Madi at 15 Months

So finally we are back with an update. I obviously took a little break from blogging but am planning on making a better effort to keep everyone updated.

I can't believe it but Madi is almost 15 months...time sure does fly! She continues to amaze us everyday. She really is learning new things almost daily and it blows our mind to watch all that she is accomplishing. She is definitely a toddler now and has recently started throwing little fits and expressing her opinion more (and it is not always in the sweetest ways). Don't get me wrong...she is still a sweet, happy girl but she is not afraid to yell at I mean tell you when she doesn't like something. She is very into imitating now and will imitate noises, faces, motions that we make. She literally makes me laugh all day long! She has mastered the commando crawl and is into EVERYTHING! She is soooooo busy. She still hates to be on her hands and knees and quite honestly I am fine with that because we are going to be in for it when she is truly mobile. She is already getting pretty fast at the army crawl...it must be the Army Ranger blood in her.

She has really been picking up on signing. She now consistently signs: mommy, daddy, dog, eat, please and more. She is also a great eater and loves to eat whatever we are having. Some of her favorites right now are: blueberries, strawberries, oranges, avocado, oikos greek yogurt, quinoa, veggie booty, chunks of bread and multigrain pancakes, and cheese. Just in the past few days I have started letting her try to feed herself with a spoon. She has done pretty good so far...she brings the spoon right into her mouth but then leaves it in her mouth. It is pretty cute. She holds her own straw cup and when she is through she places it back on her tray. She used to just toss it when she was done. Oh and speaking of tossing...she loves to throw her food. Ollie the beagle is her new best friend whenever she is in her highchair! She has also recently started spitting chunks of food out only to pick them back up and eat them...hence the toddler phase I referred to earlier. I am trying to teach her that it isn't very ladylike to spit food out and re-eat it but she really can care less.

This little girl is growing, thriving and melting our hearts each day. We just love watching her learn new things and master new skills. She is staying healthy minus the recent sinus and ear infection. Madi is also on her last year of getting Synagis shots (prevents RSV). They recommend that kids with heart or lung conditions get these shots once a month during the RSV season for the first 2 years of life. It is a big shot and Madi is definitely not a fan! We also got the results of her blood panel we had done and found out that Madi has hypothyroidism. So, we go to see an endocrinologist next week to see what the next step is. Her pediatrician doesn't think it is a huge deal yet as she is not symptomatic. I know it is very common in kids and adults with down syndrome and I truly am not too worried about it just curious to see what the endocrinologist says. I will keep you all posted. Here are Madi's stats from her 15 month checkup:

weight - 18lbs 10oz
height - 29 inches

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the new year. We are staying very busy around here but I will try my best to be a better blogger! :)
Of course we need a few pictures from the past few months!

Happy girl on Christmas morning

Madi and cousin Mia already learning about Nordstrom...yikes!

Funny Christmas hat

Teething Monster and Updates

Madi has been a teething monster lately. She has 4 teeth now and is working on numbers 5 and 6. She has had the front 4 (2 on top and 2 on bottom) for a few months now but last week I noticed that she was a little fussy and drooling like a champ. I tilted her back and looked around and noticed that she is getting her 1 year molars...ouch. She is handling it pretty well but you can tell it is not the most comfortable thing. She also had double ear infections (her first ear infection ever) at the same time...poor baby. We had a few rough nights (one with a 103 fever) but she is much better now.

We have had a busy few weeks. We had a great Thanksgiving with some good friends (the Garces family) and then headed up to Whistler, Canada for the weekend. After living in Seattle for 10 years I finally made it up to Whistler (only about a 5 hour drive). Madi and I had a great time shopping and strolling through the village while Dave went skiing. This was Madi's first real time in the snow and she seemd to enjoy every minute of it. We got quite a bit of snow here last winter but she was too little to enjoy it.


We spent the next weekend at the Alderbrook resort on the Hood Canal. The resort is beautiful and the weather was cold but sunny and clear! We relaxed on Friday evening, hiked on Saturday morning and then went to my work Christmas party on Saturday night. Madi had a great time and was an easy traveler as usual! Santa made an appearance and gave the kids presents. Madi stared in awe and waved to Santa but when it came time to sit on his lap she wanted nothing to do with him. We finished up the weekend at the Shilter Farm in Olympia where we cut down our Christmas tree. We had a great time and found the perfect Noble Fir. It was a beautiful, sunny day but it was freezing (literally the high was around 28) so we were all bundled up and Madi was in her full snowsuit! She had a great time even in the cold.

This past week Madi and I spent some time with a few of my friends I played soccer with in college. There are a few of us that try and get together every few months for dinner. This time we got to meet baby Cole (Heather's new little guy). He is such a sweet and easy baby...we had a lot of fun. Of course it was also great to see Nichole, Beth and Kai'o as well. Madi also got her frist Synagis shot on Friday. Synagis is a shot that helps prevent RSV (a horrible respiratory virus). Kids that have heart and/or lung conditions are all at a higher risk of having major complications if they get RSV. So, we will be going to the infusion clinic once a month through probably April to get the shot.

Other than that we are busy preparing for Christmas and are definitely enjoying "the most wonderful time of the year"! :) We will be heading down to Sacramento to spend Cristmas with all of my family. I am so excited!!! I willl post some pictures from the past few weeks tomorrow. It is time for bed. :)

Madi in Action

I think it is always so fun to see kids in action. So, here are a few videos from the past few weeks of Madi in action. One is of her playing with her favorite game and the other one is of her showing off some new tricks she has mastered over the past month or so. She has definitely developed her own goofy personality. She is a very social little girl and loves to make people laugh. There are times when we are out in public and I notice that Madi is doing everything in the book to get the attention of a stranger sitting next to us. Most of the time people respond but a few times they simply didn't notice her and she was literally forcing out some loud giggles/coughing noise to get them to notice her. We think she is pretty funny!

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6 Months Ago

6 months ago yesterday Madi underwent open heart surgery. It literally was the worst day of my life. I can still remember the sheer fear, pain, anxiety, sadness and hope I felt as I watched the OR nurse take Madi down the hall to the operating room. I carried Madi all the way until we hit the double doors and that was where we had to say our goodbyes. I remember thinking that she has no idea what is about to hit her...and thank God for that! The wait was the longest 6 hours of my life. Unknown complications arose and all we could do was pray...pray for God to be with her surgeon as he did his work. 6 months ago Madi's heart was repaired and she was given a second chance at life. During that time I felt as though my heart was being stretched and was becoming more full of love for her...more than I thought was possible. Watching her fight for her life absolutely blew me away and gave me the strength and courage that I know I will need to continue to always stand up and fight for her.

We came away from this experience with so much more strength, love, faith, patience and humility. Madi continues to amaze us! 6 months later she is doing awesome. Sure her heart is not perfect but right now the doctors are all very pleased with the outcome. I am so thankful for the care, love and prayers we all received. The world of congenital heart defects is not one that I ever wanted to be a part of. I can only feel blessed for our postivie outcome and all that we gained through this experience.

Our 1 Year Old

So I am finally getting around to posting about Madi's first birthday party. We had a great time and miss social butterfly didn't skip a beat. She enjoyed every minute of her party and loved being the center of attention. I think we have a little princess in the making...yikes! :) Before the party started we did a traditional Korean 1st birthday celebration with family. Madi was dressed in a traditional Korean dress that Dave's dad bought for her in Korea after she was born. We took lots of pictures of her in front of food. I'm not sure of the signifcance of the food but that is the tradition. We then placed 4 objects in front of Madi (string, money, a pencil and paper) and waited to see what object she grabbed first. Each object symbolizes something. Madi first grabbed the string which means she will live a long life...after the year she has had that is awesome! She quickly then grabbed the $20 bill in front of her which means she will be rich. The best part was when she picked up the pencil (which means you will be a scholar), she looked at it and very deliberately threw it on the ground... Madi, I think you made your point!

We want to hank everyone who was there to celebrate her big day with us. I know many of you celebrated with us in spirit and we want to thank you as well. Your love and support for our family and especially Madi is such a blessing and we appreciate each and every one of you.

On her birthday Madi had an appt with the cardiologist to follow up on her leaky valves. We have GREAT news! The leak has gotten much better and the function of her heart looks great! They want to check her out in 3 months again but for now she looks fabulous...yay Madi! Madi also recently had her 1 year check up. She is a healthy, happy little girl that is catching up on the growth chart. She wighed in at 17lbs7oz, and is 28.5 inches long. That is 50th percentile for weight and 95th for height on the down syndrome growth chart. She has mastered eating finger foods, is drinking regular milk without a problem, and loves to drink water from her straw cup. We are so happy that she is a healthy, happy, growing baby...what more can you ask for. Here are some pictures from her party:

Happy Halloween

Madi had a blast on her first official Halloween. Last year she was 2 days old and spent her Halloween relaxing under the warmer in the NICU at St Joe's Hospital. This year Madi went to Athan's 2nd birthday costume party and then went "trick-or-treating" at Proctor Treats. All of the little shops in Proctor open for trick-or-treating, so we took Madi out and strolled around looking at all of the costumes. I was shocked to see how many people there were trick-or-treating in our little neighborhood...literally there were thousands. It was a lot of fun and our little ladybug was pretty cute I must say. Here are some pictures from the day:

Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday my sweet Madi. A year ago you made a dramatic entrance into our lives and you have blessed us more than we could have imagined. You were full of surprises and we were very unsure of what the future held for us. Although we were scared at first, you have shown us that everything is just fine. You bring peace to our sometimes crazy world and comfort to our hearts. You are such a joy and you have impacted so many people in your short year of life. You have opened our eyes to a world we didn't know much about but are eager to learn more each day. You have brought Daddy and I closer together and strengthened our love and marriage. You have taught us what it means to be strong and continue to fight. You have shown us how to truly smile from the joy deep within your soul. You have strengthened our faith. You have given us purpose and make us want to be better at all that we do. Thank you for the enormous impact you have had on us...and we are supposed to be the ones teaching you! :)
It is kind of crazy...I can't believe that you are already a year old but at the same time I feel like I have known you forever. I can't imagine life without you in it! You are our world, our inspiration and our dream come true. It is my promise to you that we will do everything in our power to support you, protect you, fight for you, and give you all you need to succeed. You are amazing! You will continue to defy the odds and exceed our expectations. It is my goal to make sure you always know that there are no limits...you can achieve what you put your mind to...you will do it all at your own pace. We love you Madi Lou...more than you know. Thank you for being you!

A few hours old

A few days old

A few days ago