this week in review

Sunday, pool party and finish 1st Birthday plans. Monday, work and Madi/Mom time. Tuesday, swimming. Wednesday, work. Thursday, swimming and sleepover with Great Aunt DeeDee. Friday, work. Saturday, ski club then swimming. Sunday, SLEEP. (at least I hope that's what Sunday brings) Here are some pictures from this week.

swimming with Nana

Hi Mom!

cool swimming gear

playtime with Bruiser

 

and...eating dirt

Madi's now tall enough to reach into one of the planters in the living room. She really likes to pull the walker up to it and reach in. Since she started doing that we've started teaching her "No." I'm not sure she understands the word but she definitely understands the tone of voice. Right now we still have an angelic Madi. In time I'm sure we'll get the not-so-angelic Madi that after hearing "No" will turn to look at us, smile and continue to grab a fist full of dirt just to see what we do. Can't wait.

July 4th

As I was copying pictures to post I realized I did not get a picture of Madi in her 4th of July outfit. Bad Mom! I may just have to get her dressed again and snap a few pictures. Her shoes were probably the cutest part of the outfit so they have to get noticed.

We spent the weekend on the water...shocker. It was a bit different this time around but still enjoyable. The water was pretty busy so it wasn't great skiing but I got on the kneeboard for the first time in ages. I'll find that video and update the post later. I did pretty good after a 5 or 6 year break (which translates to I got up on the board.) There was a sad note, we lost our anchor, USS Marry Me, that my brother welded for us. For those that don't know, Dan was thinking of proposing on our old boat by having a buddy of his print up vinyl to stick to the back of the boat and have me get in the water first so I'd see it and then he'd have the ring out. There were a couple things that got in the way of him doing that but Jake made the anchor and named it Marry Me in memory. Well, we threw it out, tied off and swam around like usual and when Dan was pulling it up to head home all the sudden the line got a lot lighter and the anchor was just gone. We dove around trying to find it but no luck. So goodbye USS Marry Me, thanks for being such a great anchor - until the end when you bailed on us.

The boys were super excited to get some swimming in. Bruiser is such a fanatic about the water. He literally swam until he puked. Pete's a bit more of a prima donna but hangs with Bruiser as long as he can. Of course, Madi got some swim time in too. She's now experienced "big water." When I get the pics of the three of us in the water I'll post those but these are the ones on my camera.We gave Madi some background motor sounds and pushed her back and forth between the two of us. She kicked and gigled, had a great time. We let her float on her own for a little bit until I looked over and saw a fish nibbling on her bum - enough of that! Back to constant motion.

We waited to have lunch until after our swim, didn't want to cramp up or anything. Here's Madi with these baby crackers I just picked up. They're rice wafers that start dissolving once she gets them in her mouth and they're about 4" long so she can get a hold of them real easy. Another good hand-mouth food.

of course Bruiser's over her shoulder waiting to pick up the crumbs

Madi even helped Dad drive the boat. Beep, beep, outta my way!

"Mom, did you see that?" Sure did, sweetpea. Madi would sit on Dan's lap and then lean forward to grab the steering wheel like she knew what she was doing. She also tried to chew on it but what else is new, anything that goes in her hand has to go in her mouth.

All in all it was a great weekend. Too bad it's back to work tomorrow.

almost crawling

Madi's getting closer to crawling. She does really well moving her arms or her legs but hasn't quite mastered alternating sides. The coordination is on it's way though. It'll only be a matter of days before nothing on the floor is safe. Time to start looking around and relocating objects we'd like to keep in one piece.

Finger foods

We're starting to expand our finger food options beyond the baby puffy snacks. Madi's doing pretty well with her hand-mouth coordination but there are still times where you have pity and move the food from her cheek or back of her hand to her mouth. She's working on the pincher grab as opposed to "smack the table and see what sticks." Madi's had multi-grain cheerios, honey smacks (don't judge), rice krispies, banana chunks, overcooked carrots & broccoli, honeydew, cherries and mandarin oranges. We've learned a few things along the way like:  honeydew isn't soft enough yet-got choked up on that, cherries produce a very sour looking face and stain the bib, banana chunks stick to the table or get squished between the fingers although rolled in rice krispies they're easier to hold, Madi's not too sure about the Snap, Crackle, Pop of rice krispies and mandarin oranges must be squeezed so the juice runs all down her chin.

Madi manages the oranges better than the banana chunks but they're messy as you can see. It's been fun to watch her react to different textures and tastes. We're also expanding our spoon-food. Madi's had sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, pineapple, cottage cheese, chicken & noodles, mashed taters & gravy, baby yogurt, black beans, guacamole, and I even snuck her a sauteed onion. People food has been pretty exciting. Madi's becoming quite the big girl! Pete & Bruiser really appreciate the transition to real food as it's meant more "oopsies" for them. During meal time they're usually laying down right under the high chair. As soon as the high chair is vacated they've got their noses up on the foot rest sniffing and licking up whatever Madi left behind. I've even seen them come up to Madi and do a once-over for any food stuck to her. Pretty smart dogs.

Madi's been up on all fours, rocking forward and backward but no crawling yet. I like that because our house is far from baby-proof. You can usually find at least one laptop on the coffee table, the cleaning supplies aren't locked up and there are sharp edges everywhere. Madi's somewhat close but she hasn't mastered the weight shift. She'll be up on all fours, reach forward with one arm and then fall down on her chest because she lost that other support by moving her arm. It's amusing to watch her face because she'll look around, notice she's closer to her toy than before, kinda smile and then do the same thing again or turn sideways and roll to where she wants to be. Smart little bugger. I don't have a current video but I'll make sure to record one before we've moved from rocking to crawling. Guess that means sometime this weekend.

We're going to spend the 4th of July with Grandpa & Grandma Stone. Madi will have to re-visit the bear swing from Easter, see what she thinks about it now. There will plenty of time in the boat, maybe a swimming excursion and we might even take the walker to the warehouse to watch Madi zoom around. Stay tuned for more pictures and video!

Have a happy and SAFE July 4th everyone.