Eleven Months!

My baby is 11 months old. It doesn’t seem possible that I’m already buying things for her birthday…wasn’t she just born a couple weeks ago?? People aren’t kidding when they tell you that the years will F.L.Y. by after you have kids! It has been so amazing to watch this little girl grow up this year. It’s amazing to me how much babies change in the first year. They go from being completely dependent and not being able to do ANYTHING, to this little person moving all around, “talking”, and becoming so curious about everything around them. At 11 months, Madison is:
· Walking…all…over…the…place!! She still has a little bit of Frankenbaby look to her, but she’s on the move, none the less

· Talking so much! Majority of the time, we have no idea what she’s saying, but she’s so passionate about it! She uses her hands (something I’m sure she got from her Mommy!), gets these crazy facial expressions, and changes the inflection of her voice as she’s telling us her stories!

· Still eating anything you put in front of her! She had ravioli for the first time a couple weeks ago, and loved to not only eat it, but also paint her highchair tray with it. I can’t wait to see her with her birthday cake…pretty sure we won’t have a dainty cake eater!

· Still sleeping about 11-13 hours a night. Daddy has also learned how to actually put her down for naps, which helps her to sleep longer during naps. Mommy still hasn’t tried, so we’ll see how that goes! :-)

· Loving her “joo” (juice). We’ve been giving her flavored water, and she prefers that to actual juice, so that’s all she gets now! Makes me happy: no sugar and a lot cheaper!!! We’ve made sure to keep calling it juice so she doesn’t think all water tastes like that!

· A master on the stairs. Well, going up them that is. Every time I try to turn her around to show her how to come down them, she just starts climbing back up, so we just have to keep an eye on her as she goes up.

· LOVING her puppy dogs! Zoey is definitely her favorite, though (which is probably because Nugget doesn’t really care to be around her right now!) She loves to play and climb all over Zoey. And Zoey is so good with her! Madison likes to tackle her, and Zoey just lets her pull on her.

· Starting to really love music. Almost every time she hears music, she’ll start dancing (the little squatting dance most babies do). She can’t stand quite well enough to do it on her own, but that doesn’t stop her from trying!

· Loving the Tupperware cupboard. I moved all our Tupperware down to one of our cupboards on the bottom, and she loves to get in there and pull them all out. It makes for a mess for Mommy and Daddy to clean up, but so worth it to be able to actually make dinner!

This kid is so awesome…seriously! I fall more in love her every second. She is the happiest baby and is always making us laugh. I’m so excited to watch her continue to develop her little personality!

4 years of magic

Four years ago this weekend, I married my best friend. There have been many ups and downs during this time, but all have been worth it. I love this man more than I could have ever imagined. He always knows what to say when I'm feeling down, and can always make me laugh. Sometimes this gets on my nerves! Seeing as though he can make me laught 9 times out of 10 even when I'm mad at him. He is the most amazing father...he loves Madison more than anything in this world. Seeing him grow as a daddy this past year has just made me fall even more in love with him. There is nothing better than seeing a Daddy with his baby girl! I am so excited to spend so many more years with this man; my soulmate and my best friend!

At our wedding, September 3, 2005

At the Colts game in August, 2009

(I must say that I think we both look better now...how many people can say that! :))

Pictures

Here are some recent pictures of the little miss!

It has been brought to my attention...

that I need to update! I don't even know where to start! Miss Madison turned 10 months last Wednesday, and is becoming less of a baby and more of a little girl each day. I was looking at some of her pictures from our cruise, and I couldn't get over how much she's changed in just those 3 short months. It's amazing to me how old I thought she looked then, and now looking back, how young she looked!! She was still a baby, now she's my (almost) toddler!

She's now crawling at an alarming rate of speed! She's everywhere and into everything! She loves to get Zoey's dishes out and throw them around. Apparently the metal hitting the wood floor is appealing to her ears! She's also pulling herself up at every opportunity and standing on her own more often and for longer periods of time each day. Last night she almost took a step, but decided to plop down and crawl instead. Which I am quite OK with...I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be a walker yet...that would just solidify that I have a toddler...no more baby. I'm not ready to let my baby grow up, yet!

At 10 months:
* Weighs 19 lbs 7 oz (at her check-up on 7/20/09)

*28 inches long (same check-up)

*Eating 2-3 8 ounce bottles a day (1 in the morning, 1 around 2 or 3, and 1 before bed)

*Eating anything you put on her tray!
*Her favorites include bananas, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, turkey dogs, corn,
chicken

*Babbling like crazy!! She loves to talk.
*Dada – starting to figure out that “Dada” is Daddy
*Mama – not sure if were at “Mama” = Mommy yet…
*Dodo/Dod – Doggie
*“I did it”
*“I got it”
*Sounded like she was saying “Hey Dude” this weekend…seeing as though we both say
that to her a lot so it wouldn't be surprising!
*Many more sounds that mean a lot to her but Mommy and Daddy are still trying to figure
out exactly what they mean!

*Pulling herself up on anything and everything...the girl loves to stand!

*Cruising like a pro!

*Standing on her own

*Clapping – she loves to clap for herself!

*Pointing at things...sometimes what she wants, sometimes just to point!

*Still sleeping 12-13 hours a night

*But still not really napping…½ hour here, ½ hour there…

*Loves the water!! She would stay in the pool all day if we’d let her I think! She’s not afraid at all. She crawled from Grandma’s chair to the pool the other day and would have gone in if Grandma would have let her! Seriously…no fear!

*Is really starting to love her doggies! She lets them out of their cages every morning and when we get home in the afternoon. Nugget doesn’t really want anything to do with her, but Zoey will let her crawl all over her, which Madison L.O.V.E.S. to do!! She uses Zoey to pull herself up, pulling Zoey’s ears and fur in the process, but Zoey just lets her. She’s so good with her!

*Loves her Ball Popper. She knows she has to push the red button to get the balls to pop up. She also likes to put anything she can find down the hole.

*Loves her Activity Table. She loves to turn the pages of the book back and forth! She also likes to take the phone off and carry it with her, stopping every once in a while to shake it (it rattles), smile and be on her way!

We are just loving this little princess so much!! She is a funny little girl, and such a joy to be around. We are truly blessed with an amazing little lady!

How?

Can someone please tell me how its possible to go from this:

To this:

in just 9 short months?? How is it possible that my baby is 9 months old already?! Detailed post coming soon :)

Old Settlers

I got to take Madison to Old Settlers this weekend. Even though the only thing she could ride was the carousel, it was still fun to start this tradition with her. I remember looking forward to Old Settlers every year when I was kid. I'm excited to take Madison back every year, too! She got her first taste of fair food, too. She had some of the breading from a corn dog, some ice cream, some cotton candy, and some elephant ear...all very small tastes, I assure you, but we had to let her experience the great food!

Madison "jumping" into the pool

She was fearless! She would come in whether you were ready for her or not! Can't wait to enjoy more time in the pool with her this summer!