Piggies and Peek-a-boo

Madelines hair has gone all crazy on us. The front is short, straight- kind of like a middle aged man. The back explodes into crazy , all over the place curls- completely untame-able. This morning was particularly wild, so I thought I'd do her very first pig tails. She actually kept them in for a good portion of the day- I thought for sure she'd pull them out and eat them .

She was sick this past week- reflux, a cold and an ear infection. Plus she is trying to drop one nap, but doesn't know to sleep longer for the first one. So its been a pretty interesting week here . Last night was the first night in almost a week that either one of us got any decent sleep.

Today she was markedly better, so she was excited to engage in a game of peek-a-boo. She makes fists, brings them up to her eyes , and waits for you to say

" where's Madeline?" Then she slowly peels away one hand and smiles at you . If you haven't seen this in person, you are missing out. Its seriously one of the Cutest Moments of 2007.

Don't Let the Picture Fool Ya...

.. my girl is not happy. I just didn't want to post another picture of Madeline crying. I've seen too much of it in real life :(

After seemingly reflux- free for a while, it has returned. With a vengence. According to our peditrician, it never went away, but the medicine was working its way out of her system. Now that its out, reflux is back. We feel like we have a newborn again- we have to hold her upright after feedings, break the bottle up into a few ozs at a time, avoid laying her on her back after her bottle...and poor Maddy looks at us like we can help her, and we just can't. Zantac takes a week to two weeks to see results.

In lighter news, its begining to feel like Spring around here ( minus the snow that is still melting). We've been taking walks everyday and she loves it. Its so good to get out of the house. Although it wasn't really cold until February, it wasn't warm enough to take walks, save for a few January 70 degree days, so to be 'released' from the house is great !

No Teeth Yet!

She's 13 months and one week old... and no teeth. At my Mothers group, they had a pediatric dentist come in to speak- he said it was perfectly normal. I've been enjoying her gummy smile - although if her recent behavior is any indication, she may be getting some choppers very soon. Poor baby!

When Cats and Babies Collide

This was from our trip to Rhode Island. Belou was my cat from when before I was married. Greg is allergic to cats, so being with him meant saying goodbye to Belou. When we realized that the cat would have to go, I hoped, hoped, hoped that my parents would take him, so at least he'd stay in the family. I approached Operation Mom and Dad Take Belou carefully- equal amounts guilt, appreciation and promises to come over and clean the litter box. I wrote an outline, highlighting the finer points of Belou's company( toasty feet, sits with you while you eat breakfast, bug exterminator), and ended with " You don't have to tell me now, but please at least think about it"

Mom: yeah, give us 24 hours to...

Dad: oh no , we're taking Belou.

I knew my Dad could not resist an animal. This is the man who insisted we take all of our puppy Rufus' siblings- all three of them, so they wouldn't have to be separated( My mom said no)

So anyway, my parents moved to RI and now my Belou is 3 hours away.

I have introduced Madeline to the cat a few times, she seemed to have no interest... that is until this past visit. And Belou seemed quite enamored of her as well- though I could tell from his face rubbing and tail swinging that I needed to stand by.

The picture above had Madeline in delighted shock- I wish I had caught the expression after he rubbed up against her face... When she sees a picture of Belou at home , her face lights up and she purrs( really she spits, but she's trying to purr).

Fishy Face

This is Madeline's Fishy Face. She does this whenever we put the sunglasses on her. Oops- she's up from her nap.. just wanted to post this picture....

Monkey

She loves this monkey. Every morning, after breakfast she crawls over to it , making monkey sounds " hoo hoo haa haa" and gives him a big hug. and makes the kissing sound"mmmmmmmwah!"

Waiting for daddy

This is Madeline's new thing. She crawls over to the window and says"da da da da". I pull up the shade, sit her on the window seat, and she watches the world outside. She sees the kids walking to school, the school bus, the people walking to the train station. But the real reason she requests her window perch shows up around 8:30. The silver car pulls up, she starts kicking her legs and waving her hands. Its Daddy coming home from work !

It is so fun to see her react to people, not just to us as her parents, but other babies, strangers in a store, people in the bank.... A chubby cheeked dimple faced baby named Madeline can get even the most seasoned New Yorker to stop for a minute to return a smile. 'Tis the power of babies