Week 104: January 6 - 13

The biggest thing we did this week was go to Roswell and walk in the woods. I checked the weather and the temperature was supposed to be “warm,” meaning the upper 60s. So we made plans to spend Saturday morning out.

First up, we went to Douceur de France, a fabulous little place that serves French food, most notably pastries. You may recall that Matt, especially, has something of a weakness for pastries. Our “second breakfast” was eaten here. I had a croissant and a beignet, Matt a chocolate croissant, and I shared my croissant with Madeleine. Which means that she ate most of it and I got the rest! I also had a yummy hot chocolate.

Then we went to the Roswell Mill area, where we went twice before. It was one of my favorite times, sitting with Madeleine out in the middle of the river. And it did not disappoint this time! Instead of walking by the river, we chose to go up to the top, as we did on our first trip.

Madeleine LOVED walking through the leaves, over fallen trees, wherever she could go. LOVED.

After walking the upper trail, we headed back to the covered bridge which leads to the car. But Madeleine wanted to go down by the water, so Matt obliged, and I snapped some pics from above.

The weather wasn’t as nice as I’d thought it might be, but it was still the warmest day in a while, and we had a great time.

My great idea …
Since I’m pregnant, with a baby due in July, there are a few things I’d like to have done before the baby comes. Two big things are potty training (don’t want two in diapers!) and a toddler bed for Madeleine, since we’ll need the crib for baby.

I did some research on potty training on the web, specifically a “3 day training method” after hearing about it from one of SuSu’s friends. She said it worked like a charm, so I went there first. It looked good, but it said the best time for potty training is 22 months. Another place I read said that every day after the child turns 2 it gets harder to train.

So the week before Madeleine turned 2, I decided it was time to train her. I bought the e-book, read it, we prepared. As of the night before her birthday, she hasn’t totally grasped the concept, or at least isn’t too interested in it. It was supposed to take 3 days, and day 4 starts on her birthday. We will see what the future brings!

I can say that I have really and truly enjoyed the 3 days of training. It requires someone (usually the mom) to be super focused on the child, and we’ve spent every waking second together. I have loved all of that time to just concentrate on her, as I usually do other things around the house. Who knew potty training could be so wonderful? Now, if we can just get her trained, I’d be thrilled!

SLIDESHOW

Week 103: December 30 - January 5

Matt finished the kitchen this week! We both absolutely love it. Matt said, "What does it say about us that the kitchen adds to our house?" I'm not sure, but I don't care! It's so pretty, so nicely done. Madeleine... likes the doors. LOL. That's about all she got out of the kitchen this week, opening all the doors, then shutting all the doors. But, hey, it's a start! She also likes her little grocery bag that I got at Harry's.



Madeleine had something of a small trauma this week. We were invited to the Ray's house on Monday for hanging out and for dinner. Well, when Madeleine woke from her nap, Matt went to get her. He brought her out of the room still in her sack (which is unusual). Then he told Madeleine to show me something. She had a very serious expression on her face, and finally she held up Blankie--who had a huge trip down almost the entire length! The border wasn't ripped, but there was a huge hole.

She said, "MMmm broke." MMmm was still her word for her blankie. She was very matter-of-fact, very stoic. She didn't cry or get upset, though clearly, it bothered her that blankie was broken. We didn't have time to worry about blankie right then, since we had to rush to get out the door to they Ray's.

Madeleine had a GREAT time with Chase and Molly and Miss Liz and Mr. Chuck. And Lelu, of course! Dinner was DELICIOUS, and Madeleine got to sit in a big person chair (on some books or a pillow or something) and eat with us! She's such a big girl.

When we got home, Madeleine had to go to sleep without Blankie. I texted a friend that night, asking if she had time the next day for a "quick sewing session." I told her Madeleine's blankie got ripped and I didn't want to mess it up. She said yes (phew!). On Tuesday morning, Madeleine asked to see Blankie, and she gave it a kiss. She even started calling it "Blankie" (pronounced bwankie). Miss Ronna came over during Madeleine's nap and did an amazing job fixing blankie.

When Madeleine woke from her nap, I told her Blankie was fixed. She didn't want to see blankie yet, though, so I waited until I got her up and changed. We went into the living room, where Blankie was. I pulled out blankie and showed it to her. She inspected it very closely, and finally gave it a big hug. Now she says, "Miss Ronna fix Blankie." :)

THANK YOU, MISS RONNA!


SLIDESHOW

Week 102: December 23 - 29

Quite an eventful week!

We finally picked a dress after yet ANOTHER big shopping trip by Papa Pete and SuSu. I hope there's a picture of it somewhere...

Okay, I can't believe this is the ONLY picture we have...



Christmas morning was a blast. Madeleine's first present was a book, and she was pretty happy to get it. Then Mama opened a box of four square soaps which occupied her for quite some time. I loved watching her open her presents! She got it this year, unlike last year (no surprise there), and she seemed genuinely interested in everything she opened. Though the cars from Papa Pete and SuSu, and the big car from Marshall, were by far the favorite gifts of the day. Madeleine promptly gave them all rides in the red stroller. :)

Then it was time for church. Madeleine wore the dress we finally selected, and she was beautiful. She loved looking at herself in the mirror. Oh, she also liked licking the mirror... not sure what that's all about!

Madeleine got a great nap after church, then had a lovely afternoon playing with her new toys and of course the red stroller.

The day after Christmas, we drove a very full car to Tampa for Christmas with Mimi, Poppi, Uncle Alan, Uncle Wes and Lola. It was a blast! Madeleine opened a present, and as soon as she saw the end of it, she knew what it was. "Legos!" she said, and hurried to finish opening it. It was funny because she had never really played with Legos before. She saw them when we were in Gainesville, but she didn't have any interest in them. But as soon as she saw these, she wanted them "open!" And of course we obliged. After that, she was pretty much done, very happy with her Legos. That night, when going to bed, Madeleine lay in her crib and said, "Legos. Legos! LEGOS!" over and over for a few minutes. It made Mimi and Poppi laugh a whole lot!

The stay in Tampa was nice but short. Poppi had three whole days off, so Madeleine got to spend a lot of time with him this trip. She had a blast! He taught her how to put Legos together, and she was building tall towers in no time.

Madeleine also got to see Kaley again and spend some time with Nana and Grandpa Alvin, Grampa and Ann.

Daddy went home the day before Madeleine and I flew back to Atlanta. We had another successful plane trip, though I got somewhat detained in security for Madeleine's little comb with a silver plated handle. I guess they thought it was a screwdriver? I'm sure I looked like quite the terrorist, with my sweet little almost-two-year-old in my arms, who again cried when the stroller went on the conveyor belt. BUT, we got to bypass the body scan and the wand, which was NICE. Thank YOU, Madeleine!

SLIDESHOW

Week 101: December 16 - 22

So, I think it's clear that Madeleine is doing well with words. I can't keep up, so I'm not going to try. I may mention particularly interesting words, or phrases, but no more trying to write down every new word she says.

And, sadly, that means much shorter entries for the time being.

This week was spent in DeLand with Papa Pete and SuSu! Mimi and cousin Lola came for a visit on Tuesday, and cousin Marshall spent Sunday through Wednesday morning in DeLand as well. Madeleine had a WONDERFUL time. She played with that red stroller just about every waking minute. "Lolo" was just about the first word out of her mouth when she woke up. She walked that thing in circuits around the house. I'm surprised she hasn't left permanent trenches in the carpet. WHO KNEW?? She pushes her toys around in the stroller. Lamby and blankie too. Whenever something strikes her fancy, it obtains a special place in her heart and becomes the favorite for rides in the stroller.

SuSu put out some toys they have around the house left from when her boys were younger. Among these toys were two decent sized cars, one of which made a siren sound when you press a button. Between those cars and the stroller, we didn't need to get her anything for Christmas! She LOVES those cars, plays with them daily.

One fun thing we're doing this week is looking for a dress for Madeleine to wear on Christmas Day. I went with Papa Pete and SuSu and I found one dress that was a bit small. Then Papa Pete and SuSu went shopping one night and came home with 8 or 9 more! We had a time trying them on Madeleine. She was keen for the first one, but after that, we had to enlist Dada to help get her to try them on. We still haven't reached a decision, but we have some time before we have to.

Favorite things at Papa Pete and SuSu's house: full-length mirror in their bedroom, the pillows on their bed.

Hopefully, the pictures will make up for the lack of content here....

Madeleine did say "yummy" this week, which Matt and I enjoyed. There were some rough days sleep-wise at the end of week 100, but she napped well this week. There were some long transitions at the beginning, but the last two days have been much better. Nights too. It's almost as if... the two months of bad sleeping might be at an end? I won't hold my breath though. BUT, she slept until 6:15 Thursday morning, which she hasn't done in way too long.... We'll see!

SLIDESHOW

Week 100: December 9 - 15

Just one picture this week!
Not sure how that happened!

Big, huge, ginormous week.

First up: plane ride! Madeleine went on her very first plane ride this week! She and I flew from Atlanta to Orlando, where Papa Pete picked us up and took us to DeLand. She was absolutely perfect. We were lucky to have an extra seat in our row, so Madeleine got to sit by herself the entire flight except for take-off and landing. I had food for her to eat during both take-of and landing, since she doesn't know how to pop her ears. Madeleine enchanted the young woman sitting with us, showing her Lamby, blankie, sheep and cow, and generally being super sweet.

Madeleine had some water and some "biscoff", the little snack served on Delta flights, while sitting in her own seat. She had the tray down and copied mama very well in eating her snack. She even kissed the polar bear on the Coca-Cola napkin. The only time she got antsy was when she had to sit in my lap for a long while, which was take-off and landing. I buckled us both in, and I don't think she liked the restriction. But she only got a little fussy after 10 minutes or so, which meant she was soon able to be freed.

In the airport, she got to ride in a new umbrella stroller that we purchased just for this occasion. The only time she actually cried was when I had to put it on the security belt! And she was happy once she saw it again and got to sit in it. There's no way we could have known the bond that would form between Madeleine and that stroller. :)

Next: WORDS. Basically, that sums up the rest of what I have to report for this week. New words every other minute, it seems! She is just learning them quickly and proficiently. Here is a list of the words I managed to remember and take note of:

man, snowman, write, moon, water, cup, milk, bird, rough (as in, daddy's shirt is rough), wear (pants, shirt), (put) back, pick up, pull, get, in & out (of car, bed, etc.), ride, ladder, off & on (knows when lights are off and on, asks to turn them off and on) and read. Yes, she can now ask us to read to her. Which she does quite frequently!

To go along with the words, I have two word-related stories to share.

In the book "Pat the Bunny," we like to read Judy's little book. It talks about Bunny. There's a page that says "how big is bunny?" Madeleine learned this week to say "go big!" Which her mama thinks is GO ADORABLE!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST, the best story of the week. One day, when putting Madeleine down for her nap, I told her I loved her. She said, "I love... I love... doors !" I had to laugh. Then, she said, "I love .... DADA!" She said "dada" very enthusiastically, "riled"-ly if you will. Even balled her fists. It was hilarious, her having said she loved doors and dada. This was the first time she said "I love" anything. Cracked me up, and Matt too when I told him. :)

Week 99: December 2 - 8

Story of the week: 4 days without a nap. :( This messed up sleep has GOT to get better. She was the worst behaved on Sunday that I've ever seen her. Of course, all that means is that she wanted dada to hold her, not mama, she threatened to fuss a few times by making an 'I'm-about-to-fuss' face, and talked in a normal tone twice. I know, what am I complaining about, right? And I'm not, she was amazing considering how loopy she was, but I don't feel very good when I'm exhausted, so I know she doesn't either.

WORDS
Madeleine and the words. Just wow. Every single day, she says at least one new word. Matt and I just look at each other like, "whoa!" It is such an awesome thing to see and experience. So, on to the words!

On Saturday, when little girl got up from her nap, she could see her stroller through the door. She said, "lolo." I confirmed her sighting. Then she knelt down, patted her mattress, and said, "Lolo, bed." BED!

One big word discovered on Sunday: "pig." She's been making the pig noises for months, but now she can say pig!

Also on Sunday, she said "hose" while reading "If you Give a Pig a Party." While playing hide-and-seek, the snake looks like a hose, and Madeleine said "hose."

Let's see... this week also adds to her vocabulary the words: "bone" as in Layla's bone, "mouse" as in her Mickey Mouse lamp, "night night", "lion", "head", "neck", "white", "move" and "ing" which means sing. Phew, I am sure I didn't catch them all!

She also adds the letters S, F, B, and K to her recognition.

I also love the way she says "mama." There's a little bit of sweetness in it, fondness. It warms my heart. :)


OTHER
She's learned to blow bubbles in the bathtub! And of course this means that mama and dada must do it to!

BIG NEW THINGS: Madeleine has officially learned to drink from a cup! Without spilling! This doesn't mean she never spills, but she can manage it! SO BIG!

We THINK she understands "5". On two occasions, she said "five" and there were five things she was playing with. Time will tell....

SLIDESHOW

Week 98: November 25 - December 1

WORDS
Lots of new words this week! Let's see... "high chair", "under", "over", "pick up", "out." I mean, she knows about going "under mama" when she goes under my legs. She gets "over mama" when she climbs over me on the bed. She knows about picking things up. "Out" has been there, in terms of "out door," but now she says "out" when she wants out of her sleep sack. And "boy" too, when she sees a boy in a book. Or probably about her new friends Baer and Vinny.

She said "high chair" for the first time on our way back from Gainesville. We stopped at a Chick-fil-A, she saw them, pointed, and said, "high chair, eat." LOL! She knows, she knows.

Another word Madeleine has been saying for awhile (I think?) is "lie." And she uses it to mean "lie down." This week, she had mama, dada, lamby, blankie, some books, a wooden duck, and her bike all lying on the floor. Just because she can.

OTHER
We got her some bath crayons last week, and she really enjoys them. She drew a "family portrait" this week on the bathtub with the crayons. She says "mama heart" "dada heart" "baby heart" and "Lamby heart." etc.

However, the crayons aren't the highest quality, and they've started breaking apart. When the first one broke, she got really upset and cried and wanted out of the tub! Poor little baby. This happened twice, so we decided to chuck the crayons. Maybe we'll find some better ones some day!

BIGGEST BIG THING EVER SO FAR
MADELEINE LEARNED TO HOP THIS WEEK!!! She has been trying for this for months! Matt says she did it Friday morning before we left Gainesville, but I didn't see it and he didn't tell me about it until after I'd told him that she hopped. Just so the record is straight.

Here is how it happened: I was sitting on the chair-and-a-half in the living room, she was playing with her stroller. I saw her grab the handle bar of the stroller and hop. But the way she was doing it, I could tell that she didn't need any support. So I called her over to me and asked her to hop without holding on. She didn't get it and did it twice while holding on. Then I put my hand up to block her from grabbing the stroller. She grabbed my hand instead, but I didn't let her use it for support. Then she understood when I said to hop without the bar, and she DID IT!! She only clears maybe an inch, but OH MY GOODness, how excited she was! And me, I was cheering so much!

Then Madeleine proceeded to hold everything in sight and hop. Lamby and Blankie got first dibs, of course, but then it was whatever she found. A book, a pen, a car, whatever. It was so awesome to watch.

You know, you hear about all of these "firsts." First time they roll over, sit up, crawl, stand, and walk. No one ever talks about the first time they HOP! And I gotta say, it ranks right up there with walking.

SLIDESHOW

Week 97: November 18 - 24

WORDS
Seriously, I know I've said this before, but seriously. I just love hearing her say a new word.

On Saturday morning, Madeleine got ahold of my phone and said, "Call dada." So of course we did.

Another new word for the week: pasta. She's been eating in most of her life, but now she can say what it is. Oh, and she also knows "meat" and knows there is meat in her pasta sauce. One day I was making red beans and rice, which has sausage in it. This would probably be the first time she'd seen sausage. I put it in the pan to brown it, and Madeleine said, "meat." Who told her that? :)

More new words: "rope" for daddy's rope that we took in the car to Florida. "Tights" that she wears with a dress when it's cold.

On Saturday, Madeleine wanted to "sit by football" while we had a game on. The computer was on the bench, and she crawled up to sit beside it.

Madeleine got to play with a hanger in her crib one day after a nap. Then she put her blankie on the hanger and said "hang it."

She's also quite good at "little" and "big" in comparing things. Matt had on a sweatshirt with a hood that had a string around the neck to tighten the hood. One was longer than the other, and Madeleine said the long one was "big" and the short one was "little".

We got a book last year called "Tuck Me In!" It's a bedtime book where the reader can "tuck in" a host of baby animals. With each animal, it says, "who needs to be tucked in?" Then the animal replies, "I do!" Well, Madeleine now calls this book simply "I do!" when she wants to read it.

Last thing of note in this section: baby can use contractions! She said, "mama's home" when I arrived home from somewhere. Sometimes in the car, we'll say we're going home, that "dada's home," "Lamby's home," etc.

LITTLE THINGS
Surely I've mentioned this before, since she's been doing it forever, but maybe not. When laying on the changing pad, Madeleine will often stick something between her knees and hold out her hands to say, "where is it?" It is super funny, especially when she tries to hide mama or dada! Or even herself. She'll stick her hand between her knees and we'll say, "where's baby?" She'll pull her hand out, and "oh, there she is!" Such fun.

Madeleine loves to color, but this week she started indicating what she was drawing. Such as a "heart" or an "m". Oh yeah, she knows a few letters: O, X and M. She doesn't really know what they mean, but she can find them in words. It's exciting, thinking that she'll be learning all her letters, then learning to read.

And finally, I just want to squish her little face! She's so precious!

SLEEP
Still struggling. We had some good successes just before heading to Florida for Thanksgiving. She slept in until 6:15 one morning! But then that night, there were some tornado concerns, so we ended up at a friend's basement for the night, and she took a long time falling asleep that night, plus woke up early the next morning. Ugh. It wasn't the ideal start to our trip. We'll see how it goes next week! Hopefully we can get back to the improvements we made before going out of town.

THANKSGIVING
We went to Gainesville for the annual gathering at the Farm. It was another BEAUTIFUL day, absolutely perfect weather.

The trip down was rough; it took us 7 hours to make the 4.5-5 hour drive. Ugh. We got in around 2:15, Madeleine hadn't slept. So we decided to just keep her up and put her to bed early, rather than napping her and having a late bedtime and then who knows what. Of course, the way we did it led to early waking, but oh well. Matt got to go out to the Farm Wednesday night with Russ and Marshall for some yummy dinner. Madeleine did let her Uncle Russ hold her and gave him a little "hey, I know you," smile.

Then Thursday, Madeleine hung out a little with her cousin Marshall. Then we went out to the Farm in the morning so Madeleine could walk around a bunch before having to leave for a nap. And walk around SHE DID. We went all over the grassy part of the property. At one point, Matt and Layla were running ahead of us. I said, "look at dada and Layla running." Madeleine said, "mama, baby." So we started running, her holding my hand. It was awesome. Then we joined Matt and the three of us were walking together. She said, "mama dada baby." *MELT*

On the walk back up to the house, Madeleine discovered sand. She'd stop and play for a minute, then we'd move on until she found some more. A few times, she played for a few minutes. Eventually, she'd stoop down, grab a handful, then slowly let it fall out of her hand as we walked. Then she'd stop, get some more, and drop it again. Repeat, repeat.

Madeleine got to see Papa Pete, SuSu, Uncle Wes, and cousin Lola briefly before we left for her nap. She slept for 2 hours, and mama and dada got to nap too! WIN WIN WIN! When we returned to the farm, Poppi, Mimi, and Uncle Alan were there, plus Kaley. It was a lot of people all of a sudden, but after a while--and some toy cars and trucks brought by a second cousin (?), she warmed up to the crowd.

She ended up having a really great day, the highlight of which was probably playing in a big pile of dirt with Poppi. Then Papa Pete brought a bulldozer over, and the fun was multiplied. Of course, she probably most enjoyed laying on the dirt and sitting on a little seat they "carved". She was SO DIRTY!!

But also tired. I managed to get her in bed at a decent time, and she was asleep at a good time. Friday, we came home, which is technically on next week's post, but I'll write about it here for continuity sake. She didn't nap again, but we made the trip in better time, got her down for a nap at 12:30. She had a meltdown when we tried to feed her lunch. She couldn't eat, crying so hard, so I ended up just getting her ready for her nap and rocking her to sleep.

We had a great time seeing family!!! Can't wait for a more extended visit at Christmas!

SLIDESHOW

Week 96: November 11 - 17

Sorry for the so short entries. I need to stop apologizing, though. Short is better than nothing, right? :)

Mimi came for a visit this week! Madeleine had a lot of fun with her.

At goodwill, Madeleine and Mimi pushed a couple of umbrella strollers all around the back of the store. It was great because I could shop while they played!

Wow, I cannot believe this is all I have for this week. At least there are some pictures, right? Just know that Madeleine is saying more and more and growing into a little girl every day.

OOOOOOOHhhhhh. One thing that IS noteworthy: we've been having sleeping problems! (yay... again...) They started right with the time change, though I don't know if the time change is the cause. We're talking early, early waking, some mornings are like, 4:30! Well, that was mainly last week. This week we're in the 5:20-5:30 range. It is still SUPER EARLY. Madeleine's behavior is definitely affected. She's extra fussy, whiny, cries easily, can't handle much. She'll just walk around, grunting, waving her arms in frustration. It's really sad. She's had some great naps though, up to 3 hours, so her total sleep in a day hasn't been affected too much. I just hope we can figure this out before naps start suffering.

SLIDESHOW

Week 95: November 4 - 10

I apologize again for the shortness of this post. And for the lack of pictures. These things happen, life gets busy. Or something.


WORDS, WORDS, and MORE WORDS
Okay. On a daily basis, Matt and I look at each other like, "WOW." Because Madeleine is just saying so many new things.

Here's a fun example. On Sunday night, while looking at a book, Matt would point to an animal and ask what it was. Twice (cat and owl) she said the animal by name (and then he'd ask what that animal says, and she'd make the sound). Two others, she just made the animal sound (dog and pig). It was the first time we'd heard her make the dog sound, and she did it quite well.

I'm very curious about how many words she knows. Not sure why, maybe because a 2-year old is supposed to know 50 words. I'm interested to know if she knows that many. At times, it doesn't seem like a lot of words, but other times, it does. Oh well, maybe some day I'll count? :)

HILARIOUS
So Madeleine has known about bugs for awhile. I'm sure you remember (or not, haha) the ladybug on the ceiling, the ants on the wall. Well, a mosquito recently got into the house, thought they were all gone for the year, oh well. Matt managed to squash it before it bit anybody. Madeleine said, "boke bug" which means, "broke bug." We cracked up!

OF NOTE
Her feet are no longer pod-shaped. They've elongated enough that I can no longer call them pod feet. However, they are still adorable and one of my favorite things about her. She's so animated with her feet, the way she moves them, especially when seated. Sometimes they look like little commas or quotation marks. Yeah, I know, I'm weird. But I love them.

Week 94: October 28 - November 3

So. As of this week, there are just 10 until Madeleine turns TWO. Two! I cannot handle that! {Not to mention we have to get through Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years before then!}

The beginning of this week saw us leaving Gainesville and heading home. NOT FUN--the trip, I mean. The morning started well, with Matt bringing French pastries for everyone. YUM, pain chocolat! (Chocolate bread, or chocolate croissant) Madeleine ended up not even napping, which put me into all modes of stress--that I tried not to feel. After an hour or so, I decided to get her up and get on the road. It was nice to head out a little earlier than we'd anticipated. The trip home was just... rough. No nap for her meant that she dozed in the car for just half an hour. She was stupid tired by the time we got home, and she went immediately to sleep. YAY.

Madeleine also had a little case of the sniffles when we got home. All the traveling, plus the sniffles, made for some really solid sleep--at first. Now her cold is affecting her nights and her naps. But, at least I know that it will end when her cold does. :)

We had a pretty quiet Saturday morning, just recovering from the trip. After Madeleine's nap, we headed to Jet's house for a Halloween party! With being out of town... and just being in general uncreative... we didn't have anything for Madeleine to dress up. But she managed to enjoy the party anyway. LOL. It was designed for families, so there were lots of other kids to play with. Naturally, though, she just wanted the balls. All of them. They were playing the Charlie Brown Halloween video, and Madeleine would glance at it occasionally while doing other things. But when Schroeder played the piano, she stopped, stood in front of the TV, and watched, rapt, until he stopped. I think it's because Matt plays and she knew the sound, knew that it was special. :)

FOOTBALL
I went out to try and scrounge some costumes during Madeleine's nap. When she woke up, Matt got her up and left her in her sleep sack. He took her out to the rumpus room to watch football. She sat on his lap for a good long while and watched with him. Matt reports that she said "oh no!" just about every time someone got tackled. And she said "football" a WHOLE LOT. There were also a few moments where she cracked up. Matt wasn't sure if it was too many footballs to process or what, but she got a kick out of something! And of course, daddy loved every second of it.

Oh yeah, she says "oh, no." IT IS SUPER CUTE. I'm running out of adjectives!

BIGNESS
BIG thing this week: PLURALIZATION! Madeleine has started saying words in plural. She's just started practicing this, so she's a little slow with her words. She'll say the word, there will be a teeny tiny pause, and then "sss". HILARIOUS. Matt reported that she said "hangers" and that it was getting his nomination for cutest word ever. I already love how she says "hanger," so I can't wait to hear hangers.

One final thing about the plurals. When looking at a book Sunday night, Madeleine saw a page of pigs. She's hasn't said "pig" in a long time, she just makes the oink noise. So what did she do about that page with 7 pigs? She made the oink noise, then added the "sss". We cracked up!

LEAVES
A lot of the pictures this week are from us playing in some leaves. Madeleine and I were outside one afternoon, and it was just perfect. The light was awesome, the temp was perfect.... She played, I snapped some pics. Well, then I got the idea to rake some leaves. Matt joined us, and he took up the call, gathering a good little pile. He and I took turns walking through the leaves, tossing some in the air, and playing. Madeleine started out pretty timid, just kicking them, touching them. But it wasn't long before she was kneeling beside them, then picking them up, then "hopping" on the pile, then laying on it! Her hopping was hilarious. She'd crouch down, then basically just put her knees on the ground. Matt and I cheered her on, and she was super pleased with herself. She wants to hop SO BAD.

It was one of the most fun times we've had yet, and I really saw that Madeleine is getting bigger. We could do something as a family, all together. It didn't have to be me or Matt keeping a close eye on her or holding her at all times. We all just played. Best day ever. I even filled up my memory card and had to fight all the instincts to capture every second on "film." It probably took 10 minutes before the kick in my brain to snap, snap, snap went away. Then it was all joy. And thanksgiving. It was delightful to me to see the delight on her face, the fun she was having. LOVE.

FINALLY
I know, I know. Super short. But it's just really hard these days to make notes. I don't know why.

Madeleine now knows "wipe", as in the wipes we use at diaper time, and that we wiper her hands and face after she eats. She's even started wiping her own hands together. It's kind of nice because it's another way we know she's done eating. She'll say, "wipe, wipe," and wipe her hands.

One night at dinner, we had buttered bread. Baby wanted seconds, so I got another piece. She said, "baby, butter." It wasn't a perfect "butter," but she got her point across. :)

SLIDESHOW

Week 93: October 21 - 27

Mimi came for a visit this week! We had a fabulous photo shoot on Friday with our friend Joanna, who has taken quite a few of Madeleine's pictures over the last year or so. She does an awesome job, and I can't wait to see the results! Then we took a short trip to visit a friend. Full, fun week!

LITTLE THINGS
Madeleine seems suddenly taller. I've heard many, many stories of such a phenomenon, but to see it in real life is crazy. Pants she wore last week are now too short! Yay for growing babies!

Baby got some more scrapes today, including one around her eye. She was standing by the stairs, and she started to fall. Matt tried to catch her, but he thinks doing so only made her fall worse. She hit the corner of the steps, and it looks so sad. She cried a lot, but she is a trooper and was playing again after not too long.

Madeleine has started saying her own name! After many months of referring to herself as "baby," she now says, "Ma-lyn." IT IS ADORABLE. She usually does it in a possessive sense, like, "Ma-lyn ow" for Madeleine's drink.

As mentioned already, Mimi visited this week. One day when getting baby up from her nap, Mimi laughed at something she did and slapper her knee while laughing. Apparently, Madeleine thought this was great fun and started copying her. :)

Another fun story related by Mimi: one day, Madeleine was sitting in her chair and she said "eee" (which can either mean sit, eat, or kiss). Mimi said, "sit?" Madeleine repeated herself. Mimi said, "kiss?" Madeleine then said "eee" again, but also did the sign for eat while she said it. ISN'T THAT HILARIOUS??!?!??!?!


GAINESVILLE
This week, we decided to go to Gainesville, FL, to visit some friends. Or, rather, for me to visit a friend. Matt came with and stayed with his brother. We had a FABULOUS time. It was relaxing for me in many ways. Madeleine's schedule was off, but she handled it all very well. The first night, though, I think she got overheated, because she woke up quite upset at about 2am. I was in the room with her, and we were next door to everyone else, so I couldn't just let her cry. I got her up and tried to help her go to sleep with me. It took over 2 hours. YEAH. And she fell asleep on me, while I was sitting up. It was the only way she would sleep. After I decided she was good and asleep, I slowly slid down so that I was lying down, her atop me.

It was really neat; I've never slept with her beside me before. Thankfully, she slept in until about 8:20. That was neat too, waking up with her right there. :)

We went to about 4 parks in 3 days, had lots of PB&Js, went to Chick-fil-A family night and the library and played with cars, planes, trains, and blocks a WHOLE BUNCH.

My friend has two boys, almost 3 and 14 months. It was interesting to watch them with Madeleine. When we got there, I put her down with their younger boy. He went right up to her and kinda pushed her, which is what he does with his brother (and how his brother does with him). Madeleine didn't understand and after a couple of light pushes, she started to cry. From then on, when she first saw him (Vinny) in the morning, she was a bit afraid of him. But once they were together long enough, she got over it.

Madeleine was really interested in whatever Baer was doing. She quickly learned his name and said it often when he wasn't around. Similarly, Vinny was really interested in Madeleine and wanted to interact with her as much as he could. But Baer barely noticed Madeleine, and she was wary of Vinny. So nobody really got a play friend out of the deal! Oh well, I got to be with my friend. :)

We also got to spend a little time with Matt's parents. We met them at a park and Madeleine got to swing for about 30 minutes. [That is ALL she really wanted to do at the park, but there was one place where she got into the slide for a few minutes. As in, she'd go up the stairs and go down the slide by herself.] We showed Papa Pete and SuSu Madeleine's high five and fist bump, and they were both big hits. Then we had dinner at Uncle Russ' house, yummy BBQ.

FABULOUS trip, can't wait to make it again! Next year, sometime, Lord willing.


SLIDESHOW

Week 92: October 14 - 20

This post is so much after the fact. I hope I can flesh out some of these details because I don't have much in my notes...

Madeleine turned 21 months this week! Just 3 more until she is 2! I'm excited and... not. Ha!

OKAY?
We had a big development this week. I think I've mentioned before that Madeleine doesn't really have any affirmative word or nod or anything. WELL! That changed this week. She started by just saying "okay" because she likes copying what Matt and I say. A day or so later, she started saying "okay" when we asked her if she wanted to do something and the answer wasn't "no." It is a super cute word, pronounced kind of like, "ooo-kay-ee," almost 3 syllables. And the inflection is on the end of the word, which we like.

One more little thing about "okay:" You may recall the story of Madeleine wanting Matt to ride the elliptical and her being upset when he stopped. This week, she wanted him to go on it again, which he did. When he stopped, she said, "More. More. Okay." Matt said it felt as though she was feeding him the line she wanted to hear, which was him agreeing to keep doing it.

BIG STUFF
Madeleine has started being excited about doing things. I'll say, "do you want to go for a walk in the stroller?" She'll raise her eyebrows, form an "O" with her mouth, and say," ooooooh!" Then she'll hop right up from what she was doing and head toward the stroller.

We THINK that she understands what "two" means. We think. It may have been coincidence that she'd see two things and say "two." It's possible. She IS only 21 months old. But she's done it more than once, with balls and something else.

BOO-BOOs
Baby had two new falls this week, bumping her head both times. :( The good news is that she got over them both pretty quickly.

EXCITING
Last but not least, (again, sorry so short), Madeleine got to see the sheep I mentioned last week again! A friend of mine heard the story, and while driving home one day, saw the flock of sheep at an elementary school. She called me, and Matt and baby hopped in the car to go see the sheep! There were a few other families that had pulled over to see the sheep, but Matt led the pack in getting closer. Madeleine said, "More baa" a whole bunch. Then they walked around on a dirt field next to the school, Madeleine running as best she could, braving the uneven terrain.

FUN ADDITION
The bars on our front steps aren't connected to the rail-end-thing on one side. Recently, Madeleine discovered that if she grabs the bars and shakes them, they made a really loud clanging noise. She gets a HUGE rush from this and laughs and laughs.... :)

SLIDESHOW

Week 91: October 7 - 13

BEDTIME UPDATE:
It is safe for me to say that the problem is now solved. The average for this week is a little up, maybe 25 minutes, but I think that's due to teething and me not giving her medicine before bed. She hasn't had the obvious symptoms of teething, so I'd stopped giving her ibuprofen, but after a conversation with a friend, I think she IS working on her last molars and needs medicine again. Will be starting that tonight. I'm so thrilled that we tried the bath before dinner thing. And that it was the solution!!

AWESOME SATURDAY
We had a great Saturday again. We started out with a trip to the Atlanta Tree Sale. Sounds strange, right? Well, Matt saw a little ad for it in the paper, and also featured was a lamb petting zoo. He was seriously so excited at the thought of Madeleine getting to see real lambs. And it was obviously a must-do. So downtown we went. Wish we could have purchased a tree or two, but since we don't own this house... waste of money.

Anyway, in the back were the lambs. And two goats, just for fun. The petting zoo was provided by eweniversally green, a company that uses sheep and goats to rid your lawn of unwanted plants. Landscaping... with sheep. FABULOUS idea, love it. Anyway, so I held Madeleine and we looked at the sheep. Then I fed one with my hand a couple of times so she could see. And you know, you never know how kids are going to do with live animals and new things. The goats especially were all up in your business if you got too close, not shy at all.

Matt and I petted the lamb, and eventually, Madeleine tried it. She liked. Then I fed one again, and Matt gave Madeleine some food pellets. SHE FED THE LAMB. What happened next?

"MORE."

She was crazy about those lambs and goats! She kept wanting to feed them, pet them, but mostly feed them. Every time her hand was empty, she said, "more." And when mommy and daddy didn't replenish her food supply, she went over to the bucket and helped herself. IT WAS AWESOME and so worth the drive!! I was thrilled that she liked them so much, that she wasn't scared of them. I think having a big dog helped. Oh, and there was a sheep dog there with the sheep, brought over from Scotland, actually. I bet he was happy getting to do what he'd been bred for.

That seems like a big enough Saturday, but it didn't end there. We next went to Sublime Doughnuts near Georgia Tech, a gourmet doughnut shop. If that sounds odd.... it isn't. It is DELICIOUS. AMAZING. Next time you're in town, we'll have to visit. Anyway, we got doughnuts for us and some friends and sat down to eat them there. It was game day, probably an early game, because there were tons of people in Tech gear who came in.

After doughnuts, we went to Ikea to make a return and a purchase. Then we took the doughnuts to our friends and hung out for a few minutes. Then home, then baby down for her nap. Woo-hoo! Awesome Saturday, and that was all before lunch! (If you're interested, the afternoon was just spent hanging at the house, watching UF v. LSU. Sad. Though Madeleine really enjoyed watching the football.)

Speaking of football: She was eating her after-nap snack when Matt turned on the computer to get ready for the game. At some point, the sound came on while we were all at the table, and Madeleine said, "football" when she heard it. We were so proud!! LOL.

WARNING: Maybe Too Much Information? If babies going potty on the floor and people bother you, then read no further... Although I've now told you the basic gist... ;)

Monday evening was somewhat momentous for Madeleine. We've recently discovered the secret to happiness--i.e., how to help Madeleine fall asleep quicker at night: Bath before dinner. This simple little switch, which we tried for the first time September 24, has led to two solid weeks of under-an-hour-fall-asleep-times, most nights less than 30. REALLY!!

Okay, now to the story. Since we do bath before dinner, we have been putting Madeleine in just pants and a shirt--no diaper--for dinner. Sometimes she's had misses (not in the true EC sense of the term), sometimes not. Tonight, she was a bit squirmy, then she looked at me and said her word for "potty." I asked if she needed to go, and she said no. (Also, possibly related: she wasn't eating hardly any of her dinner.) A few minutes later, she started kinda crying, but the, "I don't like my situation" cry. I asked what was wrong, and she indicated she wanted up. Turns out she'd peed a little bit in her pants. SO I got her up, took off her pants, put her in new pants.

We returned to the table and I sat her on my lap to see if that would help her eat more. It didn't. But then she peed more (again after being super squirmy), getting on me and the floor and of course herself. I picked her back up and I asked if she was finished. She didn't really have an answer. We went into the bathroom where her potty is, I left her pants on, and asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She did. Then she wanted me to sit on my potty (she says "baby's potty" and "mama's potty"), so I obliged of course. Then she picked up her potty and headed toward the hall, but she seemed ... interested in it, unlike before. My gut told me to stick with it, so I had her set the potty down and sit on it. I decided to just hang out with her for a bit, so I started to tell her a story. She wanted a book instead, so I got her some of her little chunky books. This made her happy. She wanted more, I obliged. Then I went to get the phone off the table to check the time, so I told Madeleine to sit on the potty and not get up (because she alternated between wanting to sit there and wanting to get up).

When I got to the table, I heard her make a little cry. I went back, asked what was wrong. She was standing up, kinda looking down at herself. I checked the potty.... YES! She's gone in the potty, through her pants!! I was so thrilled, I praised her, hugged her, told her good job. No idea if that was "right" or not, but it sure made her happy. She wanted to sit back on the potty! She said, "more potty." Oh, she's so fabulous!

NOTES FROM THE WEEK
~ More 3 and 4 word sentences!

~ And she's also doing a bit of parroting, repeating words and phrases that we use. It's so amazing how much and how quickly she's learning things. Her brain is just a little sponge.

~ OOOOOH, and speaking of learning! This week, Madeleine has shown a big interest in letters. Matt was the first to discover it while playing with our letter magnets. He'd tell her about the letter ("that's a blue T") and she seemed to really pay attention. When he told me all of this, it reminded me of the day when I wrote "Mommy Loves Madeleine" in crayon on a piece of paper. That day, when I read it to her, she really seemed to THINK about it hard; it made some kind of impact in her little mind.

Anyway, back to letters. She's got this little "alphaberry" thing that has all the letters, and if you press them, there's a little girl's voice saying the letter. In the car on Wednesday, she pressed the "O" and said, "O", and she did the same with "I". Then I asked her where the "O" was, and she pressed it. BRILLIANT!! You heard it here first!

~ New words of note: "go" and "ok." We were outside in the back yard one day, and I was holding Madeleine. Matt wanted me to put her down; "she wants to go," he said. I put her down, and she headed off across the yard saying, "baby go. Baby go." Over and over. "okay" she hears all the time but just started saying. It sounds like "oooh-keee" and is pretty cute. I'm sure that's surprising, right?

~ On Thursday, Madeleine picked up the word "pet," as in, "pet Layla." So of course, she had to pet mama, dada, baby, Lamby, and blankie too!

~ FINALLY, the way she says "no" is also quite precious. At bible study on Tuesday, one of the ladies heard it and commented on it, then asked me to make her say it again!

~ Also, Layla is the best dog. She is so good with Madeleine, so patient. She lets Madeleine pet her, hug her, kiss her, whatever. I'm looking forward to the days when Madeleine can really enjoy her.

SLIDESHOW

Week 90: September 30 – October 6

BEDTIME UPDATE:
STILL AMAZING! We are averaging 20 minutes. It feels kind of nice to discover that I was right in my gut when I thought it wasn't normal for her to take SO LONG to fall asleep. I heard other moms say to just get used to it, plan for it, not worry about it, etc., but I saw the effects it was having on her attitude/demeanor/temper, and didn't accept it. She is doing so much better! We've even been able to adjust bed times a bit, so that she's up a little later, since she's falling asleep well. We may even try 7pm next week! :)

SATURDAY
We've been having some awesome Saturdays lately. Matt read that Saturday, October 1, was supposed to be "a perfect fall day," so we planned a trip to Roswell Mill. We'd visited there the year before and really liked it. There's a big river, a covered bridge, mountain/hill to climb. Beautiful place. Last time, we climbed up and walked around. This time, we walked along the river in an attempt to reach the dam. There wasn't a clear trail, and we didn't make it all the way, but it was just fabulous. The pictures will probably help--whenever I get those up...

Probably my favorite thing was going out into the middle of the river on some rocks and sitting down with Madeleine. We watched the river go by, and Matt threw in big leaves and things for us to watch go by. It was beautiful, peaceful, fantastic. Baby really seemed to enjoy it as well. Plus, she got to walk on some rocks, a big sewer pipe (yay?), the regular trail, and the covered bridge. She also got her foot wet in the river, accidentally dunking it in the water, shoe, sock and all. So we took off both her shoes and socks, and she walked a little bit in some sand and on the bridge. Barefoot outside! So luxurious. :)

WORDS AND SUCH
Most of my notes from this week involve words, so I needed a whole section for it.

~ To start, baby learned "walk," which sounds an awful lot like "rock." She uses "rock" for when she wants to rock in a rocker and for rocks outside.

~ I put a lemon in her little toy colander, and she said, "lemon bowl." "Lemon" is quite new, bowl not so much. But she knew what was going on!

~ BIG: Madeleine understands more than one of something. She may see a book and say "book," then she'll see another book and say, "more book." She does this for all kinds of things. It's super cool.

~ She is saying longer sentences, 3-4 words. She's also saying a LOT more words that we don't know yet. She'll put together a string of words, and I just have to scratch my head and try to get her to repeat it. This rarely works. I hope she doesn't get too frustrated and that we figure out what she's saying quickly!

~ I'm almost certain that she said, "don't want to" this week!

~ A not-new word but one I don't think I've recorded yet: she says and knows "umbrella."

~ She has a word for a teddy bear. It's something like "eh-ee" I think? She uses this for my bear, a little bear on one of the pictures in her room (she usually kisses this bear before bed each night), and the teddy bears on the sides of U-haul boxes (they also get kisses).

~ Tied for my favorite for the week: Madeleine says "hold mama" when she wants me to pick her up or hold her. &hearts

~ Also tied for favorite: This one requires a little background. Some of the ladies at my church have a weekly Bible study, and we alternate homes. One of the other women is a mom with a little girl about 8 months younger than Madeleine named Emmeline. This week, it was at my house. Madeleine usually naps through the first 2/3 of the time they are here. She woke, and I went to get her. Usually after naps, she likes to play for up to 10 minutes in her crib before getting out. This time though, I wanted her up quickly so I could get back to my guests. I told her, "Let's get your sleep sack off. There's someone here to play with you." Madeleine looked at me, then looked very thoughtful. Then she laid down on her crib and said, "Emmy?" I about DIED. I grinned so big and said, "Yeah, that's right, Madeleine. Emmeline is here to play!"

It was the first time she's used a name for someone. "Layla" means Layla, but also most other dogs (although, she calls Lelu "Lelu," but she called another dog who looked like Lelu "Lelu" too, so.... anyway.....). No one else had a name before Emmeline. And Madeleine continued to call her "Emmy" all day. SO ADORABLE AND WHEN DID SHE GET SO BIG?????

NOTES FROM THE WEEK:
~ Madeleine wore some pants with pockets this week, and Matt showed her that she could put things in her pockets. SO CUTE. Especially when she took the cardboard flap out of her pocket to show me!

~ Baby has been hopping really well in her crib. One day, on the monitor, I saw her hopping. She holds on to the rail and bounces as best she can. She gets some air sometimes. Anyway, she'd hop, then stop, and say, "More. More." And then hop again. Remember, no one is in the room with her. She's telling herself "more" the same way she does whenever she wants Matt or I to keep doing something. So anyway, she hopped some more, then stopped to pick up Lamby for some more hopping, and then of course Blankie had to join the fun. All of this, all on her own

~ Leaning against things (walls, windows, doors, etc.) is making a comeback in baby's life. It was in vogue around 18 months, then she stopped doing it, but it's back. And this time, she wants mama and dada in on the action! We happily oblige her.

~ Maybe my fave this week? Madeleine has been doing "where is it" with her hands for a long time. Walk into a room, hands up, looking for something. Peek-a-boo is also really big right now. She'll hide something behind her blanket, put her hands up. We say "where is (fill-in-the-blank)?" And she finds it by removing the blanket. Well. One day this week, baby, Matt, me and Layla were standing in the hallway. Madeleine turned her back on Layla, put her hands up, and said, "Layla." Like, "where's Layla?" Then she turned around and went "ooohhhh" when she saw the dog. She then proceeded to do this with Matt and I, just turned her back to him or me and saying "mama?" or "dada?" Hilarious! She cracks us up, she's so funny.

SLIDESHOW

Week 89: September 23 – 29

BIGGEST WIN OF THE YEAR: figuring out how to help Madeleine fall asleep quicker at bedtime!!! Seriously! One little tweak in the bedtime routine, and voila! Magic. At least, it feels like it! So what was this cure-all, you ask? :D

Bath before dinner.

I don't know why, or how, though I suspect it's that bathtime, especially when daddy's around, gets her amped. Which makes it hard for her to settle down at night. And, really, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. We just Since switching dinner-then-bath to bath-then-dinner, the longest it's taken Madeleine to fall asleep is 41 minutes, but most nights are closer to 15-20. A huge improvement from an hour! We've only got 6 nights of data for this, so I'm still half expecting for our good luck streak to end, but it looks amazing so far. Will keep you posted--because I KNOW you'll be on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear! :)

BIG ADVENTURES
First up was a trip to Kennesaw Mountain. We played in the grass a little bit, then headed up a trail. It was a long, low trail, not the one I've been on a couple of times. It was great because it was pretty empty, so we could let Madeleine just walk ahead of us. Which she did, because she's so big. She enjoyed looking around, but her favorite thing was all the rocks. Finding a biggish one in the middle of the trail that she could sit on was especially fantastic.

Next, Madeleine and I spent a couple of days at Teda's house. Madeleine got to play with Liberty and Scarlet and Adelaide a whole bunch! It was ... crazy being in charge of 3 little girls! One of Teda's friends from church came and got Liberty at about 2, and Adelaide got home from school at 2:40. Teda took a nap at 2:30 and was pretty much out for the rest of the time I was there. Which is great, that's why I was there. And her girls were very good, Adelaide a big help. But. Going from one baby to three in an afternoon! Yikes! :)

Actually, maybe it just sounds worse than it was. All the girls were super-well behaved and awesome. So it was not much extra work at all!

NOTES FROM THE WEEK
~ Madeleine recently discovered our elliptical machine. What does she do with it, you ask? Well, she wants daddy to get on and make it go! On Saturday, she indicated that she wanted him to make it go. So he did it for a few minutes and stopped. Then she stood next to the ottoman, picking her feet up one at a time like on the elliptical machine. Seriously, so cute. But then she wanted daddy to do it again, so he did, for a longer time this time. She just stood there, leaning against the ottoman, watching him. When he finally DID stop, she cried! Talk about slave driver--wonder where she gets that? ;)

~ Matt reported that dinner one night was tickle-fest. I wasn't there (at Teda's). Madeleine tickled everything--Dada, baby, her plate (which she calls bowl), her cup, her food.... It is hilarious to see her tickle things that make no reaction, unlike her parents, who fake-laugh (Matt is much better at this than me!). Yet she still continues to tickle inanimate objects. WHO DOES THAT?

~ I've reported that Madeleine is working on colors. One day this week, I was hanging clothes, and she learned the word for hanger. It sounds like "ongh-uhr". She likes to play with extra hangers, so I let her. Then she handed me one and said, "blue hanger." And it was a blue hanger!!

~ Madeleine has also learned the word "bug". And she pretty much wants to kiss every bug she sees.

~ One of my favorite Madeleine words is her "word" for steps/stairs. She says "ew-ihh ew-ihh" for stairs. Go figure!

~ Last but not least: Madeleine learned to blow bubbles in her drink through her straw this week! LOL!

SLIDESHOW

Week 88: September 16 – 22

We had no big trips, events, etc. this week. Just working on sleep. After a week or so of great night sleep, we hit a bump in the road and have been working our way back to ~11 hours. [What happened was, she took two short naps in a row, so I thought she needed a later nap, but that messed up bedtime, which messed up night sleep, which messed up the morning, which messed up her nap, which .... yeah. It becomes this vicious cycle. So we are back to 11:30am nap, and after seeing other mamas' schedules, I think it's exactly right for her, for now. For some reason, if she falls asleep too late in the evening (7:30 or later), she has a bad night, leading to a bad day, and so on. So, I am glad that we're getting righted again.]

WORDS
Okay, I had most of these in the "notes" section, but there are so many that I decided to give them their own section.

~ So the baby knows the difference between the gold car and the blue car, and she calls them the "gold car" and "blue car."

~ Madeleine saw the broom on Saturday and wanted it. She calls it the "moom." Like so many other things in our lives, the broom got put through the rounds of hugs and kisses from everyone. Madeleine even tried getting Layla in on the action, but she typically wants nothing to do with kissing--unless it means licking the baby's face!

~ Lately, she's just been picking up words on the quick. Newly added include: boat and cow. "Boat" is the little grease-catching plastic thing from the Foreman grill. Looks like a long, skinny boat, and Matt gave it to her in the bath. She put her little Duplo cow on it.

~ Madeleine learned "clap" this week! She can say it, and of course do it, but she likes doing both together. :)

~ This is one of my favorites of late. [Though "moom" is pretty awesome] I was out one day when Madeleine woke from her nap. I walked in the door, and she was in her high chair. Matt said, "Mama's home," and Madeleine repeated him! She said "home!" Then she proceeded to say that dada, Layla, Lamby, and baby were all home too. She refers to herself as "baby."

~ Madeleine calls her blanket "mm". Don't know why. Matt once wrapped up in our Bills blanket, and she has called it "dada, mmm" ever since. *shrugs*

~ More new words: "bag," "box," and "little." Add "big," which she already knew, and she's saying "big box," "little box," "big bag," and "little bag." And a whole host of other combinations of words.

~ Madeleine has learned the word "cut" and knows that we often cut her food. And that we use a knife to cut with. :)

~ Have I mentioned that I love watching her learn new words? She gets particular delight out of some of them--whereas I am delighted almost-equally by all of them!

NOTES FROM THE WEEK

~ Saturday, we set the laptop up to watch the Gators play. We'd planned to do what we did last year, take turns watching Madeleine and watching the game (watch the Gators on O then D, then switch). Well, turned out that was pretty unnecessary. As soon as Madeleine saw what was on, she went over to the laptop and stood in front of it. Matt tried to point out the football, but it's just so small. He'd show her where it was, and Madeleine would point to it. She kissed it, she had us kiss it. She got quite excited over it for about 15 minutes. Then she said, "bye, football," and went to play in her room!

~ One day this week, Madeleine suddenly started playing on her own. In a different room from the one I'm in. Crazy! And she still doesn't really play with toys. She'd rather stack books, arrange shoes, push her stroller around.

~ She really likes it when we tell her the colors of things. For example, she plays with some markers (caps on, she doesn't know what they are--to her they're just colored sticks) and the box they go in. She enjoys picking them up, one at a time, and holding them out to me. I say the color, she moves on to the next. She also likes it when we do that to objects in her "Color Book", clothes we're wearing, and just about anything that comes in multiple colors.

~ All right, so I mentioned that Madeleine says "gold car." We were out running errands on Wednesday and when we were leaving a store, there was a gold SUV parked beside us. Madeleine saw it and said, "gold car." I told her that was right, and she repeated herself. Then she said, "bye, gold car," as we pulled away. 3

~ On Thursday, I had to go potty (it happens). I left the door open, as I always do, and Madeleine came in (as she always does). She saw me and left, then returned carrying her own potty. She set it down beside me and then sat on it! All by herself, no prompting, no nothing! Of course, she had all her clothes on. Haha. Anyway, when I was finished, she still wanted to sit there! LOL, I had to coax her up. Maybe I should have let her stay for as long as she'd sit.

~ A personal favorite: Madeleine laid on her belly in the bathtub this week for the first time. It's super adorable. She also kicks her legs and splashes. The first day she did it, she'd lay down, splash some, then stand on her knees and let out a barbaric baby yawlp. Just so pumped about what she was doing!

~ I love that Madeleine has obvious preferences. She can be happily playing with something, but if Matt or I say, "time for a snack" or "let's go outside," she will put down what she's playing with, stand up, say "bye, {toy}" and follow us out of the room.

~ Final note: It seems that we've hit a stride with Madeleine's eating. For some reason, she's eating very well these days, lots of variety. It pleases me. She's eaten chicken chili, taco meat and salsa on chips, and one other combination meal. So happy!

SLIDESHOW

Week 87: September 9 – 15

Madeleine turned 20 months this week. As Mimi pointed out, there are only 4 MORE MONTHS until she is TWO. I was not ready to hear that information!!!!!

FUN SATURDAY
We had a blast on Saturday. Our morning started at Mountain Biscuit, a local breakfast and lunch place that serves amazing biscuits. Then we were planning to go to Kennesaw Mountain for a little walk, but on our way there, we passed one of those children’s consignment sales, and I wanted to go. I told Matt to just drop me off and continue on, but he ended up taking Madeleine to the little playground on the same property.

I scored some sweet deals, then joined the family for some swinging and sliding action. Baby was super adorable. Other little babies really interest her, and she watches them with wide eyes. There was a little boy swinging next to her, and she just really seemed to enjoy it.

After that, we went on home for lunch (elevensies) and naptime. She took a LONG nap, then we got her up and ready to go watch one of the boys from church in a play, “Charlotte’s Web.” The first act was about 45 minutes, and Madeleine sat on her daddy’s lap, riveted. She barely moved, it was amazing. At the end of the first half, they invited the kids to go up and meet Wilbur, the pig. I took Madeleine, and she wasn’t too impressed until Wilbur made a pig noise at her. From that moment on, she was enamored. We let her down for the intermission, and she played with the other kids. Maybe that was a mistake, because when the play resumed, she couldn’t sit still the same. She kept pointing to the pig, making pig noises, wanting Matt and I to kiss the pig. She was really forceful, too! She’d grab my shirt and pull me forward to kiss Wilbur. I had to take her out maybe 10-15 minutes into the half. I think something was bothering her though, because nothing would please her. I wouldn’t let her just walk (not safe). I think her teeth were bothering her. I finally found a big room with only one door and lots of room to run. I let her down. She walked to the other side, pointed to some things painted on the walls, then came back to me, arms out, saying “mama.” Then she seemed okay: let me hold her, and we went back to sit with daddy. But the play was over then, so Madeleine just played with the other kids.

We left the play and went to pick up Lacey, who would be babysitting for a few hours that night while Matt and I went to dinner with Eddie and Melaine (coming through one more time!). Then home, dinner, bath, and bed. [And mama and dada had a GREAT night!]

TUESDAY ADVENTURE
Nothing too big, but this doesn’t belong in the “notes” section. We had some friends over for dinner, and they brought their baby, who is 8 months younger than Madeleine. Well, Madeleine LOVED playing with Emmeline. It was beyond adorable watching the two of them together. Everything went well through dinner, and afterwards, we set the babies down while we ate dessert.

At some point after we’d finished and were talking, there was a loud THUMP, followed by a cry. MY baby. I rushed to her to find her on the floor in front of the couch (we figured she must have fallen off). I picked her up calmly, told her she was okay, but she started howling. She let out one cry that was so long I started telling her to breathe. AND THEN HER LIPS TURNED BLUE. I think she may have even passed out for a second because her head tilted backward. Then she started breathing again and REALLY crying. I took her outside, walked around, but she was in some obvious pain. I looked for some sign of what happened, but couldn’t see anything. When she was calmer, we went back inside, and my friend noticed a bump on her forehead. So yup, she’d fallen off the couch.

It was quite sad when she was so upset and a little scary when her lips went blue. (Wow, just realized it was the week of blue…. Keep reading for more on that.) Madeleine was fine after that though. We gave her some ibuprofen because that had to hurt. Since then, she’s been just fine, hasn’t acted like her head bothered her at all. YAY! And poor little baby!

NOTES FROM THE WEEK

~ Okay, WHEN did she get to be so big? Madeleine climbed into her stroller this week and got herself seated right. You may need to reread that in order to let the words sink in. I know I do.

~ I looked at Madeleine’s eyes this week, and they are different! Again! They’ve always had kind of a little dark blue ring on the outside of the iris, but this week, the blue ring was much bigger. I’d thought her eyes were destined to be brown, but now I don’t know what they’re doing. They are bluer than they were last time I noticed! Huh!

~ Speaking of colors, Madeleine has been getting much better. Sometimes she’ll point to things we ask for, like the red ball, yellow ball, etc. One day, she looked at me and said, “Mama, blue shirt.” Of course it didn’t sound quite like that, but we got the gist. And she was SO proud of herself! I think I love that more than getting the shirt color right. LOL.

~ FOOD item #1: Madeleine ate broccoli this week! And she didn’t just nibble on one piece. She’s been putting pieces of broccoli in her mouth for a week or two now, but this time, she actually bit into the veggie. She chewed it. Swallowed it. REACHED FOR ANOTHER PIECE. And another! And kept going. I got her a second helping of broccoli. Not kidding! I was doing cartwheels in my head.

~ FOOD item #2: Another accomplishment to report. Madeleine ate some chili I made this week. She ate a lot, and she ate well. Everything—the meat, tomatoes, onion, kidney and pinto beans. And she ate it on chips, like a dip, the way I ate it. This is kind of big because it’s a combination food [and she can’t tell exactly what’s in it], and she’s now eaten three combo foods really well (spaghetti sauce, taco meat, and chili).

~ One morning, Matt went to get Madeleine, only to discover that she’d completely removed her sleep sack! She was walking around her crib, pleased as punch. The next morning, she got the sack half-way off with her legs out. She seems to have abandoned the effort though; no escape attempts since! I’m torn: on one hand, I want to wean her from the sack, but on the other, it’s getting colder, and she still fits in her winter sack, which is super warm and cozy. However, it looks like we don’t have to worry about it just yet.

~ Baby now knows where her elbow is (and how to say it), plus her forehead (she can't say that yet).

~ My personal favorite from the week: Lamby has started “participating” in a lot of things we do with Madeleine. For example, she now hops and spins. Madeleine goes in order: dada, mama, baby, Lamby. I think it’s a little bit of imagination emerging? Whatever it is, I love it!

SLIDESHOW

Week 86: September 2 – 8

BIG FUN
Mimi and Poppi came for a visit! Poppi hadn’t seen Madeleine since her birthday in January. I’d say it was about time! They arrived in the wee hours of Saturday morning, so they were there when we woke up. We’d planned for a low-key day, since we’d just returned from Memphis and they’d been so late getting in.

We didn’t go out anywhere (except a food run by the guys), stayed at home and got “acquainted.” It was a lot of fun, and Madeleine warmed to Poppi in no time. She calls him “bah-bah.”

Sunday was fun too, we went to church and then just hung out at home again. Mimi and Poppi wanted as much time with Madeleine as possible, so Matt and I left them alone here and there in the house and did other things.

Monday we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch and did a lot more just hanging out at home. My cousin Josh came over while his mom and sister went shopping. Madeleine was asleep when he got there, and Matt got her up when she woke. He changed her, got her dressed, and they walked into the rumpus room together. Madeleine led the way, with mama’s purse on her arm, with a cute little pleased-with-herself, aren’t-I-so-big-? look on her face. As soon as she saw Josh, her smile faded. I went over to her, and she just melted against me. (Which I did not and will never mind!)

She eventually took to him and wanted to interact with him. She went through her ritual acceptance greeting of bestowing (temporarily, of course) Lamby and blankie on Josh, allowing him to kiss each one, and then receiving them back. Then he was “in.” Baby got to see Aunt Susan and cousin Kelly, too, before bedtime.

Tuesday, Mimi and Poppi had to leave. So they spent the whole morning with Madeleine, including a family trip to Chick-fil-A for their breakfast entrée giveaway. That was nice and yummy. Then the grandparents finished packing and loading, and they said goodbye to sweet Madeleine. Oh, and us.

CRAZY
One night for dinner, we had taco meat with salsa and chips. Matt made burritos, I ate nacho-style. Madeleine was eating some small pieces of chip with a little meat and/or salsa on them. She was doing GREAT until suddenly, she looked at me in alarm. Her face got red (not blue, thankfully!), and she pulled at her ears and cried. This happened 2 or 3 times, whenever she swallowed. I picked her up and thought she was okay, but then she did it again. She ended up expelling whatever had caused the problem, but she was quite upset about it!

Once she was calmer, she gave me a kiss and then gave Matt and kiss. Then she was all better. *MELT*

NOTES FROM THE WEEK

~ Madeleine knows some colors! I can ask her to point to the yellow ball, and she does it!

~ She knows and can say the word “gate,” like the one we have in our house at the top of the short stair-set.

~ Madeleine can see out the living room (and other, I suppose) windows by standing on her tip-toes!

~ She also practiced walking on her heels briefly.

~ While writing this week’s post, and wishing I had more to say, I was reminded of the verse in John that says, “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” I’m not saying Madeleine’s doing THAT many new and cool things, but the general idea is right on. :)

SLIDESHOW

Week 85: August 26 - September 1

Still continuing with the easier format. It’s just not possible to record all the words she’s saying and understanding. But it is AMAZING to watch. If she would let me, I’d just sit and watch her all day long.

BIG TRIP
Our big fun for this week was a trip to Collierville, TN, to see Eddie and Melaine again, who were staying with her parents. The car trip was not too fun. Madeleine slept only 30 minutes AND we lost an hour with the time change. When she finally went to bed, it was like 7:30 our time. She fell asleep almost immediately, but she woke up pretty early (had a short night). So that stunk.

But I’m getting ahead of myself! Our evening was super fun. We got there about 4pm/3pm Central, hung out, held the baby (Nathan Legg), started a game of Settlers: Cities and Knights, ate some yummy food. Madeleine ate really well, and was in general a super well- behaved little girl—especially considering how tired she must have been!

Thursday, we went to the Memphis Zoo. It was Madeleine’s first zoo, and really her first BIG day out. I think she’s just a little too young to really enjoy the zoo, or the aquarium, or anything like that. But, I’m thrilled that we went, and she had a great time. We saw lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!), and Madeleine granted through-the-glass kisses to the black leopard and a black bear. She went without a nap, but slept about 20 minutes in the car on the way home. She was SO tired. The rest of the day and evening was spent watching the opening college football games and playing “Heroes of Might and Magic V” on the computer, in teams. Dinner was great, company was great. LOVE them so much.

Baby went to sleep late again and woke even earlier, about 5:40/4:40 Central. Man, that stunk. I got her up, expecting to be up with her since Matt had gotten up with her the day before. But when I went to interact with her, I knew she wasn’t quite ready to be up. I rocked her a bit, and she just laid her head on me and snuggled in. So we did that a little bit, but she couldn’t get comfortable. Finally, we got in bed. Here again, she had trouble getting comfortable, but eventually, she fell asleep. It was about 1 hour, 20 minutes before she fell asleep, right beside me, my arm around her. She hasn’t done that since she was TINY, and I LOVED it. She slept for 30 minutes.

Friday, we returned to Atlanta, and even though it was technically week 86, I’ll write about it here to wrap up the Memphis trip. Basically, it was awful. Madeleine was tired, she slept only 30 minutes (again). But it was so sad. She woke up after 30 minutes, crying these pitiful little tears because she was SO TIRED from her poor sleep while we were away. She kind of nodded off and on for another 30 minutes, making those pitiful cries whenever she was awake. After that, she was just really quiet for awhile, then was her normal self. When we got home, Matt dropped Madeleine and I off because he had to go get Layla. Madeleine was asleep in about 10 minutes. YAY!

One thing Madeleine definitely got from our trip: she learned the word “no!” It’s really quite cute the way she says it. So far, she hasn’t said it like, “No, I won’t obey,” but she can tell us if she wants something or not. Though, before learning no, she would shake her head, so I guess no great increase in communication came from learning this word. So far, it’s just adorable when she says it.

NOTES FROM WEEK 85

~ Madeleine is definitely doing some teething. Her bottom two I-teeth popped through, but she isn’t done. I guess she’s getting her top I-teeth now. It really seems to bother her sometimes.

~ Last week, Madeleine was kissing her boo-boos. This week, she’s getting everyone in on the action, including Lamby!

~ Something she’s been doing for MONTHS but I don’t think I’ve ever written about it: Madeleine will take my glasses off my face and hand them to Matt. He’ll put them on and then “mimic” me, and Madeleine just thinks it’s good fun.

~ While taking a walk one day, we saw the weimaraner that lives a few houses down. Madeleine saw it and said, “Lelu.”

~ She is starting to really ride her little bike well. She’s getting the hang of it a bit, not too good with steering still, gets stuck in places, but then she just picks it up and moves it to where she wants to go.

~ One day, after her nap, I took Madeleine into our room to take off her sleep sack. She then crawled up to my pillow and sat on it, then told me to sit on Matt’s pillow. We just sat there for a few minutes. She was super happy about it!

~ I gave Madeleine some plum one day, and she ate it all, then told me she wanted “more.” With the word. She also did the sign for it, but she said it! Very cool.

~ We are using cloth diapers again! Turns out I just couldn’t let go. LOL.

SLIDESHOW