The Giggle

I started this blog with the hope of uploading video of "The toddle"- however, my IT skills are lacking and I can't figure out how to convert it to a useable format. So instead, I've uploaded my very favorite video of Madelynn. Her little giggle absolutely melts my heart. I am putty in her baby hands!

Finally!

Madelynn FINALLY has her first tooth! Without a runny nose and very little drooling or fussiness her first little tooth made it's debut three days ago. Lookout steak- here we come!

Hair and other fun adventures

Having a daughter means- learning to do hair. And most of you know that I'm not really the girly type. I rarely spend more than 15 minutes (drying not included) doing my hair. But I am so anxious to do Madelynn's hair! We attempted our first official ponytail. It lasted a few hours- she apparently is not much of a hair person either.

But my favorite time to do her hair is right after bath time- how cute is she?

But not all of our endeavours end so.... clean. We currently are experiencing our first bout of independence. Madelynn very much wants to fed herself. Really, who can blame her. But the outcome looks like this...

Yes folks, she does have food in her hair; in her nose, and I believe there might be some in her ear. Honestly, it goes everywhere. And so far the cat is not much help. All I really need for Christmas is a puppy to clean up the floor. Mom and Dad- I was kidding- PLEASE don't go get me a dog! Even though the messes are horrible and time consuming- she's so dang cute and she tries so hard.

My Little Monster

Our first Halloween was a huge success! We limited our ventures to the Grandparents'. We (mostly me) had a great time dressing up. We added a pink bow to Madelynn's costume to add a touch of feminity. (Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why- all the grandparents know that she's a girl). Madelynn was such a good sport and despite being about 5 degrees warmer than normal- she hardly fused. I was only able to get a few pictures (in focus anyway). I need camera lessons on how to capture a moving child. We had so much fun this year- we can't wait for next year. Maybe we can get dad to dress up with us?

Teeth- Where are you?

Since Madelynn was 4 months old people have been telling us that she's getting teeth. And after several well meaning, but premature remarks- I quit listening to people. That was until I returned from Keystone (10/21/09). She had bad diaper rash and was drooling. So, when people thought she was getting her first tooth, I thought, "maybe she is." Well, it's 10/27/09, and we don't have a single tooth yet. I'm really in no hurry, but if she's not teething- I'm going to need another explanation for the runny nose, drooling and general moodiness of this weekend! (Even when she's moody- she is still such a joy!)

Busy

We've been busy. A week ago we had family (Grandparents and uncles too) pictures taken. Madelynn was quite a sport.

Then the three of us headed up to Silverthorn. I had a conference in Keystone, so we thought that Brian and Madelynn should drive up with me on Saturday to hang out. Even though she was exhausted from the pictures, she allowed mom to drag her dad through the outlet stores. We got to the hotel and started winding down. Despite our best attempts to recreate her bedtime routine- we failed miserably. After 2 hours of trying to get her to sleep, Brian drove her home. She definately won that one. Next time we want to sleep away from home- we're going to try somewhere closer to home- like Grandma's and Papa's.

Washington D.C.

I returned from Washington DC on Saturday. The conference was wonderful. This was the first time I have been away from Madelynn, and my attention was nicely diverted by all of the history and entertainment. I can't wait to go back and spend some quality time playing tourist. On Wednesday, several of us took a "Midnight tour" of the sights. Considering the number of monuments we saw, the informative tour and riding in a double decker bus- it was definitely worth the cost and the time. Below are a few snapshots of the sights.

The Korean War Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial

Place of Lincoln's death (across the street from the Ford Theatre).