Wednesday, January 28, 2009

sick days

Hi,



I just wanted to apologize for not posting any cute pictures of myself recently. I have been under the weather. I have a runny nose, a cough, and the sneezes. M&D keep following after me with a cloth trying to wipe my face and it makes me mad! We have had to cancel all my play dates this week so I have been stuck inside all day long. Hopefully I will be feeling better by tomorrow because we are supposed to go to a sign language workshop.



Hey, speaking of language, I learned how to say "dog" both by speaking and by signing! Go figure since we don't even have a dog. I also know the word "wave" and I will wave my hands when somebody says it, even if they don't cue me first!!



We have some big news to share with our friends and family.....No, I'm not getting a new sibling......Daddy got a new job!!!!! This is very exciting news! Daddy is the new branch manager for the largest Wells Fargo branch in Oregon!! He will have lots of responsibility and people to oversee. Mommy and I are so proud of him, and we are glad that he won't be traveling anymore. Maybe we can even have lunch with him some days! Unfortunately he will have to work some Saturdays though. This is a big change for our family and we are very excited about what the future holds for us.



We are also excited for Justin and Sam, who announced their engagement last week! We can't wait to meet Sam when she and Justin come to Portland in February. Congratulations!!



Well, M&D promise to take more pictures of me once I am feeling better and my face is not so red and drippy. Hope everyone is doing well!



Love,

Maddie

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Weekend Fun

We had a lot of fun last weekend ....

On Friday night we went to The Budd's house. They were learning about Ancient Africa in their home school studies and invited us to a traditional African feast. The food included a chicken dish with figs, and a rice dish with papaya juice. Everything was very yummy. The kids had made shakers with different types of beans and grains, so after dinner we made music with the shakers. I loved going to The Budd's because there are three kids to play with. I love to play chase and check out all their cool toys.


What a yummy feast!

Shake it Mommy! (Man I hope she doesn't embarrass me when I get older....)


On Saturday Mommy and Daddy took on a big job.....they babysat for two of my friends at the same time!!! Aoife's parents and Saffron's parents each got to go on dates while the girls all played at my house. It was lots of fun to watch M&D take care of all three of us! It gave them insight into what having ten month old triplets would be like. But, we all survived and now M&D have IOU's for two date nights! During the day our friends Shannon, Mark and Kyleah (19 months old) stopped by. So at one time there were 4 adults and 4 girls all hanging out at our house! Then when the parents got back from their dates, they all stayed at our house to visit for a while and have dinner. It was a slightly tiring, but very fun day. I love social activities. I am bummed that M&D didn't have the presence of mind to capture the day on camera. I mean it's not like they had their hands full or anything :)


On Sunday we hosted a playdate at our house for Nate, Ange, and Ruby (8 months old). They are old friends, and Ange and Mommy were pregnant at the same time. It was great to see them again!!

See the toy in Ruby's hands (it is actually the water dispenser to her bottle warmer). She brought it with her and I decided I had to play with it so we had a little tug-of-war!



On Monday even though it was a legal holiday and the banks and post offices were closed, Daddy still had to work. So he did not get to join me and Mommy for our outing to Vancouver to visit Grandpa Randy, Robyn and Jackson. We had a yummy lunch, and I even learned how to blow kisses! I also discovered that their house has stairs. I was great at crawling up, but then I would let go and fall backward after a couple of stairs. Luckily there was always somebody right there to catch me!




This next picture is what M&D call "Maddie one-shoe". I have learned how to kick off my shoes, (and sometimes even my socks). M&D get a little tired of constantly putting them back on, so often I go around the house as "Maddie one-shoe." It is kind of slippery when I don't have both shoes on though. For some reason I love to throw my toys on the ground and then step on them, which makes me trip and fall. Someday I will learn!



Maddie one-shoe

Oh yea, my other two favorite things right now are 1) playing in piles of clothes and 2) pulling everything out of Mommy's purse!

Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Happy 10 months!!!

Happy 10 Month Birthday to Maddie!!!









These pictures are all from 1/12/09--My 10 month birthday. The pictures of me with my brown vest are from earlier in the day. The pictures of me and Daddy dressed up are from the evening when we got to go to Auntie Tanya's house for a late Christmas celebration.


Saturday, January 10, 2009

Blueberries!

M&D introduced me to blueberries last night. I think I liked them!!!



They are kind of messy though!




I like that I can feed myself the blueberries. I just need to work on that whole hand-eye coordination thing. And, in my defense, it doesn't help that M&D smooshed the blueberries up so I wouldn't eat them whole.




Friday, January 9, 2009

More Christmas

We were very busy once the snow melted and we could go out and visit family and friends again!


On the 28th we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Randy, Robyn and Jackson. We had a great day of visiting and we were spoiled with gifts! M&D got a wii! I am pretty sure they stay up playing games after I go to bed. I got shoes, clothes, books, bath toys, a growth chart and an engraved ornament.

I love my bath toys!! It is a ship with a captain, stacking cups, and a fishing game!

On the 30th we watched the Ducks clean up at the Sun Bowl against Oklahoma State!! We were going to go to a party to watch the game, but I got my first cold (runny nose, watering eyes, and sneezing, but no fever) so we kept our germs home.


On the 31st we followed our normal routine. I went to bed at 7:30 and M&D went to bed at 9:30. None of us stayed up til midnight. Maybe next year! We did hear fireworks though.


On New Year's Day we visited O'Pa and O'Ma in The Dalles. It was a bit of a scary drive to get there, but I was in a fabulous mood and I charmed the socks off the O'Parents. I pulled out all my moves, the smile, the wave, peek-a-boo. They had a coffee table full of things that I got to pull of and throw on the ground. It was fun!

Me and O'Pa


O'ma feeding me a bottle.

On the 3rd we finally made it to Eugene!!! We celebrated with Grandma Jan's side of the family. It was neat because all the kids and grandkids were able to be there. It is only granddaughters so far. Here is a picture of all of us together with Taylor and Devon too!

Anybody who saw me during the holidays probably saw me wave. I love to wave hi and bye. It started out with a full arm wave, but now I am getting better and just moving my hand. I also absolutely love books! I love to hear the stories, turn the pages, and even chew on the corners. I am learning about words and reading from the "Your Baby Can Read" series from Grandpa Ike and Grandma Linda. There are books, dvds, and flash cards and we play with them every day. I am also learning sign language so I can communicate and tell M&D what I need. My newest trick is dancing. Whenever I hear music I start shaking my booty. See me in the video?


All in all I am a very happy baby. I sleep, eat, and play most of the time. I am trying new foods like edamame (soy beans) and tofu. I like to feed myself and make big messes. I crawl around and explore everything. I can pull myself to standing, and even stand alone for a few seconds. I also love to smile and laugh. I laugh when adults are silly and I laugh really hard when I am tickled. I got 3 new teeth in the last couple of weeks bringing me up to a grand total of 6 teeth (two on top and four on bottom). M&D brush my teeth every night and give me fluoride too. I graduated out of my baby car seat and now I have a deluxe new car seat that has more room and is more comfortable. I will be 10 months in a couple of days and M&D are wondering where the time has gone. They are already beginning to think about my first birthday party!

M&D have been shopping for some new furniture. For some reason they want an entertainment center to hide away all the dvds and television cords so that I cannot get to them. They are also looking at getting a bed for the office so we can get the mattress out of the dining room, and some shelving units to store my books and toys. If anybody has any ideas of places to look, let them know!

Happy 2009!!!