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Saturday, August 18, 2012

19 Months


This month for her photo shoot Madeleine was uninterested in taking pictures and spent the whole time grabbing and reading as many of her books as she could get her hands on.
















Madeleine is 19 months old.  That's over a year and half old.  Who told her she was allowed to grow up this much?

  • Maddie is wearing mostly 24month to 2T clothes though it varies widely by brand.  Baby clothes sizing is really weird.  She has a big ol' belly (21" after dinner--really) and big ol' booty but tiny little shoulders.  Madeleine has just started wearing size 5 shoes.  What a big girl!  
  • Maddie Rie is just getting sweeter and sweeter everyday single day.  She is so loving.  She loves giving us kisses, hugs, and pats everything accompanied with the most precious little "oohhhhh".  She does this when we ask her to and all on her own.  I love those wet slopping kisses.  When she sees something she loves that she can pick up like a book, stuffed animal, stickers, or sippy cup she will cuddle it between her cheek and shoulder and say "oohhhhh".  This happens all day long.
  • The Bitty Girl is so so sweet but she also learned to whine this month.  It's neato.
  • Madeleine has eight teeth now and they have been a pest!  The last two bottom teeth that have come in have greatly hindered her going night night abilities.  There are many nights that she just can't do it and spends some time cuddling with mom and dad watching tv.  I'm pretty sure, other than Tylenol, the best thing for teeth is cartoons!  I didn't want Maddie to watch tv until she turned two but with me not feeling so hot and her teeth we totally caved on that rule.  I'm sure if her teeth had come in sooner (first one came at 13.5 months) we would've been here long ago!
  • Over the course of a few nights of being up late with achy teeth she watched her first movie, "Mr. Popper's Penguins".  This kid loves animals and waddled her way happily through the whole movie.
  • Maddie enjoyed the Olympic events that included any kind of splashing or horses.  We actually watched dressage for the first time because she was loving it so much. 
  • Madeleine's newest favorite activity is watching zoo webcams.  SHE LOVES IT and asks at least once during the day to open the laptop and see her buddies.  I'm a wimp and wont take her to the zoo in Houston during the summer so this is her next best option.  Her favorite animals to watch are elephants and baby tigers.  Runners up are giraffes, panda bears, and monkeys.  She watches the animals so "actively".  She talks nonstop about what she is seeing and what they are doing.  It's delightful!
  • She is learning to eat with a fork but it does look pretty similar to eating with a spoon.  She is so occupied by how much work it is to feed herself now that she will allow us to put a bib on her and she usually forgets that it's on.  Thank goodness.
  • Madeleine is talking a lot and we recognize much of what she says but who knows what all we would understand if she had a few more teeth to use for enunciation!  Her new favorite phrase is "oh, cool!"  She is also added no way, Ranger (her dog cousin), cheese, there she/he is, hi everybody, i see it, i touch it, no, present, I'll help, and uh uh k k.
    • Oh cool!! Is said REALLY LOUD!!!!  We love it
    • While spending the night with her CiCi and Pops Maddie worked them really hard and refused to go to sleep so they tried to put on a dvd for her.  Long story short they are technologically challenged and were having trouble so Maddie grabbed one of the remotes and told Pop "I'll help!"  The laughed pretty hard at that one.
    • Madeleine woke up from a nap one Sunday afternoon, went straight to her playroom, stopped in the doorway looked at all her stuff and said "hi everybody!"
    • One afternoon while watching her zoo cam she said very clearly "I want to see the elephants."  This kid is too smart.
    • Maddie also has discovered screaming!  She sounds like an 11 year old girl whose gross little brother just interrupted her slumber party.  It is deafening.  She does it when she's mad, when she's happy, when she's experimenting with her voice.  We have learned not to ask her a question when we know she will react excitedly to while holding her.  Poor eardrums.  
    • When we ask Maddie a question like to you want to... she answers many time with "uh uh" (no) then "k k k".  It's very confusing.
    • This will only really make sense if you have kids but Maddie loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and at the beginning of the show all the characters do a roll call and say here except for Donald Duck who says present in his lispy spitty duck voice.  Maddie says present when Donald does and it sounds sooo similar because she has a major lisp and spit voice having only 8 front teeth!  It's a hoot.
  • Madeleine had to have blood drawn and either her veins were really difficult or the technician was bad but it took two arms to get what they needed and she FREAKED.  Thank goodness Daddy took off work to come with us.  After her first vein stopped working and they had started on the second arm she took a quick pause in her screaming and put the other arm up in the air (baby sign language) and said "all done."  She pulls this sign language and phrase out a lot but this was definitely the best situation for it.  After the appointment we went to PetSmart to watch doggie day care.  Some people get ice cream but we do this.  PetSmart solves all of Maddie's angst.
  • Maddie Rie is very into doing things for herself these days.  She does not want help with her spoon or going up and down the stairs.  Life is taking longer and getting messier with this new self sufficiency.
  • Maddie is a little copy cat.  She puts on deodorant (with the cap on), shoes, makeup, pretends to take pills (you know who takes too much medication when your kid copies this!), and even tries to copy subtle things we do like closing a door with your foot or scratching your shoulder.  This kid misses nothing!
  • She is getting more and more physical and more sure of her body.  Maddie can climb on much of our furniture.  She spins, marches, and jumps (brings on knee up to her chest).
  • Madeleine is a difficult eater but is starting to try some things she refused in the past.  This month she tried and liked pizza and mac 'n' cheese.  Those aren't great nutritional additions to her repertoire but it's exciting for us!



 Little linebacker


 Public Service Announcement - Watermelon should be served only to naked babies.

 Reading with my GiGi

 Playing with cousin Mark David



 Bunny!  You complete me!

 A green bean and pasta!!!


 HAHAHA.  Like I'm really going to swallow that!

 After Maddie's blood draw she took at nap at Pop's and CiCi's house.  We hadn't taken her band-aids off yet.  But apparently she took care of that before her nap.  And the sea horse must've gotten the boot too. 

 Sleeping in her caterpillar room at CiCi's.

 Cheese sticks!!!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

18 Months

Our Bitty Girl is a YEAR AND A HALF OLD!!  Stop growing up, okay?






  • Madeleine Marie weighs 26 lbs 5 oz (75th percentile), is 33 1/2 in tall (90th percentile), and her head circumference is 46.5 cm (44th percentile).  What a growth spurt!  She is a chubby wubby kid.  She still has little shoulders but she has quite the belly and booty these days.  I think when she wears her footy pjs she looks a little like The Grinch from the side.
  • I feel like Maddie is really growing up this month.  She has started consistently following directions like putting things away and leaving things alone when told no.  She is using her sign language we taught her about food and is using them in other arenas of life.  She is also eating with spoon and working on the fork.
  • Madeleine is a little hunter/gatherer these days.  She is constantly taking objects and putting them in other things.  When I can't find my phone the first place I look is kitchen drawers then in Maddie's play kitchen cabinets.  I never know now if I've lost something or if she has taken it and hidden it.
  • Maddie also added please to her sign language this month.  It's super sad for us when she signs "please" for something we can't give her like another view of a bird out the window or more of some toy that doesn't exist.
  • Maddie loves when we sing songs to her.  As soon as one ends she is asking for more (with her sign language and saying Ni-Ni (again)).  Maddie also has added a teapot handle to her song motions.  We are working on the spout.
  • This smart girl learned how to open the baby gates we had so we had to get an extension for the gate at the bottom of the stairs to make it much tighter and we had to totally scrap the one at the top since she learned how to open it and get a new super stealth one.
  • Madeleine is starting to fear some things in life that she didn't before like the vacuum and thunder.
  • Maddie knows what songs are sung right before she is plopped in her crib and if they are sung when she isn't ready for them you better watch out!
  • This kid is getting really physical and will body slam people, dogs, and pillows, at any given time!  Watch yourself!
  • The bitty girl can now make wolf, snake, and bird sounds and is saying cracker.
  • Maddie started watching some tv this month.  Mommy hasn't felt great so it's kept sanity at times.  She LOVES "Little Bill" and I do too so we watch it every once in a while.  There isn't much else that I've found that doesn't irk me so Little Bill it is.  Just like how Maddie plays and reads book, watching tv is an activity to be done together!  She is definitely not an independent player.
  • Madeleine has 7 teeth and LOVES to brush them!
  • This month we have instituted an eating boot camp to help with her crummy eating habits.  She is offered a variety of foods on her plate (fruit, veggies, protein, carbs, etc) and that is all she is offered at that meal.  If she eats it all, great...but even if she doesn't she has to look at it and be exposed to the stuff she doesn't want (the veggies and meats).  If she throws anything on the floor or fusses the meal is over and she has to get out of her chair.  She can go back to her plate later if she wants but that is all she will be offered until a couple hours later where she is given a snack we know she will eat all of so that it doesn't mess up her sleep.  It was rough for a few days but now she understands the drill and at least accepts it and we have a lot less crying inthe highchair.  She has been trying some new things and is back to eating some old favorites every once in a while that she had rejected (eggs, peas, and carrots).  It is a mystery as to what she will eat each meal, though!  Little Stinker!
  • Maddie has had quite a few big events this month.  She went to Uncle Kyle and Auntie Lauren's wedding and loved getting to celebrate them!  She celebrated Father's Day with her parents and both sets of Grandparents.  It was really special this year to get to be with both our parents on both Mother's Day and Father's Day after 6 years of not being with either family!  She celebrated Mommy and Daddy's 7th Anniversary.  
  • Maddie went to the Houston Aquarium for the first time and loved the white Tiger, was TERRIFIED at Chuckles the Macaw, and preferred the lighter side of the Aquarium Restaurant to the dark side with the giant staring groupers.  She spent 4th of July playing in her kiddie pool at CiCi and Pops.  And finally she rounded out the month with a road trip with Aunt Becca and Cousin Katie to Cousin Mia's 4th Birthday party in Dallas.  She loved getting to play with the big girls and steal their toys and food!
  •  Maddie says Amen EVERY time at the end of prayers then asks to pray again.
  •  And my iphone ate my notes so hopefully I got everything.

 The little furniture mover.  Mark's parents have lots of memories of telling him to "put down the coffee table!" as a toddler.  So I guess this is like father, like daughter.

 My little mamacita shaking her maraca at the rehearsal dinner.  PawPaw and RieRie were awesome and came down for the wedding weekend to help with Maddie so that she could be a part of the events and her parents could enjoy it!

With cousin Evie.  I wish I had a better picture of them.  Paula, did you get one?  Maddie LOVES Evie.  Since meeting Evie she has freaked out with joy in seeing all the photos of her at GiGi's house. 

I LLLOOOVVVEEE this picture.  If you look closely you will see PawPaw playing with dollhouse too.

 Yea!!!

 

 Where Maddie really was during the wedding ceremony...the cry room.

 
The only family Father's Day photo we managed.  We were a little tired from the wedding the previous night!

 Father's Day 2012.  Teething.  Up way past her bedtime watching Little Bill with Daddy.

7 Year Anniversary Picture.  Sorry kid.  You're stuck with us.

  Eating boot camp.  Complete with princess plate.

I love yogurt!!




Yes, we have spent a lot of time in the high chair this month working on our new habits!


 The scary dark part of the aquarium restaurant.

 Cheese!




Hi Diddy! (that's how she says kitty)

 July 4th Pool Party

 Cousin Mia's party.  Maddie just got separated from the big girls before this photo because she was trying to steal their food and chairs!

Sweet profile.  "I don't have time for a photo guys.  I have Mia's new toys to break in for her."