Madeline: 6 Months

Madeline turned 6 months old about 10 days ago. (Why oh why am I always late doing this??? I swear I don't love her any less than the first. I just have less time. :)

Stats:
Weight: 12.4 lbs (2%)
Height: 26 inches (61%)
Head: 15.5 inches (1%)
Madeline's supermodel ways continue, and she is slowly falling off the charts in weight. The doctor assures me she's growing perfectly on her growth curve, which is more petite than most, and is not worried at all. Not that I am either--I just wish her pants would stay up! Her head is tiny, about the size of a grapefruit.
What she's been up to lately:
*Chewing, chewing, chewing. She eats anything she can get her hands on, and has a preference for paper and socks.
*She has also started "solid" foods. (An entire post coming on this, as soon as I can figure out how to download videos from the video camera to the new computer). Like most people, she loves her some carbs, fruits (pears, applesauce, peaches, banana), and can do without the vegetables I've tried to stuff in her. She has a delicate appetite, and if I don't time it just right she won't eat anything at all. She still nurses like a champ, though we're trying to cut back on that just a bit and get going on solids.
*She "talks" whenever she isn't chewing on something, which admittedly is not all that often, but often enough that we've noticed it and think it's cute. My favorite is when I bring her downstairs in the morning: she sees her Dad and big sister, smiles wide, and makes a little satisfied, happy "humph" sound. It's adorable.
*Maddie's favorite hobby is to lay on the floor rolling, playing, chewing. It works for me! She can move around the majority of the family room, but has yet to venture further afield. A change this month is that instead of moving randomly, she moves very deliberately when she sees something she wants. It makes us very careful of what we leave out!
*Her legs are almost ALWAYS moving, even when she's asleep!
*Madeline has been working out her abs. She sort of sits independently, if you count independently as 30 seconds or less. In the bathtub I have a sling I usually lay her on, and lately she's been bending her body in a V shape so her legs and her head are in the air.
*If Emma is our drama queen, then Maddie is our mellow girl. She sleeps well, eats well, and is happy being dragged wherever we take her.
We love our little lady, and can't believe it's been six months already!

Halloween 2009

The festivities began on Wednesday with the Church Trunk-or-Treat.

Do you know what 200 pieces of candy looks like?

Emma was a bit bewildered by all the activity. We had to remind her how to trick-or-treat.

Thursday night was a carnival at the library. It was adorable, with games, a scavenger hunt, treats...they even gave us a free book! Unfortunately, 2 kids + 1 mom + a crowd = no pictures.

We started off the actual day by heading to the pumpkin patch. Yes, I know, we were a little behind the game this year. (Though, come to think of it, we didn't go at all last year...)


I'll take the one on the right!

Later that afternoon we headed for "Scare on the Square."



Around sunset it was time to hit up the neighborhood:


Maddie fell apart shortly after this picture was taken, so I took her home for a bath and bedtime. Dave and Emma were out for about an hour. As darkness fell, she began to get nervous about the other kids in costumes and reminded her father that it was bedtime, so they trekked home. All in all a fun week! Emma is especially thrilled about having candy for "bessert" after dinner.

A Conversation

We gave Emma a refresher course on how to trick-or-treat last night.

Me: Emma, what do you say when someone opens the door?

E: Hello! (with much enthusiasm)

She still came home with plenty of loot! Pictures to come...

Fall Books

October is the start of the holiday season, and in our house we have a special basket with holiday books to help us celebrate. Here are some of our favorites:

Where is Baby's Pumpkin? by Karen Katz. A lift-the-flap book perfect for the baby/toddler set.

Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins. We were introduced to this book at storytime last year, and loved it so much we added it to our home collection. It combines counting, animal sounds, and a poor farmer who just wants an apple from his tree!

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper. I have loved this book since my friend Chiska introduced it to me in London about 9 years ago. A cat, a duck and a squirrel get together to make pumpkin soup...and learn something about sharing and friendship in the process.

A Very Hairy Scary Story by Rick Walton (who, incidentally, taught a picture book writing class at BYU that yours truly took years ago). A little girl lingers too long at a friend's house and has some scary (and hairy!) encounters on the way home.

Mrs. McMurphy's Pumpkin by Rick Walton. This is probably our most favorite Halloween book. Sweet Mrs. McMurphy is haunted by a mean pumpkin who threatens to eat her...don't worry though, the ending causes lots of laughs as we all shout the text on the final page together.

What are YOUR favorite Fall books?

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

My friend Becca wrote a book and it's fantastic.

It's out today. Go buy it. And then read it. You won't regret it.

Madeline: 5 Months

Baby Maddie is now a whopping 5 months old and is more fun by the hour. I love this stage--her personality is really starting to shine and she is an easy, happy baby.
**As evidenced by the previous entry, Madeline is now mobile. Luckily she has yet to venture out of the family room, so it's pretty easy to keep her safe.
**Maddie is very curious, and likes to investigate things by licking them. I don't mind this too much in the house, but when we go out in public, ick!
**She loves paper--crumpling it, eating it, usually a combination of the two.
**Frau Madeline speaks German. She has been practicing her gutteral sounds on us.
**She has discovered her feet, and apparently they are quite tasty.
**Madeline likes music--whenever she hears a particularly catchy tune, she cranes her head around, looking for the source of the music.
**She loves her new exersaucer, and enjoys when we stand her up.
**She is still happy to be dragged around, as long as she is either sitting up in the stroller or carried in the Baby Bjorn. She gets bored of her carseat.
**Maddie is still long and skinny--even the elastic size 3-6 months falls off her waist. I didn't notice this too much over the summer (probably because she spent so much time in onesies), but most of her pants fall down. It makes for easy diaper changes. :)
**It is getting hard to photograph her--all she wants to do is explore!

Watch out world, she's mobile!

On Monday afternoon, after a good nap and a snack, I set Madeline down on a blanket in the middle of the family room to practice rolling. (She recently mastered rolling over both ways). I figured she'd roll around a little and probably suck on her fingers a lot. I head off to check email and get a phone call. Fifteen minutes later I find this:

She was going to town on a pile of newspapers. She had made it about five or six feet across the floor. Here's a picture to give you some perspective (she started on the pastel blanket on the right).