Week 74: June 10 - 16

This was a HUGE week, or else I was just a lot better about writing things down!

So let’s see, where to start …

DAY WITH DADDY
On Saturday, I went to a ladies’ day at a nearby church, so Matt kept Madeleine all by himself from about 7:30am until almost 4pm. It was by far the longest he’d kept her all by himself.

After I left, they went to Publix to get diapers (ah, the joys of running out of diapers…), and then Matt took her to the Chattahoochee River Park. He carried her most of the time as they walked along the main path and then a side path that led up onto a tall hill. Matt said he really enjoyed their time together there, the peace and quiet of the trail, and just seeing everything together. About halfway through the trail, they stopped and had a snack of peanut butter bread and banana.

The rest of the day was pretty typical, playing at home, nap for baby, then lunch and more play. When I got home, Matt said he was more understanding of why things weren’t always done when he got home from work. I’m glad he got to see what I go through in a day. It will help with understanding and communication.

KIDS AT CHURCH
The kids at church are awesome with Madeleine. There’s one little boy in particular who loves babies. He likes carrying her around, playing with her, talking to her. They are all so sweet to her, it makes me so happy to see them interacting with her! I know that when Chad and Cody are watching her, for the most part, she’s going to be all right. They are just so good with her, gentle, considerate. I remember a friend telling me that when people love your kids, you love them, and I can so understand what she meant!

FUN VISITS THIS WEEK!
SuSu came for a visit Sunday and stayed until naptime on Wednesday. It was a great visit! A really fun time was our trip to Chattahoochee River Park (same place Matt took baby). We brought Layla with us. She was crazy when there were dogs nearby, but once we got off on the trail up the hill, she was great. She really wore herself out though, going after every SINGLE dog we passed.

Madeleine wanted to walk pretty much everywhere, all the time. Of course she couldn’t, but we let her as much as the terrain and time would allow. She had a great time looking around at everything, and even found some cool sticks to carry. Whenever one of us would pick her up, she’d be content for half a minute, then ask to get down. LOL. Poor little thing!

So then on Wednesday after her nap, Madeleine and I took a little trip to hang out with Lesli and Caleb and Lacey. I got to visit nicely with Lesli, while the kids played with Madeleine. It was such a neat treat, and sweet little girl had a great time saying “hi” to Caleb and asking for the ball. Which one did the want? Whichever one the others were playing with. Of course.

WORDS & SIGNS

* Madeleine is CRAZY about saying the word “baby.” She says it whenever she sees a little kid, baby or not! She said it when we watched videos of her on the computer, when she sees pictures of babies, herself included. So adorable!
* She is also a big fan of saying “hi” to kids and babies wherever we are. Talk about adorable.
* Baby makes the sign for bird whenever she hears birds outside.
* As you may know, Madeleine LOVES grapes. Like WHOA. So now when she wants grapes, she has no trouble telling us! She’s been really using the sign for grapes this week like a pro.

LITTLE THINGS

Madeleine put her hands under running water! She’s always been a bit cautious about it, but this week she saw me do it and wanted to try. Now she does it every chance she gets, and she even tried turning on the bath tub!

Last week, I mentioned that Madeleine imitated someone crossing his arms. This week, she’s done it a lot, mostly imitating me. Only now she’ll walk around with that pleased look on her face, crossing her arms.

Another fun arm movement that Madeleine has done this week is shrug her shoulders at people and smile. It is so very cute. Have I said that a few times before? :)

Madeleine spent a night in a cloth diaper because we were out of disposables. She did great! I might want to try using cloth at night, to save diapers. Plus, she always did really well in her night time cloth diapers.

We get a baby magazine (thanks, Mimi!), and the most recent issue has this little rhyme in it: “Grasshopper hops! Worm wiggles! Spider spins, Madeleine giggles!” It’s so fun, and we act out the motions. After a few times, baby started joining in on the wiggling part. Then she started kind of trying to hop. Sometimes she throws some spinning in. It is great!

More stacking of books! And other things! She LOVES it.

Madeleine has started shaping her mouth in an “o” shape and saying “oooooh.” LOVE.

Finally, she has been petting a little toy dog that she’s got this week. Petting! Like a dog! :)

SLIDESHOW