Milestones...

I don't post much about my girls' growth and development, but I am afraid if I don't, I'll easily forget it.
I just had to pull out Madison's baby book to find out when her first tooth came in because I honestly had no recollection!  (It was at 8 months, btw).

So, I figured I'd update you all on where they are at and what they're into lately.

Madison just turned 5.  I can not believe I have a 5 year old.  She just lights up my days and she is so smart. She picks up on everything and has an amazing memory.  I literally do not have to have a shopping list when we go grocery shopping, because as long as I recite what we need before we go, she will remember it!

She is in a scared/anxious phase though.  Everything makes her nervous.  We nicknamed her "Nelly" and she thinks it is hysterical!! I called her Nervous Nelly once and Nosey Nelly another time and so the tern Nelly stuck and she loves it!! She wants to know everything you're talking about - she's super nosey - but its just because she is curious... so curious about everything.  And she learns so much by being so curious, so its actually really good!
The nervous part... oh my... she's nervous that I'm going to hit a car (that is yards away) when backing out of a parking spot, nervous that Isabella will fall over (she always does and it's no big deal)!  Nervous if Ryan leaves the room (when I'm not home) she'll call out "Daddy... DADDY!!!" thinking he left her alone (ummm... he would never do that!! I've been tempted before, but never him!!! -i kid!)   I used to be the exact same way, which is so weird to me that it's not something I've

But aside from that, she's super into reading right now.  And she's getting it!! For a while, she would say "How do you spell dog" and I would say, "Sound it out, what letter makes the 'duh' sound?"... and she would  respond with something like "S"... so I knew she wasn't understanding it yet.
But lately, she'll ask if she can read the first page of her nightly stories - and she gets the sounds and most of the words correct!!  It's amazing to see her learning practically right before my eyes!!


She so sweet too.  She constantly tells me I'm pretty and she loves being with me, she loves hugging me and brushing my hair or laying on the couch with me.  I tell her all the time, "Promise you'll always like me... because when you're a teenager, I might have to tell you that you can't do a lot of things you want to and you may not like my answers, but promise me that you'll know I am only doing whats best for you"... she laughs and promises!! It's really cute!
She is an incredible big sister... Sometimes I'll have Izzy sitting in her saucer while I'm doing something in the other room and immediately Maddie comes and sits with Izzy, and if she has to go to the bathroom or leave the room, she'll say, "Mom can you watch Izzy, I just have to run and..." she doesn't like leaving her by herself for even a minute!

Then there's my 7 month old that is seriously growing before my eyes!! The reason I had to look up when Maddie got her first tooth, is because Izzy's is just starting to poke through.  I couldn't remember nursing when Maddie had teeth, but I did apparently (only for a month or so)...
Izzy has been sitting up on her own for a little over a month.  She took her first ride in a shopping cart the other day (she could  have done so earlier, but we didn't have one of those covers for it so I just kept her in the front carrier... My mom is incredible though, and whipped one up for us one weekend, so now we are avoiding germs while still riding in style!)

She waves when we wave to her, she claps on command, she laughs at so much!  She eats cereal and squash and sweet potatoes.  We're trying other foods but this muchkin has the best pukey face and gag going on for new foods!!
She is still solely on breastmilk though - I pump as much as I can at work (because we mix the cereal with breastmilk too.)  It's been challenging to find the time in the day to pump, but I just keep telling myself, one day at a time.  Don't look ahead and think "Oh man, 5 more months" look ahead and say, "I can do this again tomorrow"... that has gotten me through 7.5 months, so I guess its a good mentality!!
She is still not sleeping through the night completely.  I get one night here and there, but for the most part, she wakes up at least once (around 3:00am) and then for the day around 6:30am.
I can't complain though - she sleeps from about 7:30pm - 3am-ish and then goes back down after that middle of the night feeding.
I go to bed around 10 or 11pm once the house is picked up a bit so I am averaging 4-5 hours a night (it's tough to get back to sleep once you're up from 3-4am feeding... Many times I just stay up and go for my run.

Overall, I could not ask for better daughters.  I am so blessed and I love waking up to their smiling faces (they both inherited their father's morning-person personality) - Thank God!!