Category Archives: Maddie

We had some extra cake left over from Maddie’s birthday party last weekend (I still need to upload videos and pictures, but I promise a post is coming soon about her party). So Chuck brought it to work with him. He sent an email to his coworkers and attached this picture that he put together! It cracked me up!

Chuck is so very clever!

My brother offered to take some pictures of Maddie for her first birthday. Of course I took him up on the offer. We (including his fiancé, Katie) went to the Guthrie Theater to walk around and see if we could find some good spots for pictures. I saw a number of people recommend going there after doing a little searching online. We had a great time and Adam sent me a few of the pictures. He said these aren’t even his favorite ones! I’m so excited to see the rest! He said he is bringing them to her birthday party tomorrow!

It’s really here! Maddie’s 1st birthday! I say it every month, but where did the time go and what happened to my baby!? She’s growing so fast and becoming such a big girl. She is so sweet and getting more personality every day.

Some new things she has been doing these days: she is so determined and so curious. She studies things very carefully. I see Chuck in her when she does this. My mom gave her a Gyro Bowl the other day and she studied that thing like she needed to know how it worked. It’s so cute!

She is very into books and bringing things to us. She will bring us her books to hold for her so she can flip through them, or brings us her toys or blankets.

She also understands a freakish amount of words. You can ask her if she wants milk and she goes over to the refrigerator and tries to open it. Ask her if she wants to go upstairs, and she runs to the gate on the stairs. Ask her where her head is, and she finds her “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” book and then pats her head. Ask her where her “baby” is and she will bring you a doll. Ask her where the puppy is, and she brings us her puppy doll. Ask her if she wants some food and she goes to her high chair. It’s so fascinating and so scary at the same time. It makes you think about what you say to or around her because she really listens.

She is starting to copy what you say and make more noises and sounds. We have been working on animal noises. Sometimes she will get them on her own, but mostly she will copy what you do for an animal noise. She is pretty consistent at knowing a cow noise. You say “mooo” and she says “oooo.” It’s really cute.

She also likes to climb up the stairs. She’s getting faster every time she goes up them. Chuck got her to go down the stairs. She went backwards once, but mostly she would stand up on the step, inch forward until she felt the edge with her toes and then sit down and put her feet on the step below her.

I just used up the last of the formula a couple days ago and started her on milk. Milk is going to be so much cheaper than formula! Now I just have to get her to drink out of a cup and not her sippy/straw cups all the time.

I posted a video the other day about her feeding herself yogurt. Using a spoon like that is a new skill. I thought it would take her longer to figure it out, but she just picked it up and went for it. It’s amazing the things kids can do!

She has been starting to stack blocks and things, but she mostly likes to just knock them down. I cut a hole in an oatmeal container, and she likes to put spoons and letter rings into the slot. She loves stacking her blocks on her block stacker. In the last few days, her favorite toys have been balls. She runs after it yelling “Baaaaaa” and then picks it up and throws it or kicks it around the room. It cracks me up!

Maddie is also acting like she wants to go to one nap. When I put her down for her morning nap, she isn’t usually rubbing her eyes like she normally does, and it will take her almost a half hour to fall asleep. Then, in the afternoon, she hasn’t taken a nap. She just plays in her crib. She has been happy at night, though, so I am thinking she just doesn’t need to sleep quite as long during the day. But since her birthday party is at noon, we will try one nap after her party so she can still get a nap in before her party (hopefully). I’ll be sure to report how that transition goes!

And in a couple days, we will be having Maddie’s birthday party. I know it doesn’t mean much to her, but I am so excited to celebrate with friends and family! I know there will be tons of pictures (and videos) of the fun event!

Here are the pictures from the past month and the previous months of posts.

1 Month Old

2 Months Old

3 Months Old

4 Months Old

5 Months Old

6 Months Old

7 Months Old

8 Months Old

9 Months Old

10 Months Old

11 Months Old

After such a great post about what a wonderful baby Maddie has become, I feel like I should look back and reflect on when she was born. It was such a happy day mixed in with some scary stuff. I wouldn’t change anything about the past year. I know I made the right choice for me to stay home with her and I can’t wait to see what excitement the next year will bring!

On another note….I should probably get rid of my thing on the top of my website that says how old Maddie is.

Or maybe I’ll keep it! At least I saved the picture that says she is 1!

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I thought I would share with you a picture from when Maddie was just a week old all dressed in a heart outfit. She looks so little. I hardly recognize her!

Awe….baby!

I remember how timid we were with her at first. Wow. Only two more days and that little peanut will be 1! Stay tuned for that post!

Happy Valentine’s Day! I’m spending the evening with these two loves of my life!

This song cracks me up when I hear it. I just love it. It has such a good beat to it. And it’s funny! There’s a video of this song at the end of the lyrics. It’s the only one I could find, but you can hear the tune.

Two Kinds Of Seagulls by Tom Chapin

There’s two kinds of seagulls: he-gulls and she-gulls.
He-gulls like she-gulls and that’s why there’s seagulls.

There’s two kinds of pythons: girl-thons and guy-thons.
Girl-thons like guy-thons and that’s why there’s pythons.

There’s two kinds of wombats: Dad-bats and Mom-bats.
Dad-bats dig Mom-bats and that’s why there’s wombats.

And there’s two kinds of squirrels: him-mels and her-rels.
Him-mels are nuts about her-rels and that’s why there’s squirrels.

Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of penguins: lady-guins and men-guins.
Lady-guins flip for men-guins and that’s why there’s penguins.

There’s two kinds of blackbirds: jill-birds and jack-birds.
Jill-birds thrill jack-birds and that’s why there’s blackbirds.

There’s two kinds of lizards: her-zards and hiz-ards.
Her-zards think hiz-ards are wizards and that’s why there’s lizards.

There’s two kinds of llamas: papas and mamas.
They wear different pajamas and that’s why there’s llamas.

Most creatures come in pairs. That’s the way they mingle.
One kind only would be lonely. It takes two to tingle.

There’s two kinds of peoples: he-puls and she-puls.
He-puls like she-puls. She-puls like he-puls.
And that’s why there’s me-puls, and you-puls,
And peoples.

Then I heard the most awful song….There’s an even more horrendous video after the lyrics for your viewing enjoyment.

No Excuse T’Use Booze by Peter Alsop Chorus:

There’s no excuse t’use booze 
All you get is confused
Booze makes a problem for you, so
There’s no excuse t’use booze!

Booze is bad for kids
Now we all know that’s true
But some folks don’t admit
That it’s bad for the grown-ups, too!

Chorus

One of my good friends
Offered me some beer
But I got “common sense”
So I whispered in his ear:

Chorus

M’friend said “You’re no fun!”
“When there’s booze around, I grab it!”
He got drunk, and he got sick,
If that’s fun, well, he can have it!

Now some kids drink at parties
’Cause they’re feelin’ bad inside
And sometimes getting’ loaded
Seems like a way to hide.
Yeah, sometimes life’s a drag
An’ it’s tough t’be a kid
But you’ll make it fine without drugs an’ booze
Lots of other people did!

Chorus

Nice, huh? Thankfully, I play lots of Raffi music, too. I think I know the words to all his songs!

One night during dinner we thought we would give Maddie a lemon and see what she would do. It was pretty funny!

I think she likes lemons….just like her mommy!  

These things Maddie does may not be strange at all for a baby. But I think it’s funny behavior.

She collects things. And I mean ALL the time. It doesn’t matter what it is. She just needs a group of things.

Veggie Straws on a speaker.

Veggie Straws on her chair. (Which she is in the process of climbing on the chair and then sitting and crushing the straws.)

Toys in the baby stroller.

Toys in her chair.

And then has to sit on them and give me an evil baby look! “My Preeeecious!”

More toys in the chair.

And more sitting on them. Possibly waiting for them to hatch like she’s a chicken. And again with a slightly scary face. She may have been snorting.

Also, her attempt at doing a puzzle….kind of like collecting since she added an egg shaker to the puzzle.

At least she is consistent!

As you know, Maddie has an obsession with blankets. I have posted a few videos of Maddie playing with blankets. But the pictures are funny, too.

Now you see her….

Now you don’t….

Now you see a walking blanket….

She was bouncing up and down with a blanket on her head….ummm???

Now as a hat….

Now a crawling blanket monster….

Where’s Maddie?

Then she was playing with a the diaper box in the pictures.

Now you see her….

Now you don’t.

She’s a goofy one! She thinks she’s quite funny, too. She will laugh the whole time she is playing hide and see with herself under a blanket. All you have to do is ask “where’s Maddie?” and she squeals and giggles. She’s so much fun!

I haven’t posted pictures of Maddie in a while. So here you go!

Maddie likes to help me eat bananas! She moves way too fast for me to get any good pictures of her, though!

Reading with Dad.

Bag Lady!

At our friends’ daughter’s birthday party.

Trying to climb into my lap. This happens about a hundred times a day.

She loves her remote!

Note the Star Trek shirt she has on in this one!

Funny face!

MMMMMM…..Breakfast!

Hanging out in the ball pit.

I have a few more, but I will save those for tomorrow!