Bye Bye, Kiss Kiss

Ok, before you just click to view this video, you should start with the first video I posted, which is the third one down (Maddie in the Kitchen). That was the first video, this blog just posts the most recent at the top. This is the video where I try to get her to wave "bye byes" and she gives a kiss :) So cute! She's really into imitating sounds right now and does a really good job at it! She even clicks her tongue when she hears Murphy's toenails clicking on the tile. She's such a little cutie and I couldn't be more proud of her!

The Baby in the Oven

So, in this video Maddie sees a baby in the oven! What?!?! Ok, so it's just her reflection but she waves to herself (you have to look very closely to see the wave). She likes to look at herself in mirrors and kiss herself. Also in this video you can hear her trying to make a cat sound...it's cute but doesn't actually sound like the cat :) She's working really hard on being gentle with the cat. But how do you really teach that? She pets Audrey softly for about a second and then grabs onto a chunk of hair. Audrey's come close to biting Maddie before and I'm terrified she's going to bite her good one of these days. Usually I just try to distract the cat and get her to move away from Maddie...but now that Maddie is getting around so well it's hard for the cat to find a safe place to hide!

Maddie in the Kitchen

This was the first time I got out some bowls and spoons for Maddie to play in the kitchen with me. I initially got them out to try to keep her contained in the kitchen with me (instead of going after Murphy's water bowl) so I could get the dishes done and whatever else I needed to do in the kitchen. Guess what? Nothing got done because I got out the video camera! Sheesh...Oh well, I have to enjoy these moments while they last so I don't mind having a few extra dishes to do before bed :)

She did it!

Maddie pulled herself up to her feet yesterday :) Such a big girl we have!!!

Busy, Busy!

We've been waiting for Maddie to get more mobile since she started doing her little "Army crawl" back on Feb 18th. Well, it's finally begun! It's almost impossible to keep her confined to the playroom these days. She's crawling up on her hands now, but only when she's on the tile floor! The elbows are apparently still good for carpeted surfaces :) On Monday (the 9th of March) she started getting into a sitting position from crawling and then yesterday she all of a sudden started pulling up! She can't quite figure out how to get from her knees to her feet yet, although she's trying to learn already. She's managed to get up on one foot but then her knee was kind of lodged under the little table she was trying to pull up on so she couldn't get any further than that. Along with all this new found mobility is coming an increase in frustration (and temper). I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for her to know what she wants to do but not know how to do it. My instinct is to jump in and "rescue" her but I know how important it is for her to figure it out on her own...I'll keep you posted!

Another major milestone we have coming up tomorrow is going to be the first time I'm leaving Maddie at the day care at the gym. Eeek! I've left her with a babysitter before when she was really little (for Eric's surgery on his arm) but that was before she had stranger anxiety. Now she's really attached to Mommy and Daddy so it's going to be really hard for me to leave her knowing that she's going to be upset. The good thing is that I'm still going to be in the same building so I can peek in on her at any time or the day care providers can come get me if she just won't settle down. They did tell me to plan on only spending 10-15 minutes at a time the first few times I bring her to the gym just so she can get used to the new faces and place. Wish us luck!

We Have a Crawler!

Maddie started crawling this past Wednesday. As you can see from the picture, she uses her left hand but her right forearm...silly girl :) She mostly uses her knees but sometimes I think maybe her knees get a little tired and she switches momentarily to her toes. It's so cool to see her moving toward something she wants. Mostly, that's the dog or whatever the dog happens to be chewing on. But, hey, whatever gets her moving, right? She's such a big girl and mommy and daddy are so proud of her!

Also on Wednesday she started waving at us. I don't have any pictures of that just yet, but hopefully I'll have a little video to post of her waving soon. It's so amazing watching our little girl learn so many new things. Sometimes I feel like I'm about to send her off to college already :) It just doesn't seem possible in the short amount of time that she's been with us that she could know how to do so much! I'm so in love with this little girl! I swear I could just sit and watch her all day long, just to watch the expressions on her face when she sees the dog or cat come into the room, to see how excited she gets to see daddy come in to get her up in the morning, to see her snuggle up with her "snuggly" and suck her thumb when she gets sleepy. I just want to soak in every little bit because I know it's not going to last nearly as long as I want it to!

She's starting to crawl!!! I'm so glad I got to capture this moment on video :) I just got the camera out to show her progress (mostly getting up on her knees and pushing herself backwards) when she surprised me by actually moving a knee and a hand forward! Oh my goodness...I'm just the proudest momma :)