If you really love me...

Ok, no making fun for being one of "those" parents, but the fan favorite of this contest gets a really awesome vacation. And while Mike and I are super excited about spending our 5th anniversary in Raleigh next year, we wouldn't mind spending it in Jamaica either :). You can vote every day through Nov. 17th! Click on the cuteness to vote.
So yes, I am basically pimping out my kid's cuteness to try and get a free vacation. What's your point?

First haircut!

Maddie got her first haircut today! I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about it yet (that's :) or :( in the blog world I guess). I think it will look a lot better once it grows out now, b/c it's all even. But I miss my baby's long hair!



Maddie did great. She got to sit in a tractor, and they had a huge video collection (that's right- video! they are old school) that we got to pick from so she could have a distraction. We chose an Elmo sing along tape, which may not have been the best option b/c Maddie really likes to dance and wiggle her head to music. But the stylist has clearly cut a 13 month old's hair before and was done in 2 minutes flat, so it wasn't too big of a deal that Maddie had trouble sitting still.


We decided not to touch her bangs, b/c we want those to grow out, but the back was a hot mess and most of the time it looked like she had a rat tail. So the stylist evened it out and made it into a little bob, which is pretty adorable.


After the haircut, Maddie got to taste her first lollipop. But then Mommy realized she didn't want Maddie to have it in the car, where she'd probably either choke on it or stick it in her hair. So Mommy took it away and that made Maddie veeeery sad. At least she had fun during the haircut! And her mean, mean Mommy thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the grape lollipop on the way home. Hey- I deserve it for being such an awesome blog updater, right?

I'm learning that quiet usually equals trouble...

Maddie loves to crawl around and explore the house now, and we are *usually* right with her all the time. But the house is child-proofed, and we keep all of the doors closed, so if she crawls out of sight for a few seconds, it's usually not a big deal.

On Sunday, Maddie pitter pattered off into the hallway, where we assumed all the doors were closed as usual. Guess one wasn't closed all the way though, and after a minute or so I noticed that the house was suspiciously babble-free. Since it was unlikely that Maddie was playing quietly in the hall by herself, we jumped up and there she was- sitting in the bathroom pulling toilet paper off the roll!

She's been eyeing that toilet paper a lot lately, I bet she was thrilled to find a way in and check it out. Luckily we got to her before she made too much of a mess! I imagine we're in for many more "surprises" around here in the next few years :).

No way is this kid one year old already...

1 year picture from Hammett Photography-
check out the rest of these adorable pics here! If you
click on this picture to make it big, you can just baaaarely
see her first little tooth poking out :).

Ok, ok. I'm a lame blog updater- to say the least. I noticed myself looking back at old posts lately, trying to remember specific dates and ages of milestones that have already faded from my memory. This has inspired me to try once again to get back into blogging. I know I'll be glad I did it- Maddie is growing so fast and it's hard to remember the day to day stuff for very long.

SO! Miss Maddie Grace is 13.5 months old- for you non parents, that means she's 1. I never understood until recently why parents insisted on using months instead of years after 12 months- but I guess it's b/c a 13 month old is totally different from a 15 month old, a 15 month old is totally different from an 18 month old, etc. The point being, they are still changing so fast at this age!

Maddie decided to start crawling about 4 days before her first birthday. Guess she heard she was almost one and decided she wanted to be a mobile one year old! She is a little speed demon now. Just in the last week or two she has started pulling up on everything in sight, which has been a huge detriment to her naps, but she's having a blast. I was dreading having a mobile baby, but it's actually awesome. We've childproofed, and Maddie is so much happier now that she can crawl around and explore things. She plays much better independently now, although she still likes when Mommy and Daddy play on the floor with her better.

She switched over to table food around 11 months, and although she STILL doesn't have any teeth to speak of (her first one appeared at about 13 months but it's taking it's time growing all the way out), she is a GREAT eater. She has clearly inherited her Daddy's taste buds, hallelujah, and we are doing all we can to encourage that. Other than occasional slips into toddler "picky mode," she will generally eat absolutely anything we put in front of her. And we've now tried eggs, peanut butter, shell fish and strawberries- not allergic to any of them! Hooray! When she turned one, we switched from bottles of formula to sippy cups of milk- and Maddie LOVES her milk.


Maddie has been a BUSY little bee for the last few months. She was Christened by her Uncle Jim in Charlotte in a wonderful ceremony with lots of family and friends. We travelled to Richmond for Laura and Daniel's wedding, where Maddie stayed with a "stranger" babysitter for the first time- she did great! She has been to the Greenville Zoo a couple of times, which she loved (girl loves animals- especially dogs!). She took 6 weeks of swim lessons and she's a total fish- even likes being dunked underwater. We've been to 2 super fun kids museums and she even visited the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte. And a couple of weeks ago, Maddie had her first vacation- a week at the grandparent's house in SC (and Mommy got to relax! woohoo!).


So I think that's all the major stuff that's happened in the last few months! Maddie had a great birthday party in SC on 8/8/09, and she even got to meet her sweet cousin Faith, my Uncle Dan's new baby. It is SO much fun to see more and more personality emerge from her each day. She is absolutely HILARIOUS and I rarely go more than a few minutes without cracking up from her latest antics. She isn't talking yet, but babbles up a storm. She also understands a lot, and communicates her needs pretty well too. I'm finding late babyhood/early toddlerhood to be much easier as a parent than infancy. Maybe a little more physically tiring, but not nearly as emotionally tiring or frustrating. Plus, there's a lot to be said for sleeping all the way through the night!


Maddie gives hugs and kisses when we ask, and even sweeter is when she gives kisses unprompted- usually while she is sitting in my lap while we watch tv, read a book, or sing songs. She is very friendly and loves when anyone gives her attention- whether it's family or a stranger in the Target line. She loves music and dancing (My name is Maddie! I like to dance!), and will stop whatever she is doing if a Stanley Steamer or Empire commercial comes on. Her favorite songs are "You Are My Sunshine," "Twinkle Twinkle," "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Jesus Loves Me." Her favorite books right now are "Goodnight Moon," "Moo Baa La La La" and "Daddy and Maddie (a book I made Mike for Father's day with their pictures in it)."


Her most recent "stats" from her 12 month appointment show that she's still a shrimp- although my aching arms and back make it hard for me to think of her as a little baby anymore! She was about 18.5 lbs and 28.5". We'll be going back Monday for her first flu shot- poor kid!

9.5 month picture- Laura Brett Photography

Thus begins attempt #532 at being a regular blogger!