say "cheese"

any time madelyn can get her hands on the camera she looks through it and says "cheese". the change has been that she squints her eyes and smiles really hard - with her teeth clenched. it doesn't really make for the most flattering pictures so today i took some video of her assuming the position. the funny thing was that she was waiting for the flash from me taking the picture and was giving me a "what's taking so long, mom" look.

we had music class this morning and madelyn was happy as always to be there. we started with the recently beloved "big bear" song. she has sang it every day since class last week (where we did not sing it) and was talking about it on the way to class today. she was rocking so large for the big bear verse that she kept falling over. i was considering bringing the camera today, but will definitely bring it in the future. matt has got to see her sing and dance. she was even counting really loud during the jumping song at the end of class (we jump and then stop to count before jumping some more). it must have worn her out because she went down to nap an hour earlier than she has been and slept for over 3-1/2 hours! she got "friend" and asked me to "come" to her room for a "book".

her counting is getting really good and it is something that she is currently very interested in. she can easily count two items and can sometimes make it to four by herself. her favorite number is still "eight" though. she will stay silent during counting 3-7, but calls out "eight" as soon as i say seven. she is even working on using her fingers for counting. she can't quite get how to hold up only three fingers; she just skips from two fingers to five.

her favorite breakfast right now is oatmeal. she usually eats two packets and half an avocado or a banana. she calls it "mealoat" often but can say "oatmeal".

matt is amazed how much her vocabulary grows day to day. he is always telling me things she said or identified and asking where did she learn that? i just tell him that she hears everything and remembers it all. she is getting really good at repeating complete phrases, like "there you go". i need to start writing them down because some of them are really funny to hear come out of her.

countdown - one week from today we get to have the ultrasound! we can't wait! love.

picture day

do you ever have the feeling that everyone is watching? i had my first 'bad mommy' phobia today. i took maddie to get her "9-month" pictures over a month late. she wasn't really feeling it and was the least cooperative she has ever been. the photographer was really great though and managed to get some great pictures (those to be posted later). she was starting to get hungry and tired by the time we got back to the car and fought her car seat a little. no big deal and off we went to our next stop - linens-n-things.

while i was putting her in the car she started screaming bloody murder. there weren't that many cars in the parking lot so i didn't really worry about it until i closed the door and noticed that the girl who had checked us out had come outside and was staring at me. i just sort of smiled and got in to leave. all i could think was that she must think that i am the worst mother for abusing my child so she would scream like that. oh well - given maddie's stubborn nature i had better get used to these experiences.

she just really had a rough day. her naps were off and that put her meals off and her molars were bothering her and then she fell off the couch and then we went to take pictures and then ran errands, and you get the idea.

on the food front - she is finally past all allergy risks. she had peanut butter on wheat bread at dinner last night and that was the last allergen (well besides egg whites). it is really exciting because now she can eat where ever we are when out and about. tonight we picked up dinner for daddy (he is still at work right now) and took it up to the hospital so that he could spend some time with maddie. anyway, i was able to order her a meal from the kids' menu! (veggie and chicken stir fry with brown rice - no sauce)

love.

capturing Christmas

i haven't been feeling all that Christmas-y this year. i think its because we won't be home so there are no decorations, or cookies, or anything resembling Christmas that i can see on a daily basis. i also do almost all my shopping on-line so there hasn't been much shopping either. but what we did do was go out for family portraits today with maddie in her Christmas dress. she looked so grown-up! and i think we actually got a decent family shot this time. i can't wait to get the prints. they also had some 'santa sleeves' and white gloves for matt to wear while maddie held his hands and stood-up - very sweet... we got this very pretty dress and hair bows (with jingle bells) for only $0.86 thanks to a gift certificate we had been hanging on to for the purpose of buying her a Christmas dress. i was really excited for such a bargain! and maddie liked the dress so much when we tried it on at home that i couldn't get her to look up at the camera! luckily, she did better at the portrait studio.

maddie and i did some other shopping today before heading to the mall for pictures including home depot and target. since she is getting to be such a big girl i decided that we would try sitting in the cart by herself and it couldn't have gone better! she did great the whole time we were shopping (and since it was target you know that we were there a while). i was afraid to get kicked out for using my real camera so the picture is from my cell phone.

she is also getting her arms straight out while she does her rocking. before she was just getting up to her elbows, but now she can get all the way up to her hands. she isn't quite crawling, but she has figured out that if she gets all the way up to her hands and rocks back a forth a few times, she can lunge herself forward enough to reach a toy (or her daddy) that is too far away.

she is also ready for some new toys. but i am trying to control myself until the grandparents do their gift giving. it just seems like she is ready to move beyond her rattles and stuffed animals. especially now that she can sit and move more. she has also taken a great interest in standing on her own (she doesn't want to be in her exersaucer, she wants to be outside holding herself up while playing with the toys) so we might look for something that will help her pull herself up to a standing position. every time i go to get her from a nap now she has both hands on the top of her bumper or on the crib bars themselves trying to pull herself up so she is definitely getting ready.

since i didn't take any video today, here is one from yesterday. i was trying to get her doing this soft "singing" with the keys in her mouth, but when the camera went on she realized that she wasn't alone and started to get fussy because it was nap time. oh well. love.