A Very Active One-Year-Old

Wow... this parenting thing just keeps getting more and more fun - exahusting, but fun! Holding Maddie is a full-body workout. She does not like to be held for more than two seconds, especially if you're sitting or standing still. This girl likes to be on the MOVE!!

The days of the army crawl are behind us and she crawls up on all fours now. She also goes from her stomach to sitting up quite gracefully. She is pulling herself up on anything she can get her hands on and is starting to walk along the furniture. Every day is a new adventure and Maddie never ceases to amaze us with how quickly she is learning new things.

One of Maddie's favorite pasttimes is chasing the cat. The poor cat just barely tolerates her but Maddie does not care. She crawls after the cat as fast as she can go, giggling full belly laughs as she goes.

Sleeping habits are beginning to even out a bit. The frightened shrieks in the middle of the night have faded... thank God! She still awakens sometimes, but now it is a much softer cry - usually because she is wet, hungry, or wants to play. We figured out last week that when it was just Maddie and me at home alone, she slept through the night most nights. However, when Daddy was home, she woke up between 3 and 4 AM on a fairly consistent basis and wanted to play. Hmmm... what does that tell ya?!

Well, that issue may have resolved itself since Daddy is home every night now as he got laid off from his job on Tuesday. This is bittersweet for us... bitter in that Doug loved his job and things will probably be a little tight for awhile. However, sweet in that he loves to be home with us and it was getting more difficult each week for him to be gone from the daughter he loves so very much. We are already starting to establish a more stable routine as a result of him being home every night.

He has only been home for a few days but this tired mama is already getting used to it and loving having an extra set of hands and eyes. Cooking is so much easier if baby is not attached to my hip and is playing in the living room instead! Getting ready for work is a lot easier and much quicker now as well because I don't have to be entertaining and/or distracting her from doing things such as sticking her fingers in electrical outlets, etc. while putting on makeup! Yes, we are in the process of babyproofing. However, the little booger has this fascination with trying to figure out how things work. She watched me install the outlet covers and now she likes to pry them off by working her little fingers under them!

Overall, she brings such tremendous joy to our lives. Watching her discover how to do new things and how to say new words is so exciting. Her smile lights up the dreariest day. On weekends when we do not have to get up by the alarm clock, she often sleeps with us for the last half of the night. Several times I have been awakened by little fingers poking at my eyes - trying to pry them open, and little hands patting my cheeks - trying to awaken me. When I finally open my eyes, her face is usually 2 inches from mine and she ALWAYS has a huge toothy grin the second she is successful in rousing me. Life just doesn't get any better than that!!

There are times when Doug and I still get a little weepy at just how blessed we are to be her parents. I'm not sure what we did but we must have done something really right to be blessed in this way. :)

Maddie LOVES her bath - more every day. There are days when she now fusses when I take her out of the tub because she wants to stay in.

Maddie is one wiggly little jabberbox. Her babysitter is Amish so she is learning more Pennsylvania Dutch words than English right now. Her favorite words are, "Vo iss?". That translates to, "Where is?". She always says this with raised eyebrows, shrugged shoulders and both hands facing up by her shoulders in a questioning gesture. It's so adorable. Last week she started saying, "bootsa, bootsa, bootsa". Translates to, "cleaning, cleaning, cleaning". Unfortunately, she gets that from her babysitter, not her mother!

Other words in her vocabulary: Squirt (our cat's name), mama, dada, bye bye, no no no no, happy baby, mmmmmm yum yum, blue (new this week), back (It's so funny... whenever we take her near the patio door, she yells BACK really loudly. She's heard that one too many times from her mommy and daddy - yelling at the cat to get back when we open the door.).

Maddie LOVES ice cream! Go figure. :) She's not shy about demanding that her father share ice cream with her if he is having a bowl!

Gotta get to bed... family breakfast at the Essenhaus in the morning. Thanks for checking in.

Much love,

Beth, Doug, & Maddie