Fun times!

We've started practicing with regular cups this week. All she does with the sippy cups is gnaw on the top...frustrating! She is very interested in regular cups, but, as expected still learning how to control it. This was her most successful trial. She actually drank a couple ounces of juice! She often drinks out of my water glass, but with lots of hand-over-hand help. She was drinking this juice almost completely on her own! We try it once a day--usually at lunch. We'll get there eventually! :)

Today, our friend Toni and her 1 year old son, Noah, came over a for a day of pool fun. Maddy had a blast, as usual! I finally broke down and bought her a cute little bathing suit, too.

The water was a bit deeper than she usually gets in the tub, so she spent lots of time enjoying it.

Hey! How did Noah get all the toys??? I want one!

Success! Chewing on Noah's fun toy.

The sun started to creep into our shade...we closed up shop soon after...can't have any sunburned babies!

Sadly, our dear little pool suffered a wound. While cleaning up, I accidentally caught it on a thorny rosebush and popped the top yellow ring. :o( Fortunately, each section blows up separately, so it might still be okay to use. We'll check it out later and see if it's safe enough for Maddy to play in. I hope so, because it's one of her favorite things to do these days!

Beach Video

Here is the beach video as promised! The wind was blowing her hair up and she wasn't quite sure about it.

Memorial Day

We decided to drive south and find a beach! Maddy hadn't been there yet (which is a travesty, in my opinion!), so we really wanted to let her get a peek. It was supposed to rain, but we decided to chance it anyways. We ended up a this little stretch of public beach in Carabelle, FL. Not the prettiest beach we'd ever seen, but a beach nonetheless! She had a fun time experiencing all the new sights, sounds, and smells. --Oh, and tastes. At first, she seemed very unsure about the sand. She reached from the blanket to touch it and immediately wanted to wipe it from her hands. Later, after being the water (just feet), she became a bit more interested. We let her crawl out a bit. She got a handful of sand and dumped it out. At that point, we were saying, "Oh, at least she's not eating it!" Famous last words, right? The next handful went straight in the mouth. And it was a BIG handful. Oh well--it's a rite of passage, right! :) Glad we were able to enjoy the day!

This little wave got her bottom all wet--oops! She had fun with daddy, though!

Posin' for a picture with mommy

She just wanted to watch the birds!

This one is too funny! The wind kept blowing her hair up and she kept grabbing her hair and batting at the wind in response. She wasn't a fan of the gusts! More of this on the video!

Just bein' cute!

Having problems loading the video--too long. I'll have to edit it and put it in another post...be on the look out! :)

Books!

Maddy has been foregoing the usual toys to look at her board books lately--I love it! Her favorites are Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and Goodnight, Gorilla. She loves to turn pages when Lance or I read to her and when she plays with the books on her own, she goes through different pages and "reads" aloud to herself. I am so excited that she already is growing a love for books and reading--I mean, who would expect any less, right? ;o) With mom as a former educator, she had no other choice! Anyways, here is a pic and video of her.

Progress!

Man, do I wish I had pictures or videos to go along with this story! Yesterday after Maddy had her dinner, she was still playing on the dining room floor near her highchair. At times, she pulls up on the back bar (where the tray snaps on for storage) to stand. This time was different, though. All of a sudden, she pulled up and started walking!!!! The wheels have locks--all but one was on, so there was just enough resistance that she could push it forward without it sliding forward and losing control. She walked it all the way across the room! We turned it around and she pushed it all the way back! I'm hoping she'll do it again soon. We have a little walker/scooter toy that our friend let us borrow, but she can't use that because it rolls too fast/freely for her to control--she just falls forward.

Maddy also continues to cruise on the furniture. As she's gotten taller, she's starting to grab for more and more things. She often tries to pull Lance's books off the kitchen table when he's studying. We've had to relocate pictures, books, and other items from low shelves. She is keeping us on our toes for sure!

Oh--another cute story--we bought this little remote control mouse toy for Chester a few years ago that we found on a clearance rack--silly little thing. Anyways, Lance got it out the other day and started zipping it around. Maddy thought it was the funniest thing! She was crawling around chasing after it and giggling with joy! I need to catch it on video next time. Here's a pic--it has to recharge every few minutes so Lance had to keep picking it up--it was torture for Maddy. :)

Cruisin'!

Maddy has just started trying to take some steps while holding on the furniture. Up until yesterday, it was just a side-step or shuffle here and there--usually toward Chester. Yesterday while Uncle Mike was here, she make a huge trip to get the camera--unfortunately, I couldn't use it! However, I was able to lure her with my phone this morning and caught it on video! This is pretty funny because at the end of the clip, I took the phone and moved it back to the other end of the couch as bait for another little trip. She was NOT happy about that and didn't waste any time going for it!

Being Cute

Just some fun pictures from yesterday :) She was wearing a cute little shirt that finally fits her--it has little alligators on it!

Going after the cup Uncle Mike left behind...silly Uncle Mike!

Watching the rain.

Before it rained, we brought the little buggy outside to play. Maddy loves to be outside for a few minutes everyday. Of course, we have to be careful with her fair skin! ;o) I love her face here--she was squinting, I guess.

She loves to open and close the little compartment.

Eventually she'll figure out how to scoot herself around. In the meantime, she just sits and rocks herself. Every now and again she'll push herself backwards just a bit.

Swings, Swimming Pools, and Sippy Cups

Friday we decided to go to the park and try Maddy out in a swing. She's still a little small for them, but we gave it a shot. At first, she wasn't sure, then she seemed happy, but all of a sudden, she made it very clear that she was not a fan. Oh well--we'll revisit them again in a couple of months. Since that was a bust, we took a walk down the bike trail. The weather was gorgeous!

Maddy was watching Lance put the safety lock back on the TV cabinet--she was so interested in what he was doing. Just really wanted to get in there and climb over him!

Today was the long-awaited pool day! Uncle Mike gave us this little blow-up pool last month (he got it as a gag gift for his birthday) and I have been dying to get it out for Maddy. She *loves* bath time, so I figured this would be another welcome source of entertainment for her--and I was right! We got some fun pictures--she had a blast!

As far as sippy cups...she has one that we got from her baby shower that has handles on it. Handles are good for holding, but all she ever wants to do is chew on them--too distracting! We finally picked one up without handles, and although she still needs some practice on drinking from it without any help at all, it seems to be a success. :)

Although there are no pictures (I KNOW??!?!?!?), I had a WONDERFUL first Mother's Day! Lance did so much stuff for me around the house, made meals for me, took care of Maddy, and gave me a wonderful card! It was the best day ever! :) He is such a wonderful daddy and husband! Next time we'll just try to make sure to take some pictures...

Mischievous Maddy!

Maddy is such a little booger! We have these old, wood outlet covers on some of the electrical outlets downstairs. They protrude out just enough that the saftey plugs don't push in all the way. Consequently, Maddy has discovered that she can pull them out and chew on the plugs. Caught her in the act here! We have since changed them out to the cheap plastic ones so she can't pull them out anymore. Unfortunately, she still tries! Oh well, we can't help having such a smart kiddo! ;o)

9 months!!!

Maddy had her 9 month check-up today. All is well! She is putting on the pounds--now at 18 lbs 14 oz--right at average. Her height/length, however, is 28 1/4 inches--she's jumped up to the 70th percentile for that! Finally picking up some of that height from mommy and daddy!
As far as what she's been up to....she is pulling up on EVERYTHING, trying to stand on her own, and into whatever is accessible. We've had some fun things the past few weeks. I'm way behind on posting pictures, but I'll try to get just a few up now with the promise of more later. :)

Trying to touch Sid the Science Kid!

She loves pulling up on the baby gates!

Daddy put Aiston's hat on her at Noah's 1st birthday party...she wasn't too keen on that.

Hanging out with her two best boy buds--Noah (center) and Aiston (right) at Noah's birthday party.

Hanging out with Daddy at Tijuana Flats.