Dear Madeline,
You are now 19 months old and this past month (your 18th) has been somewhat of a roller coaster – to say the least. This was our last month here in Memphis, Tennessee, where you were born. Most of the month was spent hurriedly getting things ready for our big move out of the country to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Your father applied for, and quickly got, a job with Aramco – a Saudi Arabia Oil Company – and they wanted us to fly out March 31st. Throughout this entire process up until about a month ago we were planning on leaving at the end of April, but after all the paperwork was processed and all the contingencies for your Dad’s job had cleared, the company saw no reason to wait an extra month. I saw plenty of reasons, but I won’t get into that here. We begged and pleaded for a little more time and finally settled on my birthday, April 8th.
This past month we spent a lot of time with our best friends, Misty and Brooke. We spent some time at the zoo. You had a really good time playing in the fountains at Teton Trek and going with Brooke in the wagon. We also had Brooke over on Saint Patrick’s Day while her mom took care of some things. And before we left, we spent some time at Brooke’s house and her mom made me a very nice birthday cake. It was truly hard to say goodbye to our dear friends. I know you and Brooke didn’t really understand what was happening – it was just a normal occurrence to be together having fun as friends. Your Dad and I agree – leaving Brooke and her Mommy and Daddy was the hardest thing for us to leave in Memphis.
We had a great 8 years there – your mom got her bachelors degree in nursing; got her first job working as a nurse at Saint Francis; we met a lot of wonderful people who will always be great friends to us; we found Kitty; we bought our first house; and the most wonderful thing… we had YOU. We will always love Memphis because of the people there, the experiences we had, and because that is where you joined our family.
This month was your second Easter. It was a hurried holiday – along with everything else really – because of all we had to do for the move. Thankfully the company provided the service of a moving company who came and packed all of our things when it was time.
In between all the hub-bub you were still the happy, energetic, amazing Madeline. You still love to climb everything. You are slightly obsessed with trying to fit yourself into everything. Not just things you fit in… things that are clearly way to small for you like your friends Barbie car or a toy stroller we have for your dollies. You get extremely frustrated when you can’t make yourself fit. You love to run and dance and play with your toys – specifically your ball and your dollies. You were a little confused with all the moving and boxing of your things, but I tried to explain everything to you as it all happened.
This past month you started frowning really dramatically. Whenever anyone did something you didn’t like or something you found confusing you would pull this great big frown your forehead and eyebrows and eyes would change into this evil looking devil face. You also did this frown at any stranger who would come up to you or say hi to you when we were out doing something. I thought it was cute. You also do this thing now where you shake your head back and forth and put your hands out to the side like you’re saying “are you kidding me?"
Unfortunately this month you also decided that it was okay to hit mommy when you didn’t get what you wanted. You intentionally hit me and try to scratch my face if I upset you or you can’t have something. You have spent quite a bit alone time in your room because of this. I know you don’t understand what is happening, but I hope you will get over this hitting and realize it is inappropriate soon. I like you so much better when you are giving me hugs and kisses.
Close to the end of the month, with all the eating out and the confusion and anxiety in your environment, you got a pretty bad cold. The worst you have ever had. It scared me to no end. It started one evening and came on extremely fast. I heard you breathing extra loud as you slept that night and the next morning you were very Croupy. I was very nervous that you would still be sick when we were supposed to leave, and I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been to have a baby on an airplane for 15 hours with the Croup. I gave you warm baths and rubbed baby Vicks on your chest; I gave you Echinacea/Astragalus drops each day; I gave you lots and lots of fluids and vitamin C; I did EFT on you and prayed and thought happy thoughts; we also spent some time outside in the early mornings when you were having a particularly hard time breathing because the air was still cool; and then we called your Aunt Kristine who did some Emotion Code on you. You had some trapped emotions and once we released them it was almost like you were a different person. The very next day you were almost completely back to normal with maybe a tiny bit of a rasp to your voice. It was unbelievable how quickly you recovered.
You are still breastfeeding. I felt like it was probably not a great time to wean you, with all of the stress that has come into our lives with the move, and I was right. Being able to nurse has been a huge comfort for you, and for me. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to nurse in the middle of first class on the airplane, but thankfully most people were asleep anyway.
We ate out a lot this past month due to the move. You now love French fries and recognize the McDonalds “M” from a mile away. I feel absolutely awful about that because I never wanted that to happen to you, but it did. You still eat rather well though. You love milk, spinach, raisins, crackers, pears, strawberries, grapes of all colors, and cheese. Chicken is not really a favorite anymore, but you will still eat it sometimes.
We are starting a new adventure together sweet girl, and I am so excited that you are one of my partners in this journey of life. I love you with all of my heart.
Love,
Momma
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