Mylee - 4 months

What that says I'm 4 months already???

Mylee is now 4 months...what happened to the last month??? Oh my gosh I wish time wouldn't fly by so fast. Mylee is growing up way too fast! She is still such a happy camper. Not a lot has changed in the last month. She is still sleeping about 10-11 hours at night and then just cat napping on and off throughout the day. We have gotten her to take a few longer naps the last few days but we definitely do not have a routine down by any means. When she gets fussy (which isn't very often) you just put her down in her swing and she puts herself to sleep. She does not want to be cuddled at all and will get very upset if you try. When she is tired she wants to be left alone. I've really appreciated how easy she is to put down, but definitely have missed the cuddle time with her. She just is not a snuggly baby. She has been spitting up and drooling a ton still. I actually can not believe she is so chubby because I don't know what she keeps down anymore. We go through about 5 burp raps a day if not more. She makes puddles around the house. I'm glad she is such a big kid because it doesn't really phase me that she vomits so much besides the fact that I am wiping up the floor all the time. If she was tiny I think I would be a lot more concerned.


This month she has continued to figure out how to use her hands more. She obviously has them in her mouth a ton too. When she's in her exercauser though she is really using her hands to touch and feel the toys around her. She likes to grab at my mouth a lot too. She will even play with her hyper lion on her car seat now. Its pretty adorable because she carries on quite a conversation with him. I've also moved her swing up from an incline more this month so that she can play with her toys while sitting in it and she likes that a lot.

Mylee enjoys standing up a lot now too...just like Maddy used to. I still think Mylee will crawl though first (Maddy never did). She loves tummy time and plays on her tummy a lot so I think the natural progression would be to crawl, but who knows. She is starting to work on sitting on her own now too with a boppy around her. Her stomach and back are quite strong, however her obliques need some work. She falls to the side more than anything. This next month we'll have to work on that.


Mylee's belly laugh has probably been the highlight of this past month for us. She has this really deep belly laugh. You almost have to like scare her and she'll sort of jump and then giggle. If you didn't know any better you would think she was going to cry. She is getting ticklish now too (on her feet and neck) so you can get a giggle or two from tickling her. So sweet!

We finally saw the pediatric oral surgeon last week after waiting 2 months. Mylee has ankyloglossia (tongue-tie). However, now that she is 4 months old we are past the window of opportunity to have a lingual frenectomy non-operatively. See if they are a tiny baby (less than a month old) the procedure can be done quickly in a pediatrician's office. There is no blood supply yet and the baby isn't big enough to make the procedure difficult. However, as they get older the frenulum gets thicker with a blood supply and the baby is old enough to try to fight letting you open his/her mouth and lift the tongue, so the lingual frenectomy is done in an OR with the child under anesthesia. In total agreement with the doctor we opted to not do this quite yet as Mylee is not having any failure to thrive (weigh gain) issues. She is now taking a bottle too, so I am much more relaxed about it (although those 6 weeks of trying to get her to bottle feed were a bit stressful). So the plan of action is to wait and see if any speech problems develop. If so we will see a speech therapist and try to correct it that way before opting for a frenectomy. If we can avoid surgery, we will. It is obviously a quick, easy procedure in the operating room but any time you involve anesthesia and surgery it poses a risk. I am a bit frustrated with the system, because I really don't understand why the pediatricians didn't do it when she was 2 weeks old when it was first discovered. It would have been easier than an immunization and would have prevented a bunch of what if's for the future. Yes, we finally got a referral to a doctor that would do it but by the time we got an appointment it was too late as she had grown out of that window of opportunity. FRUSTRATING! Sorry, I just needed to vent for a quick second. I know this is minor compared to what some other parents deal with but still an example of a flaw in the system.

Mylee showing off her tight tongue

So anyway, Mylee is a sweet heart. I am so thankful that she is in our lives. She makes me smile everyday! I can't believe how much she is changing every day. Having a baby in the house again makes you realize to remember to cherish every day. Their precious stages change way too fast.

Mylee with her nanny Grandma Simone

Jason's Birthday

Last week was Jason's birthday, but seeing that we had volleyball that night we decided to celebrate early and late. Wednesday night my mom took us out to dinner with the girls to celebrate. We had great food but other than that the dinner was kinda a flop. Our waiter was horrible and the girls weren't cooperating. Mylee was just a tad bit fussy and Maddy was embarrassingly whiny and sassy. A one point, I was eating at the table by myself because my mom was up walking around my with Mylee and Jason took Maddy outside for a time out. We weren't able to get a picture for obvious reasons. Thursday (Jason's actual birthday) we played horrible at volleyball, so it was a terrible way to end the day and we had nothing to celebrate after our embarrassing performance. Friday night, however, we had the neighbors over for some yummy Girl Scout Tag-a-long blizzard ice cream cake. It was delicious and our friend's company was enjoyable. So the third time was a charm on trying to celebrate Jason's birthday.

The birthday boy blowing out his candles

Mike, Hayden, Maddy, Sarah, Gabe, Ben, Jason, Mylee and Kendal
(The Rolling Oaks Gang)

Thompson Lake

A few weekends ago with the weather being so gorgeous we decided to try to bike down to the beach at Thompson Lake. It worked out great and we ended up down there most of the weekend. The girls did awesome in the trailer together and it was nice for Jason and I to get some exercise as the entire trip is up hill on the way home. We ate dinner down there Saturday night and lunch there on Sunday. Maddy loves swimming and playing in the sand and Mylee is so easy going we can take her anywhere and she is pretty content. So it was a great family weekend together at the beach.

The girls together in the bike trailer for Mylee's first ride

Maddy playing in the sand

The video below was taken at the beach on Sunday. It is a great example of one of Maddy's many quirks. She loves to sing really loud when she is concentrating. It gets kinda annoying when its in the house, but rather entertaining outdoors. I'm not sure what's going to happen if she still does this when she starts school.

Maddy singing B-I-N-G-O

Mylee playing with her toys under the umbrella

"What are you looking at?"

OUCH

Maddy has been very klutzy lately. I'm not sure if she is just uncoordinated or if she just doesn't slow down enough. She is always on the go. This particular night she we where out in the driveway hanging out with our neighbors. Maddy fell and skinned her knees twice within a few minutes. Then within 5 minutes of that she tripped in the garage and fell and hit her forehead on the steps going into the house. This was a good one...she instantly got a nice goose egg. It deserved a picture, although the pictures don't do it justice.

It doesn't hurt anymore!

Rescue Day at the Library

Maddy and Grandma

My mom has been taking Maddy to the library a few days a week since she's been here. They have a great kids program here in Howell with a bunch of different themed days and programs that Maddy just loves. They also have a great learning activity center for the kids that is nice to take advantage of. My mom and I took the girls one morning to their rescue day. It was a nice morning where there was a tow truck, police car, and fire truck that the kids could climb in. Maddy, of course, was too shy to try it out herself so I had to climb in with her...not a big deal but I did have Mylee in the snugli too so it was a challenge at times getting in and out. We had a fantastic morning together!

Riding in the back seat of the police car

Better outside than inside

Standing on the back of the tow truck

The 3 of us on the back of the fire truck

Inside the the fire truck

Me and my girls

Sitting in the learning tree

4th of July

This year for the 4th of July we celebrated by heading to Milford with a few couples from our neighborhood to watch the parade. It was a cooler morning, but perfect weather to watch a parade on the concrete. Maddy and Kendal had a great time collecting candy while Mylee and Hayden hung out with Marnie and I up on the hill. The girls were a bit shy about chasing after the candy and the dads didn't help them much, so when the ice cream truck came by with ice cream sandwiches Marnie and I got up and helped out. We weren't going to let them go by without getting some. It was a great parade and a nice way to start out the day.

Kendal and Maddy ready for the parade

Mylee, Marnie, Hayden, and I

Mylee and Marnie looking adorable

Hayden enjoying her ice cream sandwich

Mylee standing up showing off her red, white, and blue

Smiley Mylee

After the parade, we went to a park to eat our packed lunches and play with the kids. We eventually headed home so the kids could take naps but unfortunately Maddy didn't think she needed one. We then had a nice bar-b-que over at the Schmidts and hung outside playing corn hole while the kids swam in the pool. The boys killed Marnie and I at corn hole so we had to show them up by kicking their butts in Euchre. We finished off a great day by having a campfire, lighting some sparklers, and watching some fireworks from around the area. It was a fun fourth!

The beautiful campfire

Maddy and Kendal playing with the sparklers

5 Year Anniversary

Jason and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this year on July 3rd. With my mom living with us now for the next 3 months helping with the girls, Jason and I were able to get away for a few hours without the girls to enjoy a nice dinner together. We went out to the Melting Pot in Novi for fondue. The food was fabulous and the experience was even better. It was a great way to celebrate 5 years of marriage. Thanks to my mom for watching the girls for us!

Balloonfest Carnival

The morning after Maddy's party we helped send off the Coons first thing. After lunch and naps we decided to take Jaelyn and Maddy to the balloonfest carnival. We had been talking about going all week but with my sister's four kids and their nap schedules it just never worked out. Sunday the weather was still gorgeous so we thought it would be a great day to finally get down to the carnival. We were hoping to watch the balloon lauch too but it was too windy. So we stayed at the carnival the entire evening and had a blast. Jason and I were shocked that we didn't have to go on the rides with Maddy. She felt comfortable enough just going with her cousin Jaelyn, which saved us from buying another bracelet so we were excited about that. The girls had a blast together. I think we were there for 4 hours watching the girls on ride after ride. Mylee came with and just hung out in the snugli the whole time. She is such a sweet baby! We took a ton of pictures. Sorry but I'm going to post a bunch because my brother and sister-in-law (Jaelyn's parents) were on vacation so they missed it all. I have to show them how much fun Jaelyn had. (I know good excuse!)

Jaelyn and Maddy waiting to go on their first

First ride - Flying Dumbo

Breaking them in with the nice and easy train ride

First of many times on the carousel

Maddy waved every time they came around

The roller coaster

Wee

They loved this one

Ready for the race cars

Going around the corners was great

The helicopters seemed lame after the rollercoasters and race cars

Waiting to go on the swings

This became a quick favorite

Maddy waving every time around again

Slowing things down with the trucks

Going up high in the crazy bus

Kendal joined them for another ride on the carousel

Walking home after a fun day at the carnival

Mylee just hanging out

This is for you Nicole! We enjoyed having Jaelyn down here. Maddy sure enjoys spending time with her. Keeping our fingers crossed for some Jaelyn and Addisyn time next month! Ha, ha...no pressure!