lotsa fun

maddie and i went to the "lotsa fun room" today and it really was lotsa fun! it was such a neat place. it is a play room run by a company that sterilizes and maintains toys and other equipment. they have "open play" for $3 a person monday through friday from 10 - 3 (in case you wanted to make the trip up). basically it is just a big room that is child-proofed and filled with toys. there is also a big ball pit that maddie really enjoyed. i put her in it when we first got there just to see if she would like it and then later she crawled up the stairs by herself and climbed in! i couldn't believe that she could do that! she has never climbed stairs before, but that is just how much she wanted to play in the balls again. she could even move around in them - crawling and diving forward. here is a little video of some of the interior (i didn't want to be to obvious that i was filming since there were other children there).

and maddie had to problem talking as loudly as she could while she played. as you can see, she kept getting distracted by everything else going on in the room.


changing topics, here is a video of maddie clicking her tongue. try not to get sea-sick watching it, maddie was climbing on me.

i have to run and help daddy put maddie to sleep. love.

rare form

madelyn was in rare form tonight. she was in her highchair eating cheerios while matt and i ate our dinner and she was 'talking' up a storm! i don't know why it didn't occur to me to get some video (probably because i was busy eating dinner), but later i got a little video while she was looking down the basement stairs. of course the very sight of me interrupted her chatting because she has been obsessed with me lately. the part where she is yelling gibberish and waving her hands (sometimes her "more" sign and sometimes clapping - depending on the context) is what she was doing for 15 or 20 minutes during our dinner. it was so funny to watch her try to tell her dad about her day - at least that is what i said that she was doing.

another thing that she does is say "hi, da-da" or "hi, da-di" when matt comes in from the garage after work each night. at first i thought that i was just hearing what i wanted to hear, but she does it every night. sometime she even adds a wave. it makes me so happy to see how much she loves her daddy and how excited she gets when he comes home. of course, she still wants me to hold her if i am within reach/view.

here she is playing in the kitchen. this is how i keep her busy and relatively stationary while i prepare dinner. i added the box tonight because i read that 'nesting' items is more entertaining for her at this age. that is the most difficult part of my day - making dinner. she is so quick and always manages to get just out of sight that it is difficult to get dinner ready on time. this box of goodies will keep her busy for about 10 or 15 minutes.

the other new trick that i have been trying to get on video is that she can 'click' her tongue. she started with a 'tsk' type of noise and then started 'click'ing her tongue at me while on the changing table yesterday. i think it surprised her that she could do it. i click my tongue at her to try and keep her from squirming while i change her diaper but it is cute to see her do it.

catch-up

sorry for not posting in a while, maddie is feeling so much better, but i, on the other hand, have been drained the past few days with a migraine today. not to mention that i am going in a hundred different directions and just haven't had the time to sit down and collect my thoughts. but tonight i am making the time - enjoy the update.

this picture is from today while i was resting on the couch and maddie was climbing all over me. she has been biting her bottom lip so much that she has a chaffed spot about the size of a dime on the right side of her chin and a smaller spot on the other side. it looks painful (she even scratched it today so that it bled a little), but she doesn't even seem to notice it. even when i wipe off her face after meals - nothing. so i guess that is good.

she continues to enjoy playing peek-a-boo. she has gotten better at hiding herself. in this picture she was hiding behind an end table in the living room. she just kept going up and down 'hiding' from me. you can see how much she was enjoying herself. also note the drool on her shirt from her molars coming in (i can feel one on the upper right about to cut through) although this is only half the size that it normally is because i had just changed her shirt.

yesterday her teeth were hurting her and she was being a little clingy as a result. i was trying to get some work done so i would put her back down on the floor. well, maddie wasn't going to have that and she would cry (fake cry) a little and put her forehead on the floor - her first temper tantrum. i say it was her 'first' because if she is as strong willed as her father and i are, there will be many more to come.

i love this picture of her from sunday morning before church because that is how she is most of the time - hair disheveled and a big, excited grin on her face. matt and i get so much joy from watching her enjoy each day.

lastly, maddie is taking more and more steps on her own each day as she grows more confident in her balance. we play the 'free standing' game every day and count "1-2-3-ta-da!" and then she will occasionally take a few steps towards us from her 'free stand'. maddie enjoys this game as much as we do (okay we probably get a little more excited about it than she does). its so cute because she whisper 'talks' the entire time and gets ready to balance with each count. i am hoping to get some video soon, but it is still too new to distract her right now.

okay. i have got to rest up. more later. love.

we've got a climber!

so matt was playing with maddie in her room while i was prepping some food for maddie in the kitchen. when i heard matt call out "michelle come here. you've got to see this!" i knew that i should grab the camera on my way (i keep it on the kitchen counter for easy access). here is what i found...

she kept going up and down, up and down so i am sure that we are going to see this again. she has been lifting her right leg up to climb a lot lately, but hadn't figured out how to actually go 'up'. oh boy!

maddie really loves dogs - as i have mentioned before - and here she is 'talking' to the dogs outside. please notice that she is in just a diaper and our deck is covered in snow...



madelyn has added "ba", "bye" and "va" to her vocal repertoire yesterday. she also waves one hand and says "hi" when she wants you to look at her.

yesterday we didn't quite have the adventure that i was hoping for, but we did get out of the house. our big outing - the local library! actually, it was a really nice library and we got several books and music cds for madelyn. all in all, it was a very successful outing that i think we will repeat in the future.

today was warm (30) and sunny so we went to a new(er) outdoor shopping center on the north side of the city. it is funny to think of 30 as 'warm', but really it feels warm. matt and i didn't wear coats, hats, or gloves. and people working in the stores were commenting that it was much busier today because of the warmer weather. it was so nice to spend the day outside. we even went for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner. but it started to get cold again as soon as the sun started setting so we high-tailed it home. we have a big outing planned for next saturday, but you will have to wait and see what we do (pray the weather cooperates!).

tahini tongue

i am getting tired of winter. really tired. so this afternoon maddie wore a summer dress. we need to work on 'pretending' right? dresses, however, are the worst type of clothing for crawlers. to keep maddie movin' i tucked her dress into the front of her bloomers.

tomorrow we are definitely getting out of this house. maddie and i both need some fresh air (okay, so more than likely we will not really get any fresh air, but we can get some different air). now i just have to figure out where we are going... i am going to try and go somewhere besides the mall.

for her afternoon snack i decided to just give her the bowl to hold and eat her fruit and cheese right out of it. she did a lot better than i thought that she would. as you can see she was able to hold the bowl and take the fruit out.

she has rediscovered her tongue this week, but has moved beyond blowing razz sounds. now she licks her bottom lip, sticks it in and out kind of like a lizard but not as quickly (if that makes any sense). my camera battery died so i couldn't get a video today so hopefully she will still be amused by her tongue tomorrow and i can try to show you what i mean. it makes it more difficult to feed her at meals because after the first few bites she just wants to stick her tongue out all the way and that makes getting the spoon in a lot more challenging.

our new food was not kiwi (i actually forgot while preparing her lunch quickly between meetings), but tahini. for those of you not in the know, tahini it is a nut butter made from sesame seeds. i must say that it is not something that i would ever enjoy eating (to put it nicely). madelyn ate it with her yogurt with only one face with the first bite.

her balance improves more and more each day. and she is starting to realize it. she has figured out that if she lets go she won't fall any more, but that she can sit herself down at her own control.

love.

one more video

grandma requested more video, so here is one more. madelyn has a doll with eyelashes that she likes and with all things she likes she tries to eat it. enjoy! love.

busy girl

madelyn had a busy day today! so busy that she ate and slept more than she has in a very long time. she slept for 10 hours last night, then took a 1-1/2 hour nap this morning and a 3 hour nap this afternoon! i was able to get so much work done today. here is maddie pursuing the library in my office - i told you that she loves books as much as i do.

after she woke up from her morning nap we went down to see the dogs. madelyn gets really excited when she sees our dogs on the deck or sees pictures of dogs in her books but has not shown much interest in seeing our dogs up close and personal - until today. she was kicking her feet excitedly on the way down and when she saw the dogs she said "hi" and started giggling. then she kept trying to pet them and give them 'kisses'. the 'kisses' consisted of her opening her mouth (the way she kisses) and letting the dogs lick her drool and boogers. and then when we were going back upstairs she kept kicking excitedly and looking over my shoulders at her dogs. i can't wait until she can hold her own with them.

she said na-na (sounds like "none-none") for the first time and ma-ma more than da-da today - yea! and best yet, you can see the video proof below.

and then after her afternoon nap she was in the crib 'talking' happily with her teddy bear (a new pastime). when i came in she said "hi" and waved one hand/arm at me! and just in case i didn't hear and see her, she did it again when i got over to the crib. things are starting to get really fun! i love that we are starting to see her personality as she gets more and more expressive.

we also have two new fun games. the first i call "free standing". basically i hold her upright in front of me and say "ta-da" as i let go and she stands in a surfing pose (arms out, bent knees) before sitting down and crawling to me to do it again. today i added a "1-2-3" countdown to the "ta-da" and i can see her getting excited and 'ready' for me to let go by assuming her surfing pose. the second game is "chase". she crawls away laughing/squealing and then sits up to look back and make sure that you are chasing her before squealing and taking off again. the longer this goes the more erratic her crawling becomes and the harder she laughs. i think that i have just as much fun as she does.

now for a story from matt. last night i went out for a much needed haircut and matt stayed with maddie. he said that she was picking up one of her cars and holding it out to him. he would take it from her and put it down. then she would pick it up again and hold it out for him. its nice to see that she is transitioning from a bully to a nice sharer!

madelyn is also becoming a climber. today she 'climbed' up on her mirror (yes, its flat) to get a better look out the window in my office. she moved it over to the window and then stood on it. she even got up on her tippy-toes at one point. and then she sat down at her 'desk' to do some work of her own.

sorry for the long post tonight. i just get all excited about her little accomplishments and how quickly she is growing up. i can't help but share! love.