Week 68: April 29 - May 5

When I sat down to catch up for the last 5 weeks, it hit me that Madeleine does so many cool, new things that I can't really capture them all. I'd be writing non-stop, and I really just want to watch her learn, watch her experience new things. I think I'm excited about keeping up with this blog again, so hopefully the coming weeks will be more informative. Thanks for your patience!

DOORS
No, not the band.

Madeleine is crazy about doors these days. She loves to close them, open them, close them, repeat. She likes closing mommy in the closet. She likes it when mommy and/or daddy hide from her when she opens a door. She likes when we talk to her through doors. Most of the doors in our house don't close all the way (to the latch) when she pushes on them, so she can easily open and shut, open and shut.

FOOD
Madeleine LOVES bananas. They're almost up there with the ball in terms of her love expression. Matt reports that when she knows she's going to get one, she gets a bit giddy. Saturday night, she was headed for bed, when she saw a banana peel on the counter. She started saying "Nana, nana," and we said, no, it's bedtime. Well, then her cries for the 'nana got ridiculously pitiful, so of course we obliged her. She ended up eating a third of a banana. But her pleas for the banana were just ... so sad! So sad it was hilarious, you know?

Baby tried nutella this week, since Harry's was out of their smooth peanut butter. She wasn't a huge fan, but her parents sure are!!

WORDS
Madeleine now knows what pants are. She can find her pants, mommy's pants, and daddy's pants!

We've also observed that she seems to be speaking in sentences. Or, rather, babbling in sentences. She no longer just says one word or sound, but there are multiple words/sounds, and inflection.

5 LITTLE MONKEYS
Madeleine got really into a reading of this story this week. She patted her head when the monkey hit his head, she pointed (imitating the reader) at "no more monkeys jumping on the bed!" She made her sign for phone when mama called the doctor (imitating us again). It was precious and hilarious. What a little monkey!

LITTLE BIG THINGS
Madeleine was hilarious at bedtime Saturday night. She took my face in her hands, and tried to clamp down on my nose with her teeth! I kept evading her, and it just made her laugh and laugh... It was awesome, and totally delightful.

Saturday night, Madeleine got her lamby in her crib! First stuffed animal! I don't want to sound superstitious, but when Madeleine discovered Lamby in her crib, she was asleep within 5 minutes. UNPRECEDENTED!!

Speaking of Lamby, Madeleine has a name for her! It sounds a lot like "mee-mee" or "mae-mee". For floppy dog and elephant, there aren't words but specific sounds that mean each animal. Floppy is kind of like a "ahh, ahh" and elephant is like "bvvvvhh!" (imagine trying to mimic the sound an elephant makes, then imagine a baby trying to imitate THAT!)

Matt has a shirt (very old) that has 3 frogs on it, each with a speech bubble that says "Blood" "Doh" "Ner". One day, he was reading to Madeleine while wearing this shirt, and they came across some frogs in the book. Matt pointed them out, and then Madeleine pointed to his shirt!

Madeleine had her first tangle this week! Her hair is getting long enough that is sticks out in a little tuft in the back. And is it quite curly! Not really surprising anyone with that revelation, am I? :)

FINAL THOUGHT
This week, Madeleine and I went outside. We both kind of did our own thing, but then she wanted to explore the yard a bit. I carried her around, showing her some flowers on a tree, then she pointed at an area of the yard she wanted to see. It was in the front but by the fence separating the front from the back yard. It's kind of overgrown right there, but she pointed to the ground nonetheless. It wasn't somewhere I would sit or want her to sit, but then I remembered that part of being a kid is getting messy, touching new things, exploring everything. So I let her sit in a patch of dirt with just leaves and sticks.

It is neat being a parent and somewhat reliving childhood through Madeleine. I remember the things I used to do, the ways I used to play, the scary (when I think about them now!) things I did--like climbing a tree or going down a hill on a bike. I'm excited to continue watching her grow all the way up. I think it's neat the way God gives us little ones to remind us (parent AND grandparents!) of all the good times in life. He is so wise and good and He cares so much for us.


SLIDESHOW!