minutes before she wanted out. Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn! We walked around in that for at least an hour, and she had a great time. I'm pretty sure she didn't care about the animals, but she sure enjoyed walking around and people watching. It was nice to get outside and to hang out with Nicki and Riana. We loved listening to Riana talk about what she saw and watching her play on the jungle gym. I love the zoo pass. We will be making many more trips this summer...let us know if you are interested in going!

Solid foods update: Macy likes carrots :)

We are also nursing some sickness around here. Macy and I have had colds for over a week. She doesn't seemed phased by it for the most part, so we haven't gone to the doctor, but it doesn't seem to want to go away. Mine has been pretty bad for the past few days, so I'm hoping I don't have to make a trip to my doctor tomorrow. I blame it all on going back to work :) I'm hoping this part time thing works out for next year!

Food and Baby Babbles

Well, we finally found some foods that Macy likes. Sweet potatoes and apples are a hit! We are trying a new food every three days, so we'll keep you posted on the developments. Macy is also sitting up completely on her own. She loves to play with toys on the floor and she's so proud of herself when we let her go. She's gotten the rolling over thing down now, and refuses to be on her tummy for more than a few seconds. She doesn't even cry...she just turns herself over. Little stinker. She has also become quite the little chatterbox. Her new favorite sound to make is "dada." Dan, of course, is thrilled and takes this as a personal victory. I refuse to believe that she knows what she's saying at this point :) I just keep trying to reiterate the "mama" word.

Back to Work, Big Head, and Peas

I'll keep it short. Being back to work is tough. That's all I have to say about that :)

We went to the doctor last night for Macy's 6 month appointment. 16 pounds, 25.5 inches, and a massive head are the stats we got. We have to go back in a month for another head measurement because she jumped up to a new percentile. She's doing everything she's supposed to be doing - sitting, trying to stand, lifting her head when she's on her belly. She even rolled over again today, the little stinker. We were also told that her two bottom teeth are on the verge of arriving, so we are curious to see what they will look like. I can't picture her without her gummy little smile! AND she didn't cry for one of her shots! She screamed for the second one, but I thought one out of two wasn't bad!

We got the go ahead from the doctor, so we tried our first real solid today...peas. Not a big hit. She pretty much threw them all up along with her cereal. The taste made her gag, so that made everything come up. It was not pretty, but it was pretty funny :) We'll keep you posted on the reviews of the other foods as we go along. Stay tuned!

Last Day

Well, it is officially the end of my maternity leave. At 2:30 on Monday, I will be on my way home to see Macy after being away from her for a full work day. It all became real yesterday when I had to go into school and meet with my sub to catch up on what's been happening. I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how much she has changed. I think she knows something is up because she has been extremely snuggly this week. A few times in the afternoons she has laid against my chest, wide awake, and just cuddled with me for a few minutes. Of course it made me cry because for the next nine weeks, Monday through Friday, I will not be able to wake up to her smiling face and listen to her constant cute noises all day. I'm truly not worried about her at all. I know that Dan and our other line up of babysitters will be fine, and I'm glad that Dan gets to have his time with her. I just hate the thought of being away from my nugget.

On a lighter note, I'll tell a silly story about the other night. I was trying to put Macy to bed. She had just finished eating, and as I sat her up to burb her, she projectile vomited all over me. Not a very interesting story, but the catch is that it went all over my face. In my hair, my eyes, and even my mouth. It was disgusting, and needless to say, I was soaked. Then the little darling looked right into my eyes and gave the biggest smile of the day. What a little stinker! :)

Nine Days and Counting

The time for me to go back to work is drawing nearer. I have nine more days of playing all day with Macy, and then it's back to the real world. I feel good knowing that Dan will be home with Macy...that's not the reason why I'm worried. I just can't imagine not being with her all day. It's going to be tough, and the tears are all ready flowing!

Macy is getting much better with the rice cereal. She loves it! In the next couple weeks we will try some fruits and veggies mixed in to see how that goes. She is also really close to sitting up on her own. She can do it for a few seconds, and she seems to be getting stronger every day. We are looking forward to that milestone being reached.

We also got a zoo pass for the summer! If anyone wants to go, let us know! It's a nice option for a new place to walk around. I always liked the zoo :)

Success!

Milestone today! Macy rolled from her tummy to her back! I didn't quite believe it, but she did it twice in a row! I'm happy she did something for me before I go back to work. I figure I'll be missing some things during that time.

Nice Weather!

We had such a fun weekend! On Friday night we took a trip to Brookfield Square...all three of us. We walked around for a little while and ate dinner. Macy did a great job. She just looked all around and was in awe of being in a new place. On Saturday and Sunday we were able to take walks around the neighborhood. Again, Macy loved to see new sights. We are planning on some more walks this week during the nice weather. It makes me long for summer and trips to the pool and the zoo!

I can't believe that we are halfway through March. It makes me happy that the weather is getting nicer, but it also makes me sad for two reasons. One, Macy is getting so big. She is eating her cereal like a champ and is getting stronger every day. I'm also sad because two weeks from today I go back to work. I can't imagine being away from her all day, five days in a row. I've been there to experience almost every moment of her life up until this point, so there will definitely be tears involved come March 30. Too bad stay-at-home moms can't get paid.

Rice Cereal

Well, after almost two weeks of being sick, I think Macy is finally in the clear. She was cough-free for the weekend, so I'm hoping that's over. She also slept through the night again on Saturday night and last night. Hopefully her champion habits will return for good. We go to the doctor today for an ear check, and if all is good, then we go back for her six month appointment in a few weeks. I'm hoping we can end the antibiotic, as it has given her diarrhea (about 4 poops a day) and now what I think is a yeast infection (which, by the way, you treat with cream for jock itch :) ). The poor child has pretty much had every symptom that the doctor said she could get.

On a happier note, we bought Macy a high chair this weekend and started her on rice cereal. She seemed a little confused, but she did much better than I expected her to do. I think she ate about half of what we tried, so I call that successful. She didn't know what to do with her tongue, and by the end she was making funny faces that said, "That's enough, Mom." Another milestone reached!

I also have to mention that I think Macy has taken a new interest in her daddy. My mom babysat on Saturday night while we went out for awhile. We walked in the door, and Macy looked at both of us. She gave me a blank stare first, then looked at Dan and gave a huge smile. He, of course, was ecstatic. I was sad. What is it about boys that makes babies smile all the time? Amazing.

Sick Baby

OK...so no one told me how hard it is to have a sick baby. (By the way, sorry for those of you that have all ready heard the saga.) On Tuesday morning Macy woke up with a cough. She was OK - puffy, red eyes, cough, congestion - until Wednesday night when she woke up at 2:00 and refused to go back to bed. All she wanted was to sleep on my shoulder. So she was up until after 4:00. Thursday morning I called the doctor, and we went in to find out that Macy has bronchiolitis. It's caused by the RSV virus, and from what I understand for adults it's a bad cold, but for babies it's a bad cough and an inflammation of the airways. The doctor heard some wheezing, so she tried a breathing treatment, and Macy was not part of the 30% that is helped by it. So we went home with just the hopes that she would get better on her own. My question was this: How am I supposed to sleep knowing that she has an illness in her lungs, when I always fear that she will stop breathing in her sleep? Granted I don't stay awake staring at her or anything, but it's still in the back of my mind that I hope she's OK. She slept better Thursday night, but then this morning she started coughing a lot. She coughed non-stop for 30 minutes straight, throwing up 4 times in the process. It scared the heck out of me, so I called the doctor again, and again we were told to come in. This time her lungs sounded OK, but now she has an ear infection to add to the complaint list. This poor baby. She looks completely sad and pathetic, and it literally makes me cry to see her like this. What amazes me, though, is that she still looks at me - puffy red eyes and all - and smiles because she knows that I love that more than anything. I am completely exhausted, but I will gladly stay awake for as long as it takes if it will make her feel better. I've become aware once again this week of just how much I love this baby and how hard it is to see her sad. The worst part is that I can't do much for her. I can't wait to have my Macy back once this is all over.

**FYI - This blog is totally therapeutic. I highly recommend it to anyone. :)

Baptism

Macy was baptized this past Sunday. It was a nice ceremony. Macy only cried for about half of it, so it was better than I expected :) Then we had people over for lunch afterwards, and it was a fun day. Macy was a trooper and went without a nap all day. Needless to say, she slept really well on Sunday night and napped a lot today (Monday) too.

Other Macy news...we are still working on rolling over, and it's not happening. I think I'm ready to call it quits and just go for the sitting up. She's close on that one. Just a little top heavy still, which makes sense since her head is so big - 75% at her last appointment :) She's also finding her voice. She not only babbles constantly, but she's introduced a new pitch of screaming. Not "I'm mad screaming." It's more of a cute, "Pay attention to me" scream. It's quite hilarious to listen to. She also flails her legs and arms constantly, making bath time an event for all. Dan and I end up wetter than she is by the end :)

Day Care

So no one told me that searching for a day care would be completely traumatic. We had our first visit this afternoon, and all three of us lost it. I should have known that it would be trouble when the minute we sat down in the director's office, Macy started crying. It was downhill from there. We walked into the first room, and I just got an uneasy feeling. The place was fine (I won't mention the name, just in case), but I couldn't see my daughter there. We got in the car, and I asked Dan what he thought. His response was, "I wanted to cry." Anyone that knows Dan knows that this is a rare occurrence, so of course that made me cry. Granted it was the first place we looked, and I know nothing about day cares, but I hope that we can find a place for Macy that we are all comfortable with. At least I have something to compare to at this point as the search continues.

Baby Laughs

Well, we hit another milestone in the life of Macy. She turned 4 months old on February 3rd! She weighed in at an impressive 13 pounds 15.5 ounces and was 24.25 inches long - both in the 50th percentile. The shocker was that her head is now in the 75th percentile, which explains the difficulty that Mom has getting her onesies on :) She was in a mood on the day of her appointment, so we postponed the shots until later in the week. I cried all the way home, but Macy did fine.

She also laughed out loud for the first time this week! After 4 days of Mom's attempts, she finally did it...she laughed at the dogs. Apparently all it took was to see Max and Sami wrestling to bring out the giggles. Luckily for us, she blessed Dan and I with the sound later this weekend. It's such a treat to watch her grow!

Floor Time

Another week has gone by, and Macy is just as cute as ever. Not much new to report, but we are getting closer on the rolling over thing. Those darn arms keep getting in the way! We are also getting closer on producing a real giggle. I nuzzled her cheeks a couple times with my nose, and we got a double noise that sounded like the start of a laugh. It's coming soon...or maybe it's just mom's wishful thinking :)

On a different note, I am starting to realize that my time at home is coming to a close. Tuesday starts second semester at school, which means I have 9 more weeks to go. Dan is all ready bragging about how he gets his 6 weeks off when I go back. It makes me sad. The thought of work is so far beyond my reach that it will truly be a challenge to be there full time once again. Maybe I'll like it...but I kind of doubt it :) I love being a mom at home much more than I thought I would.

Our trip to Applebees

So last weekend Macy and I ventured out to Southridge to meet up with the McLarnan clan. Mike, Elaine, Sean, Michelle, and Coen were meeting at Steven's apartment in Franklin, so we went out there to have lunch with them. I fed Macy before we left, so I thought she would be fine during lunch. Boy was I wrong. We got to Applebees, and she was fine for a little while. But once the food came, she had an all out hissy fit. Of course I had left the bottle in the car, so my wonderful cousin Sean took Macy on a tour of Applebees while I RAN out to the car to get the bottle. I thought it would be fine, but my little daughter has been spoiled with warm milk since the day she was born, so she took two sips of the cold milk, spit it out immediately, and gave me this look that said, "You're crazy if you think I'm going to drink this stuff." So I asked a waitress for hot water, heated up the bottle, and then she took it. My wonderful aunt, uncle, and cousins were kind enough to wait for me to eat and hold her while I did so. Thank God for family! The kicker of all of this was watching Coen (2 months older than Macy) sit quietly with a toy in his car seat the ENTIRE time. What a little angel that baby is! It was a fun time, and we survived, but definitely an adventure!

Sleep and Poop

Well, it's funny that I mentioned Macy's sleeping habits last week because, of course, she threw us a curve ball right after that. She slept terribly the next two nights. So we have now decided that no matter what happens during the day, Macy is not allowed to take naps after 4:00. Probably a good idea for all babies, but up until this point it didn't matter. Once we started that, she's back to 6 to 8 hours at a time. No nap means more fuss, but I'll take it over waking up 3 times in the middle of the night!

**CAUTION - I'M ABOUT TO TALK ABOUT POOP. IF YOU ARE GROSSED OUT, SKIP THIS SECTION**

Up to this point, I don't think I've mentioned the diaper happenings in the Gebauer house, but I can't help myself. Macy has reached a new level of diaper grossness. She went 4 days without pooping last weekend, and once she did, it was a doozy. For other mothers of babies, you will appreciate this, because it was also a new kind of poop. Much more gooey and disgusting, and the smell is now much more prominent. I told Dan that I am worried that we will be known as the parents of the "Stinky Kid." It's so funny the conversations that I now get into with other moms. Who knew that poop would be a topic worthy of a 30 minute conversation?

**END POOP SECTION**

Still no progress on rolling over...we'll keep you posted. More pictures to come as well. Stay tuned!

3 Months Old!

It's official. Macy is 3 months old. I finally got the chance to put some pictures in the pre-made scrapbook (thanks Kathy :) ) and photo album for her, and it's amazing how much bigger she looks. I am in the process of sending clothes off to Hawaii for baby Sadie, and there are some things that I can't believe she ever fit in. So sad, but very fun to have a whole new wardrobe to play with!

Macy has also become the champion sleeper! I hope I'm not jinxing it by writing about it, but we have gone 6 nights in a row of sleeping 7 to 9 hours in a row! She doesn't like the process of going to sleep, but once she's down, she stays down. Dan and I are more tired now than we have been in a few weeks because we are not used to sleeping for such long periods at one time. Macy is also attempting to roll from tummy to back. She's truly not even close right now, but one day she'll figure it out. She also loves toys held over her head (Zebra is a favorite...thanks Nicki :) )and anything that makes noise.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's, and we look forward to seeing all of you in 2009!