Kate's Chuckie Cheese Birthday

Sunday we went to Chuckie Cheese to help Kate celebrate her 4th birthday. Hard to believe Miss Kate is so BIG now! Madison had a great time watching the 'mouse' (Chuckie Cheese) walk around and tell all the birthday kids to have a happy day. She LOVED playing skee ball with Daddy. He let her walk up the ramp and put the balls in the holes. Luckily she could only reach the very bottom numbers so even though she was clearly cheating- no one had a fit over it. Daddy is such a bad influence. All and all it was a great day of playing. Happy 4th, Kate!

Gymboree

Last week Gymboree opened a new play place at our mall. To celebrate they had free classes and free 'free play' all week. Madison took 3 classes with her friend Spencer Snee. Music Tuesday, Art Wednesday, and Core Friday. Ryan joined us Friday at Core too. Friday was by far the best day for all the kids. They LOVED running around the main gym, playing with bubbles, the parachute, and of course Gymbo the clown. Madison had a really great time in Art class too. We finger painted and played with cars in the rice table. It was such a great week- we decided to try it out for a month. Our Core play class starts next week. Stay tuned for more photos of play time.

Big Girl!

Since Mommy is no longer allowed to pick up Madison and we needed to start the transition soon anyway, Madison got her new big girl bed this weekend! Daddy went and picked it up Saturday and we put it together after nap time. Madison had great fun 'helping' and could not wait to 'dump' aka JUMP on the bed when we were finished! Note: she also has foam paint brushes in her hands. She was 'painting' with her dry brush all over her bed as we were putting it together.

Thus far we've had one night and one nap in the new bed. She transitioned like a star! We removed anything (or put it out of reach) that might be a problem if she gets up in the middle of the night, crayons, nice books, q-tips, etc...We also put a baby gate at her door in case she wakes up and decides to go roaming. No worries thus far. When she wakes up she gets out of bed and stands at the gate making a little noise until we go get her. We moved her Laugh and Learn kitchen and some other toys into her room in case she decides she just needs to play in the middle of the night. Better to have toys than go hunting for mischeif!

Gramm ordered Madison's new bedding before she left town and it should be here late this week. For now we are just using warm blankets for our cool nights. We'll be sure to post more pics when all the linens are changed over. I can't believe our little girl is in a BIG girl bed already!

Mommy has to rest

Mommy went to an unscheduled doctor's appointment today because she had unfamiliar pain and muscle cramping in her lower abdomen. The doctor completed an exam and a few quick tests to rule out any big problems. THe good news is no labor- cervix in tact, no infections, Pickle has a great heartbeat, etc. The bad news, the verdict is NO MORE picking up Madison and rest all weekend. No standing, walking, lifting, moving stuff, you get the point. Actually the doctor said- no lifting Madison, no cooking, no shopping, no re-arranging, no Super Momming. We'll re-evaluate early next week if the pain is still there. Looks like we may be on a mission to get Madison her toddler bed earlier than we thought!
Keep us in your prayers!!

'Dem' Comes to Town

Gramm came to town Wednesday after Easter for her Spring Break visit. Madison had a little trouble saying Gramm so she calls her 'Dem' for now. When Gramm first came to town Madison's congestion in her nose got worse and she woke up in the night crying because she couldn't breathe. Gramm got to meet Madison's favorite pediatrician, Dr Pattan when we took her in Friday to find out she has Rinusitis (sp?). After a few days of antibiotics and decongestant Madison was back to her running, dancing, jumping, and singing self.

Madison had a great time playing in the new turtle sandbox Gramm got for her. She really likes it when 'Dem' makes 'eggs' by filling a bucket with sand and turning it over. I guess because eggs are fresh in her head from Easter, Madison thought the round sand bucket looked like an egg.

One of her favorite night time activites was snuggling with Gramm at night watching 'Cindewadi' (Cinderella). Of course, Madison must have her 'Horsie' with her at all times these days-one of the two My Little Pony horsies Aunt Abby and Uncle Daniel got her for her birthday.

Madison was excited to go back to the airport and see all the 'Panes', but as soon as Gramm closed the car door Madison started crying, 'Where's Dem, where's dem' half way home. She asked all afternoon and evening. She's so confused by the whole leaving process. Thankfully we'll be back with 'Dem' in June when we fly to FL for Daniel's wedding.

Hoppy Easter

We woke up Easter morning to surprises from the Easter Bunny. He brought candy and presents for Madison and Daddy. Some foam stamps for Madison so she can stamp like Mommy, a silly bunny necklace and bracelet, a pretty silver 'Jesus loves me' bracelet for Madison (and one for Pickle), Madison's first story bible, and a bunny counting book. Pickle also got a softy Chick book. Daddy got camoflauge eggs, candy, and some dinosaur grow eggs to share with Madison. Gramm sent Madison some Easter books and 2 beautiful Easter dresses with a white sweater. Grandma Shemenski sent Madison a beautiful Easter dress and a home made card from cousin Lisa! Madison's favorite Easter treat was her new easel. She colored on it for hours!


After coloring, Madison helped Mommy cook Easter ham, home made mac-n-cheese, and green bean casserole lunch while wearing her Christmas apron- so cute! We went to church after Madison's nap, where we ran into our friends, John, Megan, and Spencer Snee. Madison and Spencer (and his cousin Ava) got to play while the grown ups went to church. After nap we came home for an egg hunt in the backyard.


It was a great relaxing day for all of us.

Where's the woof?

Madison and Mommy dropped Sierra off at Petsmart this morning for a bath and haircut. Madison was so excited to see all the other animals- dogs, cats, birds, fish. When it came time to leave she looked at me paniced and asked, 'Where's the woof?' (She calls Sierra 'the woof'). I told Madison Sierra had to stay for her haircut and she started crying. She cried the whole way home begging for her woof. We knew Madison loved Sierra but had no idea how deeply. What a funny girl.

Loving the hose

Last night Daddy was watering the grass and Madison wanted to help. She was half way to her bath so her pants were already off when she meandered out the front door to 'help' Daddy. They had a great time playing in the water. Check out that fabulous face! She was squealing with excitement.

St Patty's Day

We didn't do much during the day for St Patty's this year. When Daddy came home from work we started our 'celebration' with a green beer for Daddy. Madison helped Mommy slow cook corned beef all day and wrapped up with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes for dinner. Madison had her first taste of corned beef this year and LOVED it. More than the corned beef, she loved the potatoes. So much so, she slathered them all over her face, hair, in her ears and up her nose. Daddy finished up the green celebration by bathing all the potatoes off our little leprechaun.

19 months

This month was all about increasing vocabulary. I say that, but my understanding is from here on out it is all about increasing EVERYTHING- so we'll see.

Madison now knows, with confidence, the letters M, A, and W (aka double). She says purple, blue, red, and yellow but doesn't really know the difference between any of the colors yet. She also knows her basic shapes, circle, square, triangle (she says 'tie' for this one). Her daily vocab just continues to impress us. She's constantly looking at new items around the house and around town telling us what they are. She loves to tell us about all the animals on her favorite show, Wonder Pets. Now she recognizes catapillar, crane (the bird), Panda, and Butterfly in addition to the characters of the show, Ming Ming (the duck), Tuck (the turtle), and Linny (we are still working on Linny's name).

This month we had fun visiting with friends too. We had lunch with our friend Jen (aka 'Puh') that Daddy grew up with. We played with Mommy's friend Stacy from Progressive twice in one weekend! Played at Jason and Kelly's house when we got to go preview their wedding video- which was absolutely beautiful! Like a trailer for a movie. So cool.

Madison had her first taste of Frozen Yogurt, and loves it. She now says, 'Num, num' whenever she eats something she likes. These days everything is num, num.

One of our big milestones, ok sort of milestones, this month was wearing her first hair clip! They make these tiny clips for baby hair that actually clip- no velcro. She has enough hair on the top of her head now we can gather it to one side and put a clip in. So fun! Mommy and Daddy neither one had much hair until we were 2 years old. Maybe she is beating our curve. :)

We rounded out the month with a trip to the Perinatologist as a family to take a look at 'Pickle'. Madison found out Pickle is a sister, not a brother. She is still clueless about it, but Mommy and Daddy are excited and working on getting the nursery and house ready for our new little girl!

Kisses

Daddy snapped this one during our little Pickle photo shoot. Too sweet!

Pickle is a.....

GIRL! Girl #2. No names yet. She is super healthy and we get to go back at 26 weeks for more pics- including 3D! She is crazy active. They could barely get her to sit still long enough to take measurements. She's measuring right on track too- right at 18 weeks. We are 'scheduled' 17 weeks 3 days, so looks like all is GREAT!

Caroline's Birthday

Madison and Mommy went to Caroline's 2nd birthday on Sunday, March 2nd. Madison had lots of fun playing with the other girls. Mostly she enjoyed the balloons though. The other girls had fun playing together though, so it wasn't a big deal. Caroline really liked her Dr Suess books from Madison. We were sad to leave a little early, but nap time was calling! Look at all the big girls. Caroline is to the left of Madison. What a challenge to get 5 girls (one is missing) to sit still for a photo next to all that tempting tissue paper!

Pickle- 15 weeks 4 days

A little late on the update- this photo was taken March 1st. Madison's little brother or sister is really growing- so is her Mommy!

Jump Around

February 28th Madison went to Jump Around to play with Ryan and Caleb-Spencer's cousins. Madison was more interested in playing with the basketball throw than playing on all the cool jumping toys. She did LOVE the big slide though. She even learned to climb the ladder by herself! The pictures weren't all that great, but we had a super time playing!

Dinner Date with Spencer

February 22nd, Madison had a special date. John, Megan, and Spencer Snee came over to have dinner and play at our house. Madison got to show off her new adirondack set from Gramm, although the kids were more interested in playing than sitting down to eat!

I thought they looked so cute at the table together.

Mommy's growing belly

At 14 weeks I am much bigger than I was with Madison. Everyone assures me this is completely normal for a second pregnancy. Most important- the doctor says Pickle and I are both healthy. The dry heaves have almost subsided and I have lots more energy to play and run around with Madison. Welcome second trimester!! Check out the growing belly.

President's Day Kern trip

We went to our favorite camping spot for President's Day weekend. As usual we had a great relaxing weekend. Madison seems to have more fun every time we go. She walked around camp collecting sticks for the fire and rocks to fill her buckets and cups. She still loves cruising thru camp in her wagon, and is not picky on who pulls her. She'll con anyone into pulling her around. Madison does have a new love though. As she calls it- the 'broom, broom'. Several fellow campers had quads and ATCs (four wheelers and three wheelers). She got so excited every time one was fired up and driven away. She even got to sit on a little quad while Uncle Chris Whalley pushed her a little.

It was quite cold, 20s and 30s at night, 60s during the day. Madison got to try out her new winter jacket while hanging out by the campfire at night. It was so nice to have our nice warm RV to keep us toasty at night. A great trip, as always. We even managed to snap a few shots of her headstand. Still not sure why she loves this so much. She'll do it at home on the carpet, in the yard, and in dirt camp! Check out the pics to see what I mean.

One and a Half Already!

Can you believe our baby is a year and a half already? As I sit here typing this Madison is reading to Daddy. It is just amazing how much more she is enunciating her words even since last week. She's truly growing up before our eyes. This month Madison learned how to turn on the dvd player, take a dvd out, put it in the vcr and get her hand stuck in the process. We thought the living room was Madison proofed enough for Mommy to take a shower without worrying- guess not. She sat there patiently waiting until she heard the water turn off, then started yelling 'stuck, stuck'. Mommy to the rescue, I lifted the flap so she could pull her hand out. She managed to stay away from it for a few days before curiousity set in again. Time for a new entertainment center!

We had a great time playing outside this month too. The weather is off and on- hot/cold. One day we play in the sprinkler, the next day pants and a jacket. We also started painting this month. Madison had her first encounters with finger paint and paint with water. She LOVES them both. If she isn't asking to go 'side, side' to play, she is asking to paint.

We started working on letter recognition too. She knows 'M' and 'a' now. She knows star, circle, square, triangle, moon, tree, flower, house. It's so fun to color and paint with her-she gets so excited when she recognizes a shape or letter.

The month wrapped up with a trip to Dr Pattan for her 18 month check up. Madison weighs 24.4 lbs and is 32 1/8 inches tall. This puts her in the 60% for height, but just under 50% for weight. Even with that big belly she is still underweight. It's all the running and climbing she does! Dr Pattan was impressed by Madison's vocabulary and overall interactions. She says not to worry about weight- Madison is still just perfect. Of course, we agree! We also noted her upper left eye tooth is finally poking thru. Such a growing girl! Madison did have a bad reaction to her tetanus shot. Her leg was so sore she couldn't move it all day. It made me so sad, she just sat around on my lap lethargic all day. Thankfully it only lasted a day and she was back to running around by the time Daddy got home from work.

In the post picture she is 'enjoying' a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Love outside time

The weather warmed up this weekend so we decided to take advantage. Madison and I picked up some sidewalk chalk on our Friday errands. She had so much fun drawing all over the driveway with me Friday afternoon. By the time we came inside she was covered head to toe in chalk dust and dirt. Needless to say, bath time quickly followed.

Saturday we put Madison's sprinkler toy to use for the first time. It was a birthday gift from Aunt Stacy. She giggled at the fish spinning around and spurting water. We ended up putting her sprinkler inside her pool so she wasn't splashing around in mud in the backyard. The ground is still pretty saturated from all the recent rain. She had such a great time filling her buckets with water and dumping them into each other. We are really enjoying our outside time with this warm front. We know winter will come back soon so we are taking full advantage while we can.

Meet Pickle

We went back to the doctor Friday for a pickle check up. Pickle looks GREAT. It's tough to tell in this photo but the top circle is his/her head and the bigger oval on the bottom is little Pickle's body. You can see the legs stretched a bit too. Pickle was twisting and squirming around like crazy. We even saw a little hand waving out at us! Dr Kim confirmed pickle looks fantastic and has a strong heartbeat. In four weeks we go back to hear the heartbeat for the first time. In five weeks we go to the specialist to check Pickle's heart and (hopefully) determine the sex! Stay tuned we go for our big appointment March 14th. We continue to talk to Madison about the new 'baby' and even lift Mommy's shirt so Madison can pat or kiss the baby. She thinks it is great fun. We are all starting to get excited about the newest member of our family.

'Dirty Jobs'

Today has been an interesting day for Mommy. Let me start by saying, there will be no picture with this post. I started feeling a little 'under the weather' yesterday and woke up this morning with a full fledge cold. Scratchy throat, post nasal drip, cough...gotta love it. We are currently 10 1/2 weeks pregnant, so taking medication is out of the question. Daddy spent the morning with Madison and Mommy plugged in the humidifier to 'cuddle' with for the morning.
Daddy was so very helpful all day so Mommy could rest. Madison was sweet and loving too.
The fun began during bath time. Daddy was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner so Mommy decided to bathe the food covered child. All was normal in the bath until Madison tried to tell Mommy something. I thought she was asking for a toy I'd never heard of and then it happend. She showed me what she was trying to tell me. Madison needed to poop. In a BIG way. Luckily she was cruising the tub on her tummy when the fun started. There was plenty of space for the poop to just keep coming-and come it did! I scooped her out of the tub, into a towel and onto the changing table, slid a diaper under her and yelled for Matt. He hung out with her until we were sure there was no more pooping to be done.
Mommy, sick with a cold and dry heaving like crazy (thanks to little Pickle), had the fabulous task of draining and bleaching the tub. Let's just say be glad you were not here!
The baby is now clean, dry, and in pjs. The tub is sparkling clean. All her bath toys are bleached and dried. Mommy is exhausted. Daddy just thinks the whole thing is funny. Wait until it's his turn to play 'fish the poop out of the tub'.....

Seventeenth Month

Our little girl has grown and changed so much over the last 17 months. Daddy hardly recognized her when we returned from Florida and she keeps learning and changing more everyday.
One of the biggest changes for Mommy is no more nursing. We weaned Madison while on our Florida trip. It only took 2 days of screaming for her to figure out no more nursing. She asked for milk a few times in the days following the initial weaning, but didn't seem too upset when we told her 'No'. She is completely disinterested in cow's milk so we are working on calcium and other nutrients from different sources. After a few days of constipation, Madison learned she has to drink water or juice to make up for the breastmilk she is no longer getting.
Now she eats everything in sight to make up for those extra calories. She even sampled crab legs and shrimp on Christmas Eve (thanks to Daddy's sneaky hand). Sometimes it seems like she never stops eating all day long!
She also loves to dance, stomp her feet, clap her hands, read her books, talk (and boy do I mean TALK), and kiss. She is great at hugging and kissing now and loves saying, 'Hiii' to everyone. Madison is still doing great with her signing too. Her signing vocabulary is too extensive to list now, and her spoken words are even greater in number. She recognizes animals, foods (of course), and body parts. We are currently working on colors and numbers. She is working on sharing and other than the occasional frustration and hitting (yes- hitting not good) she is quite polite. She now knows how to sign and say 'please' and 'thank you'. Madison loves to count, but it always comes out, 'two, two, two, two, TWO'. She gets the general idea, but needs help with the order of the numbers themselves.
Daddy's favorite new trait is Madison's excitement when he gets home from work. She runs to the door when she hears his Jeep yelling, "DADDY!". It doesn't get much better than that!
Madison is learning to color too, and loves her colored pencils and drawing paper. Thus far she seems to understand only coloring on her special paper and not in books, or on walls. Let's hope we keep it that way.
Not too many pictures this month. We'll work on that for the coming months.

Christmas in FL

Mommy and Madison left December 13th for our big adventure in Florida. Daddy flew in the following weekend just in time to play for the week of Christmas. Madison had a great time playing with Uncle Matthew and Daniel and Aunt Abby. She even learned how to say Abby's name before we flew home on January 7th.
It was nice to see and play with our friends Kendall, Reagan, and Ava too. It's amazing how much all these kids are GROWING together! We even got to go with Kendall and Tina to Kindermusik as their guests for the day. Madison had so much fun learning about new instruments and stomping around.
Christmas was a blast- watching Madison open all her gifts (and everyone else's too!). When we weren't looking she started taking the paper off any gift in arms reach. Madison thought the goal was to take every single piece of paper off the boxes. She was more interested in removing tiny bits of paper than most of her gifts. Her shopping cart from Uncle Matthew was a hit though. He taught Madison to take all the cans and food out and sit in it so he could push her around the house. The laughs and squeals were great!
Overall it was a great holiday for Madison. She got a little baby from Cousin Rick and Leona, a big beautiful baby (to help prepare her for her new little brother or sister) from Aunt Dar and Uncle Mike, a puff the magic dragon book and animal, a matching apron with Mommy for cooking, cute clothes from Gramm and Grandpa and Aunt Nancy, lots of warm clothes from Mommy and Daddy, fun new toys and wooden puzzles from Gramm, Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy...whew the list goes on and on....
Now that we are home, Madison loves to play with her Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa Shemenski.
It was such a great time for our entire family. We are blessed to have such generous extended family and friends.

We're PREGNANT!!

We found out December 10th we are expecting baby #2. We went to the doctor January 10th for the first time. Little Pickle looks great and has a strong heartbeat. Our anticipated due date is August 19th, three days after Madison's 2nd birthday. We are thrilled with our news and can't wait to share the adventures of Madison's new little brother or sister with all of you! Please be sure to pray for our little Pickle.

Sixteen Months

So as many of you have pointed out- I'm a bit behind. I'll make this one short and sweet as the interim posts seem to cover most of the big events of the past month.
We had a bit of a scare late in the month. Madison and Mommy went to have Madison's Christmas pictures taken. She learned how much fun it is to throw fits- arching her back and throwing herself onto the ground early in the month. Picture day was no different. When she doesn't want to do something, she wants EVERYONE to know about it. Madison didn't want to sit in the sleigh for pictures so she stood on the seat, arched her back and sailed right over the side. She landed flat on her back and head after a little over a 2 foot fall.
We rushed straight to the doctor, whose office was only a few blocks away. Dr Pattan did a full exam head to toe and assured me Madison is an anomaly. She barely even had a red mark where she hit her head. Everything was absolutely perfect. We were very lucky God sent an angel to protect Madison during her fall. Later in the day, after a big lunch and long nap, we went back and found out the pictures turned out horribly anyway. Not a fun day for either of us.
On a positive note, we love playing at the park. Madison gets so excited when we turn the corner and the playground comes in view. She starts yelling and signing, "Play!". Her favorite part is the 'wee' also known as a slide. She says WEEEE as she slides all the way down. Daddy even got to come play at the park with us before our big Florida trip.
We also got to play with the 'snow' at the mall one night. Every night at our local mall during the Christmas season the mall had bubble snow for kids and adults to play with. Madison thought it was great falling from the sky. She danced and stomped around and tried to catch the snow bubbles as they fell. Several people stopped us after the snow storm and told us how entertaining our little goof ball was. It was great fun for all three of us.

Click for more pictures from the month.

Ladybug Bag

Aunt Kristi got this bag for Madison last Christmas. We just pulled it out of the closet last weekend. Madison says and signs 'bug' for the ladybugs in her room. She was SO excited to play with her bag. Whenever we leave the house she wants to carry her snack in it. I snapped these pics on the way to the car yesterday. Also note her new funny face.

Bath fun with Letters

Madison just started enjoying her bath letters. As you can see, she is learning thru 'osmosis'. She loves pressing her letters to her face and chest. She is just more and more fun every day!

SHOES!

Madison LOVES shoes. Especially Mommy and Daddy's shoes. She learned to step into our shoes and walk around the house in them. These are the two most recent photos of her shoe adventures. Last night she stepped into Matt's shoes right before bed time. She was exploring the inside of the lamp. Always exploring.

Cheerleader?

Saturday while we were watching college football, Madison grabbed two of Sierra's toys and used them as pom poms. We aren't sure where she picked this up as she's never had pom poms to play with. She kept tickling her face with one of them. Such a silly girl.

Gobble Gobble

Which is the bigger Turkey? This year our Tom the Turkey was 26lbs for just our little family. Miss Madison is only 23lbs now. Funny, she looks so much bigger than the turkey. She was signing 'apple' in this photo as she is sitting right next to a plate full. Madison had a great time hanging out beneath our feet in the kitchen as we made Thanksgiving dinner this year. She went from dining room to kitchen saying 'no, no, no' when we weren't paying her enough attention. She also tried taking off her shirt-arms thru the neck of the shirt, and pulling her pumpkin tights off by pulling at her feet. I'm still not sure she realizes the difference between socks and tights.

Daddy taught Madison how to cook a turkey to perfection. She stayed busy until dinner when she enjoyed turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce but went to bed before pumpkin pie time. I'm sure she'll try some for breakfast tomorrow. We wrapped up the night pushing Madison around the house in her favorite, 'vroom, vroom', a Pampers diaper box. Of course she HAD to have all her bears with her too.

We are thinking about taking Madison out for her second Black Friday shopping morning tomorrow. Last year we were in FL. Mommy, Madison, and Uncle Matt met Daddy and Uncle Daniel (they spent the night at Best Buy) at the mall early in the morning for some shopping. We left empty handed, but had fun anyway. Madison hung out with Mommy in her Baby Bjorn. Stay tuned for more info on this years shopping adventure.

Fifteen Months Old

Can you believe Madison is 15 months old already? She is just a ball of energy these days.
She is still wearing size 4 diapers and is almost solely in 18 month clothes now.
Her vocabulary is really growing too, both signing and verbal.
Lots of people ask us why we decided to teach Madison sign language. People ask if signing slows her verbal skills. Signing helps Madison communicate her needs and wants with ease. Some letter combinations are tough to say as a baby. Things like 'th' and 'ch' and 'sl' are tough say when you are first learning to verbalize. When we learn a new sign together, Madison gets excited and still tries to say the words. We've found it is important to SAY the words we are signing. Nothing should REPLACE your verbal interaction with a child. Signing simply supplements her learning. She tells us when she wants to eat, drink, nurse, sleep, bathe-it's great. Don't get me wrong, we don't practice 'child led' parenting in our house. We still have a regular eat, sleep, bathe, play schedule. Signing just helps Madison tell us what she is feeling or discovering. Its so fun to play outside with her and see her little hands go wild when she sees a bird, or plane, or cat. She LOVES to sign to us what she finds. She even signed her first SENTENCE this month, "Eat cheese!". So fun.
This month she really started showing her excitement more, too. When Matt gets home from work, she's always been excited, but now she runs to the door shreeking with excitement. Sometimes she runs to the front window with Sierra yelling, 'Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad'. She's such a crack up.
She's discovering how things work more and more too. Including figuring out how to stack smaller things on top of each other to create stairs to get to places she isn't supposed to be. Or learning how to pull her baby gate down while Mommy is in the shower so she can cruise into the kitchen and 'bathe' in Sierra's water dish.
Everyday Madison learns a new way to get herself into trouble. Daddy says we are in for it!
Mommy and Madison are working out a new weekly routine. We played with some friends during the day this month and tried out MyGym- a mommy and me group here in town. When the holidays are over and we are back at home, we want to get Madison involved in more play groups. She has such a great time interacting with other kids, we really want to build on that.
Time certainly is flying with this little one.
Most of our daily ins and outs were covered in the trip to Fl, and Halloween posts. Madison also learned to climb the ladder while she 'helped' Mommy and Daddy hang a new ceiling fan in their room and some fun storage crates in her own room. She enjoyed lounging in her glider holding ALL her bears, babies, and dogs while we worked. She still loves going to the park to swing and run around with Sierra. Her favorite part of being outside is riding in or pulling around her wagon. When she's playing in the house, if she sees a hat she'll put it on- even if she already has one, or two, or three on. She has also taken a liking to socks and shoes. Hers, Mommy's, and Daddy's. She'll put them all on- or try anyway. We are having fun with every change and looking forward to every new day.
For those who are interested- Yes, we are trying for another baby. No luck yet but we'll keep you posted. Matt sure is having fun 'trying'.
Check out pics from this month.

Happy Halloween

This year Madison was a pumpkin fairy for Halloween. Not just any pumpkin fairy, but the cutest little pumpkin fairy you've ever seen! Madison was more interested in playing with her wagon than taking pictures by the giant pumpkins. The big one was 292 lbs and the smaller was a nice 64.5 lbs. Only a few months off before we start conditioning the soil for next year's pumpkin. We rode thru the neighborhood a little in her wagon before heading over to see her friends Kate and Carolyn Briggs. It was a nice quiet Halloween for us this year.

Pumpkin Patch

We got back from FL at 1am today, just in time for Halloween. Madison adjusted to the time change nicely so we decided to pick out a 'Madison size' pumpkin for her. The patch was pretty picked over but we still had fun. Madison watched all the bigger kids pick out their pumpkins then found one just her size. My favorite part was watching her sign 'ball' every time she saw a pumpkin. She still thinks the pumpkins are orange balls. Silly girl.

October trip to FL

October 17th Madison and Mommy left for FL to visit Mommy's family and friends. We had such a great time visiting. Madison played with Shanon and her kids, Declan, Alex, Riley, and Bobby. She wore her Gator outfit from Uncle Matthew that day- needless to say it was NOT the day of the Georgia-Florida game. Shanon's youngest, Bobby also had on a Gator outfit, which confused Riley. She thought our little baldy Madison was 'another Bobby'. We also had a great time playing with Reagan Kelly, Macy Baker, Dylan and Kaisley Carswell, and Kendall Sines. Kendall was a little timid the first time we played. By the second time, she and Madison were dancing and running around Old Navy together trying on hats.

Uncle Matthew taught Madison how to use Gramm and Grandpa's sofa like a jungle gym (thanks a lot Uncle Matthew!). Aunt Abby taught Madison how to go down the stairs face forward (with two hands for assistance of course) instead of inching down backwards as she used to do safely. When Gramm and Grandpa's dogs barked, Madison learned to tell them, 'No, No'. Unfortunately she used this new found word on Mommy when she didn't want to go down for naps too. She also perfected shaking her head back and forth (like saying no) when she is doing something she shouldn't be. For example, if she pulled on the lamp cord she would look at us and shake her head 'No'. It's great, she disciplines herself now. HA

Gramm had surgery on her elbow while we were there. Madison was a great nurse, sitting down next to Gramm and snuggling with her every opportunity she could find. She was especially happy when Gramm's cat, CC was on Gramm's lap. We taught Madison, 'gentle cat' so she didn't pull CC's whiskers and hair too much. Surprisingly Madison was pretty gentle and CC was pretty tolerant. All and all, I think CC was happy to see Madison go.

One of her favorite activities was waking Mommy up early to open the blinds and look out the front window of the bedroom to watch the cars go by. She learned the word and sign for 'car' and used it every time one drove by. She also learned the word and sign for 'ball'. And the sign for 'cup'. She knows she has to sit down to put on her shoes and now will sit down and try to put them on herself.

Gramm bought Madison squirting frogs for bath time. It didn't take long for her to figure out how to open the door handles at the house and let herself into the bathroom. She just stands by the tub pointing and saying, 'frog, frog'. Uncle Daniel brought out his GIANT Cha-Cha the tree frog from Rainforest Cafe too. Madison thought it was great fun to hug and lay on the frog. We thought we were going to have to buy an extra seat on the plane for our giant new friend!

We also got to spend a night with Aunt Dar and Uncle Michael. Aunt Dar showed Madison a special doll in Mommy's old room. Miss Madison remembered the pretty 'baby' and ran back to the door often, touching the door and saying, 'baby, baby'. She wanted to go back in and play with the baby more. We were quite impressed by her memory. She also got to play with Emma and Jack Ryan from across the street. They had lots of fun pretending they were cats and chasing Madison around the house. Of course whenever they would 'meow' Madison signed and said, 'Cat, Cat'. Poor Emma tried and tried to entertain Madison, but she was so enamored by Jack Ryan she barely paid attention to her little red-headed friend.

Madison did manage to get a sinus infection while we were in FL, so she got to meet Mommy's old family doctor. We learned Madison is allergic to the antibiotic Septra, which Mommy is also allergic to. No serious reaction, just a rash and yucky diarrhea. Madison also had her very first projectile vomit at Olive Garden with Mommy and Gramm the afternoon of the day we were leaving. Even with her cold, she was a trooper on the plane. As usual a fantastic flyer.

One of Mommy's favorite parts of the trip was watching the GA-FL game with her Gator friends, Jen and Tina. We had a great time harassing each other all game long. In the end the Bulldogs pulled through with a long awaited victory over the FL Gators. Go Dawgs!

Daddy says Madison grew a foot in the two weeks we were gone. She did get THREE new teeth while we were gone. Each day she seems to grow and change so much.

Madison's favorite camping spot

This weekend we went camping at the Kern River. This is Madison's 3rd trip (since she was born- we went when Mommy was pregnant too!) to the river. The water was WAY too cold to swim this time. We had a great time playing though. Having our little RV makes it much easier to stay organized. She loved playing with her toys outside. Especially her wagon. She opened the wagon door and climbed right in and sat down, flailing her arms until someone pulled her around camp. We need to work on the 'dismount' though. She decided to do a front flip head first out of the wagon and onto the ground on more than one occasion. No permanent marks though, only a few tears then back to running around.

Madison didn't get to play with any worms this time, but she saw her first fish up close and personal, Shawn's trout. Don't worry, we didn't let her touch it-too many crazy fishy germs. Mommy learned to play horse shoes...sort of. My aim is a little off. Kelly told Madison it was time for Mommy to throw horseshoes and she said, 'Uh-Oh'! Daddy thinks her reaction is perfect since Mommy is so terrible at horse shoes.

It was pretty windy on this trip so Madison got to wear some of her winter clothes and new shoes, and of course....hats. Check out pics from our trip.

Just another walk in the park....

Or TO the park. Madison loves taking walks in her NEW umbrella stroller. It is so much smaller than the travel system stroller. We walked to the park to play the other day. She was more interested in playing with her stroller and walking around than playing. She found Mommy's keys and phone when we got to the park and immediately opened the phone to 'chat'. So silly.

Sleepy Girl

Yesterday Madison was SO tired before her afternoon nap. She stood up at her crib side crying for a minute. Then sat down and just fell asleep slumped over her bear. She looked so funny I just had to take a picture. She eventually fell over and continued her nap on her side. What a crack up.

Thirteen Months

Madison is all about expanding her vocabulary this month. Her signing vocab that is. She's perfected shoe, bear, and cat this month. It's so much easier to sign than form difficult sounds at this point. Signing takes a lot of the question out of what she is trying to tell us. It's GREAT!

She's still in size 3 diapers and is now wearing mostly size 12 month clothing. Madison had her one year check up on September 5th. She weighs 21 lbs 14 oz and is 29 inches tall. The pediatrician is still impressed with how strong and smart she is. Madison got four vaccinations at this appointment, including the chicken pox vaccine. Poor baby was one of the unlucky 1-4% of the population that actually GETS chicken pox from this live vaccine. Luckily it was a very mild reaction. She had a fever for over a week (which scared Mommy- up to 102!) and little spots on her chest, legs, shoulders and a few on her face. The spots only lasted about 5 days and were never itchy.

To get Madison ready for football season we started teaching her how to 'call the dawgs'. So far she says 'Go Dawgs!' When she hears the neighbor dogs barking she says 'dog, woof, woof'. We're working on putting these components together, 'Go Dawgs Sic em. woof, woof, woof.

She's getting much better at using her shape sorters and learning to flip her light switch up and down by herself (she has down all the time, but up is only about 50% now). One of her favorite tricks, though is taking all the toys out of her stacking hat boxes she got from baby Alex for her birthday and sitting or standing in them. She starting to turn them over and climb on them too. Not a great idea. She also enjoys pulling all the clean clothes out of the laundry basket when Mommy is trying to fold them. Then she climbs in the basket so we can push her around the house in it. Such a great helper.

Madison and Sierra are building their relationship too. Madison still loves to share part of her snack with Sierra. Sierra doesn't seem to mind when Madison pulls all the dog toys out of her basket and drags it all around the house. Sometimes she even puts the handle of the basket around her neck like a necklace. She's such a jewelry girl. She's rarely without a necklace (she pulls them out of the bottom of her toy boxes and puts them on) even if it is a basket! The girls love to look out the front window too. Madison looks so cute standing there with Sierra. She puts her hands on the sill and stands on her tippie toes to see what Sierra is looking at out the window. We laugh when she walks over and pushes the curtain to the side to make space. She also loves to push the front door closed. She is so proud when she does it she claps for herself.

The biggest daily change is that Mommy and Madison are home by themselves now. We decided Mommy isn't really cut out to be a full time daycare provider for other people's kids. Noah started daycare early this month. Now Mommy and Madison are working on a new routine with more play groups and daily outings. The weather is getting cool so we'll have to be creative.

Finally, pics from the month.