best boosted

madelyn loves her booster seat. now she can see better when sitting in a kitchen chair. of course, she has already figured out how to climb up in it all by herself. just to make eating at the big table a little more fun i also put her food on a tray today - she really liked that treat. i have been starting to introduce more bowls and plates into her meal routine instead of just eating off the flat tabletop and it has been going really well. she actually puts the plate/bowl/tray back down on the table when i tell her to and she hasn't dumped anything on the floor - yet.

we tried the booster at the table and with its little tray attachment. i haven't decided which is going to be best yet. she is still about an inch too low to actually eat comfortably from serving dishes on the table. but either way she is much happier than in the highchair and i don't have to try bending her legs in ways they don't bend to get her in it.

today we went to morgan's 4th birthday party. madelyn enjoyed swinging with the birthday girl, playing in the sandbox and getting into the drink buckets - for the ice. morgan just learned how to swing by herself and this picture is during the first time she ever "pumped". it was so sweet how proud she was about it. every time someone new would get there she would scream out their name and ask them to come and see her "pump". she was also wearing two birthday hats which didn't really stand up to the swinging wind and ended up on the back of her head instead of on top. her birthday party was delayed because "baby andrew" (her new little brother) wanted to come. isn't that cute? i thought that it was very cleaver on the part of her parents as a way to put off a birthday party that should have come right around the due date.

of course, madelyn had to wear a "party dress" to the birthday party today. and i just loved this brown with white polka dot dress! this was the first time she wore it and i thought that she looked pretty cute.

i would be lying if i didn't say that dresses are one of my favorite parts of maddie walking. now that she is upright all the time she can wear all the dresses that have just been hanging in her closet because they were too long to crawl in. i just think that the cutest thing is a toddler in a dress. not to mention they make diaper changes much quicker! not that i am super girly or anything, but a dress might be the only advantage women have over men. we have a lot more personal upkeep, but we can wear the simplest garment ever - the dress. there is no coordinating an outfit, you just throw it on and go. guys need at least two pieces (at least to be socially acceptable). love.