Happy Thanksgiving!!

My Holiday Weekend by Madelyn Fox

First I had a pre-thanksgiving play date with my friend Aoife on Wednesday.

Then we went to Grammy Pat's for Thanksgiving Dinner.I got to try my first turkey. Yummy!



The tryptophan kicked in fast!

This is my new preferred sleeping position--on my tummy with my butt up in the air.

Friday was a work day--see I am using Daddy's Blackberry.

But, we did manage to find time for some Black Friday shopping. See, here I am all ready to fight the crowds!

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Holiday!!

The Power of Sleep

My big developmental milestone this week is that I learned how to go to sleep all by myself!!!

Let me give you a little background....In July after we found out my test results were normal, I began sleeping through the night (about 7-8 hours) and going to sleep on my own in my crib. That lasted about a month before I started teething. At this point I began demanding to be rocked to sleep, and I woke several times each night for my pacifier and also to eat once or twice during the night. At my 6 month check up, the doctor said I was old enough and big enough to be sleeping around 10-12 hours without eating. But, I still didn't want to. I liked being rocked and cuddled to sleep and attended to each time I stirred in the night. This led to severe sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and sometimes even crankiness for everyone in the Fox household.

Well, this week M&D got tough on me. They read all the books in the library about sleep and picked a theory they liked best. The book is called: The Sleepeasy Solution: The Exhausted Parent's Guide to Sleep-from birth to age 5. The basic premise is:
1. Establishing a bedtime routine
2. Maintaining a consistent bedtime
3. Getting rid of unhealthy sleep aids (bye bye pacifier for sleep!!)
4. Going to bed awake
5. Allowing me to put myself to sleep for bed and naps, checking on me at specific intervals for reassurance
6. Keeping me in my crib for at least 11 hours
7. Weaning the nighttime feedings

Mommy tried this with me starting on Monday night. It took me 20 minutes to fall asleep--some of the longest 20 minutes of Mommy's life! But, I am a quick learner. Each night after that it has only taken me 2-5 minutes to fall asleep and I am not waking up in the middle of the night!! I have slept for 11-12 hours for three nights in a row!!!!!!!

M&D are so proud of me, and we all feel so much more rested and relaxed. Before Monday I was only getting around 8 hours of sleep at night, broken up by 5-6 wakings. M&D were only getting around 6 total hours of sleep at night since they go to bed later than I do.

This could not have happened at a better time. I have had to be a good girl this week because Mommy's time and energy have been spread between taking care of me and taking care of Grammy in the hospital. Grammy had her total knee replacement surgery on Monday. Everything went well on Monday, but then on Tuesday and Wednesday she had severe pain and some breathing complications. Now she is feeling better, but it was a rough two days! We are so proud of Grammy and her strength. We know she will have a speedy recovery and be playing on the ground with me in no time!

Thank you to all the friends and family who have called, visited, written, sent flowers, helped babysit, and generally given us huge support. We appreciate it!

Mini Impromptu Fox Family Reunion

Saturday was the last Duck's game of the year and so I got to stay with Grandma Jan, Grandpa Ray, and Auntie Shannon while M & D were at the game. It was their first time babysitting me and everything went great! I was having so much fun playing with them that I didn't even want to nap. Thank you guys for taking such great care of me....maybe we can do it again sometime!!

Apparently I am a sight to see, because when the word leaked out that I would be at Grandma Jan's house, lots of people decided to stop by for a visit...I got to see:

Grandma Jan and Grandpa Ray

Grandpa Ike and Grandma Linda
Auntie Shannon

Auntie Dian and Chuck (XL)

Too bad there are not very many people in this world who adore me!!

Me, Grandpa Ike, and Grandma Linda

Me and Grandma Jan. Look at my pretty new Christmas dress from Grandma Linda and Grandpa Ike!!

I had to show off my crawling...of course! Too bad Cricket was so fast...I really wanted to pet her. I promised to be gentle....

Me & Grandma Jan

Unfortunately both my Aunties got away before getting their pictures taken with me. I thought Auntie Shannon looked great with her new haircut!

Happy 8 Months!!

Check me out with all my new moves now that I am 8 months old!

It's official...I can crawl now as of 11/8/08! The tongue helps me crawl better!

I can also pull myself to a standing position. And yes, everything still goes in my mouth!

Daddy is teaching me to put my arms up and say "yay" for a touchdown.

This is me getting into everything!!!!! I pull everything off the shelf and

Mommy & Daddy pick it back up. It's a fun game!
I wonder if that is why they bought me this fence??

M & D are having a debate over my first word. When we were in Palm Springs out for Mommy's birthday dinner, Daddy took a piece of silverware from me that I had grabbed. I looked at him and said "fdjaiofewjiowjfeioa" which roughly translated to "That was mine!" Then I said something that Daddy swears was "Daddy." Mommy says it may have sounded like Daddy, but was really just babble. Plus she doesn't think I would say "Daddy" for my first word on HER birthday. So, no words have gone down in the baby book yet.

No words in this video clip, but you can get the gist of what I am saying....YUMMY!!!

Palm Springs pics

Poster Child for Palm Springs!!!!

Our time with Great Grandma Connie and Great Aunt Kris!!

They surprised us at the Ontario airport!

This was my first time getting to meet Gram!

They spoiled me and Mommy with presents! We had so much fun and were sad

when they had to leave.

This was an awesome scrap book/baby book that Aunt Kris made for us. It made Mommy cry!

Our Hike Through the Indian Canyons

Palm Canyon Oasis

My view from the backpack. Boy, hiking is hard work!


Daddy is confused at where to go! (Not really, he was just posing to make fun of M&D last trip to the Indian Canyons where they got off trail and hiked/climed through the cactii! Ouch!

Even Grammy got to hike. It was so beautiful!

Look at the Palm Trees! Thank goodness for the shade--it was nearly 90 degrees.

Mommy's birthday Dinner at Patrice's Restaurant. How appropriate!

Tennis Anyone?
Daddy has a swing like McEnroe...and a temper too!Grammy showing off her trophy-winning forehand!Mommy's killer backhand!

My first pull up ever was onto that bench!

It was tough competition between M&D. I was glad to be on the sidelines!

Election Night!!

The t-shirt says it all!

We also have pictures of our 20 mile bike ride adventure. They are on Grammy's camera, so as soon as we get them we will post some.

Sacramento Pics (including Halloween)

Here are some pictures to go along with the stories on the previous posting...... Enjoy!!

Here is Mommy and her friend Elsa who picked us up from the aiport. Happy Birthday Elsa!

The next morning I got to meet my cousin Kelly for the first time!! We had breakfast with her and her boyfriend, Coleman. He had never held a baby before but I let him practice on me.

What is this thing on my head?

Here is me sleeping through the "Trunk or Treat"

Mmm. Candy!

I am barely taller than the pumpkin...but I am cuter!!

Quack Quack! Check out my tail!

Lola (More Megan's dog) got dressed up too!

I absolutely love Lola!! We have some of the same developmental issues---getting into everything, having to be supervised, whining, waking our parents up early (especially after the time change!!) We played very well together....except for when Lola ate my binky!

Check out the video of us playing.....

Update from Palm Springs

Hi there! Maddie checking in here with an update from Palm Springs. No pictures....yet.

We have been having a great time on our vacation. Here are some of the highlights:

Thursday, October 30:

Daddy arrives in Sacramento from Oakland where he was working, while Mommy and I flew in from Portland. We had to rearrange our schedule at the very last minute when we found out our friend Chrystee, who we planned to stay with (along with Brent, Trent and Drew) got the chicken pox! Mommy's GREAT(!!!!!!!!) friend Megan (more Megan) allowed us to stay at her house for 3 nights! She gave up her bed for the 3 of us. She is a saint!

Friday, October 31:

Daddy and Brent played golf during the day while I took the Megan's shopping. Mommy, Daddy and I went to dinner with Megan and her boyfriend Phill and I got to wear my duck costume for Halloween (the pictures are really cute). After dinner we went to a "Trunk and Treat" at Brent and Chrystee's school, but I slept through it. Daddy stayed the night at Brent's house and they went out and played poker. Daddy won over $300 playing....so I guess I will get new diapers!

Saturday, November 1:

Daddy and Brent went to the UO-Cal football game and sat through a torential downpour for 4 hours...and Daddy had NO rain gear. He was miserable and that was before the Ducks lost. He made it home later and we hung out at Megan's before going to bed. Mommy, Megan and I went shopping...again.

Sunday, November 2:

We flew to Ontario and we had a surprise when we got on the plane. Grammy Pat was on the same plan as they had a layover from Portland and we used the same plane. It was a nice surprise!! We then flew into Ontario and met up with Great Gram Connie and Aunt Kris who surprised us at the airport. We then went to a HUGE outlet mall and did even MORE shopping. Mommy may have gotten a little spoiled for her birthday. Afterwards we drove the rest of the way to Palm Springs, had dinner, played cards, and then went to bed.

Monday, November 3:

We hung out around the condo most of the day with Great Gram and Aunt Kris. We played some more cards, had a nice breakfast, caught up, etc. Daddy BBQ'd chicken that night and we had a really nice dinner before Great Gram and Aunt Kris had to take off. After they left we just played some cards and went to bed early. Our dinner and HUGE desserts had filled us up for too much more activity.

Tuesday, November 4:

We played tennis in the morning. Grammy Pat even made it out on the court and she did great despite her bad knee. I really liked watching M&D play tennis. I even showed off a new talent....I pulled myself up onto my feet using the bench Grammy was sitting on. M&D are a little freaked out right now! I managed to do the same thing a little later in the day and actually sidestepped about 3 steps to where daddy was sitting! After tennis we went to M&D's favorite restaurant down here - Thai Smile - and they ate while I slept. After lunch we went back to downtown and walked around a little. Mommy and Grammy bought a couple nice pendants and Mommy finally found a handbag she liked and Daddy got it for one of her birthday presents.

After all our activities we went home and spent the rest of the night having dinner and watching election results. We were all excited (well, I slept through it) when Barack Obama was announced President-Elect. No matter your affiliation, we hope this is the start of something better for all of us. M&D were particularly happy about what this means for me as I grow up.

Wednesday, November 5:

We went on a 20 mile bike ride through the Indian Canyons. It was really beautiful scenery and it was a great day. I rode in a little buggy behind daddy's bike and I slept through about half of the ride. The ride was on an old road that wove between big rock walls and then wound up near a vineyard. Grammy made 95% of the trip with us before her knee gave her trouble. She has been quite the trooper!

After the bike ride we went home and M&D got ready for a night out on their own. Grammy and I stayed home and I went to bed right away. Daddy took Mommy out for a birthday dinner and they ate at a nice restaurant with outdoor seating. They enjoyed their adult time and conversation, though if you asked them I bet they would say that they missed me. After dinner they went to the casino to play some poker, but unfortunately they were not able to reproduce the same results Daddy had in Sacramento.

Thursday, November 6:

We woke up this morning and went hiking in the Indian Canyons. Grammy did as much as she could....and then some. M&D took turns packing me and we went a little further than Grammy did on some of the hikes. They were really pretty and our views alternated between rocky hills and surrounding oasises (oasii??). We had a really good time despite the heat.

Tonight for Mommy's 30th birthday, we are all going to dinner at a restaurant called Patrice's....go figure. We figure they need to name it Tres Patrice since there will be 3 Patrice's at dinner tonight. Daddy is going to feel a little left out I think.

Sadly we head home tomorrow. We have had a great time and like most vacations it has gone too fast. M&D have a Ducks' game Saturday and I will be hanging out with Grammy while that is going on. Then Sunday reallity will set in for all of us.

We will post pics and video as soon as possible. We have to edit a bunch of them and sift through hundreds of pictures to pick out the best ones.

Our love to you all!