Early Christmas

Last Saturday, we celebrated an early Christmas... just Mommy, Daddy, Maddie, and Molly. Maddie opened her presents, we listened to Christmas music, and Mommy made a "mini-Christmas Dinner".

Maddie LOVED playing with the bows and trying to eat them. She liked playing with her new toys and tried each one out. I think her favorites so far are the stacking rings for the bathtub, the "play cube", and the push/ride buggy. :0)





































VIDEO: Maddie pushing herself in her buggy... backwards. :0)

VIDEO: Clap, clap, clap, clap... push, push, push, push!

Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations

Maddie really enjoyed her first Thanksgiving! She had a delicious meal of oatmeal, green beans, sweet potatoes, and pears. (Actually, it was pretty much like any other day except Mommy made a "fancy" meal for Daddy and herself and almost sliced the tip of her pointer finger off in the process. Good Grief!)

What Maddie really enjoyed about Thanksgiving weekend was the Festival of Trees at the Orlando Museum of Art. She loved looking at the trees, decorations, and all the pretty lights!

9 months

Maddie had her 9 month check last Friday (12/11). She's 28 3/4 inches long (90th percentile for height) and 19 lbs. 6 oz. (50-75th percentile for weight). She was very chatty and smiley with her doctor, but DID NOT appreciate her shots... poor girl!! The same morning she woke up with her first cold. It's just a runny nose, but I still felt badly for her.

This week, Maddie started crawling. She still likes to scoots and roll around, but loves to crawl to toys, towards the Christmas tree, and (of course) after Molly.

Last week, Maddie figured out how to sit up from a lying position (and vice versa) so she sits up and lies back down every few minutes. It's exhausting just watching her! :0) She's continues to LOVE her exer-saucer and has figured out how to rock back and forth in it by throwing her weight forward and then backward in the seat. Maddie's a real Chatty Cathy and "tells stories" all day long. She loves the sound of her own voice... just like her parents! :0)

Maddie's a really good eater... as long as it's fruits and vegetables. She HATED her first tastes of turkey and ham. Mommy tried a little of both and theywere pretty disgusting!! Maddie's also starting to practice using a sippy cup with a little water inside. She has a good time... doesn't drink a whole lot, but has fun! :0)

Maddie's Motto: Play hard, sleep hard, and laugh LOTS!

VIDEO: Rockin' in the exer-saucer!

VIDEO: Blah, Blah, Blah...

VIDEO: Maddie crawling.

Disney World

We bought annual passes to Disney World and have taken Maddie to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. She really likes to people watch and LOVES rides like It's A Small World.

These are some pictures from the Magic Kingdom. The last one is my personal favorite!! Disney is so fun, but we're ready for a big nap when we come home!! ;0)

























The first picture is from Animal Kingdom. Mommy and Maddie are standing in front of a replica of SUE (which is the most complete T-Rex skeleton found to date... Mommy's a dino-freak!). The other two pictures are from Epcot (in which Mommy is wearing her SUE t-shirt from the Field Museum in Chicago... like I said, dino-freak!).

VIDEO: Maddie's energy level on the drive home from the Magic Kindgom was CRAZY! Daddy and Mommy were ready to drop, but Maddie kept going and going and going...

8 months

Maddie is a busy little bee these days! The first picture was taken on her 8 month "birthday" (which was almost a month ago... D'oh!). Every day is a new day for her and she loves to explore. She still thinks Molly is an absolute riot and loves pressing the buttons on remotes and phones, making LOUD noises, "talking", making silly faces, and scooting around. We were so happy that Auntie Laura came to visit last month!! Maddie loves playing with her Grover puppet! Thanks Auntie!!!

VIDEO: "Oh, cool! What's under there?"

VIDEO: Ring-a-ding-ding, baby girl!!

Nana and Poppy's visit

Nana and Poppy came to visit us last week. Maddie and Molly had such a good time playing with them! Maddie would be rolling around on her mats playing with her toys and Molly would be close by ready to play fetch. :0)

Check out Maddie's 2 choppers in the first picture!

VIDEO: Maddie loves sitting at her busy board thumping away!

VIDEO: Maddie and Poppy had fun laughing at Mommy and Molly playing gremlin.

Tricks but no treats

Maddie started rolling over at 4 months, but ususally she would roll once or twice find a toy and then stop. Two weeks ago, she started what Mommy calls her "tumbling routine". It is quite funny to watch! :0)

VIDEO: Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

On a sad note, a few weeks ago we had to "retire" the fabulous papasan swing given to us by our beloved Snuff (aka Jessica B.). Maddie was napping in her swing one afternoon while Mommy was cleaning. Mommy looked in to check on her and this is what she found. Surprise!! Maddie LOVED her swing and used it almost everyday for almost 7 1/2 months. It was sad to see it put away.

VIDEO: Silly Maddie in her swing

Maddie wasn't too thrilled on her first Halloween night. We dressed her up in her butterfly costume and Daddy took her to the neighbors' houses. The last picture is Maddie with her pumpkins looking like a pumpkin herself in her super cute hat made by Great Aunt Roxy!

Poems for Maddie

Uncle Matthew wrote three wonderful poems for little Maddie. He also made pictures of Maddie look like drawings. We loved the poems and drawings! THANK YOU, Uncle Matthew!

(Click on the graphics to see a full sized verison of the poems. They're easier to read that way.)

7 months!!

Holy moly!! Maddie is 7 months old. She's getting bigger, stronger, more curious, and sillier everyday! :0) We have so much fun with her and are enjoying every minute! She loves to laugh and clap at things... especially silly Molly. Maddie likes to scoot around on her playmats. She's really good at moving herself backwards. She wiggles her hindy and rocks back and forth while she's on her tummy. One of these days, she'll discover her knees and be off and then the fun will begin! She was given a really cool 3 sided "house" from her neighbor friends next door. She loves it! Some days, it seems like she's going to pull herself up on its sides any second.

This Monday, Mommy and Grandma FINALLY spotted the very tip-top of Maddie's bottom 2 incisors peaking up from her gums. We're on "first tooth watch"... look for Maddie's first picture with teeth! Coming soon??

VIDEO: Maddie loves to clap!!

VIDEO: Maddie's newest laugh is ssssooooo silly!!