January

After spending almost all of December infected with one bug or another, it was wonderful to have a healthy Madeline for almost an entire month in January. And I can write this with no worries about tempting fate, because she fell ill with a virus just this weekend, ending about three solid weeks of healthiness.

In any case, it's been a quiet month, which is just what we were looking for after months of holiday hustle and the above-mentioned illnesses. We spent our free time playing at home and getting outside when the weather allowed.

Madeline has experienced some major changes in sleep patterns this month, perhaps as a result of the string of antibiotics she was on last month or, just maybe, because she's getting older. She has essentially stopped taking her afternoon nap, and we don't know if it's necessarily a good thing. She still sleeps the same amount at night, but gets pretty grumpy toward the end of the day. We wonder if she could still benefit from a shorter afternoon nap. But try telling that to an almost-3-year-old who wants no part of settling down in her bed.

And speaking of settling down in her bed, the second major change to her sleep pattern is her propensity to get up regularly through the night. When we first introduced her big-girl bed last year, she still seemed to not realize that she could easily get out on her own, and would call us to help her out. But suddenly she seems to have figured out that it's not that hard to get out, and she pops up several times a night - usually at bed time when she doesn't want to go down, but occasionally in the middle of the night when she wakes up for no apparent reason.

This all happened when she was ill at the beginning of the month - she would cry out in the night and then we could hear her feet pattering down the hallway to our room. She would come in, still crying, but calm immediately when someone got up and led her back to her room. And, generally, she would climb back in her bed and go to sleep without issue. I wonder if she's having bad dreams or just wants to make sure we're still there.

And, while we are physically present, I have actually slept through this process several times, completely surprised when Lacey mentions it the next morning. It seems to be a pattern I've developed.

Otherwise it's been a good month. Madeline loves preschool and is making friends there. She even passed her very first test - a simple evaluation of basic concepts and motor skills that she aced, except for the "standing on one foot" segment, which she refused to demonstrate because, well, she didn't want to.

Here are some pictures from this month:

Madeline tries out her new tricycle. She picked it up quickly, learning to pedal herself around in a matter of a few minutes.

Here's one of the few times we made it to a local park this month. The views of the foggy lake were wonderful, but the rain started only a few minutes after we arrived and sent us scrambling back home.


Madeline enjoys experimenting with static electricity.

Our second trip to a local park was more successful. Madeline hiked almost the entire 2.2-mile trail to and from the lake, talking the whole time.

Speaking of, um, speaking, I think Madeline likes to hear herself talk. She found the voice recording app on Lacey's iPod and spent a half-hour or more sitting by herself and recording various thoughts and observations.

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Here she is looking much older than what I would envision a 2-year-old to look like.

Another frigid January day, another morning spent inside, just hanging out with dad.

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This scene was not prompted - Madeline asked to sit at the piano and then, on her own, opened the Christmas songbook and started playing and singing to herself. She hardly seemed to notice when I got the camera and started recording her.