Maddy Goes to the Zoo!

It was another action-packed weekend in the life of Ms. Madelyn. Thursday, she got a special visit from her uncle Mike, aunt Alysia and cousin Talia Mae! The next day, she got into her wonder wagon with Ms. T and they safaried through the Pittsburgh Zoo together. The girls just LOVED seeing all the animals and people. Maddy's favorite attractions seemed to be the sharks, monkeys and the camel.

She had another first that day, putting on her swim suit and getting into her first swimming pool! She was such a brave, big girl, kicking those little tootsies underwater while mommy held her in her raft. It was a little cold for her but she did not put up too much of a fight once she got used to it!

The next day, everyone came to Maddy's house to celebrate both Alysia and Talia Mae's birthdays! Little Miss Talia loved her presents and her cake! The ice cream she could have done without. :0)

We're going to catch up with her visitors and her Pappy to take Daddy out to breakfast for his special day now. Until next time...!

For more pictures from the weekend, click here.

Who's Nine Months Old??

You guessed it! Pumpkin pie-Madelyn-Ann-sweetie girl-sugar bean-Tripp!
And boy, does she show it!
A few new exciting developments in the world of Maddy.
First, she started taking her first steps as a crawler!
Second, she shows all sorts of new (and interesting) developments in the personality category, including: choosing (and defending) her favorite toys, bouncing on her bum when she she sees something she likes, pushing away anything she doesn't like, and imitating people like crazy (she loves to click her tongue against the roof of her mouth if you get her started).

A few other fun facts about this big girl:
Wardrobe size: 12 (TWELVE!) Months
New Developments: Can pull up to standing with assistance, sits up on her own and plays toys, makes new vowel sounds, claps her hands, takes big-girl baths
New Big Girl Steps: Lowering crib very soon (she can now kneel in it and peer out), playing with more big-girl activity toys (the more gadgets, the better), outgrew her exersaucer but still squeezes into her jumperoo, though she seems happiest to crawl and explore on her own with her toys
New Foods: Chicken (yuck, she says!) and peas (her favorites are still sweet potatoes and pears)
Favorite toys: Fishy tank, bug jug, Lucy dog, bath time foam letters, crawl 'n go snail, "That's Not My Dragon" book
Schedule: Still the same: Up around 6:30/7, breakfast about 8, bottle around 9, nap from about 9:30-11:30, Heather's house or play time until about 4 (with lunch and another short nap squeezed in), dinner then more play, and then bath time around 7 and to in bed around 8:30 or 9.

This weekend, Mommy and Daddy took Maddy to Buffalo for a visit. Maddy just loves watching all the little boys (and Samantha) run around, taking in all the activity and sounds. She was super good on the ride up, sleeping all but about 20 minutes of the ride. She also liked exploring all the new windows, toys, furniture, and the front lawn. It won't be long before she'll be enjoying the famous Buffalo pizza and wings, too!

Maddy's Big Michigan Adventure!

Maddy celebrated her first Memorial Day big time this year. We headed up with daddy and grandma to visit uncle Mike, aunt Alysia and sweet cousin Ms. Talia Mae for a nice, long weekend in Midland, MI. The weather was beautiful and the girls were precious playing together. They went for wagon rides, played in the splash park (though, it appears this is an "acquired" taste for babies), went to the farmer's market and baseball game, plus they visited cool Frankenmuth. It was exciting to see Maddy go in her first big girl swing at the park and inch closer to crawling (thanks to Ms. Talia, who was all too happy to show her how it's done). Maddy turned out to be an excellent traveler (as long as grandma is entertaining her in the back seat), and made the 7/8-hour trek without too much fussing. We came home refreshed, relaxed and ready to plan our next visit to the midwest! To see more photos *and videos* from this weekend, click here.