to the zoo again (and more beer)

on monday maddie and i got shannon and derek up and out early again for a day of activity. first stop, the milwaukee zoo. madelyn was really in to it this time. i even brought some of her animal books so that i could point to an animal in the book and then in real life. the few times i did this she would look back and forth between the picture and the real deal, so i know that she was making the association i was hoping for and i think it helped. we had to tip the brim of her hat up so that she could see, but then she liked the animals. i think that the lions and monkeys were her favorite animals of the day. she pointed at the lion no matter where we went in the "big cats" exhibit. it was nice because the lion was walking around a lot this time around.

or maybe she was just showing off for her uncle derek and shannon. she still wasn't willing to touch any of the animals (we tried to get her to pet a pony), but she did get really close to a goat and even let me put her down next to it (as long as she could keep one arm around my neck for a quick get away).

after the zoo we stopped for lunch and then headed over to "miller valley" for the complementary miller brewing tour. i was surprised how busy it was for a monday afternoon, but i guess free beer is free beer. madelyn is becoming an old pro at the tour at the ripe age of one. milwaukee is after all a "beer town" so when people visit they are interested in seeing miller valley and experiencing the "high life" of "miller time".

and just to keep the stereotypical milwaukee experience going after beer we went to the "cheese store" (brennan's). not only do they have a large selection of wisconsin cheeses, produce, and wine, they offer samples. yes, the samples keep bringing us back for more. and now that maddie can eat anything she gets to join in the fun as well. derek and shannon stocked up on wisconsin treats to take back to atlanta with them.

i think that we sent them home entertained and tired. love.

shannon and allie make the blog

shannon was really excited to come and visit (at least that is what she said), but she was also really excited to "make the blog" (which she mentioned more than once). so excited in fact that she let maddie play with her cell phone and call people throughout the weekend. one of those calls was to shannon's sister allie (you will just have to take my word for it that allie is on the phone in the picture - which she is).

congrats, shannon and allie, you made the blog! love.

take me out to the ball game

sunday afternoon maddie took in her first professional baseball game. and to make it extra special it was ryan braun bobble-head day! nothing like a free souvenir of a "first" event (well besides all the pictures i take).

madelyn almost made it through the first two innings. she really liked standing on my lap and looking at all the people behind us. she even clapped after everyone finished cheering (just a little delay in her reaction to what is going on there). my lap may never be the same again. she was up and down, up and down, around and round, and almost never stopped moving the whole time. thankfully, we noticed that the toddler play ground area was right behind our section on our way in! so madelyn and i made our way over there when she was starting to get angry about being contained - yet again.

the toddler area was like a beehive!! i have never seen so many small children hyped up and contained in a little pen. they were all over each other and running every which way. i was afraid to move for fear of tripping on someone or stepping on them. maddie was not intimidated at all though. she got right in there. the funniest part was that all of these 4 year olds (my best guess) were climbing all over her on this giant baseball glove she was sitting on and one little boy was trying to protect her. once things settled down he even got out and squatted behind it to jump up and play "peek-a-boo" with her. i was very thankful for the play area but decided to venture back to our seats hoping that some of her energy had worn off.

not so much... at least this time she was open to others holding her. she really enjoyed playing with the empty beer cup! i know, it looked a little funny to see her holding an empty beer cup, but i was getting desperate for a little bit of a break. after she finished up with the cup we went back to the play area for some more activity as a distraction from missing her afternoon nap time. unfortunately we missed the sausage race! i was so disappointed. i thought that maddie might like that part. oh well. maybe we will get back to the ballpark again later. love.

chicago

pretty much matt and i were the only ones in our group who had been to chicago recently enough to remember it, so it seemed like a trip would be a great way to spend a gorgeous saturday. normally, it would take around two or two and a half hours to get downtown chicago from our house. notice how i said "normally". our original plan was to pick up the amtrak train in milwaukee and then take the "el" downtown. however, we thought that the amtrak tickets were around $20 roundtrip when in reality they were $42. well with four of us it was going to be cheaper to drive so back in the car we went. our next option was to drive to the nearest "el" station and park there before riding the rest of the way in with michigan avenue our goal destination. the first station we went to had a full parking lot with no alternative so we drove on to find another. after parking and getting up to the platform we couldn't figure out how to pay for the ride. and then we realized that this was not an "el" station, but an actual train station. either way it would get us downtown. so maddie had her first real train ride! she enjoyed studying the stop map and looking out the window. all in all our trip took twice as long as it normally would, but we made it!

madelyn did really great all day and even managed to get a pretty decent nap in her stroller. it is a toss up for her favorite activities of the day. first is the "bean" (its really called "cloud gate" but i have never heard anyone call it that). basically it is a huge metallic, reflective sculpture in millennum park that allows you to see most of the chicago skyline because of the way it is curved. to madelyn it was just a huge mirror. and she really enjoyed seeing her reflection in it.

next came her introduction to jamba juice. it was sort of a joke at first because she was trying to get a hold of the straw so i decided to let her try a little. and she just started chugging it down. we were all cracking up because she could suck it down faster than matt and i could - and without the brain freeze! here is some video of her enjoyment as we waited for the crosswalk on our way back to the train station.

then at the train station we learned that trains didn't come all that often and we would have to wait a little over an hour for our train. what to do with a tired and hungry baby in the mean time. well first we sat in the food court and found a new form of entertainment that lasted almost the entire time and then we got her a jamba juice to share with daddy (she drank almost half a medium one all by herself).

finally back to the car we all piled in and made the long drive home. (i didn't mention that four adults and a car seat make for a very cramped ride in our car.) love.

"what's that?"

my friend shannon and matt's brother came to visit this weekend. they both live in atlanta and decided to make the trip out to visit us together. and we kept them going the whole time. shannon came in thursday night and we spent friday out shopping with maddie. derek came in friday night and we got them both up and out earlier than they normally do on a saturday morning. we spent the day in chicago (much more on that later). sunday we took in maddie's first brewers' game and on monday maddie and i took them to the zoo, miller brewing, and the "cheese store".

shannon pointed out that maddie says "what's that?" when she points at something new (or its more like "wats tat?"). i tend to hear what i want to hear in maddie's noises, so i hadn't really thought about it before. but once shannon pointed it out, i could hear it really clearly and noticed that is always uses it at the appropriate time. as soon as you answer her question she points to something else and asks again. its very fun for me, but i am sure that it will wear me out on some days.

pointing is one of madelyn's new obsessions. she just started pointing properly in the last few weeks (actually bending all of her fingers except her pointer). but now that she does it, she does it all the time. she even points at her cherrios before she picks them up. this new skill has also made it easier for her to play a little keyboard she has one key at a time. playing each note by itself has provided her with much entertainment - and loud noise for mommy. love.

"ba" (read "ball")

madelyn has started saying and signing "ball" when matt reads to her at night. anytime she sees a ball in a book she gets excited saying "ba" and signing it. she has also begun to do the same with balls in real life too. she has been able to follow requests to "get the ball" for a while now, but it is really exciting to see her say/sign it. matt was excited because he would only do it for him at first because when i come in she is only interested in her last feed of the day.

speaking of her last feed of the day... she has started to cheer when i come into her room at night! i might even try to get it on video tomorrow - if i can remember. this is how it goes. matt does bath time, brushes her teeth, gets her ready for bed, and then reads to her until he or she can't take one more book. then maddie gets to signing for milk and matt calls me in to finish her bedtime routine. the past couple of nights she has been doing the cheering and practically leaps off matt's lap trying to get to me. and if i am to slow she turns around to climb down out of the chair so that she can get to me sooner. i don't think that she could be any happier to see me - ever.

and, yes, she is still nursing. i almost have her totally on whole milk during the day, but she nurses in the morning and before bed. her getting sick was actually great for helping her wean. but now that she is feeling better its as if she has just realized that she isn't nursing during the day. i guess it must be that we have had a few warmer days and i am not totally covered up from the neck down. she will be going to town on her milk cup, but then will look up at me and you can see the idea pop in her head of "hey, what's going on here?!" and she doesn't mess around drinking out of her cup either. she puts away anywhere from 5 - 14 ounces at a time! usually it is 7 - 10 ounces.

keep reading to hear about maddie's adventures in chicago, at a brewer's game, and on a return trip to the zoo. love.

its a hard knock life - for maddie's head

maddie's head (and face) have it pretty rough. keeping her free of disfiguring scars is quickly becoming one of my top priorities. as of bedtime tonight, madelyn has a mark and bump in the center of her forehead from an outdoor tabletop, another small cut near her hairline above her right eye, a long red mark that is starting to bruise running from the outside corner of her right eye to near her ear that she did some how with a couch cushion, and a penny sized bruise under her left eye (they all look worse in real life than they do in the photo). i am beginning to think that i need to assure people that i am not neglecting (or abusing) my child! the rest of her body stays fairly injury free - thankfully!

if you are just sitting down to read maddie's updates, you might want to get a snack. while we have been busy entertaining shannon and uncle derek this weekend, maddie has had a lot of experiences worth noting and i am going to do them all as seperate posts. enjoy! love.