Settling In & 11 Months

I guess you can say we've been a "little" busy since our last posting. Now that Mommy has found the camera (and some sanity), though, we promise to give our little Bean blog its due attention. In addition to moving into a NEW HOME, Ms. Maddy has kept us busy with her new adventures as she moves closer to toddler-hood each day.

Here are some of her latest developments at 11 months...
*Knows mama/dada
*Can go from sitting to standing
*Eats more solids (potatoes, bread, strawberries, cheerios)
*Learning how to drink from a cup (she loves this)
*Can go over one step
*Can pick up small items with finger/thumb

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to in the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Moving Day:




Checking Out Her New Pool



Spoiled by a Visit from Grandma & Pappy

Maddy 10 Months: Playing Ball

Maddy 10 Months

Miss Maddy continues to blossom before our very eyes. At 10 months, she's also developing more of a personality every day. Here are a few fun facts about her latest developments:

Her teeth have decided to double the fun by coming in two at a time; she has her first two ivories poking through those little pink gums as we speak.

She practices cruising along the couch and crib and stands to play

Crawling around is starting to loose its novelty--she tries to stand on those wobbly little legs more and more each day

Her sweet wave also comes with a special trick: she only likes to wave while standing or kneeling at the same time

She gets a kick out of being chased through the house (it's a slow chase, but a challenging one nonetheless!) and continually questions the true meaning of the word "No!"

Her refusal to eat ANYTHING other than sweet potatoes is, thankfully, coming to an end. She's branching out again to other fruits and veggies, even trying some soft solids now and then!

Happy 4th!!!

Maddy is enjoying an awesome first fourth of July weekend! Here are some pics of her modeling her cute "Fourth wear" and some other from her first visit to Kennywood!!!

She got to...
Ride the train AND the Merry-go-round!
Visit with her future BF Jackson =0)
Try her very first Potato Patch French Fry!
See a laser show AND fireworks display!!!

Maddy was wide-eyed and amazed during the whole visit. She loved to see all the kids run around amidst the twinkling lights and festive music. She (and daddy) also got a kick out of watching mommy (and grandma!) scream on some roller coasters. Amazingly, Maddy did not cry ONE TIME through the whole visit. While all the other babies were being pushed around sound asleep in their strollers, there was little Maddy sitting straight up with those big browns, looking all over, not wanting to miss a second. The poor lil' pumpkin finally dozed off around 10:30 and through most of the fireworks display--until the big finale kicked in, and her big eyes flew open with her hands immediately covering those precious ears!

Now, Mommy and Daddy are going to set sail on the Gateway Clipper Fleet for a 4th of July river cruise/fireworks extravaganza in the city. This the first time both of us have done the cruise and it's the first time we have both been away from Maddy overnight--so Maddy's not the only one to try new things this weekend! While Maddy stays at grandma and pappy's, we'll be looking forward to lots of food, drinks, fun and... most importantly...sleep!!! Happy fourth everyone!!! For more pictures from the weekend, click here...

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.