The Bear-Lover: Mads has always had a thing for Mr. Bear, but recently I have noticed that she is getting pretty attached to his cuddles. When waking up from nap, she always walks down the hall way with Mr. Bear clutched under one arm, and she always knows where he is.
The Laundry-Helper: I try to keep Babe involved in everything I do. It's really the only way to get anything done. I've been catching up on some backed up laundry these past few days (it's finally all done, congratulate me, please), and Mads has become quite the pro. While folding, she hands me the next work shirt or camo shorts from the basket. While sock matching, she deposits the little mate-balls into the sock basket. We have a blast doing chores together, and sometimes things get a little crazy...
The Pointer: Pointing isn't a new skill. Since March or so, every time she sees the cat, her finger shoots out to show me where Wic is. Recently though, Mads has figured out that if she points at something that she wants, I will hand it to her. She tests me all day long by pointing at different toys to see if I'll get them for her. She becomes very excited when her pointing gets her what she wants.
The Food-Thrower: When you're done eating, ya know, when you're full, what do you do? Me, I stop eating. Mads? She throws everything off of her tray. Annoying, but she definitely gets her point across.
The Sneaky-Sleeper: It has never been easy to get Madelynn to sleep. She will fight sleep until her eyes are purple and her head is too heavy to hold. But twice now, Babe has decided that she is just too tired to wait for me to finish dishes, and she'll grab Mr. Bear and take him to bed. She put herself down for nap, and I panicked trying to find her. This kind of makes me sad. Who taught her to be so independent? (Eat that, anti-co-sleeping-peeps.)
The Crazy-Climber: Wanna ride that pony? Mommy taking too long walking down the hallway? She just climbs on it herself. She climbs onto the bed, into laundry baskets and onto the night stand. It's the scariest thing I have ever seen.
The Sweet-Talker: Madelynn used to be the one word Queen, but as she adds more sounds to her growing collection of cats, hots and baps, she has found that stringing them all together will get quite a squeal from me. I swear it sounds like she's talking in a different language, but real words. Sometimes her sounds will trick me and I'll think that I just heard her say "what's that?" or "go there!" I know it's only excited Mommy brain, but I'm pretty sure she knows what she's talking about half the time.
The Block-Stacker: Big soft blocks, stacked three high on the edge of the tub. I put the bottom one down, she added the other two. That's team-work.
The Shape-Sorter: This is pretty amazing, only because we don't really practice with the shape sorter all that much. After I moved it to a low shelf in the corner, it became one of her new favorite toys. Circle is the easiest, square takes a couple tries and triangle makes her angry, but she is determined to get it.
The Bathtub-Swimmer: Those swim classes have really paid off. Madelynn has become so comfortable with the water, bath time is a total blast. She rolls all over the place, on her belly and on her back. She splashes really hard, getting water all over the place. The past few nights she has been filling up one of her water toys and blowing bubbles in it. She's a water-baby for sure.
The Tooth-Brusher: Our morning routine starts with a fresh dipe and a face wash, then it's on to teeth brushing. With Mads on my hip, I prepare her tooth brush first, then mine, and we brush together in the mirror. She attempts to brush like I do, but I still have to go in there and get the teeth she has missed. She enjoys brushing her teeth, and gets excited when she sees the toothpaste tube.
The Tubby-Scrubber: Like I said before, Madelynn is beside me at all times. When I'm cleaning the bathroom, the easiest way to keep Babe out of my hair is to give her a rag of her own. While I tackle toilets, she rubs her rag over the sides of the tub. After the tub has been shined to perfection, she usually scrubs my jeans next. She's a strange girl, totally excited about housework.
The Un-Plugger: This drives me insane. I have to vacuum this place at least once a day. Cheerio crumbs, cat hair and tissue scraps are always in abundance around here. While sweeping, Mads will go to the outlet and unplug the vacuum. Five million times. I only get one good "vrroom" in before she's turning it off again. Grr.
The Bottle-Drinker: Not a baby bottle, what kind of milestone would that be? I'm talking about a water bottle. I give her a bottle that is half full, and she drinks from it all by herself. The first sip is always the wettest (all down her shirt, always), but after a few tries (when the bottle is almost empty), she is able to tilt it back just enough to get a drink. Thank heavens because I'm sick of washing sippy cup parts.
The Foot-Stomper: I've heard all about the terrible twos, but no one ever told me how trying a one year old can be. If I take something from her that she shouldn't be playing with, she will SHRIEK and stomp and bounce up and down. If I ignore her, she will throw herself on the floor and scream like a banshee. If I tell her "no," out pop these big, fat crocodile tears and whimpers that break my heart. Toddler hood is going to be fun.
The Hide-and-Seeker: Madelynn's most favoritest game in the whole wide world is hide and seek. I hide behind couches, under blankets and in bathrooms. When my little seeker walks by, I bust out and scream boo. It scares the crap out of her every time, and giggles completely take her over.
The Racing-Runner: Walking was a big deal. Running? An even bigger deal. My baby's balance is still not one hundred percent, but that doesn't stop her from sprinting down the hallway. Or from running into walls, desks and coffee tables. She gets right back up and keeps on truckin'.
The Hurricane-Hobby: Toys are fun and all, but messing with Mommy is way better. As I make my way around the living room putting toys away, Madelynn follows behind me and pulls everything back out. She doesn't actually play with any of the toys, she just throws them on the floor. We could play this game for hours. We have played this game for hours. She has more fun than I do. Here is a Mads hit and run:
And finally...
Outside is the place to be: Babe's favorite place to be is outside, and now that the weather is getting nice, we spend a lot of time on the balcony. We have lunch outside and pass the morning just sitting on the floor pointing at trees. It will be nice when Pennsylvania stops raining, and we can get off this tiny balcony and into the real world again.
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