New Year Freeze

It’s been so cold here that we haven’t been up to much. And I mean for
real below freezing cold. I think it’s supposed to start getting a
little warmer, or at least I hope it does. Maddie Grace
doesn’t seem to mind the cold one bit. In fact she does her happy
panting dance every time we step out into the cold so I kind of think
she likes it. I on the other hand can’t stand the cold and would rather
not leave the house.

But we have been getting out of the house. Yesterday we went to baby swim class
for the first time, in an indoor and heated pool of course. MG was smiling and laughing the whole time so I
took that as her loving it. I really wish I could have gotten some pictures or a video because it was adorable but I was in the water with her so that wasn’t really a possibility. We also went to the library baby class this
week and thanks to some Instagram recommendations I am hoping to find a
music class I can start taking her to. I’m really concerned that I’m not
teaching her all that she needs to be learning and that she’s not socializing enough so I’m making an effort to fix that.

I still feel like I’m in the rut I was hoping to get out of with the new year and not being present enough. I think the source of my problem is just that I’m so tired. I stay up really late every night, sometimes to finish blogging activities and others to read/write/just enjoy some alone time. I know I need more sleep but Maddie Grace keeps me so busy every day that I get hardly any time to just sit down, relax, and work on some things on the computer. This is honestly just a really hard stage for me. MG is incredibly active and a vibrant, happy child and I just love that about her, but she keeps me on my feet. Her favorite game to play is run away from mama and tries so hard to get into anything and everything that will hurt her. If I set her in a playpen and try to do other thing she screams bloody murder. She’s starting to be a little better about letting me leave her places, and is actually going 45 minutes to an hour in nurseries before she becomes inconsolable so that’s an improvement. Last night I went through all her pictures starting from the hospital and watched all the video clips of her as a newborn that I have and was thinking about how just how quickly all this has gone by. It’s just about time for me to start planning her first birthday party now!