Nine Months!

Man, I was ready to post this on her actual nine month birthday, but I thought I'd wait until I got her pictures taken... well that got delayed and then delayed again and now they don't even give the digital images... so anyway... Maggie is 9 (and a half) months old! Hooray!

When she was about 8 1/2 months, she took her first step and got better and better at it and now at nine months, she's a pro! She walks just about everywhere. She's very mechanical about it and keeps her hands out in front, it's adorable. She can even stop to pick things up and will carry them (sometimes in her mouth). Sometimes she stops to pick up clothes and it's not unusual to see her try to put them on, it's so cute!

Speaking of holding things in her mouth, she's pretty much a goat - this girl will eat anything! The only food that she hasn't liked is applesauce, otherwise, it's all good. She loves meatballs, fruit, peas and carrots, chicken, bananas, rice, everything that we have for dinner, she loves. It's crazy! She also eats all kinds of things that aren't food. Toilet paper and cat food are two of her favorites. Aw... my little goat. :)

She's pretty adventurous, one of her favorite pastimes is emptying drawers and cupboards. She loves to get into the kitchen cupboards and Jack's drawers and take each and everything out. It drives Jack and Grace crazy. Here she is on her actual birthday.

She also loves the bath! If she's tired or grouchy in any way, just stick her in the bath and it's happy time. And she loves taking baths with her big sissy.

 

She loves her big brother and big sister. They love to cuddle with her and play with her. She loves to put her forehead to theirs and hug them and she thinks they're funny. They like to be in charge of her and are great helpers. Grace mostly just yells - "cat food!" or "toilet!" Jack will actually do something about it. But they're a great little babysitting team.

And finally, she's really into her daddy. It was a rough start when I went back to tutoring. She was without mommy during the hardest part of her day - bed time. But now, they've got it down and it's just not that bad anymore.

That's not to say that bed time is rough. She's very easy to put to sleep and sleeps on the couch until we go to bed. And she sleeps very well through the night. There was a little rough spot last week, but it coincided with her getting her two top, front teeth. Thank God that's over and we're back to normal.

She also thinks she's a big girl and loves to play with the big girls and dress up like the big girls. 

She escaped shots this month, the lucky duck just didn't need any. But of course, she did get measured. She was 18lbs and 8oz and 29inches tall. She's in the 50th for weight and 90th for height, still tall and skinny. I wasn't sure that was going to happen this month, she's been eating so much it felt like she had grown so much. But she's still in the same ranges of normal that she was in before.

She loves to walk around carrying her dolls. She kisses them, hugs them close and coos, she's a good mama already. She also loves to kiss the mirror, who can blame her? 

Possibly the weirdest thing she does (besides eating cat food and toilet paper and dipping her hands in the toilet) is sucking on the cupboard knobs. It's hilarious, she puts it in her mouth and latches on and just sucks away. Aw Maggie Moo, you're just too funny.

7 Quick Months

Your big sister is freshly bathed, getting a "blow out" and doing the hula in the mirror. You crawl over, and use her step to stand up. We all stop to cheer for you and it occurs to me that your seven month birthday was two days ago. Where has the time gone? The first time you pulled up, it was one day after your six month birthday. It shocked us all and like the awesome big sister that she is, Gracie was there to hold onto the other side of the toy that you decided to use. Disaster was avoided.  Tonight, after a moment of us cheering, you grab hold of her towel and pull it off of her. Your motivation to stand becomes apparent. Though I'm still not sure whether it's to be like her or to torture her. Either way, I suppose you're successful.

You've been crawling for weeks now, the first day that it happened we had gone to My Gym in the morning. You had been *almost* crawling for quite a while and the ladies were asking me if you were now. I told them that you were, in fact, not crawling, that you just lean forward and then sit, lean forward and then sit. Somehow you could get around, but it certainly wasn't traditional crawling. That afternoon, at the park with MOMS Club, I had the same conversation. And that night, Daddy asked me if I knew that you were crawling. "No, she doesn't crawl. She leans and then sits and leans and then sits. It gets her around, but she's not crawling." He informed me that you certainly were crawling, and then we taped this:

All of us were so proud. It's amazing how it just clicked - all of a sudden you got it. And pretty much the next day, you figured out how to pull yourself up on just about anything. Thank God you're just standing there and haven't quite figured out how to go side to side or anything, but it's all happening much too quickly. This past week, you've been miserable. You have a cold, got a tooth, are getting another one and you have pink eye. This is not your favorite week, but you still don't hesitate to giggle. Last night we played pat-a-cake a million times in a row(again) and I'm pretty sure you clapped on your own. Definitely, you're waving and I'm nearly certain you say hi. Though you're not much of a performer, so I don't imagine you'll show anyone your skills. I think that's totally part of your personality. You like to be serious while you take everything in - no need to interact or steal the show - you like to watch.

And we're enjoying watching you...

20 Weeks

At 20 weeks...

I look like my sister:

That's me on the left..

I suck my thumb and love my bouncy seat:

I'm a pretty good leaner:

I love books:

And mom says I'm officially mobile. I can't quite crawl, but I roll both ways and on purpose. I rotate on my belly and some how get across the room when nobody's looking. ;) I'll catch them soon!



At my four month check up, I weighed 14.5 lbs (65th percentile) and I was 26 inches (90th percentile). Dr. Engle says I'm tall and skinny.

Miss Maggie Moo

Miss Maggie Moo how in the world has it already been 16 weeks? I can't explain how, but it really seems like you've always been a part of this family, like you've always been here with us. You are changing so much everyday, it's already hard to remember.  Let's see if I can write some things down, that way I won't have to rely on my mommy brain. 

You've been smiling for a long time (maybe August?) and laughing for a long time too. I love your laugh, it took me a while to recognize it because you go "hugh, hugh, hugh," it's pretty mellow, but definitely cute. 

You've also been rolling over from tummy to back for quite a while. That was in August too. You were only two months - that's way earlier than your brother and sister. And it wasn't a fluke because you've been doing it ever since.

Right now you're really discovering your toys. You reach for them and can hold on to them. They make you laugh and you talk to them, especially the yellow bunny. Same goes for your toes. You hold on to them constantly, but I haven't seen them go to the mouth yet. 

What does go in your mouth? Pretty much everything, but your favorite is your thumb. It's starting to worry me... orthodontist bills - here we come! But it's oh so cute, I can't get enough of you actually sucking your thumb, it's so cute. 

On to other cute stuff. You're quite the talker. You babble and coo all the time. I guess I don't have to worry about you being over shadowed by your siblings, you don't quiet down for them. But they make you laugh too. Jack carries you around (this was never officially allowed, but it happens) and you adore them.You smile for them almost as much as you smile for me. ;)

You're a stereo typical baby - all of the things in the books that they say you'll be able to do or games that you'll like are right on. Peek-a-boo? Love it! The Noble Duke of York? Totally your favorite! Razzing on your belly? Absolutely hilarious! I love that you are so easily entertained and such a happy baby.

You like to sleep in the swing during the day, and you are okay with hanging out in the bouncy chair (at least one of you will have enjoyed that thing). And you're the best sleeper ever. You sleep better than Grace on most nights. I love that even in your swaddle you manage to snuggle up against me. 

 

The one thing, the only thing that we need to discuss is your feeling about the car.  Now I know you would prefer to have been born at a  time when there weren't cars, or at a time when all we had to do was stay home, but there are and we have places to go. I would really appreciate it if you would stop crying in the car, it would make our trips to school a lot more enjoyable.

 

Oh! And just so you know, sometimes your sister treats you like a doll and dresses you up.

And yesterday (your sixteen week birthday) you sat all by yourself. Crazy - AND your eyes really are that blue.

First Bath

She loves the bath!

16 Days Old

Some more of her first few weeks...

She got to meet Reese, attend her very first (awesome) birthday party and celebrate the 1 year old.

 And she found her thumb, though thankfully, she hasn't really found it since...

Her First Few Weeks

This is one giant collection of her first few weeks... And there are lots of pictures:

Maggie had lots of visitors, lots of love and lots of being held...

Her big brother is one of her biggest fans and he is great at holding her!

Grace loves to hold her too, at least in theory... Just don't walk away. ;)

I will never tire of babies sleeping on me...

 

She got to meet great grandpa...

Daddy always makes her smile...

Maggie got to watch 4 weeks of swimming lessons...

Gracie taught her about Mickey Mouse and was very excited to show Maggie her bed.

And then Jack had to too...

Grama used her as an excuse to have a party...

So she got to be held a lot more and got to meet a lot of the St. Martins...

Mommy used it as an excuse to try to take some pictures...

And got to meet baby Damien....

8 Weeks Old

Maggie is 8 weeks old... I love your smiles, I love the way you sleep, how you're able to put up with kids in your face all the time and the way you giggle when it's time to eat.

9lbs 15oz (25th percentile) 23 inches 75th percentile

Maggie Ellene Lindstedt

Well, she's here! She's finally here!!! And here's how it happened...

After 30 minutes of sleep, my water broke Wednesday, at midnight (exact same time as Grace). We called my mom and she came out to stay with Jack and Grace. Maggie's c-section was scheduled for early Friday morning, so we just made it (31 hours early). Grace's c-section was scheduled for 12 hours after my water broke, so I guess I should be grateful that Maggie came a little "earlier."  When we arrived at labor and delivery, the nurse had to be sure that my water had broken. I knew they wouldn't just take my word for it, but I didn't expect to stay in triage for more than 3 hours. The microscope in L&D was broken and they had to wait for the family practitioner on call to check the slides. Jeez - that took forever! When she did check me, I was only at 2-3 cm and slightly effaced.  That whole time, I was having mild contractions, but they weren't regular or anything. So before Dr. Roca went off duty, he got me to reluctantly agree to having them administer Pitocin. This was one thing that I really did not want. I would really like to know what labor without Pitocin is like, but doctor Roca really didn't think that I would progress in time and it really did feel like it had already been forever. So Pitocin it was. They didn't end up getting me the Pitocin until a little after 8. Seven o'clock is the shift change and nothing happens around then. 

There wasn't anything wrong with my first nurse, but my second nurse was AMAZING - perhaps an angel! Seriously! She was great. She knew that I wasn't looking forward to the Pitocin and I knew that if I had to have it, then I would want and epidural. So she stayed close by and checked me after the first 30 minutes. I was only at 3 cm. I was worried, because I was already having trouble with the pain. But she waited a few more minutes and called the anesthesiologist without even checking again. I think getting checked during labor is a horrible thing, so the fact that she skipped that step really eased my pain. The anesthesiologist got there right away and he was the nicest one that I've ever met. After the epidural, my nurse checked and I was at 8cm! After the delivery, they joked that they should have saved my bag of meds for someone else because moments after she checked, I was ready to push. From the time they gave me pitocin, until the delivery was done, it was two and a half hours! So fast!

But back to the story...when I got the epidural, only half of me started to feel better. The nurse had me lay on the side that still hurt so that the epidural could flow that way. But, when we did, she said that something happened and that we needed to move back to the other side. Come to find out, after the fact, when I moved, the baby's heart rate would drop and then when they moved me back, it would return to normal. She did such a good job of staying calm because we didn't realize the severity of the situation until after. Once it was pretty stabilized and it was time to push, she stayed with us through the first contraction and then told us we could handle the next one, she was going to go get the doctor! Jeremey and I just looked at each other - we totally did not feel like we knew what to do! But, Dr. Leong came in - super chipper, talking about what a great day it was to have a baby and how she was so happy that we were there- and I pushed through one more contraction. She told us that she had blonde hair and had me stop, did an episiotomy and pulled the cord out from around Maggie's neck. It was wrapped twice, which explains the drop in heart rate. The drop in heart rate had gotten even worse during the pushing and I guess that's why the nurse left us to get Dr. Leong. Yikes! Everyone was so calm, we didn't have any idea about how severe the situation was. But, there was just one more contraction and Dr. Leong pulled out our perfect baby girl!

Miss Maggie Ellene Lindstedt arrived on June 22, 2011 at 10:41 AM. I held her for a bit and then they took her to cut the cord and do the stats. I couldn't wait to find out how much she weighed because I could tell she was small (for me).  

Maggie weighed 7lbs and 10oz and she was 20.5 inches. We got and hour or so to bond and breastfeed and then Jeremey took her to the nursery (which was packed). But she got to see her first visitors. 

And lots more followed...

W

On the second day, she became a little jaundiced, so we had to stay an extra night. Jeremey went home to be with the kids (Gracie called crying that she missed me)

and we all went home together the next morning! They wore their big sister, big brother and little sister shirts - they were a hit and everyone said goodbye to us!