Madeline Can Read

Check out how well Madeline can read!

Clapping is Contagious

As you may well know, Madeline is quite particular. She lets some people hold her, while others cannot. She likes singing, but not too loud. She likes when people clap, but not as a group and it must be quietly. She likes to play peek-a-boo, but on her terms. And so on...

Madeline loves to clap. And it can be contagious. A stranger sees her clap and they join in. And then she screams! Somehow that frightens her. Ususally they also do clap louder than she does. I completely understand why they would want to support her. She is smiling and happy. In fairness to them, she just isn't thrilled with strangers in general.

All of this clapping led me to think (as parents do...we can't help it) what career could Madeline have that involves clapping? The answer, she will be a proud member of our studio audience. Whatever she choses to become, we will support her!

Ollie and Bobo: A Girl's True Passion

Some children cling to a special toy that they bring everywhere they go. My daughter is no exception. Her choices have been unique to say the least. Her first love was Elmo, a $1 doll from Marc's that my Aunt Lynn bought her. After a little too much chewing and drooling on it, we just decided that this toy needed to be replaced. We broke it to her gently, though, by leaving it at Grandma's for frequent reunions.

But, Madeline managed to replace Elmo with shocking alternative. Her "security blanket" is none other Ollie the Octopus. We bought her the bath toy when were in Seattle and she seems to have glummed on to it.

Her "at home only" toy she is attached to is Bobo the monkey. She loves to hug and grab onto him. It is so cute!

So, what else is new? Madeline sat up for the first time on Tuesday in her crib. When I went to get her, there she was just sitting there. Today, she was practicing over and over sitting up and then going on her tummy.

Above are some pictures of her with her buds.

Tickle Tickle

Madeline has really been funny lately. I have been overjoyed with her humor of late. Here are a few examples.

Today, I was trying to reattach the tunnel to ball pit. I was leaning over and Madeline was behind me. All of the sudden, I feel a tiny hand grabbing the back of my pants and underwear, and then tickling my lower back. I say, "is someone giving Mommy a tickle tickle." I just hear a little giggle until I turn around and hear a roaring laugh. How cute is that?

Here is another funny story. Madeline has a toy we affectionately call "old Elmo". We call him that because we have since replaced him with new Elmo since she seemed to love "old Elmo" to the point of chewing him to shreds. We leave him at my mom's so that she can see him less frequently. She hadn't seen him since Seattle, and since she isn't throwing up the way she used to, we don't let her watch TV anymore. She was in full on Elmo withdrawl. When she saw him, she grabbed him, squealed, and rolled around the floor squeezing him and laughing for 45 minutes! "Reunited and it feels so good!"

Other news of interest...

We are still not crawling, but she can army crawl with speed. She loves to crawl over to us and tickle our toes so we will pick her up.

Madeline still loves her books. She can turn the pages of cardboard and paper books. She loves to find the front and back cover images inside the book.

Madeline loves to look at cars out our picture window. She gets so excited when she sees school buses, cars, trucks, etc.

Madeline continues to speak a lot of words. Here are a few new ones:

"silver truck", "Daddy's car", "tickle", "more", "baby" (talking about herself), and "go car".

Madeline is Cheerios obsessed. She can pick them up, but won't feed herself. She is a princess!

Madeline has developed a fake laugh and she does it when she wants attention because she loves to have you laugh too.

Madeline has been clapping anytime she hears music. She used to have an unnatural fear of clapping, but now she likes it, as long as it isn't in response to something she has done well.

I Know Peanut Butter Gets Gum Out of Hair, But...

Madeline's favorite stuffed animal is a monkey named Bobo.  We named him after a similar looking monkey from the book, Hug.  But I digress...

Madeline started solids about 3 days ago, leading into my newest lesson in motherhood. While she was playing on the floor, I gave her some food.  I had peas, turkey breast, and ground turkey for her to try.  I gave her a bite of ground turkey and she started to chew it.  She is a really slow chewer and after awhile, she was bored and grabbed for a toy to play with as she ate.

She sees Bobo and a huge smile appears on her face.  I should have thought better of it, but no...I didn't.  She takes a big ole bite out of Bobo and it happens.  Tiny pieces of turkey mashed deep into his soft fur.  Gross.  I know peanut butter gets gum out of hair, but does anyone have a recipe for getting ground turkey out of monkey fur?

The moral of the story is:  they make high chairs for a reason.  She won't be eating on the floor with toys anytime soon!

How Can She Argue with My Ironclad Logic?

Picture it...last night 7pm.  Madeline is ready for bed and Alex gives her hugs and kisses, puts her in her crib, and closes the door.  The whining commences.  She works herself into a tizzy.  The crying commences.  We alternate between whining and crying for about two hours. 

9pm:  I break my own rules and go in to see what is wrong.   Madeline is screaming, snot all over her red, blotchy face.  I turn on Sharon, Lois, and Bram.  She begins to calm down.  I leave.  Moments later, she starts working herself up again.  I cannot take the pathetic display.  I break my rules again and go back in.  I pick her up and rock her.  If we are breaking one rule, why not all of them, right?  I whisper into her ear.  

I say, "Madeline, it is OK with Mommy if you don't want to go to sleep.  You can stay awake as long as you want.  But this is nighttime, and at nighttime we stay in our crib and quiet until morning."  

She looks at me with huge eyes and replies, "I do."  

I look back, and say, "Oh no you do not!  You have been screaming for two hours.  It is time to go night night."  I realize now that I am negotiating with a 9 month old.  

WHAT?!?  How did this happen?  

The situation must end, and I don't want to lose our first battle.  I figure if we are starting at 9 months, we will probably have many.  I give her a hug, put her back and bed and leave.  She starts to cry again.  

I go downstairs and turn off the monitor.  Problem solved.

Solids? Oh yeah!

Madeline isn't what you could call a big eater.  She will eat baby food, but isn't overly impressed with it.  Her gastro wants her to eat around 4 jars a day.  How does 1 jar sound?  To me, familiar!  She just has this limit and when she hits it...bam!  DONE.  Nothing you can do about it.  Today, I was inspired to try a bit more "solid" type food.  I made ground turkey for Alex and I for dinner, so I thought, why not give it a shot.  I also gave her some peas and sweet potatoes.  Only the sweet potatoes were baby food.  The rest were solids.  Here is a video of her eating.  She was even able to pick the peas up with her hands, though she couldn't put it in her mouth herself.