Maddox.....the Wine Enthusiast!

I had to post these pictures!! Most of you know Eric and I are wine drinkers....!! I found/caught Maddox getting into the ONE stack of books/magazines that I hadn't put out of reach since she started crawling. It looks like she is in a little cave...and she sort of is. She had managed to crawl into the small little space in between our couch and the end table. I never IMAGINED she would find her way in there....but she did....and immediately started pulling the books off of the shelf. She was most interested in this one.... Maybe she can tell us the best red and white after she gums this magazine down. She is really getting good at crawling...although I have to say still somewhat cautious. We went to our first story time at the Bettendorf Library this AM...and BOY were there some movers there. One little boy was seriously lightening' fast on his knees. I'm glad Maddox isn't quite that fast yet. She is still hesitant and slightly uncoordinated yet, but in no time I'm sure SHE is going to be lightening fast too. Story time was really fun. It is just a short little 25 minute sort of playtime. The leader is really great and actually was able to capture Maddox's attention for short periods of time, singing and dancing in front of her. So we sing a lot, clap our hands, read a couple of books....in a sort of fast fashion......and then play. It is all ages...I think like babies till maybe 5 year olds? We met another friend of mine who has a daughter just a few weeks older than Maddox. Her name is Sydney...and she had PIGTAILS in her hair which Maddox thought were toys...and kept pulling at them. Luckily Sydney didn't seem to mind! It seems Maddox might be getting another tooth, or maybe the one that she sort of has is finally going to sprout through. She has been really drooling again and somewhat fussy although has still been sleeping ok. This coming weekend we'll travel to Keokuk to visit Grandma Kies and the rest of the Kies family. We're looking forward to the trip and hope to fit in some fireworks here and there! Happy 4th of July everyone!

Maddox Crawls AND Gets A Tooth

Wow, we have had an exciting 72 hours. Maddox officially started crawling on Friday. She was only able to go about 3 feet on Friday, but she's up to about 5 or 6 feet at a time now before she gets tired or changes her mind about where she is going. I went for a run yesterday morning and when I got back the gates were up and all of our bookshelves had been cleaned out by Eric. Apparently she went on a crawling kick while I was gone and Eric had to baby proof quickly!! She gets very determined to get over to whatever it is that she wants....she even sticks her tongue out while she's crawling....like she's really working hard. And I suppose she is right now. But, soon it will be old hat. Last night when we were getting her ready for bed I discovered a tooth poking through her bottom gums. I think I scared her I shouted out so loud in excitement. You can't really see it well yet, but you can definitely feel it. So between the major milestones of crawling AND getting teeth we are hoping the middle of the night wake up calls will end soon. She has slept until at least 5AM the last couple of days so it seems we are makin' headway back to her old self of sleeping so well through the night. So Eric had a lot to celebrate about yesterday for Father's Day. Teeth, crawling...and gates!! The three of us went to the Radisson hotel, downtown Davenport, for a celebration brunch. The food was mediocre but Maddox was hilarious. They had a live jazz band playing and she was seriously mesmerized by both the jazz band AND the huge waterfall in the lobby. She was entertainment for all the people eating. She even sucked a little apple juice and water from my straw....a new activity. I have been trying a sippy cup with her lately but she hasn't figured it out yet, so I thought I'd try the plain ol' straw and she got it! Then we rode up to the 6th floor in the glass elevator. She thought that was pretty cool. So we've definitely entered into another level of parenting....that is with the crawling. She is getting so old....can't believe she'll be a year old in just 2.5 months.

Lazy Sunday 6.13.10

Here are a few more pictures from our visit with Grandpa Jim, Grandma Jean and Great Grandma Reta. We sure did have a good time. She is so close to crawling ( although I feel like I have been saying that for quite some time). She gets herself up on all fours and a lot of time presses up into downward dog, the YOGA pose. I can't even do that Maddox! But, then she falls back down again. She does a lot of movement on all fours but mainly just in a circle. Not much in the forward direction. Soon though. No teeth yet, although she has really been on a weird sleeping kick lately. She's been wakin' up at sometimes 2.30, sometimes 3.30, sometimes 4.30,....all hours of the "night" /morning. Luckily I just feed her and then she goes back to sleep until like 6 or 7am. Thought she was teething, but no teeth yet. Some say she might be on the verge of doin' something special...such as crawling...so maybe that's it. She's eating food well....lots of baby food and cereal now usually 3 times per day and she loves puffs too. She's had the insides of a tator tot and the very soft part of real green beans. Doesn't seem to mind either, although not a huge reaction! She can get some food in her mouth herself every now and then but most of the time I just give it to her. She isn't quite coordinated yet. She's still nursing although it seems with the hot weather she has been sort of finicky with the milk being too hot...she seems to like cold bottles now. No real words yet, but lots of chattering. She is so fun....and such a good disposition. She really only fusses when she gets tired, not even when she's hungry really. Luckily, she is still taking good naps since she is taking a 'break' from sleeping through the night. We did put the bumper pad back on her bed to keep her from getting her feet stuck out through the rungs...but I just literally got her up from her nap 10 minutes ago and she had kicked the bumper pad out of the way to get her feet out the rungs!! Hmmmmm?? She doesn't like to have her feet in the crib apparently.

A Whirlwind tour of the Grandma/pas and Greats!

Maddox, Eric and I have been traveling around the mid west the last couple of weeks visiting all the grandmas and grandpas and great grandmas. We have only missed Grandma Kies down in Keokuk...but luckily we'll see her the weekend of the 4Th of July. You can see from the pictures we've had a good time. Maddox and I traveled solo up to see Great Grandma Berg, Grammy Marti and Grandpa Dick in Aurora. She's gettin' pretty good at entertaining herself in the backseat while I am driving. Maddox was very excited to see Grammy Marti, she about jumped out of the car seat when she came around to get her out. It was hilarious. Grandpa Dick and Great Grandma Berg couldn't believe how much she had changed. They hadn't seen Maddox since mid April.....!! She's such a big girl now! Then Eric, and I took Maddox over to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jean's house in Washington. This was the first time we had been over there so Maddox got to meet their LARGE black lab, Deuce. Deuce was more excited about all of Maddox's toys ( potential chew toys for him!!) than he was really of Maddox. But, they became good buddies. Deuce is like the largest lap dog there is on the earth, so gentle! He would just sit beside Maddox tryin' to figure her out. Grandpa Jim gave Maddox a taste of his 'un'sweetened tea. I think she was ready to call it quits on the milk after tasting the yummy tea. Never mind the caffeine Grandpa Jim. Great Grandma Reta was also surprised by how much she has changed. The last time she saw her she wasn't even sitting up. Look out Great Grandma Reta, we are almost ready to crawl!!

Jail Break Pictures

Jail Break!!

No, she hasn't started crawling yet but, she has figured out how to crawl out of the beloved pink BUMBO seat, which has been a staple in our house since early January. She is flexible enough to get one of her legs under her which then enables her to sort of catapult herself over the edge. No more sittin' up on the granite counter top in the BUMBO. It is sort of funny, I have to admit I have watched her do it several times. She will literally sort of fling one of her toys just far enough away from her that she 'HAS' to get up on the edge of the seat to be able to get it back....very funny Maddox!! The other thing she just started doing this week is intentionally putting her face in the bathtub water. She is like a fish in the bathtub flinging herself around moving from sitting up then down to her stomach. She first would just put her little mouth in to get a drink and she'd come up smiling. But, you can only hold your head up for so long especially when you're kickin' your legs and literally flying around the tub. ( the bottom of our tub is very slippery). Eventually your head gets tired and it hits the water when you DON'T want it to. Luckily I was right there to flip her over face up. I'm trying to teach her to roll over onto her back to the 'floating position' to instill some survival water instincts. We'll see if it carries over in the big pool at the Y. It seems everyday she is 'teaching us' something new. I posted the pictures of her jail breaking from the BUMBO. Check our how far her foot is underneath her. She is quite the little flexible lady. The other picture of her in the crib is how I found her sleeping last night. She LOVES to have her legs, arms, feet hanging out of the crib. We are considering putting the bumper pads back on to keep her contained.