Story time

Madeline loves books. And she loves talking. And I love watching her read aloud to herself, completely unaware of everything else around her.

Hello, bye bye

In my last post about Madeline's favorite words, I neglected to mention some of her most common - "hi" and "bye bye." A perfect illustration of her mastery of these words occurred at Target this week. It was a weekday, so the store was relatively empty. We were walking down a main aisle - Lacey and I were browsing slowly as Madeline toddled behind - when a stranger approached. As the woman drew nearer (she wasn't coming for us, just passing on her way to whatever she might be shopping for) Madeline gave her a cheerful wave. The woman was delighted and stopped for a minute to exchange pleasantries. Then, as she left, Madeline again waved heartily and issued an adorable "bye-bye."

In this case, the woman was still near for the "bye bye," but often Madeline doesn't say it until the other person is well out of earshot. I want to tell people that she really does wave and say "bye bye," but they usually just smile and say "Sure she can." But, without fail, Madeline offers a series of enthusiastic "bye bye's" as soon as they leave.

And sometimes when Lacey leaves for work in the morning Madeline will stand by the front window and sob "bye bye" or even "bye bye ma ma" as Lacey walks toward her car. (Fortunately she seems to like being with daddy, too, so these episodes don't last too long).

"Hi" is a more recent addition. She often responds with a happy wave when I say "hi," But recently she's been offering her own chirpy "hi" in return.

Talking

Madeline has been impressing us with her vocabulary, both spoken and understood. She loves to talk and make noises, and while most of her utterings are baby talk, she has a handful of words, such as mama, dada, ball, juice, tee (for "kitty") and, oddly, bathtime.

What's amazing to me is the number of objects and commands that she can recognize, even though she can't voice them herself. She can pick out a dozen or more specific toys when prompted, even though they might be buried among a pile of other toys or even out of sight - across the room or in another room.

She seems to understand universal concepts like "outside" - if I ask her what's outside she'll go to the nearest door or window that offers a view, even when we're not in our own home. I can ask her to perform simple commands like "bring daddy the train" and she'll pick up the train and deliver it.

I feel like she starting to get the idea that she can use her voice to communicate things to us (in ways that do not include crying). When we talk to her you can see a real look of consideration on her face, like she's trying to put together the specific sounds she's hearing and understand their meaning. She's also a mimicking machine - replicating noises you make to her (I make sure to say "daddy" a lot).

I knew that this year was going to be big for walking and mental development. She started walking in the middle of January and her intellect seems to be blossoming just as quickly.

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Madeline's eighth tooth seems to be pushing its way through. Just a few weeks ago she had trouble with number 7 - the first time she had a severe reaction to teething. So far it hasn't been quite as bad as last time, but she's been running a slight fever and has been a little grumpy over the last day or two.

No more formula

This weekend we fed Madeline the last of the formula. She's now drinking whole milk, which means most of the things she eats and drinks are the same things that her parents enjoy.

Finishing up the formula isn't as big a deal as, say, finishing up with diapers. After all, she's only been drinking formula for about six months. While that's been half her life so far, it's a relatively small amount of time.

But it is yet another vestige of her infanthood that's being retired. Soon we'll follow up by weaning her from the bottle altogether.

Pat the cat

Madeline has been learning how to be a little more gentle with our cat, Saki. The kitty didn't like it when Madeline grabbed her tail or her legs, but now Madeline is treating her a little more nicely - patting her on the back and head. I think the cat likes the idea of having two more hands in the house - instead of running away when Madeline comes, Saki sometimes approaches her and offers her back for a rub.

Twelve-month check-in

Today we took Madeline for her 12-month check-in with the pediatrician (originally scheduled for last week but delayed because of the snow). Madeline weighed in at 22 pounds, 5 ounces and is 29.5 inches long. She's grown about three quarters of an inch (!!!) since her last check-in, which was two months ago. She's put on about a pound and two ounces in that time, or about a quarter-ounce a day.

Today we talked with the doctor about Madeline's diet. She can now have cow's milk, which means we'll finally be stopping formula, and stopping formula means we'll stop giving her bottles. She drinks juice from a sippy cup throughout the day, so we'll just be giving her the milk in the cup as well. The only issue is that the bottle can be very soothing to her as she settles for nap time, so we'll see how we adjust to the next stage. She's getting to be such a big girl now that the bottle has seemed like an anachronism for a while now, anyway.

We also can turn her car seats around so they face forward, allowing us to see her while we're in the car (and hopefully see out of the rear side windows a little better!). Lastly, she received her chicken pox vaccine today, and didn't really show any effects through the day.

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The weather's been amazing this week and we've taken Madeline outside several times - to play with her ball (and the weeds) in the yard and to take walks around the neighborhood. She's actually started to fuss and point outside when she wants to go in the yard, and usually I'm happy to oblige.

Happy to be home

By all accounts, Madeline had a great weekend with her grandparents while Lacey and I visited Asheville for four days. It was a great escape for us, even though it was pretty hard for me to leave Madeline. There were times when it was nice to linger over a late dinner in a trendy bistro, and other times when I really missed her. Especially when I saw other little kids (which was often).

But today we all returned home and all is right in the world. We played with Madeline in the front yard for a while, celebrating the gorgeous spring weather, and then went for a walk around the neighborhood. After winding down for the night it was nice for me to put her to bed - I treasure those few quiet moments as we read together and then she drifts off in my arms in the darkened room (although tonight she woke and clutched my shirt as I was putting her down, making it that much harder for me to leave her!).

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About the picture: Madeline is always up and about, but sometimes just likes to flop down on the floor and roll around (who doesn't?). This afternoon I think she was just happy to be back home and in her familiar, comfortable surroundings after four days away.

Looong weekend

I just said goodbye to Madeline, who will be staying with her grandparents for the next four days. It's by far the longest we've been without her (the only other time was an overnight trip last August).

Lacey and I are traveling to Asheville, N.C., for a long weekend respite. I really will miss Madeline, and even this morning was wondering if we should be bringing her along. But the point of this trip is relaxation and to get out of the daily routine, so we're going through with our plan to leave Madeline with Lacey's parents. I'm sure they'll have a great time, and so will we. I'll just hate being away from her for so long.

Snow day

Today Madeline had her first snow day - she was scheduled to visit the doctor for her 1-year check-in, but the doctor's office was closed on account of the six inches of snow on the ground.

Madeline's seen a few flurries before, but this was her first real snow. She wasn't too impressed. In fact, her expression on the picture above pretty much says it all - "OK, I've stood in the snow. Can I go back inside and play with all my new birthday toys now?"

We got her all bundled up - complete with plastic bags over her feet to keep her dry - and took her to the front yard, where she stood expressionless as I snapped a few photos and mommy greeted a neighbor. The rest of the day was spent inside, warm and cozy.

Birthday party

I'd say Madeline's party today was a success. At first she seemed a little overwhelmed by all the guests and activities - it's hard to explain to a baby what's about to happen, so it must have been a surprise to her when carloads of guests started showing up at our house! But she warmed up when she realized she already knew everyone (and when she saw the growing stack of wrapped presents).

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She got a lot of great toys today - so many that we'll stash several thing in a closet to bring out in a couple weeks when she grows bored with her current toys. And she also got to eat cake and ice cream - probably more sugar in 30 minutes than she's had the rest of her life combined.

At nap time she crashed and was tired the rest of the evening, and the three of us got to watch the late-winter snow settle in our yard in the bright stillness of the evening.

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