Water baby

Maddy has been really enjoying her baths lately. You can tell because no matter how full her little bathtub is when I start, there's always less than half of the water left when she's done and mommy is a little waterlogged.

So, since today was such a beautiful day, I thought Maddy would enjoy playing outside with some water while I worked. Maddy would have some fun and I wouldn't get so wet.

She had a great time...



And just in case you are worried, yes, I did put sunscreen on her before taking her outside. I ended up getting more sun than she did.

Baby Who

We've been doing some "spring" cleaning and putting some things up on eBay. One of the things that is finally going is the Dr. Who scarf that I made when Ash and I were first dating. It's a great scarf. It's wonderfully warm and it's 13 1/2 feet long, which is why I've never really worn it anywhere. We got some great pictures for the eBay listing though!



Don't worry, we are mentioning the baby is not included in the auction.

Video drop

I have several videos of Maddy taken over the last couple of days. There's no particular theme to them though, which is why this is just a video drop. Some are amazing, some are cute, and some are just silly.

Here's Maddy on her way to crawling...



... if she can get past rocking.

Maddy desperately wants to be big and if you are drinking from a cup, she wants to know why she's not. So we gave her a plastic Disney cup with about an inch of water in it to play with. The water immediately went down the front of her onesie, but she enjoyed playing with the cup.



Since the weather has been pretty nice, we've been taking Maddy to the park. There's actually not that much to do at the park when you are 7 mos. old, but Maddy humors us. She swings a little bit, which is terrifying at first, but she enjoys it once she realizes she's not going to die. She goes down the slide a couple of times and then for a ride on the carousel.



This video... well, there's really no point to this video other than I think it's hilarious.

Jump up. Jump up. Jump around!!

Maddy got a jumper a few weeks ago when her great-grandparents were visiting. She really enjoyed it, but she didn't quite get it. So yesterday we tried it again. First, she was just delighted by the fact that she could stand on her own...



That's when the real fun began!!...



Maddy demonstrated her pleasure with a new face...



She's so funny!

Maddy goes Hollywood

It's been a very bright summer here in Northern Illinois and we've had to get creative to keep Maddy out of the sun. She has an arsenal of hats and I cleverly figured out how to attach the canopy of to her carseat to keep her from going blind when the sun is on her. There's nothing like a good pair of sunglasses though to keep the sun out of your eyes. So, Nan has been looking for sunnies for Maddy. The first pairs she got were from Old Navy. She got them when Maddy was about 4 months old and they are still too big for her. A couple weeks ago though she found a pair of Cinderella shades that fit her quite nicely. Now Maddy is all Hollywood glam when she leaves the house!...



She looks fab! Too bad the reason her hands are up by her eyes in this picture is because she is reaching up to take her sunnies off and eat them. Oh well. At least she still has the hat and the carseat canopy.

The All-powerful Scrunchy Face!!

Maddy's expressions go through phases. One morning, she woke up and started blowing raspberries and that's how she spent the next week or two. That was especially annoying when she had a mouthful of food. Her latest expression is a delightful scrunchy-snuffly face.



Even though I had a hard time getting her started on it this morning, she spent the rest of the day snuffling about the house. This next video was taken right after lunch so she's still a little messy in it, but it's hilarious because she was just making one scrunch after another.



Ash said I probably shouldn't encourage her. Right now, the scrunchy face seems to denote joy, but he is concerned it may turn to sass. I can't help it though. She's so funny when she scrunches and really, it is all about my personal entertainment!

Proof!

Now, I know that Maddy is growing up. I'm sure that I have mentioned it on here, in fact, once or twice (or several) times. Today was one of those days that I really noticed it though.

Maddy has a rocking chair. She has grown up in this chair. It started out as her bed. Then it was there to soothe her. Now, it is her eating chair and occasionally used for play. Well, this chair came with some dangly toys that hang over the rocker. I have never had much use for them because Maddy could never reach them. She would just kind of look at them aimlessly. Well, today, I was helping Nan with her chemistry and wanted to give Maddy something to do, so we put her in the chair and set it up with the toys and you'll never believe it...



... She can reach them!! And, she can pull on them. And, I have never heard the song, "If you're happy and you know it" so many freaking times in the space of 30 min because if you pull on the middle bug it plays the tune. It would have been annoying if she wasn't so cute and big!

Speaking of cuteness, I would like to take this time to mention Cheetah. Remember, Cheetah? He was originally bought as a toy for Maddy about 8 months before she was born. Cheetah ended up becoming a member of the household though and when Maddy was born he came along to the hospital to see the new baby. It was pretty funny because at the time, Cheetah was bigger than Maddy. Not so much now. And, Cheetah is not sure he likes this...



For the most part, they have worked out there differences though...



And have found a working relationship.

A Day in the Life

Maddy is just getting bigger and bigger. It surprises me sometimes how much she can actually do.

She can sit up...



This is Maddy's favorite position when she is eating because this way she can lean over the bowl and see what she is getting, or take the jar from me, or remind me that she's still there with her mouth open and why is it not getting filled!?!

I still have a hard time understanding her choice in toys though. She has some lovely, lovely toys and what do you think her favorite thing to play with is?



Thank you, Judy, for making the dish clothes that keep Maddy entertained for hours!

At the end of a hard day being Maddy though, there is no better recliner than your daddy.